After discovering that human minds are created by creatures living in the atmosphere Tonya must discover the truth of who she really is before it's too late.
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Fifteen-year-old Tonya is a neglected teenager from London who...
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Chapter One
Tonya was bundled up under a thick black puffer jacket, its gold zip pulled tight to her chin as she left her flat. It was dark and cold outside, but at least the rain had stopped.
For the second time this week the fridge was empty and her mum was out, so Tonya was quickly nipping out to the little chicken shop on the end of her block to get some food.
A bunch of older kids were hanging out in a group on the edge of the estate by the football cage. They were wearing thick dark coats with fur hoods pulled up, their faces in shadows. One boy was circling the cage on his bike, pulling the occasional wheelie. A muffled beat came from his headphones as she passed.
A few of the girls a couple of years above her in school were there. They were confident and animated, their voices booming, as their laughter cut through the cold night and breathed life into the city.
A far-off siren, a dog barking, mopeds revving, the hum of the local shops. All a mix of the familiar smells and sounds of her area, sewing themselves together into the tapestry of the night as they drifted over her.
She walked quickly through her estate, dodging the puddles. The trace of cooking oil wafted through the air. She came out onto a little strip of shops that sat directly behind her block of flats. The fried chicken shop was brightly lit, its fluorescent lights staining the night sky with their manufactured yellow glare.
Next to it was the corner shop, with its wonderful sweet-smelling trays of fruit and veg stacked up outside.
Everything about this night felt normal. She had grown up in the city her whole life, East London was her home. Her whole family lived here, her mum was raised here, and her grandparents were just around the corner.
As she began to push through the doors of the chicken shop, someone shouted her name.
"Ton! Ton, is that you? Give us a hand, would ya?"
She looked up the strip and saw her mum's new boyfriend (his name was Tyler, but everyone called him Tye) holding up Tonya's mum, who was slumped awkwardly like a rag doll against his side. She was slurring and giggling.
Tonya rolled her eyes as she walked towards the pair of them. They stank of booze. Tye – with a fag hanging out his mouth – gestured to Tonya to help him with her mum.
Tonya gently scooped her head under her mum's dangling arm and together she and Tye awkwardly walked Ruby back through the estate.
Tonya made sure to pull her hooded coat up over her face as she passed the gang of kids by the cage – her cheeks burning red – and prayed they didn't see her. She didn't want people talking. Things were bad enough at school without having to be the kid with a drunk mum.
Just as they reached the doors to her block, her mum seemed to sober slightly.
"I'm starving. Is there any food in the house, love?"
