City of the Falling Sky

by Joseph Evans

  Days went by and the girl they were now calling Eiya still hadn’t had any breakthroughs with her memory. Seckry took her to see Mr Vance, but even he could find no way of getting her to recall a single detail of her past, though he was very interested to hear Seckry’s description of the Divinita Project symbol he had seen at Endrin.

  Coralle had begun to start acting like her normal self again for the first time since Seckry had told her about his actions, and was more than happy to look after Eiya. In fact, she seemed to be in her element, fussing and pampering. She had pleasure in pulling out all of the old photo albums of Seckry and Leena as babies, telling Eiya stories about them growing up. Coralle recalled the time Seckry had been so tired sitting at the table for dinner, he had dropped his head straight into his mashed potato, which Eiya seemed to find particularly funny.

  Seckry found it strange having Eiya around at first. The only spare bed in the flat was in his bedroom so that was where she slept. He no longer had the privacy of his own room, but as time went on he found himself enjoying the company a little.

  Leena sometimes winked at Seckry and said things like, “You two are getting along quite well . . .” but Seckry just shrugged them off. Even though Eiya was a girl, Seckry found that he didn’t feel nervous around her at all. He had none of the angst inside him that he usually experienced when he was in the company of an attractive girl. Maybe it was because he had never met anyone quite like her.

  When two weeks had passed, Coralle decided it would be best for Eiya to enrol at Estergate while she was staying with them, so that she didn’t miss out on any education. Coralle ordered a uniform and told the school that Eiya was a family friend from Marne, with the made up surname of Tacana, which was the name for the root of the eiya flower.

  On her first day, Seckry introduced her to Tenk and Tippian, who both seemed incredibly shy in her presence, but after a few days they were back to normal. Seckry explained to them both about Endrin and how he had found Eiya and got them both to swear that they wouldn’t tell anyone else about it.

  On the Sunday night before the beginning of Eiya’s second week at Estergate, Seckry was finding it difficult to get to sleep. He kept waking up and watching Eiya. His mind had been pondering over the possibilities of who she could be and where her family were for weeks now and he just couldn’t shut his mind off. When he eventually got to sleep he found himself dreaming about her.

  “Seckry.”

  Where was he?

  “Seckry . . .” The voice was soft and sweet. Seckry felt like smiling.

  “You missed your alarm.”

  “What alarm?” Seckry said dreamily.

  Then he woke up.

  “Oh Gedin!” he said, his eyes darting open.

  Eiya was standing at his bedside dressed in her Estergate uniform, smiling ashamedly. “I went for a shower thinking your alarm would wake you up. You must have missed it.”

  Seckry shook his head and let his eyes refocus. “What time is it?”

  Eiya looked at her watch and cringed. “It’s twenty to nine. The monorail is coming in five minutes.”

  “You go on ahead,” Seckry said. “I’ll meet you on the carriage.”

  Eiya nodded and let herself out.

  Seckry slapped his face into the palm of his hand. Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go, he said to himself.

  He scrambled into his uniform and splashed his face in the sink before brushing his teeth for about five seconds and then grabbing his bag.

  As he got to the station, panting like mad, he spotted Eiya waving at him, inside one of the carriages. He ran towards the door and was just about to jump on when the ‘doors closing’ bing sounded.

  Seckry slammed his hands onto the metal.

  “No! Wait! One second!”

  Eiya jumped up and came to the inside of the door. She was trying to prise it open but it wasn’t budging.

  As the monorail began to move, Eiya mouthed, ‘I’m sorry,’ through the window.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there soon!” Seckry shouted, and collapsed to his knees.

  It was the first time he’d missed the monorail. He’d have to walk to Estergate. According to Tenk it was only a twenty minute walk if you cut through some lane called the Blacklear.

  Seckry picked himself up. If he upset Cut Throat again, who knows what she would do? He was going to have to run.

  As he made his way through the streets he was starting to get worried. He hadn’t seen any sign for any lanes called the Blacklear. Up ahead were an elderly couple, walking hand in hand.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Seckry said, as politely as he could amidst wheezes. “Would you happen to know where I could find a street named the Blacklear?”

  The couple stopped in shock. It was the lady that spoke. “The Blacklear? My dear boy, why on earth are you looking for that Gedin forsaken place?”

  “I’m late for school. I was told it was a shortcut.”

  The couple exchanged glances.

  “Who are these people, telling young lads like this to take a shortcut through that place? Probably trying to lure you there and get you involved in all of that filth I imagine. If you’re a sensible boy I’d stay well away from the Blacklear. Well away.”

  Seckry gulped. “All the same, I’d like to know where it is,” he said. “So I can avoid it in the future.” It might have been sensible to avoid the Blacklear in any normal situation, but being late for Cut Throat Cutson was not any normal situation. He had to take the shortcut no matter what kind of place it was.

  “Well, you see that rusty sign over there? It used to say Blacklear.”

  “Now it says No Entry Punks,” the old man said with very precise pronunciation. “In red spray paint.” Seckry could hear the distaste in his tone.

  “Thanks,” Seckry said. “Wouldn’t want to turn down there by accident.”

  He waited until the couple had disappeared around a corner before pelting it into the forbidden lane.

  The atmosphere of the place made Seckry slow down a bit. It felt as though hundreds of eyes were watching him. It was long and narrow with stagnant pools of water sitting underneath drainpipes and wet rat droppings scattered across the ground. There were buildings on either side of him, but a particular one made Seckry’s skin tingle.

  It seemed to be some kind of large, abandoned warehouse, and as Seckry passed it he could hear lots of whispers echoing inside. The most unsettling thing, though, was that, coming from the depths of the building, was the sound of a young girl crying.

  “Man, that Blacklear lane shortcut thing wasn’t pleasant,” Seckry said to Tenk that lunchtime. He had made it to school that morning with about one minute to spare. Eiya was getting herself a can of fizzy pop from a vending machine.

  “You went through the Blacklear?” Tenk said, almost spitting out a baked bean.

  “Yeah you said it was a shortcut.”

  “Yeah it is. I didn’t say I ever used it though. I’d poo my pants walking through there.”

  “What?” Seckry said, aghast. “You’ve never even been through there? I thought I was gonna get stabbed!”

  “Hats off to you, man. Did you see any crazydust dealings happening?”

  “No, is that what they’re doing in that warehouse?”

  “Yeah, bound to be. You see all these hoodies coming and going. What else they gonna be doing?”

  “I didn’t see anyone, in fact,” Seckry said. “The place was empty, but I just had this feeling as though someone was gonna jump out at me at any moment and stick a knife into my back.”

  There seemed to be a bit of a commotion at the entrance to the canteen and Seckry and Tenk turned their heads to see.

  Snibble had turned up with the huge twins who had been around when Snibble had attacked him. They looked like stone gargoyles, with black leather coats and unpleasant frowns on their faces.

  “Who are those guys?” Seckry asked.

  “The Brossius brothers,” Tenk said grimly. “Sons of Amo
lfo Brossius. Biggest crazydust dealer in the east partition.”

  “Really?” Seckry said. “Do you think he’s got something to do with the Blacklear?”

  “I reckon so,” Tenk said. “That place has got to be the biggest crazydust den in the east. I’d bet you any money Amolfo is running it.”

  “It looks like they’re Snibble’s bodyguards.” Seckry pondered, as the twins pushed through the crowd of students to give Snibble clear access to a seat.

  “Yeah, they look after him for some reason. Must see him as a little brother or something like that. Their dads are best buddies.”

  The next morning, Seckry woke to the sound of the front door knocking. He opened his eyes and walked barefoot across the hall before opening the door to a delivery man.

  “Parcel for Seckraman Sevenstars?” he said, and handed a big box to Seckry.

  After signing for it and thanking the man, Seckry ripped open the casing and pulled out a briefcase.

  There was nothing else. No letter.

  Seckry wiped his eyes to remove the last of the sleep from them and flicked the briefcase open.

  “Dear Gedin . . .” he whispered to himself.

  The case was full with wads of money, tied together by elastic bands. Seckry nervously picked up a batch and began counting. When he finished he placed the money back into the case and stared at it blankly.

  In front of him were two hundred thousand notes.

  Seckry shut the case and hid it under his bed before anyone else got up, and the only person he told about it was Eiya. Having that kind of money was beyond his wildest dreams, but he was also now petrified. If this was the reward for stealing those worms, what on earth were they being used for?

  Later that day, whilst his mum was watching the television in the living area, Seckry heard an advert that caught his attention and he watched with interest. It was a government message.

  “The Skyfall Patrol are urging people to come forward with any information regarding crazydust dens. These buildings are thought to be littered around Skyfall and act as meeting places for crazydust dealings. Young children are often used as go betweens and are treated like slaves by the dealers. If you have reason to believe that a property could be one of these dens, please contact our crazydust helpline and we will investigate. Thank you for your cooperation.”

  “The Blacklear,” Seckry said to Eiya. “Do you think I should phone the helpline?”

  “Are you certain it’s a crazydust den?” she said.

  Seckry screwed up his mouth. Everything pointed towards it being one, but he just couldn’t be sure. He was going to have to go back there and do a bit of spying, just to be certain.

  The next day, Seckry and Eiya got up extra early and walked to school, stopping at the turning for the Blacklear, and trying to spot any strange goings on.

  They watched and waited for about fifteen minutes before Eiya looked at her watch and said, “We better get going. School starts in twenty minutes.”

  Seckry reluctantly turned away and they both began heading for the long way around. They could have reached Estergate in about five minutes if they had gone through the Blacklear, but Seckry didn’t fancy it again, even if there was nothing going on down there right now.

  Before the Blacklear disappeared out of site, Seckry glanced behind him, and as he did so, he saw a frail looking girl sprint out and around a corner.

  “Hey,” Seckry shouted and ran after her.

  The girl glanced back in fear and tried to run but tripped over the pavement.

  Seckry caught up to her.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  “What do you want?” the girl pleaded, crying.

  “I’m sorry,” Seckry said, feeling awful. “I just wanted to ask you what you were doing down the Blacklear.”

  “It’s none of your business,” the girl said feebly. “You won’t tell anyone about it, will you?”

  Seckry stammered. “Is it . . . a crazydust den?”

  The girl gave a short, incredulous laugh, but there was no humour in it, just anguish. “Please,” she said. “Just go away and don’t follow me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Seckry said, “but are they using you as a slave? Where are your parents?”

  “Don’t enter the Blacklear again!” the girl said desperately. “And don’t tell anyone about it!” With that, she jumped to her feet and sprinted away as fast as she could on her little legs.

  Seckry couldn’t take his mind off it the whole day in school and neither could Eiya. When they arrived back in the flat, Seckry sat at the kitchen table and began spinning his mobile phone around in his hand, staring into space.

  “You look like you’re away with the faeries,” his mum said.

  “Huh? Oh, sorry.”

  “He was always like this,” Coralle said to Eiya. “He could just sit there for hours, lost in his own imagination. I bet he can’t even hear me speaking right now.”

  “I can hear you, mum,” Seckry said dryly.

  After three hours of deliberating, Seckry couldn’t take it anymore. The girl didn’t want him to tell anyone, but it was for her own safety. She had to be saved from that place.

  He dialled and put his phone to his ear. Someone answered immediately.

  “I’d like to report a suspected crazydust den,” he said.

  On the Wednesday of the following week, an official looking letter arrived in the post, addressed to Seckry.

  He ripped it open and he and Eiya stared at it.

  Dear Seckraman

  Thank you for your support in our ongoing battle to prevent drug abuse in the city. However, upon search of the premises you reported, we found no evidence of drug related activity and will not be charging any residents. We would like you to rest assured in knowing that this property is not a crazydust den.

  Thank you for your concern.

  Yours.

  The Chief Commissioner of Drug Prevention

  Collum Barrs.

  Seckry reread the letter. How could the Blacklear not be a crazydust den? What about the girl?

  The Patrol were wrong, Seckry knew. Either the Blacklear was doing a very good job of disguising themselves or . . . or the government were choosing to ignore it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sanfarrow, Darklight, Kayne, the Three