Bound Angel Bound Demon

by Claire Spoors

  Alex went up to her bedroom and lay down, listening for sounds of hairy beasts outside, but she heard nothing. She closed her eyes hoping to pass the time away.

  Her eyelids felt heavy, perhaps she was sleepy after all, and she let the feeling subsume her whole body. Strangely it felt like she really was falling into repose.

  She wasn’t sure if she was asleep or had transported herself. But she was in the main house again, why? She didn’t want to run into that creature again. She was walking towards the painting hanging in the main living room; it was still covered with the dust sheet.

  Alex reached up and pulled the sheet off. It showed a man and a woman, plus a girl who looked about one. She recognised that it was a family portrait, her own family. Her birth mother and father, this was the first time she had seen them since she’d been adopted, there’d been no pictures in the papers Ryan had given her.

  Alex looked at the man, he was a handsome figure with a full head of brown hair, not too extraordinary looking. The woman was beautiful however, she had red curls flowing down her back, and looked full of joy and confidence, Alex couldn’t see much resemblance to herself in either of them, but then again come to think about it she didn’t look like her adopted mom and dad either, apart from her adopted mom’s hair colour.

  Alex was slowly beginning to absorb the idea that she had been adopted, but still didn’t feel strongly towards these people in the picture staring back at her. The man whom she knew was her father, was dead, but why wasn’t he hanging around like she was in the afterlife. Her mother on the other hand, where was she, was she still alive? If she was this powerful high priestess, why couldn’t she sense her daughter’s return?

  With too many questions building again, she turned away from the enigmatic painting and went back to the hall. Alex climbed the stairs in search of a room that would have been a nursery of some kind.

  She looked in the rooms one by one, nothing indicated the presence of a young child. Then she came to the last room on the floor, she opened the door and went inside, again it was not decorated as a nursery.

  There was a large, grand bed dominating the room, but on the pillows sat a couple of old teddy bears. On the dressing table were some dusty old-fashioned dolls and a jewellery box sitting open.

  Alex sat on the bed; it was a beautiful room, cosy but definitely not a baby’s room. There was no cot, she must have slept with her mother until she was old enough to have this room, and she tried to imagine sleeping in this bed. She would have been lost in the middle of this large bed. It was so soft and large even for her now. Alex lay back sinking into the bed a little. She closed her eyes again, waiting to be returned home, but she didn’t feel anything, just drowsy.

  Alex lay on her side too tired now to transport back to the cottage and cuddled up to the pillows, grasping one of the teddy bears to her chest, as once she might have reached out for her mother.

  Chapter Twelve

  The sun warming her face woke Alex up; she turned over and wasn’t sure where she was, then realised she was still in her childhood bedroom. Last night hadn’t been a dream, maybe more a calling to help her with some of her questions, but she still had so many more questions that needed answering.

  Alex sat up and looked again around the room, the light made the dust glitter and dance; it would have been lovely to have grown up here when it was all clean and fresh. She felt more relaxed today; she was beginning to feel like she belonged here.

  The bedroom door opened making Alex jump, she was still shaken up from the wolf episode. Ryan came in, his hair shone with reflected sunlight; he wore a tight-fitting T-shirt and jeans. Definitely a tight-fitting shirt, thought Alex; it was showing every muscle on his body. She tried to focus on his face, but again she seemed drawn to those amber eyes of his.

  “Morning Alex, or should I say afternoon,” said Ryan smiling, that smile, those teeth. Was there anything on this man that wasn’t perfect? Stop it you’re a married woman, spoke her inner voice.

  “Afternoon! Oh no, Betty was meant to start this morning, and the builder begin clearing the driveway. I must get back and call them, they will think I have changed my mind,” Alex jumped up off the bed.

  “It’s ok, I have sorted it all out for you, I showed the builder where to start, and took Betty and her crew up to the front of the house to start work there. I told her it would be ok, that the builder wouldn’t get in their way, and if she cleared that area first, he would be able to lay the drive around her, plus I have kept them happy with tea and biscuits all morning,” said Ryan still smiling.

  “Thank you, but why? I mean, how did you know I was here?” asked Alex.

  “Alex, I saw you come in here last night, you seemed lost in a trance, so I stayed to make sure you were ok, then you came up to this room, I waited for you to come back out, but after a while and you still hadn’t come out, I came in to see if you were ok. You were fast asleep, I thought you needed to sleep, you had a lot of things to take in yesterday, it must have exhausted you.”

  “Ryan, can I ask you something?”

  “Yes, anything. I expected you would have questions.”

  “It's not really so much about yesterday, it's more about me and what’s happening to me lately,” said Alex sitting back down on the bed.

  “I will try to help, ask me anything.”

  “I’m dead, I know that much, but what I don’t understand is why have I been so sleepy lately, is it something to do with the Alignment? Plus I keep seeing things and I’m not sure if they are real or something to do with my confused mind,” asked Alex, she felt like she was getting everything out at once trying to lift this weight off her mind, the words spilling out at full speed.

  Ryan sat next to her, Alex looked up at him, he was looking at her as though he was wrestling with telling her something. Alex tried to read his mind but nothing revealed itself, perhaps being an offspring of the high priest hadn’t given her such great special powers.

  “Alex there so much I want to tell you now, but I think it will make matters worse, but if I don’t help you, you could be harmed,” said Ryan urgently. Alex could feel their connection, but she didn’t want it come between her and Gary.

  “Ryan, please tell me, I just want to make some sense out of all this. If I’m a witch, and still one now I’m dead, do I need to perform a protection spell like Marie did?

  “Alex, you already have a protection spell on you, it’s been with you since your mother gave you up for adoption, it’s been shielding you all your life.”

  “It didn’t do such a great job then did it? I’m dead.”

  “Alex, you don’t understand, a protection spell protects you while you're alive, it’s there to help you in any way necessary, like a guardian angel,” said Ryan. “Because you didn’t know you were a witch, with high priestess powers, I should add, you wouldn’t have known how to control the spell on you. So the spell took control of you instead. And so in order to protect you the best it could, it made you look dead. It has continued to do so, this is why every now and again you sleep, because you’re exhausted. No one has told you the truth, but I can’t let you go on living like this Alex, it's too risky,” Ryan looked down at his hands and he wanted to put his arms around her and hold her tight, but more than anything he wanted Alex to love him back and for him not to be the one upsetting her all the time.

  Alex sat wordless, was he saying she wasn’t dead? How could that be?

  “This can’t be true, there was a body buried, my body!” she said.

  “Alex, I seem to do nothing but upset you, with everything I tell you, that’s not my intention, I do it because I . . .” Ryan stopped, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her his real feelings. “Alex, I can prove to you that you’re alive, but not now.”

  “How will you prove it?” asked Alex she was still in shock or anger, unsure which.

  “I will take you to the grave, and show you.”

  Alex went quiet, it sounded macabre, but part of her n
eeded proof, no matter how it came. “Isn’t it risky, what with the Alignment and all that?”

  “You will be safe Alex, you have one very powerful protection spell on you!” said Ryan this time he looked at her and smiled, Alex looked at him and couldn’t help but love this man, he was so gentle and kind. It had been a long time since she felt such warmth. Ok Gary was kind, but his was a different type of thoughtfulness, this other man truly felt like he needed to look after her, Ryan was strongly built, he could easily protect her. She had feelings for him but tried to push them aside, she couldn’t do this, she was married and loved Gary.

  “What about you? Did you do a protection spell for yourself?” asked Alex, she didn’t want the only person who was willing to look after her to die.

  “Alex, don’t worry about me, I don’t deserve it, I’ve let down a lot of people over the years, anyway if anything happens you can always go to Gary!” said Ryan, she could hear the contempt for Gary in his voice.

  “Ryan, you really don’t like Gary do you? But you haven’t even met him.”

  “True. I don’t know him personally, and it’s not my place to say anything. Look we can go tonight if you need proof that badly, but you will need to speak to Gary about what’s happening to you sooner rather than later, you can’t keep lying to someone you love.” Ryan so wanted to take Alex in his arms and kiss her, but he couldn’t fight this love between her and Gary and he knew that.

  “Ok, like you said one step at a time, I would like to do this tonight just for my sanity, I don’t think I can take much more. After that I will speak to Gary.”

  Ryan gave a slight smile, “Tonight then, if that is what you want. And dress warmly, I will be back later when it’s dark”.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Night time couldn’t come quickly enough for Alex; she wondered if she would be able to transport herself the way she did before to Marie’s. She had only ever transported to places she had been before, and the cemetery was not a place she had ever visited and she really didn’t want to tonight, but it was the only way to find the truth. That was unless she just accepted that it was all true and didn’t go, in the back of her mind she believed Ryan, but she needed to see it with her own eyes.

  Alex dressed in her black leggings and a long-sleeved black wool top, all she needed was a cap and a mask and she would look like the perfect cat burglar. Now she waited for Ryan to arrive. She looked at the phone, what if Gary rang while she was out. He’d said he was going to call earlier today but he hadn’t, she looked at the time, 10 o’clock. Why hadn’t he called? Alex took control of the situation and called Gary. He picked up on the first ring.

  “I was just about to call you; it has to be that sixth sense of yours,” said Gary, sounding happy.

  “I just couldn’t wait for you to call any longer, that’s all, Gary I can’t wait to see you, I have so much to talk to you about, but it can wait till I see you in person,” said Alex, she wanted him to ask her questions, but part of her wasn’t ready to tell him about anything.

  “Alex, it won’t be long before I’m back, I promise, it’s just so busy here at the moment, and now the house has been sold, I’m living at the club, I sometimes just lock myself away in my room, and that’s when I miss you the most, I have even been tempted to come back home to you, partly just for the rest and peace and quiet.”

  “I wish you could but it may be dangerous, we just have to wait for the Alignment to pass, it won’t be long,” she wished she could go to him and spend just one night with him, but she put that thought to the back of her mind, there were more important things to sort out.

  “Alex, are you sure you’re ok? I will be back in a heartbeat if you need me,” said Gary sensing something wasn’t right.

  “No, I’m fine, it’s just the nights as you know, they get lonely, my days are great, with lots of new people around, but night times . . .” answered Alex.

  “Alright, as long as you’re ok, Alex.

  She thought she heard someone in the background.

  “Is someone with you?” asked Alex. Gary went quiet for a second.

  “Gary!” asked Alex again.

  “No, I’m on my own, it’s getting late, you rest and I will phone again tomorrow, and Alex take care. I love you,” he said. She said she loved him too and put the phone down.

  She needed to focus, she didn’t want to read too much into the sound she’d heard in the background, tonight was vital to her, she had to do this with Ryan, and then she could start living again.

  Another hour passed and there was a knock at the door, Alex let Ryan in. “Are you ready for this Alex?” he asked.

  “I am, please don’t try to change my mind, I’m on the edge and need to do this now or else I won’t do it at all,” she looked at him tears filling her eyes.

  “Ok, Alex you have transported before I know, but because you really do not know how to use this power, we need to play this carefully, I don’t want you getting stranded, so we need to be in contact with each other, is that ok with you?” asked Ryan.

  “Like hold hands?” asked Alex, perhaps pleased to have an excuse to touch him.

  “Yes, that way we won’t end up in different places.”

  “Alright let’s do this,” she took hold of Ryan’s hand which felt warm and strong wrapped around hers.

  Ryan closed his eyes and concentrated on transporting them both. Alex panicked a little just as they were about to transport; she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. Her head was against his chest, she could hear his heart beating, and feel his warmth. He was like a big bear hugging her and protecting her.

  Everything began to feel calm and the noises around her changed. She felt a fresh breeze on her face; she opened her eyes still in Ryan’s strong arms. Alex looked up at Ryan who was smiling down at her.

  “The first time is always scary, but you will get used to it with training, you can let go now!” said Ryan.

  Alex blushed, hoping that in the dark he wouldn’t notice, she relaxed her hold on him and stepped back. They were in the cemetery. She smelt death all around her, she hated these places. Ryan took her hand and led her through the tombstones, until they came upon one that was in the shape of an angel praying and looking down upon them. Alex read the inscription below.

  For my loving wife Alex. To an angel who will always be in my heart.

  Beneath that were her name and date of her birth and death. A chill ran down her spine.

  Ryan put his hand on her shoulder, Alex looked at him and smiled, “Now what?” she asked.

  “You stand there,” said Ryan as he moved her to one side of the grave, Ryan now stood opposite. “We need to clear the soil covering the coffin, take hold of my hand and repeat what I say.”

  Alex followed his lead, they began to chant the same words over and over, and Alex watched as the soil rose up in one great big dirty cloud and moved over a clear patch of grass and then floated back down to the ground into a lifeless pile again.

  Alex looked down at the coffin, her coffin.

  “Shall I open it?” asked Ryan. Alex nodded, unable to speak.

  Again Ryan began to chant. Alex closed her eyes frightened at what she would see. She heard the lid open with a slow menacing creak.

  “Alex you can open your eyes, its ok.”

  She let her eyelids very slowly lift, and looked down at where the coffin lay, and then looked back at Ryan.

  “It’s empty.”

  “I told you there wouldn’t be a body, it was part of the spell, it made everything look like you died, even to the point of freezing all your vital signs, so you appeared dead to the doctors.”

  “So I, my body, was buried?”

  Ryan shook his head.

  “No, once the coffin was sealed your body returned to your spirit. That is why you thought you were a ghost, body and soul separated for a while, this spell is for your protection from those that would harm you. It finds the best way it can to throw people of
f, that is until you know how to control your magic, or the person that put the spell on you removes it.” Ryan watched Alex. As she began to sob, he went over to her and held her tightly.

  “Alex, I’m sorry I thought this would make you happy! At least you know your mother really loved you to put such a powerful spell on you.”

  Alex looked at him through teary eyes.

  “It does, I’m happy I’m alive, it’s amazing, I can go back to being normal, well as normal as any witch can be. I need to let Gary know, I just wish there was an easier way to tell him,” said Alex. “I have put him through losing me, then testing him to see if he still wanted me as a ghost, and now I have to tell him all that was a lie.”

  “You don’t have to tell him,” said Ryan.

  “Of course I have to tell him, I can’t carry on pretending I'm dead.”

  “No, I mean you could do a spell, that would make him forget what happened and you could start all over again with a brand new life.”

  “What so I stay with you? Ryan you're pushing it, I’m grateful for everything but I love Gary.”

  “Alex , that is not what I meant, I meant you could live a better life than you have ever dreamed, start all over trying to reach what you were born into,” said Ryan as he tried to hold her hand again, Alex pulled away.

  “Ryan, I can still do that with Gary, and you if you’re willing to stay friends with me then you can help me with my training along with Marie, but that is all we will ever be: friends.”

  Ryan turned away, his anger building, “Alex, I will always be here for you, I have no choice, I . . .” he broke off, “just forget everything, you’re right, but you need to speak to Gary.”

  Alex watched Ryan as he put the coffin lid back on, and held his hands over the coffin and closed his eyes, the earth moved finally covering the coffin again.