To whom it may concern:
Thank you for the reviews.
Faust - Aw, come on now! He did tell her to go off and get married, you can't blame her for that! You just sit there with your soothing lavender!
Drakena the Destroyer - You're totally right. But now get ready for some action! (this being the first real action I have ever written!) Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Nope it doesn't belong to me.
Chapter 5 – The First Clue
"St. James's Park," Sawyer stated, gazing at the greenery around them. Their anonymous messenger obviously wanted them to come here, but now that they were here, the League were a little stuck for something to do.
"Well, what do we do now we're here?" Skinner asked the others, impatiently. He kicked at the grass below his feet. Mina walked over to a tree and inspected it closely while Nemo looked out for anyone who might be trying to gaining their attention.
"There isn't much we can do, for the moment," Mina replied, removing a glove to touch the bark of the tree. "'If we need him', the messenger told us. I suppose we should wait until he contacts us."
"He didn't sound that interested in letting us know who he was," Skinner told Mina. "What makes you think that he'll suddenly reveal himself to us now?" Skinner sat himself down and leant against a tree.
"It's the only lead we have," Nemo said, sternly. "Are you suggesting that we should just ignore it, Mr Skinner?" He turned to look at the invisible man, leaning against the tree. Skinner ignored this remark.
Sawyer strolled around, looking for anything peculiar. There were just as many people in St. James's Park as there were in the streets. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. It was just your average summer day.
Sighing, he sat himself down on a bench beside a small lake. He looked at the ducks swim across the water and noticed a reflection of a lady. She seemed to be looking straight at him. Looking up, Sawyer looked over the lake to see her more clearly. Obviously older than himself, her dark brown hair was tied up in a very formal fashion. He noticed that she had a very dark complexion, much darker than any other British woman he had met. She wore an elegant dress that fitted her tall, slim figure perfectly. She continued to look at Sawyer.
Smiling at her, Sawyer rose and decided to make his way across the lake to speak to her. He was interrupted by Jekyll returning.
"Have you found anything useful yet?" Jekyll asked, as he approached Sawyer. He shook his head.
"Nope," Sawyer replied. Jekyll walked away from him and towards the others. Taking this opportunity, Sawyer turned to face the woman over the lake. He couldn't see her. His eyes darted over the area, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"This is hopeless," Skinner spoke up, remaining seated on the floor. "We aren't going to find anything!" As much as he annoyed Mina, she was beginning to agree with him. They had been searching for almost an hour now, and they hadn't seen anything that could possibly help. Not that she was entirely sure what they could find that would help them. They were lacking slightly in clues. Someone was planning to steal a priceless emerald from the British museum. They knew nothing of the thief, or of the person who had informed them of this.
The League remained there for another hour, still unsuccessful. Most people had left the park and the evening was drawing in. Sawyer continued to look out for the woman he had seen over the lake, but he had not seen her again.
"I suggest we head back before it gets dark," Nemo told the others. Each agreeing with Nemo, the four others grouped together with him.
They had just started walking, when Jekyll stopped abruptly.
"Did you hear that?" He asked them, looking around. They listened intently to whatever it was that Jekyll was talking about. There was a very faint noise; similar to the rustling of leaves. "What do you suppose it is?" Jekyll asked them nervously.
"It's just the wind in the trees," Skinner told him. "Honestly, Jekyll. Calm down!" Skinner set off walking again, but realising that he was the only one, stopped and turned back to face the motionless League. "Are you lot coming or..."
Slowly, behind the others, a huge green, leafy vine was creeping up behind them. It curled high into the air, poising to strike. Skinner let out a yell, warning the others.
Nemo, Mina, Jekyll and Sawyer all scattered in different directions as the single vine lashed out at where they had been previously standing. Without pause, it lifted back up into the air and hurled itself at Nemo, who managed to leap out of the way just in time. Removing his sword, he started to swing at the vine, which curled and twisted out of the way.
Just as the others were about to rush over to Nemo, another two vines curled out from behind the trees. They were phenomenal in size. The vine itself must have been at least a foot in diameter, and had large, five lobed leaves. The stems were covered in sinister looking thorns. The two new vines darted at Sawyer and Mina.
Skinner, who had shed his clothes by now, ran down the length of the vine, searching for its roots. He managed to get as far as the tree it had first emerged from when he noticed a dark figure in the distance. Distracted for a moment, he stopped and squinted trying to see who or what it was. Just then one of the leaves hit him sharply across the face. It was as if a piece of sandpaper had been pulled across his cheek. He muttered under his breath reaching to his face. It was bleeding. Cursing under his breath he looked up again, just in time to see the figure disappear into a group of trees ahead of them. He set out to follow him.
The vine lashed at Mina, as she dissolved into a flurry of bats. Attaching themselves to the vine, the bats tried to disable it as Mina turned to Jekyll.
"What are you waiting for?" She called to him. "Change into Hyde!" Not needing further instruction, Jekyll grabbed a vial of potion from his jacket and quickly downed it.
Sawyer pulled his gun from off his shoulder and started firing wildly at the approaching vine. The thorns started to fire themselves at Sawyer, who dodged a few before getting hit in the arm with one. Biting his lip, he grabbed at it trying to pull it from his arm.
Once the transformation finished, Hyde ran towards the vine and grabbed two of the leaves. He leapt into the tangle of creepers and started trying to rip them apart.
Managing to get the vine where he wanted it, Nemo brought his sword down on it, cutting off the last yard of the tip. The vine curled back in pain and thrashed about.
It began to retreat from the League, curling behind the trees.
"Quickly!" Nemo cried to the others. "Find out where it's going!" Sawyer bounded after the vine. He followed it through the first band of trees and saw it curl behind a small clump of trees in front of him.
Running after it, he ran into the group of trees, but as soon as they had done so, the vine had disappeared.
"Where the hell has that gone?" Sawyer exclaimed. He took another pace forwards, and promptly fell into a heap on the floor.
"Watch where you're going," Skinner yelled, pulling himself from the floor. "I almost had her!" Sawyer looked up and briefly saw the woman he had seen earlier run out of sight.
Standing quickly, he turned to where he though Skinner was.
"Who is she?" Sawyer asked Skinner.
"I don't know," he replied. "But I think we've found our thief."
Skinner and Sawyer returned to the others, who were recovering after the attack. Hyde was painfully turning back into Jekyll and Mina was composing herself.
"The thief is a woman!" Sawyer shouted out to them. "We saw her running away. She must have been trying to stop us." Nemo looked up towards them.
"And of the vine?" He asked. Sawyer shook his head.
"We lost it." He said apologetically. "Sorry." Skinner obtained his coat and swiftly put it back on.
"It's ain't half getting chilly now!" He exclaimed to the others. "Fancy giving us a hug to warm us up, Mina?" She gave him a stern look and walked towards Nemo who held the tip of the vine that he had chopped off. The others crowded around him to look at it. It wasn't like anything they'd seen before.
"What an earth is it?" Jekyll asked, breathless.
"I don't know." Nemo told him. "But I know who will."
NB: There we go! How was it? Reviews are welcome, hint, hint!