Sorcha's Secret World, Part one.

Chapter 1, London.

Before Tokyo, my life had been perfectly normal. You remember the terrorist attack on Tokyo, right? It was in the news everywhere. First, we had no idea what had happened, and then the news started dripping in. A bomb had been set off in the subway during rush hour. A biological weapon. And as the death count rose, a large part of the city was quarantined off, and all contact was lost with the people trapped inside. In the end, we were told they had all died of whatever agent had been unleashed via the bomb, part of Tokyo stayed walled off and was declared uninhabitable, and the world moved on for most people.

For most people, yes, but there were those of us whose life changed in the aftermath, even if we never had set foot in Tokyo.

I remember going to sleep that night. It was late October, and it was unseasonably warm. I had a strange dream, a nightmare from which I could not wake up no matter how I tried. And then I finally did wake up, but the nightmare didn't end. I was floating in the air, above my bed. Lightning was shooting out of my eyes, fireballs were flying from my fingertips. And ice... well, trust me, you don't want to know about that.

I slowly got the power that was flowing through me under control, at least enough that I wasn't destroying everything around me. I was terrified, and so was my daughter. We'd only ever seen such a thing in the movies. Jessie, my daughter, wanted to call the hospital, but what were we going to say?

In the end, we decided not to tell anyone. I mean, who can you tell? I was sure that if we would call someone, guys in black suits would put me in an unmarked van, take me away and I'd never be heard from again. So we tidied up the mess, binned what was broken, and took a deep breath. Over the next few days, I learned to channel my magic almost at will. I could make a bolt of lightning jump from one hand to the other, I could light a candle with a flame from my fingertip. It was pretty awesome! I also lost half my weight in the span of a few days, my hair was fuller, my breasts were firmer, and I looked twenty years younger overall. I wasn't complaining about that, as you can surely understand. But I was more than a little freaked out, to be honest.

And then the doorbell rang. A beautiful woman in a very expensive suit pushed right past me as I cautiously opened the door. "Bee problem?" she asked. I had no idea who she was or what she was talking about. She represented a large secret organisation based in London, she said, and they were recruiting. The world was in turmoil, she explained, dark days were coming. They were looking for soldiers and agents. Crusaders. She told me they could offer good terms, a fresh start, a network unlike any other, and a way to harness and use my powers. "You can choose to become an outcast in a world that will never understand or accept what you have become, or you can join others like you. Take a stand against the rising darkness, and journey into the Secret World." She then warned me my newfound powers would attract others, and not all of them would be as accommodating as they were. I would be easy prey on my own. The lady, I never got her name, handed me an envelope. "There are instructions inside. Use it, don't use it, the choice is yours. You won't see me again. I'll trust you'll make the right decision." Then she left.

Inside the envelope was a plane ticket from Dublin airport to London, a brand new passport with my name and photograph, some travel money and an address in London for the headquarters of an organisation called "The Templars". I travelled to London the next day.

I took a cab from the airport, but it only got me to the right neighbourhood, since the road was cordoned off. "This is Ealdwic, lass, good luck to you," the driver said.

The police officers let me through eventually, and I made my way down the street. It was a street like any you'd see in London really, there were shops and a chippy, a post office and a barber. I still had no idea where to go.