Stunned by the amount of nonsense coming out of his mouth, I didn’t notice him getting closer until I heard Midnight hissing and stirring in my arms.
With an expression full of disgust, he grabbed her with two fingers by the back of her neck and raising her to his face level, he almost spit the words. “What the hell? Now you’re a cat lady? This thing will have to disappear by the time I come back.” And he threw her to the other side of the room.
I watched terrified as she hit the wall and fell to the ground. The seconds while she didn’t move seemed like hours, but then she got on her feet, shook off her body, and ran under the couch–where she continued to hiss at Jared. Slightly relieved that Midnight seemed fine; I move my attention to Jared, who seemed disappointed by the results of his actions.
“Blasted creature!” he hissed through his teeth.
That’s it! I could have strangled him there and then if that wouldn’t have sent me to jail. Bashing away my murderous intent, I opened the door and grabbing Jared by the same hand he dared to hurt Midnight with, I twisted it to his back, making him scream.
“Ow! What the hell you think you’re doing?”
“Visiting hours are over,” I said, pushing him into the corridor and pulling at his arm once more before I let him go. “Forever.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted, rubbing his painful wrist. “I thought you’d be happy that I came back to you.”
“The only person happy to have you back would be your mother, and probably not even her, if she could see what kind of person you became.” I tried to keep my tone levelled.
“Are you out of your mind? You’re choosing a cat over me? Me!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“It’s not much of a choice really.” I rolled my eyes.
“This is not over!”
“Yes, Jared! It is over!” I raised my voice for the first time, and at this point, I couldn’t care less that the neighbours were spying on us through their cracked doors.
“You’ll be–”
“What? Sorry!” I cut him off. “Wrong. You, getting out of my life is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I intend to keep it that way. Now, how about you kindly fuck off and never come back?”
I slammed the door in his face and ran to Midnight, who was now lounged on the couch, licking her front paws.
“Are you okay?” I dropped on my knees next to her.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Do you want to go and see the vet? Just to make sure everything is fine?”
“No need for that. That guy throws like a baby. I’ve had worse than this.”
“I’m sorry.” I let my head fall on the pillow next to her, tears sliding from my eyes. “I’m sorry, Midnight.”
“See? That’s why I call you ‘silly.’” She licked one of my tears. “Just make sure I don’t have to see that guy ever again.”
“Deal,” I said sobbing.
“But somehow, it’s rather funny.”
“What is?” I asked, confused.
“I’ve never seen you that angry before, or heard you speak like that. It was rather entertaining.”
“Well, I’m glad you had fun, but let’s not repeat the experience.”
“Agree, but he could’ve gotten it worse than that.”
“He could have. But then I would’ve gone to jail, and you to an adoption centre.”
“Nah. That was good enough.” She changed her mind quickly.
“Thought so.” I smiled and wiping my face, I asked. “Do you want to come to the hospital with me to see Gregor?”
“As far as I remember, pets are not allowed in hospitals,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“No, they are not. But you are still small enough to fit in my bag, and I thought that maybe something he would say might make more sense to you than it would make to me.” I shrugged my shoulders, smiling.
“Fine. But only with one condition. Put one of those ice packs in your bag. You wouldn’t believe how hot it gets in there.”
Chapter 24
My patience ran low as the hospital’s receptionist slowly typed all of the information I was able to provide into the system.
“And what did you say is your relationship with the patient?” she asked for the millionth time.
“We work together,” I said drily.
“I see, unfortunately, we can’t give any details to other people unless they are family members,” she continued, without raising her eyes from the computer.
“As far as I know, he doesn’t have any family, and besides, I don’t want information. I want to see him.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Are you sure about that?
“If you go through that door,” she pointed to a windowless, grey double door, “you’ll find the Sister in Charge. I’m sure she can help you.”
“Thank you.”
Finally!
I headed to the doors, and pushing hard, I entered a large room filled with beds, occupied by patients, on both sides of the area. I looked left and right, hoping to find Gregor without having to get past the Sister. I wasn’t a big fan of hospitals, but one thing was clear, I wouldn’t like to work in such a place.
While in some bays, patients were chatting comfortably, from others, from behind the closed curtains, I could hear groans of pain, cries, and people desperately calling for help. I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.
From behind a curtain, a little nurse came rushing out and almost bumped into me.
“Excuse me!” we said at the same time.
“Sorry,” I continued, “I’m looking for the Sister in Charge.”
“The nurse’s station is straight ahead and on the right. She should be there. She’s the one dressed in a navy-blue uniform,” she told me quickly, then ran in the opposite direction. I didn’t even get to say thank you.
Indeed, I found the Sister by the station, frowning at the computer. I felt bad about bothering her, but luckily, she noticed me before I had to say something.
“Can I help you?” she asked in a worn-out voice.
“Hi. Yes, I’m looking for someone. He was brought by ambulance early this morning.”
“Name please.”
I gave her all the details I knew, which weren’t too many to begin with as Gregor wasn’t exactly the chatty type. She continued to frown at the computer’s screen for another few minutes when she finally said.
“I’m afraid he’s no longer in our department. He was transferred about half an hour ago.” She rubbed her tired eyes.
“Perhaps you could tell me where he was transferred to?” I asked, hopefully, but my hope was shattered by her answer.
“To the Mortuary.” She looked at me for the first time.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I spoke to him this morning, then he was brought to the hospital . . .”
“Where his heart failed.” She motioned me to a chair next to her.
I looked her dead in the eyes, hoping to see the smallest hint of a lie. She had no reason to lie to me, yet it felt so hard to believe.
“Listen, love,” she continued in a softer voice, putting a hand on my knee. “I promise you; we did everything in our strength to save him, but whatever he’d been through before he got here was simply too much for him.”
“I understand.” I moved my eyes to the floor. “Thank you for your time,” I said automatically, and getting up from the chair, I headed to the exit.
“That was unexpected.” Midnight’s head popped out from my bag once we got outside. “Maybe you should sit down for a while. You look like you’ve seen a ghost, and I don’t want you to fall over me.”
Her twisted way of showing she was worried about me, put a little smile on my lips.
“I’m fine,” I said softly. “I just need to process all this.”
“And now what?”
“I don’t know. I just want to go home and sleep.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Chapter 25
“How come every time I visit you; you are always in such a bad mood?”
The Earl glared at the woman for a second, then returned his attention to his documents.
“Aww, look. I even went through all the effort to come and see you, and you won’t even look at me,” she said in a sugary voice, mocking him. Selene waited patiently for an answer, but when she didn’t get one, she became stern. “So? Any progress?”
“Two out of three seals are gone,” he said without raising his eyes.
“Well, that’s wonderful!” She squealed delighted. “Then, what are you waiting for? Break the third one, and you’re done. After that, you can get rid of that nuisance and move on with your happy life.”
“An unforeseen problem arose.”
“Meaning?” the woman crossed her arms and raising her chin, she looked down to the Earl, waiting.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s just an insignificant delay.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, defeated.
“If it’s so insignificant, then get rid of it!” Her tone was low, but it was impossible to miss the authority in it.
“I’m dealing with it!” the Earl answered, annoyed, hitting the top of the desk with his fist. Just when did he get in the position to take orders from such a woman? “The watch is unresponsive when she’s like this,” he mends his tone, “but it won’t be an issue for much longer.”
“Good,” Selene said coldly, and turning her back, she left the study like she wasn’t even there.
Chapter 26
My head felt like it had a weight tied around it, making it hard to keep it straight. I was unable to focus my vision, my eyes getting foggy. A numb pain pulsed through my body, while with a bony hand, I absent-mindedly rubbed a big, round belly.
I knew too well that none of what I felt was mine, and that it was only a tiny part of how much Leah was suffering.
A gravelly voice got my attention. On one side of the room, out from my sight, I could hear two men talking.
“My lord, in all my years as a doctor, I’ve never seen such a grave case as Her Ladyship. I understand very well that her body rejects any type of food, but she needs to receive proper nutrition.”
“I understand. I’ll make sure someone will see to it,” the Earl said expeditiously.
“I’m afraid that’s not all.” The doctor said, concerned. “The way she is now . . . I’m fearful that she won’t be able to get through labour. Not to mention, there is no guarantee the child will survive until then.”
No answer came after that. Nothing, but some steps and a slammed door.
“I haven’t felt him move for a while,” Leah said in a brittle tone.
“I . . .” was at a loss of words. Nothing I could ever say could comfort her.
“It’s alright, Scarlett. It’s enough for me to know I have you as a friend. But . . .” she continued, unable to keep back her tears anymore. “I am such an idiot. I thought, even for a second that if I have my baby, I’ll be able to keep going and fight against the Earl’s demands. That I’ll find the strength to resist the watch’s energy and the physical punishments after every time I failed to break another seal.” She sobbed harder and harder, hugging her unborn child. “I can’t do it, Scarlett. I can’t do this anymore!”
“You can’t give up! If you give up now, then it was all for nothing. All the hard times you’ve been through. For what?” But what I said were nothing but words. What did I know? I could only presume what happened to her, and there was no way to know how far or close to reality I was. She wouldn’t tell me much, and I knew this was her way to keep me from worrying. After all, what could I possibly do?
She’d hit rock-bottom, that’s what I could feel coming from her. Her mind and soul were in a very dark place, and the small ray of light she clung to was getting thinner by the day.
And here I was. Powerless. Unable to do a thing but stand as a witness to her nightmare.
The outside world was distorted by her anguish, and I didn’t notice the person approaching us, until, with a handkerchief, she wiped some of Leah’s tears.
“It’s time to eat, child,” the woman said softly while patting the top of her head.
She put a small tray on her lap, but when she removed the cover, there was barely enough food for a small child, much less for a pregnant woman.
“Thank you, Emma.” Leah smiled faintly, looking at the woman’s pained expression. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” She pulled an apple from her apron and some bread, and cutting them in small pieces, she put them on Leah’s tray. “I heard what the doctor said, and I don’t know what our Lord is thinking, but I promise you that everything will be fine.”
“Emma, you can’t risk going against his orders,” Leah said, worried while biting on an apple slice.
Orders?
“Don’t you worry about those things, child. I’m not alone. I’ll send the chamber-maid later to clean the room and bring you something more.”
“Please don’t take such risks just for me,” Leah begged her.
“Perhaps you don’t remember”, Emma kneeled next to her chair with a bitter smile, “The first day you came here, the late Lady Jubilee put me in charge of your wellbeing. I know I have failed tremendously, but I’m going to atone for my mistakes and make sure that you and your child will get through this.” She put her hand on Leah’s rounded abdomen. “Just have faith that everything will be fine,” she pleaded.
Leah just nodded, tears still sliding slowly down her cheeks.
“After you’re done eating, have some rest,” Emma added before leaving the room.
“Leah? What did you mean by orders?”
“My food.”
“You mean the Earl did this?” I asked puzzled. “He’s starving you on purpose?”
“He wants to get rid of this child,” she answered unfocussed.
“But why?”
“Because the Watch won’t react as long as I’m like this. He . . . I can’t break the last seal.”
I already knew he was a horrible person, but this was already too much. For him, it didn’t matter over whose bodies he had to step in order to achieve his ambitions.
With great effort, Leah put the empty tray on the side and moved to the bed where she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, breaking our connection.
***
I was expecting to find myself back in my room, but here I was, floating among the stars, outside of time. But something felt different from the previous times. The stars weren’t as bright as before, and something like a cold mist was floating in thick waves.
“Leah!” I shouted, unable to see her. “Leah, are you there?”
“Scarlett,” her voice came from behind me. “I’m so happy you’re here.” But I couldn’t see that on her face. There was no smile. Just a straight, pale expression, half covered by a black veil, and her usually colourful attires were replaced by a simple, black dress.
“What’s going on?” I asked, confused. “What happened to this place?”
“I’m happy you’re here,” she continued, ignoring my questions. “Now we can say goodbye together.”
“Goodbye? To whom?”
Leah turned her head to the left, and blowing softly, the shadows dissipated, revealing another person. Holding her hand, Emma was floating expressionless, like frozen, by her side.
“Thank you for everything you have ever done for me, Emma.” She hugged her tightly. “I’ll never forget you.”
“Leah, what’s going on?” I asked again. “Why is Emma here?”
“Her time is almost up, so we’re saying goodbye,” she said, releasing her from her arms but still holding her hand.
“What do you mean?” I frowned. “I thought this place was outside of time, so how can this be?”
Before Leah could answer me, Emma began to change. Small, sand-like particles detached from her body, being borne away b
y a non-existent wind. Neither of us said another word until she was completely gone, still following with our eyes, the vanishing trail beyond the stars.
“She went to the others,” Leah broke the silence, smiling bitterly. “Now she won’t have to spend eternity alone.”
“Goddamit, Leah!” I snap. “Can you explain properly already? Why are other people here? And what in the world just happened? I don’t understand a thing.”
“Alright.” She sighed deeply. “The Watch has a legend around it. Do you remember why it was sealed in the first place?”
“More or less,” I said, scratching my head. “Something about using other people’s . . . lives . . . you don’t mean. . ..” I looked at her with big eyes, refusing to believe, as the real meaning of those words finally dawned on me.
“I do. What keeps Chrono’s Watch active and sustains the user is human life. Just like all those modern gadgets from your time need a source of power, so does this artefact.”
“Are you really telling me that humans are nothing more than batteries for it?” I could feel the blood draining from my face. “Then, Emma . . . she . . .” I turned my widened eyes in the direction she’d disappeared.
“Yes.” Leah stopped me before I had to say it. “And when a battery dies, you need a replacement. The last one.”
She stretched her arm and grabbed something from the shadows. As she pulled it closer, the figure of a man began to form this time.
“No . . .” The strangled sound could hardly be heard leaving my lips. I felt my heart dropping as I got closer to the suspended figure. I put my hands on his face and pressing my forehead against his, I said in a brittle tone. “Why are you here? Out of all people, why you, Chance?”
I looked over to Leah, hoping she would say something, but she only looked away.
“Can he hear me?” I asked, taking a step back.
“No, he can’t.” She shook her head.
“Then, is there anything we can do to reverse this?” I raised my voice.
“It’s not that easy, Scarlett. I am bound by the Watch, unable to go against my Master. My hands are tied.”
The Curse of Time Page 14
