Untitled Book, Prologue

Prologue
When Alexandrina Celeste Smith was seven, she didn’t believe in monsters. She didn’t believe in monsters or magic or anything out of the ordinary. She was a calm, rational seven-year-old girl. Which is as rare as it sounds.
When Alexandrina Celeste Smith was seven years old, everything changed. Everything got turned on its head.

Ally lay in bed, suddenly wide awake.
There had been a noise in her bedroom. It had woken her up. She looked at the window. It was open.
“I’m not scared,” she said aloud, defiantly.
“That’s not smart.”
With a yelp, Ally sat bolt upright, yanking the covers up to her chin. She stared wide-eyed at the corner where the voice had come from.
A man was leaning against the wall. He was dressed in all black, which was why Ally hadn’t seen him. He had light brown hair and bright blue eyes. Ally frowned at him. “Why are you in my bedroom?”
“It’s a very nice bedroom.”
“That’s not an answer.” She glared at him. “Are you a robber? I play cops and robbers with my friends, and I always play the cop, and I always win so if you’re a robber…” Ally didn’t know how to end, so she ended it with a defiant “So there.”
“Oh, you’ve told me, haven’t you?”
Ally finally placed his accent. “You’re Welsh.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not a bad thing. I’ve just never met anybody who was Welsh before.”
“How’d you know I was Welsh, then?”
“I’ve heard Welsh people on the telly, that’s how.”
“Oh, well, then. What’s your name?”
“Daddy says I shouldn’t tell strangers my name. He says not to talk to strangers.” She said it severely, as though it were Jude’s fault that she was talking to him.
“If I say my name, we won’t be strangers anymore.”
“How d’you know that?”
“I read it in a book once.”
Ally thought about it. “‘Kay.”
“I’m Jude Carroll.”
“Like the Beatles song?”
Jude laughed. “Yeah, like the Beatles song.”
“I’m Alexandrina Celeste Smith.” Ally’s sister had taught her exactly how to pronounce her name a few months ago. “But everybody calls me Ally.”
“Oh, you’ve got a fancy name. My full name’s Jude Ianto Carroll.”
Ally decided to return to her earlier question. “Why are you in my room?”
He winked. “I’m hunting a monster.”
“You are not. Are you really a robber?” Ally was worried. He seemed very nice, and she hoped he wasn’t a robber, because all robbers were bad guys. Everybody knew that.
“Nope. I’m a monster night.”
“You are not. Monsters aren’t real.”
“Course they are. They’re as real as you or me.”
“But they’re not. They just aren’t.”
“Swear they are.”
“What if you’re just a nutter?”
Jude grinned at her. “Swear I’m not.”
“Course you’d say that if you were a nutter.”
Jude studied her face. “No way I can convince you, is there?”
“No.”
“What if I catch the monster?”
“How can you catch something that’s not real?”
Jude chuckled. “Can you blame me for trying?”
Ally looked at him through narrowed eyes. She had the feeling she was about to get tricked. “No…”
“Well then, do you mind if I try?”
And there it was. She sighed. “No,” she said dejectedly.
“Ah, why are you frowning?”
“You tricked me.”
“No I haven’t. You could’ve said no if you wanted to.”
“No I couldn’t have. So there.”
Jude smiled. “Mind if I check under your bed?”
Ally shrugged. Just as Jude knelt down and looked under the bed, something suddenly started choking Ally. She gasped, reaching up to try and force whatever it was off of her.
“Right,” Jude said, still looking under the bed. “Doesn’t seem to be here. Would’ve thought it scarpered under there, it’s the closest place to have run to-“
“Jude!” Ally managed to gasp. Jude poked his head up, a dust bunny caught in it. His eyes widened.
“Right. Sorry, Ally, that hadn’t occurred to me.” He jumped up and took something out of his belt. “Let go of her.”
If anything, the thing’s grip got tighter. Ally’s vision started to go black and fuzzy.
Suddenly, Ally could breathe. She could see again, and there was something hanging around her neck. She didn’t realize she was crying until the gasps turned to sobs.
“Oh, no, Ally, don’t cry.” Jude hurried over, took the thing around her neck and kicked it under her bed, hugging her comfortingly. “Don’t cry, Ally, you’re fine.”
She couldn’t stop. The fright that she had felt while that thing tried to kill her refused to budge, no matter how hard she pushed it.
“It’s gone,” Jude said anxiously. “Ally, it’s fine, it’s gone, I swear, you’re fine.” Ally sniffed.
The hall light was turned on- you could tell from the light that shone through the cracks of Ally’s door. “Ally?” Her father’s voice called.
Jude jumped up from the bed and headed for the window, but Ally cried “Don’t! What if they come back?!”
Jude stared at her white, terrified face, and sighed. He slipped into her closet, closing the door just as her bedroom door opened. Ally’s father walked in. “Ally?” He took in her tearstained face and sat by her on the bed, hugging her. “Oh, honey, what’s wrong, what happened?”
“I- I had a nightmare,” she sobbed. It was the only thing she could think of, and it worked.
“It’s okay, baby, you’re awake now, everything’s fine. Promise.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”
Ally shook her head.
“Sure?”
Ally nodded.
“Okay.” He kissed her forehead. “Nothing’s ever gonna hurt you while I’m here, okay? I’d never let anything touch you.”
“I know, Daddy.”
“That’s my girl.” He rocked her for another minute. Then he got up and quietly crossed the room. “If you get scared, you can always come and see me.” He walked out of her room, closing the door.
“He’s gone,” Ally said hoarsely. Jude stepped out of her closet, extricating himself from a pink dress. He sat next to her on the bed. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She swallowed as Jude put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a one-armed hug. “What was that?”
“I don’t want to give you nightmares.”
She giggled a little hysterically. “Bit late for that, isn’t it?”
Jude sighed- she was right. “It was a monster, Ally. A monster under the bed. It thought I wouldn’t get it while it had you hostage.”
Ally sniffed. “Are you a monster hunter?”
“Yep. I’m the best.”
She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “So monsters are real? Really real?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Magic, too?”
“Magic, too.”
“Oh.” She thought about this. “Daddy doesn’t believe in magic.”
“Neither did you, a moment ago.”
“Cicely’ll be happy. She believes in magic. I tell her stories that kids tell me at school.”
“Who’s Cicely?”
“My sister. She’s younger than me.”
“Cicely’s a pretty name. Ally’s prettier, though.”
“I know.” Ally’s voice was matter-of-fact. Jude smiled.
“You lie down and try to get some sleep, okay Ally?”
“Okay.” Ally separated herself from Jude and lay down. Jude lay down next to her and held her comfortingly. She looked at Jude’s face sleepily. “You’ll stay with me?”
“I’ll stay with me. I promise.”
Ally, comforted by Jude’s promise, fell asleep quickly in his arms. When she woke up, Jude was gone.
For a very long time, Ally spent every waking moment thinking about the man that had saved her from the monster. Her dad and Cicely listened to her very patiently. She told all of her school friends.
As she got older, her life moved on, but she never, ever forgot about Jude Carroll. At night, she would imagine he was there with her, and she would tell him her fears and her secrets, her stories of the day, and he would always listen, never scoff at her dreams. When she was 11, he comforted her as she cried about having to leave England for New York City. When she was 13, he sided with her in her rage against Cicely’s boyfriend for getting her pregnant.
She got older, and she moved on with her life, making her way through university with a weary sort of martyrdom. Jude eventually moved to the back of her mind, that childhood crush, and she only ever wondered about him after he appeared in her dreams.
But ever since, Ally always believed in magic.