*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Atania's Knight - Raquel Festow* Part 1

Chapter 38 - Worst Case Scenario

*Ruth Watson POV*

I bit my lip and just sat there watching him, carefully, for his reaction. Harry had stopped the car, and we had been sitting in a multi-storey car park for about an hour by now while I finished telling my story.
He was staring straight ahead, at the car parked in front of us, his expression blank, brow furrowed and mouth slightly open. I leaned forwards, desperate to break the unnerving tension in the car with us.
"Say something." I said to him, quietly.
He turned his head and looked at me. A thousand emotions visible through his eyes, but the main ones I noticed were his pain, sorrow, guilt and longing.
"Harry, please. Say something. I-I know it sounds farfetched, but it-"
"I'm hungry." Harry said, unhooking his seat belt and climbing out of the car.
'Ok, then. Denial it is.' I thought, as I sighed and followed his lead.
As I got round the back of the car, he grabbed my hand and led me to a lift in silence. I was extremely worried, now. He hadn't reacted how I had expected him to at all, and was just carrying on as normal, as if I hadn't told him all about Realms, and FREE, and Order of Verdicts, or anything. Did he think I had just given him a load of bullshit? Was he thinking I needed to see a doctor because I've gone mad? Probably. I just wished he'd say what was on his mind instead of ignoring it.
He pressed the button and we went down to the ground floor, still not speaking to each other, with me casting awkward glances his way every now and again hoping I could read his mind through his expression. He didn't have one. He kept his face perfectly void.
When the lift reached the ground floor, he led me to a restaurant opposite a park and opened the door for me.
"Table for two please?" Harry asked the waiter at the podium, who nodded, politely, picked up two menus and led us to a table in front of the window.
"Harry, what are y-"
"Can I get a pint of carling and a rosé for her, please?" Harry told the waiter as we sat down.
Again, the waiter nodded and disappeared from view to get our drinks.
"Harry, what-" I tried again, but he cut across me.
"If I hadn't have seen you vanish in front of my eyes all those years ago, I wouldn't have believed you. But now that you're back, I can't ever let you out of my sight again." He mumbled, reading the menu and half hiding his face. "I promised Chris we would find you, and we have."
My heart sank. This was not what I wanted to hear. "Harry, I can't stay here. I have a-"
"You have a duty to the Realms, I understand." He interrupted me again, putting the menu down and looking me directly in the eye. "You may have a duty to 'FREE'" he whispered, air quoting the FREE part. "But I have a duty to my brother. I can't let you go without knowing you'll be ok. Therefore, I want to go with you,"
My heart sank further. He can't be serious?
"Harry. You can't join FREE, you have no idea how dangerous it is. You're not exactly in the best shape, you know." I told him in disbelief, looking him up and down.
Harry shrugged. "If a chain smoking, heavy drinking teenager can, then I can." He smirked at me, jeeringly. "Besides, it sounds exciting."
I bit my lip and shook my head, thinking of what Rebecca would say about this. "No. I will not allow it." I told him.
"You have no choice. I'm going whether you like it or not." Harry retorted, cocking an eyebrow and folding his arms, stubbornly. "You said you have two people from Alaska joining, so why can't I?"
I snorted. "It's Atania, you twat! Not Alaska!" I chuckled and shook my head. "It will be hard work."
Harry nodded. "I expect it to be."
"You'll be pushed to your absolute limit." I warned him.
Again he nodded. "Bring it on."
"You'll be expected to work twenty four hour shifts, five to six days a week."
"I work seven days a week in the bar on my own, anyway, I think I can handle that."
"Earth is not on the visitation list, so you'll never be able to return."
"I can deal with that."
"And you have to beat one of the Doppelgängers to get in."
"Do I get to choose who?"
"No."
"Okidoke. I was going to choose that Rhianna you told me about, anyway. You sound boring."
I rolled my eyes at him but stopped trying to put him off joining when the waiter brought over our drinks. He was being a right stubborn idiot, but I had to give him credit for his determination.
"Are you ready to order?" The waiter asked, politely.
"Yeah. Two medium rare fillet steaks please." Harry said, immediately. He still remembered my favourite food after all this time. And we had only gone out a few times with friends when we were younger.
"Anything on the side?"
"Yeah, onion rings, potato wedges and corn on the cob." Harry told him.
The waiter jotted it all down and disappeared out the back again. Harry turned back to me and grinned. I scoffed back at him, mockingly, before looking out of the window at the passing public and traffic.
In my mind, I was thinking of how great it would be to have one of my oldest friends beside me at FREE, but at the same time, I could lose him forever. Do I let Rebecca take control of this situation and dismiss his offer of joining just so he would stay safe? It was unlikely he would be put on my team, so he'd probably be placed under Rhianna's strict orders or part of Raquel's new team after she had completed the training. Darren would likely train him up and his training was known for being savage. Harry might die from a fucking heart attack before he even saw his first battle.
Harry watched me carefully for a moment, as if waiting for me to continue arguing or to agree to let him join, before he followed my gaze out of the window.
"So what are the other Realms like? Are there any out there like us?" He asked, curiously.
I watched a lady wonder past, pulling her tantruming toddler along behind her, with a furious, embarassed look on her face before turning back to face him.
"They're all different from each other. None are advanced as Earth, though. Neonia, the first Realm, is a very dull, strict Realm. Everything is so organised there, that's why FREE is run like clockwork because that's where Rebecca is from. The Government runs everything there, and they like to have everything in black and white, all filed away neatly, and they are all control freaks. They like to keep strictly to their set ways, too, and hate change." I looked back out of the window. "They're the most religious Realm out of all of them. They all have gods that they pray to morning, noon and night. I didn't know Rebecca was into the religious stuff until recently, as she kept it so quiet. I was actually really surprised that she keeps to her Neonian ways, especially as they have rules in place on certain types of relationships, if you know what I mean." I cocked an eyebrow at Harry, hoping he understood what I was implying.
"They're homophobics?"
I nodded. "Everyone has to be exactly the same, same clothes, hairstyles, shoes. They don't allow jewellery unless you're married and they carry out sever punishments on those who break the rules."
"Whoa. Nazi central then." Harry murmured.
I bobbed my head from side to side, pulling a thoughtful, yet doubtful, look. "Not quite, they have a slight more tolerance, but yes, you piss them off they will have their own back." I sighed and smiled at him. "Then you have Cristis. Cristis is the second Realm and the main reason I'm so desperate to get back as they recently fell to the Order. They're peaceful, but very quiet and the Realm is full of loners and worry worts. They have their cities underground, away from prying eyes, and everything is done in such a secretive way. I remember going into a shop there after a meeting with their council, once, and asking the clerk where their snacks were." I leaned dramatically across the table, whispering. "He told me to stay by the till and he would return with what I required." I narrowed my eyes and looked around, making myself look shifty. "All I wanted was a sausage roll." I hissed, mysteriously to him.
Harry threw his head back and laughed. "Seriously? All that for a fucking sausage roll?"
I nodded, smirking slightly at his reaction. "That's why Ruby doesn't like giving orders." I put on a whiny, irritating voice. "She's such a private, delicate little flower." I chuckled then turned serious, looking Harry in the eye. "But they're quick. They're the fastest runners in the whole of the Realms and the most agile. Usain Bolt would have nothing on these guys!" I leaned myself into the back of the chair, tilting it so the front legs left the floor. "Fuck knows what they do when they're hidden away in their rooms during their free time, but Rhianna and I reckon they're just avid mastubators. If they had PornHub there, they'd definitely be premium members." I said, nonchalantly.
Harry roared with laughter and nodded his head. "I was thinking that too." He squeaked between his laughter.
I stopped talking for a moment as I saw the waiter returning with our tray of food. I gave him a sweet smile as he put the food on the table. He asked if there was anything else before he turned away and headed back towards a podium where a couple were waiting to be sat down.
I started to tuck into the most delicious steak I had ever eaten, and continued talking between my mouthfuls. "The third Realm is Rulid. Rulid is constantly at war with each other. Think of it like, all the kings and queens throughout our history all being alive right now, and being given teeny tiny patches of land. Of course, they're going to think they're a more worthy ruler than some of the others and get greedy, so they start wars with each other, just to take over that other tiny patch. That's the whole Realm in a nutshell. Constant battles raging all the time, rival gangs going into other territories, treaty meetings, the works. That's where Rhianna is from and that's why she's such a beast in the battlefield. They are all wanting power. Rebecca reckons thats where the Order originated and most of its members come from there. Everything is politics, status and power. They prefer to have male heirs to their thrones so girls get shunted. That's why Rhianna doesn't take any shit from anyone."
Harry leaned back in his chair, after wolfing down his food like normal. He patted his belly for a moment, before leaning back towards me.
"Who's next?" He whispered.
"Then there's us. Earth is the fourth Realm. Then Astrovia. Astrovia is the Realm I was sent to. Unpopulated by people, but overrun with monsters, like the one's I told you about. Coffinhounds, Duskwings, Vexwraiths, Smokelings, Razoresnares. There were others, but thankfully, not ones I came across. Then there's Deathea, which is the sixth. That's the only Realm I have never been to, and hopefully never will. Rebecca is the only known person to be sent there and come out alive. She stayed there for ten long years, before managing to find a volcano that was actually where they held all their meetings. She took on the diguise of one of the members there and escaped to Atania."
"Wow. Rebecca is a bad ass." Harry whispered in awe, his eye brows high on his forehead, eyes wide and his mouth opened in a half amazed, half amused smile.
I chuckled. "She's had a tough life. There's still so much I am still to find out about her. She's our oldest doppelgänger... or at least she was. Rebecca's a hundred and thirty one years old, but apparently the one we have just found out about is a hundred and eighty odd."
Harry's mouth fell open. "Holy shit..." He breathed in amazement.
I smirked at him and shifted my chair forward even more, preparing to continue when a small voice came into my mind.
'Watson, can you hear me?'
'What the- Raquel?' I thought back. I gaped at Harry in surprise, who gave me a confused look back.
'Relxa, Watson. We have the man who drives the car that knows you, here. We found his name on a ticket that you dropped on the floor.' Came Raquel's response.
'Oh, for fuck sake. I'll call her now.' I rolled my eyes, and went to stand up.
'Where are you?' Raquel asked.
'Wembley. I'll call Rebecca now to tell her not to worry.' I shook my head, annoyed.
"Sorry, mate. Duty calls." I said to Harry.
"What? What happened?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Raquel is using the doppelgänger latch to contact me. She's saying that Rebecca's got the cab driver we used on the first day here." I murmured, quietly so no one else could hear.
"Alright. You all finished then?" Harry grinned at me.
I nodded. "That was lush. Cheers buddy." I grinned back.
"No probs. Here, I'll go settle the bill and you call Rebecca and set things straight."
I walked towards the exit, pulling out my phone as I did so, searching for Rebecca's number, before holding it to my ear and looking around as I waited to cross the road towards the park opposite.
Rebecca answered on the second ring.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" She roared down the phone.
I grimaced and held the phone away from my ear until she stopped shouting. "I'm out with Harry. I went to Dean and Hewitt's and gave them their compensation by the way, they are very thankful." I told her, knowing that would soften her up a bit.
"Ok, well. At least they got it. Where are you now?" Rebecca's voice sounded calmer now, but still annoyed.
"I'm in Wembley now. I'm sorry, ok? I needed to have a place to think away from everything. I'm just finding it tough to come to terms that I'll never see my mum again."
"But why didn't you tell any of us? One of us should have gone with you! And to leave behind your weapon?" Rebecca asked, her voice sounding guilty and strained.
Before I could answer, a woman was marching towards me, glaring right at me, threateningly.
"YOU!" She screamed, pointing an accusing finger at me. She had auburn hair, very dark brown eyes and devil red lipstick on, with a red tailored, skirt suit. "YOU DARE TO COME HERE?!"
I looked behind me, wondering if she was actually speaking to me, but there wasn't anyone else there.
"I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone else." I told her and turned away from her.
"Who's that?" I heard Rebecca ask, but before I could answer, the woman spun me back to face her and her fist was drawn back to punch me. I dodged, just in time and saw Harry running across the road, his face panic striken. The woman was getting into my face.
"How dare you come back here! You stayed with him tonight didn't you? Only a week later and you're sleeping with him, you whore!" She shrieked at me.
"Look, love, you must have her confused with someone else." Harry told her, stepping in front of her and blocking her way to me.
"I have no fucking clue who you are!" I shouted at her from behind Harry.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE HIM FROM ME, YOU FUCKING SLUT!" She launched herself at me, but Harry caught her midway.
"Whoa, chick. Calm down, alright!" Harry roared, trying his best to calm her down, standing between the two of us.
"You don't want to start a fight with me, hun. You don't know what I'm capable of!" I warned her, taking the phone away from my ear and casting her a bored look.
She reached around Harry and grabbed my hair, yanking me towards her. I grunted in the pain, but then elbowed her in the face, causing her to let me go. I had had enough of her by now. I stepped back a little to prepare myself.
"Beccs, I'll call you back. Some psychobitch is trying to attack me saying I stole her boyfriend. I'll get her sorted and call you back." I said down the phone to Rebecca, my fury rising up inside me.
I turned to face the psychotic girl who thought I had stolen her boyfriend and started my way back to her.
"RIGHT. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS. WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" I roared, putting the phone down and giving it to Harry so he could keep it safe.
"You know exactly who I am, you bitch! You took my Tommy." She screeched.
I gave her an incredulous look. "I don't even know a Tommy! Who the fuck is Tommy?" I shrieked back. I racked my brains to see if I did really know any Tommy's and I swear I heard Rebecca saying it a couple of times. Who had it been?
While I was busy thinking, the crazy woman had stormed up to me and punched me directly in the face. Her attack was a lot weaker than I was used to, so it didn't really effect me too much. I swung my arm up to pin her arm under mine and pushed her to the ground, almost pulling her arm out of the socket. I held her to the floor with my foot, feeling the part where she had hit me stinging faintly, and I bared my teeth at her, threateningly. She yelped in pain.
"Ruthie..." Harry said in a wary voice.
I looked up and noticed a crowd had gathered to watch the fight, many with their phones out, snapping photos or videoing. I made a furious noise at the back of my throat and released the girl, starting to walk away, but the girl had other ideas. She got straight up to her feet and launched herself onto my back. I fell forwards and she rolled us over, putting me in a headlock.
I grabbed the arm around my neck with one hand while reaching behind me with the other. I located her ear and moved my thumb to her eye, pushing into her eyesocket, mercilessly. She screamed and let me go. I rolled her over again, pinning her down with both her arms held straight back behind her and her spine arched back, painfully.
"You do not want to fuck with me!" I snarled dangerously at her.
She cried out as I yanked her arms up, causing more pain to her spine.
Suddenly, I got tackled from the side and held down by multiple hands, while someone pulled my arms behind my back and put handcuffs on me.
'Oh, fucking bollocks!' I thought.
"You are under arrest for causing a disturbance, fighting and breaching the peace." A curt, male voice told me as I was pulled up to my feet. "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you fail to say something that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say, can, and will, be used as evidence against you. Do you understand?"
I sighed and hung my head. "Yes, I understand." I said defeatedly.
I didn't fight them, deciding that would not be a good idea and followed their instructions, silently.
"But she didn't do anything, it was all in self defense!" I heard Harry shouting out behind me.
"Go and get Rebecca!" I shouted at him before they opened the back doors on the police van and I was placed inside a small holding cell in the back of the van.
I groaned and started throwing my head back against the wall of the van, repeating 'stupid' over and over as my head hit the wall.
The van drove away from the scene towards the nearest police station and I leaned forwards, my head between my knees, regretting ever leaving the house this morning. No one spoke to me on the short journey and when the van slowed to a halt, the back doors were opened and I was pulled out.
I obediently went with them inside the station up to the desk, my mind racing on whether I should lie about my information or not.
"Ok, who have we got here?" Asked the policewoman behind the desk, looking up and scrutinising me.
"What's your name?" The same curt, male voice asked me.
"Ruth Watson." I replied dejectedly.
"Date of birth?"
"Nineteenth of April two thousand and five."
"Address?"
I froze. Oh, shit! What address do I give?
"St James Road. Cashalton." I responded, deciding to give my old address from before I left here.
"Wait!" I heard a voice behind me. "Isn't that the girl we were told about this morning?"
I groaned and hung my head, shaking it from side to side, trying to wish myself out of this situation.
"What did she say her name was?" The curt male voice asked.
"Ruth Watson." The woman said.
I mentally slapped myself. I should have lied. I should have fucking lied! I scrunched my eyes up as I felt royally stupid.
'Please someone, get me out of here!' I thought in vain.
"Yeah. Oh my god! It is her! She was one of those kids that went missing in twenty twenty!" Someone else shouted.
"Her mum was on the news yesterday." Another voice called over.
The police officers abruptly stopped their conversation, as the waiting room was suddenly filled with shrill shrieks and screams. The psychotic bitch who attacked me earlier had arrived. I was pulled out of harms away by the policeman who arrested me and lifted my head to watch what was happening.
The ginger girl was thrashing violently, trying to get away from the policemen that were leading her inside, screeching threats at them.
"SHE FUCKING DESERVED IT! I'M GOING TO KILL THAT FUCKING BITCH!"
I smirked and lifted my eyebrows at her as she reached the desk.
"Name?" The same policewoman asked her.
The crazy, murderous slag just pulled her head back, snorted inwards and spat straight at the policewoman's face.
The policemen who were holding her wasted no time in dragging her towards the cells, opting to try sign her in later once she had calmed down. I watched her go and smirked at the policeman next to me.
"Seems I'm being too easy on you guys." I joked.
The policeman gave me an amused smile back and shook his head. "We should have got you to help bring her in, it seems. You seemed to overpower her on your own. Took five men to hold her down."
"Bitches be crazy here." I replied, looking back at the woman at the desk, who was wiping her face with some tissue, looking thoroughly grossed out. "You alright?"
The woman looked up at me, shocked that I had asked if she was alright. A small smile stretched her lips. "Yeah, I'm ok. Surprisingly, it's not the worst I've had." She chuckled back, humourlessly.
"Right, let's take you to the cells. You can chill out there until we're ready to get your statement."
They led me down a narrow, white corridor with thick, jail doors on either side. Each door had a small window with a slider over it. Most of the small windows were closed, but there was a few that were open. We walked past a door that was open and there was the ginger, crazy bitch, being held to the floor by about four fully grown policemen as she continued to fight against them.
I rolled my eyes and hoped this would mean I would be given the easy treatment.
The policeman who led me had mousey brown hair, gentle hazel eyes, and a thin mouth with a broad nose. He opened an empty cell towards the back of the corridor and gestured for me to go inside. I walked in and he removed the handcuffs.
"Have you been drinking?" He asked.
"I had half a glass of rosé with my lunch." I told him.
"Do you take any drugs?"
I shook my head. "Against the rules." I told him.
He huffed a short laugh. "You got anything on you that you shouldn't have?"
I thought for a moment then shook my head. "Nope." I replied, popping the P.
He frisked me down quickly and reached in my pockets, but didn't find anything on me that was out of the ordinary, except...
"You don't have a phone?" He asked me.
I shook my head and kind of lied. "Smashed it the other day."
He let out a soft chuckle and walked towards the door. "You want anything?" He asked.
I thought for a moment. "Nah. I'm good, cheers." I replied. "I'll just sit here listening to the psychobitch screaming."
I gave him a cheeky smile and he smirked back. He turned to walk away before stopping, suddenly, and looking back at me.
"Are you really that girl from the news yesterday?" He asked me, curiously.
My face fell and I looked away from him, deciding my silence would be a good enough answer.
I slumped myself down on the narrow bed with extremely thin, plastic mattress and closed my eyes, waiting patiently for what was going to happen next.