Vowed

by Liz de Jager

  Her room was in darkness but when he walked in and turned on the light, he was pushed aside by someone carrying Tia. The person was bigger and faster than him. He had the impression of a tall form wearing black clothes, before his little sister let out a shriek, loud enough to wake everyone in the flat. Marvin ran after the guy and was hot on his heels when the front door burst open and someone else stood there, waiting to take Tia.

  The man in black handed the little girl over to the man outside, before turning around and running for the wall, which he just ran right through, his coat flapping in his wake. Marvin, although angry and scared, took off after the guy who had taken his sister. The guy, the newcomer, held Tia close to his body, her head tucked into the curve of his neck and shoulder. He held a protective hand against her head to prevent it from bumping. She had her legs wrapped around his middle and clung to him like a scared monkey. Marvin’s exact words. When the man ran past the lift, Marvin knew he was heading for the stairs and thought he’d be able to catch up with him. But the man swung the door to the stairs shut in Marvin’s face, and by the time the boy had wrestled the door to the stairs open, he just saw the guy plunging down the centre of the stairs to the ground floor below, his dark coat flaring out behind him like a cloak. The guy looked up at Marvin, gave him a nod and then exited the building without anyone else even seeing him.

  ‘Is there CCTV in your building?’

  ‘Yes. It showed nothing. Just me, shouting like a crazy person.’

  ‘Nothing from the passage outside your flat?’

  ‘Not a thing.’

  I take the proffered glass of Diet Coke from Chem and drink deeply.

  ‘Marvin, do you recall seeing anyone hanging around the flats recently? Anyone new, who doesn’t belong?’

  ‘No, just you and that other guy, Dante.’

  ‘No one else weird, or anything?’

  He bends forward and rests his head on his forearms. ‘No one. I’ve been talking to the cops about this for hours already. No one at all.’

  I catch Chem’s eye and he gives me a quick shake of the head. ‘We’ve been talking to loads of people on the estate and no one has seen anything or anyone.’

  I lean back on the couch. ‘I’ve been doing this for a little while now,’ I tell them. ‘And I’ve never been to a place where no one has seen anything at all. Someone must have seen something.’

  Both boys manage to look guilty as I groan in frustration.

  ‘Marvin, this is going to sound weird but do you know if your mum and dad recently got sent money? Or were given money? Or came by money?’

  Marvin frowns at me but shrugs. ‘My dad got a promotion at work. He’s been made a full manager so we’ll be moving away from here soon.’

  I blink at him. ‘He got promoted?’

  ‘Yes. At the stationery supply place he works at. His old manager is retiring and he’s been given the job.’

  ‘What will happen now?’ Chem asks before I do. ‘I mean, with Tia missing?’

  ‘I’m not sure. My dad went to work this morning for a while and my mum’s just sitting there, crying. The police are there, they’ve set up equipment to trace any calls, in case there are ransom demands.’

  He looks at me and his eyes are hollow with tiredness and worry.

  ‘Why my sister?’ he asks me. ‘Why was she taken?’

  ‘I don’t know, Marv, but I’m working on finding out.’ I take a deep breath. ‘Listen, I need a favour. I would like to talk to your mum, if I could? Do you think that’s possible?’

  ‘I don’t know, man. She’s really not doing so good.’

  I gently touch his hand. ‘I know, Marvin, but maybe only for five minutes?’

  I see the conflict in his gaze but he eventually gives a nod, although it’s reluctant and wary.

  ‘No longer than five minutes. If you do anything weird, I’m telling the cops.’

  I heave a sigh of relief. ‘Of course. I won’t take up a lot of your time. I promise.’

  Chem’s frown tells me how unhappy he is but he remains quiet as I follow Marvin out of the door to his flat.

  ‘I need you to do me a favour,’ I say to Marvin as we near the door.

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘I need you to invite me in.’

  He shoots me a confused look. ‘Uh, okay.’ He unlocks the door and pushes it open. ‘Mum, I’ve brought a friend of mine from school, is that all right? Kit, don’t just stand there, it’s okay, come in.’

  I take a breath and step up towards the door; as I do, the invisible wall of magic that resisted me the day before gives way. I stumble across the doorstep and have to grab hold of the door to prevent myself from face-planting in the passageway.

  Marvin’s mum reaches a hand out to me.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asks, her voice thick with unshed tears, but her concern for my lack of coordination is obvious.

  ‘Sorry, yes, just incredibly clumsy. My name is Kit Blackhart, Mrs . . .’

  ‘Please, just call me Alison, Kit. So nice for Marvin to bring someone home from school for a change.’ She blows her nose after shaking my hand. ‘The place is a bit of a mess at the moment, as you can imagine. Marvin, why don’t you make us some tea? Thanks, love.’ She shows me to a chair and I nod to the young policewoman sitting stiffly in front of a laptop. ‘This is Officer Briggs.’

  I nod at her and she gives me a piercing glance before looking away and fiddling with the keyboard. ‘Marvin told me what happened, Mrs . . . I mean Alison, I’m really sorry. Have you had any word?’

  ‘Nothing yet, but we’re hoping to hear something from someone soon.’ She smiles a wan smile as another man walks into the room. ‘Steve, this is Kit. She’s one of Marvin’s friends. From school.’

  Steve is obviously Marvin’s dad. They look enough alike to be related and he has the same worried eyes behind similarly framed glasses. I shake his hand and he drops into a seat near the police officer. He seems tired but watches the young policewoman uncomfortably.

  ‘A cup of tea would be good, thanks, son,’ he says as Marvin pops his head around the corner.

  The awkward silence is broken by Marvin. He edges into the room carrying a large tray laden with mugs, spoons, milk, sugar and biscuits. There are cups for all of us. We each busy ourselves with making our tea the way we like it. Marvin perches on the arm of my couch and looks jittery.

  ‘Are you guys okay if I show Kit my room?’

  His mum frowns for a second, looks at me, then at him before nodding. ‘Keep the door open.’

  A wild blush creeps up Marvin’s neck and colours his cheeks but he nods and I follow him down the short passage, past his parents’ room to his room. It’s tidier than I expected but then I see the elaborate towering computer system and stay on the far side of the room.

  ‘I have bad luck with computers,’ I explain, pulling up a chair. ‘I go near them and they go boom.’

  He looks perplexed but nods. ‘What do you need to see?’

  ‘Tia’s room. For maybe five minutes, if that.’

  He doesn’t look happy but nods and beckons me forward and points. The doorway diagonally across from his is obviously his sister’s.

  ‘Just hurry, okay.’

  I nod and in two strides I’m across the passage and inside the little girl’s room. There is a lot of pink, but there are also Lego blocks and stuffed animals alongside a few Ben 10 toys. I draw a breath and as I exhale my magic surfaces. The brightness in the room kicks up a few notches and for a moment I’m staggered by the warmth of feeling that suffuses me. I sense it all around me and it’s not just in this room but in the whole of the flat. Here is a close-knit family who truly do love one another.

  My examination of the room is swift and I would dearly like to spend more time here, getting a sense of the little girl, but I can hear her parents speaking with the police officer, the clink of mugs and teaspoons.

  I’ve only done what I’m trying to do once before (by accident too) an
d it knocked me for six, depleting my magic and making me sick. I sit down on Tia’s unmade bed and dig my fingers into the bedding, letting myself be sucked into the past, reaching for the images I know I can access if I can sustain my magic for long enough.

  There are a few moments of darkness, then it’s like a movie playing in reverse.

  I see the fingerprint dustings performed on the surfaces and people walking around the room: some in uniform, Detective Shen, Dante looking grey, Marvin, then his parents. And I see the girl curled asleep in her bed. The room smells of talc and a whiff of perfume from her mother. It’s dark out and the figure making its way in through the window wears a coat with the collar too high, the panels seemingly stitched together by a blind craftsman. He reminds me of some of the Morris dancers we’ve had in our village near the Manor in the past. The only thing that’s missing is the black top hat and feathers in his hair. There’s something about the way he moves and his dress that’s peculiar, maybe a bit familiar even, but I can’t put my finger on it.

  He slips into the room, as softly as a wisp of air. He kneels next to the bed and whispers Tia’s name. She turns towards him, murmurs something and he chuckles. She voluntarily sits up and chats to him but the distance is too great and I can’t hear what he’s saying to her. She laughs and shows him a teddy bear with a squinty button eye. He takes it from her. They chat some more and there is no fear in her at all. When he stands she does too, reaching up to him. He picks her up and she goes willingly, fearlessly. I see her face for a second and there’s sadness there, in her eyes, but she’s being brave. She holds on to him as he walks out of the room, coming face to face with a sleepy-eyed Marvin.

  Shock. Fear. Anger.

  There are shouts next, a door banging and Tia’s cries of alarm. Marvin screaming now, waking everyone. There’s a sense of the world tilting and . . .

  Bam, I’m back where I started.

  I stand, my legs shaky beneath me, and I walk to the doorway. Marvin’s watching me anxiously from his room.

  ‘Bathroom,’ I mouth and he points.

  ‘Thanks,’ I say out loud and step into the passage, closing the bathroom door behind me with a loud click. I get the tissue to my nose just in time to catch the blood and before I black out.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  ‘What happened? Are you okay?’ Marvin looks worried as I walk back into his room. ‘I heard a noise like falling.’

  ‘I’m okay, thanks. I used my magic and it sometimes makes me lightheaded.’

  Marvin blinks rapidly behind his glasses but he nods, accepting my words and the use of magic without too much fuss.

  ‘Did you find anything in her room?’

  ‘She knew the guy who came for her.’ I hold up my hand to stop further questions. ‘She went willingly.’

  ‘But how? I mean, the guy wasn’t human. He ran through the wall for fu— . . . heaven’s sake. How does my baby sister come to know someone who can do that?’

  ‘That’s what we need to figure out. I want to walk back down the passage and stairs and see if I can get a sense of who took her.’ I smile at him. ‘You’re doing great, you know? Your parents are pretty special.’

  The smile he gives me is a reluctant one. ‘Yeah. It’s embarrassing. They hardly ever fight. They always say it’s because when they met, they promised one another never to let the bad stuff get to them. They made a vow.’

  The words trigger something in my mind. Using the term ‘making a vow’ isn’t your everyday human speak. I promise I’ll do my homework. I promise I’ll do the chores around the house before I go out. I promise I’ll bring you back your favourite book. Promises can be small but vows are pretty big things. Think about wedding vows.

  ‘Where did they meet?’ I ask Marvin.

  ‘Some music festival that’s been held since the seventies. Up north somewhere.’

  ‘So not Glastonbury?’

  ‘Huh, no. This festival isn’t very big but they go every year. It’s more of a local thing, with a few folk bands and a few smaller rock bands. Last year they went and said it’s become really alternative.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘That the locals have linked it to some kind of Renaissance fair, with historical re-enactors and things. People pretending to be fairies and creatures. Like they have in the States, apparently. I think it’s the same group of people who have taken over running the festival, actually.’

  ‘Do you want to walk me out?’ I ask him, my mind whirling. This, I feel sure, is the missing link we need. If we can connect the other people to this festival somehow . . . my mind spins in circles as I wonder if I’m seeing patterns where there aren’t any. I’m itching to get hold of Kyle to ask him to check it out.

  ‘Here, you’d better take these.’ Marv hands me two science handbooks. ‘To make sure my mum and them don’t think it’s weird you’ve come by from school and we’re not doing schoolwork or something.’

  I grin. ‘Marv, usually, when a girl visits a boy after school, it’s hardly ever about schoolwork.’

  ‘What?’ He looks at me blankly for a moment before realization dawns and another flush spreads up his cheek. ‘That’s not true. Diane comes round all the time after school.’

  I raise my eyebrows. ‘Really? And she comes to hang out here because?’

  ‘We talk about music and games. Sometimes about school.’ He looks as if he wants to run away from me. ‘Diane doesn’t like me. I mean, she’s popular and pretty. She hangs out with Chem and the guys.’

  ‘Does she go to any of their homes?’

  His silence gives me the answer. ‘She likes you, Marv. Maybe, when all of this is finished, you should ask her out on a date.’

  ‘I don’t want to screw things up.’

  ‘You won’t. Just say, Hey, would you like to go to the movies with me this Saturday, just the two of us. To see what it’s like going out together. By ourselves.’

  ‘As easy as that?’

  ‘Showing a girl you like her needn’t be rocket science, Marv.’

  His smile is shy and sweet and I grin at him. ‘Come on, let’s see if I can get an idea who this other guy is.’

  I say goodbye to his parents and Officer Briggs, who barely acknowledges my wave with a nod of her head. I take the books from Marv as we step outside.

  ‘Can you walk with me?’ I ask him.

  ‘I’m just walking Kit out, Mum,’ he calls over his shoulder. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

  I hand him back the books. ‘This is going to be weird. You may see what I see. Just don’t freak out.’

  Marvin’s eyes behind his glasses are huge but he nods and swallows. I turn to face the passage and take a deep breath, willing my magic upwards. I can’t explain how I manage to do this, putting myself in a different time almost, and I hate doing it. It might look as if I’m actually turning back time, which isn’t something I can do, unlike trained sorcerers from the Otherwhere. For me, it’s more like spooling back a film reel to show what’s happened.

  There are so many people coming and going, some in police clothes. I hear voices, the sound of sirens; I see curious onlookers. I go back further until I see the figure walk to the door. My sense of him isn’t strong and, try as I might, he remains wrapped in darkness. He stands by the door, pressing a gloved hand against it and waits. I see how he listens, tilting his head, seemingly making sense of the movement inside the flat.

  There’s shouting, then the door is pulled open. The other man stands there, holding Tia. There’s a blurriness surrounding them that frustrates me. I can’t get a clear view of their faces. The Raggedy Man says something low to the other man, who gives a sharp shake of his head before taking the little girl. She looks up into his face with a half-smile but it changes into the scream that will propel everything into motion again. The Raggedy Man gives a shake of his head and looks over his shoulder, possibly seeing Marvin running towards him. He turns from the door at the same time as his partner and disappears fro
m my view.

  The man now running towards me moves with unnatural grace and speed. Marvin, as he rushes past me, has no way of catching up but it doesn’t stop him from storming after him.

  The door to the stairs bangs open and I watch the man look over his shoulder. For one crucial second, the glamour obscuring his face lifts and I truly See him before he turns and jumps down the stairwell. He crashes out through the lower door with the power of a storm.

  I sag against Marvin, who drops the books he’s holding so he can grab hold of me. I fumble in my pocket and pull out a wedge of toilet roll and press it against my nose as blood gushes. I’m too heavy for Marvin to hold on to but he slides down the wall with me and we sit there in silence for a few moments.

  ‘I saw him,’ Marv says and his voice sounds slow. ‘I mean, I saw his face. That can’t really be his face, can it?’

  I close my eyes in answer and Marvin swears. ‘Why would something like that take my sister?’

  ‘Because vows that are made need to be kept,’ I say past the tissues. ‘And people never remember that. They forget that words have power and so do promises.’

  Chapter Forty

  I wave at Marvin as I gun the Monster’s engine and pull away. I’m exhausted and a headache is pounding between my eyes: the result of using my magic in an unfamiliar way. What I’ve just seen and experienced was vivid and frightening. But that effect is hugely magnified by the knowledge that Marv saw part of it with me, all over again.

  I like Marv and his mum and dad, but then likeable people sometimes do stupid stuff.

  The bland, almost blank, features of the second man as he jumped down the stairwell are seared into my brain and I want to get home, sketch him and do research. I don’t doubt that he was wearing a mask. He had to be wearing one, or he’d undergone some pretty awful surgery to create a face so featureless and mask-like.

  I’ve never seen anyone with features at all similar but even so, there was something familiar about him that I just couldn’t place.