Soul Snatcher (15 page)

“
Or they could be used in revenge by one of those
enemies,” Annie added. Eli looked down to his tea regretfully. “Why
do you not do the same to other newly made snatchers that you did
to the first? They may all turn into a tracker.”

“
There have been experiments tried on rare occasions
but the snatcher either ended up escaping and people were killed or
they perished. As I told you they need the bane subdued or they
burn. We do not know what was so different with the first man and
he has not given any insights to it either. We look into it as much
as we can but there is only so much we can do,” he
explained.

“
Are there any other trackers in this area?” Annie
asked.

“
There was once but…they were taken from us.” Eli’s
eyes almost welled with tears from the memory but he blinked away
the tears and changed the subject. “It seems that when a tracker
procreates, each male child in that family is born a tracker. When
they have had another child with another woman they are human. Of
course, there are some trackers who just choose to live their own
lives, having no association with our cause.” Annie took a sip of
her tea as if that would help her swallow all of the information
better.

“
Well, that is all very fascinating,” she said through
a small laugh. She sounded very overwhelmed. “From one woman’s
selfish ambitions she created a whole new species that seem to have
to battle with her burden. And through the mistake of one of them,
they created an eternal enemy that would always seem to aim to
destroy them. Ironic really.” Eli couldn’t help but laugh at her
summation.

“
That is quite the synopsis, Annie,” he said. “There is
one more thing I would like to address.” He waited until he had her
full attention. “Would you be willing to learn some ways to defend
yourself against snatchers?”

At first she
thought she had misunderstood what he said but then she realised he
was completely serious. She had never felt more frightened and
exhilarated at the same time. Of course she wanted to!

CHAPTER
12

Eli was
called out of town for two days to attend to a land dispute
regarding one of his many properties. He instructed Annie not to
leave the house and not to invite anyone in, under any
circumstance. He promised to return as soon as possible and they
would begin their training then.

After two
days and still no Eli, Annie started to become restless. The real
reason was because she hadn’t seen Baden since she had practically
thrown him out. To try and pull herself out of her slump she
started reading book after book on whatever she could. It was hard
to take it all in when she didn’t have Eli there to question but
she took in as much as she possible. To her surprise he didn’t have
many books about snatchers, they were mainly about trackers and
other myths that seemed irrelevant. The books he did have on
snatchers were vague and unhelpful.

One afternoon
there was a knock at the library door and Garrick came in.
She smiled at him as soon as he came
in but her smile soon faded when she saw how serious his face
was.

“
One…he said his name was Micah, is here to see you,
Miss Belle,” he informed. She placed her book down immediately and
went straight for the front door. Why would Garrick be so worried
about Micah?

“
Thank you, Garrick,” she said on her way past him.
When she got to the front door she paused, she wasn’t meant to
invite anyone in. Why hadn’t Micah just come in after Garrick spoke
to him? She hesitated a moment before she opened the
door.

“
Annie,” Micah said as soon as he saw her and to her
relief he stepped through the doorway without invitation and
wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes in a silent prayer
of thanks.

“
Micah, I cannot believe you are here. Do you have a
day to yourself?” Annie asked stepping back when she felt the hug
had persisted too long. When he held onto her hands she pretended
to busy them so he had to let go.

“
Miss Danes is away and I have been left to attend to
things,” he explained. She was shocked that he had been left in
charge, he usually only dealt with the stables. Garrick subtly came
around the corner to offer them some tea.

“
Would you like some refreshments for you and your
guest in the parlour, Miss Belle?” He asked politely though she
didn’t miss his look of concern.

“
That would be much appreciated for my guest and I, as
he has dropped in unexpectedly and managed to come in without
invite,” she dropped the hint so he could relax. Even with her
reassurance Garrick didn’t look relieved in the slightest but he
left to make tea anyway. She turned back to Micah who looked almost
horrified.

“
You seem to be settling in quite nicely,” he commented
with a hint of agitation.

“
It is a long story. Come with me and we shall
reminisce and enlighten each other.” She took him to the front
parlour and they made themselves comfortable. Micah made himself a
little too comfortable, sitting rather close to her on the
davenport.

It was a
small parlour compared to the others but still comfortable. With
just a few chai
rs, a small
table and a cabinet with various things on display.

“
So are you and Mr. Brighton engaged or have you
gambolled past that part?” His tone was curt.

“
Micah, that is impolite of you to ask in such an
atrocious manner! Eli and I are in no such relationship,” she
defended herself immediately.

“
I am sorry but there are rumours running about town
and through the manor and I do not know what to believe anymore.”
He looked like a man lost.

“
Well believe me as I am the source informing you.” She
couldn’t help but feel offended that he could believe anything like
that about her. He knew her better than anyone else.

“
It has been terrible since you left. Everything feels
so empty without you, Annie.” He looked as if he could
cry.

“
But you are heading the house for a time. Where is
Rosemary?” She had asked to derail the conversation from awkward
territory but then she was suddenly panicked at Rosemary’s
whereabouts.

“
She is travelling with Miss Danes,” he explained.
“Since you have been gone she has made Rosemary her personal
maid.”

“
How long will Miss Danes be gone?” Annie wondered,
still concerned about Rosemary.

“
Apparently a month or so.” Micah seemed rather
uninterested in the topic.

“
A month! What on earth is she doing?” Annie had no
idea how to take that.

“
Shopping and buying new land. Annie there is a
specific reason I came here today,” he changed the subject
quickly.

“
There is?” She was getting a bad feeling about where
this conversation was going.

“
Yes.” He took her hands in his and moved closer to
her. Where was Garrick with that tea? “Annie, I know that I cannot
offer much but there is one thing I can offer you.”

“
Micah, I think it may be time for you to leave,” she
said trying to pull her hands away from his tight grip. She managed
to free one but the other was stuck.

“
Annie, please hear me out,” he pleaded. Seeing no use
for it she prepared herself to crush her best friend’s hopes. “I am
in love with you. I have always been in love with you and I will
always love you until the day they bury me. Will you be my wife so
I can love you for the rest of my days?”

His eyes were
wide and filled with yearning but the longer she took to answer,
the more deflated he looked.

“
Annie?” He said sounding dismayed. Why did he have to
do this? Her heart beat hysterically as she tried to gain the
courage to speak. There was no more time, she had to answer and it
broke her heart.

“
Micah,” she said through swelling tears. “Please do
not let this come between us.” Her voice came out husky. It was
hard to talk not only because she was crying but because she was
about to lose her best friend. “But I do not love you like
that.”

Micah’s face
became
crestfallen. After the
words sunk in he let go of her hand and stood to leave.

“
Goodbye Annie,” he said the words empty of emotion
then moved to leave. He made it through the parlour door before she
went after him. She couldn’t just let him walk away from
her.

“
Please, Micah do not take away my best friend. We can
still have what we had,” she begged. She grabbed his arm but he
brushed it away as he stormed out. He opened the front door and she
walked out after him. Finally he stopped walking and turned to face
her. The afternoon sun almost blinded her as it glowed through her
tears.

“
You may not love me now, or it may be that you do not
know you love me, but it does not have to be this thing that just
falls into your lap, Annie. Love is so much more than just some
feeling, it is work and it may be hard sometimes but you choose
it.” Micah was crying now, which hurt her even more because she had
never seen him cry about anything.

“
Can we not choose our friendship?” She felt he was
being unreasonable, surely they could move past this.

“
No, you must choose. I cannot take it anymore. For
years I have loved you and now it is time to approach this fork in
the road. If I cannot have you then I need to walk away from you or
I will spend my life wanting something I cannot have.” He sounded
desperate and wild.

His horse
stood outside the ground gates, the horse that she had ridden for
years in his lap. She thought of all the times he had made her feel
safe and special. Would it be so bad to be with him? In herself she
knew it would not be fair to him if she settled because he would
not have all of her and he deserved more than that. He deserved to
be loved more than anyone else she knew.

“
Micah, I…” She faltered through the tears. She knew
she may never see him again and all she wanted to do was see his
face one more time. She frantically wiped away the teary
mess.

“
Just choose, Annie.” His voice broke as he said her
name.

“
Micah, I will never be able to love you the way you
deserve to be loved.” She bit her lip after she said the words but
that still didn’t stop the tears. He stood and looked at her for a
moment or so, almost as if he was memorising everything about
her.

“
I wish you all the happiness life can bring, Annie.”
With these words as his parting goodbye he turned away from her and
walked out of her life. His boots on the gravel path the only noise
amongst the pain filled silence.

Annie watched
him as he moved past the gates and jumped onto his horse. The
surroundings were perfect, with the flawlessly trimmed grass and
blue sky. The slight breeze that blew the white clouds across the
sky and the sun shining on the immaculate, colourful flower beds.
And as he walked away from her, he too had completed that
perfection…but the moment wasn’t perfect at all.

She thought
she saw him look back for a moment before he dug his heel
into
the horse’s flank and
sped away out of sight. She stood there for a time to see if he
would return but he never did and he probably never would
again.

She turned to
find Garrick standing at the door, not to invade her privacy but to
be there to protect her. She hadn’t even realised she had walked
out of the house. He gave her a soft look but she silently moved
past him and ran up the stairs. She didn’t stop until she was
hidden away in her room, away from everyone.

She locked
the door as soon as she shut it to try and escape what just
happened. Before she could lose herself to her pain she turned and
saw Baden standing at the foot of the bed.

“
If you are here to torment me then be on your way,”
she almost spat the words. She was hurting deep in her soul and
Baden had the potential to worsen her pain or rescue her from
it.

Before she
could conclude which it would be he slowly walked over and stopped
in front of her. He didn’t say a word, he simply placed his hands
on her waist and gently pulled her into his arms. She closed her
eyes in relief and let him hold her. As she cried into his chest he
lifted her into his arms and took her to the bed. He gently laid
her down and cuddled in beside her, pulling her close to him and
letting her cry. When her stamina gave way, she fell into a fitful
sleep against him. His body was warm to the touch and it somehow
warmed her heart.

CHAPTER
13

Annie woke in
the middle of the night in panic. She took
a sharp breath in and tried to ignore the pain that
had nestled itself inside her soul. The room was black and she
couldn’t see anything but she could feel someone beside her. For a
moment she was filled with fright but it soon subsided as she
remembered Baden was there. She curled into his side and closed her
eyes, even though she already couldn’t see.