Chapter 4
The smell of sea and smog filled Olivia's nostrals. Smoke from people's chimneys hung in the air, just barely visible under the grey blanket of clouds that spread as far as the eye could see. Warm lights from people's houses shone like small, welcoming fireflies.
This is it... She thought to herself, Finally, London...
"Well, is there anywhere in general you want me to let you off, Oliver?" Mr. Steward asked.
"Huh?" Olivia asked snapping back into reality, "Oh-- no sir. My home is actually not that far from here; I can get off here, in fact- I would like to walk around my neighborhood before I go home to suprise my mother."
"That sounds like a fine idea, lad," Mr. Steward said with a smile. He pulled the reins to stop his horse from touring further. Olivia hopped down from the carriage and turned to Mr. Steward. "Thank you so much for the ride, Mr. Steward! I don't know how to repay you..."
"Oh, don't fret, lad," Mr. Steward said with a warm smile. "'Do unto others' is what I always say. Anway, I must be off. Take care of yourself!" With a small wave and a snap of his reins, Mr. Steward followed his road further into the city.
Olivia looked around and took in her surroundings. She was surrounded by different tall grey buildings, all with lights glowing in the windows and rooms. She saw signs for a tailor and a butcher's shop; the rest must have been houses of some sort. But that didn't matter. What did matter was she was here and the city was open to her to do as she pleased. She walked around aimlessly for a long while looking at all the different buildings and people, as well as savoring the smells of the different foods being prepaired and the flowers being sold by beggar ladies. After a while however, the people crowding the streets started to grow scarce, and the air began to grow more cold. Olivia shivered as a chill ran down her spine and started puffing out steam. She looked around again to see where she was and where she should go for the night.
Wonderful... Olivia thought bitterly, I never thought about what I should do for shelter when I got here... What am I gonna do now...?
Olivia- listen to me, said the same myserious voice that had spoken to her before. Follow what I say and I can find you a place to stay...
"How can I trust you? I don't even know who or what you are!" Olivia whispered aloud.
I haven't lead you astray yet, have I...?
"Well, no... But-- "
Olivia- do you see that alley way over there...?
"Which alley way? There are so man-" Before she could finish what she was saying, her head started to turn on it's own toward an alley way on her left. More chills ran down her spine and she gasped at the un-voluntary motion of her head.
That alley... Now... Go down there...
Olivia hesitated. Who was this person in her head? And what exactly just happened with her head-turning? But before she could further delve into thought, white snow started to fall from the sky. This is no time to think, she thought, I just have to move... Slowly, she made her way down the darkening alley. As she walked, her eyes started to pick up on the movement in the alley. There were rats running close to the walls of buildings, and in the shadow of the alley, she could make out a few figures of people slumped over as if they were asleep. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Olivia reached the end of the alley. Giving a sigh of relief, she started to move forward onto the street. But before she could, she felt a strong hand clamp around her arm and drag her back into the alley. Before she could react, she was thrown against a wall. A man with a grizzly beard and horribly pale skin was staring down at her. His sunken eyes had no life- no light to them; save for a slight glassy shine. The glassy shine that is found in the eyes of mad men.
"Hey there little boy... Do you have any bourbon...?" The old man asked, his breath hot and foul in Olivia's face. She grimaced at the smell. "N-no," she managed to choke.
"Well, your quite the daper little boy, aren't you...? How about you give me all the money you have, so I can get some bourbon for myself...?"
Olivia shook her head, getting more and more frightened by the second. "I-I don't have any money, sir...!"
He turned his head like a confused puppy. A crazy confused puppy. "Oh... Oh I think you have money... And so does my little friend... Don't you think so, Paul...?" When he said that, he pulled a knife out of his pocket. The blade was knicked and almost rusted, but it still looked like it could peirce someone's heart if thrusted hard enough. And Olivia had always heard her father and mother say never to disrequard the strength of the mad, and Olivia had a feeling that this man was mad enough to do some damage with "Paul."
"Now...." he continued, "give me all you got... Unless you wanna give me some other kind of goods..." he said, eyeing Olivia up and down. Oh God... Olivia thought, on the verge of tears, God, please help me... Please! Somebody!
Suddenly, Olivia felt her body go stiff. Don't fight, Olivia, the voice said again, Let me help you...
"A--Alright..." Olivia said as a frightened tear slid down her cold cheek.
"What was that, boy?" The old man said, a crazy smile on his face, "Have you decided to give me a little something extr-UMPH!"
Olivia's hand had curled into a fist and shot into the old man's gut. Then, she lashed out and kicked him in the head when he was still on his knees. Olivia started to tremble- she wasn't the one fighting. Just like what had happened earlier, her body was just moving to someone else's accord. What's going on?!" She thought wildly, What am I doing?! What are you doing?! She thought toward the strange voice.
As if in response, her body bent down and picked up Paul. Whoever was controling her looked at the knife in disgust. "This is a poor excuse of a blade... Much like you are a poor excuse of a human...." She said in a deeper, richer and darker voice that didn't belong to her. Slowly, she moved toward the old man who was now lying on the ground in pain and shock.
What are you doing?! Olivia thought. She had no control over her body, but she could see the whole scene as if she were along for the ride. Why am I not running?! Why am I moving back to him?! Stop this! STOP!
"This pathetic man, this fine example of vermin doesn't deserve to live any longer, Olivia dear..." Said the dark voice that came out of her mouth, "So I'm fixing the problem..."
"Who... who's Olivia...?" The old man groaned. He was bleeding from the mouth and was trying to sit up. Olivia's fist shot out again and knocked him to the ground again. Olivia looked on in horror. She could never muster up the strength of a blow that strong.... Where was all of this coming from?! And what happend next scared Olivia more than anything she had witnessed before in her lifetime. Slowly, she saw her hand reach out and lift up the old man's scruffy, hagard head by his hair. She felt a wicked smile parting her lips, and she started to draw back Paul, focusing on the old man's exposed neck...
No... No! NO!!! Olivia's mind screamed. Everything she had inside of her was pushing forward, trying to stop whoever-it-was from commiting this aweful act. Still, her hand moved backward, getting ready to strike. Then she felt it release- moving with lightning speed toward the man's throat.
"I SAID NO!" Olivia's normal voice shouted out. She quickly realized she had just heard her voice. Next she realized how heavy the old man's head was in her left hand. She quickly looked at him and saw that the blade had stopped and was just barely touching his skin- not a scratch on his sickly skin. Olivia then jumped back in horror, letting the man fall back down with a groan of pain. Olivia looked in her trembling right hand where she was gripping Paul- her nails had dug into her palm, a small trickle of blood coming down the side of her hand. "I... I stopped it..." she said to herself. Then she heard some scuffling sounds. She looked ahead of her and saw that the old man was starting to stand. "You... You give me back Paul, you weird little bastard..." he growled, slowly moving toward her. Quickly she reacted on her own. She threw Paul as hard as she could toward the wall on her right. Once Paul connected with the hard stone structure, it's rusted blade snapped in two and fell to the ground; useless.
"Nooooo!" The old man howled, "Paul! Look what you did to Paul! You little bastaaarrrddd!!!" He dove for Olivia, who instinctivly jumped back. She then turned and began to run as fast as she could through the streets. Behind her she heard the old man running behind her, and catching up. Olivia pushed herself to go faster, but no matter what she did, he was always right behind her. The sound of him running began to get louder and louder. She could feel the heat of his fingers reaching out for the back of her neck. "I've got you now!" He shouted triumphantly, "I've got you, you little bast-OOF!"
Olivia ran a few more steps and turned to see what happened. The old man was once again lying on the street. But this time he was holding his head in pain. And lying beside him was an... apple...?
"That's what you get, you nasty old codger," a boy's voice said. Olivia looked to her left and saw a boy, probably around 17 standing there with another apple in hand. Slowly he swaggered over to where Olivia stood and looked down at the old man on the ground who was now glaring at him. "Why did you do that?!" The old man growled as he tried to stand up, "I was getting what I owed from that brat! He broke Paul! The kid owes me!"
"The hell he did," the older boy spat. "I've seen you around here- you're a crazy old drunk who talked to his pathetic excuse of a knife. You make me sick... Get the hell outta here before I call in the authorities."
"Oh yeah...?" The old man said, finally reaching his feet, "Why don't you and I just settle this like men and fight it out!"
"I don't think you want to do that, old man..." The older boy said, "Besides... I've already killed one man in my life- I don't want to have to kill you, too."
The old man laughed, "You? Killed a man? Prove it!"
Olivia watched as a dark look passed over the older boy's face. He moved closer to the old man. He was much taller than the old man, and looked much stronger. "Prove it, you say...?" He said quietly, ice in his voice, "I really don't think you want me to do that..."
Slowly, Olivia saw the look on the old man's face change from crazed anger, to fear. "Calm down, son.." he said, "Calm down now... I didn't mean harm... Calm down, son..." He backed away, and the older boy smiled. He then turned and moved back to stand by Olivia. "You alright?" He asked her, smiling warmly at her. "Y-yes," she said, feeling heat rising to her cold cheeks, "thank you..." He smiled at her and then looked back at the old man who was now starting to walk away.
"Oye! Codger! One more thing...." he called out the the old man. He turned and glared at him, "What?!"
"You shouldn't pick on little girls... People get killed over that, don't you know..."
"Girls?! What the hell are you talking about?!" the old man yelled back, totally suprised.
Olivia gasped as she felt her hat being lifted off of her head. She could then feel the sensation of something hitting her back. Hair?! She grapped a handful of her hair in disbelefe; it was just as long as it was when she cut it at her house. But... how...?! she thought in panic.
"See?" The older boy continued, "A girl. Now, remember what I said and crawl back to your alley like the rat you are." With that, he laid a hand on Olivia's shoulder and steered her away with him, but not before he bent over and picked a bag of apples that was sitting a little ways away from him.
"How...." Olivia stammered, "My hair was..."
The older boy just smiled as he walked, his hand still on her shoulder. "Well, I saw a little strand hanging out from under your cap. That was my first hint. Besides, your also too pretty to be a boy." Olivia felt heat rush to her cheeks again. But my hair was short...! I cut it myself! I saw it fall to the floor! She thought, How did it grow back...?!
"So, where do you live? I could escort you home just in case you run into any more low lives," he said. He seemed like a genuinly nice boy. Had he just lied about the whole killing-a-man thing...? Then again, who was she to judge? She almost killed a man today...
"Um... well... I don't live anywhere..." Olivia said, looking at the ground. "I ran away from home to come to London, and I never even considered..." A lump had started to form in her throat that made it impossible to talk. The older boy looked down at her in pity. He was quite for a little while, and then smiled and said, "Well, I actually know a place where you can stay... And as a matter of fact, I'm on my way there now!"
Olivia looked at him in suprise. "Your... helping me..? Again?"
He smiled at her and Olivia felt her heart skip a beat. "Of course. I know what it's like not having anywhere to go... And it's not good for girls to stay on the streets. Especially when they almost got killed. Don't worry, I'll take care of you." Olivia smiled at him and for the first time, got a good look at him. He was tall- much taller than her. He was thin, but she could see he also looked physically strong, as well as having a strong and hansome face. He had a nice tan complection, which was much different from her paleness. He also had dark messy hair and eyes that looked black, but as he looked down at her as she gazed at him, she could see that they were actually a rich, cocoa brown.
"You alright?" He asked her. "Um... yes, yes, I'm fine" she said with a weak smile. "Good. We're almost there..."
Soon they made there way to a building with a dark wooden door, right on the corner of St. Micheal's street. The boy smiled as they drew closer. "This is it," he said. He then reached for her hand and pulled her with him, "Common now, it's getting colder by the second!" He pulled her up to the door with him and he knocked three times. Soon, it opened and Olivia saw an old, friendly looking woman standing in the doorway. "Oh! Your back! I was begining to think you forgot where I lived. Did you bring the apples?"
The boy smiled and handed the sack over to her. "Here you go, ma'am. 2 pounds of apples, like you requested."
The woman lifted the bag up and down, as if weighing it. Then her face grew sour and said, "This isn't two pounds...!"
"Are you sure?" the boy asked, fakeing suprise.
"I have been delivering childern for almost 35 years," she said, "so I think I would know what 2 pounds would feel like!"
"Your right... I had to sacrifice one in order to help someone out of a pinch today..."
"Oh really? Who would that be?" The boy then looked over at Olivia, who suddenly felt really awkward. "Oh! Well hello there, child! You look pale as death!" She then turned back to the boy and asked, "Is she alright?"
"She had a run in with a dangerous character and I helped her," he explained casually.
"Oh, how sweet of you! So deary," she said, turning back to Olivia, "Where is it you live?"
"That's what I brought her here for," the boy contined, "She has no where to go, and it wouldn't be right to leave her on the streets again, what with what just happened to her and the snow and whatnot... So, do you think you could let her stay with you for a while...? You always did help me out when I was in need..."
The old woman nodded, "I don't see a problem with it... Well dear, I'm Mrs. Jenkins, and you are...?"
"Oh, I'm Olivia..."
"Olivia... What a pretty name..." she said with a smile. "Well, if you don't mind I must be getting back inside- it's hard to bake an apple pie with no apples. Please, come right in and make yourself at home, deary... Oh! And here's your reward for fetching me those apples..." She said, reaching into her apron pockets and pulling out a peice of paper and handing to the boy. "It's my famous apple pie recipe... Use it well..."
"Yes ma'am... I will..." the boy said, his face aglow with happiness.
"Well, come inside, child! It's freezing out here!"
"Oh, yes ma'am..." Olivia said as she slowly followed Mrs. Jenkins inside. Before she passed the threshold she turned to the boy who was still on the front steps, snow lightly frosting his dark hair. "Thank you again..." she said, smiling shyly.
"Not at all," he said with another warm smile. "You take care now, alright? Don't go down anymore strange allies... G'night!" He said as he turned and started down the street.
"Uh... Wait!" Olivia called after him. He then turned and smiled at her. "Yes?"
"I never asked you..." Olivia said, "What is your name?"
He gave her another smile and she could feel her heart skip a beat. "My name?" He called to her, starting to walk backwards so he could still face her, "It's Toby."