Prologue
Book 1: Chapter One: A Fair Trade
“Bye mum!”
“Bye sweetie have a good day at school! Remember, you need to pick your brother up from the hospital on your way back! And make sure Alisha doesn’t get into anymore trouble this week, please.”
When Hell freezes over, she thought, shaking her head at her mother’s optimism as she carefully stepped through the front door with a tense smile on her pale face.
Eris Paul sighed, a deep, sorrowful sigh, as she pulled the front door closed and began the long, slow, quiet trek to her High School – which was on the other end of town. Her long, pale legs were practically frozen in the winter air, and shone in the dim sunlight, making her self-conscious once more about wearing the mandated skirt. Shifting her weight, she pulled her dark, dusty, patchy brown satchel further up her shoulder – hissing in annoyance when it slipped down again due to the weight – and closed her garden gate to begin her walk.
The cooling scent of wet concrete and freshly cut grass filled her overly sensitive nose, making it crinkle and her eyes water, as she plodded down the mostly deserted pathway next to the road. Glancing around, Eris wasn’t surprised when she didn’t see anyone else coming out of their houses: they were in an elderly neighbourhood and most children her age lived closer to the school but this house was all her mother could afford on her salary.
Some of the elderly women waved at Eris as she shuffled past their gardens and windows, making her smile. She waved back, of course, since it was the polite thing to do and continued on her way, feeling slightly lighter than she had before.
It was only once she reached the end of her street, where a pair of traffic lights stood, that Eris noticed the fine layer of fog that had begun to roll in all around her. It wasn’t a thick fog, since she could still see through it, but it did make the place look like something directly out of a horror film. It also made the cliff – which the town was badly built on – hard to see, despite the massive silver blocks that were placed in front of it to stop cars and people from going over it.
Eris could feel a chill running down her spine and a bad feeling tumbling over in her stomach as she waited, impatiently, for the lights to change colour, praying that there weren’t any cars coming so she could just run across. The blare of the traffic siren alerted her to her ability to cross, breaking her out of her paranoid thoughts, and yet the bad feeling didn’t disappear as she crossed the road. If anything, it got worse.
The bad feeling only continued to get worse as she tried to walk away from the traffic lights and Eris had to physically stop herself from continuing on as she felt bile beginning to form in her throat. Inhaling sharply, Eris swallowed the bile down as best she could and leaned against the building behind her.
BANG! CRASH! SCREECH! BANG!
Jumping in shock, Eris spun on her heel and felt the blood sprint from her face: she could only gape, eyes wide and mouth open as she watched a truck collide with a tiny car, sending the poor thing spiralling into the barriers – the force of the crack breaking them on impact – and almost over the cliff. The only thing stopping the car from going completely over was a single barrier that had hooked onto the bumper, keeping the front of the car mostly on the road while the back hung over the cliff and tilted at the slightest change in air pressure. Even from her far away vantage point, Eris could see that the barrier wasn’t going to last forever and the woman inside the car didn’t have much time.
People swarmed the road, sprinting towards the car as others yelled into their phones, calling 911 and 999 and all other emergency numbers. Only three people were brave enough to get close to the car – one of them, Eris recognised as being a retired fireman 0 and the strongest of the three quickly threw open the car door and yanked the woman out.
The woman fought him with all her might, trying to get back to the car as tears formed in her eyes. She was sobbing so horribly that no one could make out what the hell she was saying. Finally, though, she yelled at the top of her lungs, “MY BABY IS IN THE CAR!”
The whole area froze, even those yelling into their phones went suddenly quiet as they all looked towards the car. Sharp inhales echoed everywhere as they watched, as every second passed, how the car slowly tipped further and further over the cliff.
“Where’s the baby, ma’am?” asked the retired fire-fighter.
“T-The back-the back seat,” the woman gasped, through panicked breaths.
Stepping closer now, Eris joined the group, watching as the adults sent each other concerned looks. It was then that the whispering began and Eris felt her own heart stop as she listened to it all. Her hands were shaking rather violently as she snuck through the crowd towards the sobbing woman and the car.
“There’s no one small enough to fit,” one woman whispered to her friend.
“Anyone who goes in risks falling,” another man agreed.
“The emergency services won’t be here in time,” another woman said.
Without thinking, Eris threw her satchel down and sprinted towards the car. She pushed past as many people as she could, dodging their arms as they tried to grab her and pull her away. Almost everyone, once they realised, tried to stop her from getting closer but no one succeeded as she, carefully, clambered into the car and then froze as it began to tilt. Seeing the car beginning to tilt, people rushed towards it and put as much weight as they could on the front so it didn’t tip over the edge.
“Kid, get the fuck out of there!” ordered an elderly man. “You’ll get hurt.”
The ‘you’ll die’ was left unsaid but Eris refused to listen.
Slowly, carefully, wisely, Eris climbed her way from the front seat of the car to the back, where the baby was fast asleep in her car seat. The car creaked in warning and Eris swallowed rather harshly as she felt the car beginning to tip again, further towards the edge.
Not daring to look, she gently removed the car seat from the car – thankful for having to help her little brother do the same many years before – and turned on her heel.
Gasping, Eris felt the car tilt dangerously – too dangerously – with every attempt to move. The people holding onto the car were quickly losing strength and Eris knew they wouldn’t have time to save both the baby and her at the same time so, she made a decision. Eris placed the baby on the front seat, remaining perfectly still as the mother grabbed her child and sprinted from the car as fast as her heeled feet could carry her. It was only once Eris was sure that the baby was completely safe that she tried to climb between the seats again.
She had just made it to the front seat when she heard the Crash and felt the barrier fall.
The car began to tilt … screaming filled the air … a man reached towards her … their hands inches from locking together … the car moved … she was jerked back … the car began to fall … taking Eris down with it … into …
…Nothing…
Eris couldn’t feel anything. There was no pain. There was no fear. There was no anger. There was no resentment. There was no regret. There was no worry. She couldn’t feel anything.
It was only blackness around her but Eris could feel that she was falling, like she was flying through the air. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, like a never-ending drum beat that refused to stop. Her eyes were neither closed nor open but they didn’t hurt.
She was falling, though she didn’t know how fast. She was falling for so long, with no end in sight. She was falling and that was all that mattered.
There was no sound.
There was no light.
There were no smells.
It was empty.
It was nothing…
I hope the baby is safe, she thought, after what felt like an eternity. I don’t regret saving her, I’d do it all over again if I needed to … I hope the baby grows up to be strong and healthy … I hope the mother is more careful from now on … I hope my mother is okay … and Jamie … and Alisha … I hope mum doesn’t blame herself …
She continued falling.
Then, with no warning, Eris felt something. She felt a warm hand on her cheek, a warm, comforting hand, one that reminded her of her mother and how she would attempt to comfort Eris when she was sad or lonely. A maternal hand that brushed her hair away from her face and patted her head and moved towards her heart. A gentle hand that pressed a finger to her chest and suddenly Eris wasn’t falling anymore. She was being carried, cradled, wrapped in warmth, like a blanket. She could hear words being whispered into her ear – but not very clearly – and someone stroking her nose as if she were the most precious thing in the world. Then it all disappeared again and Eris could only cry out.
Within seconds, she was surrounded in the cold. It bit at every part of her exposed body, from her ears to her toes, mocking her and cheering as the previous warmth was robbed from her by nature itself. Eris whimpered and groaned, letting out a little cry as she was swaddled into a warm blanket once more. The hands that lifted her were nothing like those that were holding her previously, these hands were rough, clinical and not at all sympathetic as they hefted her into the air.
When the scent of disinfectant reached her overly sensitive nose, Eris’ heart began to beat just a little bit faster. She could now fear people talking around her and the sound of metal colliding with metal. The coppery smell of blood hit her like a truck later but she wasn’t in any pain … painkillers?
I’m in a hospital! Maybe I survived! Maybe they’d managed to get me out and I’d passed out from the crash! Maybe those arms were someone pulling me out!
Excitement filled her every cell as she attempted to force her eyes open but Eris quickly squeaked and closed them just as forcefully. The bright, burning, white lights scolded her eyes and made them fill with tears and she could still see the pattern even now they were closed again. Behind her, Eris could hear someone – a woman – screaming at the top of her lungs … it was too close to be from another room.
Holy shit!
Eris’ eyes adjusted to the intense lights and she found that she was, indeed, in a hospital room. Her body was filled with a burning spark of hope! Until she noticed something that disturbed her greatly: she was in the maternity ward! Through the pink blanket she had been wrapped in, Eris could feel the hands holding her and she quickly looked up, discovering a huge doctor looking down at her.
No, she thought, the doctor’s not huge, I’m small!
“Congratulations, it’s a girl.”
The doctor was extremely careful and gently as he handed her over to the woman who had been screaming earlier – who Eris assumed was her mother. The woman looked familiar to Eris but she couldn’t put her finger on it as she looked at the woman who’s eyes were filled to the brim with adoration. Her mother’s arms were warm and comforting – like the hands from the abyss – and Eris even managed to stop herself from crying.
“Hello, little one,” smiled the woman, her tone soothing and warm. It made Eris feel safe, like nothing could ever hurt her again. “I’m your mama.”
Eris attempted to speak, to ask who this woman was and what the fuck was happening, but she was trying to form words that she was quite equipped to speak, just yet.
What happened? Where am I? Why the fuck am I a baby? Who are you?
“What’s her name?” a nurse asked.
Eris turned her head, as much as she could, and quickly noticed a man that she hadn’t noticed before. He, too, looked familiar, very familiar, but Eris didn’t know where she had seen him from.
“Eris,” said the man, he looked rather bored by the whole ordeal. “Eris Ana Stark.”
STARK!