They'd never believe her, never. Kiera wandered about the park, kicking at branches and litter. She was deep in thought, not really looking where she was going, and she had walked into more than one stranger already. If she told the magicians about what she had heard she would have to admit that she had been outside the school. Not that they'd believe anyway. What could she do, somehow she had to make them believe her.
It wasn't until she looked up that she realised her wandering feet had taken her out of the park. The blossoming trees were all behind her. She supposed she'd better be getting back, History would be finished soon. She strolled quickly through the London streets, ducking and weaving her way through the crowds. She was careful to avoid any magicians or police. They seemed to be everywhere in London. Her thoughts once again returned to the men in the park. There was no doubting what they had said; there was a plot forming. The men had to be from Prague. The way they had mentioned the war, their accents. And what was this demon crystal? If she could come out to town during the weekend she could go to the museum, find out more. Perhaps the magicians would be more likely to believe her then. She'd still have to explain her absence from the school though.
She was still deep in her thoughts when she looked up and spotted him. A policeman. He was on his patrol, just finishing off his hotdog. It was obvious that he'd spotted her. Kiera kept calm, if he saw her panic it could only make it worse. She looked around for an alley. Nothing. She was on a wide street with lots of shops lining one side and a road on the other. Kiera had stopped walking. The policeman was still walking towards her, a frown on his squat face. Now she started to panic. She hurried down a side street, dodging around the people in her way. She wouldn't go into one of the shops. Just as they could hide her, they could also become and dead-end. That wasn't what she needed. She needed an escape route.
When finally she broke out of the jostle of people she had started to run. She found a short alley leading between the back of two rows of houses and sprinted down it. Her footsteps banged against the hard tarmac and echoed around the alley. She thought about hiding in one of the gardens but the doors were locked and she didn't have time to stop. She could hear the policeman behind her. His loud footsteps and heavy breathing seemed so close but when she looked behind her she couldn't see him. She turned another corner. Another alley, more houses. She needed to get back out in the open and merge into the crowd. She cursed to herself, promising to be more careful next time. Her school bag bruised her hip as she ran, her pencil case stabbing into the side of her leg. Kiera forced herself to keep running. Another corner, another alley and still she heard the ever-present shadow of footsteps that followed her.
She turned the next corner, expecting to see more and more ongoing alley but this time she could see people and the movement of the city. She was nearly there. She checked back behind. She couldn't see the policeman but she could still hear his footsteps. She turned back and cried out in alarm as she ran into a boy. She almost fell but he grabbed hold of her sleeve.
"What the -," he started to say, but he too had heard the footsteps behind her. "Oh great! Follow me, quickly."
He held her wrist and dragged her along the alley. She tried to shake him off but his grip kept firm and soon they emerged into the city. Behind her, Kiera saw the policeman turn a corner and spot them.
"He's seen us," she told the boy who was currently looking around for somewhere to go.
The boy looked over his shoulder and swore.
"I hope you can run."
They street was not as busy as the one Kiera had been on before. There were a few small shops and people milled about aimlessly, chatting with friends and family. A woman in a suit strode by quickly, debating on her mobile with whoever was on the other end. Kiera felt her wrist being tugged yet again and the boy pulled her across the street. He ducked into a café with Kiera close behind him.
"Keep quiet, and act normal."
He slowed down to a walk and to Kiera's disapproval moved down from her wrist to hold her hand. He put a smile on his face and acted like one of the customers. Then suddenly he pulled Kiera down and they ducked low and rushed out a back door. Kiera was once again tugged along. She had to be careful to keep herself from tripping over her bag, which was now swinging in front of her legs. The boy looked back and spotted the policeman at the door of the café, scanning the customers with a puzzled look. He ducked down again and pulled Kiera along into the back courtyard of the building. There was a small gate and he flicked up the latch and hurried through, shutting it behind him. They were in another alley.
The boy was again holding Kiera's wrist as they ran along the alley out into the street. Cars whizzed by under a green traffic light. The boy punched the button with his finger, cursing impatiently as the car continued to race by. Finally, after what seemed a life age, the traffic lights turned red and the two hurried across the road. When they finally slumped against they brick wall at the back of a fast food restaurant they were exhausted.
Kiera was breathing heavily, not used to that amount of exercise. She was relieved to have finally escaped. After a short while, when she had caught her breath, she turned to face her mystery rescuer. He was a boy of about her age with straw coloured hair. It was messy and dishevelled from the run, but it didn't look like it would usually be that much different. He had blue-grey eyes like the dusk sky and a reckless smile as he returned her look.
"Get off me," she ordered, shaking her arm so he'd let go.
"Well thanks for helping me," he said with a laugh, "it's my pleasure."
"I never asked for your help."
"You'd rather I'd left you there?"
"No, but-."
The boy raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you," Kiera said grudgingly.
The boy smiled then slipped down the wall to sit on the floor. He broke out into a laugh.
"I thought he'd have us that time. Woah, what a run."
Kiera just frowned. To her it was no laughing matter; the sooner she got back to the academy the better.