Although it had been twenty years she recognized it instantly. Her head snapped up and her gaze darted frantically around the area immediately surrounding her property. Clutching onto the doll as if her life depended on it she ran back through her front door and slammed it behind her, shooting the deadbolt and hooking the chain.
Her back pressed against the door as she looked down into her hand. The doll was hand stitched with dark hair and black buttons for eyes. It wore a red dress over black and white striped socks.
It was tatty and stained. Part of its hair and face were singed, the material now ridged and blackened. Its body held the ominous dark brown stain of dried blood and it smelled of smoke.
She closed her eyes as the memories assaulted her. She could still remember clearly the Christmas she had been given the doll. She hadn’t seen it in twenty years, not since the night her mother died. She remembered creeping down the stairs in her nightgown clutching her doll, when she heard raised voices. Clamping down the wave of nausea that rose in her throat she ruthlessly squashed the memories threatening to surface.
She did not want to think about that night. Taking a deep breath she moved through the house, double checking all the locks and windows. She had no doubt who had left the doll for her to find and she was not going to give him the satisfaction. Whatever her father’s game was she was not going to play, she was not a scared eight year old kid this time.
Making her way back into the library she stuffed the doll down into the top drawer of her desk and slammed it shut. She couldn’t even stand to look at it. She knew she should probably call Jake but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She’d asked way too much of him already and caused him trouble with a job he loved. No, she wasn’t going to tell him about this. He was already worried about her being out here on her own. If he knew her father had left her a sadistic little memento of her childhood he’d physically haul her ass out of the house.
Pulling the drapes to close out the night, she grabbed the soft chenille throw from the couch and curled up on the old faded rug in front of the fireplace. She wrapped it tightly around her body to ward off the chill which had penetrated deep into her bones. The fire burst into flame at her presence and crackled merrily as she stared into the flames. Unable to find the peace of mind required for sleep, she stayed there, contemplating the fiery threads of gold, yellow, orange and red until the first pale rays of dawn began to creep through the crack in the drapes.
By the time the sun had fully risen she was already showered and dressed. She knew Jake was on the early shift so she wouldn’t have to run into him but she needed to see Theo. They’d spent the last several days together at Jake’s when she hadn’t been working, trying to help him assimilate three hundred years of a changing world.
To her surprise and pleasure he was doing extremely well. He was able to precisely recall dates and events as he ploughed his way through book after book. Given the level of knowledge he was able to retain after only a few days Olivia had a sneaking suspicion that he had an eidetic memory and not only that, was also highly intelligent. He seemed to understand complex ideas that were well beyond his time and education level, in fact she was sure that if she were to have him tested they would discover he had an extremely high level IQ. Everything about him was intriguing. He was quiet and unassuming, but she could tell by the look in his eyes he missed nothing. Even when she wasn’t sure he was listening he was taking it all in.
Swallowing down the last mouthful of coffee she glanced down at her watch. It was still a little early but then again Theo was an early riser. His body clock was naturally set to rise with the dawn so it was a good bet that he’d already be up. Rinsing out her cup and placing it in the sink she gathered up the new pile of books she’d put together for him and picked up her purse. Heading out of the door she double checked the locks behind her and jogged down the steps from the porch to where she’d parked her car.
She drove a few yards down the road from her property before stopping and stepping out of the car, leaving the door open and the engine running. Swiftly she knelt down at the side of the road holding her hand out over the ground. A silvery light appeared and for a moment it rose up from the ground before disappearing into a fine mist. She stood, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. Her protection wards still held strong so how the hell had her father managed to cross the line to leave the doll? It just didn’t make sense.
Frustrated, she climbed back into the car and headed into town. A few miles down the road she noticed the telltale shadow following behind her and fought down a fresh rush of annoyance.
Stupid cops, didn’t they have anything better to do? There was nothing like having her hard earned taxpayers’ dollars following her every time she left her property. Parking at the curb outside Jake’s she picked up the books and headed towards the door, pulling out the spare set of keys he’d given her. She smiled to herself; that would give them something to talk about. Unfortunately it would probably also make things more difficult for Jake at work.
Not wanting to hang around outside and expose herself any longer than necessary she opened the door and let herself in. Dropping the books and her purse on the couch she called out to Theo, frowning when he didn’t answer or appear. Moving through the living room she called out again but when he didn’t answer she shrugged. Maybe he had decided to sleep in after all. Deciding to use the bathroom before putting on some coffee, she opened the door to the hallway which led to the bathroom and the two bedrooms. But as she stepped into the hallway she froze.
The door to the bathroom opened and Theo stepped out into the hallway in a cloud of steam, wearing nothing but a towel while drying his damp hair with another. He stopped, observing her silently when he realized she was in the hallway.
Olivia nearly swallowed her tongue, or possibly she may have, she wasn’t entirely sure. Her gaze inadvertently followed the small rivulets of water as they slid slowly down his chest and his rock hard abdomen. Her mouth fell open slightly as her eyes travelled the length of his body and then back up to meet his curious gaze.
‘Uh, I.’ Crap, what was she trying to say? Her brain seemed to have temporarily switched off. ‘Um sorry, I’ll just…’
She turned back to the living room and smacked her head on the door with a resounding crack.
‘Ow,’ she mumbled holding her forehead. Too mortified to turn back and look at him she headed towards the kitchen to get some ice.
She was just pressing a bag of frozen peas to her forehead when Theo wandered into the kitchen wearing jeans slung low on his hips and pulling a black tee shirt over his head. Trying not to notice the delicious trail of dark hair which ran from his belly button to disappear into his jeans, she avoided his clear gaze.
‘Are you injured?’
‘I’m fine,’ she mumbled from behind the bag of peas.
‘Let me see,’ he stepped closer.
‘No,’ her voice was muffled as she pressed the bag closer to her face. ‘I said I’m fine.’
‘And I said let me see,’ she could hear amusement in his voice.
His hands gripped hers lightly as he pulled the bag away from her face. He stepped in closer, brushing her body with his own larger, harder frame. His hands cupped the sides of her face gently, tilting it into the light as he examined the welt forming at her hairline.
‘The skin did not break,’ he murmured. ‘It will heal quickly.’
God, he smelled so good. She fought the ridiculous urge to press her face into the line of his throat and breathe in the delicious scent of his skin. What the hell was wrong with her? She had never been one of those women who made a fool of themselves over a guy, so why on earth did she have the sudden urge to bite him?
Stepping back she shook her head.
‘Thanks, I’m good’ she breathed heavily turning towards the coffee pot. ‘You want a coffee?’
‘I would thank you,’ he smiled. ‘I find I very much enjoy coffee.’
; ‘What else has Jake been introducing you to?’ she threw a glance over her shoulder.
‘Beer.’
‘I’ll bet,’ she chuckled.
‘And Pizza, I really enjoyed the pizza.’
‘I suppose I’d better cook you a proper meal or Jake will have you eating take-out every night,’ she murmured absently. She turned and handed him a cup of coffee before picking hers up and heading back into the living room. ‘So where did we get up to?’
‘The American revolution, the Declaration of Independence and the Industrial Revolution,’ Theo followed her.
‘Okay so moving on to the Louisiana Purchase and after that we’ll get started on the Civil War.’ Olivia scooped the books off the couch and sat down at a table by the window.
‘The Louisiana Purchase,’ Theo’s eyes narrowed in thought. ‘1803 the purchase of 828,800 square miles of land by President Thomas Jefferson from Napoleon Bonaparte for 78 million francs, which doubled the size of the United States.’
Olivia raised one eyebrow questioningly.
‘The discovery channel,’ he replied sheepishly, ‘sometimes I can’t sleep.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with that,’ she smiled. ‘You tried the history channel?’
He nodded, ‘and the comedy channel.’
‘The comedy channel?’
‘I like the programme called Friends.’
‘Well it’s a classic for a reason,’ she laughed lightly. ‘Okay so we’ll skip the Louisiana Purchase and go straight for the American Civil War. Are you familiar with any of it?’
‘Something about the South declaring independence from the North over the issue of slavery?’ his brow creased as he thought back to one of the books he’d flicked through.
‘Well, it’s a little more involved than that but yes, slavery was the bare bones of it.’ Olivia drew out one of the text books and flipped it open to the chapter she wanted and started talking.
Theo sipped his coffee and let her voice wash over him. He liked it when she got that prim school teacher’s voice as she delved into her history and his future. But despite the fact that he found it all very fascinating his mind began to wander and he found himself only half listening, his gaze drawn to her full rose colored lips.
The ringing of her phone startled him out of his reverie as she pulled it out of her pocket and frowned at the screen.
‘Here,’ she said handing him the book, ‘the battle of Gettysburg.’
‘Hey Mags,’ she stood and wandered towards the window, turning her back to him.
His eyes naturally fell to her shapely – what was the word, - oh yes, ‘ass’ and he didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about that. Now that he’d had the chance to get used to the way women dressed in the 21st century he found himself very appreciative of the very tight trousers known as ‘skinny jeans’.
‘No, I haven’t sent the final copy but you’ll get it in the next few days,’ she murmured into the phone as Theo turned back to the book.
Skimming through the first few paragraphs, he sighed quietly. There was so much to learn, it was amazing to think how much had happened to the world in the last few centuries alone. It was fortunate for him that he was able to pick things up quickly. When he was younger it had truly been a curse. His father hadn’t been appreciative of his intellect nor his gift for reading and words.
Matthias Beckett had been a devout man who believed that sparing the rod spoiled the child and needless to say Theo had been neither spared nor spoiled. Anything outside of Matthias’ sphere of understanding was immediately labelled ‘the work of the devil’ and punished severely. Unfortunately for Theo his gift for remembering words had fallen decidedly into that category and he had been punished accordingly.
After that he hid it as much as he could. It was strange being here; now instead of being derided for his gift he was encouraged. Olivia seemed inordinately pleased that he was able to retain so much information so quickly and he could admit to himself, it was a balm to the soul to be allowed to be himself. It was like finally being able to take a breath.
‘You still want to come and visit?’ he heard her ask. ‘Um, it’s not really a good time at the moment. The house is a mess and I’m still trying to sort through decades of junk.’
She listened quietly for a moment.
‘No, I know that Mags and I appreciate that you want to help but I really need to do it on my own.’ Olivia breathed a small sigh of relief when Mags finally gave her a break.
After saying their goodbyes and hanging up, Olivia stood a moment, gazing thoughtfully out of the window.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her, in fact it was the complete opposite. She missed her like crazy, but the simple fact was that with a psycho on the loose and her sadistic father trying to torment her she figured Mags needed to keep as far away from her as possible. It was bad enough Louisa and Jake had been dragged into the mess she was in now, she certainly didn’t want Mags getting caught up in it too.
Her heart sank as her thoughts once again drifted to her father. She couldn’t understand why he would do something so cruel as to leave her the doll she’d been holding the night he killed her mother. A small voice at the back of her mind told her it might not have been him, but there was no one else it could have been. No one else would have access to the doll. But why now, why hold onto the doll all these years and then leave it sitting on her porch? Did he hate her that much? Hadn’t he taken enough from her that he now had to take her peace of mind as well?
‘Olivia,’ Theo’s voice rumbled close to her ear.
She jolted and half turned. She had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t even heard him approach.
‘What’s wrong?’ He stepped in close brushing against her body, making the tiny little hairs on her arms stand on end.
‘Nothing,’ she murmured, turning away from him, unable to stare into those dark eyes, not when she felt so raw inside.
‘No lies Olivia,’ his voice was low and deep, ‘isn’t that what we agreed?’
‘I also said, if I didn’t want to discuss something I wouldn’t,’ she frowned.
‘Olivia,’ he turned her slowly so they stood face to face, her body naturally leaning into his as if he were her own personal source of gravity. ‘I know something is wrong, something other than the murder of Adam and Brody’s disappearance.’
‘You know about that?’
‘I hear things,’ he replied, ‘but it’s not that is it? It’s something else.’
‘Don’t,’ she shook her head.
‘Olivia,’ he wrapped a stray curl of her hair around his finger, ‘talk to me. Are you worried about what is in the woods by your home? Is that why you don’t want your friend to visit you?’
‘Is there anything you don’t know about?’ Olivia asked dryly.
‘I overheard you and Jake talking about it the first night you brought me here.’
‘You know what they say about eavesdroppers.’
‘Actually I don’t,’ a small smile curved the corner of his mouth, ‘but I am concerned for you.’
‘I told you before Theo I don’t need saving.’
‘I know,’ he murmured as he absently traced her jaw with his fingers, ‘but you have to understand why I feel so protective of you.’
‘So explain it to me,’ she whispered.
‘I’ve seen you my whole life but I thought you were nothing more than a dream. If I had known you were real...’ his gaze dropped to her mouth as he grazed her bottom lip with his thumb, his voice soft and low, ‘I would have torn the world apart brick by brick looking for you. I didn’t know, but now I do. You’re real and I am never going to let anyone or anything harm you.’
She shook her head and pulled back slightly. He was too close, the atmosphere too intimate. He made her feel things she wasn’t prepared to examine too closely.
‘Theo,’ she sighed.
‘Tell me what is in the woo
ds; tell me what you’re afraid of.’
‘I can’t.’
He opened his mouth to interrupt her but she pressed on.
‘It’s not because I don’t want to,’ she shook her head, ‘It’s because I don’t know. I don’t know what it is.’
‘Tell me what you do know then.’
‘It’s old,’ she whispered as her eyes became distant. ‘It’s lain dormant for a long time but even now it stirs, it feels the edges of its power and it waits.’
‘For what?’
She was breath-taking was all he could think. Her eyes had gone from a deep dark aged-whiskey to pure gold. Her skin almost glowed and he could feel the heat of her body against his own.
She trembled in his arms as a wave of dizziness washed over her.
‘Sorry,’ she murmured, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. ‘I don’t know why I said that, I must be more spooked than I thought.’
‘Do you think it’s the murderer?’ he stroked her face lightly. ‘They did find the body of Adam Miller in the woods.’
‘Maybe,’ she replied.
She knew it wasn’t that, but she couldn’t go into further detail without revealing things to him that she wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with.’
Suddenly the moment was broken with the loud squeal of tires outside. Olivia broke away from Theo’s embrace and looked out of the front window. The unmarked cop car that had been following her pulled out from its surveillance spot across the street, did a u-turn and headed out down the street.
‘That can’t be good,’ Olivia frowned.
‘What is it?’
‘Those cops have been all over my ass for days. Something pretty big must have happened for them to tear out while I’m still here.’
Theo turned towards the front door as it opened and Jake strode in.
‘Jake?’ Olivia stepped out from behind Theo, ‘what’s going on?’
‘They found Brody,’ he replied tightly.
‘Why do I get a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach,’ Olivia murmured.
‘They found his body in the woods like Adam.’
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 19
