Give me a chance

The failed escape

Lyra Belacqua learned the truth about her guardian Mrs. Coulter, she was the head of the General Oblation Board. This came as a shock for the twelve-year-old, she thought she finally found a way to the north to see her "Uncle" and see what makes the north so great.

Lyra was going to leave via the lift, but that would be a dead giveaway especially if Mrs. Coulter hears the ding it lets off when being used. Her only escape route was through her bedroom window. She grabbed the Alethiometer, quietly opened the window and made a run for it. What she didn't know was Mrs. Coulter was looking for Lyra after she noticed she was a little frazzled after being in the presence of Adele the journalist.

Instead of being careful and making sure she wasn't spotted, the golden monkey spotted the girl and her dæmon walking on the ledge of the building. Mrs. Coulter made for the window to see what the girl was doing, knowing the only windows that opened close by are either in the living room or a bedroom. Suddenly realising it would be Lyra's window, she runs to Lyra's room to see her window wide open.

She slips off her expensive high heels and walks the same steps as the child she so longed for. Pan could hear the screeches of the golden monkey dæmon and the screaming of Mrs. Coulter "Hurry Lyra" Pan would yell to his human "I'm going as fast as I can" she would yell back. Once on the ground Lyra would run as fast as she could, but Mrs. Coulter had one up on the child, she knew the streets better than Lyra. Just when Lyra thought she outran Mrs. Coulter she could hear a familiar voice yelling "LYRA STOP"

Lyra ignored the woman's pleas and kept going. Mrs. Coulter was about to give up when Boreal drove past her in his car, the man offered his services to finding the girl and has some men on foot helping as well. He knew how much the child meant to Marisa and wanted to do anything and everything to bring the girl home.

Just as Mrs. Coulter was giving up hope on finding the child she had grown to love and care for; she sees Lyra talking to a man outside a coffee shop. Boreal sent his driver off to collect the child while Mrs. Coulter stood anxiously waited for Lyra to come back. Lyra saw Mrs. Coulter out of the corner of her eye. "No, she found us"

Mrs. Coulter could see the hurt in her child's eyes. She gets out of the car then turned in the direction Lyra was running away from.

Suddenly Mrs. Coulter yells out "I KNOW WHO YOUR MOTHER IS" Lyra stops in her tracks; she thinks back to when Mrs. Coulter told her that Asriel was her father but couldn't tell her who her mother was. The child and her dæmon turns around and yells out "WHO IS SHE?" then Marisa yells back after pausing for a moment...... "ITS ME LYRA" the woman whispers "I wish I told you earlier"

Lyra falls to the ground in tears, she knew in a way that Mrs. Coulter was her mother but didn't know if it was her imagination going wild or her heart trying to fill that empty spot she had for her missing mother. Boreal clicked his fingers to order his men to capture the child, Marisa stops him "I think I should approach her" Boreal nods then tells him men to stop.

Mrs. Coulter slowly approaches the crying child, seeing Lyra like this made her heart hurt. This pain was rather similar to when she was told her child was getting taken off her due to the death of her husband and not being very stable.

Going against every fibre of her body, Lyra lunges for her mother screaming and punching at her body. Marisa knew how her child felt as she went through something similar when Asriel had told her the courts are going to take Lyra away. During this emotional ordeal, Marisa thought back to the time her child hugged her at Jordan college.

"You lied to me, you lied to me. Why?" Lyra said through sobs and tears

"I know, I know" Marisa places her hand on Lyra's head then rested her chin on top. "I really wanted to tell you the truth when you asked but I was ashamed..... but I'm not now"

Gazing into her mothers blue eyes she could tell she wasn't lying. One thing the Gyptians taught Lyra at a young age was how to tell if someone was telling the truth when you looked deep into their eyes.

"I believe you" the girl said through sniffles. Pan thought differently but Lyra ignored him as now she has a mother, the one thing she has always wanted.

The pair returned to the flat where Marisa laid down some ground rules. Marisa escorts the child to the terrace where tea was waiting for them. Lyra was ordered to sit at the table but she had other thoughts.

"Lyra dear" Marisa said while trying to catch her daughter's attention. Lyra ignoring the woman while she sat near the edge of the building.

"Pan, if you turned into a large hawk, would you be able to catch me if I jumped?" the dæmon nodded. "Ok good. Be prepared to change"

Marisa could sense something was up, she could tell by the way Lyra was acting and secretly communicating with her dæmon. "Lyra" she would call out, the child ignores her.

"Lyra" she said with an angry tone. Still nothing

The golden monkey could sense a change in Pan and alerted his human. Quickly moving from her seat, Marisa rushes to Pan.

"NOW PAN" Lyra yells

Just as Lyra jumped Pan in his eagle form ready to catch his human, Marisa catches Lyra by the scruff of her dress. Pan falls to the ground and Lyra passes out in shock from the incident.

Marisa calls out for her man servant to help with Lyra as the was slipping out of her grip. The man placed the child on the bed while Marisa and her dæmon collected Pan. When they reached the dæmon he somehow wasn't the eagle but a brown and white ermine. The golden monkey gently picked up the animal while his human was making sure no one saw the dæmon without its human.

Once back in the flat, the golden monkey placed Pan by Lyra. Even though the girl was unconscious, she made a painful angry face as soon as Pan was close to her. Marisa took note to this as it was a completely different outcome to when she separated from her dæmon.

Knowing she couldn't do anything for her child at the moment, Marisa sat down to have some dinner.  As soon as she went to put the fork to her mouth Lyra let out a blood curdling scream. Practically sprinting to her child, a loud thud was heard that it stopped the woman in her tracks. "What was that?" she said to herself

When she opened the door, she saw Lyra sitting up in bed and Pan cowering down by the door. In the years she was separating children she never saw the children so aggressive.

"Lyra? Dear what's wrong?"

Panting from frustration, Lyra looks at her mother then starts screaming "KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME" him being Pan

Completely confused and worried, Marisa did as her child wanted and the golden monkey picked up the cowering dæmon.

Wanting to keep what just happened fresh in her memory, Maria rushes to her study to write down the time, date, the subject and what had happened. Before she could even finish her notes Lyra started to scream again. Thinking Pan went back to his human, she poked her head through the doorway to see her dæmon standing right there with Pan in his hands.

The screaming stopped for a moment then started again. Now Marisa was concerned not only for her child but now her work. Was there something in the air to affect the dust and the dæmons? What was causing Lyra to scream like that was now her new problem.