I am sorry it's been so long since chapter two. Thankyou so much to all that have reviewed. i appreciate it so much. This chapter is slightly longer and probably not as well written as some (again, im sorry about that).. but i hope you love it all the same. Chapter 4 might take longer to write since ive got about a dozen other stories to be writing :O ahh lol Please R&R XXX
Chapter three:
"Wow." Luce couldn't help but stare in awe as Al led her into his victorian style house with an open balcony and plush kitchen surfaces and a fluffy carpet that made Luce think she was sinking.
Al seemed more comfortable about Luce since arriving. He lived in Mayfair and after a long and chilly walk down Piccadilly they turned into the most expensive line of homes Luce had ever seen.
"Would you like some tea?"
Luce sat down on one of the suede sofas lounged along the wall facing the fire.
"Oh, no, thanks." This time, she meant it. Al's kitchenette was in full view of the sitting area.
He threw a smile at Luce, quickly turned on the kettle then came around to sit with her.
The way he looked at her made Luce feel exposed. Like he was reading her inside and out. She coughed nervously then looked at her feet.
"So," Al said, nodding his head for something to do.
"So," Luce replied, looking up to him. She bit her bottom lip, mentally kicking herself for the habit.
"This may sound crude, but i feel like i've met you before,"
"You do?" said Luce, taken aback. She fumbled with the ruffled ends of her dress, not sure whether to blush or be concerned.
Al shook his head this time, looking down for a second then back to her, his eyes not giving away anything but friendliness.
The energy that connected between Luce and Al was tangible. She certainly had a familiar sense emanating from him but of what she wasn't sure.
"Never mind. It's probably just my mind playing tricks. Besides, the person i'm thinking of would have died long ago. My cousin, she was called Lucinda. She looked a little like you, but lighter hair." he blushed slightly and waved a hand in the hair to forget it. "Ah just ignore me. It's nothing."
Luce felt her insides freeze with guilt and nerves. He wasn't going crazy. Of course it made sense for Luce not to remember him if she really had known him from the 30's originally. But if he even the tiniest bit realised that she wasn't just a look a like, that it really was his cousin, Lucinda, reincarnated, he no doubt would kick her out.
"I, yeah, she sounds nice." Luce replied distantly.
Al eyed her curiously as if something she'd said had reminded him of something. Without thinking, she stood up and began to leave the house without a word. The pain was excruciating. She thought going through time would help her find out who she was and what her destiny would be, but instead it was giving her more questions and less answers.
"Luce, wait!" Al caught up to her before she stepped out the door, where the after noon light was baring from behind the silver clouds.
She turned around to look into his brown eyes. Her hand was still on the door handle and she heard people walking past outside. She didn't want to know what kind of faces they might be making.
"I'm sorry. I just... I... don't think i can stay here." without pausing to wait for an answer, she raced out the door and down the steps, into the crowd. She didn't look back. Of course there was some part of her brain telling her she was being stupid. And yes, she wanted to find out more about her past, but at the same time, she was scared. Petrified, even.
"Luce, wait!" Al's voice floated to her ears as she tried to walk away between people carrying bags of groceries and business briefcases.
She turned to face him once he had caught up about 100 yards away from his house. Rain started to spit down on her. A bit like how she felt her life was turning out. She waited for a hole in the ground to open up and swallow her, preferably taking her to Daniel. She missed him.
"I'm sorry okay. You say i look like Lucinda? Well, guess what, i am her." Luce admitted, throwing her arms up in dismay. Seeing his face drop like a penny in water, she quickly covered her mouth before any more unwanted words popped out. Running her hand over her face, exasperated, she sighed. A few people stopped to look at them but otherwise it was like they were in their own bubble. Al stood a good couple of feet in front of her, gobsmacked. His hair was getting flattened by the now thick droplets of rain appearing from the sky, which also made Luce shiver since she didn't have his jacket over her anymore. Her once clean, dry, tea dress was now almost see-through and soaking. Al's clothes weren't weathering well either, come to notice.
He opened his mouth to say something, then haltered. Seemingly noticing they were in a public place. Finally he came up with:
"Is this some kind of.. joke?"
Luce opened her mouth a fraction, thinking about her words carefully. "No. It's not." She braced herself for the fight to come. She didn't think she could handle him leaving her. She'd got so close to finding out more and she just ruined it by being paranoid.
"You don't understand. It's.. complicated."
Al grabbed her by her upper arms and looked into her eyes. Tears began to form at his eyes and then he was hugging her. A sob echoing from deep within him. The rain continued to pour down.
He let go of her for a moment and said, "Can we please go inside and talk about this?"
A blink of confusion escaped Luce like thunder in the sky... Then she nodded.
Xxx
"You're really... Lucinda?" he asked with a bewildered expression as Luce went to sit down on the nearest chair, Al handing her a towel.
Nodding, she began to dry off her hair. The clothes would have to be dry cleaned.
"But... how?"
She didn't have an answer to that... until a deep bobble of darkness floated to her from the window. An Announcer. She shivered, then tried to forget it was there. Al wasn't paying much attention to anything, just pacing back and forth, hands running through his neatly cropped hair. When his hair was starting to stand on end, he turned to her, eyes gleaming with endless questions. And Luce came up with endless answers she didn't have.
A minute of awkward silence, and then he looked to the Announcer that was being persistant in getting her attention.
"What's that?"
Luce swallowed, casting brief glances at the shadow that no doubt held inportant information for her. "Oh, that? It's nothing. Just..." she looked at it once again and sighed.
"I'm sorry," She noticed Al shaking his head between herself and the object butting her head. "I've got to do this. Please, if you believe me, and trust me even the tiniest bit, you need to let me do this."
Then dropping the towel, she stood up in her squishy shoes and reached out to grab the shadow. It squiggled its way around but she held firm.
"What are you doing?" Al asked from behind her. Luce kept her back to him, not wanting to be distracted. She stretched the shadow into a small tv screen and soon shapes and colour moved into an semi-understandable mess.
She gasped. In the middle of a high street, with lots of shoppers holding umbrella's in the pouring rain, stood Cam. Behind him was the bank and then next to that, a row of victorian style houses. She panicked, which caused her to drop the Announcer. It crashed to the floor into pieces and she hurriedly paced around the room like a dizzy fly.
"What is it?" said Al, trying to grab hold of her so she wouldn't fall over. She was still dripping wet and she realised he still wanted answers that she could not give, unless...
"Come with me!" she announced, shaking his hold off her and looking deep into his eyes. "Yes, that's it.. come with me!"
He shook his head, confused. "Come with you, where?"
She felt it rather than saw it. A bigger Announcer this time, but brown. Luce was beginning to tell the difference between portal announcers and just general answering ones.
With no hesitation, she ignored Al's fluttering eyes and gaping mouth and grabbed hold of it, stretching it has wide as she possibly could. It still wouldn't get wide enough to step through.
"Help me will you?" she asked Al as she held it out for him to grab. "Stretch it as big as you can. I need a door!"
Some struggling moments later, Luce had her door. But Al still hadn't said whether he'd go with her. She glanced out the window, only to see Cam on the other side of the street. He was gaining on her. Crap! She took one step through the portal, holding onto Al's hand.
"Where are you going?" he said, a tear coming down his cheek.
"I don't know," was all she could say. "Come with me!"
He shook his head and let her go. A deep ache made it itself known in her heart.
"I can't. I have a life here. I don't even know where you're going, Lucinda, but i believe you, and weirdly enough, i trust you. Please remember me?" he seemed to sad and suddenly much younger in age. She wished she could stay and live a glorious life with him but she'd already lived that once.
"I'll miss you, Al. I'll look up your grandkids!" was the final words Luce could say before being drowned by darkness. All too soon she was floating into a world unknown.