by H. R. Moore
Anita recognised this as her chance. ‘Why were you looking at a picture of it?’ she asked innocently.
‘Because I’ve been learning about my family. Dad recently introduced me to some family history that I never knew existed, so I’ve been spending time at the Archives looking into it further. It’s been fascinating. There’s so much I never knew about the Mind line and there’s so much more to learn.’
‘Can I see the picture?’ asked Anita quickly. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted them, way too forward, surely that would scare him off.
‘Why do you want to see it?’
‘Because I’m as intrigued as you are about how Tobias’ boat found its way into my head, and why it's there, and there may be some kind of clue in that picture. How would you feel if I had a picture of the wood in your head? Wouldn’t you want to see it?’
Marcus couldn’t argue with her there. If Anita had a similar picture, he would most definitely want to see it, but he’d promised Austin that he wouldn’t tell anyone about the family vault lightly. ‘The problem is I can’t take the picture out of the Archives,’ he said slowly.
‘But we can go there,’ she said tenderly, not conceding that this might be a problem. ‘I’d love to see your family vault. Your family’s had a profound impact on the history of the world; it would be an amazing privilege to see some of the artefacts.’
He took a deep breath. ‘Ok,’ he said resignedly, kissing her shoulder, ‘let’s go now and we can go for a walk afterwards. The sun will be setting by then and the archive gardens look beautiful at that time of day.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, rolling into him and gently kissing his lips.
*****
They arrived at the Archives and Marcus led Anita down the three flights of stairs. Half way to the back of the room, they bumped into Cleo, who looked a little shocked to see them there. ‘Hey,’ she said, giving Anita a quizzical look, ‘I don’t think you’ve come here more than twice in your entire life have you?’ she laughed mockingly at her best friend, ‘what are you doing here?’
Marcus looked uncomfortable. ‘Nothing much,’ Anita replied. ‘Marcus spends so much time here I thought I’d come and see what all the fuss is about.’ Anita threw Cleo a look pleading her not to ask any more questions and thankfully she took the hint.
Marcus relaxed a bit, realising this could in fact work in his favour. Cleo could keep Anita occupied whilst he unlocked the vault, that way she wouldn’t see the security, which meant he could downplay the extent of the family secrets contained within. ‘Anita, I’ll come and get you in a minute, there’s something I have to do.’
‘Ok,’ Anita agreed without hesitation, not wanting to put him off now they’d come this far.
*****
Austin descended the stairs to the basement and asked the guard for the keys to the Archives, he’d seen Marcus leave earlier with Anita, so now would be a good time to remove a couple of choice artefacts before Marcus explored too widely. ‘Keys,’ he barked at the security guard, who looked back blankly.
‘I’m afraid Marcus came and collected them earlier sir.’
‘What? You gave them to him when he was with Anita?’
‘He was with Anita? It was only Marcus who came down here.’
Austin’s fuse had been lit and if this were not resolved to his satisfaction extremely quickly, then he would explode and no one in the castle would be spared his wrath.
‘Amber,’ he bellowed.
She appeared at her office door, immediately knowing something must be wrong. ‘What is it?’ she asked concerned.
‘This blundering employee of yours has given Marcus the keys to the family vault when he was with Anita.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I just saw them leave the castle together.’
Amber reacted instantly, barking orders back into her office and at the guard behind the desk. ‘I need a team of four people, now. Bring round the cars. Alert the Archives that they’re not to allow Anita to leave until we get there. Are you joining us Austin?’
‘Of course I’m sodding joining you. Let’s go.’
*****
Marcus walked off and Anita realised that Cleo being here could work to her advantage. ‘I need your help Cleo,’ she whispered conspiratorially.
Cleo looked intrigued, loving nothing more than a conspiracy. ‘What do you need me to do?’
‘Distract Marcus. He’s about to take me into a separate room and I need you to come snooping around just after we enter. He’s showing me a picture, but I need you to buy me some alone time in there so I can have a look around.’
‘Anita,’ called Marcus, striding back towards her. ‘Are you coming?’
Cleo nodded at Anita, ‘I’m in,’ she said happily, in a low voice.
Anita walked towards Marcus, who led her through a very normal looking door that interrupted the rows of shelves housing a wide range of seemingly randomly categorised artefacts. The room looked very average and housed artefacts that resembled those on the shelves outside, all very boring, until Anita spotted a row of brass cylinders on the far side of the room, with one cylinder set slightly apart from all the others. Her stomach lurched and adrenaline flooded her blood as she turned back to look at what Marcus was showing her. ‘As you can see, Aphrodite is definitely the boat in your mind,’ he said, marvelling that it could’ve found its way into her head.
‘By the Gods, you’re right,’ she said, genuinely shocked. Although her focus here was now on something altogether different, she was fascinated by the picture and concerned about how the boat had managed to end up as a place in her mind. Anita took the picture from him and scanned every inch of it, although there was nothing that gave any clues as to why it was in her head. At that moment there was a light knock on the door and the colour drained from Marcus’ face. This was exactly what he’s wanted to avoid; the nosey Cleo finding out about the vault would not go down at all well with Austin. ‘Go and keep her occupied,’ said Anita, ‘I’ll be out in a minute; I just want a bit more time with the picture.’ As he turned, she made a big show of sitting down and studying the photo as though engrossed. Seeing this, Marcus decided it was safe to leave her alone and went to deal with Cleo.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, Anita abandoned the photo onto the desk and made for the brass cylinders at the back of the room. She picked up the end cylinder and felt the smooth, cold metal in her hands. It was heavier than she’d expected, but as she placed it in her coat pocket, something curious happened, it started to shake. Anita turned to make for the door, not wanting to stay for a moment longer than she needed to in Austin’s treasure trove of secrets, but as she was about to push down the door handle, a conversation she’d had with Anderson in Kingdom came back to her. He’d said, ‘if someone stole a cylinder containing someone else’s memories, the energy would strain to get back to its rightful owner’. If that were the case, she had the wrong memory. This had only started to strain when she’d stolen it, it’d been quite still and quiet before that. She looked back at the shelf to see which cylinders were straining so she could select one of those to take with her, but they were all standing entirely still, none of them seeming at all uncomfortable where they were. She looked around to see if she’d missed another row of brass cylinders, but there were none to be seen.
Anita had a horrible moment of clarity. Helena had lied to her. She wasn’t here to take back one of Helena’s stolen memories, she was here to steal for the Institution something of Austin’s. Anita hurried back across the room and put the cylinder back in exactly the same place she’d taken it from, slightly set apart from the others. However, as her hand left the cylinder and it reverted to a still, lifeless object, the door flew open and Amber, Austin and four security guards came hammering in. Amber took in the scene in front of her and reacted instantly, running forward and grabbing Anita by her arms. Anita countered instinctively, she was after all an adept Body, and used Amber’s
forward momentum to flip her onto her back, causing her to release Anita’s arms. Anita valiantly fought her way through three of the four body guards, however, as she reached the fourth the others, including Amber, had recovered and collectively wrestled her to the ground, two of them pinning her down with all their weight.
Marcus appeared at the door, aghast as he took in what he found. ‘Leave her alone,’ he ordered, starting towards the pile of humanity in the centre of the floor, but Amber intervened, placing her body in his way.
‘She was stealing from your father,’ she said smugly, her words like poison.
‘No she was not. She was here looking at a photo of Tobias’ boat.’
‘Then why, when we came through the door was she reaching for that brass cylinder?’ Amber asked triumphantly, gesturing towards the cylinder on the end, that moments before, Anita had held in her hand.
‘I was just having a look,’ Anita spluttered, gasping for breath to speak again, finding it difficult to breath with such an immense weight holding her to the ground. ‘I’ve never seen cylinders so delicate before, so I just wanted to see them up close,’ she felt faint as she desperately tried to refill her lungs with air.
‘Do you really believe that?’ laughed Amber, looking at Marcus as though he were a stupid, naïve child.
‘Yes, I do,’ he spat back, turning to the so far silent Austin, who was weighing up what to do in this unusually delicate situation. ‘She was looking at this photo of Aphrodite,’ he said, picking up the picture of the boat and waving it in front of his face. ‘What’s wrong with that?’
‘Aside from the fact you brought her here at all, Marcus, and that you left her alone to explore to her heart’s content, and that we found her reaching for one of my brass cylinders, nothing I suppose.’ His sarcasm was chilling. ‘And why exactly did you feel the need to show Anita this picture?’
Anita silently prayed for Marcus not to tell Austin about their meditation, or that the boat was a place in her head. She had a feeling that Austin would not think this was a redeeming factor. ‘Because we got talking about boats and sailing and I told her I’d just come across a photo of the most exquisite boat I’d ever seen. Anita asked me to show it to her, so I did.’
‘You expect me to believe that someone as manipulative as her came here just to see a photo?’ Austin laughed cruelly, exchanging a look with Amber that was clearly a commentary on his son’s incompetence.
Marcus’ temper flared. ‘What makes you think Anita is manipulative? I tried to teach her Mind skills and she is useless at manipulation.’
‘Don’t be so stupid Marcus. How else would someone from Anita’s background get so close to someone like you, if not by manipulation? She was probably feigning ignorance to reinforce the ruse. Don’t you think it’s time to open your eyes to who she really is?’
‘Don’t treat me like a child. Anita is not who you paint her to be, now let her go and stop being so melodramatic. There was no harm done. I’m sure if Amber calls off her guards, Anita will apologise for the confusion and we can all move on from what is an embarrassing misunderstanding.’
‘Marcus you have a lot to learn,’ said Amber, enjoying patronising him. ‘Boys, take her back to the castle and put her in a cell for questioning.’
‘No,’ Marcus ordered, ‘let her go,’ but everybody ignored him, Austin turning to leave the room, followed by Amber, then the guards, dragging Anita between them. She threw Marcus a last pleading look and mouthed the words, ‘I love you,’ to him as they took her away. Austin, it would seem, was right about one thing, these days Anita did have a manipulative side.
*****
Cleo hid, crouched down behind a rack of artefacts, watching them take Anita away. Luckily she’d managed to drag Marcus to the other side of the room, saying she wanted to show him something. When they’d got there, she’d acted as though she’d misplaced whatever it was and started to rummage through a pile of papers. Marcus had lost patience at this point and had said he needed to get back to Anita, but that if Cleo could give them some space he’d appreciate it. She’d let him go, thinking Anita would’ve had long enough to explore a bit, but when Marcus had got about half way back towards the door, Austin, Amber and four large guards had burst onto the floor and run towards the door, reaching it before the startled Marcus.
Cleo hadn’t been able to hear what had happened inside, however, watched appalled as her best friend was dragged roughly up the stairs towards the entrance, a furious, flapping Marcus in tow. He kept appealing to Austin, saying, ‘dad, please, don’t do this,’ but Austin ignored his son’s words entirely, carrying on as though nobody was uttering a sound. The only time Marcus’ words had any effect was when he had said, ‘dad, I love her, please don’t do this.’ At this revelation, Austin and Amber had rounded on Marcus, each fixing him with a terrifying stare. They’d said nothing however, knowing this was neither the time nor the place, so turned back and followed the guards up the stairs, Marcus following in their wake.
Cleo stayed where she was for a full fifteen minutes after they’d gone, terror and shock fixing her in place. When she was convinced they weren’t coming back, she cautiously climbed to her feet and made her way out of the building, making sure nobody saw her leave. The last thing Anita needed now was for the only person who knew she’d been taken to be spotted by one of Austin’s informants. Once she was free of the Archives, Cleo ran back to town, heading directly for the Temple of the Spirit. The only person she could think to tell was Alexander and she hoped desperately that he was there, as she had no idea where else to look if he wasn’t.
As she reached the Temple, Cleo raced to the circular slab in the centre of the floor, got down on all fours and started pounding the stone, hoping that Alexander would be able to hear her. To her amazement, within seconds, the slab in the floor began to slide aside, Cleo scrambling out of the way in time to see Alexander ascending the stairs.
‘Cleo, what is it?’ he asked concerned.
‘It’s Anita,’ she garbled, ‘Austin has her.’
‘What? What do you mean Austin has her?’ Alexander looked around, noticing the few people in the Temple beginning to take an interest in what was going on. ‘Come on, we should talk downstairs.’
Normally this would be a source of great excitement for Cleo, after all nobody else she knew had ever been to one of the chambers below the Temples, but right now she was just grateful that Alexander was here and might be able to help. They quickly descended the spiral staircase and came out into Alexander's study. He sat Cleo down in one of the large, brown, leather chairs and made her a cup of hot, sweet tea, saying, ‘tell me what happened,’ as he did it.
Cleo recounted what had happened and Alexander looked drawn and worried when she finished, sitting down opposite her and pausing to consider what she’d just said. ‘There’s one more thing,’ said Cleo, looking down into her tea, struggling to find the best way to say it, ‘as they were leaving and Marcus was trying everything to get Austin to free Anita, he told them that he loved her. They rounded on him and looked like they might have locked him away too, but didn’t say a thing, they just carried on and Marcus followed them out.’
Alexander looked pained, but in reality something like that might be the only thing that would keep Anita alive. It would be dangerous for Austin to kill Anita knowing that Marcus loved her, however he wouldn’t easily be persuaded to just let her go.
Once Cleo had left, Alexander carefully considered his options. He considered contacting Marcus to try and work together to break Anita out, he thought about storming over to the castle and demanding she be released, he even briefly considered killing Austin, but quickly put that one aside. In the end, Alexander reasoned it was most important to maximise the chances that Anita would be kept alive, and the best way to do that was to let Austin know that Alexander, along with others, knew she was being held by him. That way, Austin would probably think it too risky to kill her outright and it would buy Alexander some time t
o work out a way to get her freed.
Alexander got his driver to take him to the castle, the light from its windows blazing out into the now pitch black sky. He walked up to the imposing front door and pulled the handle that rang the bell. Amber answered and looked at Alexander suspiciously, ‘why are you here?’ she snapped curtly, sounding surprised.
‘I have something important that I need to discuss with Austin.’
Looking at Alexander as though it were ludicrous that he’d not already told her, she said, ‘and that important topic of conversation is…?’
‘…none of your business,’ he replied severely. ‘And since when have Descendants had to explain themselves to the likes of you?’ This was the kind of thing Austin would say, so Alexander hoped it would resonate with her.
She looked petulantly back at him, ‘fine, come in. I’ll see if Austin is available.’
A few minutes later Alexander was standing in front of Austin’s desk, Austin pretending to have no idea why he was there and making a point of not offering Alexander a seat. ‘Austin, I have something of a sensitive nature to discuss with you.’
Austin raised his eyebrows in mock surprise, ‘oh?’ he said, ‘how can I help?’
‘It would appear as though you have one of my students detained at present and I would very much appreciate it if you would release her into my custody.’
‘Which student is that?’ he asked casually, sipping honey coloured whiskey from a tumbler.
Alexander replied evenly, ‘I think we both know I’m referring to Anita. She’s very close to your son is she not?’
Austin’s nostrils flared. ‘Tell me, why is it you think I should release someone who tried to steal from my family vault into your custody?’
‘As I said, she’s one of my students, which makes me partially responsible for her. I should like to resolve this quietly and as a matter of urgency, so there is no embarrassment for any party involved.’
