Bound Angel Bound Demon

by Claire Spoors

Alex smiled and then sat down.

  “Have you been following me?” asked Alex.

  “What makes you say that?” replied Nick.

  “Things just don’t add up, you showing up here for one. Ryan giving me papers telling me who I really was, you have been staying in the house. Not long by the looks of things and yet I haven’t seen you until today. But you must have been here before I turned up; it’s as if you knew I would come here. Plus who gave you the papers?”

  “We’ve been following you since I first sensed you were in danger. It must have triggered something that opened up a magical connection, maybe your protection spell was reaching out to others, I don’t know, but up to that point we had no clue where you were,” said Ryan.

  “Danger! What danger? You mean Harry, and yet you didn’t show yourself and stop it from happening,” said Alex.

  “We knew you would be ok, plus we had to make sure you were the right person, we couldn’t come forward until you were alone. We just had to wait for the right moment,” said Nick.

  “How did you know the spell would work? What if the protection spell hadn’t worked?” asked Alex.

  “It was going to work, your mother is, or was, one of the best out there,” said Nick.

  Ryan sat quietly listening to the conversation.

  “Who gave you the papers and told you to find me?” Alex continued.

  Ryan looked at her, “They were left for us. Given to us a man one night with details of what to do next,” said Ryan.

  “Next?”

  “There was a note, here, I still have it,” Ryan passed Alex the note.

  Alex took the note and opened it. She read:

  Dear Ryan,

  I’m sending this to you, in need of your help. I will not tell you my name or any of my details only that I need you to find this person. It is of great importance to our clan.

  A clan that I know has long gone its own way, this person, a girl, well woman, now needs finding and watching over until you feel she is in no more danger. The reason I have chosen you Ryan will be revealed in time, just know she is as important to you as she is to the clan. Maybe even more so.

  The enclosed shows details of this woman’s real name, and her new name. As you can see, she is the daughter of our long-lost leader. I’m worried this letter will not reach you in time, I sense her life is in danger and because she is unaware of who she truly is she may be in even greater peril. Please locate her before the Alignment, and protect her. She is the last of an important line, without her our kind could end.

  Please find her and protect her and help her find her way, I will contact you again.

  Regards

  X

  Alex looked up from the note, “There’s no name. Did it not have an address on the envelope of where it came from?”

  “No, it just had Ryan’s name on it,” answered Nick. “This seemed odd at the time, because we didn’t know anyone knew where we were. We’d been in hiding for a while. Whoever sent it must have some kind of powers themselves, to be able to know where we’d be and when.”

  “Why were you hiding?” asked Alex.

  “That’s not important now. I will explain that when the time is right. What we were doing has nothing to do with this,” said Ryan.

  “Are you both hiding something from me?” asked Alex.

  “There are some things you need to find out for yourself, other things I will tell you in time,” said Ryan looking at Nick, warning him not to say a word.

  “Ok, so you found me, made me understand I’m safe as long as I stay here. I’m the daughter of the high priestess, so what now?” snapped Alex.

  “Right now, you need to sort things out with Gary, work out what you want to do next. That’s why we are here, you need to face him and we will go with you,” said Ryan.

  “What about those night crawlers?” asked Alex not wanting to risk bumping into them again.

  “They only come out at night when they are at their strongest, but on some occasions they have been known to come out in daylight, so we’ll come in case they turn up, who knows what this Alignment is doing to them,” said Nick.

  Alex smiled at them. Her own team of bodyguards, what more could any woman ask for? This was tough but she knew Ryan was right; she needed to speak to Gary.

  “Right let’s get on with it,” said Alex.

  “Aren’t you going to wait for him to call?” asked Nick, surprised at how quickly she wanted to act.

  “You’ve been hidden for a while; have you forgotten the best way to get the truth from someone is by surprise. I want to catch him off guard,” answered Alex.

  Ryan went over to her and took hold of her hand; Nick took her other hand. Neither wanted to argue with her. “Focus on Gary, you will sense where he is and we will go there,” said Ryan giving her hand a quick squeeze and then smiling, “You’ll be fine.”

  Alex closed her eyes, trying to picture Gary, not focusing on her anger with him. Soon they were passing through a time loop. Alex had her eyes open. This time watching the swirl of time pass by her. It felt both magical and safe, she was getting used to this transporting thing.

  Then they were in the house. Gary was in the kitchen cleaning away the breakfast things, while Tracey sat watching him.

  “Well isn’t this cosy!” shouted Alex. Tracey turned and screamed at the sudden appearance of Alex with two men.

  Gary swung round “What the fuck!” said Gary nearly dropping the plate he was holding.

  “I think you did a lot of that last night,” said Alex.

  “Alex, what are you doing here, and who are these guys?” asked Gary. He was still in shock from her sudden appearance.

  “I could ask the same about you.” Alex took a run at Gary but Ryan took hold of her arm, holding her back. Alex looked at him.

  “Calm down, you both need to talk, we will wait outside,” said Ryan and he went out through the patio doors followed by Nick.

  “What’s going on?” asked Gary.

  Tracey was still frozen to the spot; she couldn’t work out what was happening, and was whining and snivelling.

  “Tracey please be quite!” snapped Alex and waved her hand, Tracey stopped her noise and sat completely still and mute.

  “What have you just done?” asked Gary.

  Alex clicked her fingers and Tracey disappeared and appeared outside with Ryan and Nick, who then tried to calm her down. In the end they did something that made her fall into a trance.

  “Alex what the fuck is happening?” asked Gary.

  “I think it’s you that needs to answer some questions. How long has this been going on?” asked Alex.

  Gary took a step towards her, “Don’t you come near me, I was here last night. I saw you both in our bed, I needed you Gary, so much has happened and I needed you and I found you with her.”

  Gary sat down and put his head in his hands. Running his fingers through his now ruffled hair.

  “Alex, I didn’t want you to find out like this, I wanted to explain, this was not how I planned it to turn out.”

  “So explain.” Alex didn’t move.

  “I fell in love, Alex, I’m sorry, but Tracey had been through hell, and she needed help, she and I are both the same, I spent time with her getting her confidence back. At the club at first, then she began to meet me here, we would talk, and it just grew from there.”

  “Why? I thought you loved me, is that why you sent me away? You told me you had sold this place.”

  “Alex, I do love you, you were, are my first love and nothing can change that, but I realise now we can never be the same, I mean you’re...” Alex stopped him before he could go any further.

  “What? Dead! Gary you don’t know how wrong you are.”

  Gary looked at her. “I don’t understand,” he said.

  Alex was crying now. “I’m not dead, that was the reason I came to find you, I wanted to tell you, I needed to talk to you!”

  “How can this be true, you died in my arms
, I felt your life slip away from me, and I’ve never really got over that, which is part of the reason for my connection with Tracey.”

  “Here, read this,” Alex pushed the birth certificate and adoption papers over to him.

  Gary glanced through them and looked at her. “You were adopted!”

  “Yes, and that house you bought for us to live in, turns out it's my real family’s home, you never really explained why you bought that house,” said Alex as she sat down opposite him.

  “This woman told me about it, I had gone to the estate agents to look for a new home for you. Yes Alex, my intention was to move you away but I didn’t want to you to know the real reason just yet, I think part of me wanted us to still work. But deep down I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. Anyway when I got to the estate agents there was nothing right for you. I at least wanted to give you the home you deserve. But there was this lady outside the estate agents who got talking with me. I told her I was looking for a place somewhere away from the town to live and she said she was looking to put her place on the market, so she, I mean we, arranged to meet up so I could look at her house.”

  “And you didn’t find that peculiar?” asked Alex.

  “No she wanted it off her hands and she was selling cheap, very cheap, and we avoided the estate agents’ fee,” said Gary.

  “You’re all about the money and how to get rid of your problem, me, cheap,” said Alex.

  “Alex, I still don’t understand how you are alive,”

  “Well, I would have thought you would have worked it out by now, I’m a witch, you know like Marie. There was a protection spell put on me when I was a baby, and this spell kicked in when Harry stabbed me for fucks sake!”

  Gary stared at her, “Alex, I’m supposed to believe this, come on this is well over the top.”

  “How did you think I got here and how did I shut Tracey up and then put her outside?”

  Gary looked at her incredulously, “Alex what do you want from me?”

  “I loved you Gary, and you have broken my heart, moving on like that, pushing me out of your life, not talking to me about it. You have shown me no respect; all you have shown me is that you never really loved or cared for me.”

  “I did love you, but . . . it has just lost its magic. I was going to tell you the next time I came down, I love Tracey and I want her with me, I know this hurts Alex, but it looks like you have moved on anyway, who the fuck are the retards outside anyway?”

  “Don’t you come across jealous now you bastard! You really don’t want to piss me off, I’m warning you!” Alex stood up and held out her hand.

  Ryan came in with Nick and the zombified Tracey, “Stop Alex, not like this,” he shouted.

  “Fuck off, whoever you are, I can handle this,” said Gary.

  Ryan froze Gary, stopping time.

  Alex collapsed in tears, “What has he done to me? I just want this to go away.”

  Nick came over, “Alex if you want we can make this go away and help you make a fresh start.”

  Alex looked at Nick through floods of tears.

  “No Nick, she needs to make her own mind up,” Ryan interjected.

  “What does he mean I can make this go away?”

  Ryan looked at Alex, “I told you before, we can wipe his mind and make him forget any of this happened, turn back time and let him think you died, but Alex that won’t make you feel better. He will carry on with his life happy with this new love of his. But you will still be left with a broken heart.”

  “He isn’t going to take me back, no amount of talking is going to change that,” said Alex.

  “No, and either way Alex gets hurt,” said Nick, “She needs this Ryan, to start moving on.”

  “Just do it, I can’t take this anymore,” said Alex. She pushed Ryan away.

  “Only if you are really sure,” said Ryan, he tried to hold onto her, to calm her down, but she just kept on pulling away she was so angry.

  Alex nodded. Ryan and Nick began the process of wiping their minds. Leaving Gary and Tracey still petrified in the temporal flux, Ryan and Nick stood in front of them carrying out the incantation which would erase their memories. Then Ryan turned to Alex, “Come it’s time to go, they will return to normal, so to speak, when we leave.”

  Alex joined hands with Ryan and Nick and then they disappeared, with tears still trickling down her face. She felt like the earth should just suck her into her grave and leave her to rot.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gary looked at Tracey, “You alright? That was scary!” He went towards her.

  “What was difficult? You washing up and putting away!” said Tracey laughing.

  “No, Alex, those two men...” said Gary trying to work out why Tracey was acting like nothing had just happened.

  “Alex? What are you going on about Gary; I think you’re overdoing it lately, keeping up this pretence with Alex. I think you should sort it out. It’s playing tricks with your mind, how can we ever have any life if you’re still hung up on her,” said Tracey.

  “You’re right, I will get it sorted, but now I have a meeting. Are you going to be home or at the club later?” he needed to see Alex and find out what had happened.

  “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll text you to let you know,” said Tracey.

  Gary nodded, gave her a kiss goodbye and grabbed his keys.

  * * *

  Alex, Ryan and Nick arrived back at the cottage. Ryan was worried about Alex would react to what had happened.

  “Make yourself at home, I need to check on the work on the grounds,” said Alex and went towards the door.

  “Alex, do you want to talk? I think you need time to take in everything. Forget about the gardening work,” said Ryan

  “Right now, I need to take my mind off what has just happened, just leave me alone please,” she replied and left.

  “Leave her, she needs time. You keep pushing and she will run the other way,” said Nick. Ryan nodded and watched Alex as she went off up the path.

  Alex went along the neat path that had now been completed up to the main house. All that was left was the paving on the drive. She was pleased. At least one thing was going right. She came to the house and saw Betty standing by the fountain. It was beautiful. Now you could see it was made from fine marble. It glistened in the sun.

  “Great, just in time for the switch on,” shouted Betty and Alex smiled and walked up to her.

  “You did this quickly, I thought it was completely ruined,” said Alex.

  “You’ll be surprised at what I can do, when I put my mind to it, my dear,” replied Betty with a twinkle in her eye.

  Then she shouted to one of the other girls she had working with her to switch it on. The fountain sprang to life, the jet of water growing from a little trickle to a great forceful spurt.

  “Remind you of anything?” said Betty, laughing.

  Alex flung her arms around Betty, “It’s fantastic Betty! Thank you.”

  “Well if you think that’s good then take a look around,” said Betty.

  Alex let go of Betty, why hadn’t she noticed the garden was no longer choked by weeds? There were flowers of all kinds and topiary shrubs and trees. The whole of the front garden was alive and blooming again.

  Alex began to cry.

  “What’s wrong dear, don’t you like the garden?” asked Betty.

  “It’s so beautiful, it is the first thing that has gone right in a long time,” said Alex still crying.

  Betty took hold of Alex’s arm and led her around the back of the house.

  “Come let me show you what I have planned for the back. Then maybe if you want we can talk about what’s upsetting you,” Betty nodded to the girl to carry on, while she took Alex for a walk.

  Soon they were away from Betty’s other staff, in what used to be the vegetable garden. Betty took Alex to a bench and they sat down.

  “What is it, what’s been happening for a pretty young thing like you to be upset like this?” asked B
etty, gently taking Alex’s hand.

  Alex could sense she had a warm kind heart, she began to cry again and Betty held her until she calmed down.

  “Alex you can tell me anything, and I will not tell a soul,” said Betty.

  Alex knew she could trust her. It was if she had been released and everything just spilled out. From her marrying Gary up until today, and Betty just sat and listened, not saying a word until she finished.

  “Well, no wonder, you’re so mixed up and crying all the time, I would be confused too,” said Betty.

  “You believed me, when I said I was a witch, why?” asked Alex.

  “Because you say it’s true so I believe you. Alex, I think there will be more to come, and now you need a friend and a female friend. Men just aren’t that good when it comes to the emotional things. Though I do have to say Ryan is smitten with you, he will not treat you wrong, you should learn to trust him, but I feel there are things he needs to tell you also. But it will come in time as you both begin to trust each other.”

  Alex smiled, it felt like a weight had been lifted, and wondered how Betty could be so sure about her and Ryan.

  “Betty you are a star! Thank you for listening.”

  “Anytime,” answered Betty.

  Alex’s mobile phone started to ring, she looked at the caller ID, it was Gary.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gary was on his way to Alex. Sort this out, work out what had just happened, his mind was all over the place as he drove, not really noticing his speed or the time. Soon he was near the house. So he stopped and rang her.

  “Alex we need to talk, we didn’t finish, there many questions left unanswered. I owe you that much at least,” he said, before she had chance to cut him off. Alex listened, her heart skipped at the sound of his voice, how could he do this to her after what had happened, why was he here? Had the spell not worked?

  “I’ll meet you out front. I’m not in the cottage, how far are you?” she asked.