Yet now the sounds seemed to disturb him, upset his newly found equilibrium; what could they mean?
As he gazed across the vista he thought he saw a figure walking next to the Abbey. Perhaps it was Geraldine, come to give him more words of wisdom?
Without hesitation he quickly pulled on his clothing, and with a quick glance at his sleeping wife, headed outside.
The wind had whipped up more than he had first imagined and he pulled the collar of his cloak more firmly around his neck as he crossed over the track and headed for the Abbey, austere and grey in the morning light.
The figure had vanished and he supposed he would find her inside like before and hastened through the entrance.
All was dark inside; the light had not quite filtered through the magnificent leaded windows to the east and he stood in the shadows and quietly called out her name.
“Geraldine. Geraldine, are you there?”
At first there was no sound, only the wind winding around the main tower and a shuffling in the roof space; bats probably, or small birds nesting. He shivered at the thought of his dream and walked slowly forward as he called out her name over and over again.
He looked around at the sound of a door closing behind him and could make out a figure wrapped in a dark cloak, standing in the shadows. It made no move and slowly he made his way towards where it stood.
“Geraldine?”
At the sound of the name a white hand reached out of the cloak and pulled back the hood. It was not his beloved grandmother.
The face was the most striking he had ever seen. He hesitated to call it beautiful for there was something remotely evil in its perfection. It was the eyes that captured him the most, the emerald green, cat-like slits that widened as they took in the man that stood before them. The full and sensuous lips smiled at him and parted slightly to reveal a set of perfect white teeth, like a set of pearls gleaming in the shadows.
Alex shivered, there was something of the animal about her and he could feel his hackles rise.
“Alexhander, my dear brother, it is so good to see you again.” her deep and throaty voice purred across to him.
Opening his mouth, he tried to protest that he was not her brother and that he had never seen her before, but he stopped before he could finish as a myriad of different memories flooded his mind until his head was full of her.
“Helena!”
The unfamiliar voice tripped off his tongue, as if he had always known it to be so.
Holding out her slender hand, her eyes twinkled back at him.
“Dear brother, I thought you didn’t recognize me for a moment? Perhaps it is the shadows. But come out into the light, the sun is rising and has started to shine through the great eastern window. Look!”
His eyes moved to the window as the first rays of sun started to illuminate the multi-colored glass, bringing to life the Saints and angels depicted there.
Helena stepped forward, raising her arms as if to welcome the new day.
“Isn’t it supreme my brother? Can you not feel the energy? The power of the universe - and soon it will be ours to command.”
She laughed, with a voice like the sound of rain as she danced and twirled in the aisle.
“I thought you were dead.”
The memory of Alexhander’s hands around her throat surfaced to his mind and he could almost feel her last dying gasps between his fingers.
The dancing and the laughter stopped.
Without the smile her face looked cruel, the lack of warmth making the beautiful face almost mask-like.
She walked up close, her face inches away from her brother’s, her voice now rasping as she almost spat out the words.
“Did you really think that you could kill me my brother, after all that you have witnessed here? You for one should know better. Like you, I have my saviors, my ghosts from the future you might say. As you see, I did not die dear brother, quite the opposite. Although I can still feel your fingers tight upon my throat.”
Her eyes flared with anger at the memory before she took control of her emotions once again and the green orbs narrowed into slits.
“Of course I forgive you dear Alexhander. You were under the spell of that simple bitch Andra and were doing your best to protect her. But now I am back brother, and I am stronger and more powerful than you will ever know. Come and join me and we can reign supreme, as was foretold. We are only fulfilling our destiny after all.”
Alex thought back to the words of Andrea and Geraldine. There had been an ancient prophecy about two siblings that would save the world, but she was wrong, it was not Alexhander and Helena that the prophesies had foretold. It was his own child, and the one yet to be born.
He looked over at her. The woman was mad, that much was obvious, but he was wary of her and did not trust her.
“Andrea is my wife Helena, and I will do my best for her and Elizabeth.”
Helena looked back almost in disgust.
“Ah the child yes, I had almost forgotten her. But do not worry about them Alexhander, they are nothing to us. Our bond is stronger than any other. Here, hold my hand and feel the power within.”
Not wanting to antagonize the strange woman, he held out his hand to pacify her. Her grip was almost electric and as soon as his skin touched hers, he felt a giant wave of energy run through him, just as if he had received a massive electrical shock.
All he could see was Helena, her face and her eyes, until he was lost in their depths. He could see the universe spinning around him, the nebulas and asteroids spinning past as he raced through space and time.
Her mouth was upon his and he could not resist. It was not the soft and yielding lips of Andrea but the urgent and passionate violence that was Helena.
He tried to resist but could not stop himself, tried to fill his mind with the face of Andrea, the only woman he had ever loved as he tried to block out the face of Helena. Images flooded back from another time. He saw Alexhander and Andra making love for the very first time. The desire in his loins rose up through his body and his skin tingled to her touch. Opening his eyes it was now her face he saw; beautiful and bright before him, Andra and Andrea, and he thought his heart would burst.
His fingers were in her hair and kissing her neck, the old familiar smell of lavender and rosemary deep within his nostrils as he breathed her in. Her breasts were firm yet soft beneath his grip as he squeezed and grabbed at the flesh; leaving behind a red trail across the pure, white skin. She moaned gently and it spurred him on as he tugged at the cloak and gown until she lay naked before him. He had never wanted her so much and his passion was all consuming and he just wanted to push himself into her until they were as one.
Her fingers found the bare skin on his back and he could feel the nails dig into his flesh. It was a new sensation, he had never known Andrea so passionate, so intense and it made him long for her, made him harder as he pushed her to the cold floor. It did not seem to matter, the two were engulfed in the heat of passion and he felt her hand upon his breeches, finding the opening and the slender hand finding his cock. He came to life in her hand, thrusting against her fingers as they spread across his girth.
Soon he was free from clothing, unfettered, and all he could feel was the sensation in his cock, the urge to be inside her and shoot the heat from his loins into her depths. Andrea threw back her head as he entered her; gasping as his size pushed against her. She was wet and tight and lifting her buttocks with his hands he drove his cock deep inside her fleshy mound. She cried out with pain but he was like a wild animal and could not stop until he was spent. The fever rose within him until he could hold back no longer and with one final thrust poured his hot and sticky soul deep inside of her. For a moment he opened his eyes and thought he saw Helena’s face and not Andrea’s, but his eyes were heavy and they closed before he had time to think. The next time he opened them he lay cold, alone and naked on the Abbey floor.
11.
Andrea was just waking as he returned. His
head pained him and he wondered if he were ill. He had a bitter taste in his mouth and his body ached all over. He remembered Helena but it was like a dream and he did not dare mention it to Andrea.
For the rest of the day he slept and Andrea busied herself around the household. Throughout the day she too had started to feel unsettled and it was only as the daylight started to dim that she felt anxious. It would be drawing dark soon and Elizabeth was late. She had spent all of the morning at her lessons with the nuns and in the afternoon she would have spent some time with Tom down on the beach.
She should have been home a good while ago and Andrea had started to fret.
“Alex, Alex, wake up!”
Opening his eyes, it took him a moment to focus. His dreams had been full of green eyes and long black hair and for a moment he felt guilty.
“Alex, Elizabeth has not yet returned home. I am worried and I think we should go and look for her.”
He swung quickly out of bed and she was taken aback by his own alarm.
“Do you think something could have happened to her?”
She had hoped she was just being over dramatic with her instinctive mother’s worrying, but Alex’s reaction only compounded her own feelings.
“I saw Helena today.”
“What?” Andrea jumped at the mention of the name.
“I mean, I think I saw Helena. I’m sorry Andrea, I’m not really sure of what I saw, or if I have been dreaming.”
Grabbing his face she looked deep into his eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me before? Alex, what exactly happened?”
He could not tell her everything, but mentioned that he had followed a shadowy figure into the Abbey early that morning.
“She acted like a mad woman, if I really did see her. I can’t really remember.”
Andrea started to put on her cloak.
“Where are you going?”
“Elizabeth is in danger, I can feel it. Helena is evil and will be up to no good. We must find our child.”
Reaching into a box beside the bed she pulled the two small runes out of a black velvet pouch.
Alex frowned.
“What do you want those for?”
She hesitated, not really sure herself but feeling the voice of Geraldine deep inside of her.
“Insurance?”
Grabbing his cloak the two set out together and headed over towards the Bay at the Back of the Ocean; the place where Elizabeth and Tom liked to play.
The sky was grey and threatening as they reached the dunes and they had to pull their cloaks up around their faces as the wind whipped up the sand around them. A small boy was sheltering against some rocks and Andrea recognized him as the boy, Tom, and they quickly made their way down to speak to him.
The boy was crying and as soon as he saw Andrea he rushed toward her and clung to the outside of her cloak whilst he sobbed.
“Whatever is the matter young Tom, now tell me what has happened to upset you so? We are out looking for Elizabeth, have you seen her?”
At the sound of his friends name he burst into a further round of sobbing.
Andrea kneeled down kindly and brushed his forehead with her hand.
“There, there, now whatever is it? Surely it can’t be as bad as all that?”
Her heart was beating fast but she didn’t want the boy to know that she was also frightened.
The boy wiped his nose on his sleeve and looked up at her with dark, wet eyes.
“I told her not to go.”
His voice was weak and timid.
“Go where Tom?”
“With the Lady.”
Andrea looked up at Alex, his face ashen white.
“Which lady Tom, who was she?”
He looked up at Alex with large, round eyes as if he didn’t know quite what to say.
“It’s alright lad, you can say anything to me, now go on.”
“Well Sir, I saw the Lady, it was the horrible one, the one with the dark hair and funny eyes. Your...”
He stopped short.
“My sister Helena, yes go on.”
“Well Sir, I knew it was her, but Elizabeth kept calling her mother as if she thought it was the Lady Andra. But I knew it wasn’t Sir and I kept telling her not to go but she kept walking away until they had both disappeared over the fields. I tried to stop her Sir, I truly did. There was something about the Lady Helena that I did not like; if you’ll pardon me Sir?”
The poor boy was quite worked up and burst into tears once again. Andrea hugged him until he was quiet once more.
“Do you know where they were going?”
The boy shook his head but pointed in the direction of where they had been heading.
Alex had gone quiet, remembering his early morning encounter with Helena. So it was true, it hadn’t been a dream. She had tricked him into thinking that she was his beloved Andrea. He trembled at the thought of his betrayal, even though it was not his fault.
“Go straight home Tom and don’t tell anyone about this. We don’t want to worry your Ma and Pa now, do we?”
The young lad shook his head and scampered back over the dunes and they watched him run until he was out of sight.
“What now?”
Andrea was almost in tears now the boy had left; she felt so helpless.
The clouds had started to gather as they had been talking with the boy and now the rain began, slowly at first, turning into huge great droplets as the sky opened up in anger.
“Maybe she went back to the Abbey, if you saw her there then maybe there is a connection?”
The image of Helena, naked on the stone slabs flitted across his mind and he tried to shake it away.
“Perhaps. It’s a start.”
The two headed together across the fields as the first flash of lightening lit up the sky and the heaving clouds rubbed together and thundered down on top of them. By the time they reached the Abbey they were soaked to the skin.
The windows were lit from within but there was no sound. Usually they could hear the evening vespers, but tonight the air was still.
Alex pushed cautiously against the oak door and Andrea followed closely behind. A hushed reverence hung in the air as if no-one had entered the place for a hundred years.
Andrea caught her breath, despite her fear the cold Abbey looked beautiful in the soft glow; someone had been busy, hundreds of candles shone from every corner.
A cloaked figure stood at the altar; it was Helena, and by her side stood the child Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth!”
The name hung in the air as Andrea called out to her daughter and started to rush forward. Alex held her back; Helena would be up to her old tricks and was not to be trusted.
“What do you want Helena, give us back the child. She can be of no use to you.”
He could feel her cold reptilian smile across the room.
“I am not holding the girl against her will. See!”
Raising her arms she demonstrated that she had no hold on the girl.
“Elizabeth, you may go now” and she tried to push the young girl away from the altar but she would not move and instead threw her arms around Helena as if in fear from those around her.
“See, the poor girl is afraid of you. She wants to stay with me. Isn’t that right Elizabeth?”
The girl gave a brief nod and continued to cling to her cloak.
“Elizabeth, it’s me, your mother. Come to me my darling there is nothing to be afraid of.”
The girl looked out blankly across the semi darkness.
“What games are you playing at Helena?”
Alex stepped forward.
“I’m not sure what you mean Alexhander. You were the one that wanted to play games earlier. What on earth would Andrea think?”
He opened his mouth but could not speak. Anything he said would be a betrayal to his beloved Andrea and he could not bear to hurt her.
“Well my valiant brother. The time has come to show your allegiance. Y
ou can see how your daughter clings to me. She is wise. You should do the same Alexhander. I have the power and I have seen many things. Together, we two can rule the universe, it has been foretold. Come with us. Now is the time. The ancient powers are gathering; can you not hear them?”
A peal of thunder rumbled above them and a streak of lightning flashed against the tower as if it were daylight outside. The storm was directly above them.
Alex rushed forward to seize the girl but she cried out as he approached her.
“Elizabeth it is I, your father!”
The poor girl looked feverish, her face flushed and her eyes wild.
“You are the devil.”
She buried her head into the folds of Helena’s cloak.
“What have you done to the poor girl?”
Alex grabbed Helena by the arm and pulled her close.
She laughed; her face close to his, the red lips wide open until he could see the red of her throat. His hands shook with rage, he could easily strangle the woman, feel his fingers once again wrap around her slender neck.
“You forget how powerful I am Alexhander. I have now found all of the ancient stones and I feed from their strength. Like the Runes, they were formed by the Gods at the beginning of all time and hidden across the four corners of the world to make sure that no-one could take advantage of the supreme power until it was time. All we need now are the two remaining runes and the ancient powers will be reunited for the first occasion since the very dawn of Time. Can you not feel it? It is the birth of a new time Alexhander, our time, and we will share the power as it has been foretold!”
Andrea stepped forward.
“That is not so Helena. You are wrong. Yes it was foretold that a brother and sister would rise to take power, to rule, but that is not you and Alexhander. It is not your time; it is ours; mine and Alex’s time. The power will pass to our children, or our children’s children - when the time is right.”
[Runes of Argyl 01.0] The Runes of Argyl Trilogy Page 16
