Eutopia (First version)

Chapter 1

You are too much like them.

‘I am nothing like them.’ The tone was fierce with denial, but the vainglorious head remained bowed in supplication.

Vanity is a sin. Came the slightly amused reply.

‘So is killing people.’

Everything happens for a reason.

‘Must we battle in clichés?’

You would prefer to draw swords?

 

She never had liked the dark much; Eutopia had never felt comfortable in it. It was instinct after all wasn’t it, to be afraid of the dark? One would think, given that she was now out of her teens and therefore past the point of irrational hysteria she would have outgrown her childhood phobia but you would be wrong. No, Eutopia had never liked the darkness, the way it crept upon you and caressed with enforced intimacy. Tonight was definitely no exception. She came to rest for a moment in the sickly glow of an orange street lamp, slipping the heavy backpack she carried from off her shoulders and setting it down at her feet.

Eutopia had tried to travel light and she had been amazed at how neatly her life had actually fit into the bag she carried, though it still made her back ache. The girl arched her spine, kneading a small fist just below her right shoulder blade in an attempt to loosen the muscle. The walk from Covent Garden tube station had been further than she’d expected and it had now begun to drizzle and she had no coat. Great. The long sleeved grey t-shirt she wore was thin and already damp, offering little protection from the unexpected August shower. So much for the British summer, she thought. Strands of her dark hair escaped the messy knot pinned to the top of her head and they dripped drops of rain into her eyes, causing Eutopia to shove them away impatiently as she drew a much folded piece of paper from her jeans pocket. 94-99 High Holborn, Covent Garden was printed on the page, along with a small photo of a tall white building with a large, welcoming arched doorway. It was the picture that she studied now rather than the writing, and she hadn’t seen anything that matched the image so far. It was the cheap hotel that Eutopia had booked the day before (though the pictures shown of the rooms had looked rather luxurious to her) and it was her destination for this evening. Her eyes, the deep and gentle blue of sapphires scattered on black velvet, squinted a little in the poor light.

A heavy sigh slipped from Eutopia’s lips while she silently debated the benefits of trying to retrace her steps and find a cab. Her feet, tucked into her usually comfortable Airwalks were burning from the abrupt cease in movement and she could feel the prickle of blisters beginning on her soles already. If Eutopia didn’t get moving either way she felt she probably wouldn’t get going again tonight. The thought of camping out in this dirty little street definitely did not appeal to her and she suddenly flinched at a noise from an alleyway just off to her left. The unexpected bang of metal clattering to the ground sent her heart racing, her body prepared to run. Seeking what little comfort and security she could get Eutopia inched closer into the light cast by the street lamp as a cat streaked past her having, no doubt, just upturned a metal dustbin deep in the shadows behind her. However the weak glow around her seemed only to emphasise the gloom of the deserted street and it did little to still the wild thump of her heart. She’d taken a wrong turn somewhere, she’d known it as soon as the crowds of tourists searching for some late night entertainment or a bite to eat had started to thin out to a trickle. Now she found herself completely alone down a little side street with nothing around her but the occasional street lamp, a mangey-looking cat cleaning it’s stubby whiskers in the gutter having just scared the crap out of her,  and a dim looking backstreet pub on the far corner.