𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 [Book One]

5: So THAT'S why I ended up here

We have not even started to find the stupid marble, but I want to give up already. The only good thing about our journey so far is that it is raining for the first time in ages. But then again, it is not a hard decision seeing as we only just left the Den. And I do not really want to admit it, but it might be easier without Florry here, considering she is a hyper-active three year old.

While Malik takes his anger out on the sky (his throat must really hurt by now), I look at Andy.

"What are we doing now?" I shout, still having to raise my voice over the sound of water cascading from the sky.

Andy shrugs carelessly at me, then turns to Malik. "Hey, Mal! Stop screaming at the sky like a lunatic and actually decide what to freaking do!"

Malik seems to only just notice us and, as I so rightfully predicted, his voice sounds croaky from all the yelling. "Sorry you two! Sorry sky! Anyways, follow me- we are going to find somewhere to hide until it stops."

"Okay!" Andy and I shout in unison.

Malik begins to jog away, and we follow him. Still covering our heads from the rain, we run through trees, next to benches and over discarded twigs. While I run, I can not help but think about what passers-by might make of us- three people attempting to avoid the rain and running like their lives depended on it. They will probably think we are all raving mad.

Not wrong.

Malik leads us to an old abandoned plant shop. Its windows have faded corners and the paint is peeling off the walls in long, narrow strips. As far as I can see, there is nobody inside, which is good- the fewer people who know what we are up to, the better.

We go in, and he shuts the door behind us. For a moment, we just stand there, trying to catch our breath. As I thought, this place is completely deserted, albeit a few mice and insects here and there.

"Right. We are going to stay here until the storm passes, and then we will be off. Any objections?"

We shake our heads.

"Good."

We sit on cardboard boxes (which are not as uncomfortable as you might think) and Malik dumps his bag on the ground. 

A few minutes of silence pass, and I attemt to to start a conversation.

"So... errr..... how long have you two been at the Den?"

Andy thinks for a moment. "I have been there for around a year now, going on two and I habe enjoyed every moment of it. Mal?"

Malik replies almost immediately. "Well, considering me and Attie were the ones who first started this whole thing, I would say maybe.... two, three years. I forget."

I nod. "Nice. But does anyone notice your absenses? I thought the government has everyone filed."

Malik smiles. "Well, I'm here, so I'm not exactly filed, am I?" he took on a serious expression before continuing, "The government doesn't really notice because most people just stay here for around an hour a day, so no one knows they're even missing and the people who stay full time aren't really cared about- no offense to them though- because they're never around to be missing, are they?"

"O..kay." I say, slowly taking in the information. "So which of you do stay full-time?"

Malik laughs. "You sure ask a lot of questions! The people who stay are me, Attie, Orla, Andy and a few others."

"Cool." I say simply.

Malik looks outside and grins. "The rain's more or less stopped by now!" he declared happily.