Yeah, this one ends with a snap journey as well... It's also really short, but what can you do. Well, enjoy!
"AAAHHH!" They re-appeared with a snap on a dark street, Lila stumbling and falling forward onto her face, tasting asphalt. Tom laughed and leaned down to help her to her feet.
swallowed, "what was that? What did we just do?"
"You never forget your first." He grinned as she spit gravel. "But don't worry, you did quite well actually. I've had hundreds of fainters." Lila shuddered, still stunned at the sudden change in location.
She swallowed. "What was that? What did we just do?"
"We snapped" Tom replied. "It's how we usually get around - faster, you know." as he talked , Tom looked up and down the street, signaling with one hand for her to follow him as he set out down the road. "Unfortunately, you'll just have to stick to conventional means of travel - you won't learn or be allowed to snap until your fourth year."
Lila nervously stuffed her hands into her pockets as they walked along, glancing around at the dark and deserted street. "Where exactly are we?" she ventured.
"Ah," Tom replied with a knowing look. "This, my dearest Lillian, is the entrance to our world. Top secret, bobs your uncle and all that." He winked and tapped the side of his nose as they reached a small side alley coming off the footpath, set between two old abandoned buildings. The alleyway entrance was blocked by an old, black iron gate that looked like it had been pulled straight from a nineteenth century cemetery, rusted padlock and all.
"Okay..." Lila looked past the creepy gate into the murky trash filled alley and started to wonder if maybe Tom was crazy after all. He saw the expression on her face and laughed.
"Don't be fooled by appearances, my dear. This here is the winter gate, one of many entrances into our 's deliberately foreboding and unassuming, wouldn't want any plains sneaking in now would we?" as he said this he reached out a hand, but then stopped suddenly, looking over at Lila - or more specifically her hair, which was glinting silver in the faint moonlight. "Ah." He reached inside his coat and pulled put a small black beanie, handing it over to her, saying "put this on." Confused, Lila complied, twisting her hair up and tucking it under the too-warm woolen hat.
Satisfied he nodded, and looked her over once before turning back to the gate and laying his palm once more on the iron. The apparently not-so-padlocked gate swung open at his touch and they stepped forward.
As they walked into the alley Lila felt a resistance in the air, an invisible barrier of some sort that brushed against her skin. She frowned and pushed forward. Walking through it her senses were suddenly assaulted as light, smells and sound bombarded her. Coming to a halt and shutting her eyes in shock, the first thing she registered was the temperature. The air that brushed her skin was deliciously cool, and Lila, for the first time in a long time, wasn't hot. The wind blowing in her face was like a balm against her skin. It smelled of ice, and tasted like snow and rain. Curious, and filled with a strange longing for the promises of cold and beauty that the wind brought with it, she listened. She could hear people, crowds and music that came from every direction. Confused and taking a deep breath, Hearing Tom chuckling beside her, Lila opened her eyes and looked out at a different world.
They were standing in a large, grey cobbled square, with tall, grand buildings along the
ides. All around her people were milling about, going in and out of a strange array of stores and shops that filled alleyways and the lined sides of the square. Snowflakes fell from a deep blue sky to cover the roofs of the buildings and blanket a few scattered trees. Soft snow brushed her cheek and she reached up a hand to catch a snowflake as it fell, drawing in a breath at the beautiful patterns and designs. She looked up at her guide to se him watching her with a small smile.
"Quite something, isn't it?" he gestured around he square. "Welcome to Giddeons square, Miss Glass." She fell into step beside him as he strode purposefully along, weaving in and out of the crowds. Lila stared around her, drinking it in. It was really weird to see people wearing normal clothes in the snow, a group of young children running past in raggedy denim shorts and t-shirts. Most of the adults wore silver cloaks with different colored trims over jeans and jackets, and teenagers hung around in groups, laughing and chatting. Tom was saying something. Lila looked up, trying to pay attention. "London is only one of the four centers of winter" he was explaining. "the others are, you'll not be surprised to find, among the coldest places on the planet, where our magic is strongest, and affects the human world much more. We have two schools, Vael academy, which is in Russia, and the Ivy, which you'll be going to, which is here in London. Now, here we are."
They had reached a small store across the square, which had an old sign above the door that read, in old peeling paint, CAMBRIDGE AND SONS BOOKS. Tom pushed the door open and handed her a piece of paper as they walked into the shop. It seemed to be a list of books, with titles such as 'frost casting - grade 1' and 'the art of defense, preliminary'. She looked up. "these are my school books?" Tom nodded and guided her to a large section at the back.
"You will find everything on your list over here." and with that, he left her to it, wandering over to a section labelled 'healing'. Lila scanned through the list and began searching the shelves, choosing the second-hand versions of each text, not sure of how much money she had been given to spend on school supplies. She could always glue the covers back together if worst came to worst.
About half an hour later she had managed to find relatively cheap copies of all the books on the list and went to meet up with Tom, who was flicking through a magazine. She noticed that the old man serving them at the counter had on the same silver robe as all the other adults she had seen in the square, his with a dark blue trim. Tom payed for the books and they left the store, Lila swinging her bag of purchases from one hand. She was so distracted by her new purchases that she nearly an into the back of her guide, who had stopped outside the door and was holding his arm out to her. His lips twitched and he jerked his head. "Come, it's getting dark, we've got to get you settled in, term starts in three days." Lila swallowed. This was it, no turning back now. She took a deep breath and gingerly placed her hand on his arm, remembering the last snap journey she had been on. Tom grinned at her reluctance to repeat the experience, and with a twist of blue light and a raised eyebrow, they left the square.