Chronicles of Araxx - Forever Broken
Chapter 25

When Lee got to the trampoline park the next day, she found Vaughan and the others were not there. She was disappointed but assumed they were either late, or they had ditched her.

The later saddened her a little, but she didn’t let it bother her. Instead, she took her shoes off and started out for the trampolines.

“Psst.” A voice caught her attention.

Lee looked around for the voice but couldn’t see anything. She took another step.

“Psst.” This time for longer. “Over here.” It was Vaughan.

“What are you…?”

Vaughan put his finger to his lips and made a ‘shushing’ motion.

Lee took the hint.

He then gestured for her to follow him, which she did. The thought briefly crossed her mind this might be a bad idea, but she trusted him well enough to follow. After all, they were in a building filled with people in the middle of the day.

The room Vaughan led Lee into was strange. The walls were all black, so was the floor and the ceiling. It wasn’t dark, in fact, there was a lot of light in the room, it was just black.

Lee noticed there was a door on one of the walls, although it wasn’t easy to spot.

“Hello?” Lee said into the empty blackness. She saw Vaughan go into this room, didn’t she? As she thought this, a light came on further up the room, and Vaughan was visible behind a piece of glass, in the room the door led to. He pushed a button and his voice echoed through the room.

“Cool huh?” He asked. His voice sounded robotic through the microphone.

“What is this place?” Lee shouted, unsure if Vaughan could hear her through the glass.

“Hah, no need to shout, doll, I can hear you loud and clear.” He laughed. “It’s a holo-room.”

“What is a holo-room?” Lee was puzzled.

Vaughan explained it’s a new thing, only invented in the last year or so, and not many places had them yet. They were designed for intensive training. The user was able to control the holograms which appeared, enabling them to train for fighting or, in their case, free running.

“So how does it work?” Lee asked.

“I’ll show you.” Vaughan turned off the light in the little room and exited through the door into the main room.

Lee stepped to the side, letting Vaughan take centre stage as it were.

He simply said, “London street.”

That’s when everything changed. The whole room changed.

Lee stumbled and found herself standing on the city street. “What the hell?”

“Cool isn’t it?”

“This isn’t real.” Lee couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She was standing in the street. She stepped forward, then placed her hand on the brick wall next to her. “This feels like brick,” she remarked.

“It all feels real, and it all looks real,” Vaughan explained.

“So what happens if you fall?” Lee asked.

“You fall,” Vaughan answered. “Of course, you wouldn’t seriously hurt yourself, but you’d still feel pain.” He started walking, and Lee followed him. “It’s great for training, ’cause you can do the things you’re too afraid to do on the street, like being on top of the buildings.”

As they walked, Lee thought about how big the room must be. “We must be coming to the end of the room by now,” she said, holding both hands in front of her face so she didn’t bump her nose.

Vaughan belly laughed. “The room is endless when it’s in hologram mode. There is no end and no beginning.”

“How does that work?” Lee couldn’t wrap her mind around it, but then there was a lot in this world she still knew nothing about.

“I don’t know.” Vaughan shrugged honestly. “But it’s cool.” Vaughan walked towards a fire escape on the side of one of the buildings and started to climb.

Lee followed him up. It seemed strange to be climbing in a room that was empty only a minute before, but it felt so real, she soon forgot they were only in a simulation.

Atop the building’s roof, Vaughan began stretching his legs and warming his muscles.

Lee followed suit and did the same.

Vaughan stood up from stretching, and with a sly side smile, looked straight at Lee. He clapped his hands together and music started playing. It was a fast beat she had not heard before. Dubstep is what Vaughan called it. The beat kicked in, and Vaughan was off. He started running across the top of the building they were on and took a flying leap onto the top of the next building.

It didn’t look too far and Lee was brimming with confidence. She gave her neck a crack and she too ran forward. As her foot connected with the edge of the flat rooftop, she propelled herself forward. Her heart stopped mid-air and she landed on the other side with a front roll. Vaughan had taught her to do that as there was less of a chance of breaking bones.

He clapped her on the back. “I knew you had it in you, doll.” He laughed. “Come on,” he said as he took off once more across the rooftop.

This time Lee was right there with him. She was fast for a girl, and she just about kept pace with him.

They jumped from building to building, attempting other tricks along the way. Lee was a natural on the rooftops, and Vaughan was impressed with her.

“I think you are really ready to join us on the street,” he said.

It was hard work, and both of them were tired.

“I don’t know.” Lee breathed. Her chest hurt and her lungs burned.

“I’m not taking no for an answer. You’re coming with us tomorrow. We’re meeting by Trafalgar Square at 3.30. Be there or be square.”

Lee didn’t understand the reference but agreed all the same. “Fine, I’ll be there.” Just as she agreed, the floor fell out from underneath her, and they were back in the black room. “Did you do that?”

“Crap! We gotta get out of here,” Vaughan rushed. “We’ve been spotted, come on.” He took hold of Lee’s hand and dragged her from the room, into the little back office where he was when she first came in.

Just as they got through the door, a group of people entered the black room.

“Up here,” Vaughan whispered, pointing to a hatch on the roof. They both escaped through the hatch and found themselves in the loft space. “It’s this way to the toilets. That way we can get back to the main room.”

“Something tells me you’ve done this a few times.” Lee couldn’t help but giggle.

“Shh, you’ll get us caught.” Vaughan was laughing too as they jumped down through the hatch. “So, tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there.” Lee smiled.

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