The Gate Keeper: updates on hold until further notice

1. New beginnings

Ok, she thought.

She hadn't expected the rickety bus to drop her off at the Academy's door step. She was lucky to have caught a bus this far at all. She'd had to pay twice the fair - which was almost all the money she had managed to scrape together in her haste to escape - and argue for twenty minutes with the stubborn operator in the ticket booth, only to have the same argument with the bus driver an hour later. It was going to take her far longer than anticipated to walk the rest of the way.

There was a dirt road not far from the bus stop that cut directly through the Savannah, towards the buildings in the distance. It wasn't well worn, though the fact it existed at all meant someone was coming and going from the Academy at least. Luce stuck to the road, perhaps she could hitch a lift if anyone passed by.

She had arrived on Mars. Except for the buildings rising in the distance, there was no sign of any life, only endless miles of dirt in every direction.
The heat was sweltering with no breeze for relief. Luce tread through the dirt with soft scratching sounds which seemed too harsh and loud in the silence that surrounded her. She felt any moment her approach would stir some form of life - she'd make a really poor predator, on the contrary she would make excellent prey. The Savannah was vast and flat, she stuck out like a sore thumb and had no where to hide. She felt hungry eyes watching her. Imaging a prowling lioness or ravaging wolves lurking in the grasses. It was silly, there weren't any lions here, but Luce wasn't sure if there were wolves in this part, or if wolves even wandered Savannahs at all. She shivered uncomfortably. Shifting the weight of her backpack on her shoulders, she picked up her speed. The Savvanh which a moment ago seemed barren, dead - the biggest threat to Luce being the beating heat from the Sun above - was all of a sudden filled with life. Creatures stronger, faster, quieter than Luce, all hidden out of sight. Predators both of this world and another. Perhaps it was the Mars affected. Luce felt like there could be creatures lurking, watching, waiting to strike, that humans like herself didn't even realise exsist. There was something unnatural about this place. The heat was getting to her.

Luce was grateful for her hat which kept her from burning, the last thing she wanted was to turn up late looking like a beetroot.

She had run out of water at the bus station after purchasing her ticket, there was a shop where she could have purchased another, or a bathroom where she could have filled it for free, the thought hadn't crossed her mind at the time, which frustrated her now, her survival skills were weak. She had counted her money, deciding to save it for emergancies. A few notes and coppers wouldn't help her now. She couldn't throw down her purse scattering change in the hope whatever lurked would begin to pick up the pieces like an excited child, whilst she slipped away undetected. Something told her wolves didn't bargain for money.

Her throat was as dry and scratchy as the ground she walked on. The hat shading her head wasn't anyhelp in preventing the pounding onset of dehydration. Her limbs ached from exhaustion.

Luce kept on walking, reminded of a documentary she had seen about African wildlife, where a lion had attacked a gazelle, digging its claws in to its hide trying to pin it down and take a big juicy bite. The Gazelle had slipped free, though injured, bounded away in its bouncing gallop to the safety of the herd. Luce was that Gazelle, she had to keep going. She had to get to the Academy.

The Academy was creeping forwards in her line of view, as she neared the buildings. Three rectangular warehouses rising up four stories high. She noticed the shattered windows, the boarded up door ways, the practically falling down roofs.

Great. Just, Great!

Of course it was all too good to be true. That synical voice that ground her hopes in to shards of glass, that scratched and bled as she tread on them, had told her all along, It's a scam. It's all one big fat joke Luce. Even more worrying was the sudden realisation of the actual danger she had foolishly dropped herself in to. Danger more real than animals thought up in paranoia. Danger more immediately threatening than forgetting to fill up her water bottle, or put on sunblock.

Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Luce kicked the dirt with her tennis shoe, stopping half a mile from the buildings. Had she typed in the wrong address when searching for directions? Luce didn't think so, in fact she was pretty sure she'd checked half a dozen times that it was correct. She was in a rush though, if she'd had more time she would have searched for the Academy's web page to check the contact details there matched the business card sized piece of paper she'd been slipped a few weeks ago. Perhaps the person whom had handed it to her had wrote it down wrong, maybe accidentally, but more worring, maybe on purpose. She could very well be moments from stepping in to an ambush that had been constructed and planned out before she'd even met Joyce Warbeck, the lady who had slipped her the note.
Luce had even rang Joyce in advance thinking it was the sensible thing to do, to let them know she was on her way. What if she'd just tipped Joyce off, someone could be watching her now, seeing her hesitate, and grimace up at the scorching sun which suddenly felt ice cold.

Perhaps Joyce hadn't recieved Luce's voicemail yet. Perhaps no one knew she was even here. She could turn around now, but where would she go? She turned back to gaze at the bus stop. How likely was there to be another bus any time soon, or today, or ever again?

Stuck.

She was well and truly stuck in the middle of no where.

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I hope you liked my first chapter and continue to follow Luce on her journey as she sets out to discover the truth behind her darkened past.

Please comment and vote!

This is my first Watt Pad story, and my first story I'm opening up to eyes other than mine.

I'd love to know your feedback.