Castles in the Clouds

                                                  ~Prologue~
                                          DIFFERENT WORLDS

In a corner of a dank, dirty and suffocated room, a girl cowered, weeping silently, her head sunken in-between her bent knees.

         She was a figure that did not go with the surroundings that she was presently in and from her point of view it seemed like an alien world. The paint on the walls was so bare that it clearly showed the dirty plaster under it. The room was windowless and the only source of illumination was the tiny dim electric light that barely lit up the room. The floor, which was made of floorboards, was covered in year’s worth of grime that stuck to it and the room stank that of a musty smell. The girls’ bag lay thrown and neglected close by her and the room was barely furnished with only a tattered and damp-looking mattress and a rickety wooden chair.

But the girls’ appearance quite contradicted her surroundings she was in. She was a young girl of about sixteen and as she wept, her sleek shoulder length blonde hair, covered he face like a silky curtain. Her clothes indicated that she came from a “well-to –do” family.

         Suddenly hearing a noise and her heart skipping a beat, she looked up to reveal a strikingly beautiful face. Her electric blue eyes, shining with tears rounded with terror at the sight she saw before her.

The door opened and a tall, lanky figure entered the room, and the man that entered had a leering look etched on his face. The sight of him made the girl break out into fresh screams and she pushed herself backwards against the wall, as if hoping they would magically open up.

         He placed a finger onto his lips, indicating her to be quiet and closing the door behind him, he walked slowly towards the girl, a look of triumph shining in his gimlet-like eyes. The girl screamed even louder as the shadow of the figure drew towards her menacingly in her wake.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~
                                          -A FEW DAYS LATER-

An athletic young man of nineteen panted slightly as he pedaled his eye-catchy bike down the crowded roads of the busy city, swerving expertly, avoiding the fast moving vehicles and chatting people that moved about on that sunny and bright day.

         Pushing aside a few strands of his sharp black hair that had settled on his forehead, he turned round a corner and as he continued to ride, he saw a convertible, with its hood open revealing two girls in their teens driving past him in the intersection that crossed in front of the road he drove on.

He stared at them as the girl went past him and catching his look, the girl who drove the car, winked at him, flashing a grin. She had long reddish brown hair and had a face that had a determined look to it. The other girl who sat next to her had black hair that reached a little below her shoulders. Just a look at her would make any person realize that she was neither English nor American. Infact she was a Russian.

         His lips curling into a smile, the young man sped on his bike and motioned with his arms that he would be following them.

‘Is he thinking of tailing us?’ asked the Russian girl glancing at the rear view mirror to see the young man riding behind them at full speed.

         ‘It looks as if he is,’ said the reddish brown haired girl, with a laugh. ‘Let’s give him a wild goose chase shall we?’

‘It’ll be fun to see his cute face change color,’ said the Russian girl giggling, pushing her sunglasses up to her forehead. ‘His face is already as red as a beetroot. Poor guy!’

The girl driving the vehicle, pushed her foot on the accelerator and the convertible roared through the road

         ‘They’re trying to give me the slip,’ thought the man, a smile playing on his face. ‘They’re going to have to try harder than that.’

After for what seemed a long time the girl changed course and headed towards a rather deserted, out-of-the-way road that led out of the city-centre. Trees covered on either side and its growth became thicker as they went further. The road also widened and the girls took the advantage to drive faster.

‘I can’t believe that that guy is still on our heels,’ exclaimed the Russian girl. ‘He’s so fast with that contraption of his.’

         The reddish-brown haired girl glanced behind her and the young man catching her eye gave thumbs up and grinned widely as he continued to pedal his bike. She returned a cheeky smile and drove even faster.

‘Just make sure that the cops are not hanging about,’ warned the Russian girl holding tightly on to her seat, her long brown hair trailing in the wind.

For fifteen more minutes the girls continued to drive and soon they drove over a narrow bridge that stretched across a brook. Just by instinct, the Russian girl looked up at the rear-view mirror and suddenly saw that the neither the bike nor its rider was behind them. She turned behind her and it confirmed what she saw earlier.

         ‘Wow! Where on earth is that guy?’ she exclaimed to her friend. ‘Did he give up chasing us or did we give him the slip?’

‘I think we gave him the slip,’ said the reddish-brown haired girl. ‘I guess he couldn’t catch up with us. If he had I would’ve asked him to take us on a date.’

         ‘Pity!’ said the Russian girl shaking her head. ‘He was cute though and he looked like fun. Anyways it was fun while it lasted.’ Saying this she dropped her sunglasses back in between her eyes.

They continued to drive in silence and after a half an hour as they neared an intersection, a bicycle suddenly turned round the corner in front of them, at a distance and its occupant was grinning widely as he rode his bike towards them.

         ‘How on earth did he do that?’ squealed the reddish-brown haired girl, as the young man appeared, slowing down the convertible. ‘I could swear that there was no other place for him to go through.’

‘Hallo girls,’ said the man, alighting from his bike as soon as he screeched to a stop in front of them, who had by now stopped the convertible in amazement. ‘That was one hell of a ride, wasn’t it?’

         ‘How did you do that?’ asked the reddish-brown haired girl, pushing back the stray strands of red hair off her face as she stepped out of the convertible.

‘It’s for me to know and for you to find out,’ answered the man with a grin.

         ‘That’s a really neat bike you have there,’ said the Russian girl, who had also got out of the vehicle after her friend, nodding at the direction of the bike behind the young man.

‘Thanks,’ said the young man appreciatively. ‘That is one of my most valued possessions.’ Suddenly remembering his manners, he extended his hands towards the girls.

‘My name’s Jake. Jake Rawlins,’ he said shaking his hands with the girls. ‘How is it that I’ve never seen you before?’

         ‘You speak as if you know everyone in the city,’ said the Russian girl in an amused tone. ‘Sorry! My name’s Ava.’

‘Nice name,’ commented Jake, wiping the sweat off his brow. ‘Well yes! You see, everyday I go out it’s practically the same faces I see everyday and if I see a new face I notice it at once.’

         ‘We actually came here just a few months ago and we’re still getting used to settling down,’ said the reddish-brown haired girl. ‘My name’s Helen by the way’

‘I see,’ said Jake with an understanding nod. ‘I came here just five months ago. I guess I’ve already settled down but this town has many surprises popping put of nowhere so I too am learning life in this new place.’

         ‘So how did you remember all these faces in such a short time?’ asked Ava in an astonished voice.

‘I guess it’s natural for me,’ said Jake with a shrug.

         ‘Why did you give us the chase?’ asked Helen curiously.

‘When I see cute girls I just don’t go the other way as if I was blind,’ said Jake grinning again. ‘When I saw you girls, I thought that I should really talk to both of you and get to know all about you and you about me.’

‘You are the strangest person that I’ve met,’ said Ava with a laugh.

         ‘Well you got yourself a strange guy,’ said Jake. He suddenly glanced at his watch and exclaimed.

         ‘Why? What’s the matter?’ asked Helen.

‘I really have to scoot over,’ said Jake looking up at them. ‘But before I go, let’s exchange addys so that we can reach other. Pity I don’t have the time right now but we really have to talk more.’

Once they had exchanged their addresses and other contact details, Jake returned back to his bike while the girls retreated back to their convertible.

‘May we make ourselves really good friends,’ said Jake, winking at them, in a loud voice. ‘Adios,’ and saying that, he waved at the girls who stared back at him in amusement as he rode away from them until he finally disappeared round the corner.

         ‘You are right Ava,’ said Helen putting on her sunglasses. ‘He certainly is cute and he certainly is strange.’