The Guardian's Protector: The Chamber of Souls (11 page)

‘He comes to work with you?’ Kate smiled at Jack as if his reaction towards Ethan was a pleasant one. Amy couldn’t believe she didn’t react to the way Jack looked at Ethan, and still looked at him now.

‘Yes,’ Amy said, scowling at Jack, who couldn’t seem to change the look of repulsion he had plastered on his face.

Kate looked down at Ethan. ‘Why don’t we go in the ball pit with Tom?’ As Kate spoke the words, the room seemed to slow in motion. Amy’s eyes shot to Winston, but he was speaking with a customer. As they began to walk over, Amy wanted to scream. Winston had to stop them going in. But how?

It was only as Kate began to help Ethan climb the steps to the ball pit that Winston turned. As Amy caught sight of Tom’s frightened face through the Perspex cage, her heart fell into her stomach. Amy and Winston exchanged worried glances and, as Kate and Ethan began to move around inside, Tom lifted his hands out of the balls, gently resting them on top.

‘Hello, Tom,’ Kate said.

Tom said nothing. His face said it all—he was ready for trouble. Amy felt the pulse of the talisman intensify, the cold almost painful against her skin. The crystal made a warping sound and tried to push its way out of her jumper.

Suddenly, every light in the café dimmed and a huge humming sound began to fill the whole play area. Next, a blinding flash of light appeared in the ball pit. Everyone in the café exchanged dark looks and Ethan began to scream manically. As Amy climbed into the pit, Kate flew backwards and began to shake.

Amy waded through the balls towards her but, Ethan, red-faced with rage, hissed at her. Saliva dripping from his few teeth and eyes bulging with evil, he shot towards her. As he got close, Amy saw a flicker of fear within his glare. As his eyes darted towards her pendant, Amy realised he could sense the talisman.

Kate stopped shaking, grabbed Ethan, and scrambled her way out while Amy made her way to Tom who sat, eyes wide, with his concentrated expression. As Amy reached him, blood streamed from his nose.

‘Get me a tissue!’ Amy screamed at Jack, Mark and Winston, who stood at the entrance, looking nervous. Jack ran and was back with her tissue as she reached the door.

Everyone in the café gathered round to watch, most of the mothers whispering amongst themselves.

Kate, noting the unwelcoming glances, turned to Amy. ‘Is he okay, Amy?’ she asked sheepishly, her tone indicating she knew it was Ethan’s fault. ‘I don’t know what happened, do you?’

‘It won’t stop bleeding!’ Amy cried while Jack passed her more tissues. Tom sat expressionless as she frantically wiped blood from him.

‘What happened?’ Jack asked, bemused.

‘We don’t know,’ Kate said robotically.

‘That boy went in the ball pit with Tom,’ a lady said, pointing toward Kate, ‘and the next minute…’

‘The next minute, what?’ Kate snapped.

‘This!’ she said, shrugging and indicating she was merely stating a fact.

‘We don’t know
how
it happened,’ Amy said, trying to diffuse the angst. Winston bent down and clicked his fingers in front of Tom’s face.

‘Tom…
Tom,
’ he said.

Tom didn’t respond.

‘Tom, look at me.’ Still no response.

Amy turned him to face her. ‘Tom,’ Amy cried, still trying to catch the blood, ‘sing mummy the alphabet.’ The alphabet song was usually a stimulus, but Tom remained dazed. ‘Oh my goodness, what’s wrong with him?’ Amy’s eyes filled with tears.

‘Tom,’ Mark said, bending down to touch Tom on the shoulder, concern written across his beautiful face. Amy’s eyes were so close to Mark’s scar that she could see it contained what looked like tiny bits of shrapnel.

‘He’s okay!’ Jack shouted to all who were watching. Amy quickly looked back at Tom to find him blinking and looking confused. Everyone looked relieved.

Tom’s body then relaxed. ‘What dis?’ Tom said, touching the sticky blood under his nose.

‘That’s blood,’ Amy said. ‘Are you okay, Tom?’

‘Okay me.’ He smiled. ‘Okay
you
?’

‘Yes, okay me,’ she said, squeezing him as her tears fell. ‘Let Mummy wipe again,’ she added, holding the tissue.

‘Tom do!’ he said, putting his hands over his nose, spreading the blood sideways all over his cheeks. For a fraction of a second Amy saw white light emit from under his hands. ‘All gone!’ he said, letting go. Amy wiped the blood away and this time it had stopped bleeding. As gossip broke out, Amy turned to see Kate and Ethan leaving.

For the rest of the day it was all everyone spoke about. After Amy made sure he was fine, Amy allowed Tom to rejoin Mark for the rest of it. Before he left, and after an awkward moment where Amy hoped he’d give her his number, Mark gave Tom a present of his own to take home and put under the tree. Tom hugged him like he knew he wouldn’t see him for a while.

‘It was so nice to meet you,’ Amy said, hating the fact that she wasn’t confident enough to ask for his number.

‘The pleasure was all mine.’ The way he smiled left her feeling sad.

Before closing, Amy decided she would clean any balls that had blood on them. Tom followed her in with his cloth. As she scrambled through the pit, something sharp scratched her legs. As she looked down, there were twenty or so balls where Ethan had been that were burnt. Some were half melted and some were completely black and screwed up, leaving them hard like rust. She lifted them up and looked at Tom confusedly.

Tom looked at her, his little eyebrows raised and said: ‘Ethan no nice.’

CHAPTER 8

THE DAY TO REMEMBER

Tom opened Mark’s present first on Christmas morning. As he unravelled the beautiful colours book filled with letters, objects and shapes, he looked up at Amy, his eyes wide with intrigue. Amy sat him on her knee. The first page was red. She pointed to it and said: ‘Red.’

Tom studied the page with deep interest. ‘Red,’ he repeated with a smile.

Amy held the book close to her heart and sighed. Mark knew him so well after one week. He was thoughtful, kind and…
so
deliciously handsome. Realising her mind was wandering, she looked back at Tom and read him the whole book.

After opening a miniature ball pit from Jack and Winston and a CD filled with oceanic sounds that Adaizi had given Winston to give to Tom, Tom opened his main present: a huge red car he could sit in and pedal around the living room. Amy helped him inside and he drove around giddily with his feet. She wanted today to be a day to remember and watching him unable to contain his excitement was a good start.

As they arrived at her parents’, Thomas stood at the door with Francesca in his arms.

‘Gandad!’ Tom shouted in excitement.

‘And who else is there?’ Amy asked, letting him out of his buggy.

‘Fancesca,’ Tom said, running up the cobbled path.

Thomas bent down and scooped him up with his free arm. ‘Oh you big bruiser!’ he said. He then looked at Amy with a sullen expression. ‘Still no news on Luke?’

‘No, Dad. And I don’t want any either!’ Amy shook her head at the fact that he couldn’t help but ask about Luke every time he saw her, even though Amy had told him not to.

‘I just thought with it being his son’s first Christmas and…’

‘Leave it, Dad!’ Amy pushed the pram past him and made her way into the living room. Her dad followed, bouncing both grandchildren in his arms.

‘Bruiser me,’ Tom announced to everyone upon entering.

Tom was twice the size and weight of Francesca, who, with pink cheeks and dark ringlets, looked dainty and sweet. Thomas placed both children down on the living room floor, making sure Francesca supported herself by the settee.

‘What time do you call this?’ Frank said, shoving presents into Amy’s hand.

‘Merry Christmas to you too!’ Amy said, handing hers to him.

Everyone gasped at the beautiful, pink dress with matching hat Amy bought for Francesca.

Alicia noticed straight away it was from the expensive designer baby shop she boastfully used, loudly proclaiming: ‘I saw that dress last time I was in there. It’s a good job I didn’t
want
that one!’ She laughed to imply her words were in jest.

‘I like it,’ Frank said, giving Alicia a warning glance.

As Tom opened an outfit from the same shop, Alicia couldn’t help but chime in.

‘We thought Tom could
do
with some clothes.’ She stopped as everyone turned to note her bitchiness. ‘For winter!’

‘It’s great,’ Amy said, deciding Alicia wasn’t going to annoy her today.

Joan quickly handed Alicia and Frank a voucher for a pampering spa day and Amy a voucher for a furniture store where she’d seen a bed and accessories for Tom’s room.

Thomas gave both Tom and Francesca a little bankbook, each with the amount of two hundred pounds stamped inside. ‘I’ve set up a direct debit so I can add money to it for them each week,’ he said.

‘Wow, Tom, you’re richer than Mummy,’ Amy said as she kissed both her parents in thanks.

Alicia laughed as if the statement were true and said in an unimpressed way, ‘Thank you.’

‘Tom, say thank you to Grandma and Granddad for your big pennies.’

Tom stood, walked over and kissed them. ‘Thank you,’ he said sweetly.

‘And Uncle Frank and Aunt Alicia for your lovely suit.’

He walked over to Frank and gave him a kiss and thanked him, then stood, as if unsure, in front of Alicia. Amy took great pleasure in watching her having to bend towards Tom, a child she had an obvious dislike to, for a kiss.

All day as Alicia made backhanded comments, Amy smiled. She couldn’t wait to get home where she and Tom could sit and escape this tension. As though he picked up on it too, Tom seemed more reserved than normal. The only thing Amy enjoyed was her dad’s hugs and the fact that she got to see her lovely niece.

After dinner, while they sat to relax, Tom looked at Francesca with confusion. ‘No want teddy in bin?’ he asked her as if she’d just spoken.

‘
What
?’ Alicia said, sitting up in alarm.

Tom became sheepish. ‘Fancesca…no like teddy in bin.’

‘Oh…my…God,’ Alicia said in total disbelief. ‘He
is
a freak!’

‘Ali!’ Frank snapped, pulling her by the arm into the hall. Amy hadn’t a clue what had occurred but, looking at her parents’ shocked expressions, she knew Tom had said something strange.

‘What?’ Amy asked, looking at them. Her dad hung his head and left the room. ‘Mum?’

‘Before you came,’ Joan said, looking bewildered, ‘Alicia told us they threw out Francesca’s teddy because she got a new one. She’s been crying for the old one all morning. Frank was going to give it back but Alicia had already put it in the bin.’

‘Oh,’ Amy said, looking at her son with shock. Tom, still next to Francesca as if afraid to move, stared up at her sorrowfully.

‘Amy,’ Joan said, touching her arm, ‘it’s hard enough to understand how very much advanced he is for eight months old, but saying
that
—how could he possibly know?’ Her reaction angered Amy.

‘He does a lot of things that are extraordinary. He’s psychic. And a healer. He’s healed my headaches!’ Amy said defensively.

‘Amy,
I
think he’s special, I hope you know that, but I wouldn’t tell your
dad
you think he healed your headache,’ she said, as if concerned for her sanity.

‘If he hadn’t heard what Tom said, he’d think I was mad if I told him he was psychic.’

‘No. It
can’t
be true!’ Joan shook her head.

Joan’s unwillingness to accept Tom’s obvious gift angered Amy. ‘We’re leaving! Thanks for dinner. Tom, say thank you to Grandma for dinner.’ Amy’s eyes filled with tears.

‘Amy, please,’ Joan said as Tom approached, becoming tearful herself, ‘don’t leave like this!’

‘Thank you, Ganma, dinner,’ Tom said. Joan bent down and held him tight and as she let go, he placed his hands over her eyes.

‘What’s he doing?’ Joan asked.

‘Probably trying to heal your tears,’ Amy said, taking Tom’s hands away before they lit. Amy could see the love and care inside Tom’s expression and, to her, even though the thought of who he was scared her, it was beautiful to see. ‘Come on, Tom, let’s find Granddad.’

Amy walked into the kitchen and saw her father staring out the window. ‘We’re leaving,’ Amy said.

‘I know,’ he responded, without turning to face her.

Amy walked to the side of him and kissed him on the cheek. He continued to stare out, but she was close enough to see he was upset. ‘Tom wants a kiss!’