Time Portals of Norwich

Castle Falling

The bus was only five minutes late reaching Castle Meadow, which meant Cassie still had more than half an hour to kill before meeting the others at twelve. She got off, glad to be away from the stench and people. Outside, the sun pounded down relentlessly. Above her, the stone walls of Norwich Castle gleamed so bright it made her squint, even through her sunglasses. As usual Robert Kett, hanging in his cage, waved to her as she passed below. She ignored him and headed for the mall entrance. Once inside, she descended the escalator hoping it would be cooler there.

It wasn't.

But there was something else. Not an apparition this time, more of a feeling of collapse, of stuff falling on top of her and burying her alive.

She tried to ignore it. Maybe I am going mental, she thought. Five things in less than half an hour – it was getting downright stupid. She blamed her Grandad for sparking things off and then felt guilty again. He couldn't help it, she told herself. I wish I could help it, though, her afterthought added.

Starbucks beckoned. She fancied a coffee before meeting Georgia and the others. She had enough time – but could she spare the money? She felt a few pound coins in her jeans pocket and was about to go in the shop but stopped. Something blocked the entrance.

"Wotcha, Cass," the something said, becoming less transparent. "Fancy a ground coffee, with lots of air bubbles, made from scalding water from a fire that comes straight from hell?"

Cassie let out a grunt of exasperation. That the thing used to be or was supposed to be a man was obvious. It had a body, legs, arms and a head. Some of them were even in the right places in relation to each other. But the body and limbs had seen better days, and had probably seen them on different people. Equally obvious to Cassie was that no one else other than herself could see the thing as people were casually walking through it as if it wasn't there.

It took a lumbering step towards her and she backed away.

"Hah, you want to watch the sky don't fall on yer head, girl," it laughed, brandishing a smile that would have been far less unpleasant if the thing had possessed a full set of teeth.

There was a rumbling sound. It really did sound like the sky was falling. None of the other shoppers appeared to take any notice. The thing laughed some more.

A woman who must have been inside Starbucks strode through the thing and stopped in front of Cassie. There was something familiar about her. She looked like she was in her late thirties or early forties maybe. Her hair, worn long was unkempt and frizzy, and acted in a manner that suggested it had a mind of its own – a bit like Cassie's own had been until she'd straightened it. The woman's hair was nearly as dark as Cassie's as well. It wasn't her only dark aspect, the woman was dressed in black jeans, black top with a black leather jacket with lots of pockets to top it off. She must have been boiling in all that.

"Here we go again," the woman sighed. "Okay, Cassie. We need to get out of here. Right now."

The woman grabbed Cassie's elbow.

"Who the hell are you?" Cassie said, pulling her arm from out of the woman's grip and backing away. A few people passing by looked at her strangely and hurried on.

"You can call me Kay," the woman said, advancing again on Cassie.

"What do you mean 'call you Kay'? Isn't it your real name?"

"Ah," said the woman who wanted to be called Kay. "Well, that's new. Got a bit more bite this time round, have you?"

"More bite," the thing repeated, laughing.

"Ignore it," Kay said. "This one is relatively harmless."

"What? You can see it as well?" Cassie said, retreating even further. The woman nodded.