“What are we doing here, Martha?” the red-haired girl with a small tattoo on the side of her face and a nose ring asked the other girl walking beside her along the almost empty narrow street somewhere in London.

Both girls were Americans, as was obvious in their dress and the way they spoke. They were dressed in dark jean trousers and wore identical black shirts with rather disturbing markings on the front and back. They wore soft soled sneakers, which made walking easy. Their hair were dyed differently with rather flamboyant colours and their makeup was applied in a rather dark and fearsome fashion.

“I told you I was led here in the trance,” the girl called Martha replied. She was chewing gum with vigour as she stared at the numbers on the buildings they walked past. Most of the buildings had small shops, but there seemed to be little or no patronage of whatever wares the shops held.

The girls were high school students on vacation in London. Martha was the daughter of a widowed very influential American billionaire businessman who could afford to send his daughter and her friend to any part of the world she wants for vacation, as a way of compensating for the countless months he stayed away without seeing his daughter while on business, he let her have anything she wanted as well as go anywhere and with whoever she wanted to go with.

Martha and some friends at school had developed some interest in the occult after coming across some books dealing on the topic, hidden away in a bookstore they had gone to get some books from, and even though she had not been able to conjure spirits like they saw in movies, they had been fascinated by what they read in the books.

That was when the trances and dreams started coming.

Initially she did not understand them, but after a while, they started making sense to her, and it was in one of her trances that she was directed to this little narrow street in London. The moment the school session was over, she got her father to arrange for her and her friend to take a vacation to London.

“Where are we going?” the red-haired girl called Jo asked as she walked along with her friend.

“We'll soon be there,” Martha said. “Trust me.”

The building they stopped at was one of the oldest on the street. The walls were old and full of cracks with most of the windows covered with wooden boards. There seemed to be nobody in the building. There was a small antique shop inside. The windows of the shop were dirty and the entire outlook was shabby. A small, dirty sign hung at the door indicating that the shop was open, but there did not seem to be anyone inside the shop as the girls peered through the dirty windows into the gloomy interior.

Martha pushed the door and it swung open with a loud eerie noise that made them jump. The girls stood there on the street staring into the dark interior, reluctant to go any further.

“I don't like this place,” Jo said in a very low, faltering voice. “Let's get the hell outta here.”

Before Martha could agree with her, a voice which made them jump again came from within the gloom. The voice was cracked and sounded like a loud shriek.

“Well, come on in,” the voice which belonged to an old woman beckoned to them. “What are you standing out there for?”

The girls slowly walked through the door and into the dark shop. An old lamp was the only light in the shop. As their eyes got accustomed to the dim light, the girls could make out an old woman sitting behind an old wooden desk with some books she seemed to be reading laying on the table in front of her, though the girls could not imagine how she could see the letters on the pages with such poor light.

The old woman looked to be about eighty, but they noticed her eyes which shone as brightly as that of a young adult. There was also something strange and dark about the eyes that the girls could not put their fingers on, but they both had the feeling that there was more to her than meets the eye. She was dressed in a shapeless old gown which seemed to have seen better days. Her hair, long and white, fell in an untidy manner over her face. She opened her mouth to smile, revealing browned and rotting teeth.

“You've finally arrived, dear lass,” the old woman said staring straight at Martha. “I've waited quite a long time for you.”

“Do...do you know me?”

“Right from the day you were born,” the old woman laughed. “Just as I knew you'll be walking into this shop one day to fulfil your destiny.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Let's get the hell outta here right now.” Jo declared, grabbing Martha's arm as she started to drag her towards the door.

“You'll do no such thing.” the old woman's voice was like a clap of thunder as she rose from her chair. She was very tall and stood very straight for a woman of her age and frail looks. She raised a thin, wrinkled hand covered with dark spots and instantly the door swung shut behind the girls.

The girls dashed for the door, grabbed the knob, and pulled trying to open the door, but the old wooden door surprisingly did not budge, but stood strong and firm against the pounding and kicks the girls rained on it.

“Let us out of here right now,” Martha had fished out her Samsung smartphone and started to dial but noticed there was no service bar on the display screen. She tried to place an emergency call, but the call would not connect.

“Stop wasting my time and yours, Martha,” the old woman spoke softly as she walked towards the frightened girls. “There's a lot to be done and very little time to do it.”

“My...I...how...?”

“I knew your name before it was given to you,” the old woman answered her unfinished question for her. “Now let's get down to preparing you for your great destiny my dear.”

“What destiny?”

“You'll soon find out my dear,” the old woman practically glided in the air as she went over to a shelf and pulled out an old dusty book bound in what looked like animal skin. She turned to face them. “Both of you may sit down. Let's be a bit more civil here, don't you think?”

With no other choice available to them, the girls sat down on the two vacant chairs in front of the desk the old woman had been sitting behind.

The old woman glided across and sat on her chair. She laid the book on the table before them and stared from one girl to the other with a smile on her face. Her eyes finally rested on Martha.

“This here, my child, is your destiny,” she finally said in her new voice which was surprising to be coming from such an old woman. “This book was written centuries ago for you, for the appointed time when you'll come of age to use it. That time has come and you cannot shy away from it.”

“What is it?” Martha asked fearfully. “What are you talking about? What am I supposed to do with this book?”

“You will know,” the old woman said. “I can only give you directions. The rest you will know when the time comes.”

“What's in the book?” Jo ventured shakily.

The old woman did not take notice of Jo but kept her eyes fixed on Martha who was getting very uncomfortable with the way she stared at her.

“I do not know what is in it, nor can I read it,” she said to Martha. “But you will be able to read it. You and you alone have the power to read and understand it, and only you must do what is within these pages.” She stabbed a tiny shrivelled finger hard on the book and the girls were surprised the finger did not break off.

“I don't understand what you want me to do or any of this mumbo-jumbo,” Martha cried, jumping to her feet. “What's all this about my destiny and you knowing me even before I was born and all that. Are you some sort of blackmailer? My dad can pay top dollar if that's what you want, but just let us go you're really starting to creep me out.”

“You'll fully understand everything once you start reading the book,” the old woman replied as she pushed the book towards Martha. “The book will guide you. Come my dear, don't tell me you're not curious to find out about your real destiny and the power that could be yours? What's the harm in finding out?”

“I don't think you should be doing this...” Jo started to say, but the old woman cast her a venomous stare that scared her to silence.

“Silence, slave of the chosen one!” she rebuked Jo in her thunderous voice. Her hair seemed to stand on ends as she spoke. “Your only purpose is to serve her and not to voice what you think?”

Jo was trembling and even Martha was frightened even though the old woman wasn't talking to her. The old woman's features softened almost immediately as she turned back to Martha.

“Take the book, my dear,” she said. “Begin the journey into your destiny. Achieve the greatness meant for you.”

Martha slowly stretched out her hand and picked up the book from the table. It felt light and she felt a strange sensation run over her body as she touched it. She felt bonded to it in a strange manner. The old woman smiled another toothy smile as she rose to her feet again. She held out a small envelope, and placed it in Martha's free hand.

“You'll know when to open this,” the old woman said folding her arms in front of her. “The book will guide you to your destiny of greatness. You may go now my child.”

The girls slowly rose to their feet. The door of the shop flew open as if it was aware that the meeting had come to an end. A cold breeze blew around the girls and for a moment, they shivered, and as quickly as it came, it passed as if it never happened.

The girls walked gingerly towards the door constantly turning around to look at the old woman. She just stood there with a smile playing on her wrinkled face.