Soul Snatcher (27 page)

“
Annie,” he whispered again but he didn’t have a chance
to say anything else.

“
But even if he were alive he would only try to steal
my soul. Even knowing that and though he is gone, I still love him.
Why?” Her voice was thick with pain and her tears were seeping
through his shirt. He silently cried along with her in the room
caressed by the soft, blue glow of the moon. He took a shuddering
breath in and composed himself enough to say a few small
words.

“
Annie, Baden loves you.” He paused a moment before he
went on. “You have become something that he can no longer live
without. It breaks him to know that you hurt like this and he would
give anything for you to have the joy you deserve,” he said as he
stroked her hair.

“
He has killed. He hates…everything. Humans are nothing
to him,” she said fearfully. “What is he?” She asked. The fever
made it easy to forget about the barriers she had built and
distracted her enough so she did not realise she was talking to
Baden.

And because
of Annie he felt sorrow for the people he had killed, for the
families he had torn apart and the lives he ruined. For the love
that he had stolen without thought. He had never once questioned
his actions and he had always walked away so easily but now he felt
the guilt weigh him down as the one he loved questioned the
goodness in him. And he felt ashamed.

“
He is a man…” he whispered. He wished that the words
were true but he knew they weren’t because he was not a man, he was
a monster. He swallowed back his remorse so he could speak. “…who
stole so much from so many and now has the burden of that pain
because he has learned how to love,” he said through his tears.
“And now he has to live, knowing that he has disappointed the only
one he has ever loved,” he finished quietly.

“
I wish he were here. If feels like I want it so
intensely that he might come back,” she cried. “I did not mean to
kill him.” He pulled her closer against him as gently as he could
and comforted her with his touch. “I know I should not say this but
I would take the chance of losing my soul just to see him again.
Just so I could know if he truly loved me,” she confessed, keeping
her eyes closed to avoid the throbbing in her head from becoming
too much.

“
Do not say that, Annie.” He worried that she wanted to
willingly risk her soul. She shouldn’t want to at all, not for him
or for anyone and it made him realise what he had to do. What he
was about to say next was a painful truth that he would have to
accept but because he loved her he would. “You keep your soul for
someone who has earned it…” He swallowed hard against the tears.
“…and Baden has not.”

Though it
hurt to do so, Annie leaned her head back so she could look into
his face. He held his breath as she looked up at him but it was too
dark for her to recognise who it was. The selfish part of him
wanted her to realise it was him but she closed her eyes once again
because it hurt too much to keep them open. The new, selfless part
of him, the Annie part of him, was relieved when she closed her
eyes again. He knew it was for the best that she thought he was
gone forever.

His face
twisted in pain as he held back the sob that tried to escape him.
He knew this was goodbye. He had to let her go so she would want
someone that couldn’t hurt her. He held her feverishly warm cheek
in his hand and placed a kiss on her forehead. His tears were a
constant stream down his perfect face.

“
Do not go,” she said fearing that she was missing
something. That she was losing something she didn’t realise she
had. He looked into her face and even though her eyes were closed
and her face was pale from pain, she was still the most beautiful
thing he had ever seen.

“
I love you,
Annie,” he whispered then he kissed her lips with all the love in
him. His kiss was gentle and sweet and he held back his passion,
knowing that it would hurt her delicate, wounded frame.

Before he was
ready he hesitantly broke the kiss, moved off the bed and laid
Annie back down. When she was as comfortable as she could be, he
stepped away from her and just watched her for the rest of the
night.

“
I Love you,” Baden whispered one last time as the sun
peeked over the trees that surrounded the manor and rested on her
face as she slept.

Just one last
look, then he was gone.

CHAPTER
25

One very cold
and lonely night Micah walked through the trees towards Annie’s
room. When he had just reached the edge of the woods he stopped
when he heard someone come out of hiding. Without turning around he
knew it was Baden.

“
Where do you intend on going?” Baden asked with anger
in his voice. Micah turned around and faced him without saying a
word. Baden folded his arms, leaned against a tree and just looked
at him. He had no intention of letting Micah get near
Annie.

“
It does not concern you where I am headed.” Micah said
trying to scare him but Baden could sense he was hesitant. Micah
may have been older and more practiced but Baden was
stronger.

“
I will say this only once and then I will do what is
necessary,” Baden warned, waiting until he felt that Micah was
concentrating before he continued. “You will not be entering
Annie’s room tonight or any other time during your existence,” he
threatened.

Micah knew he
had to leave. If it really came down to it he would lose. He
clenched his jaw to try and contain his anger then started back in
the direction he came from. Before he went too far he stopped when
he was next to Baden. Micah turned to him but Baden didn’t bother
to look at him, he kept his eyes on Annie’s room.

“
You cannot watch her every moment, Baden. She is not
yours to have.” Micah tried to sting him with his words but they
seemed to have no effect. He studied Baden for a moment, deciding
on what would hurt him and he tested his idea. “Remember that she
is the one who ran the dagger through you. She may think she wants
you but she will find that she truly does not,” Micah said with a
satisfied smile. Baden’s lip twitched slightly before he composed
himself but Micah had still seen it. He hid his surprise. “You
think she would ever want an abomination like you?” Micah asked to
provoke him.

Instead of
the anger he expected from Baden he almost saw defeat.
He couldn’t believe it, Baden
actually loved her. Micah couldn’t stop his laughter as he walked
back into the night and disappeared.

Baden ignored
his taunts, he didn’t care what Micah thought or said. He already
knew he would never be what Annie deserved. He thought of it every
moment. What Micah wasn’t accounting for was that Baden had been
watching over Annie since he had first seen her and he would be
watching her every day until she ceased to be. But that was a
thought he tried to push away whenever it came to mind.

The only time
Micah ever got close to Annie was when he would approach her in a
public place. Baden decided not to intervene at these moments
because he didn’t want to reveal himself to her and Micah wouldn’t
do anything in a crowded area. Something Baden found comforting was
that Eli was at the manor with her. He never thought he would be
happy for the day Eli was there but somehow he was because it meant
she was safer.

So Baden
lived as a shadow in Annie’s life and the saddest part was that she
would never know the love he carried for her. Whenever he became
tempted to reveal himself she would do the simplest things like;
brush the hair away from her face or smile to herself for seemingly
no reason, and he would remember why he was staying away. To
protect her from him. It was torture for Baden to see her and not
touch her and love her but he found this a fitting punishment for
the things he had done to others. Though the more he saw her the
more he mused over how much he could endure. He supposed there was
only one way to find out.

So time
passed.

Baden
watched. Micah pursued. Eli taught and Annie lived on a teetering
thread, all the while not knowing Baden’s love.

Enough time
passed for Annie to mend a fair amount, physically at least. Her
shoulder still hurt occasionally when she moved the wrong way and a
scar had made its home on both sides of her left shoulder. Other
than that she felt almost normal...except for the big gaping hole
Baden ha
d left. It was like
it had burned through her to know she would never see him again and
that burn would never heal because there was nothing that could
mend it. There was no one else who could repair it. Whenever that
thought came to mind she pushed it away and masked it as best she
could. If Eli ever noticed her consternation she would smile
half-heartedly and concoct some lie that would placate his
enquiries.

Annie had not
recalled the night of her lament to Baden, who she had mistaken to
be Eli and therefore didn’t say anything to Eli about it. She had
seen Micah occasionally but she found the relationship had changed.
He was different or maybe she was different? Either way she didn’t
feel connected to him like she used to. He only seemed to appear
when Eli was not present, which she deduced was no coincidence.
Although he never came to her room as Baden had, it was as if
something was keeping him away. Not that she wanted him in her
room. The only one she wanted there was Baden and he was never
going to be there again.

She had
secretly decided within herself that it was reasonable for her to
admit to herself that she truly loved Baden because he was not
alive and she didn’t have to warn herself of the danger of him. So
every so often, when her resolve to move on would crumble, she
would let out the tears that had collected in her heart and she
would cry herself to sleep. She had no idea why she cared for him
so, she had barely known Baden but it hurt her to know that she
never would.

The nights
that Annie cried herself to sleep Baden would hear because he was
amongst the trees. It hurt him to sit back and let her pain grow.
It made him question whether staying away was the best thing but
soon enough he found many reasons against his doubts. So when he
decided not to comfort her he would sit silently in the lonely
night. Before too long his own tears would start and he would let
them fall down his face without a sound. He did not even wipe them
away, so they would fall onto his shirt and live there until they
dried. How easy their existence was.

When Annie’s
tears pushed her into a deep, sorrowful sleep Baden would sneak up
and just watch her. He would gently wipe her face clean of the
tears and pull the blankets closer to her, in hopes it would be a
comfort. His only pleasure in life was this stolen closeness of
watching her as she slept. He would not move or blink for fear that
he might miss a moment. He sat there as still as could be and
memorised her heartbeat. He measured out her soft breaths and
looked onto her face, wishing she could be his.

What would he
do when she had another laying next to her, loving her, being with
her? At first the thought made his anger almost uncontrollable and
he imagined himself taking the life of that person and replacing
them with himself. But when Annie stirred then settled, he regained
calm and knew that it was meant to be that way. She was meant to
have someone who had earned her. He would not let anyone come near
her that was not everything she deserved and more. He vowed this to
himself many times.

His feelings
had been so conflicted since finding Annie. Before there was one
thought and that was hatred. Hatred towards everyone and everything
he found. Now his only thought was Annie and what a lovely thought
that was. An even lovelier thought that he allowed himself to have
for just a glimpse was, my Annie. What a life that would
be.

Annie woke in
her usual tone, heartbroken and longing. She seemed to be able to
work around the burden of it now. She was glad that she had adapted
because Eli might have started to notice if she hadn’t. She walked
downstairs after getting ready for the day to find Eli. As usual
she found him in the library.

“
Good morning,” Eli greeted with a smile. Annie gave
her standard smile, one that no longer reached her eyes, and walked
over to him behind the desk. She stopped in front of the desk
facing him. He held a letter in his hand but by the look on his
face it was one that made him seem pleased. At least it wasn’t one
that would invoke her immediate banishment from the manor. She
pushed the next thought out that was trying to make its way
through, the thought of that night with Baden.

“
You look quite interested in that correspondence,”
Annie said to draw his attention away from her. Eli looked at the
letter then back to her with a smile.

“
In fact, I am.” He got up and walked around to stand
near her, letter in hand. They had become comfortable around each
other and trusted each other, so his closeness didn’t bother her
like it would if it were another man. It also didn’t distract her
like it would have if he were Baden. She quickly tried to push him
out of her mind yet again.