Soul Snatcher (23 page)

It felt like
an hour passed before her foot made it to the floor. Her breath
came out uneven and her lungs felt full as she tried to balance her
breath so it wouldn’t make so much noise. The fear made it feel
like time was standing still and the silence made the dread sharp
and unforgiving as it stuck into her chest.

She felt
relieved
that she was making
her way out, that was until the floor creaked under the weight of
her foot. Her heart clenched in terror and after the slightest
pause everything went at full speed. She broke into a sprint and
ran for the door, her heart was racing by the time she reached it.
In her rush she slammed into the old, wooden door as she blindly
grabbed for the handle. Finally she took hold of the handle and
pulled, forgetting that she needed to turn it. When she finally
realised her error she turned the handle and the door flew open.
She had taken one step out the door and towards freedom only to be
seized from behind.

The night was
black and cold and it chilled Annie to the bone. Her fear filled
scream echoed into the empty night where no one would hear it.
Baden turned her around in his arms and silence once again ruled
the night as he covered her mouth with his hand. She could barely
see his face and it made it all the more petrifying. He moved
closer and looked at her. She did everything she could to pull away
but he was effortlessly restraining her.

“
Annie, please. I do not want to hurt you,” he almost
pleaded. It sounded so genuine she paused. She breathed heavily
from the struggle of trying to escape and her exhaled breath blew
the wispy strands of hair away from her face.

Baden’s eyes
twitched to the side suddenly and she froze. He went from focusing
solely on her to looking out into the night. It seemed as if he
could hear something that she couldn’t. All she could hear was the
rain starting to drizzle on the roof. Before she could get wet he
whisked her inside and slammed the door, locking it behind them. He
held her against the door with his body, one arm restraining her
hands and a hand clasping her mouth. He slowly released her mouth
and watched her, waiting to see if she would scream. Seeing no use
for it she remained silent.

“
What is it?” She asked after a moment. Her terror was
becoming almost uncontrollable. Baden was looking at her but she
could tell he was focusing on whatever was outside.

“
There is a snatcher out there,” he whispered. She
closed her mouth tightly to stop from screaming again. The rain
started to fall heavier.

“
How do you know?” Her voice came out smaller than a
whisper. What should she be more afraid of; the fact that she was
stuck inside with a soul snatcher or that in her escape she would
come across another?

“
I could hear him. He was…feeding.” His face looked as
if he was pained as he remembered. Suddenly there was a loud bang
against the door as if something had slammed against it. It jolted
through Annie and she screamed until her throat burned. Baden
pulled her away from the door and took her into the parlour. They
stopped near the fire and he kept her close to him. She was shaking
violently.

“
Who is it?” She asked, her voice husky from her
screaming. Baden listened as the snatcher jumped up on the roof and
slowly made his way over to the other side of the house. He could
still hear it over the rain though Annie could hear
nothing.

“
I am just trying to deduce that as we speak,” he
answered then a loud smash sounded from her bedroom. She shook
vehemently from fear but there was no time to waste.

“
He is in,” Baden cursed under his breath. He grabbed
Annie’s hand and ran out the front door into the rain. He didn’t
have time to try and shelter her. He just had to get her onto the
horse and away from there so he could deal with the other
snatcher.

Annie could
hardly see
except for the
dull light being cast from the house. She had no idea if Baden was
trying to help her or not and now she was trusting him to lead her
through the night?

“
Get up,” he yelled over the rain as he pushed her into
the saddle. When she finally realised he was helping her onto the
horse their stalker found them. He sped through the rain and
grabbed Annie off the steed, taking her far away from
Baden.

Her attacker
took her partway to the trees then precipitately threw her along
the ground causing her to skid to a muddy halt. She could hardly
breathe as she choked on the rain that she couldn’t keep out of her
mouth.

“
Nice night for a little fun, Annie,” the stranger
taunted. His voice made it sound like he licked the words on their
way out. She looked up through the dark night, the only light was
filtered through the window of the distant house. She struggled to
determine if she knew him or not. Before she had the chance to see
his face any closer Baden crashed into him and they skidded along
the ground, flicking water up as they went.

Annie
couldn’t see anything after they moved past the light and
disappeared into the blackness but she could hear the wild fight
between them. It was as if the rain amplified their movements. By
the sounds she heard she thought if a human had to suffer through
the abuse of the fight that was taking place it would not take long
to bring them to an end. All she knew was it didn’t matter if Baden
or the other snatcher won, either way she had to get to that horse.
Both of them would hurt her in very different ways.

She
push
ed herself off the wet
ground in a slippery mess, tripping as she did. She finally got
running, finding it hard to balance and keep upright. Why did it
have to be raining? The light from the house that cast onto the
horse’s tail comforted her as she headed for it. She kept her eyes
on her goal and tried to ignore the sounds of violence that
assailed her ears, violence that might soon be on her.

As she heard
the horse bray the water from its nose her relief was stolen away,
as was her balance, by the hand that grabbed her ankle. She tripped
and fell, only just bracing herself before her face slammed into
the ground. She presumed it wasn’t Baden taking her, he would at
least be gentle with her death.

She
was flipped onto her back as the
stranger relentlessly dragged her deeper into the night and further
away from the horse. She gripped at the soft, slushy, rain-soaked
ground hoping to gain a hold but failing every time. She kicked and
screamed knowing that there was nothing she could do. Her tears
mixed with the rain as they fell down her muddy face. She choked
and spluttered on the rain as she was being pulled. She was going
to die a hideous, gruesome death and all she could think was Baden
must have lost the fight. This somehow filled her with more pain
than thoughts of her own imminent demise.

Just as she
was about to lose all hope for life something grazed passed her and
she heard it collide with the stranger at her ankle. Without
missing a beat she pushed herself up as quickly as she could and
ran for the horse again, seizing the only chance she might get to
stay alive.

Annie ran
with everything in her. She wanted to live, she wanted to get away
from the fear and the rain and be somewhere no one could get her.
She reached the horse and grabbed the slippery reins but as her
foot found the stirrup she felt hands grip her. This time anger
helped to fuel adrenaline in her and she decided to fight. She was
not going to let this stranger win. Amazed that her hair still held
her dagger, she had time to pull it from the strands and grip it.
This was her only chance. With panic riddled, trembling hands she
thrust the point into the chest she could feel close beside
her.

She heard him
grunt and he fell onto the ground beside her. She didn’t bother to
hesitate another moment. She jumped onto the horse’s back, slipping
into the slick saddle. She gathered the reins into her freezing
hands and manoeuvred the horse as best she could. Before she sped
off into the lonely night she glanced back to the dimly lit figure
that lay on the ground. As the water ran into her eyes she thought
she saw Baden laying there. She moved her hair away and swept the
water from her face but it wouldn’t make the image of Baden
disappear.

Finally she
realised that it was him laying there in the rain, bathed in the
small glow of light from the house. She had pushed the dagger into
him. She peered down at him, his shirt wet through and sticking to
his skin. His hair slicked back from the rain and his eyes closed
almost as if he were asleep. His peaceful face was juxtaposed
against the sharp, ghastly dagger protruding from him. His hand
clenched around the object.

Something
snapped Annie out of the daze she was in. She looked around to see
if the stranger was still there to no avail. She wasn’t sure if she
heard something or not but it reminded her that she had to go.
After one last look at Baden she kicked the side of the horse and
sped off into the night. She trusted the horse to know where to go
because she had no idea where she was headed.

As she sped
through the rain she couldn’t stop the ache in her heart growing
until she felt like it split her soul into many small pieces. Baden
had come to steal her soul but he managed to break it instead. She
wondered if that was any better.

She held onto
the rei
ns as if they were her
grip on life. She just needed to get home, she just needed to see
Eli and then everything would be fine. Her mind raced with thoughts
of Baden but she threw them out as best she could. He had been
using her, he had been doing what his kind does. He was pretending
to love her so she would love him and then he would take her
soul.

She wasn’t
sure what pain caused her tears; the fact that he had played her so
easily or that she hurt to know he was gone forever. It was
probably better this way, if he was still around he would most
likely be able to fool her into believing that he actually cared.
Her tears started to become the main hindrance in her vision and
even though they were spilling rapidly she could only see through a
blurry film as the manor came into view.

Annie had no
idea what time it was but there was light spotted throughout the
house. As the horse trotted to a slow stop just outside the door
she noticed the rain had eased slightly. She practically fell off
the horse and dragged herself over to the door. With a heavy heart
she pushed the weighty door open with the little energy she had
left. Once inside she closed it with just as much effort and leaned
against it to rest for a moment.

Head in hands
and tears falling down her face, Annie tried to figure out how she
was ever going to move on from this. That’s if she ever
could.

CHAPTER
21

Annie looked
down to her clothes and they were so wet she could see straight
through them.
The rain had
washed most the mud off her skin but her clothes were stained from
it. Not really caring who saw, she made her way to her room to
change into something dry and warm. When she had walked into her
bedroom and locked the door she rummaged through the wooden chest
at the end of her bed in the dim light cast from the evening sky.
The rain seemed to have cleared and though the moon was small,
mixed with the starlight it was bright enough.

She found a
warm nightgown and dressed in her unlit room, finding no strength
to care about anything. Moving to her bed she lay staring at the
closed window that had been Baden’s entry point. She just had to
push it all away; the fact that she had almost died tonight, yet
again and the fact that Baden was gone forever. In an attempt to
ease the hurt she tried to dwell on how he had used her. That gave
a fake coating of normalcy and whenever that coating tried to chip
away she would layer it up with another thick coat of, ‘he didn’t
really love me’.

When it all
became too much she thought of Eli. He could take her mind off it,
he would be able to explain what had happened and why her life had
been ripped into shreds. She rushed out of her room, down the
stairs to the library and entered without knocking. She stopped
suddenly when she saw he wasn’t there. She hurried to every other
room in the house but she couldn’t find Eli or Garrick. Where were
they? Panic started to take over. If she was left alone then she
wouldn’t be able to keep herself together.

“
Why are you not home?” She whispered, agony sounding
through her small, sad voice. Just as she started to feel hopeless
and that she would imminently lose all semblance of togetherness,
she heard a horse approaching outside. Relief filled her as she ran
to the door and swung it open anticipating Eli’s return.

Annie almost
jumped when she saw Micah standing there ready to knock. He paused
in surprise then lowered his hand, staring at her for a moment.
Seeing him broke through every wall she had made to contain her
pain and she didn’t even think as she moved into his arms, sobbing
from the hurt. She buried her face into his clean, crisp shirt,
hoping that he could be her friend in this moment. Hesitantly he
moved his arms around her and held her as she cried.

“
Please, can you just come in and stay a while and be
my friend?” She asked weakly through her tears. There was silence
before he answered and she thought he was going to say no. She
looked up into his face ready to plead with him but he was already
nodding his head yes. She grabbed his hand as she always used to
and pulled him inside.