Ava nodded, her bright blue eyes wide with apprehension. 'I will. Good luck,' she muttered as she hugged Emma, Lana and Elliott.
'Be careful, babe,' whispered Diarmuid who stood holding Emma in a long tight hug.
'Come on guys, we need to get going now,' Declan said, rolling his eyes as Emma finally released her boyfriend.
'I will, I promise,' she whispered to him before they all sneaked out of the house and ran as fast as they could towards the 4x4. Declan very carefully placed Moira on the back seat before quickly climbing into his own.
The others kept a sharp look out for any movement towards them. It wasn't until the moment the car doors slammed behind them that Shayne waved frantically from the window above, pointing to the rear of the car.
'They're coming,' he mouthed as he spotted movement in the rain.
'They're coming!' repeated Lana, as Declan swiftly put the car into gear and the vehicle’s wheels spun on the damp tarmac. Within seconds, they were speeding safely away from the Royal Crescent.
oOo
Dodging the hundreds of vehicles that had been frozen in time, Declan deftly manoeuvred the large car in and out of the streets of Bath, carefully avoiding people scattered everywhere.
'I wish we knew where all the trolls are,' said Emma.
'I would imagine they'll be wherever the Watchers are,' answered Declan. 'They will have tracked down anyone not affected by their... their spell, or whatever it is.'
'How come you and Shayne knew they were trolls?' asked Lana.
'I don't know about Shayne, but I remember my dad telling me a fairytale about them when I was a boy. It told the tale about an ugly young pixie troll who became invisible whenever his enemies were near.'
'How did it go?'
'Huh?'
'The fairytale, how did the rest of it go?' asked Lana.
Declan shrugged his shoulders, 'I don't really remember, to be honest with you. All I remember is the troll was called Peter.'
'Peter the pixie troll? That's original,' sighed Elliott from the front passenger seat.
'How's Moira doing?' Declan asked, peering into the rear view mirror to try and catch a glimpse of her.
'She's okay, I think. Same as before, a bit calmer though,' Emma whispered back as she gently pushed Moira's long mousy hair out of her eyes.
Turning his attention back to the road, a loud bang on the front bumper made them all jump.
'What was that?' screeched Lana as Declan slammed on the brakes.
'I don't know, I didn't see anything in front of me,' Declan said as Elliott moved to open the door.
'No!' cried Lana, 'It could be a troll, don't get out.'
'She's right, Elliott.'
Putting the car into reverse, they very gingerly drove backwards, all looking out their windows to see what it was they'd hit.
'There,' screeched Lana as she pointed out of her side window, 'There's something weird over there. Look...'
It was curled up like a rather large hedgehog, minus the spikes, and rolled into a ball. They watched as it slowly unravelled itself and stood up, shaking its limbs clumsily and muttering something under its breath.
When it finally stood up to its full height, the creature placed its hands on its hips and shook its head energetically. It then fell straight back onto the floor again and didn't move.
'Do you think it's hurt?' asked Emma.
'Who cares? It's a troll, it's evil,' replied Lana, tutting.
Emma let out a sigh. 'It didn't look mean. Maybe we should check it out?'
'Emma, I can't believe we're even related. I'm not going anywhere near that thing and I don't think anyone else should either. For all we know, it could be a trick to get us out of the car. Declan, I reckon you should put your foot down and get us out of here.'
But Declan had other ideas.
'Emma, do you see a cage in the back of the car?'
'OMG,' cried Lana, 'You're not serious?'
'Afraid so,' he said as Emma nodded.
'But how are we going to get it?' Elliott asked. 'Because I doubt we can touch it.'
'If there's a cage in the back, then there should be a catch pole too. We can use that.'
'What's a catch pole? And why on Earth is there a cage and a catch pole in the car anyway?' Lana asked in irritation.
'Sometimes we have to try and catch animals and wild supernatural creatures. If they're dangerous, they need to be transported in cages. Does that explain it enough for you?' he said, with his eyebrows raised as he looked at her.
'As long as we don't touch it, we should be fine. Elliott, you come with me. Girls, you stay put.'
'But what if something happens? What if there are more trolls around the car that we can't see? Declan?' Lana asked as she became more and more concerned.
Declan grinned as he pointed to Elliott, 'Elliott here is going to surround us with flames,' he grinned as he patted the teenage boy on the shoulder.
'Okay with you?' he asked.
Elliott grinned and nodded.
'But if something does happen to us, just get out of here and drive. You can drive, right?' he asked the sisters.
Emma and Lana both nodded.
'Yeah, Dad taught us as soon as we could reach the pedals,' said Emma.
'I thought he might have done,' Declan grinned. 'Okay then, ready Elliott? Now!' he yelled as the two jumped out of the car, slamming the doors behind them.
Lana put her fingers in her mouth as she watched Elliott create a massive ring of flames all around them. He was careful to keep the fire some distance from the car itself, as they ran to the back of the car to open the boot and the cage door. Declan grabbed two catch poles before they both carefully stepped towards the troll that still appeared to be unconscious.
Placing one noose around its neck and the other around its ankles, he handed one of the poles to Elliott.
'Careful not to hurt the little guy,' Declan said as Elliott nodded.
'On two. One, Two...'
They picked him up and carried him awkwardly towards the car.
'I can't get him in,' said Elliott who moved closer, trying to manoeuvre the pole so that the troll could be pushed into the cage and the nooses removed.
'Concentrate, Elliott, concentrate on the flames,' Declan whispered.
Elliott nodded.
'Wait,' Declan said. 'Don't get too close. He might wake up. Here, let me do it.'
He took the other pole from Elliott and swiftly removed the nooses from the troll's neck and legs.
Elliott rushed to his side and slammed the cage door, locking it with the padlock, while still maintaining a low circle of flames around them.
'Flames, Elliott, more flames,' Lana shrieked as she thought she saw movement in a nearby bush.
Elliott responded instantly, causing fire to erupt from all around them as they returned to the sides of the vehicle and hopped back in.
'See? Lana, you had nothing to worry about,' Declan laughed as something hit the windscreen, making them all jump again.
'What on Earth was that?' she screeched as a brown, slimy yuckiness slowly made its way down the window.
'It looks like... like... oh, there's another one. Quick, Declan. Go, go go go,' Lana screamed as more of the disgusting looking balls were pelted at them.
'What is that smell?' Emma said, her nose screwed up in disgust.
'It smells like... like... poo. Is that poo? OMG,I don't believe this. This day is just getting worse and worse,' Lana groaned as they finally pulled away, driving as fast as they could away from the filth behind them.
'Were those trolls really throwing poo at us?' Lana shrieked, cringing
'I think that's exactly what they were throwing at us,' Elliott replied, a look of horror on his face.
Declan chuckled, 'It's not poo, people. It's just mud. Peter the pixie troll used to throw mud as a weapon. Not poo,' he said as he turned the vehicle around a corner.
'Peter the pixie troll liked using mud as a weapon?
That's just weird. What kind of fairy tales did your parents use to read to you?'
The group began to laugh as another nasty smell began to pervade the car.
'Ewww,what is THAT?' Lana cried.
'That would be pixie troll farts,' Declan replied, pursing his lips and screwing up his nose.
All the windows were opened just enough to allow some fresh air in as Emma leant back to get a look at the creature in the cage behind her.
'It's still unconscious,' she said. 'But he's making some horrible noises.'
'They're called farts, Sis,' Lana added with a stifled chuckle.
'When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to say fart,' Elliott said, somewhat seriously.
'Fart? What's so wrong with the word fart?' Declan asked.
'My parents thought it was too crude.'
'So what did you call them then?' asked Emma.
Elliott turned pink and looked out the window.
'Come on, spit it out,' she laughed.
'Trumps,' he said with an embarrassed grin.
'Trumps? Really? That's hilarious,' Lana coughed as another nasty odour drifted under her nose.
'Or bottom burps.'
Laughter erupted.
'Years ago, we called them ‘horse and carts’ or ‘false starts’,' Declan said after they'd quietened down.
'Really? I didn't think you were THAT old,' laughed Lana.
'Oi,' he grinned, peering at her through the rear view mirror.
'Declan, you just missed the turning for the motorway,' Elliott interrupted as they drove on to a different road.
'That's because I'm avoiding the motorway. There'll be too many cars stuck on there. I think we'll find it easier to drive down the A36, at least if it gets too congested, we can find alternate routes. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing,' he said, with a tap to the side of his nose as they took the road signposted Frome. 'This should be a better route to get towards Arundel and we might just catch up with some of the other Watchers in Salisbury or Winchester.'
CHAPTER 7
'I think it's pixie trolls,' sighed Eleanor from inside the safety of the Praxos HQ, beneath the city of London, as she took a sip of her tea. 'I hope all the students and their mentors made it to their designated towns alright.'
'What are pixie trolls, Eleanor?' asked Daisy who had been in the middle of a self-defence class with Wilbur when Eleanor had summoned them both.
'Strange little creatures, really,' she answered as she pondered what to do. 'I believe that, at precisely 9.57 this morning, something awakened them from their centuries old sleep. Look what they've done,' she said, pointing to her television screen that showed strange images all over London, of people seemingly cemented in time.
Daisy gasped as Eleanor flicked the channels to show each CCTV location. Reporters outside Number 10 Downing Street stood motionless in front of cameras. One man was half crouching, half standing as he had been in the middle of tying his shoe lace. Two others stood with their mouths open, mid conversation. Flicking the channel, Daisy watched as visitors to the London Eye, stood, half on, half off, the famous large wheel, laughing in expectation of what was about to happen. Buses and cars sat in amidst a number of cyclists balanced precariously on two wheels.
'I don't understand,' Daisy whispered as Eleanor's eyebrows bunched together as the pictures on her screen began to turn fuzzy. Flicking various buttons on the remote control, something seemed to be happening to all the channels as, one by one, the pictures went blank. Eleanor had lost her view of London.
Sighing, she stood up and leant on her walking stick. 'I wish I knew what was really going on.'
Walking around her desk, she stood in front of Wilbur before turning to face the young girl.
'I once read somewhere that pixie trolls have the ability to manipulate time. I don't know how they can do it or why they would even want to. But fortunately, we don't seem to have been affected, which means the Skulls are probably unaffected too. I'm not sure about other supernaturals, though.'
'Can we stop them? The pixie trolls, I mean?' Daisy asked.
'Of course,' answered Eleanor, 'I'm just not sure how,yet.'
'Oh.'
'We do have another problem though,' she said to Wilbur, 'these trolls also have the ability to become invisible so we have no idea where they are. And, if they so much as lay a finger on us, we become exactly like the humans - stuck in time.'
'Just another day at the office then, Eleanor?' Wilbur replied with a grin.
Eleanor's head fell backwards as she let out a deep throaty laugh.
'Exactly,' she winked as she turned around and slowly walked out of her office.
'Follow me.'
'Where are we going? What are we going to do? What about my dad? Shouldn't we go and get him and the others?'
As they walked through the tunnels of the underground, Eleanor eventually stopped in front of a small door that Daisy hadn't seen before. Pulling out a necklace from beneath her sweater, she used the key dangling from it to unlock the door.
'Your dad will be fine, Daisy. He's working with Oksana and Brody, today. Don't worry about him, they're working on something below ground. They're probably not even aware of what's going on. I'm more concerned about all the students who are out visiting different parts of England today.'
They walked through a large area filled masses of boxes, until they reached another door. Opening it, Daisy was startled to find nothing but a small room with a single desk and a computer.
Eleanor smiled. 'It might not look like much, but this is where we keep all information about, well, pretty much everything, really.'
As Wilbur switched on the computer and sat down in front of it, Eleanor explained. 'Over the years, the Watchers have kept a detailed record of everything supernatural. On this computer, you will find mountains and mountains of information about every supernatural being that has ever walked this Earth. Out there,' she said pointing back out through the door, 'you'll find the same information. In here, it should just be a little quicker to go through,' she smiled.
'Pixie trolls,' said Wilbur as he stood up and allowed Eleanor to sit down and look at the screen.
With a grin, Eleanor turned towards Daisy, 'This should tell us exactly what we need to know to be able to sort out those pesky little monsters.'
CHAPTER 8
They watched in silence as Salisbury Cathedral loomed in the distance. There was something calming about it. The beauty of such a historic building mesmerised them as they drove slowly through the town, narrowly missing the cars and pedestrians in the street.
'There!' Elliott suddenly yelled, pointing towards the base cathedral. 'There's someone down there. It must be one of the Watchers.'
Squinting, Declan noticed a girl running towards the entrance.
Putting his foot down, he turned the vehicle off the road and began driving across the spotless green lawn until they stopped directly in front of the main entrance, where the girl had disappeared.
'She must have gone inside,' Lana said as they inspected the area around them, not seeing her among the statues of people.
'We should go in,' Emma said.
'What if she's a Skull, though?'
'No, she wasn't a Skull,' replied Declan, 'She's too frightened. She's a new Watcher, I think the changes happened to her today.'
'Oh she must be terrified. We need to go and help her,' Emma said as she went to open the car door.
'Hang on, Emma. We don't know where the trolls are. She was lucky not to have been touched. Elliott, can you give us some flames? Lana, you'd better stay with Moira. Emma, come with us.'
Once fire surrounded the car, the three of them hopped out and ran towards the entrance to the cathedral, the mesmerising flames moving along with them.
Declan pushed open the heavy door and they rushed inside.
'Is it safe? Are the trolls inside?' whispered Emma.
Declan shook his head, 'I don't think they've entered any buildings so far. I see no
reason why they'd be able to walk into a religious one now. I reckon we're okay, guys.'
Elliott lowered his hands, the flames disappearing.
Quite a few people stood around, admiring the ancient architecture, some had been in mid-conversation, others appeared to be sat quietly in prayer, reading bibles, or chatting to tour guides. An eerie silence surrounded them as they walked around, trying to find the mysterious girl.
'Hello?' said Emma. 'We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help,' she added, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.
'Let's split up,' Declan suggested as they walked their separate ways in the semi-darkness.
Emma walked through the centre of the cathedral while Declan and Elliott walked down either side of it. Gazing upwards, her breath caught in her throat at the enormity and beauty of her surroundings. She'd always been fascinated by ancient buildings and this one certainly wasn't disappointing, with its vaulted ceilings and huge columns that supported it throughout.
Stopping as she heard gentle sobbing, Emma turned towards the sound until she found a girl with long, wavy, strawberry blonde hair, hiding behind a tomb.
'Hey,' she said with a smile as she squeezed through and sat down beside her.
'It's okay, we're friends and we know what you're going through.'
The girl looked up, her big blue eyes shining and watery. 'How can you? You've no idea what's happened to me. Who are you anyway?' she said, defensively.
Emma smiled and nodded, 'Believe me, I know. I went through it myself just a few months ago. Is it your 16th birthday?'
The girl looked shock, slowly nodding.
'Did you get a tattoo today? Well, when I say get a tattoo, I mean grow a tattoo?'
Her eyes widened and she gulped, 'h..h..how do...'
'Like I said, it happened to me. You're special. There are quite a few of us. We can help you.'
'But... but what's going on? Why has everyone... turned to stone?' she spluttered with a slight Irish accent, trying to hold back the tears.
'It's kind of hard to explain, will you come with us? You'll be safe, don't worry. We'll explain everything in the car.'
Declan and Elliott slowly appeared in front of the tomb. When the girl saw them, she flinched.