Endless Winter (Guardians of The Light)

by J Armitage

  Despite how she was feeling at the moment, being outside in the snow was bringing her joy. Having grown up in Los Angeles, she’d not seen much snow in her life and it was magical to her. It was also a relief to be outside after nearly a week being locked in a room. She marvelled at how silent everything was, the animals hibernating for the winter and the snow dampening the sounds they were making as they walked through the woods.

  The wood was thick with leafless trees and every step they took led them deeper in, the sun’s light gradually fading, the deeper they got. The snow was actually much lighter here than it had been in the courtyard and barely covered the path. Someone had strung up fairy lights along the path which was practically the only source of illumination, the sun being hidden by the thickness of the trees. They made the trees twinkle and caught flashes from the few falling snowflakes that had found a path through the branches. After a few minutes of following Aethelu, Anais turned around and looked for the house but it was no longer visible through the trees. They kept walking and eventually they came to a clearing which was illuminated with more of the diamond lights. In the centre of the clearing was a large stone tomb. Aethelu pulled out a big iron key and fitted it into a lock. The door opened and Aethelu walked in, immediately being swallowed up by the darkness. Seconds later she popped her head back out of the door. Anais hadn’t moved. She was scared.

  She’d been visiting what she thought were her parent’s graves regularly but she’d never been into a tomb before. Aethelu sensed her nerves and came back out. She took Anais gloved hand in hers and led her into the tomb, flicking a light switch as she went. It was lit, not with candles, as Anais had expected but with an electric light hanging in the middle. It was not the eerie place she had expected. It was dry and the one light bulb did a good job of lighting the place. She was expecting to see her father’s coffin but she was surprised to find other pedestals in there. They had already planned ahead, it seemed. There were a number of stone pedestals evenly spaced around the tomb each engraved with names she recognised. Her father’s coffin was not in the central pedestal, which she could see had Aldric’s name engraved on it. It was off to the right. She slowly walked towards it tentatively. She expected to feel something but she realised she had already mourned, already cried a thousand tears. She put her hand on the coffin and looked down at what was engraved on his pedestal.

  Alistair James Hockley

  1321 – 2013

  It didn’t say anything else but there was a symbol engraved underneath. It was an elongated star with a line across the bottom points. Anais recognised it immediately. It was the same symbol as a necklace her mother had always worn and which she had inherited on her mother’s death. Without thinking she brought her hand to her chest where the necklace usually hung but it was not there. It was in a jewellery box in her room above the shop. Her mother’s silver coloured necklace had a black pearl on the cross bar. The symbol looked out of place here. It was a symbol she had always associated with her mother, not her father.

  “What is this symbol?”

  “When we made the pact to stay together, my father gave us all matching necklaces.”

  She pulled out her own necklace from under her coat. It was identical to the one worn by Anais mother, but in place of the black pearl was a sparkling ruby.

  Her father must have given his to Sarah. It all felt wrong to Anais. Here, her father was all on his own until one of the others died and her mother was buried next to a complete stranger. It made Anais feel strangely sad.

  “I understand why I’m here,” Anais began, “but why did you feel the need to kidnap me? Why lock me in a room? If it’s true that my father was your best friend, if you cared about him as much as you say you do, why would you drug his only child and lock her up?”

  “I never wanted to do this to you. It was never my plan. My father asked me to look after you for one night. I was expecting him back before you woke up but then he called and said he would be away for a while and asked me to look after you for a while longer.”

  “Look after me? You mean keep me locked up?”

  “If it’s worth anything at all, I am truly, truly sorry. I did love Alistair and I know if he was here he would be ashamed of me but I know my father would not ask me to do it without good reason.”

  “Which is?” Anais hoped she’d finally have the answer but she was to be disappointed.

  “Honestly? I don’t know yet. I’m still waiting for my mother and father to get back from wherever they are and I’m hoping they’ll clue me in too. I’m just as in the dark as you are.”

  Anais was incredulous “You really don’t know where they are?”

  “No. They’ve taken trips before and not left word of where they are so it’s not that unusual. I was hoping they would be back by now though. Neither of them are answering their phones. I really don’t know what I’m doing.” Tears began to roll down Aethelu’s face making her appear vulnerable. She also looked exhausted, her pallid complexion all the more apparent in the harsh electric light of the tomb.

  Anais put her arms around Aethelu and held her tight whilst she cried, her whole body shaking with the sobbing.

  Between the sobs and the sniffs Anais could make out Aethelu repeating the word ‘sorry’ over and over again. Anais believed she really was.

  Eventually the crying died down and Aethelu mopped up her tears, apologising once more, this time for crying.

  Anais accepted her apology and took one last look at her father’s casket.

  “Ok, I’ve had enough.” She turned to leave. As she was leaving she saw a plaque on the wall by the door.

  In memory of our beloved daughter Anna, whose light shone brighter than the closest star.

  In front of the plaque was a candle and a vase in which someone had placed fresh snowdrops.

  Aethelu took Anais hand once again and switched off the light as they left.

  They walked hand in hand down the woodland path, following the Christmas lights hanging from the trees.

  Anais was wrapped up in her own thoughts as she followed Aethelu along the snowy path. So much had happened over the course of the last 24 hours. There was so much for her mind to process that she barely noticed the path as she followed Aethelu down it.

  Eventually the lights of the house appeared through the trees. They had just arrived at the courtyard gate when Anais felt something sting her head followed by something cold and wet dribbling down her neck. Aethelu obviously figured it out quicker than Anais because she was already on her hands and knees making snowballs. Anais felt another snowball rush past her ear and ducked.

  “Alex and Rafe!” Aethelu said by way of an explanation.

  Anais looked over her shoulder and saw a flash of colour running behind a tree. Seconds later a flurry of snowballs came at her from behind the same tree.

  Aethelu pointed towards the back of the outhouses and mouthed “Alex”. Another man was hiding behind them. He caught them looking and grinned. Aethelu threw her first snowball which sailed past him, missing him by a good few feet. He waved at them both then took off in a sprint to another hiding place. He ran faster than anyone Anais had ever seen before. He was just a blur of colour and then he was gone. Aethelu grabbed an armful of the snow balls she’d just made and took after him. Throwing them as she ran and hitting everything but her brother.

  Anais was left alone. She listened for Aethelu but the falling snow was silencing everything. She knew her attacker was still behind the tree and that if she stayed where she was she was an easy target. She could see Rafe peeking out from behind the tree and then throwing a second snowball at her. She dodged to the right and the snowball missed her by inches.

  ‘This is war!’ she thought to herself. She was in no mood for a snowball fight and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about Rafe after his little stunt in the kitchen earlier, but her competitive side was once again rearing its head. She looked at the house. It was a huge manor but she figured that if she ran right
around the length of it she would come out right behind Rafe’s hiding place. She ran through the courtyard gate and for a second, thought she might gain some valuable seconds by running through the house. She didn’t think August would take kindly to her running mud through the newly cleaned kitchen so instead she ran round the side of the house, past the snow covered gardens she had seen earlier. Past the bird table and carrot nosed snowman. She slowed to a walk until she was right round at the back of the house. She peeked around the corner and spotted her quarry less than 20 feet away from her. He was obviously looking for her but in completely the wrong direction. She waited a minute deciding what her next move would be. Rafe sneaked out from behind his tree and crept slowly towards the courtyard gate to where he obviously thought Anais was hiding. To Anais glee he had left a big pile of snowballs by the tree. She waited a moment longer and then tiptoed to his previous hiding place. She had plenty of snowballs to choose from but she only needed one. These guys might be almost immortal and could sprint like the wind, but she was a great thrower. She took aim and threw. Splat. It hit Rafe right in the back of the head, messing up his perfect hair. He spun round in shock and that’s when she followed it up with a snowball to the face, payback for his little stunt earlier.

  After all that had happened in the past few hours she was surprised to find she was beginning to enjoy herself although that was probably because of the look of shock now showing on Rafe’s face. Perhaps a bit of harmless aggression in the form of a snowball fight would be just what she needed. Indeed, picking up the readymade snowballs and lobbing them at Rafe was proving to be quite cathartic. Splat. Another direct hit to his face. He looked for her but she was too quick. Leaving the tree she ran into the woods towards the path to her father’s tomb, the fairy lights lighting her way. She quickly ran into the crossfire of Anais and Alexander, neither of which seemed to be hitting their mark. Anais rolled another snowball and scored a direct hit on Alexander who immediately started throwing snowballs at her instead. She ran, using the trees for cover towards Aethelu. She was nowhere near as fast as the siblings, but their terrible aim meant that she got to Aethelu without being hit. Crouching behind a holly tree the two girls discussed their next course of action. They decided to run back toward the courtyard where the snow was thickest, enabling them to make the most use of the snow.

  Alexander followed, hot on their heels. They ran through the courtyard gate laughing and hid behind the wall. Anais was beginning to enjoy herself, the sadness of earlier drifting away. Aethelu started rolling the snow up into large fluffy snowballs, tens of them, whilst Anais kept look out. She could see Alexander hiding behind a nearby tree, frantically trying to roll up the snow as quickly as he could, his coloured jacket bobbing out and then back again under the cover of the trees thick trunk. She couldn’t see Rafe anywhere though. She looked at the tree he was originally hiding behind, the one where she had sneaked up on him, but he was no longer there. She looked all around her but the only person she spotted was August who was watching them from the kitchen window. She smiled and waved. He pointed to the wall about 30 feet from where they were and held his finger to his lips. She realised he could see Rafe from where he was standing. She quickly formulated a plan. Rafe was very close to the out houses and she didn’t think he could see them from the particular bit of wall where he was hiding. She grabbed an armful of the freshly made snowballs and indicated for Aethelu to do the same. She beckoned for Aethelu to follow her which Aethelu did without question. Anais had seen a bit of the wall that had partially collapsed which would be easy to climb. She put her snow balls into a nearby bucket and then scrambling up the wall she quickly pulled herself up on to the roof. Aethelu passed the snowballs up to her and then was pulled up herself. They tiptoed across the roof of the outhouses and came to a halt just over the place where Rafe was hiding. Anais looked over the edge and could see that Alexander had now joined him. They were trying to figure out where the girls had disappeared to, little knowing that they were 20 feet directly above them. Aethelu scraped up even more snow from the roof of the outhouses and filled the bucket to the brim. They silently counted to three and then with a war cry they tipped the bucket over the pair of boys. The girls collapsed into fits of giggles on the roof, neither caring that they were now just as wet lying in the snow as the boys below were.

  “Alright now, hot chocolate’s up,” came August’s voice through the night. “Come in and get dry. Arcadia’s just arrived.”

  “Cadie!!!” squealed Aethelu and jumped right off the outhouse, landing a couple of feet away from the still startled boys. Anais was momentarily shocked but then remembered the whole immortal thing. She realised that things must be a whole lot less scary if you are as strong as an ox and heal straight away if you do manage to hurt yourself. She decided it was much safer for her to lower herself down slowly to a ledge and then dangle herself off from there. She edged along the snow covered ledge before lowering herself slowly until she was hanging there, still twelve feet from the ground. She let go, hoping the snow would soften the blow, but as she fell she felt a pair of strong arms catch her before she hit the ground. She looked into the eyes of her catcher and saw that it was Alexander. He had the same beautiful inky eyes as his sister, currently reflecting the twinkling lights that shone all around them. He had dyed his hair the same chestnut colour as Raphael’s but unlike Raphael, his was short and spiked in a modern style. It was also very wet from the snow and bits of it were plastered to his face. He had a pinkish tinge to his cheeks from the cold and he was grinning at her. When he finally pulled his arms from around her, they all made their way through the courtyard and back into the warmth of the kitchen.

  “Lulu!” Arcadia was hugging her sister as Anais walked through the door. “Rafe, Alex.” She hugged them all in turn before coming to Anais.

  “And this must be Anais.” She hugged Anais in the same way she had hugged her siblings.

  Anais was acutely aware that she was dripping snow all over Arcadia’s fabulous designer dress.

  “August told me what you’d done Lulu, Daddy is going to be livid when he finds out.”

  “I couldn’t just keep her locked up.” Aethelu said defiantly.

  “I’m teasing you, of course you couldn’t darling. Daddy will just have to lump it won’t he. We really should have a nice long gossip and catch up.” She eyed Anais and then gave her a wink “Now off you all go and put some dry clothes on. You lot are making the kitchen positively soggy.”

  Anais, along with Aethelu, Alexander and Rafe each took their boots and coats off and traipsed upstairs. Anais was relieved to be shown to a private shower room rather than the ensuite she had used before. She got into the shower and let the rivulets of water cascade all over her body. When she was clean she wrapped herself in a large white fluffy towel which had been thoughtfully hung on a heated radiator next to the shower.

  There was a knock on the door. She opened it a fraction and peeked out. August was there looking extremely embarrassed holding on to the supermarket bag with her clothes in.

  “I was told to bring these to you. Sorry! Seems to be becoming a habit.”

  Anais grinned at him and took the bag. Inside she pulled out another pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a cute pale blue Christmas jumper which had snowflakes knitted into it. It was a bit cheesy but it was warm and it fit well. She made her way back down the main stairs into the entrance hall. As she was walking through, heading toward the parlour where she could hear voices, there came a knock at the big double wooden doors which made her jump. She looked around, there was no one else in sight so she had no choice but to answer the door herself. She nervously pulled back the big bolt, hoping that she wouldn’t come face to face with Aldric. She had met all his children now and liked them, although she was still reserving judgement on Rafe. She’d spent 6 months with his wife and she loved her but the way Aethelu talked about him she was extremely nervous to meet him. As it was she needn’t have worried. She opened the door and the
re in front of her was a pizza delivery boy. He had four huge pizza boxes in his hand. She invited him in to the hall whilst she wondered where she was going to get the money to pay him, feeling foolish to have worried.

  “Keep the change and merry Christmas,” a manicured hand shot past her with two fifty pound notes in towards the pizza boy. He looked positively ecstatic over such a massive tip that he mumbled thank you and ran off before they could change their minds.

  “Let me help you darling.” Arcadia took two of the pizzas from Anais and walked towards the parlour room Anais had been in earlier.

  August was there already pouring soft drinks into glasses for everyone. Anais sat in the same place she had before and put the pizzas on the table. August opened the top box and grabbed himself a huge slice dribbling cheese into his beard. Anais wondered if he ever ate a meal without catching most of it in his facial hair. She took herself a slice of the pepperoni and a napkin and took a bite.

  “I hope you don’t mind pizza,” said August “but I didn’t feel like cooking tonight.”

  So it was August who was the great cook. He’d obviously taken lessons from his mother. She glanced over at Arcadia who was delicately chewing on a slice of pizza. She was dressed in an immaculate black dress with Christian Laboutin shoes. Anais was hopeless with designer labels but even she recognised the famous red soles. Her hair was jet black and straight. Anais knew it must have been dyed or a wig. Her eyes were also different from her siblings having been covered in bright green contact lenses and surrounded by perfect smoky makeup. She was also darker skinned than her brothers and sisters, which actually made her look more healthy. It was either a tan from living in the south of France or it was a really great spray tan. Delicate diamond earrings decorated her ears matching a diamond bracelet on her wrist. The only item looking out of place was the necklace around her neck. It was identical to hers and Aethelu’s except it held a diamond where hers had a pearl.