'It's already been organised,' he smiled.
'What would I do without you?'
Three hours later, the students were beginning to emerge from their rooms, and Eleanor was quite right. They were all ready to eat.
As Lana and Emma walked into the dining room, Emma's eyes widened in excitement as she saw someone she'd been thinking about all day.
'Diarmuid!' she squealed, running to him. Catching her, he pulled her up into a deep bear hug. Her feet barely touched the ground.
'I've been so worried about you,' he said as he pulled her out of the room to the adjacent white room that was filled with oversized beanbags.
'I know, me too,' she replied as he kissed her passionately.
Breaking for air, the two looked into each other's eyes and grinned.
'I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you,' she sighed. Diarmuid squeezed her tightly and kissed her again. When her stomach rumbled loudly, they broke apart laughing.
'I guess we really should go get some food,' he said as he grabbed hold of her hand and they walked back through the door, breathing in the delicious smells of a full English breakfast.
Not wanting to let each other go, they had difficulty placing the food on their plates. Reluctantly they released each other’s hands with a chuckle and proceeded to pile their plates high. Diarmuid chose eggs, bacon, sausages and toast; Emma opted for toast and scrambled eggs.
Once they were ready to sit down, they looked around the tables of students tucking into their food, all talking loudly.
Lana waved energetically from a round table at the back of the room, where she sat with some friends.
'Hey guys,' Emma said with a grin, 'It's really good to see you.'
'You too, Em,' said Ava while the others grinned with their mouths full.
'I see you've met Sammy,' Emma said as she patted her new found friend on the back.
'Have you, Diarmuid?'
He shook his head as they sat down.
'Diarmuid, this is Sammy. Sammy, this is Diarmuid.'
Sammy raised her eyebrows and smiled at him, 'Nice to meet you. I've heard loads about you,' she giggled. Emma gave her a nudge with her elbow and laughed.
'I wish Liam, Nisha and Moira were here,' Lana sighed.
'I know,' Ava replied. 'But at least they're all safe now that everybody was brought back in the helicopter.'
'They're in good hands. Don't worry, Ava, I'm sure Liam will be back with us in no time,' Emma said, squeezing her fellow Watcher's hand across the table.
Ava smiled sadly and took a swig of tea.
'Oh, I heard they've got a real live pixie troll here,' she squeaked, changing the subject.
Emma, Lana and Sammy shared a glance and grinned.
'Yeah, they do,' said Lana.
'I heard he's gross,' Penny said.
'I heard he's really nasty,' Diarmuid added.
The three girls burst out laughing, much to the confusion of everyone else.
'What?' asked Ava, who placed both her elbows on the table and stared at them, waiting for an answer.
'It's just that, you're so totally wrong. He's really not gross... well, maybe a little bit,' Lana laughed as her sister gave her a glare.
'And he's the complete opposite of nasty,' Emma added. 'His name is Jimble and he's actually quite adorable.'
'He's adorable? How can he be adorable? He's a... He's... a... pixie troll - they're the ones that have caused all this mayhem,' said Imran in shock.
'That's where you're wrong, actually,' Elliott interrupted. 'Eleanor will probably brief everybody later on, but just to give you the gist of it, the pixie trolls were put under some kind of spell. They're really quite nice - honestly. They'll probably let you meet Jimble, if you want to,' he added.
'Really? Awesome,' Diarmuid said in between mouthfuls of food.
'Cool,' said Imran.
'So what's going on at the moment?' asked Ava.
'They're trying to speak to the wolves,' whispered Daisy who had quietly appeared behind them.
'Hey Daisy,' said the others as Rupert stood up and dragged another chair over to the table.
Daisy grinned at him and sat down.
'Thanks.'
'What do you mean, they're speaking to the wolves?' asked Imran.
'Exactly that. To find out what happened to the Temporal Stone, they need to speak to the wolves.'
'What's the Temporal Stone?' asked Ava, confused.
'Oh gosh, you really haven't been filled in on anything, have you?'
'I guess you're the ones that have been out having all the fun,' Diarmuid said. 'We've been stuck in the Royal Crescent all the time you've been out gallivanting!'
Emma leant in to him, 'But you're here now and that's all that matters.'
Diarmuid pulled her into a long embrace and finished it off with a kiss.
'Hey, get a room, you guys,' Rupert said, shaking his head from across the table. 'Lana, why don't you fill us in on everything else that's been going on...'
CHAPTER 22
Declan reappeared some time later with a grin on his face. Eleanor, who was itching for his return, was doing some yoga moves in her office while she waited. Hearing his voice, she jumped up from doing the Downward Dog and rushed out.
'Declan!' she yelled, 'How did it go?'
'Great,' he replied, 'I managed to track down an old mate who used to be buddies with the cousin of a guy whose girlfriend's best friend was a werewolf and... what?' he asked as he looked at her amused face.
Eleanor shook her head and laughed, 'Carry on.'
'Well, he knows the leader of the wolves in the London area and he's set up a meet. But we can't be late, we've got to head out immediately.'
Eleanor nodded and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair just as Lana and Emma appeared at her door.
'We're coming too,' they said in unison.
'No, that's not the best idea, girls.'
'We'd really like to come along, Eleanor. Please,' Lana said, fluttering her eyelashes.
Eleanor looked across at Declan, who shrugged his shoulders, 'It can't do any harm,' he said.
'Okay then, come on. We're leaving now.'
Outside the main house, Declan pulled the door shut and the four of them headed towards the British Museum, Declan having agreed to meet in a small green area a few doors down from the popular spot.
As they approached, Declan saw them first. Eight burly men surrounded the rather tall leader who stood in the centre with his head held high. Their fists were scrunched up and their eyes squinted as the Watchers slowed in front of them. All of them seemed to be on guard, standing with their legs wide apart and arms crossed, like some kind of freaky armed forces SWAT team.
'Declan?' asked one of them, before brushing a massive hand through his streaky grey and white hair.
Declan nodded curtly and stopped, waiting.
'And the other?'
'This is Eleanor Hayden-Jones, she's the.....'
'The Guardian of the Watchers,' interrupted the tall, attractive man who stood in the centre. His serious, chiselled face lit up as he pushed his eight body guards to one side. 'It's alright, fellas.'
The burly men uncrossed their arms but continued to keep a sharp eye on their surroundings.
Eleanor held her hand outstretched as the tall one pumped it up and down.
'Good to meet ya, Miss Jones.'
'Eleanor, please,' she replied.
'Eleanor... I wasn't expecting you. They didn't tell me I was to be meeting with the Guardian.'
Eleanor smiled, relieved that he was a friendly werewolf. 'I'm glad you agreed to meet with us. This is Declan, my right hand man, and Emma and Lana.'
The man with the long grey hair turned and shook their hands with a warm smile.
'I... I wasn't expecting someone so friendly,' whispered Emma to Lana on the side.
Suddenly he threw back his head and laughed.
'I get that a lot,' he said. 'I'm Giovanni, by
the way.'
Declan raised his eyebrows, 'An Italian werewolf in London?'
Giovanni smiled, 'Yes, I was born here though, I'm an Italian Londoner. Right, let's get down to business. What can I do for you?'
'We've been led to the werewolves in our search for an ancient artefact that we believe is responsible for all this mayhem,' Eleanor said. 'We're hoping you can help us get to the bottom of it all.'
'I'm not sure how, but I'll try,' he answered.
'Good, thank you. We need to go back a few years though. We've been following the whereabouts of a man named Phillip James Bottomley from the 1930s. We believe he came to London towards the end of that decade to meet with a werewolf. The trouble is, that's as far as we've got. We need to find out the identity of that werewolf so we can ask him some questions.'
Giovanni nodded and flicked the cigarette he'd been smoking to the ground before twisting his foot on top of it.
'We do know that werewolves live very long lives, so we're hoping to find him still alive,' she smiled.
'And the name of this werewolf?'
Declan went from one foot to the other as Eleanor sighed, 'Yes well, therein lies the problem. We don't have a name.'
'Right, I see your predicament now. So all you know is that this fella, Phillip James Bottomley, you say?'
Eleanor nodded.
'He came to London to see a werewolf?'
Eleanor nodded again.
'It's a tough one, but I can ask around. Fellas?' His eight bodyguards turned to their leader and nodded their heads as Giovanni explained what he needed to know. 'Now go,' he instructed.
Suddenly, each one of the men burst out of their clothes, leaving ripped bits of fabric all over the grass, and large wolves standing at Giovanni's feet. Each one seemed to be different from the next. The guy with the streaky grey and white hair appeared to have the same coloured mane of hair running along his back, while the one standing next to him had fur the colour of charcoal. They were massive, stocky and strong.
Turning from Giovanni, they jumped away, running as fast as they could around the streets of London.
'Here's one advantage of having time stand still,' chuckled Giovanni. 'They wouldn't be able to do that ordinarily, not in such plain sight.'
'Of course,' Eleanor said. 'Perhaps a cup of tea, while we wait?'
'No need, Eleanor, my boys will be back in just a few minutes,' he said as the eerie sound of howling echoed all around them.
Lana and Emma both shivered at the creepiness of the sound as they stood, leaning against the fence, waiting patiently for news.
But before the news came, something else caught their attention. The sound of footsteps.
All five of them immediately stood on guard, each one looking around them to find the source of the sound. It soon became apparent, however, that the footsteps belonged to more than one person and these people weren't quite as friendly as Giovanni was.
Within moments, they were surrounded by a group of people wearing black.
The sound of snarling erupted from Giovanni's lips as he prepared himself for a fight.
'Skulls,' whispered Eleanor.
Apart from the snarling, everything remained silent.
'What do you want?' asked Eleanor as she looked at each of the faces until she spotted one that was familiar. It was the man she'd briefly sparred with earlier that day.
She could see his jaw clenching as he ground his teeth and his black eyes were like slits as he stared her down, but Eleanor wasn't buying it. She held her head high and smiled confidently. She knew something that he clearly did not.
A moment later, the Skulls became agitated as a noise filled the air. It was the sound of countless more footsteps. Suddenly, the square was full of Watchers. Students and Mentors alike. They all stood staring, waiting for the Skulls to try something.
Giovanni looked around and began to laugh as the Skulls retreated back to where they'd come from. They were outnumbered and weren't prepared to fight so many.
'Thanks for keeping an eyes on us, Wilbur,' Eleanor shouted a few minutes later.
Wilbur appeared and winked at her as he gathered the students back together. 'Just following orders,' he smiled.
'Why didn't we take them on?' asked Rupert who walked towards Emma and Lana.
'There was no need, Rupert,' Declan said. 'We don't want to cause a war.'
'But there weren't that many of them,' he said, practically pouting.
'Not this time,' Eleanor said with a raised eyebrow. 'But there are far too many Skulls to go to war with, unfortunately.'
The sound of howling could be heard again and soon, the square was filled with not eight, but nine werewolves.
Approaching Giovanni, they stopped before the sound of cracking bones echoed around them, making both Lana and Emma cover their ears. The beasts kept low to the ground before turning back to men when they stood up, revealing all their naked splendour right in front of the Watchers.
Lana's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets as Declan tried hard not to laugh at her reaction, whereas Emma tried hard to look away. Eleanor remained professional as one of the men turned to face her.
'I can tell you what you need to know,' said the man with short brown hair.
'I knew the man you are looking for, but I'm sorry to say that he was killed in 1941. His name was Rogue and he spent an awful lot of time with the man you know as Phillip James Bottomley. Rogue wasn't a good guy, mind you. You ought to know that. He and Phillip caused quite a lot of problems down on the south east coast.'
'What can you tell us about an ancient artefact that Phillip brought to London with him?' Eleanor asked.
The man thought for a moment, 'I do recall there was something they tried to sell but I don't know if they succeeded.'
'Did you ever see it?' Declan asked.
He scratched his chin and looked to the floor, 'Yes, I did, actually. An odd looking stone that glowed different colours. It had tiny bumps on it, I think.'
'That's it!' said Lana, 'That's the Temporal Stone.'
'Is there anything else you can tell us about Rogue and Phillip?' Eleanor asked.
He chewed his lip before his eyes lit up, 'There was a third person. Another guy who used to spend time with them on and off. Not a wolf, though. Erm, I believe he was a vamp. Went by the name of Barber, I think.'
'That's very helpful. Thank you so much,' Eleanor replied as the man nodded and stepped backwards.
'Giovanni, thank you for all your help. We really do appreciate it. Perhaps we can repay the favour one of these days?'
Giovanni smiled warmly and took Eleanor's hands in his, 'It would be good to see you again, Eleanor. Just give me a call if I can ever be of assistance again, and good luck,' he said as he deftly removed something from his pocket and handed his business card to her.
'I will,' she said as Giovanni and his pack walked away.
Eleanor watched him go with a smile and a very slight blush to her cheeks. A blush that didn't go unnoticed by Lana and Emma.
CHAPTER 23
Back below ground, at Praxos HQ, Jimble waited patiently for the return of his friends. He wandered from room to room, inspecting each one in awe. He'd never seen anything like it, perhaps in part due to his severe allergy to house dust.
Soon his ears pricked at the sound of footsteps, a lot of footsteps. Nervously, he hid behind a beanbag in the white room and waited.
'Did you see them? First time I ever saw any Skulls,' a young man said as he walked past the door along with his two friends.
'Yeah I know. Ugly bunch weren't they? I wasn't afraid of them at all.'
A chuckled followed. 'You would be if they caught you alone,' said another.
Jimble remained hidden from sight as more and more students walked past the door until a couple eventually entered the room. Watching them, Jimble was unsure what to do. He didn't know these people and was therefore worried about their reaction.
A sudden yell told him he'd bee
n seen, so he slowly walked out from behind his hiding place with a nervous grin.
'Please don't yell, yell. It's just me, me. You've nothing to be scared of, scared of,' he mumbled as he shuffled with his back against the wall.
'You're a pixie troll!' shouted a voice.
Soon the room was full of students, wondering what all the fuss was about.
'Don't go near it,' said the same voice. 'It might freeze you. Keep your distance everybody.'
'What's going on?' asked a familiar voice.
Daisy appeared in the doorway and pushed the young Watchers out of the way until she spotted Jimble cowering in a corner. Rushing to his side, she knelt down to face him.
'Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?' she asked.
Jimble shook his head while the others gasped.
'Don't touch him,' said a few of the voices behind her.
Daisy, however, took his hand in hers and turned to look at their shocked expressions.
'This is Jimble, he's a friend so please stop being so nasty. He won't hurt you,' she tutted as they strolled out of the room into the dining room.
'Can I get you something to eat, Jimble?' she asked.
Eyes lighting up, he nodded and rubbed his tummy.
'What would you like? I've no idea what pixie trolls eat,' she smiled.
'No sugar. No sugar,' he chuckled.
'Why not?'
'It make me grow, grow, sugar does, it does, does.'
'Oh, okay. Do you eat meat?'
Jimble screwed his face up in disgust. She laughed.
'Erm, bread?'
'Not sure, not sure. Never tried it, it.'
'Maybe a sandwich then? Erm, cheese?'
Jimble's face was blank.
'You've never tried cheese?'
When he shook his head, she turned to the table where the food was still laid out and made him a cheese sandwich, handing it to him with a bottle of mineral water.
Barely a second went by and the sandwich was gone, followed by a large burp and a chuckle.
'I like cheese, cheese,' he said. 'Another one?'