The Temporal Stone

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Huge thanks to Jill, Brittany and Mary for reading and correcting my work. I'm hugely grateful to you all. A special thanks to all my friends, social networking pals and readers for the constant support they always provide. And of course to Michael, my best friend and love of my life. Thanks for putting up with me during the lengthy writing process! I want to dedicate this book to my beautiful brand new niece who was born during the editing process. oOo Ava Dillyse oOo Hopefully one day you'll love books as much as I do! CHAPTER 1 Stretching her long pale limbs beneath the warm duvet cover, Emma let out a deep yawn and climbed out of bed. She strolled over to Lana and shook her vigorously just as Moira appeared out of the bathroom towel-drying her hair. 'She'll be late again,' she chuckled as she walked past. Emma rolled her eyes. 'Come on, Sis. Time to get up, we've got to be ready earlier this morning, remember?' A faint moan could be heard from beneath the covers. Emma shook her head. 'Come on, get up, lazy bones.' 'No, it's too early,' grumbled Lana who rolled over languidly. 'Well, if you're not up and ready soon, you'll miss out on our trip to Somerset with the rest of the class,' Emma replied with her eyebrows raised as she slowly made her way to the bathroom, a towel slung over her shoulder. The covers were immediately flung back and Lana groaned with an excited grin. ‘Somerset here we come,’ Lana groaned. She threw back the covers immediately and hopped up with an excited grin. Throwing on her dressing gown, she began frantically emptying her wardrobe, trying to find the perfect outfit to wear. oOo Hand in gloved hand with her boyfriend, Diarmuid, Emma stood dressed entirely in black and purple, her dark hair tied back in two simple plaits and a checked woolly hat perched on top of her head. Noticing she was shivering, Diarmuid pulled her close and rubbed her arms up and down while she laughed. He then pulled her into a more secluded spot, allowing a faint glow to emanate from his body. Warmth immediately embraced them both. 'Better?' he asked. 'Hm hm,' Emma nodded as she leant her head on his shoulder. As they waited for the rest of the g**g, Lana walked up the steps that led from the academy. With a huge grin plastered across her face, she walked over to her sister where she turned this way and that. Emma shook her head, laughing. 'Well?' asked Lana. 'Yeah Sis, you look amazing. Is that the new dress you bought last week?' 'It is. It's gorgeous isn't it?' 'Let's just say - it's very you. I wouldn't wear it though!' laughed Emma as Diarmuid wolf whistled from behind her. 'Well of course you wouldn't. It's not black or purple and it's a dress,' she joked as she put her long brown coat back on over the long-sleeved leopard print dress which was a little inappropriate for a field trip across the country. Moments later, Declan Alexander appeared from within the building, rubbing his hands together. A group of teens trailed behind him. He turned as he approached, 'Come on guys, gather round. We're walking round to Russell Square where we'll be hopping on to the Tube to Paddington Station. From there we'll get the train to Bath, so make sure you've all got your Oyster cards ready before we leave.' When they'd finished fishing around in their pockets and handbags, and Declan was content everyone had what was needed to take the trip, they exited the well hidden entrance to the Academy and joined the rest of the commuters within the capital. oOo 'I still find it hard to believe you're not that bothered about Liam dating Ava,' said Emma as Diarmuid stretched his legs, stopping for a chat with his friend who sat with his arm draped across the exotic beauty at the other end of the carriage. Lana shrugged her shoulders. 'Why would I be? It's been months since we broke up and we weren't exactly serious. Not like you two,' she replied, following Emma's gaze. 'Besides, there's plenty more totty at the Academy now.' Emma choked into her now tepid green tea, 'Totty? You can't call them that!' Lana looked at her sister as if she was mad, 'Why not?' 'Well... it's... it's derogatory.' 'Sis, you really need to get out more,' laughed Lana, standing up as Diarmuid returned. 'I'll leave you two love birds to it. I'm going for a wander.' Passing Declan a few seats down, she wondered how long it would be until they arrived in Bath. 'About twenty minutes,' he said. 'Huh?' she muttered, having completely forgotten he could read minds. 'Oh right. Thanks,' she answered, blushing slightly. He chuckled, brushing his hair out of his eyes before turning his attention back to his newspaper. 'Don't wander too far,' he added as she walked away. But Lana was bored and she'd already decided to walk through the rest of the carriages to the end of the train, regardless of how long it took. Surely the train wasn't that big, anyway? Before she'd given it another thought, she was already several carriages away from the rest of her classmates. Intrigued by the suited businessmen who tapped away at their laptops, oblivious to the world around them, Lana had walked slowly past each and every one, watching them until she'd reached the end. Sighing, she turned around and spotted a couple of empty seats just ahead of her. As she bent to sit down, the carriage became darker. Gazing out the window, she realised they were going through a tunnel. A rather long and very dark tunnel. She closed her eyes, just for a moment. When she opened them, she was no longer on the train. Instead, she found herself outside in a dusty, dirty environment surrounded by sounds of hammering. Bang after bang like some kind of one-sided symphony. She watched as sweaty men worked hard digging a strange tunnel with picks. The stench of horse manure and sweat made her eyes water. Swallowing loudly, Lana closed her eyes again, trying to calm herself. 'It's okay, it's just a dream,' she whispered. 'I can control this, just breathe, Lana, breathe.' Opening her eyes again, she found she was still in that dirty place. Her only real concern, though, was her new dress. 'Great, it better not get dirty in this filth,' she muttered as her eyes scanned the crowd, eventually stopping on a rather important looking man in the distance, who sat on a beautiful black horse. His clothes were spotless. Sighing, she began to walk towards him, through the stream of workers who continued to bang, bang, bang at the seemingly solid ground beneath their feet. They were oblivious to the rather oddly dressed 16 year old who strode through the dustiness in her tan leather boots, brand new dress and brown coat, cursing, wishing she would return to her own time and place. The odd sound of a manly scream broke through all the noise, causing almost instant silence. 'There,' pointed a man dressed in a 19th century suit. Lana followed his pointed finger towards a fallen man. Several others rushed to his side but it was too late. 'He's dead, I'm afraid,' said another suited gentleman. 'Another? We're nearing 100 deaths,' whispered the impressive man on the horse who had ridden over to see what the commotion was about. Removing his hat, he nodded towards a small group of men that seemed to appear out of nowhere. As instructed, they walked forward and lifted the still warm corpse, carrying him away. No matter what Lana had been through since her 16th birthday, she knew she would never be able to come to terms with death. 'But why? The heat isn't overbearing, they are being fed quite well I think, and they're all of good strong build. What's causing so many to perish?' asked another man, a pair of spectacles sitting at the end of his nose and a large ledger in his hands. The man on the horse simply shook his head, 'I wish I knew.' A tear escaped from her eye which she quickly brushed away, as the sound of screeching deafened her. Placing her hands over her ears she was suddenly catapulted forward, banging her forehead on something in front of her. Opening her eyes, she realised she was back on the train, but it was still dark. And they were no longer moving. CHAPTER 2 'What's going on?' several voices came from behind her as people stood up to peer through the glass. 'I think we're in the Box Tunnel,' said a woman's jittery voice from nearby. 'But what's happening? Why have we stopped?' asked another. 'There must be something wrong with the line. I shouldn't worry. I'm sure we'll get moving in no time,' a man said a little more confidently. 'We'd better. I've got an important meeting in half an hour,' said an agitated voice. To make matters even worse, the lights on the train began to flicker on and off. 'Oh great,' he added. 'Lana?' asked a sweet voice from the back of the carriage as the lights went off again. A few moments passed and she continued to stand in darkness, waiting for them to come back on again. When they didn't, it was as if someone had held up a sign saying 'panic'. Almost everyone began to shout, creating mass havoc. 'I'm here, Em,' called Lana calmly as she stood up and followed her sister's voice to the back of the carriage. 'Are you okay?' she asked as she reached her open hand and grasped it tightly. 'Yeah, we're fine. Let's get back to the others.' When they were out of ear shot, Emma whispered, 'Do you have any idea what's going on?' Lana shook her head, 'I kind of went into one of my weird dream thingies when we stopped. I haven't got a clue.' 'Oh?' prompted Emma. 'I'll tell you about it later. Let's just get back to the others first,' she whispered as they tried to dodge the panicking people within each carriage. 'Wow... you'd think it was the Armageddon or something,' sighed Lana as they finally arrived back to Declan and their classmates as the lights flickered back on again. 'You girls okay?' he asked. 'We're fine. Have you figured out what's happening yet, Declan?' 'I think it's just some kind of technical hitch. The driver's trying to reach the control centre but he's having difficulty.' Declan waited for a moment before continuing, 'No, it's no good,' he whispered. 'Communications are down.' 'Can't he just start the train back up and carry on driving, or something?' Lana asked. 'It's not that simple,' answered Imran, one of their classmates who had spent the journey busying himself with his laptop. 'Is there nothing we can do?' asked Elliott, a well-spoken member of their class. Lowering his voice, Declan whispered, 'You know we can't use our powers in the public eye, folks. We'll just have to sit this one out and wait for the railway authorities to sort it out. Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine.' 'You think?' said Ava quietly. 'And in the meantime we just have to put up with all that awful wailing from those annoying people over there,' she added, rolling her eyes towards a group of women who sat huddled together crying and occasionally screaming a little too loudly. 'Don't worry, I'll sort them out,' Declan offered. 'You just sit down and stay out of mischief,' he said as he stood up. The moment the women saw Declan, their demeanour changed, their crying came to an abrupt halt and they began playing with their hair. The group chuckled as the lights went out again. They waited for the wailing to start up again but Declan's reassuring words - or perhaps his good looks - had worked. Their carriage, at least, was calm. After about 45 minutes of nothing happening at all, Declan suddenly stood up, alarmed. 'What is it, Declan?' Liam asked as he jumped up to stand beside him. 'Something's wrong. It's the driver. I've lost all connection, his thoughts have just... well, they've gone. Actually so have everybody else's. Rupert, can you use your ability and look through the carriages to the driver's cabin?' Rupert turned to face the front of the train and concentrated hard, looking through every carriage until he could see the driver's cabin.