The Weapon Within: A Paranormal Dystopian Adventure (The Unexplainables Book 1) (14 page)

Two days later, frantic knocking woke me.

‘
Wake up, sleepy head!’ Linda burst through the door. ‘We’ve got something exciting planned for you today.’

As I dressed
, the smell of cooking wafted through from the kitchen. Bemused, I padded through and discovered a warm croissant and a mug of tea waiting for me.

‘
No time for socialising today.’ Linda grinned at me. ‘Eat up. We’ve got to get going.’

Ten minutes later she herded me out of my pod and towards the main building
, but instead of going inside, she steered me towards a waiting car. Joe was standing next to the open back door and Simeon was sitting in the passenger seat. I slipped inside and Linda followed. Once Joe was in and we all had our seatbelts on, he set off. I was expecting him to go towards the main road and the town but, instead, we headed out on a dirt track, past the farmhouse and into the countryside beyond. The track eventually joined a narrow country lane. There were no other cars around at all; in fact, other than a few sheep, there were no signs of life.

‘
Are you excited?’ Linda asked.

‘
I don’t know,’ I replied truthfully. ‘It depends where we’re going.’

‘
Wait and see,’ Simeon called back to us. ‘But I think you’re going to like it.’

We drove for
some time before rounding a corner and then suddenly I saw a line of deep blue, running parallel to the land.

‘
The sea!’

‘
That’s right,’ Simeon chuckled, ‘we’re going to the seaside.’

‘
Wow!’

Bouncing up and down in my seat, I watched as the line got thicker and thicker and then I could see the tiny crests of white bre
aking over water. We followed the coastline for some time before heading inland again. Joe drove the car right on to the main street of a small town and parked in front of a memorial shaped like a sailing ship.

We got out and I spent a mo
ment taking in the scenery. On the right-hand side of the street was a row of shops and cafes and on the left was the harbour. Several small boats bobbed up and down gently, huddled together against the cold breeze. Behind me was a pier which went right out into the sea, and below that was a beach.

‘
Where do you want to go first?’ Simeon asked.

‘
I want to see it all,’ I replied, my teeth chattering as the wind wafted over me.

‘
Let’s go into the shops first,’ he said. ‘With a bit of luck it will have warmed up a bit by the time we come out.’

We headed over to the first shop in the row. The only person present was the shopkeeper
, who was so keen to welcome us that he knocked over a stand of trinkets.

‘
What would you like, Ava?’ Simeon asked, raising an eyebrow at the man who was scrabbling about on the floor, trying to pick up all the bits. I crouched down and picked up a little box made out of shells and held it out to him. ‘It’s ok, I’m sure he can cope.’ Simeon put his hand on my arm and pulled me up. ‘Would you like that?’ he gestured to the box.

‘
I don’t have any money.’

‘
You don’t need money here – we own the entire town. You can have anything you want.’

I frowned.
‘That doesn’t seem right. I don’t like taking things without paying for them.’ A memory of an apple sprang into my mind and I quickly pushed it away.

‘
Look at me,’ he commanded, pulling my chin up with his fingers. ‘You are one of us now and you do not need to pay for anything any more. I promise you, it’s all ok. You deserve some happiness for a change.’

Taking the little box out of my hand, he turned to the shopkeeper.
‘Can I have a bag please?’

The man rushed around to the back of the counter and produced a large carrier bag. Simeon took it and promptly began filling it with all manner of items – pens,
fridge magnets, and even a chess set. After a bit of encouragement from Linda, I joined in and soon got into the swing of it. When we’d exhausted the first shop, we moved on to the next. This one had shelves full of strange foods. The lady who ran the shop gave me lots of samples and every time I said I liked something, she put a box of it in a bag.

‘
Do you eat this stuff a lot?’ I asked Simeon, examining a stick of rock.

‘
Not if you want to keep your teeth.’ He laughed. ‘It’s more of a novelty really. Come on, let’s go see what else we can find.’

Next we came to a booth
selling candy floss and drinks. Simeon spoke to a nervous looking girl, who promptly flicked a switch to turn on a machine in front of her. Glancing at me, she grabbed a large bag of sugar and tipped it into the machine. Producing a big stick from under the counter she prodded it into the sugar, her brow creased with concentration. Little strands of blue-coloured fluff stuck to the stick but her hands were shaking so much that she kept dropping it off the end. I was about to tell her not to worry when she suddenly got the hang of it and the next thing I knew, she’d stuffed a big ball of the fluff into a bag and was handing it proudly to me, her eyes on Simeon. I wondered if the fact that he was so good looking had put her off. He turned and grinned at me.

‘
Shall we move on? There’s an arcade next door.’

‘
What’s an arcade?’

He rolled his eyes.
‘Oh my goodness! You haven’t lived until you’ve wasted a whole lot of time in an arcade.’

My eyes lit up as we entered t
he building. There were machines all over the place. Some had flashing lights whilst others repeatedly played little bits of music.

‘
Go ahead,’ Simeon shouted over the noise. ‘Have a go. It’s all free.’

The nearest machine
had lots of large teddy bears sitting in the bottom of it. I pressed a flashing button and a metal arm moved. I manoeuvred it over a large brown bear and pressed another button. The arm dropped down over the bear, closed around its head, lifted it up into the air, then dropped it down a chute. Linda pulled it free and handed it over to me.

‘
Wow! That was fun. Brogan would love this . . .’ I glanced up at her, my heart suddenly aching. ‘Well, maybe Gracie would like it.’

‘
I’m sure she would,’ Linda smiled and patted me on the back. ‘How about having a go at some of these 2p machines? Here you go.’ She handed me a little tub full of copper-coloured coins. I soon got the hang of putting them in the slots and was delighted when more coins fell out into the metal trays at the bottom of the machines. When my tub was finally empty, we went outside again and Joe took my bags back to the car.

‘
Shall we have some lunch?’ Simeon asked. ‘There’s a great little place next door.’

Suddenly hungry I followed him into the restaurant, my teddy bear still in my hand.

I was allowed to choose any table I wanted, so went for one by the window where I could look out at the sea.

‘
So, what do you think of the seaside so far?’ Simeon asked.

‘
It’s great! There’s so much to do here. It’s a shame . . .’ I cut off the thought, suddenly conscious of what I was about to say.

‘
What’s a shame?’ he dipped his head to catch my gaze.

‘
Well, Noah told me that no one from the town comes here any more because they’re not allowed to.’

Simeon let out a long, slow breath.
‘Ava, when Nicholas first bought the land for Paradise, the council practically begged him to take on the coastline as well. There was no money left to put into it, the town was run down and almost empty, and those who were left had terrible gambling habits. You’ve seen for yourself how tempting it is to spend money in the arcades. That’s all they did all day long, hoping for a big win despite the fact that they couldn’t afford food or their rent. Nicholas agreed to take on the town and invest into it. No one has ever been told that they can’t come here – in fact we actively encourage people to visit. But they don’t because they know that we run it and have boycotted it.’

‘
They
are
strange.’

‘
Quite so,’ he agreed. Three waiters came over, carrying trays laden with food. I hadn’t so much as seen a menu, so was surprised when a large plate was placed in front of me.

‘
If you’re at the seaside, you have to try the fish and chips,’ Simeon explained, laughing at my expression. ‘It’s a tradition. You really can’t beat it.’

‘
And what exactly are those?’ I poked my fork into a lump of green goo.

‘
They’re mushy peas,’ he replied. ‘Honestly, they taste far better than they look. Give them a try.’

The meal was delicious. I quickly added fish and chips on to my
‘favourite meals’ list and finished the lot.

‘
Can we go for a walk now?’ I asked, rubbing my stomach.

‘
Shall we go down to the pier?’ he replied. ‘The wind seems to have died down a bit.’

We left the restaurant and retraced our steps. Feeling
suddenly free, I ran. When I got to the bottom, I leaned over the side, watching the water crash around the bottom of the pillars supporting the pier. Simeon and Linda caught up with me eventually, looking bemused.

‘
Sorry,’ I skipped over to them, ‘I got a little carried away.’

‘
Not at all,’ Simeon chuckled. ‘You really are incredibly fast.’

‘
Can we go on the beach now?’ I jumped up and down on the spot. ‘Please?’

‘
Of course,’ he replied, ‘lead the way.’

As I approached the town end of the pier, I could see a couple walking
hand-in-hand along the beach and a family of four – two parents and two small children playing in the sand. I swung myself around the end of the pier, kicked off my shoes and raced right up to the water’s edge where I jumped in and out of the cold sea, making deep rivets in the wet sand. When I tired of my game, I wandered back over to where Simeon and Linda stood.

As I passed
the family, the younger of the two children approached me, a blue bucket in one hand and a bright orange spade in the other.

‘
San’ castle?’ He held the bucket up to me.

‘
What did you say?’ I crouched down so I was the same height as him. He was adorable, with chubby cheeks, blue eyes and white-blond hair.

‘
San’ castle?’

‘
Show me.’

He squatted down, dug into the sand with his spade and emptied it into the bucket. Repeating this several times, he then tipped the bucket over, whacked the bottom of it with his spade and pulled the bucket up with the air of a magician revealing the end result of his trick.

‘San’ castle.’

‘
Can I have a go?’

He held out the spade to me. Taking it, I dug deep and filled the bucket
right to the top then tipped it over.

‘
Pat, pat,’ he instructed. I tapped the bottom with the spade, which seemed to please him and then carefully lifted the bucket off. For a first attempt it wasn’t a bad little castle. The little boy squealed with delight then jumped on to it with both feet, crushing it instantly. I laughed and tickled him under the chin.

‘
We’re going to have to get back now, I’m afraid,’ Simeon said. ‘The tide will be coming in shortly.’

‘
Ok.’ I stood up and dusted my clothes off. ‘Bye bye.’ I waved at the little boy.

‘
Bye bye, Ava,’ he replied.

I froze.

‘How do you know my name?’

‘
He must have heard us talking on the pier.’ Linda reached out and stroked the white-blond hair. ‘Clever little thing, aren’t you? Are we ready then?’

With a last wave at the family, I put my shoes back on and headed for the ca
r. Whilst the day had been fun, I was quite glad to be getting back. Apart from feeling tired, there were grains of sand sticking to my skin in all manner of places and I couldn’t wait to get underneath the shower.

*

My day trip to the coast lifted my spirits and I was brimming over with happiness for several days. The Paradise members were eager to hear about my experiences and seemed truly thrilled that I’d enjoyed it so much. Well, everyone except for Gracie, who refused to be drawn into conversation about my excursion. Thinking that maybe she was jealous, I tried not to feel too hurt when she rejected the gifts I’d brought back for her.

Other than that, m
y inability to sleep soundly was the only negative aspect of my new life. Almost nightly I woke up breathing heavily with my sheets tangled up around me. In order to try and relax my mind, I tried listening to music on my MP3 player before I went to sleep, but it didn’t seem to make much difference.