Chapter 1

Running away from the oncoming sirens, the women raced through the streets like bullets, hair blowing behind them and their boots still coated in the darkest of reds. The oldest, a dark skinned girl named Naomi, grabbed the two younger girls by the arms and pulled them behind a large bin. Seconds later a police car passed at the speed of light. They hunched together in the dark and the second oldest, a girl named Amy, put a pale, thin finger to her lips, the street light above illuminating her face. As the sirens got quieter, they stood up. Jasmine, the youngest, tilted her face to the night sky, the cool air of London calming her and slowing the pace of her heart. Jasmine stayed still for a moment, and when she was certain there was nobody coming, the girls walked west of the crime scene, towards the Underground.

Once aboard a train, the girls relaxed as Naomi shot a smile to Amy which caused her to smirk, the smirk then developing into well needed laughter. While Amy's laugh was a high giggle, Naomi's was a strong hearty laugh that sounded like music to the ear. Jasmine, who was hunched over as if in pain, did not laugh, nor did they expect her too. Amy leaned over,

"Hey," she almost whispered, her English accent strong.

Jasmine didn't give much of a reply, more of a saddened grunt. Having left home a few months ago, she was still new to the job. The word "left" was used sparingly, as she hadn't so much left, as been kicked out by her parents, who couldn't accept the fact that their daughter Jasmine had been born a Jacob. Naomi sat up straighter,

"Who's hungry?" She asked, scraping her dark hair out of her face.

Naomi stood and rummaged through a bag brought in on her shoulders, her curvy figure in black clothes contrasting against the pale colours and straight lines of the train.

"Never mind then." Naomi mumbled, collapsing back into the train seat.

"We'll pick something up at the next stop" Said Jasmine, sitting up more.

They nodded in union, staring out the window with shining eyes caused by the passing lights. As the next stop approached and the train slowed down, the girls stepped off of the disgusting train and onto the even more disgusting streets. Plastic bags and old cans were strewn across the roads. Amy tilted her head sideways, and dangled her dark hair towards the pavement, seeing how close she could get without actually touching it. Jasmine looked over,

"That's not strange."

Amy caught her friend's eye and grinned, "Not at all." She smirked, straightening her neck.

Naomi pointed across the street, which was adorned with weeds, towards a dark building.

"There. Hotel. I bet it's gross but it's worth a shot" She laughed.

The night air was still and the roads weren't busy. Jasmine hated busy roads; she didn't understand why the cars wouldn't just stop when they saw someone waiting to cross, instead of driving past and expecting the car behind them to do it. They never bloody did anyway. She pulled her jacket tighter around her, wishing it were thicker. The other side of the road led to a dark ally, and at the other end of that ally, the hotel, in all its grimy, flickering glory. They walked towards it and stood a few meters back, looking at it with disgust.

"Well," Naomi sighed, "At least we know it's not expensive."

Amy flinched as she walked in, the stench of body odour and damp hitting her like a punch to the face. She quickly walked passed Naomi, who was paying for the rooms and up the stairs to a long corridor. She guessed the walls must have been red at some point, but had long since gone brown with the damp coming from the ceiling. Her two companions came up behind her, Naomi, walking forward to find the room and Jasmine puffing out her cheeks in displeasure. Once inside the room, all three lay on the double bed for a moment, treasuring their resting time. It was warmer inside. Amy got up and pulled off her clothes, changing into a long t-shirt she pulled out off the backpack not caring at all that there were two others in the room. After all, they were all girls. As she walked back to the white-sheet bed, she flicked on the television with a graceful move of her arm. She sprung back.

"Supernatural! Look, it's Charlie!" she grinned, climbing onto the bed and sitting on top of a mound of uncomfortable pillows.

"I think I prefer Dean and Meg" Naomi said.

"And I like Sailor Moon!" Jasmine laughed, dragging the bag near her and taking out two long t-shirts. Jasmine tossed one to Naomi and held hers near to her as she threw the bag back to the corner of the room.

Naomi, pulling the clothing over her head, hissed through her teeth at the sound of the bag hitting the wall with a thump.

"Careful!" She mumbled through the fabric.

"Sorry." Jasmine replied, avoiding the mirror as she pulled the t-shirt over her, what society would mark as, male chest. Amy kicked the covers back and lay on the mattress, pulling the sheets back over her. With the television still on, and the two girls quietly chatting, she fell asleep.

The next morning Amy awoke with a jolt as something soft hit the side of her face. She looked to her left, her dark brown hair in loose knots and falling across her face, and saw Jasmine lying daintily on top of the crisp white covers. Something hit her in the arm this time, something harder. Amy looked down to the carpet where the oldest of them knelt. Naomi threw the last of the clothes and rose to her feet.

"Get up, come on! Train to catch! Train to catch!" She yelled, clapping her hands and bouncing on her toes.

Jasmine stood up immediately, stepping back as dizziness hit her.

"I'm hungry." She mumbled closing her eyes for seconds at a time as she grabbed at the clothing.

"Soon" Naomi replied.

Jasmine got changed as Amy took her time untangling her hair with her hands. She didn't bother changing the top, but she couldn't go half naked. Once changed they were pushed out of the room by Naomi, who sounded and looked as if she had been up for hours. They ran through the corridor and down the stairs, the sound of Naomi's rattling bag loud in their ears. The dreary looking receptionist opened his mouth as if to say something but the girls were already out the door.

"Thank you!" Amy called, as the door slammed shut behind them.

Naomi grabbed the girl's arms and pulled them through the streets and towards the train station. The same road they had crossed the night before was now buzzing with the sound of cars. The ten minutes they had waited at the lights now encouraging them to run faster. Jasmine gasped for breath.

"We're..nearly there..just a little more..to..go!"

As they arrived at the train platform after bumping into at least five people on the way in, Jasmine and Amy collapsed on the small black benches.

"Okay. Good! Well done. Our train arrives in twenty minutes." Naomi grinned.

"WHAT?," Amy screamed, making passing people stare. "TWENTY MINUTES? WE ARE DYING."

"You," Naomi corrected, "Are dying. I am not. You need more exercise."

"It's half seven in the morning!"

"Perfect time for a run, don't you think?"

"But we're starving" Jasmine moaned

"We'll change that." Naomi responded, nodding over to a magazine stall.

Naomi raised her eyebrows and waited for the girls to stand up. One she realised that they definitely weren't going to, she shook her head, her dark shiny curls bouncing. Jasmine looked over to Amy as soon as Naomi had left to get breakfast.

"That girl will be the death of us."

"True," Amy sighed, "but we're a team. So no matter how annoying one of us gets. We put up with them." She lowered her tone as Naomi walked back "Even if we want to push them into a freezing cold bath"

A train pulled up and Jasmine watched as Naomi stuffed the food into her backpack and beckoned them over with her hand. Once inside the train and sat down, she pulled out an energy bar and a sandwich each.

"Drinks?"

"Knew I was forgetting something!"

A chorus of sighs came from the girls. They unenthusiastically bit through the bars and nibbled on the sandwich that tasted like nothing at all. Naomi looked out the window at the early morning sun that was slowly coming up, shining down on the town. She wondered if it would be like this where they were going.

"We're going to Scotland." She spoke clearly

"Scotland?" Asked Jasmine, carefully picking off the crusts on her sandwich.

Naomi nodded and felt surprised at the zero questions that were asked. Once the tickets had been taken by a woman who looked like she despised her job and pretty much everything else, Amy spoke up.

"Do you ever think about how if we were living a "normal" life right now, you know, with parents and school and stuff, I would have never eaten that horrible bloody sandwich. And right now, I wish I didn't. It was terrible"

Jasmine laughed, "All the time."

Naomi grinned and threw the rest of hers in a near by bin. She pulled out her phone from

"We get off in ten minutes, from there we get onto a train which is scheduled to arrive five minutes later and after three hours and one more train, we'll be in Scotland. Our next mission is to collect a girl in Edinburgh. She got in touch with me through e-mail."

"Will she be joining us?" Jasmine asked.

Naomi didn't reply but instead grinned and stood as the train started to slow.

"Scotland here we come."