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Chapter I
October is a strange time of year, especially for an early morning walk in Aberdeen. Eve Nicholls breathed onto her almost-numb fingers before plunging them back into her coat pockets. Amber leaves floated to the ground with a mystical grace. Eve was reminded of her best friend Amber. They had known each other forever and spent summer after summer playing fairies in Amber’s tree house. A sad smile fluttered over Eve’s face.
Eve’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a huge cascade of ice-cold muddy water. A large truck had sped past her with the words “McFarly Movements” written along it.
“Thanks a bunch” Eve said sarcastically as she assessed the damage: It was bad. Her brand new black trousers and shoes had been completely soiled, Her coat had protected her awful blazer, That was much compensation though, maybe if it had got dirty she could have gotten out of wearing the awful thing. Now, not only did she have to wear this arm prison, she also had to spend the next 7 hours or so in cold wet clothes.
“ Isn’t life just a box of chocolates?” she said to no one in particular. It’s funny how the grief-stricken use sarcasm, especially when no one is around. Perhaps talking to yourself makes you feel less alone.

Nevertheless the leaves kept falling, the wind kept chilling and Eve kept walking. The streets began to liven up a little. Other school kids began to materialise more frequently. Though
thankfully none had noticed her yet. The seemed to maintain the same habits as those at her old school. Travelling in pacts like wild animals; loitering around the little shops, like flies on a carcass. Smoking and shouting, Eves legs were beginning to ache, but it wasn’t much further. This had all been downhill, she could not imagine how long it would take her to walk back up the hill the castle.

Soon the large iron gates of hell, I mean Mackie Academy, rose up ahead of her. Her cheeks flushed red and her heart began to race. The packs of kids seemed to block her entrance.
“Calm down Eve, you can do this”, she told herself. The only thing stopping her from turning and running was her mum. She would be disappointed in her she didn’t even try to ‘stick in at school’ as she’d always said.

People began to stare. The sound of her thumping heart probably made them notice her. She fumbled in her pocket the slip of paper holding the name of the person she was supposed to talk to get her new time-table. There it was. She was to find Mrs McFarly.
Taking deep breaths Eve began to put one foot in front of the other, weaving around the herds of people. One of the flocks consisted of four blonde girls. Three of them had straight hair of different lengths and one of them had ringlets that curled like a hunny waterfall. She was almost pretty but she had a rather vulpine face. She was emitting a piercing glare in Eve’s direction.
“Look girls, we’ve got a new girl. Oh and look at the state of her. ” She smirked. Eve rolled her eyes and marched on.
She eventually found Mrs McFarly and was guided to her lesson. I wish I could tell you that the reast of the day went without further incident, but I was always told not to tell lies. Some teachers were kind and didn’t draw unnecessary attention to her but others did. Some asked her questions, this was where she couldn’t win, If she got it right, she was sneered at by the other students, but if she got it wrong (sometimes deliberately) they laughed. A strange mocking laugh that some teachers seemed not hear, but others joined in with. She walked home with her self-confidence in tatters; spit-balls and glue hung in clumps in her hair; trousers still caked in mud and essay to write. She stopped at a little shop and bought a huge bar of chocolate. She pretended to herself that it was healthy by picking fruit and nut. Heavy metal CD’s where on offer so she got one of those too.
As she predicted the walk back was hard. The great hill seemed to stretch out forever. Eventually, Eve reached the bit where it flattened out. However, she was so miserable she couldn’t even appreciate the view. Which is a shame. The castle was perched on the edge of cliff, isolated. It seemed to match the way Eve felt. She trudged on towards it with the wind threatening to blow her coat right off. She zipped it up and pulled her hood up, afraid her ears might fall off.
Chapter II
As Eve was struggling up another hill, which her Aunt May called ‘the driveway’, she noticed some seals playing in the ragging waves, even the little white cub couldn’t bring a smile back to her face. The castle walls loomed up beside her. There was no portcullis or drawbridge, there wasn’t even a moat. It was still pretty sinister when the great oak door creaked open before she knocked though. Turns out Gerard the butler had opened it for her. All though, she had no idea how he knew she would be coming – he was a bit creepy.
“Would you care for anything, Miss Nicholls? Perhaps some tea or a sandwich?” He said as though addressing The Queen.
“No thanks Gerard” she replied.
“Really madam? You look chilled to death I’ll make a nice hot chocolate to get the colour back in your cheeks.”
“Okay Gerard, if you insist”
“I do Miss, I will bring it up to your room momentarily”
His voice was kind of nice after a long day of listening to colloquial Scottish kids. She headed up to her room, which was rather incredible. It was much more ‘castlely’ the entrance. A large mahogany four-poster bed dominated the vast room. Rich heliotrope drapes hung from the ornate frame. Matching furniture was positioned around the room. These included two armchairs and a sofa which were added recently when Aunt May had began to refurbish the castle after they bought it in 2001. She had mad sure it matched nicely, and looking at it now, Eve couldn’t tell. There was no need for a chest of drawers or anything because one of the two Adjacent doors by the immense windows was a grand walk-in wardrobe, complete with shoe shelves, drawers and hanging space. Not that it matter as all Eve’s clothes where still in the suitcase by her bed. The other one housed a pristine en-suite which included a bath and power-shower. It also had a washing machine, tumble dryer and drying rack. Eve wasted no time wriggling out of her soaking coat and filthy clothes.
By the time Gerard knocked on the door with her hot cocoa, her coat was splayed over the drying rack, her trousers where in the wash and she was wearing clean jeans and a big jumper. She sat on her princess bed sipping her hot chocolate and trying to check her messages but the wifi was really slow. Probably because internet companies are used to their customers living in cheap houses built on flood plains that have walls that may as well be made of cardboard.
Eve had only been here two days, and she hadn’t actually seen much of the fortress. She had spent all of yesterday crying in her room, and the night before she had arrived late and been in the drawing-room with Her Aunt and Uncle John. Once she finished her hot drink she was feeling a lot better physically so she decided to explore. Her room was on the top floor and was the only room in used on that floor. This meant that other than Gerard when he was on room-service duty, no one ever needed to come up here. All but one of the other doors were locked. What was inside this door made Eve gasp. It was a library. A proper library. With shelves and shelves of black leather-bound books. The smell was delightfully intoxicating. Only one wall was absent of books and it had an enormous window, identical to the on in her room., that overlooked the waves. Next to window was a comfy yet sophisticated sofa and matching armchair tucked away in the corner. Beside the chair was a quaint table with a classic lamp on, that loomed over the chair like a tree branch.
Eve began to look at the titles of the books. It seemed as though they were categorised. One shelf housed boring books about politics, the next along was still non-fiction but it was historical. It seemed to cover every era and country known to man.
“Won’t have any trouble when it comes to research projects” she said to either herself or the empty room. The shelves went on, covering all subject even some recent fiction that was what she usually read for pleasure. She picked out a novel called “The Smugglers Luck” by Hadrian Knox and settled down in the chair.
The hours seemed to fly by, and soon the bell rang for dinner. She left the book on the little table and headed downstairs. They ate in a traditional dinning halls with a long carved table that sit an unimaginable amount of people. The three of them sat up one end near the roaring fire on ornate chairs that where original features of the fort. Gerard’s wife, Mallory was the castle chef had prepared another delectable dish. They had beef stew with dumplings and fresh bread. As the ate, they made small talk. Aunt May was desperately trying to reach out to Eve. She felt so bad for her. A girl her age shouldn’t have to go through the trauma that Eve had. She knew that nothing she could possibly do would ever make things better for her.
“How was school Evie? She said softly, Eve felt patronised because it sounded like she was talking to a six-year-old.
“It’s Eve”, she said bluntly “and it was fine thanks”.
“Make any friends?
“Jesus May, Leave the poor lass alone, she only been there one day” Uncle John said in his deep but friendly voice. Eve smiled gratefully at him. It was weird to think how much more like her parents he was, when it was Aunt May who had been her Dad’s sister.
“I found the castle library earlier, its wonderful” Eve said, feeling bad for being harsh to her Aunt.
Aunt May smiled, “I’m glad you like it dear, it was going to be my favourite room in the house, but since my knee operation it’s not really worth going up those stairs, and I don’t trust the dumb-waiter.” she said it a sad yet humoured way. May had been a figure skater until she was 29. Although the money had been excessive (that was how they had afforded the castle), it had taken its toll on her physically. She so far she has had a hip and knee replaced and she’s only 42.
Eve frowned, “There’s a dumb-waiter?”.
It was her uncle who replied, “ Aye lass, there is. You can’t really see it from your floor as it’s behind a locked door, but if we wanted we could take the door off. I’m not so sure its a good idea though. Rumour has it that it goes right down to the dungeon levels and connects to the old smuggling tunnels.”
“I was reading about the Smugglers earlier…”, Eve said thoughtfully. Gerard came out with goblets of vanilla ice-cream and fresh strawberries.
“ Eve, the kitchen is running low on provisions, Lawrence and Mallory are going out to get groceries tomorrow in the forenoon, would you care for a ride to school?”, He said as presented her with her desert.
“Yes please, Gerard.” she replied extremely relieved that she didn’t have to walk out in the cold again.
“Splendid, come into the kitchen tomorrow when you are ready to leave. Do you need a wake up call?”
Eve could not imagine anything more frightening than him coming into her room whilst she was asleep, and besides she had four different alarms on her phone.
“No thank you, I can manage”
“Very well madam”
As he tottered away with their dinner plates, Eve caught her uncle smirking at her.
“What is so funny? She asked feeling embarrassed.
He laughed, “ I just think it comical how nicely you are fitting into the role of princess around here.”. Eve scowled playfully at him before tucking into her pudding.
Chapter III
Eve slid into her ‘princess bed’ feeling a little better than she had when she first returned from school. The pillow seemed to rise up to meet her and then pull her away to the land of dreams. Dreams and nightmares. The same nightmares she’d been having ever since the accident. The flames and engulfing their entire home with flames. Her dad puts her down on the cold grass and then runs back into the house. Back into the flames. She hears herself scream. Suddenly the screams are real and she’s awake. Her sheets soaked with cold sweat. She lies there and gasps for breath. She becomes aware of the window frames shaking in the Scottish winds. The ancient floor boards creaking in disagreement with the modern central heating. Like many who experience night terrors, especially ones linked to real traumatic events, she was too afraid to go back to sleep. She stayed awake for hours, she had woken up at 11:30 ish and spend the next few hours watching the waves roll over each other. The moon reflected over them, full. A light was flashing irregularly.
“Probably smugglers signalling” She joked to herself before finally dozing back off from exhaustion into a black dreamless sleep.
When she awoke again, it was still dark but time she got up and dressed for school. Luckily her coat was dry and she had a spare pair of trousers to wear after yesterday’s were in her tumble dryer. Mallory had made her a bacon sandwich. Which she ate quickly. Have you ever noticed that when you are awake at night you get really hungry?
Eve had told the chef that she was ready and was waiting in the entrance hall.
“Just a moment Miss Nicholls, Lawrence is just bringing the car around.” Gerard said coming up behind her. Until now she hadn’t seen the car. She wasn’t really sure what to expect. For all she knew she could have been being taken to school in a horse and carriage. It wouldn’t have surprised her. She thought she was prepared for anything but when she stepped outside she was astounded. An attractive young man in a Tuxedo sat in the driver’s seat of a black 2010 Mercedes-Benz s- class limo.
“Wow…” Eve whispered
“I know right, one of the many highlights of the jobs.” Mallory said coming up behinds her. The driver got out and opened the back door. “I assume you two haven’t been introduced yet?” Eve shook her head nervously. “ Lawrence this is Eve Nicholls, Eve this is Lawrence Harper.”
“A pleasure to meet you Miss Nicholls”, Lawrence said bowing.
“Likewise, and you can call me Eve” She replied smiling. She was definitely travelling to school in style, but she hoped that none of the other students saw her. The last thing she needed was them thinking that she was some little rich girl. Although she was starting to feel like one.
Just to top it off Lawrence said, “ If ever want to go anywhere Eve, day or night as long as your aunt and uncle say it is okay I will take you.”
Unsure of what to say Eve managed to stutter “Thank you”.
Chapter IV
Eve was early enough so that no one noticed her slipping out of the mini-limosine. Not that it mattered. Her first lesson was Art which she hadn’t had the day before. The first thing she noticed was the flock of blonde girls she had picked on her yesterday morning. The ones that had given her that stare of death.
The classroom quickly filled with students. The girl with curly blonde hair was sat on the table swinging her legs.
“Listen up guys” she said to the whole class. “You’ll never guess what my mum told me last night”.She turned and looked at Eve through her mascara covered eyelashes and smirked. “Our new girl over here” Eve felt her cheeks turning crimson. “she lives up in Dunnottar Castle like a little princess”. The whole room turned to look at her. Her whole face and chest was the colour of a ships flare.
“That’s probably why she is so quite, she thinks she is better than all us peasants”, said some boy. Eve put her head down, trying to make herself invisible, but knowing it wasn’t working. She just wished the floor would open up and swallow her.
“Maybe she is just shy” said a quiet voice from the back of the room. He was a tall boy with dark hair that covered his forehead, eyebrows and almost his bright blue eyes. He glanced at Eve and gave her a shy smile before returning to his sketch. The next second the teacher walked in.
“Eloise McFarly, off the desk” she said at the blonde girl. Eve suddenly remember where she heard the name before: it was on the truck that splashed her and the woman who she had spoken to yesterday. The same woman who had given the secret of her new extravagant life away.
“I really hope they don’t know about how I ended up living this life” the thought to herself, careful not to say it out loud. She had a strange feeling that Eloise was going to cause serious problems for her. Eve turned her attention to starting a painting of a baby seal playing in the waves like she had seen yesterday. It was a double lesson and she made good progress. Even the suspicious giggling of Eloise and her three disciples and the glares from her other peers wasn’t enough to distracted her from her artwork. However, all too soon it was break time which meant she had 20 minutes of being on her own and trying to be invisible. It wasn’t so bad a lunch time because she was in the last year of secondary school so she was allowed to go into town to get lunch. It seemed like a privilege, but it was really the schools way of shortening the queue in the canteen.
Gerard had given her £10 to buy lunch with and strict instructions to keep the change (the money had come from Uncle John). Eve walked to Starbucks and bought a small hot chocolate and tuna sandwich. She was reading the news on her phone but there was a report on a recent fire at Nottingham University and couldn’t read any more. She ended up watching a seal documentary. The time flew by and she became aware that if she didn’t get a move on she would be late for geography.
Suddenly she stumbled, in her hast she had tripped over a rucksack that was sticking out from under a table.
“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have left my bag poking out like that” said a flustered but familiar voice behind her. She turned around to see the boy who had defended her in art that morning. His eyes reminded her of looking down on a calm sea and seeing the sand reflecting the sun at the bottom…
“It’s okay” She stammered in response and then dashed out the door.
“What is wrong with you?” she exclaimed to herself as she sped up the road. “Why did you just zoom out of there like a lunatic, you could have had a friend”.
All through the rest of the day she couldn’t concentrate properly; all she could think of was how his eyes made her head swim. His voice was like suede-silky and coarse at the same time. He was so mysterious. The way he had looked at her from under his dark fringe early; it made her skin crawl, but in a good way, which is weird.
Chapter V
Eve’s mind was still on the mystifying boy on her way home. However, her thoughts were interrupted by another McFarly truck whooshing past.
“Why are they always going everywhere in such a rush?”, she said to the empty space around her. “Other lorries don’t speed around like that. I wonder what they’re up to…”. She began to speculate about what they could possibly be transporting at such speeds.
Thankfully this truck didn’t send a tidal wave in her direction, but the long 2.6 mile trek back up to Dunnottar castle was making her even more grateful for the lift that morning. She contemplated asking Lawrence to drive to and from school but that wasn’t really fair.
The seal family where back in the waves and she headed straight up the library after she got changed and watched them through the ancient glass panes. They began to drift closer to the shore. The little pup diving and splashing around the waves, sometimes disappearing as it blended in with the sea-foam. At one point it popped its little head out and it had a seaweed wig. It look like a fur covered mermaid. Amber used to be obsessed with mermaids, she was even convinced that she was one once.
As if on cue, her phone vibrated with a message from her old best friend. Eve called her and they talked for over an hour; mostly about the mystery boy.
After the phone call ended Eve went back to window. As she predicted, there seals were gone but she noticed something glinting on the beach very close a rock. At first, she thought it was here imagination or the light but even when she squinted and blinked and rubbed her eyes, it was still there. Grabbing her coat and jumping in to her boots, she rushed down the stairs, completely over come by curiosity. Just as she was reaching the front door, Gerard appeared.
“Why are you speeding out of the castle, madam?” His tone was demanding, but his words where not. It was as though he was trying to play the role of guardian and servant whilst saying the same sentence. Eve still didn’t trust him and felt like it was best not to tell him the truth. Her dad had been a keen poker player and had always taught her to stick as close to the truth as possible when lying.
“I saw some seals near the beach and then they disappeared, I was just going to see if I could see them.”
“At Old Hall Bay?”. He asked but didn’t wait for an answer. “I advise you don’t go swimming, is a bit nippy this time of year”.
Eve laughed politely and cannonballed out the door. She ran all the way to the sand, and hotfooted across it. Gasping for breath and red in the face she reached the shiny thing, unsure of whether her heart was pounding from the running or the excitement. It was a large chest, not a pirate treasure chest though, but a stainless steel box with bolts. The lid was held firmly in place with 3 heavy-duty iron padlocks. She fiddled with them half-heartedly. The locks weren’t rusted, yet there were and cluster of barnacles along one edge. She really wanted to see what was inside but she knew there was no way it was going to happen. So she trudged back up to Dunnottar Castle with her head down.
She went around past the lodge following the path. Suddenly she collided with something. She looked up to a see a tall male figure with dark hair. He turned.
“No way…”, she said. It was the boy with blue eyes…
Chapter VI
“I’m so sorry!” she said, “ I wasn’t looking where I was going and I just…”
“It’s okay” He laughed. “ we really need to stop meeting like this. I bet you did it on purpose, do get me back for earlier.” He joked.
“No, no I didn’t”, Eve cried taking him seriously. He laughed again. His laugh was like his voice: like silk sandpaper.
“My name’s ‘Matt’ by the way, Matt Scallop”, he said swapping hands with the axe he was carrying so he could hold out his right hand.
“Eve” she replied taking it. As soon as their skin touch she felt like warm ice was being rubbed over her spine and her stomach twisted and flipped as if housing a butterfly circus.
“Princess Eve, you mean” he said with a sly smile. Eve’s daydreaming was suddenly stopped, her eyebrows lowered.
“Don’t.” she said, instantly regretting it, but to her relief he just laughed. “Why are you up here?” She asked. Dunnottar Castle was all alone of the coast of Aberdeen and Eve could think of no reason Matt could have to be up here, unless he was stalking her, which was a ridiculous thought.
“ I was waiting for you to ask that, I work here.”
“What?”
“I’m Fergus the gardener’s apprentice.”
“oh right”
“Aye, I’m the guy who clips the bushes, weeds the flower beds, collects the eggs from the checkens, ya know”, he struggled. His Scottish accent was more noticeable than ever.
“There’s chickens?” she said tilting her head slightly to one side. Like a confused puppy.
“Course there is checkens, where d’think your eggs come from in morning?”
“ Ah that’s we they taste so good!” Eve exclaimed. She looked up at him, twirling her hair through her fingers.
“Aye, that and Mallory is a darn good cook” he grinned affectionately. Eve was startled and confused.
“You know Mallory?”
“Aye, Mallory used to come to the orphanage and teach cooking on Tuesday’s when I was a kid, despite the mess I made, and my attempt at putting worms in a cake, she took a shine to me. It was Mallory who got me my job here.” he said with a nostalgic smile.
“Orphanage?” Eve gasped.
“MATTHEW!” Fergus boomed from the top of the hill. “Would ye quit yer yapping and get some work done laddy”
Matt sighed, “I better run, it was great to properly meet ye Eve. I suppose we will be ‘bumping into each other’ again soon.”, He grinned at his light pun.
Eve giggled, “Yeah, probably”. She gazed longingly after him as he stormed gracefully up the hill. She followed shortly afterwards, less elegantly but much more thoughtfully.
He’s like me. She though. Orphaned. Alone in the world. Getting by only on the pure kindness of others. Her thoughts drifted to his eyes; they reminded her of the sea. Not this sea, but he clear waters you see around tropical islands where you can see the sunlight reflecting off the sand at the bottom.
Eve headed back up to the library and sunk her teeth into another great novel. Or at least she tried. Her mind kept drifting off like the waves of which Matt’s eyes reminded her off. Her stomach felt like a sail boat on rougher waters. She put her book back and selected something lighter: Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austin. She shot through it, inevitably comparing Matt to Mr Darcy.
“Am I in love?” she a loud and distraught. She could have sworn she heard someone giggling at her stupidity. “I know I’m being ridiculous, I’m 16, I can hardly have found ‘the one’”.
She sighed, snapped her book shut and headed to bed. This was another failed attempt. She tossed and turned, and tossed, and turned.

Chapter VII

Eve awoke on Wednesday, alarm blaring and hair artistically entwined within itself. Her eyes widened a little when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. An epic battle between hairbrush and rats nest began. It would appear that rat’s nest won. In the end she braided it to one side and disguised the worst part of the tangles behind a little white bow. On the bright side, Mallory had made her hard-boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast. They seemed to taste just a little bit better when she thought that they were probably collected by Matt.
Lawrence gave her a lift into school again. They took the Jaguar Mk IV Saloon which Lawrence claimed he had to take to get washed, but it looked spotless to Eve. They where the only two in the car this time and Eve was sure he was flirting with her…
“You’re hair looks lovely this morning”,he said. It sound cringy in his unnatural posh accent.
“Err, thanks?” she replied hesitantly. He continued to attempt conversation. Supposedly trying to lightly shower her with compliments; she felt like she was drowning. Slowly and painfully. She could not wait to get out the car.