Magic Streets: London Bound Book Two

By Marco Marek

When Jack is back home in the UK and life has returned to normal after the Prague adventure, Lenka comes to visit him as she promised. They will visit London as tourists. All goes smoothly until they enter a certain pub. It turns out to be a meeting place for wizards, and, when it comes to magic, London is no different from Prague.

Lenka is lovely at the start but she gradually reveals a strong personality and Jack struggles in his relationship with her.

Very soon they become involved in another adventure, in which they are joined by the attractive Ashlynn, creating further tension, and an old friend. With mysterious, shady characters and a new creature to get along with, Lenka, Jack and their companions will find new magic streets and discover ancient places in the wonderful city of London and in the Highlands of Scotland.

Will Jack be able to handle London's secrets and magic and bring this new adventure to a successful conclusion?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marco Marek
• Release date: Dec 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005807771

Marco Marek

Marco Marek was born in Italy. He always had a fervid imagination and a passion for fantasy stories, medieval magicians, ancient history, and unexplained mysteries. While he was visiting a castle in Eastern Europe, he had the idea of writing Hyperearth.Apart from writing, Marco is also a painter and he likes digital artwork on Photoshop. The cover of Hyperearth is his creation. He loves traveling when he has some free time.

Book preview

Magic Streets

London Bound – Book Two

Marco Marek

Copyright © 2020 Marco Marek

Cover by © Jacqueline Sweet

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author with the subject line Magic Streets at [e-mail]

All characters are fictional and exist only in the author's imagination. Any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

For those who didn’t read it, here’s a recap of Book One.

Jack Harson is a photographer, traveling in Prague for work, but little does he know that this trip will change his life.

Mrs. Orient, the owner of the house where he is staying, is a clairvoyant and Tarot card reader, and she involves him in her obscure business.

Blissfully unaware of the magic contained within the city of Prague, Jack stumbles on a magic street.

There he becomes involved with a lovely girl, Lenka, who turns out to be a sorceress, like her mother, Mrs. Orient. Together, the two women draw Jack into a monster hunt, filled with magic, turmoil and danger. Before he goes home to where he lives in England, Jack invites Lenka to come and visit him. However, the adventure is far from over… will Jack be able to face it, or will the city be lost forever?

Chapter 1

Summer 2015

It was a beautiful day in Southend-on-Sea. Jack Harson sat on the beach of Thorpe Bay and watched the horizon. It was low tide, and all the boats were resting on the bottom of the bay, tilted to one side. In the distance, it was possible to see Kent.

On Jack’s right was the pier—they say it's the longest pier in the world. With the sunset, the landscape was an extraordinary spectacle.

Jack was taking his well-deserved vacation after a period of work. He had been to Mexico to photograph the Mayan monuments, and he had spent two wonderful but tiring weeks, with hot weather and long hours, even working overnight.

It had been six months since he had been in Prague, but the memory of what had happened was still alive. It had taken Jack a month to recover and return to everyday life once he returned to his home at Southend-on-Sea.

Many times he thought back to Merkulova Street, to the courtyard of Malá Strana, where the Rexlux had come out, to Mrs. Orient, Jiří, and especially Lenka.

Lenka, who was a witch, had arrived in Southend-on-Sea a day ago by teleporting. She had promised she would visit Jack, and Lenka kept her promises. She approached Jack on the beach, bringing his favorite beer, Theakston.

Thank you, Lenka. What do you think? Do you like it here? asked the photographer after taking a sip of his beer.

Yes, I can say that the sea has a certain charm. Not comparable to a city, especially Prague, but I would say that I like it, answered Lenka, stretching out a little and chattering, unlike her mother, who only spoke when necessary.

You’re right. Let’s see tomorrow what you say about London. I think you’ll like it. There are so many places to see.

The girl smiled as she took some shells from the beach. I think I will. I’ve already seen some interesting places in the guidebook for tourists, and you’ll show me new ones. What’s your favorite part of London? Lenka looked at the photographer warily, as if she wanted to steal something.

Well, I would say, off the top of my head, the City has something mysterious about it that I’ve always found attractive. It has a lot of history, so many legends. Did you know that London’s first bridge, where Tower Bridge is now, was built by the Romans? Jack showed off his knowledge.

But Lenka didn’t seem to care. She didn’t get excited about it. Yes, but these things are too old. We are more interested in what happened since the beginning of the Middle Ages, when we began to practice magic, the witch explained.

The photographer was puzzled. He had thought he was going to make an impression by showing her that he was informed about the history of London, but it had not gone well. There was also the old London wall built by the Romans, still existing in the city… but perhaps it was best not to tell her about that.

Okay, actually you’re right. I’m not a fan of the Romans either. However, there are so many other things to see. Jack backtracked, trying to appease her. She was a difficult person, but then with a mother like Mrs. Orient…

Lenka soon got tired of admiring the view and sunbathing. Sunbathing in England… it seemed like a contradiction in terms, but, yes, the sun also shined in England. A lot of people complained: But there it always rains. It’s cold. It’s always cloudy and grey. Well it wasn’t like that all the time, Jack mused.

Back home, the sorceress was a bit capricious. Jack had not seen this side of her and was surprised. She wanted to eat and then go to bed, which was strange because her mother never went to sleep early; in fact, she almost never slept.

But the photographer wasn’t bothered. He had given her a private room so she could go to sleep whenever she wanted.

Thanks for dinner, Jack. I’m going to rest. I can’t wait to visit London tomorrow. Do you mind if I go to bed early?

The photographer regretted her behavior, but if she was used to it, he wouldn’t argue.

No, if you’re tired, don’t worry. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.

Sweet dreams, Jack.

With his beloved witch gone, Jack turned on the TV. It was mid-August and the Premier League had started. Liverpool, the photographer’s favorite team, had made a good start and was in first place.

Satisfied with the results, he finally fell asleep.

***

The next morning Lenka was ready for the trip to London. She woke up early and had breakfast, waiting for Jack to get up. But after ten minutes of waiting she grew impatient and started making noise with the pots, glasses and cups.

The noise had its desired effect. Sounds came from the photographer’s room, and soon he came out, looking confused.

Good morning, Lenka, what were you doing? Not even a blacksmith would have made all this noise! Jack was still half asleep. He was annoyed, having woken up with a start.

Hi, I washed some pots. Sorry I was a little noisy. You know, I’m quick and maybe I wasn’t careful. The witch defended herself, but her reasons were not credible. The photographer watched her with curiosity.

I noticed. Fairy hands! But what time is it? Jack tried to joke, even though Lenka didn’t seem amused.

Fairy? Lenka replied angrily. You already know I’m a witch, or sorceress if you prefer. It’s half past six. Is it a little late? Will we be able to get to London before noon?

Jack rolled his eyes. What is she saying?

Lenka, there are trains every half hour, and in an hour we will be there. You seem a little euphoric. Maybe the English air has a certain effect on you. Jack was surprised by her statements. Maybe she had never traveled through London, so she didn’t know the city or how to get there.

The witch did not speak for several minutes. Luckily, her concern that they wouldn’t arrive on time in London was unfounded. After Lenka put on her makeup, she and Jack took the first train available, at half past eight.

Lenka became revitalized after seeing the ruins of a castle from the window. Jack, are those the ruins of an old castle?

Yes, let me introduce to you the castle of Hadleigh, or, well, what remains of it. Unfortunately, it’s crumbling. Do you know I’ve never been there? Jack wondered what she had in mind.

It sounds interesting, although I see little of it, exclaimed Lenka. But maybe there could be a point of energy. Then it would deserve a visit, in my opinion. Perhaps she had not yet understood that the photographer would like to avoid finding these energy points, to keep his life in its current peaceful state.

Thanks, Lenka. Are you planning to find me more energy places? I don’t know. Now that I think about it, I won’t go. Right now, I just want to relax. Jack pulled back. He didn’t want to know about that energy.

"Okay, but it’s not like avoiding the places will solve the problem. But it’s