Avoidables Angels Page 23

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Our entrance into Lower Side haunted me. Men and women roamed the streets in rags. Some looked smarter than others but not by much. An elderly man tried to stop the mini bus. He held out his hand, begging for help. He was ignored. The driver had sworn at a mother and her child as they threw rocks with sneers on their faces.

  The lack of shops made my new teenager snarl. Only a few doors with scribbled signs over them showed any sign of somewhere to buy goods. Nothing like the hundreds of stores in Upper Side.

  When we pulled up outside a building, the welcome committee greeted us. It was poor. It consisted of the enforcer for Lower Side and his sidekick. A tall, muscly man with purple eyes.

  ‘We need to document your entry into Lower Side,’ the enforcer said, clicking his finger at his man.

  ‘This is Purple.’

  The teenage girl snorted the water she was sipping, squirting it over the little boy. He looked at his bare arm where the drops of liquid had landed.

  ‘That’s not too obvious, is it?’ the girl said.

  Purple glowered at her. I had to resist the urge to smile myself. At least the girl had some sense of humour left. ‘What’s your name?’ Purple ignored the smirk she threw his way.

  She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. ‘I’m Alison.’

  Purple raised his eyebrows at Artie. ‘Why are you looking at me? Shouldn’t Hope be here to do this?’

  My whole body froze. I wasn’t sure why but something about the name Hope made my skin tingle.

  ‘Hope!’ Artie shouted.

  We stood in the entryway to a rundown theatre. The building smelt like it was no longer in use for its original purpose.

  ‘This is Lower Side’s headquarters and Artie’s home,’ Purple said, bending down to the little boy who clutched my hand with his little fingers. ‘What’s your name?’ the hulking man asked.

  His dark thick shoulder length hair fell over his eyes. Brushing it away from his face, he didn’t flinch when the boy reached out with his other hand and stroked the ridges on his arm. I tried not to stare at the strange bumps. I had never seen such a weird skin tone. There was no doubt he was an Avoidable. He was still very handsome, though.

  ‘I’m David,’ the boy said.

  Purple smiled at him, revealing straight white teeth. My eyebrows rose. Purple glanced up at me. My cheeks flushed as the corner of his lip lifted. He must have seen my shock. I imagined all Avoidables to have awful teeth.

  ‘Well, David, it seems like you’ve found a great friend.’ Purple stood. His height made my neck bend back as I looked up at him.

  ‘She’s too nice for you, Purple, I wouldn’t bother,’ a female voice said from further inside the theatre.

  Glancing past him, I watched as a skinny girl with dark straight hair strode up the aisle. Her shoulders were square; her face was soft but with a hard edge. David and Alison stared at her as she joined us.

  ‘She hasn’t got a-’

  ‘Don’t point!’ I chastised David when his arm came up.

  Hope laughed, dismissing the boy and talking in whispers to Artie. The tight black trousers and T-shirt top made it look like she would beat anyone up at any moment. Even with only one arm.

  ‘What happened to your arm?’ Alison took her hands out of her pockets and crossed them over her chest.

  Hope. My whole body thrummed with energy as she came closer. Her vibration was underlying. Avoidables wouldn’t notice the dim light that shone in her brown eyes. She was a sister to me. An unknown family member.

  ‘I was born without it. Why are you here? You’re too perfect,’ she said with a snarl, ‘to be in Lower Side.’

  Alison rolled her eyes. It seemed like the teenage thing to do. I held my breath as I waited for an insult. Would Hope understand that the girl had been ripped from her family? Even if she was a Perfect?

  ‘I…’

  Artie stepped towards me. His eyes searched my gaze. I tried to glance away but it was as if he was asking a question.

  ‘I will take care of them here,’ I announced.

  Hope had opened her mouth to encourage Alison to talk but she shut it when I spoke. Blinking, she ran her gaze over me before turning to Purple. They whispered between them heatedly.

  ‘Just get the details,’ Purple finally hissed, handing her a notepad.

  Scowling, the fierce girl snatched the pen and paper and gestured for us to sit in one of the aisles. Some of the old chairs were intact but most had been moved out. The stage was in semi darkness.

  ‘I’m scared,’ David sobbed.

  Picking him up, I sat on one of the seats and hugged him into me.

  Hope went to stand in the row ahead, glaring down at us. She put her foot on a chair and used her thigh to rest the notepad. She had great balance and dexterity for someone who had one arm.

  ‘Names,’ she ordered.

  We each told her our names. When I spoke, her eyes darted up from what she was doing. Our gaze clashed but she glanced away quickly.

  ‘Reason for failing the test?’ she asked directing her question to David.

  David started to cry as he pointed to his eye.

  Hope swallowed. I watched the reflex of her throat. She did have sympathy.

  Hope moved her gaze to Alison, raising her eyebrows when she didn’t immediately respond.

  ‘I have epilepsy.’

  My heart beat faster. She had an illness that made her whole body convulse. And she was sent away, instead of treated. Her pretty face screwed up again. Raising her feet onto the chair, she buried her head into her knees and covered it with her arms.

  ‘They say I’m mentally unstable,’ I announced when it was my turn.

  Hope licked her lips, her gaze hovering above my head. She looked at either Artie or Purple and nodded once.

  ‘Not another one,’ she muttered as she went to walk away.

  ‘Hope! Firstly, don’t be so rude. Secondly, you’re not finished,’ Artie shouted.

  I didn’t smile, even though a part of me felt like it. I could feel Hope’s angst. She was a late teenager, maybe just hitting her twenties, I wasn’t sure exactly. Her eyes held a sense of loss about them. That I could tell.

  ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled in my direction, standing straight again.

  ‘Whatever happens, I will not be separated from Alison and David.’

  My sudden outburst made her focus on me. Really look at me. She squinted in the dim light, trying to see who I was. She could sense a familiarity. So could I.

  ‘You’re a Perfect. Why do you care what happens to them?’

  Both men standing behind us growled. She might have been tactless but she was feisty. That was something the world needed.

  ‘I care because they’ve lost their parents. For their whole lives,’ I replied, staring her down.

  She cleared her throat and wrote something on the pad. Shrugging, she gazed up at Alison.

  ‘Alison, when was the last time you had a fit?’ she asked, her face softening when the tear stained teenager lifted her head.

  ‘They triggered one at the test.’ She hiccupped.

  That was why she had slept on the journey into Lower Side. I’d wondered how she could relax so easily after what had happened. She didn’t have a choice. A fit really took energy out of the body.

  ‘I’m sorry about that.’ Hope scribbled again.

  I was surprised she could write. Not many Avoidables were literate from what I remembered. I wished my memory was a bit clearer. I seemed to be losing it the more I stayed on Earth. Before I came, I studied everything about the city. Watching people and their reactions so I knew how to react.

  ‘Nothing can prepare you for being on this side when you’ve spent time in their world,’ Hope said scornfully.

  I loved the synchronicity of her words. It was as if she’d read my mind. Nothing could prepare me for being in any part of the city, on any part of the planet. It was unlike any angel experience I had ever h
ad.

  ‘I’ve heard the food is awful,’ Alison quipped.

  Hope laughed. ‘That’s the least of your worries.’

  I cringed at the contradictory sound of laughter mixed with those poignant words.

  Alison glanced at me, her eyes welling up again. I put my hand on her arm.

  ‘It will be okay.’ I glanced at the brawny men behind me.

  They both stared daggers at Hope as she composed herself.

  ‘Sorry. Right, Artie will assign you a home, I suppose.’ She raised her eyebrows at her boss.

  Artie came into the aisle, taking the pad and dismissing her with a wave of the hand.

  ‘You will live together in a small flat. I have some accommodation especially for children. You will have a delivery of food once a day. You must take care not to let anyone into your home. I mean anyone. They will try to steal what you have.’

  Alison grabbed my hand, squeezing hard as we listened to what our new life would entail. I had only been in Upper Side for a few weeks. The kids had been there for several years. It would be a huge shock to their system.

  ‘Don’t forget to tell them about locking the windows and doors,’ Hope sang as she retreated down the aisle.

  ‘Where do you think you’re going? You’re going with Purple to escort them to their new home,’ Artie called out to her.

  Hope paused without turning around. The sigh was audible from where we sat. We were a burden to her. Something she had to do once a week. At least there was only the three of us. That had made me feel a little bit easier. The rest of the teenagers in the waiting room had passed the test, including the girl with glasses.

  ‘Do I have to?’ Her voice sounded just like Alison’s. Surly.

  The girl had a lot of growing up to do before she-

  ‘Get back here!’ Artie shouted.

  Hope’s shoulders went up by her ears. She didn’t take kindly to orders. Slowly, she turned towards us. Her eyes were on the ground, her hair covered her face.

  ‘Shall we take them now?’ Purple asked.

  Artie nodded once before looking at me. ‘I will come and visit you tomorrow. Settle in tonight. Don’t go anywhere. We will take you on a tour tomorrow. Show you our part of the city. The safe areas and the not so nice places. I’m sorry that you’re here.’

  Hope snorted. Purple punched her arm. She gasped, grabbing herself where he had hit her.

  ‘Adjusting is not going to be easy but I promise you that we’ll do everything we can to get you the best life possible in the circumstances.’

  Artie offered his hand. I couldn’t take it. My fingers were squeezed by two anxious children. He smiled gently, his gaze roaming over their worried faces. A sadness passed through his eyes before he turned on his heel and left.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Hope said.

  We clambered out from our seats, following the Avoidables out of the theatre. I watched Hope’s back the whole time. William needed to know that I had found her.

  She was the city’s biggest hope. The missing piece to the puzzle. The Avoidable that could one day save the world.