#starter 01

The car had been perfect when Kate drove it off her mother’s drive a week ago. She’d asked to borrow it for a drive, snatched up the keys from the bowl mom kept beside the door, and not looked back since. This tiny town, Merrock, hadn’t necessarily been her intended destination, but mom worked quickly, and when Kate didn’t come back that evening, she made quick work of cutting off her credit cards - a not so subtle threat that she wanted her car (but probably not her daughter) back. Kate had to make decisions, quickly, and, short of going home, she only had one. 

That was how she found herself driving down a street she didn’t know as the Buick convertible, reliable and, until now, in perfect condition, spluttered on its last dregs of fuel. She’d just managed to pull it to the side of the road to park when the old car gave out. 

“Huh.” Kate bit her lip, sitting back in the driver's seat, and glanced around. Her phone was on its last legs, and she didn’t want Jamie to know she was in town until she’d prepared exactly what she was going to say to him, anyway, so calling him was off the table. Kate peeled her bare thighs off of the leather seat, the heat of the day making her stick to the fabric and, feet on the seat, leaned her denim-covered backside against the headrest as she surveyed the street, looking for any signs about parking restrictions. She pushed her tongue into her cheek and glanced, again, at her phone, assessing the 12% battery that flashed up at her.

Where: The streets of London Open to: Anyone

This wasn’t his normal beat, just asking random people and strangers for a Man On The Street column about their upcoming spring and summer season plans. But thanks to a random late-winter flu bug going around the office, here Samar was pitching in to help the Advocate out. He should be on the steps of Parliament, not shoving a tape recorder into the face of some random strangers. On the plus side, he’d be owed huge for this one. After a quiet inward sigh, he turned to stop the next person that passed him by.

“Samar Sehgal, London Advocate. Any big plans coming up this summer?”

.

     Tim almost didn’t hear anybody approaching him, too busy counting in his head with his eyes closed as he drew in deep breaths, trying his best to regulate his breathing and calm down. “Did you need something? It’s pretty late” he observed, opening his eyes to look at the other. “Is everything alright?”

.

     “Well, that definitely did not go to plan...” Jake huffed, finally letting himself come to the conclusion that he was potentially here all alone. Something had clearly gone wrong with the calculations and he needed to find his sister. Fast. “Hey, uh, excuse me! You wouldn’t happen to know where we are, would you?” Jake cringed internally. What a weird question. 

.

     “Huh?” Wally asked, quirking a brow as he hurried to push his weight against the door, turning to face the other with an innocent grin. “Oh this?” he asked, pointing towards the door with a nervous chuckle. “Nothing going on in there, Nope. Absolutely nothing. Anyways, did anybody tell you that you look fantastic today?” he flashed one of his infamous smirks, wondering what they were doing here in the first place. “What’s up?”

    Heavy eyelids opened to the dim light of her room, a cold wash cloth draped over her bed. Her head was fuzzy, but glimpses of what happened by the sea suddenly spilled into her mind. She could feel it again - life and everything in between. The Force was mending her, guiding her just as it had before. She sat up in bed and took the wash cloth off before looking around, coming to the conclusion that some of the villagers must’ve brought her back. Chey knew she exposed herself and what she could do. If that woman had told everyone, there was no telling just what they were all thinking right about now. She knew she needed to go address them, first to thank them for taking care of her in a moment of weakness… but to also give some sort of explanation of what happened that day. 

    She let out a breath but then suddenly felt as if there was a pair of eyes on her. Someone was in her room, but it didn’t feel natural. It didn’t feel right. 

    Keeping her head down for a moment in order to steady herself, she suddenly reached on the side of her bed for her blaster. She stood quickly and pointed the charged blaster to the other side of the room. Darkness surrounded her, slowly washing away the backdrop of the simple home… and then suddenly he was all she could see standing in front of her. Her lips parted in disbelief as she felt his energy mix with the Force, connected to her. He wasn’t physically there, but the Force made it feel otherwise. It was hard to believe her eyes, but mostly it was hard to shake that cold chill she got from seeing him. He was not the same.