Soul Snatcher (11 page)

“
What are you doing?” She whispered, their faces just
inches apart.

“
I seem to be feeling much better,” he said as he
watched her, desire obvious in his face.

“
Your wound…it looks almost…healed?” She said with
confusion and shock in her voice. He pulled her even closer still
and she felt his need for her. How was he so strong when he had
just been so feeble?

“
I am a fast healer.” He whispered the words into her
mouth and it seemed to fill her with his craving.

She forgot
every other thought other than the sudden need to kiss him. He kept
one hand around her waist and used the other to run across the skin
of her neck and down to her chest. When she didn’t protest
he
slowly started to slip his
hand down her loose top. Her breathing became deeper and her chest
rose and fell as his hand drifted along her skin. Just before he
reached his desired destination there was a knock at the door.
Startled, Annie began to move away but he held her so she
couldn’t.

“
I am much better Garrick. Just let me rest for the
time being,” Eli called out, never taking his eyes off
Annie.

“
Would you like the pain relief?” Garrick’s voice was
slightly muffled through the door.

“
No, thank you. It seems I will not be in need of it,”
he replied impatiently. After a few heartbeats Eli heard Garrick
leave.

“
I think it best if I go,” Annie said
breathlessly.

“
Please, Annie,” Eli almost pleaded.

“
You are hurt.” How could she even be doing this? This
wasn’t like her at all!

“
I am not hurt anymore.” He reluctantly moved his hand
away from her chest, took one of her hands and pushed it hard
against his injury. She looked at it in disbelief, it looked even
more improved than before.

“
What are you?” She pulled her hand away from him,
looking almost fearful that she would catch whatever it was the
healed him. He looked a little hurt from her words.

“
I am someone who wants you.” She looked to him and
could see the seriousness in his eyes.

“
You do not even know me.” There was part of her that
wanted to run away but somewhere deep inside she wanted to do much
more than kiss him.

“
I do, you are good. You are exceptional. You make me
want to forget everything I know.” He pulled her closer and it made
her forget some of her reservations. She leaned her hands against
his chest to try and put distance between them but all it did was
distract her. Eli leaned in to kiss her and she didn’t move. As his
warm lips drew closer to hers she wasn’t sure what she
wanted.

Before she
had to make a choice the windows burst open and the cold wind ran
through the room. They both shot their head around to the sudden
interruption and the moment was broken for Annie. She moved off
him, relieved that she had been saved from doing something she
might regret and he went to close the window. When he turned back
around she was gone.

Annie ran to
her room. As soon as she made it there she hurried in frantically,
closing and locking the door behind her. She did it mostly to
restrain herself rather than keep Eli out, she hadn’t known him
very long but she knew he would never hurt her like that. She
backed into the room, avoiding touching anything because his blood
was still on her hands. She bumped into something and turned to see
what it was.

Baden stood
there and she jumped in fright from the shock. From what she could
see, the look on his face was one of anger. He looked down at her
hands and took one by the wrist a little roughly. He pulled her
closer and inspected her with his eyes.

“
It was so kind of you to help the ailing Eli,” he said
sarcastically. He waited for her to say something. How had he
known? How had he even gotten back into her room? What she didn’t
know was that he had thrown the window in Eli’s room open and
interrupted their moment.

“
He was hurt,” she said avoiding saying anything that
might reveal their intimate moment. Why did she feel guilty for
it?

“
You certainly assisted him out of his agony,” he
remarked accusingly. She tried to pull her hand away but he
tightened his grip, not enough to hurt her just enough to stop
her.

“
I did not intend for that to happen,” she defended
herself seeing no use in pretending he didn’t know. “How do you
know?”

“
Some things you just acquire a sense for.” He sounded
disgusted.

“
Nothing happened!” She said panicked, not wanting him
to think what he was thinking. He let go of her wrist and it felt
cold without his touch. She let her hand drop to her side and she
just stood there wishing she could make him understand.

“
Did you want it to?” He shocked her by
asking.

He stepped so
close he was against her and he used her hips to ease her closer to
him. She let her hands drop behind her because they were messed
with blood but it didn’t stop her heart from picking up and her
breathing to stagger. Her face was in line with his chest and she
couldn’t help but wonder what he might look like with his shirt
off.

“
No,” she whispered. Baden stared at her seeing the
truth.

After
hesitating a moment he let her go and stepped away.
He could see in Annie’s soul that
she was confused about it all and that she had made the choice to
not take her relationship with Eli any further. She had only been
acting out of her natural attraction to someone and it made him
jealous, though he had no right to be because she wasn’t his. And
he knew she never should be.

“
You should want him. He could give you what you need,”
he said, almost sounding defeated. He started to back
away.

“
Please stay,” she asked but he was already out the
window. She ran and looked out over the grounds but she couldn’t
see him. With a heavy heart she closed the window as best she could
with her messed hands.

She looked
over to her
nightstand
and there was a wash cloth and a
bowl of water, Garrick had obviously anticipated her need for it.
She washed as best she could and changed into a clean nightdress.
She started to realise she had no idea about life and especially
the part of her life that involved men. Her life had been so simple
a week ago and now it was more complicated that she could
understand. Giving up she went to bed and tried to push everything
out of her mind. The only problem was Baden was permanently etched
in there.

CHAPTER
9

Annie woke
the next day dreading having to see Eli. Maybe he wouldn’t remember
last night? Who was she kidding, of course he would. He would
remember how she left him there without an explanation. But why did
she owe him one?

After it all
became too much she thought it would be best if she just faced her
problem head on. She got dressed in one of her casual, leaf-green
dresses and tied her hair back into a braid. She made her way
downstairs to find Eli but the house was vacant of
everyone.

“
Is anyone there?” She called through the emptiness as
she stood at the bottom of the stairs. When no one responded she
walked through the house. She started downstairs in the kitchen
then went to the parlour. When they came up empty she went to every
other room on the first floor. No one could be found.

There was one
door she hadn’t looked in. For some reason she hesitated before she
entered. It felt like a personal room, though why she thought that
was beyond her. The door was closed and she had never seen into the
room before. Deciding there was no reasoning behind her hesitation
she opened the door and went in. It was a library. She almost
laughed to herself when she saw the tall walls lined with endless
books.

A huge,
intricately designed carpet covered most of the floor, with gold
and browns running through it. An enormous window sat at the far
side and was the length of the entire wall. A large, dark wooden
desk was placed in front of it with papers neatly stacked on top
and a comfortable looking chair sitting behind. It looked like
Eli’s coat was hanging on the back of the large, leather chair. A
few reading chairs and even a day bed were placed throughout the
room, giving a welcoming feel to the atmosphere. The day bed looked
enticing, with its red, velvety material and gold
cushions.

Annie had
always loved books and dreamed of having a library as big as this
so she moved over to inspect the collection. There had to be easily
at least a thousand books on just one wall covered with the
shelves, which would mean thousands of books altogether.

As she
scanned the books there were ones that looked old and worn and
others new. Some covered topics from various centuries of history
but most of them were about myths and legends through time. She
came across one with a strange title:
Methods of the Soul Snatcher.

For one
reason or another she found the title intriguing so she picked it
up and took it to the day bed. As she walked she tripped
over her own two feet and dropped
the book, she tried to recover it but she missed. To her relief it
landed on the seat she was heading to, which was the day bed. She
picked the book up but had noticed that it made a strange sound
when it had hit the cushions. It made a thud which would mean there
was something hard underneath. She looked around to see if anyone
was coming. Should she look?

Before she
thought about whether or not it was morally right to snoop through
a man’s belongings who had taken her in when she had nowhere else
to go, she bent down and inspected the settee. Under the cushions
there looked to be a thin, wooden plank, as if it was the lid to a
chest. The cushions were stuck to the top so she couldn’t move them
to get a better look. Maybe she could open it? Again, ignoring her
conscience, with book in hand she lifted the lid.

The cushions
didn’t fall as they were stuck to the lid. Inside the secret case
was lined with a dark, velvet material. It had grooves dug out to
fit its contents perfectly. Immaculate daggers lay vertically,
lined across the length of the bed. There were ten of them. Annie
thought back to the writing device Eli had when he interviewed her,
what had he called it…chromium? It seemed that the handle had been
fashioned from the same metal but the blade was entirely different.
In fact it looked like the blade was made from…polished
bone.

The blade was
sleek and th
ick and subtly
curved into a sharp point. Somehow it had been polished so it
looked almost reflective but you could still see natural ridges
running along it. The handle was just short enough for a hand to
grip but still rather elegant, with four strips of the metal
twisted softly around the air to meet at the top. It was lovely how
it twisted so you could actually see through the handle. The spires
jutting out at the base of the handle were the same as the other
one just shorter. All together it was a stylish design and the most
unique thing about the objects was they seemed to be almost
luminous.

The
instrument
s were crafted to
perfection which made them look menacing and all together
frightening. Surely there could only be one use for
them.

A creak in
the floor boards brought her out of her inspection and she
brusquely turned to see what made the noise. Eli stood at the door
witnessing her intrusive act. She jumped up and dropped the book
accidentally. It made a loud thump in unison with the bang of the
wooden lid closing. The book sprawled open until it settled on a
random page on the floor. Annie’s heart raced as she tried to think
of what this person had done with the ominous looking
weapons.

“
I wandered in here looking for you and…” She faltered.
And what? Got to snooping through all of your things and possibly
found evidence to support allegations I might make of you being a
murderer? Eli stood there with a stern face, as if he had so much
anger he was frozen. She swallowed hard and tried to find something
to busy her hands with. When she found nothing, she nervously
fiddled with the material of her skirt.

Eli remained
silent and the tension in the room grew until it was palpable.
Finally he unfroze but the relief Annie felt from his movements was
soon overshadowed with fear as he slowly closed the door and locked
it. The sound of the latch clicking sounded like the gavel of a
guillotine. He turned and faced her.

“
Who are you, Annie?” He asked keeping his tone even
but menacing. She placed her hand against her chest, shocked at his
question.

“
I? Who am I?” She asked. “Who are you?” She chided. He
started walking towards her and she moved back. With each step he
took she tried to take two but he seemed to be gaining on her. She
made it behind the desk and he stopped when he reached the day bed
she had been standing at. He opened the lid and looked in for a
moment before he let the lid drop, then he picked the book up from
the ground. He looked closely at the title.