Disclaimer: I do not own An Invite, To Eternity. All profit from the poem goes to John Clare's estate. The storyline and original characters are mine, please ask permission before use.

Summary: See Previous Chapters


Chapter Two

Tina caught a train from the airport, if only because the speed would hopefully prevent her from too many gory images. It wouldn't help much with battlefields, which could take anything from a few seconds to a few minutes to bypass, but at least she was less likely to be bothered by individual ghosts.

The downside of taking a cross-country train instead of a several-hours layover, followed by a domestic flight and taxi, was the number of routes to choose from. The quickest route involved three changes, not something Tina wanted to do with a suitcase and a garment bag. The cheapest option with no changes took an extremely roundabout route that added an extra hour or so to the trip.

Eventually, Tina went with the train that wouldn't require having to change anywhere. It would even give her time for a nap to get rid of some of the jetlag. Texting Lizzy the train and estimated time of arrival at the nearest station, Tina closed her eyes and hoped that no-one had died messily on this particular carriage.

The train detoured south-west, before skirting the Welsh border and passing through the Midlands on it's way up to the north of England, where the Dawson's Inn sat near the Scottish border.


Nearing Northampton Station, about five hours into the journey, Tina sat bolt upright, startling those around her. Anger, tangible yet distant, radiated from nearby, and she looked out the window, trying to pinpoint it. The best she could get was a large building, and she pointed it out to the man in the seat across from her. "What's that building there."

The man, wearing a suit and holding a briefcase with 'St Andrew's' stamped on it, followed where she was pointing. "That's St Andrew's Hospital, miss. Why?"

Luckily, Tina had practice in thinking up excuses. "The architecture looked old, and I was trying to figure out what it was."
The man shrugged. "It was built as a Hospital for the insane in the early 1800's, founded by the public. Now it's a psychiatric hospital dealing with various mental disorders, one of the four not covered by the NHS. Excuse me, this is my stop."

Tina thanked him and leaned back in her seat, trying to relax. Hospitals that used to be insane asylums were the worst, and tended to have a lot of angry ghosts, who had been put there for any number of absurd reasons, from 'Ill treatment by husband' to 'female troubles' to 'epileptic fits' or 'falling off a horse during war'. In some cases, the reason was as simple as being a woman whose husband wanted to be rid of her but couldn't obtain a divorce.

And that was before you counted the ones who were genuinely insane or had violent fits.

Nope, Tina was going to keep her eyes firmly closed with her earbuds in until she reached her destination.


Will, a friend of James who had helped with the whole 'Highwayman fiasco', picked her up from the station, roughly forty-five minutes drive from the Inn. Most of the drive was spent in silence, which changed as soon as Tina entered the Inn.

A squeal of joy was Tina's only warning before Lizzy slammed into her in a delighted hug, staying just long enough to say how wonderful it was to see her before being whisked away by a woman who was probably her mother-in-law, leaving James's friends to finish the introductions. Ben, the other friend of James's who had been involved in the possession problems of Tina's last visit, introduced a tall, cocoa-skinned woman to the others. "This is Valerie, we met in one of my History seminars."

Valerie smiled at them, her eyes focusing directly on Tina. "Ben's told me a lot about all of you. It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

Tina smiled back politely as James's grandmother called from the kitchen, causing the soon-to-be-married couple to hurry off in that direction, followed by Ben, which left the two girls alone, staring awkwardly at each other. Tina hated awkward silences, and it caused a small pang at the thought of the comfortable silences that were so common with Lizzy, that were about to become a lot rarer. "So… what do you do?"

Valerie flashed a quick smile, her black eyes lighting up with humour. "Nice intro. I work in a specialised government department. You?"

Tina shrugged. "Personal trainer. Apparently, I'm terrifying enough to make up to make up for my looks."

Valerie rolled her eyes in sympathy. "I know what you mean. Some people still do a double-take when I don't have an exotic accent or speak in wannabe-gangsta."

"Do you get the 'but you're too pretty' and sexual stereotypes in varying degrees of non-subtlety, too? Bane of my existence." Modern day society had become better about it, but several of Tina's older clients still somehow got the idea that a woman couldn't be involved in a physically-demanding profession (or reach 30 without having a steady relationship) unless they were a lesbian. Yes, Tina was fairly sure that she wasn't all-the-way-straight, but it was the principal of the thing!

It was Valerie's turn to shrug. "Sometimes. Most people are smart enough to realise that I wouldn't have made it to my current position without being very good at my job, but others seem to think that I'm some kind of affirmative action Bond Girl."

Tina managed not to grimace. For all that society was improving, they still had a long way to go. But what kind of specialised department was Valerie in to cause Bond Girl comparisons? "So, how does that relate to meeting Ben in a History seminar and being his plus one for a wedding?"

Valerie grinned broadly. "Personal interest and research into my then-current assignment. He also dated my sister for a few months, but they broke up last week. We're friends, so he asked me, instead."

Tina nodded, but remained suspicious. The ghost of a skin-and-bones child, most likely a street urchin from somewhere else in the village, had crept into the room while they had been talking, seen Valerie, and was making a significantly faster exit. "Lizzy's a history nut, too. Sometimes it comes in handy, most of the time she needs to be reminded that obscure facts are not common knowledge."

Valerie's eyes seemed to pierce through Tina, prying her open and extracting her secrets. "Yes, I imagine that was helpful when she and James were trying to get un-possessed."

Tina snapped instantly into defence mode. Governments taking an interest in private citizens, especially private citizens from other countries, never ended well. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Valerie considered her for a long moment. "Then I'll tell you after dinner, when there are less prying ears around."

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A/N: For those who care, St Andrews Hospital is a real place, currently dealing in patients with mental disorders, from schizophrenia to the autism spectrum and learning difficulties. It's incarnation as an Asylum is where John Clare was re-institutionalised, and later died, and also the place where he wrote two of his most famous poems: 'I Am' and 'An Invite, To Eternity'.

Research fun facts.

As always, feedback of any kind is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Nat