Nephilim Quest Book 1: Shadowhunter

23. Breakfast With Daniel 1/2

I have no how idea how Grandma did it, but her call to my parents resulted in a week's stay with her. She told them that she had met an old friend who was just leaving on vacation to her holiday home on the west coast of Scotland, and that we were invited.

"It'll be a wonderful opportunity for Dana and who knows when she may get the chance again?" Grandma had reasoned. "Soon she'll be immersed in her studies."

This was a good enough story, but how she managed to make my mother accept my leaving without visiting home first to pick up clothes was nothing short of a miracle.

Mom always wanted to know where everyone was going and created a strict timetable for it in advance. She had folders for every trip, and lists of things to take, and she carefully ticked these off while she packed - and unpacked - bags. Her folders included timetables for trains and buses, maps of the travel destination and every conceivable emergency phone number. She felt insecure if people just went off impulsively and wanted to know the exact minute someone was expected back home, or was intending to visit.

"So you'd better be ready with some convincing tales about how wonderful it was up there," Grandma said. "I have enough photos of the area. I can send them to you, to make your story more believable. Let's just hope they don't begin to wonder why you aren't in any of the images."

So there I was, a few hours later, wearing my borrowed clothes at the private cafeteria for the center's personnel, where Diana had taken me for dinner. The clothes were more or less the right size - it seemed there were other tall people there too.

Now I was getting more openly curious glances from the people than I had when we arrived. I tried not to stare at them, but it was hard. I had never known any time travelers and just had to look at them to see if they appeared strange in any way. Well, they didn't.

There were people of all ages. Many were young, like us, but about half were older, and a few quite old. They were sitting with their trays, dressed in ordinary, casual clothes, the kind that were familiar to me. Jeans, T-shirts, hoodies, trainers. Comfortable seemed to be the main theme.

"Diana!" Someone was greeting her.

Diana waved her hand in the general direction of the caller. I stole a casual, sideward glance, because I recognized the voice.

Daniel was sitting there with four other people. He was by far the tallest of them. I quickly looked away and concentrated on choosing my dinner so I would not embarrass myself by blushing. Why did he have such an effect on me? And from whom had I inherited the tendency to blush anyway...

"I was told Daniel is one of the most experienced of the... what do you call yourselves, really?" I asked Diana.

"Travellers. Or Walkers. It wouldn't be great if we accidentally called each other Time Walkers and an outsider heard. Traveller is neutral enough not to make anyone too curious," Diana answered, selecting chicken for dinner. I noticed something that looked like vegetarian Thai food and piled my plate full.

"No meat?" Diana observed.

"No, I prefer vegetarian food," I replied.

I half expected her to ask next why did I not eat meat. For some reason people often asked that and then continued by either telling me I could not get all the necessary nutrients, or started defending their own consumption of meat, but instead Diana just shrugged.

"Here you can be vegetarian, but in the past - well, it can create difficulties if you don't eat meat."

"You mean I might get the chance to travel into the past, too?"

"Possibly, if you can manage it. It is not easy."

We carried our trays towards an empty table, past Daniel. I had another quick look at him and nodded, when I saw him looking straight at me..

"Hello there!" he flashed a beautiful smile at me. "Glad you made it!"

I couldn't come up with anything intelligent to say in response, so I just nodded again and headed towards our chosen table, focussing on where I was going and praying I wouldn't stumble against something this time. Thankfully my legs cooperated and my tray didn't end up anywhere it shouldn't have done.

Diana was already sitting down. She hid a smile as I approached.

"He's quite something, isn't he?" She winked at me.

"Hmm? Who?" I pretended I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. "Oh, I don't know..."

"Oh, I do. He has that effect on everyone. If he wanted, he could twist anyone around his little finger. But that's because of what he is..."

"What do you mean? He is what?"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. Lilith and the others will explain when the time is right," Diana's lips snapped shut.

Yeah, great... Like dangling a carrot on a stick in front of a donkey. I tried to look nonchalant and shrugged my shoulders.

"Whatever."

The food was delicious and as I was ravenous, it wasn't difficult to concentrate fully on eating. And when I finished, Daniel and the others had gone.

"So can you tell me about what was behind the gate? I saw Daniel walking there. What was that place?"

"Well... I'm sure you will learn all about it soon enough," Diana was clearly being careful with her words.

It looked as though I wasn't going to get any decent answers out of her. Best to wait for the official explanation about the gate, then.

I didn't have to wait long. I slept restlessly through the night and never deeply enough to have dreams. It was always like that when I slept in strange places. It was as though the child within me raised her head again and all the childhood nighttime fears and nightmares came rushing back. Diana slept like a log in the other bed, but her peaceful slumbers did not make me feel any more relaxed. I opened my eyes to check the time at the digital alarm clock at least once every hour.

And then the morning came and someone knocked on the door.

Diana was nowhere to be seen. I thought I had not slept at all, but obviously I had dozed off for a while and she had left quietly, not wanting to wake me up.

I got out of bed in my checkered pajamas and, quickly combing my unruly hair with my fingers, opened the door. I expected Grandma, or Lilith, or perhaps Diana would be standing in the hallway.

It was Daniel. He was leaning to the opposite wall in his jeans and T-shirt looking like a film star, arms folded across his chest. He appeared to be quite amused by my undisciplined appearance.

"Hey, sleepy head!" he smiled down from his heights. "Nice hair-do you've got there!"

*****

I shall publish the first 25 chapters of the book on Wattpad- if you wish to read the whole book for free, go to http://www.leenamaria.com and sign up for the email list (open until 31st December 2015). I shall send you the download link in January 2016 a few weeks before the book is published. I only ask you to leave a review on Amazon on the date of publication

You can also go to my Smashwords page and read the first 25 chapters there:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/601662

And on iBooks:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/nephilim-quest-1-shadowhunter/id1070270492?mt=11