Pandæmonium

Chapter 1: Things not seen

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,"

Hebrews 11:1

"That's it," Emma thought to herself, "I'm going to kill him!" Emma sat up in her bed. "Where are you?" She called out. She heard a slight rustling under her bed and knew she had him. She peered slowly under the bed and her eyes met with amber globes. There came a small meow. "Oh come here you!" Emma called reaching down and grabbing the orange tabby from under her bed. "Was it you who woke me up?" She said to the tabby. His ears flattened against his head as he tried to look downcast. "Oh..." Emma tried to keep her anger, but every second she looked at the forlorn creature, a little bit slipped away. "Come here ya big faker!" She spread her arms. The cat took the invitation and pounced on her. She lay back down, listening to the soft purr as she scratched his head. "No...it wasn't you," she thought out loud, reflecting on what had stirred her from sleep. She mused for a moment, until the cat nudged her hand so she'd continue petting him, interrupting her thoughts. She glanced at the clock. "Bloody hell, I set my alarm to go off in one hour!" She groaned, "Well at least I have plenty time for tea."

Emma groaned as she stood. She turned off the alarm and went to her closet door upon which hung her robe. Slipping it on, she left her room and walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. She paused at a door on the opposite side of the wall which stood slightly ajar. "Felton, did you go in here last night?" The tabby meowed at his name. She opened the door, the room was empty. It had been since she owned the house. But Emma could not help but feel that someone should be here. She shrugged it off, attributing it to being woken up early. She closed the door, and continued down the hallway.

She entered the kitchen and grabbed the kettle from atop the fridge, then walked to the sink. She let the water run for a second, to get cold, before filling the kettle with enough water. Setting the kettle on the stove, she grabbed the canister of earl grey from the cabinet. After a moment, the kettle went off and Emma went through the motions of making a cup. As it sat there on the table steeping Emma was drawn back to the that which had woke her, she mused. "What was it? I remember a sound," she thought, "As if a piano was wheezing. That's a strange thought. A piano wheezing like an old git," she laughed to herself. She was lost in this image when she was startled by the sound of glass breaking. She jumped, turning to look at the fallen picture frame and an orange tail disappearing around the corner. "Felton! What has gotten in to you?" she yelled. She knelt down and flipped the picture frame over. "Oh, it's the photo of mum and I after graduation..." she groaned. " But... What's wrong with me? Shouldn't there be someone else in this photo?" she paused for a moment.

"Blake... Where's Blake?" she asked herself, "More over... Who is Blake?" The name lingered on her tongue. Familiar, Yet she swore that she never knew a Blake. For whatever reason, though her mind told her she was crazy, her gut felt that someone named Blake should've been with her. She tried to shake the thought, but she couldn't. As she swept up the glass, the thought kept on nagging her, "Blake?" She fixed her tea the way she liked it, sat down and sipped at the cup, and even still she tried to remember if she had ever met a Blake. She looked at the clock, forcing the thought from her mind, and decided to get ready for work early to try and get herself right. She walked back to her room and sighed as she looked at her bed. "A whole hour I could've slept more..." she moaned, as she walked to her wardrobe and picked out an outfit. She grabbed an azure blouse and slipped it on. Blake's favorite colour. She paused and tore off the blouse, opting a peach tunic dress with dark tan leggings. No unwanted flashbacks of someone she shouldn't remember. She fixed her umber hair into a braid, leaving two bunches to curl by here temples. She applied a few dashes of eyeliner and a quick streak of pink lip stain. She flashed a smile at the mirror. Good enough. She hurried herself out the front door and saying goodbye to Felton locked it shut, and headed off to the train station.

Emma made her way to the ticket kiosk, swiped her metropass card and added the trip to and from work to it. She made her way to the platform and found a bench and sat down. She lost herself in thoughts of how strange the morning had been so far. First a wheezing piano had roused her, a room that was, and should be, empty, but for some reason belonged to a bloke named Blake, whom she had never met but was supposed to have been at her graduation, in her photo no less. She even knew his favourite colour, sky blue. As she reflected, she barely even noticed that someone had walked up beside her.

"Hey Emma!" came the woman's voice. Emma turned and looked, for a second she didn't recognize the face but shaking off her rampant thoughts, she realized it was her old flat mate from university.

"Julia!" she jumped up and gave her a hug. "How are you?"

"Great, you?" Julia replied.

"Bit of a rough morning but other than that, alright," Emma said, "What are you doing in Wycombe? I thought you were still living in London."

"Moved back about a week ago. I'm engaged to to Freddy, you know." Julia responded.

"Congrats! Finally settling down, yeah?" Emma said.

"Why don't we go get a cuppa? You're getting off at Marylebone, yeah? You can tell me about your morning and I can fill you in on my life. Girl talk, you know?" Emma looked down at her watch.

"I'd love to," she said. "I know a splendid cafe close to the station."

Emma exited the train, looking back at Julia as she disembarked.

"Well he's a bit of a kinky bloke, that Freddy," Emma snickered.

"I know!" laughed Julia, rolling her head back. They left the station, making their way towards the cafe.

"It's just around the bend," Emma called back to Julia, leading the way. As they entered the shop their noses were greeted by pleasant aroma of strong blends of dark roasts.

"What are you having," asked the barista, noticing them at the counter. Emma made to grab he wallet to see how much she had on her, but Julia stopped her.

"My treat," she said. "The usual? I remember you'd always order the same thing when we used to go out." Emma laughed and nodded. Julia looked over at the barista, "She'll have a skinny mocha, extra milk." Blake's favorite.

"No," Emma blurted quickly. "No, I changed my mind. I'll have a caramel latte." Julia turned, raising an eyebrow in surprise that melted into concern.

"You really are having a rough morning." Emma found a seat as Julia finished her order and paid. A few moments passed, then Julia headed to the table with two steaming cups. "So.." she said while blowing the steam from her hazelnut macchiato, "What happened?" she asked.

"Have you ever met someone who swears they know you, but you know you've never met them before?" Emma asked and Julia nodded. "Well, I keep having these errant thoughts, like with the coffee, about this man named Blake. Though I've never known a Blake, for some reason I know his favorite colour, how he takes his coffee. Details that I would know only about close mates." she explained.

"Well there was that one guy from University. Blane, I think," Julia suggested.

"No," Emma replied, "It's someone I've known or rather, should've known, since I was young." Julia paused for a moment before taking a sip from her cup, then looked at Emma. "You think I've lost it," Emma sighed.

"No, it's not..." Julia started.

"It's okay," Emma said, "I'm beginning to think so."

"No...if you had gone crazy, you wouldn't be so concerned," Julia said. Emma took a drink and mulled it over.

"What do you think it is then?" Emma asked, putting down her cup.

"How often do you get time off?" Julia asked.

"I get every Sunday off. Other than that I have a week or two of leave saved up." Emma answered.

"You've been working too hard sweetie." Julia said as she patted Emma's hand. Emma nodded in agreement.

"But I can't take any time off, I am in the middle of a project," she explained.

"Well then," Julia sat back with her mug, "when those results come in you promise me, promise me, that you'll take some time off. Visit your Aunt, go home. Take some flowers for your mum and dad. Maybe you'll figure it out or it might go away." Julia said. Emma paused then stated.

"Alright, I'll go!"

"And if you break your promise...I'll make you wear the nastiest colour to my wedding. The colour of sick or something," Julia giggled. Emma laughed knowing full well Julia would follow through if she did. Their laughter was cut off by the buzzing of Emma's mobile as it vibrated across the table. She picked it up. It was a text.

Tony: Urgent! Something wrong with photos from last nights imaging.

Her heart dropped. She had been hoping the photos would be ready when she got to work, "I knew I shouldn't have let that intern work the telescope unsupervised!" she exclaimed.

"What's happened Emma?" Julia asked.

"I've got to go, hopefully something can be salvaged from those images," Emma stood up quickly. "I should have enough time to take the next Bakerloo."

"Well hurry up then," Julia said.

"Can I get this with legs," Emma asked the barista. He quickly poured the mug into a insulated travel cup. Emma took it and ran out of the cafe. As she rounded the bend she nearly toppled into a man. As she disentangled herself from his trench coat, she muttered an apology.

"No harm done," he said in a Northern accent, "Now why are we running?"

"I need to get to the Observatory in Edgware, like, five minutes ago," she said, a little irritated by the delay.

"Funny thing...time. Well then you best be off...See you round Emma," He said then walked off. Strange, how did he... Emma shook it off as someone from school as she hurried towards the station.

….

"Poor girl," He said as she disappeared into Marylebone, "I'm so sorry Emma Hartford, I truly am." He sighed and turned down the street. There came a sound of an old piano wheezing, then just the noise of London traffic.