We Fall Like Rain

A New World

They sat there for a moment, thinking.
"Anyone got any signal?" Thalia asked getting her phone out from her pocket, along with Maggie, whose phone was already half broken.

"No, my phones almost dead too"
Nobody else had a phone which Maggie thought was strange because it was likely to be on their person.

"Let's just get back to the main road and try and catch a ride from there." Nikita said standing, helping Kalen up.

They walked the whole perimeter of the field but couldn't find a road, Maggie began to think perhaps someone had dragged them from the crash site, but then that hardly made sense because they had only minor injuries, not even whiplash.
And besides, even if someone had helped them out, where were they now?

"Maybe we should just head through the trees and try and find a footpath or something." Niki said, slightly fed up.

Kalen looked to the tree line and sighed. "Better than wondering around here all day"

They walked through the trees for what Maggie thought was hours. Finally, they came across a dirt track that led to a small house. "More of a wooden hut" Maggie mumbled when it came closer into view.

They passed the front garden which was more of a muddy patch of land. There was a goat in a pen and chickens roamed freely around.
"Definitely the countryside." Kalen spoke through a smirk.

"Let's just get this over with so we can go home." Niki knocked on the door and a young woman answered it. She looked slightly older than them, with brown hair tied back with string and a lighter brown dress that hung loosely around her body.

"Can I help you?" She said looking the group of teenagers up and down with a frown on her face.

"Um, yeah. Can we use your phone to call someone, please? Our car crashed about a mile that way" Maggie stammered out the words and pointed to where she presumed the car should have been.
"Or your landline, either one really."
The woman looked confused like she didn't understand anything Maggie had just asked her.

Maggie thought she had said something wrong, or perhaps offended the woman in some way.
"I don't understand" The woman stated impatience bubbling up from inside her.

The group looked at each other, lost as to what to say. How could they make it any clearer?

"You must leave, my husband does not take kindly to unwanted guests" The woman went to close the door but Charlie stopped her with a hand on the door.

"Wait. Could you at least point us in the direction of the nearest town, or village?"

The woman nodded and pointed East.
"Loidis, three miles that way."
She closed the door without another word.

"Well that was rude" Kalen said as they made their way East.

"Loidis" Maggie mumbled, thinking to herself. She had definitely heard that name before but struggled to place it.

They walk through the trees to find a wooden wall surrounding the edge of a giant clearing.
"What the hell is this?" Charlie looked at the wall in both disbelief and awe.
It was too tall to climb but not taller than the trees.

They walked next to the wall for a minute until they saw a footpath that ran right through a large open gate.
They passed the through the gates and followed the path down to a number of houses scattered around, all looking similar to the old farmhouse they came across earlier.

Slightly further along there was, what Maggie gathered to be, a village square filled with stalls and people. These people were dressed strangely, dirty woollen coats and long slim dresses faded of colour. The men walked around wearing long-sleeved tunics with leather. Swords and knives hung from their belts.

Maggie wasn't confused anymore. She remembered where she had heard the name 'Loidis', in her history class.

People were glancing at them. They looked so out of place here. Maggie grabbed charlie and the rest followed. They ran up the path and out the gate, stopping around the tree line.

"What in God's name was that!?" Thalia shouted, panic rising in her.

"Relax, we probably stumbled onto a film set or a renaissance fair or something, we'll just find the people in charge." Niki stated rather calmly.

"Do you see any cameras!?" Thalia was full on panicking now.

"Thalia, it's okay" Niki soothed, stepping forwards and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Maggie thought for a second. If they were on a film set, someone would have said something. And what about the woman on the farm? She could have helped them, but didn't, she was genuinely confused.

"Why don't we just ask someone?" Kalen suggested, walking towards the gate again.

As soon as he got through them and onto the path, he came face to face with a man dressed in a linen tunic. He looked tired and worn out. The others caught up to Kalen and stopped in front of the stranger.

"Excuse me, could you tell us what this place is?" Kalen asked looking more and more nervous with every second the man glared at them.

"Loidis" the man answered rather matter-of-factly.

"Alright... what region?"

The man laughed but not in a nasty way like they were pulling his leg or something.
Then he looked at the teenagers' faces and stopped laughing.
"You really have no idea where you are?"

"No, it's a long story." Kalen responded.

"You're in the Kingdom of Northumbria, my boy." The man cracked a proud smile at the mention of the name.

Maggie didn't know what to think. It's physically impossible to be here.
"What year is it?" She made her way to the front of the group, next to Kalen.

"You're obviously deluded." The man turned to leave.

"Please just answer, we're really lost"
He sighed and looked down at them.

"12th of April, 1014."
The man turned and walked towards a little boy holding a stick, using it as a sword.

They stood there in shock for a moment. 1014. Did she hear that right? It's impossible. It goes against all laws of physics.

"What do we do now?" Niki asked. "We need to get home."

"Wait, you don't seriously believe them, right?" Kalen argued. "They're lying, must be."

"Guys, before we do anything, we need to blend in. We're attracting a lot of unwanted attention." Maggie said. She looked around at the odd glances and glares they were getting from people walking by.