The Sea Flame - Chapter 1

Chapter 1
The First Sighting




“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!” The sound of her alarm clock gave Amber a rude awakening. She reluctantly reached her arm out and hit the off button on the clock. She then slowly got out of bed and walked over to the window. A familiar New York was stretched across the horizon, accompanied by the usual sounds of the cars stuck in traffic. The sun shone brightly through the window, lighting up the apartment. It was 9am in the big city and already Amber wanted to go back to bed. But she couldn’t, because if she did she would be late for work. She walked over to the kitchen and stated to make herself a cup of coffee. After she was fully awakened, Amber went for a shower. The steam poured through the gap at the bottom of the bathroom door. By 9.30am Amber was on her way out of the apartment. As she walked down the many flights of stairs she was greeted by Mr Tinkles, Mrs Whitby’s cat from 2C. It was a fat white cat and it sat on the stairs all day, watching to see if any mice would scuttle by. “Good morning Mr Tinkles,” said Amber. Mr Tinkles stared at Amber with a lazy look in his eyes. Amber, taking no notice of Mr Tinkles’ stare, continued to walk down the stairs. When she finally made it to the ground floor she spotted Mr Heckles checking his mail box. Mr Heckles was a quiet man who usually kept things to himself. No-one ever seen Mr Heckles at night, he was only seen during the day. Amber gave him a polite nod and left the building. As Amber walked along the bustling streets of New York, she stared at all of the glorious buildings that surrounded her. She felt like a lab rat, trapped in a confusing maze, trying desperately to get to the exit. Eventually, Amber made it to the library where she worked. It was 9.58am so Amber had just made it in time. She quickly threw her jacket and handbag underneath the desk, ready for work. Mike, her co-worker, was already busy sorting out the returned books. “Hey Amber!” Mike said in a cheery voice. “Hi,” replied Amber, giving out a sigh. “What’s the matter?” asked Mike.
“Don’t you ever feel like nothing good happens around here.” Amber said, with a slight depressed tone in her voice, “I mean, I wish something absolutely amazing was to come along and take me away from here.” Mike laughed and continued sorting out the books. “Don’t worry Amber,” he said, “I’m sure something good will come along eventually. Maybe I could come with you when the time comes!” Amber began to smile and gave out a giggle.
“I guess you’re right,” she said, “I’ll just have to wait patiently.” At that moment a man wearing a trench coat and glasses walked through the door. “Hi there,” said Amber, “How may I help you?” The man pulled his arm out of his jacket pocket, clutching a book in his hand. “I would like to return this book please,” The man replied in a deep voice. Amber took the book from the man and an it through the computer. Amber stared at the screen in confusion. “I’ sorry sir,” she said, still looking at the computer screen, “This book isn’t in our databank.” She then looked up from the screen, only to find that the man had already gone. “What was that all about?” asked Mike.
“I don’t know,” replied Amber, staring at the book, “According to the computer, this book doesn’t belong here.”
“Let me have a look,” said Mike, taking the book from Amber. “The Sea Flame, huh?” Mike continued, “Never heard of it.” He gave the book back to Amber. Amber looked at the front of the book. The book had no cover, all that was there was a strange symbol that looked like a flame. Amber ran her finger over the symbol and then checked the side of the book. The number 3000 was stuck onto the side. “I don’t think the books here go up to the number 3000,” said Amber, “I’m going to go check.
“I’m coming with you,” said Mike, following Amber through the many rows of books in the library. When they reached the back of the library they had made it to the number 2990. As they walked along the row they checked the numbers on the books. When they had reached the end of the row they found the book with the number 2999 on the side of it. But there was no empty space for the number 3000. “I told you,” said Amber in disbelief, “There’s no number 3000.” She turned round to look at Mike, who was staring at the side of the book shelf. “I think you should take a look at this,” he said, staring at the bookshelf. Amber walked around to the side of the bookshelf to find a single gap. Amber examined the gap. Underneath the gap, Amber felt a small dent. She blew all the dust away to reveal that the symbol that was on the book had been engraved onto the bookshelf. Amber could not believe her eyes. She slowly reached her arm into the gap and began to feel around. After a few seconds, Amber could feel a crumpled up piece of paper. She pulled out the piece of paper and flattened it out. She began to read what was on the paper out loud. “To whoever it may concern,” the letter began, “If you should find this letter please bring the book to the abandoned warehouse on 31st Street on 23rd July at 9pm.”
“Well I guess you were right,” said Mike, “Something good has come along. But are you going to go?”
“Only if you come with me,” Amber replied. Mike smiled at Amber and said, “Of course I’ll come with you! I’m not letting you have all the fun!” The two nodded at each other. “So,” said Amber, “The 23rd is today. Meet me at my apartment at 8pm.”
“Ok,” Mike replied and the two of them went back to work as if nothing had happened.