Darker London

Although there were clouds hiding the sun, the early morning was already getting warm and the breeze was light. Summer had arrived and everyone in Izmaylov seemed to be feeling the sense of freedom of it. Spring had brought with it newborn chicks at the convent, and baby bears and deer that passed through the grounds, but it had not brought back Lucine.

( I'm not afraid of god, I am afraid of man )

When Ailbhe woke it was in her own bed and with a splitting headache. She tried to sit up but that turned out to be a mistake and she just groaned instead. At the desk on the other side of the room, Irena turned to look at her and said, "thought you might sleep forever."

Ailbhe reached for the bottle of water on the bedside and found that Irena had put a vial of painkillers beside it. She took three and half drained the bottle. "How long was I asleep?"

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Irena's cheek vibrated with a steady hum and she stirred, reaching under her pillow to pull out the mobile phone that rarely worked as a phone but instead served as an alarm clock. The bedroom was steel vault-dark, sunrise not for another handful of hours and even then it would be weak and cloudy - at least, that was what the weather last night had suggested.

( There were signs all around )