They approached another small wooded area. She wondered why Rook was leading them into the trees instead of around them, and then she saw the shadowy humps across the grassland to their right. They moved slowly, sluggishly, but they seemed to be much larger than normal people. She was so glad that darkness mostly hid them from view.
“What the hell?” she asked, but he did not answer. He was focussed, committed to getting them across the park safely, past the mutations and the dangers, and she had to wonder why. He was not the heartless boy she had assumed when they had met. If anything he was confused and conflicted, hiding behind his grief over his dead mother and brother, sheltering emotions with his unusual abilities and the deadly opportunities they afforded him. Perhaps being with her was the first chance he'd had to properly express himself in two years.
They entered the wooded area, and as she opened her mouth to call him to a stop, to hold him and thank him, a shocking sense settled over Lucy-Anne that she had been to this place before.
With my parents, my brother, on one of those days we came to London? Surely I wouldn't recognise it still, especially in the dark and with how much things have changed? Maybe I saw pictures? Maybe it's a famous view of Regent's Park that's used for—
And then she smelled blackberries.
It was her dream. And soon would come the park bench smothered by shrubs, and then the monkey-man swinging down from the trees at her, and then the ground would open up to swallow Rook, and she would look down into the hole to see—
“Rook!” she shouted, and he skidded to a halt before her. The sense of déjà vu was still all-encompassing, and she tried to break it. If she could move on from the conviction that this had all happened before, maybe she could change things. Not every dream comes true, she thought. Rook and me in the house, making love…that hasn't happened, yet. And she stepped forward and reached for Rook, grasping his jacket and pulling him close, ignoring his startled expression and pressing her lips to his. He was unresponsive and cold, and he shoved her away.
“No,” she said, “no, don't. Just…thank you. For doing this. But…” She looked around. There was no bench, and no man swinging down at her from the trees. She sighed, and it shook her whole body.
“What?” Rook asked. He took her hands in his and waited until she looked up at him. “What is it?”
“Blackberries,” she said. “I smell them.”
“Not in season.”
She took in a breath and smelled damp soil, rain, and the warm tang of evergreens.
“No,” she said. “You're right. Not blackberries at all.”
Frowning, he grasped her right hand tight and tugged her on. The first few steps were painful because she expected the ground to open at any minute and for them to tumble into the pit. But when that did not happen, and they emerged close to the northern edge of the park, she started running more freely. She experienced a moment of utter delight and well-being, and when they reached the boundary wall she grabbed Rook again and kissed him properly. This time he relaxed slightly into her embrace, but his eyes remained open and alert.
A rook landed on his shoulder and stared at her quizzically.
Lucy-Anne laughed. There was a hint of hysteria to the sound, and Rook looked as befuddled as his bird.
“It's okay,” she said. “It's fine.”
“Well, we're through the park, at least,” he said. “Come on. Long way to go.”
In the streets, that feeling of well-being left her as quickly as it had come. When the first piercing shriek rang out, and was taken up by many others, Lucy-Anne wondered whether they had actually avoided anything at all.