Soul Snatcher (4 page)

The markets were the same
as they always were, loud and not without drama. The afternoon was
warm and inviting and the town seemed to be thriving off it. Annie
looked around and thought that there seemed to be more and more
buildings every time she went there and they were all getting
taller and taller. She was just glad that the manor was set a good
distance away from the crowded cities. She hated the washed out,
grey look that came from the material used to build, what looked to
be, every building in the town. It was all too gloomy for her. The
only colour she could find amongst the grey was seen through the
windows peering into the stores, and that depended on the style of
the store. Some were just as dreary as the buildings
themselves.

Annie finally made it
through the crowd and entered the store she had been searching for,
the little bell at the door gently announced her presence. She
stood and waited patiently as the clerk served another customer
before her. The small store only had a few displays and was a
little dusty but the stock was neat and tidy. A simple general
store, selling different types of knickknacks that might be
appealing to all different types of people.

When it was her turn she
stepped up to the glass counter, which stored trinkets of many
sorts beneath, and presented her paper coupon. The clerk was a
short, elderly man with half glasses and grey hair and seemed to be
struggling to read the paper. Eventually he managed it then walked
to the back of the store, out of sight. He wasn’t overly friendly
but he hadn’t been rude either, she couldn’t really tell what type
of person he was because he hadn’t even spoken to her. After a
while of searching the clerk returned empty handed. Annie looked at
him confused.

“Sorry Miss, this item was
delayed. It will be another week,” he explained respectfully.
Holding back her frustration she strained a smile, after all it
wasn’t his fault it was late.

“Thank you for your time,”
is all she said before she took the coupon turned to
leave.

After looking around to
check that no one was watching, she subtly slipped the coupon down
the top of her dress to make sure she didn’t lose it. She pushed
through the door with more force than usual and accidentally hit
someone.

“I am so sor…ry…” but her
sentence trailed off. When she looked around to find the victim of
her carelessness there was no one to be seen. She could have sworn
she had seen someone, a tall man with dark hair. After a moment of
thought she deduced it to confusion and was off, though she
couldn’t help but glance behind her to see if she could spot
someone it could have been.

Finally she made her way
through the crowd to the gates but when she arrived there was no
Micah to be seen. She looked around and saw other horses and a few
men milling off to one side but there was no one she knew. After a
few dazed moments a messy, young boy came running up to
her.

“You Annie?” He asked in
his harsh accent, with a slight lisp.

“Yes,” she answered, still
feeling rather confused. He handed her a piece of paper then ran
off. She unfolded it in a daze to find it was a letter from
Micah. It read:

Miss Danes sent a
messenger to request my help with an issue in the
stable.

I will be back as soon as
I am able.

Stay safe.

Micah.

“This is a pleasant turn
of events,” she muttered sarcastically to herself. She scrunched up
the paper, planning to keep hold of it until she could find
somewhere to dispose of it. No brooch and no way home, this trip
was turning out to be more than just a waste of time, it was a
downright inconvenience.

Annie huffed her way back
through the crowd and found a wooden bench outside a small
upholstery store. She sat there patiently watching the crowd go by
for half an hour then not quite so patiently for another half an
hour. To pass the time she shoved Micah’s letter in between the
cracks of the bench but it didn’t amuse her for long.

When the sun started to
fall lower in the sky and the wind picked up she resolved to make
her own way home. There were less people in the courtyard of the
markets now and she easily made her way to the gates and
beyond.

It felt like the sun was
setting at an alarming rate and she still had a long way to go.
After a time of walking she stopped and looked around to get her
bearings. She stood alone on the cusp of evening on a deserted,
dirt path, surrounded by nothing but trees. She had the option of
crossing through the large cemetery, which would bring her around
to the back of the manor and cut her walk in half, or continue the
long way. She looked up at the sky to gauge how much time she had
left and she estimated at least an hour of light. Surely she could
make it? As her feet started to ache and her energy felt like it
was dwindling, they were her prompters to choose the shortcut. She
folded her arms across her chest to fend off the chill from the
wind and made her way into the graveyard.

Annie walked swiftly
through the scattered tombstones until she thought she heard
footsteps apart from her own. She stopped for a moment to check if
it was the echo of her own she was hearing. When they
seemed to stop at the same time she had, and she had scanned the
trees nearby to find them empty, she slowly started to make her way
again. When the sound persisted she stopped again, this time fear
crept up her spine and trickled into her soul. Why hadn’t she just
waited for Micah? It was too late to ask herself ‘why’. She found
no other choice but to run.

As she ran as fast as she
could, which was a rather poor speed, she could hear whoever it was
swiftly approaching behind her. Her heart beat so fast she thought
she could hear it over her panicked breathing. Her hair whipped in
the wind every which way and she wildly brushed it out of her eyes
as she ran.

Before she made it very
far she was grabbed from behind. After being jolted backwards
viciously, she was thrown a few feet through the air and landed
hard against a tombstone.
Her
breath was knocked out of her lungs and she found it hard to see,
not only from the blinding pain but also the dimming light. Her
vision was blurry at best and her ribs had a burning, sharp pain
running through them but she still tried to push herself up to run.
She made it to her feet but couldn’t move any further. She heaved
in air but it stung her lungs to do so, so she leaned against the
tombstone for support. She felt like she was going to be sick so
she held her arm across her stomach to try and push the feeling
away. She heard steps approaching and tried to move away but she
didn’t have the strength, instead all she could do was fall to the
ground in pain.

This was it,
she was going to die and she had done nothing in her life that
she
aspired to do. She wanted
to travel to the countries she had read about, she wanted to write
a book, she wanted to live in a foreign place but those moments
were about to be stolen away from her. Then everything would be
forgotten, she would be forgotten. Just another grave to add to the
yard.

Annie looked
up through the grey dusk and teary eyes to see the dark figure
approaching. As the man stepped closer to her she had almost
resigned herself to her fate when another figure came out of the
darkness and became silhouetted against the grey sky. Her head fell
against the grass as she saw the new figure walk up to the
approaching attacker. She tried to focus through the pain but it
was difficult, she did manage to notice the new figure’s broad
shoulders. It was a man. He seemed to put his hands on either side
of her attackers face then her view was blocked by his back. He
moved his arms violently and the attacker fell to the ground
without a sound. Now the man turned his attention to her and
suddenly she didn’t know if she should feel scared or relieved by
his presence. He made his way to her and knelt beside
her.

“
Where does it hurt?” His velvety, smooth voice washed
over her like warm water on aching bones. His hands hovered over
her, unsure of how to help.

“
My chest,” she answered, her voice was husky from the
pain. She started to turn to lay on her back but he gently placed
one hand on her shoulder and the other low on her waist, avoiding
where it might be hurting.

“
I think moving would be ill advised at the moment,
Annie.” He accidentally used her name. She looked up at him trying
to see his face but all she could see was his
silhouette.

“
Who are you?” She asked almost sleepily. What she
really meant to ask was, ‘how do you know my name?’ but she was
confused from the pain.

“
My name is, Baden.” She tried to recall anyone she
knew with that name but no one came to mind and certainly no one
with a voice like his. “Annie, do you think I could lift you
without you hurting too much?” He asked softly, concern coating his
voice. At the moment his senses were being overwhelmed by her soul
and he found it hard to keep himself together.

All she could
do was nod, her face wincing from the pain it caused. With the
greatest of care he took Annie into his arms. However gentle he was
it still hurt more than she could bear so he tried to move even
more slowly and gently. When he was standing with her in his arms
she let her face lean against his chest and her body rest into his.
It felt comforting and it helped to distract her from her aching
chest. He started to slowly take her away.

“
Did you injure your head?” He asked as they walked.
Night had fallen and she couldn’t see anything now, she wasn’t sure
how he could.

“
No.” She couldn’t help the sharp breath she drew in
from the pain. Instinctively he held her a little
closer.

“
If you can, try and go to sleep,” Baden advised. He
was trying to keep his guard up, he was doing everything he could
to keep this girl’s soul from drowning him but nothing
worked.

“
I think the discomfort alone is sufficient enough to
keep me awake,” she tried to joke without gasping.

“
Tell me, Annie. How old are you?” He asked trying to
distract her from the pain.

“
I am nineteen.” She paused before she asked her own
question. “And how old are you?” Baden was silent for a
moment.

“
I was born in seventeen-eighty-one,” he answered,
seeming uncomfortable with the question.

“
Twenty-three,” she calculated quickly, considering she
was barely aware of what was going on. “This is strange,” she
commented, not really making any sense. She wasn’t quite so
coherent at the moment and her voice came out drowsily.

“
There are many strange things in this world, of which
I am only starting to discover.” He watched her as he walked, not
needing to concentrate on the landscape.

“
I work at Miss Danes’ manor,” she informed thinking
that he needed the direction. He smiled a little without letting
her know that he already knew. He walked much slower than he was
capable of in his effort not to harm her any more than she already
was. They continued on in silence for a while.

“
Dare I ask if there is a young man awaiting your
arrival?” Baden questioned, finally deciding within himself to
encroach on her life. He couldn’t help himself any
longer.

“
There is… but he is not mine in the way you are
implying,” she answered a little breathlessly.

“
Is there a hint of regret I detect?” He didn’t think
there was, he could feel the honesty in her soul but he was
checking to be sure. It was the first time he had doubted himself
in years.

“
Not at all. We are just lovely friends.” She found it
a little easier to talk now, being close to him seemed to help ease
the pain.

“
I have a suspicion that he may not feel quite the
same,” he whispered under his breath.

Looking at
her in his arms made him feel strange. Helping her felt like he was
going against everything he had been doing for the past three
years. He’d been so certain of himself and now he wasn’t even sure
if he had ever known himself at all. He slowed his pace even
further so he had more time to look at her, to try and feel what it
was in her soul that overwhelmed all of his senses. She was
beautiful, there was no denying that. Beyond beautiful, really. It
felt like he wanted to capture her image perfectly, too afraid to
look away for fear she might vanish. But there was still something
more…something indeterminable.

They came
upon the manor
before Baden
had time to come to any conclusions. He silently headed for the
back entrance which led to the kitchen, so no one would see him. He
could smell food cooking and voices muttering about the whereabouts
of Annie. He could sense that some felt genuinely concerned but
others almost wished she would never come back, the ones that
envied her. This sparked within him his usual hatred towards
humans. At one stage he would have said towards all living things
but now…he didn’t know if he could bring himself to say it
anymore.