“Listen up everyone, we’ve got the beginnings of a plan in place. We’re going to spend the next few hours here hashing it out, then I want you to go home and sleep.”
He pulls out a chair and sits down.
“We’ve got until just before midnight tomorrow to get all of this into place. Maria, where are you up to?”
Maria clears her throat and moves the paper they’d been huddled around into the centre of the table.
“Okay, me and mum have been going through the old books with Simon’s help. We’ve identified a spell that we think will bind him long enough for everything else.” She pushes a very old looking book into the centre of the table.
Maria’s mum starts speaking next. “I won’t be coming in with you, but I’ll be outside. Once the last of your team is in, I’ll be putting up a barrier spell to stop anyone getting in, or out, without permission.” She turns to glance at her daughter. “Maria will be able to contact me to let me know when it needs to come down.”
“But how will we get out if need be?” I ask.
They all turn and look at me. Maria’s mum goes to tell me, or at least I assume that’s what she’s doing, then Mitchell tells her to shut up.
“Farah, do you know what you need to do?” Mitchell asks the hooded figure.
“It is not hard, detective. I create a portal, somehow this gets connected with your demon, he goes back to the hell he is from.” Her voice is heavily accented, sounds Eastern European but I flunked geography so I can’t be sure.
Then I realise what she’s said. They’re going to create a portal to send him back? After everything he’s done? Hell no, that does not sound okay. He shouldn’t be allowed to get off scot-free.
“Hmm... just going to butt in here again guys. What in the hell does portal girl here mean: send him back?” I look around at everyone in the room. “And also, how do we even know where back is?” My voice is shrill again; I hate it when it’s shrill, but I’m seriously annoyed.
“Jemma, it’s okay. Everything is done for a reason,” Maria tells me in what’s supposed to be a calming voice.
“No, it’s not okay,” I shout. I push my chair back and jump up. “Do you not understand what he has done? The things I watched him do?” No one will look at me.
“I held a little boy’s hand as he cried from being tortured. I spoke the ghost of a dead woman as she recounted the horrors she went through. I saw the mutualised body of a man and watched time after time how that happened. I watched this, this, thing destroy people’s lives and you’re just going to let him go?” Everything I say is being shouted now. My fists are clenched by my side.
“Jemma, please.” Ripper is looking at me with desperation across his face. It makes my heart hurt.
“Will you answer me?” I ask him. I get my answer before he even opens his mouth; he looks down at the table with sadness in his eyes.
“I am fucking sick of this. I don’t want to be here. I tried, I tried to help. I even fucking died for you but even that isn’t enough is it? Even that doesn’t earn me the basic respect to know what in the fuck is going on.”
I pull my jacket from my arms so everyone can see the litany of bruises that cover them. They might be fading thanks to Maria’s potions, but they’re still there.
“See these? This is what happens when I beg and plead not to have to do something. When I tell you that my mind is broken. When I’m lying on the floor, fucking vomiting and crying and covered in the blood of a little boy. All I get is fucking tortured,” I scream this in the direction of Mitchell.
“I had the chance to walk away. There was no one around, no one to see me or watch me, but I didn’t. I decided that maybe, just maybe, risking my sanity, destroying who I was, was worth it if I could just help stop this happening to anyone else.” I pause, noticing that no one seems to know what to do, no one knows where to look.
“Come on, chick. Maybe we should get outta here?” Aidan stands up and goes to touch my shoulder, changing his mind at last moment.
“In a minute,” I say and smile at him softly. I turn back to the rest of them. “Every time I close my eyes; I see blood dripping behind them. I hear the screams and cries in every part of my soul. I have scrubbed and scrubbed myself but I still feel as though I’m covered in blood.” I walk over to Mitchell and look down on him.
“You held me down on the floor and forced me to see all this and you don’t even have the courtesy to tell me what’s going on, or listen to what I’ve got to say?” I give him a moment to answer me, but nothing comes. “Well, fuck you all.”
I leave the stunned silence behind me and walk out the door which to my amazement isn’t locked. I quickly throw it open and walk out of the room before anyone can stop me. I hear footsteps behind me but don’t stop as I know it will be Aidan and I can live with that.
I don’t make it far down the corridor before I feel and arm on my shoulder spinning me around to face them. Losing my balance, I fall into the waiting arms and look up to see Ripper’s face above mine. Without thinking, I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him. He freezes for a moment before his arms tighten around me and he kisses me back. We pull apart and just stare at each other, each breathing as heavy as the other.
“I’m sorry, Jemma. I should have done more.” He runs a hand through is hair and then runs a thumb across my jaw, down the bruises on my arms, and across the bandages on my chest.
“I should have stopped all of this before it got this far. You deserve better.” He spins away from and slams a fist into the wall. Blood starts dripping down from his knuckles and they instantly swell, but he doesn’t even seem to notice. He goes to hit the wall again but I run forward and grab his arm, stopping him.
“Stop it, Ripper. Just stop it.” The tears are flowing freely from my eyes again, and I notice that his eyes are full too.
“I don’t know what this is between us, Ripper, but there’s something. I know there’s so much more going on here than meets the eye and I want to give you a chance to tell me. I want to get to know you away from all of this.” I bring his hand up to my lips and gently kiss the bleeding knuckles.
“But I’m scared, and I’m tired. I’m tired of everything and I’m scared about what I might be made to do next, or what I might see.” I pause. “I’m scared that they’re not going to do the right thing.”
He takes is hand from out of mine and wraps his arms around me, pulling me in close.
“I’m sorry, and I can’t believe I’m going to ask this of you, but please come back in there with me. You’ve got a part to play in all of this. I won’t stop you if you want to walk away, but I can’t yet.”
Letting the words sink in and what it would mean if I walked away, I’m not sure if it’s worth losing what I’ve only just found. But if I don’t walk away, I might lose me, and I’m not sure if I’m ready for that either.
He finally lets go of me and holds out a hand instead, I know if I take it I’m committing myself to staying.
“I’ve got some holiday due,” Ripper tells me. “I’ll take it all after this, just me and you. We’ll get to know each other. Properly.”
I can see Aidan looking out of the door, concern etched into his features. I look back at the hand held out to me, knowing I can touch it without ever seeing anything. I wrap my hand in his and allow him to lead me back.
Aidan opens the door for us.
“You okay, lady?” he asks.
I take the chance and squeeze his hand to let him know I’m as okay as can be. He squeezes back and I carry on in through the door. As I sit down next to Farah, she leans over and whispers something to me. I have to hide a smile as I face the rest of them.
Ripper stays standing behind me, his hands resting gently on my shoulders.
“Tell her. Tell her right now or we both leave,” Ripper says to the rest of the team. Mitchell looks Ripper up and down, assessing him with a frown, before finally telling me what part I have to play in the upcoming task. I was soon wishing I�
�d made the attempt to run.
* * *
Back at Ripper’s house, Aidan and I are sharing a bottle of Sambuca. It was the strongest we could find, and we needed something strong. I’d asked Ripper to let Aidan come and stay, when we were leaving the underground station we’d found out he’d been sleeping in the cells.
Ripper left us to it and went up for a shower; I was tempted to go and join him and see if we could finish what we started the last time, but I don’t have the energy, and I’m too tired. I’m also trying to keep a bit of distance between us as I know I’m getting too attached already.
“Another one?” Aidan asks me. We’ve gone through half of the bottle, my head is starting to spin, but...
“Why the hell not,” I say with a smile. He pours a measure into the shot glass and then lights the top on fire with his fingers.
“One, two, three,” he counts and we down them at the same time as the flames dance across the top. The burning helps to numb the pain that’s still there.
Footsteps make me turn and my mouth goes dry as Ripper walks into the room in nothing but a pair of low-slung tracksuit bottoms and wet hair. Very aware that Aidan is in the room, I stick myself to the chair and force myself not to move.
“Hey,” I say.
He gets that look in his eyes again. Looking away from me, he turns to Aidan.
“Maria just texted. She says the bandages can come off thanks to the spell. Do you know how long it’ll take the tattoo to heal?” Ripper asks him.
Aidan just shrugs.
I can’t wait to see what it is. “I’m going to go to bed, Aidan, you gonna be okay?”
“Sure I am, lady,” he replies with his generic smile on his face.
I walk, okay well stagger, over to him and give him a careful hug.
“Good night, Aidan.”
“Night.”
“Farah’s on her way over. Will you make sure you lock up once she’s here?” I hear Ripper saying to Aidan as I leave the room. I don’t wait to listen to the response.
Making my way to Ripper’s bedroom, somehow without walking into anything, I gently pull my top over my head and start trying to undo the bandages wrapped around my chest. It’s difficult and, judging by the laughter coming from the doorway, probably looks kind of comical. I turn and glare at Ripper.
“You could always help me instead of laughing, you know.”
He tries to say sorry but I know he doesn’t mean it. He does, however, walk towards me and swat my hands out of the way before gently removing the bandages.
When the last bandage comes off I look down at my chest but can’t make out the symbols properly.
I move to stand in front of the mirror and look down at the lines tracing across my chest. There’s two, they swirl together and interlink, creating a beautiful pattern across my skin. I trace them in fascination and then jump as my fingers touch the still sensitive skin.
Turning to Ripper, I notice he’s looking at me with a mixture of awe and confusion.
“Do you know what it is?” I ask him.
He places his hand mere millimetres above the mark as he tells me he does.
“It’s a Zibu mark, the language of the angels.” He looks at me again, this time the confusion more plain on this face. “It’s their symbol of friendship.”
“Oh,” is all I manage to say in response to that. I’d only known Aidan for such a short period of time, but something out there has bound us together with this mark, I can just feel it. Wondering what it means for us that this is the symbol chosen, I pull a t-shirt over my head, looking at the tattoo one last time before covering my chest.
Heading back over to Ripper’s bed, I climb in, and notice he’s moving towards the door.
“Where are you going?” I ask him.
“I thought I’d sleep in the other spare room, give you some space.”
“Don’t.”
I reach out my hand and he walks over to me, climbing in the other side of the bed, he wraps his arms around me. Thankfully, the amount of Sambuca I drank is working its way through my system, making the worries of tomorrow seem nice and fuzzy. I settle myself back against Ripper’s chest and let sleep claim me.
Chapter Fifteen
When I finally wake up the next day it’s to find I’m alone in the bed. I reach out a hand to the other side and find its stone cold. My head feels like someone has taken a sledgehammer to it. My mouth is full of cotton. Looking around to see what time it is, I finally spot an alarm clock and see that it’s just after twelve in the afternoon.
I turn back over and groan. I don’t know how I’ve managed to sleep so long. I’m amazed anyone let me sleep this long.
Throwing the covers over me I shiver as the cold hits. Slowly dragging myself out of bed, I spot a dressing gown hanging on the back of the bedroom door. Wrapping it around me, I take a deep breath, inhaling the scent of Ripper as it cocoons itself around me. Opening the door, the sounds of people talking drifts up the stairs and I can smell something that’s making my mouth water.
Slowly and carefully making my way down them – my head pounding – I finally get to the kitchen, Tto find it’s full of people.
I should have got dressed.
A tap on my shoulder makes me turn around. Maria is standing behind me with a glass of clear liquid in her hand, handing it to me.
“I think you might need this,” she says.
Grabbing it from her I drain it in one. It’s ice cold and refreshing.
“Oh god, thank you. What was that one?”
She laughs. “Just water, Jemma.”
“Oh.” Putting the glass down I smile at her. “Well, thanks anyway, it was needed.”
Looking around the room I notice Aidan and Farah are sitting at the dining table together. Their heads are extremely close together and hands almost touching. Not knowing either of them for long, I can’t help but think what a great pair they would make. There’re paper and pens in front of them and they’re in an intense conversation. Her hoods down this time and I’m struck by the full effect of her beauty. Her hair keeps changing colour, rivers and roads flowing through it, forests and mountains shimmering in the strands. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I’m tempted to go over and see what they’re doing but then I notice Ripper and all thoughts go out of my head.
He’s standing in front of the breakfast bar plating up food. In a very bright pink apron that has frills all around it. Looking up he catches me watching him with a glint in my eyes.
“Don’t say a thing,” he says, pointing at me with a spatula.
Holding my hands in surrender I walk over. “I won’t say a thing.”
Looking at what’s on the table in front of us I reach down and grab a croissant, biting into it and burning my mouth on the molten chocolate inside.
“Ow, shit,” I say dropping it back onto the plate.
“That’s what happens when you don’t give things time to cool down.” He leans down and kisses my burnt lips before plating up the rest of the goodies he’s cooked, including a scrumptious smelling frittata that looks big enough to serve a hundred people.
“Grubs up, everyone.” There’s a scraping of chairs as Aidan and Farah make their way over to the breakfast bar, shortly followed by Maria.
I pick up the croissant I dropped earlier, plate up a large portion of the frittata and then grab some extra crispy bacon, piling my plate high. Looking around, I notice a big glass jug of something on the table. Finding a spare glass, I pour some out and then sit down and join everyone at the table. Everyone starts digging in and, for a short time, it’s easy to pretend that we’re all just friends having a late lunch together.
Sitting next to Ripper, our legs are pressed right up against one another under the table. He reaches under the table and squeezes my hand. A thrill runs through my body that I can touch him without fear. I squash that little voice in the back of my mind that’s telling me I should be proceeding with caution.
“Hey, lady, what�
�s the tat of then?” Aidan asks me.
“Do you want to see?” Ripper splutters beside me and I hit him on the arm.
“I’ve got a bra on.”
Standing up I pull my top up, lifting the bottom of my bra up to, so the whole pattern can be seen. There are gasps from around the table.
“I take it you all know what it is?”
Aidan is looking impressed. “That ain’t what I was spectin’ lady. Me an you gonna need to talk when all this is over.”
“Is that a Zibu marking you’ve got?”
I turn to face the door and see Simon and Mitchell standing there. Realising my top is still pulled up I quickly let it fall down and tie the dressing gown back up.
“Is it?” Simon asks again. His eyes are flashing dangerously, shadows dancing through them. The rest of the room has gone silent. The temperature plummets. I get the feeling that there’s something going on in the room that I don’t know about. There’s a tension that wasn’t there before.
Taking a step backwards, I bump into strong arms that wrap around my shoulders. I press into him for the strength, not sure why I need it or what’s going on. Simon and Mitchell start walking further into the room. My chest starts throbbing right where the mark is. The closer they get the more it throbs, a look of pain flashes across Simon’s face and he stops halfway across the room.
A thought begins to formulate in my mind, little pieces of the jigsaw slotting into place. I’m about to say something when Farah steps in front of me, throwing something glowing between her hands.
“One step closer, this gets thrown at you,” she says. Her hair has turned a black colour, swirling with a darker black that looks like shadows. I step closer to Farah and reach out a hand.
“No touching, vision girl”. Farah’s voice breaks me out of my spell. I pull my hand away, watching as Simon steps backwards, spins on his heel and walks out of the room; Farah pulls her hood back over her head, the last bit of temptation to touch her fades away.
“I’m going for a shower and to get dressed,” I say to no one in particular.
Heading out of the room, I don’t notice there are footsteps behind me until I reach the bathroom and hear someone clearing their throat. Spinning around, I see Maria.
The Soul Catcher Page 9
