The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘Necessary,’ Olivia shrugged.

  ‘What do you mean gifts?’ Veronica frowned. ‘I have to admit I’m so confused, I don’t understand any of this. How did that man appear out of thin air?’

  ‘He appeared out of thin air?’ Tommy turned to Veronica, his eyes narrowing suspiciously ‘How much of that whiskey have you had?’

  ‘Not enough obviously,’ she muttered.

  ‘Alright enough,’ Olivia held up her hands. ‘That’s enough; you want the truth?’

  She cast a glance at Jake and then Theo who both nodded in agreement.

  ‘Yes I do,’ Tommy replied stubbornly, ‘I want to know exactly what you’ve got my family tangled up in.’

  ‘I appreciate that you are going through a lot at the moment Tommy. I also get that you are frustrated and worried but lose the attitude while you’re under my roof,’ Olivia warned. ‘I didn’t drag Louisa and Jake into anything, they are involved simply because they lived through it the same as Theo and I. There’s no blame to go around and no one at fault, we are all in this together because we care about each other and we have each other’s backs.’

  Tommy stared at Olivia as he mulled over her words.

  ‘Sorry,’ he replied sullenly.

  ‘Veronica,’ Olivia’s voice softened as she turned to her new friend. ‘Do you want to know the truth? If you want to walk away now, it’s fine, Jake can drive you home and you can forget tonight ever happened.’

  Veronica also took a moment to study Olivia before drawing in a deep breath and shaking her head.

  ‘No, I want to know the truth.’

  ‘Be very sure you two,’ Olivia told them seriously, ‘once you know the truth there is no way back to your safe ordinary lives. From this moment on you will always look at the world through different eyes.’

  Tommy looked to Veronica who nodded mutely back at him, her large blue eyes vivid against her white face.

  ‘We want to know,’ he answered for both of them, ‘regardless of the consequences.’

  Olivia drew in a breath and held out her hands. Her eyes flashed gold and her hands burst into flame.

  ‘Holy shit,’ Tommy stumbled backwards and dropped down on the sofa next to Veronica whose eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

  The flames in Olivia’s hands separated and flickered around her. Her hair was drawn back from her face by an invisible wind and her skin glowed with power. After a moment Veronica and Tommy realized that the flames dancing merrily around Olivia were in actual fact dragonflies, composed entirely of flames.

  ‘Wow,’ Veronica whispered unable to tear her gaze from the sight before her. She held up the bottle to Tommy who took it without looking and took a deep swig of whiskey.

  Olivia allowed the dragonflies to dance around for a moment longer and then one by one they disappeared back into her cupped hands.

  ‘Not to state the obvious here,’ Olivia smiled at them softly, ‘but I’m a witch. I come from an extremely long and powerful line of witches. Both my mother and father possess powers too. My family for some reason had always wielded very strong magical gifts. I am a direct descendant from Hester West who escaped Salem with her sister Bridget and settled here. Slowly one by one they came, survivors of the witch trials, not just Salem but all over Europe and the Americas. After a while whole groups of them would arrive, drawn to this place and the undercurrent of power that runs beneath its surface and the town of Mercy was born. Almost everyone in town has some form of magical blood in them, but some are so weak they are barely even aware of it. Others more so.’

  ‘So you have powers too?’ Tommy turned to look at his wife.

  ‘We both do,’ Jake answered for her. ‘Nothing like Olivia, but we do have our own gifts.’

  ‘Which are?’ Veronica asked curiously, ‘that is if you don’t mind me asking.’

  Jake looked to his sister who nodded for him to continue.

  ‘I have always been able to tell when someone is lying or being untruthful and Louisa has always been able to tell when someone is ill or injured.’

  ‘Are you witches then?’ Tommy asked.

  ‘No,’ Louisa shook her head. ‘We were raised as Christians and that’s what we decided to live our lives as. We don’t really use our gifts, well not consciously. Today was the first time I’ve actively used my ability since I was a kid, that’s how I was able to tell what injuries Sam has.’

  ‘And you?’ Tommy turned to Theo, ‘are you a witch?’

  ‘No,’ Theo smiled in amusement. ‘I was raised a Puritan but I do have abilities of my own. I have visions.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Puritan?’ Veronica interrupted, ‘that’s…unusual.’

  ‘Veronica,’ Olivia shook her head ‘we haven’t even scraped the surface yet. The reason I am telling you about our abilities is so that you can accept the premise that magic is real.’

  ‘So this Sam guy who appeared in the kitchen, I’m assuming he has abilities too.’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘I don’t know the extent of his gifts but I do know that he is able to travel from one place to another instantaneously and not just across distances but across time as well.’

  ‘Time?’ Tommy snorted, ‘now I know you’re messing with me, there’s no such thing as time travel.’

  ‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ Olivia answered as she turned to Theo. ‘Do you want to tell them?’

  ‘Tell us what?’ Tommy frowned.

  ‘My name is Theodore Beckett,’ he told them quietly, ‘and I was born in Salem in the year 1664. Sam pulled me through time to Mercy last year around Halloween.’

  Tommy was staring suspiciously at Theo as if he couldn’t quite figure out why he would make up such an outrageous lie.

  ‘That’s why you don’t know how to drive, even though you have a driver’s license?’ he asked.

  ‘Sam provided me with identification in case anyone started looking into my background.’

  ‘This is insane.’

  ‘I know it’s a lot to take in Tommy,’ Jake interrupted, ‘but it’s true.’

  ‘Just listen to yourselves,’ he shook his head, ‘it’s not possible.’

  ‘I would probably be skeptical too if I were in your position,’ Theo told him, ‘but I give you my word that I am telling the truth.’

  ‘What really happened to your brother?’ Tommy asked suddenly as he thought back to their conversation a few weeks before.’

  ‘He was a witchfinder,’ Theo replied as his face flushed with shame, ‘as was I.’

  ‘You were a witchfinder?’ Veronica gasped as she turned to look at Olivia, ‘but you’re a witch?’

  ‘It’s a bit complicated,’ Olivia told her, ‘but trust me I’m in no danger from Theo.’

  ‘This is crazy,’ she replied.

  ‘Tip of the iceberg, sweetheart,’ Jake answered ruefully. ‘You might as well tell them the rest Olive; we’ve come this far.’

  ‘There’s more?’ Veronica breathed heavily, swiping the bottle back from Tommy and taking a large gulp of the fiery liquid.

  ‘Okay, you’ve had a lot to take in this evening so I’m going to give you the highlights of the last few months and then when you’ve had time to take it in you can ask any one of us any questions you like.’

  ‘Alright,’ she nodded.

  ‘My dad didn’t kill my mom, he injured her but she escaped the fire and survived. She returned to Mercy the same time as I did last year and she is responsible for the murders that took place.’

  ‘What?’ Tommy gasped.

  ‘This is where it gets really sticky,’ Olivia replied apologetically. ‘I won’t go into details now but basically she was killing those men as sacrifices to raise a demon.’

  ‘Oh come on,’ Tommy laughed, ‘this is getting ridiculous, a demon?’

  ‘I’ve seen it,’ Jake told him seriously. ‘I was there when Isabel West raised it; I wouldn�
��t have believed it unless I’d seen it with my own eyes.’

  ‘After that night my mom and the demon disappeared and we don’t know exactly where they are or what they want. To be honest we haven’t really had time to look for them because as you are already aware, Veronica,’ she addressed the pale quiet woman, ‘Mercy was suddenly overrun with the spirits of the dead and that became our main priority.’

  ‘You know why they’re here though, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes we do,’ she looked back at Tommy, ‘and just try to run with it okay?’

  He indicated for her to continue.

  ‘In order for me to explain what is going on you need to understand one thing… everything’s real.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Veronica frowned.

  ‘Magic, spirits, demons, Gods, Goddesses, every myth and folk tale that has ever been told came from a real supernatural creature that actually existed.’

  ‘Okay,’ Veronica answered slowly.

  ‘Charon, the Ferryman from Greek mythology is not only real but he is missing.’

  ‘Who the hell is Charon?’ Tommy frowned. ‘Sorry but I’m not up to date on my Greek mythology’ he added sarcastically.

  ‘Charon ferried the souls of the dead to the underworld,’ Veronica explained.

  ‘Exactly,’ Olivia nodded in approval. ‘Because Charon is missing the doorway to the spirit world has been left open and spirits have been returning to the world of the living. The problem is, it’s only a matter of time before other creatures from the underworld figure out there is a doorway to the human world open and they start filtering through.’

  ‘This is nuts,’ Tommy suddenly stood. ‘I’m sorry but you guys are just letting your imagination run away with you. I’m prepared to accept the whole witchcraft thing but time travel? Gods and Goddesses? It’s not real, seriously you guys need help.’

  He stalked angrily towards the door, half convinced he was the butt of a really weird joke.

  ‘Sorry,’ Louisa sighed, ‘I’ll talk to him.’

  Olivia watched as they both headed out of the room and after a few moments she heard the front door slam.

  ‘Well that went well,’ Olivia replied dryly, ‘Veronica?’

  ‘I…’ she stared at the label on the bottle she was still holding, ‘I…want to go home if you don’t mind.’

  ‘I’ll take you,’ Jake told her gently.

  ‘Thank you,’ she murmured absently.

  Olivia watched silently as she too disappeared out of the room followed by Jake.

  She sighed heavily as Theo wrapped his arms around her.

  ‘Did we do the right thing by telling them the truth?’

  ‘There’s no right or wrong answer to that,’ he kissed her softly, ‘we did what we thought was for the best. It wasn’t fair to ask Louisa to keep lying to her husband and as Veronica seemed to be caught up in the middle of all of this she deserved to know what she was getting involved in.’

  ‘I suppose,’ she relaxed into his body. ‘I don’t think she’ll want to speak to me after this and Tommy will want to have us all committed.’

  ‘Don’t be so sure,’ he murmured, ‘maybe she’ll come around…maybe they both will.’

  Chapter 14

  Theo rolled over and stretched out but instead of finding his soft warm woman he encountered a very enthusiastic fur ball. Happy that Theo was now awake Beau jumped up and clambered all over him with soft paws, nuzzling his face and licking him.

  ‘Cut it out Beau,’ Theo pushed him back and sat up, looking around. ‘Where’s Olivia?’

  Beau gave a joyful bark as if in answer to Theo’s question and jumping down off the bed he scrambled out of the room. Theo stretched then reached down and grabbed his sweatpants off the floor and pulled them on. As he trotted down the stairs pulling his t-shirt over his head he realized the house was silent. Rubbing his face sleepily he headed towards the kitchen where Beau was dancing expectantly in front of the back door.

  ‘Hey Boy,’ he reached down and petted him before unlocking the door and watching him scramble down the steps.

  He turned towards the smell of coffee and poured himself a cup. Picking up the note Olivia had left propped against the coffee machine he smiled in amusement.

  ‘Running out of coffee, gone shopping, back soon xxx.’

  Filling up Beau’s food bowl and letting him back into the kitchen he turned and headed towards his makeshift studio. He’d found that for the last few days he had a painting turning over and over in his mind. He still wasn’t sure exactly what it was yet, it felt like a dream that he’d forgotten and couldn’t quite piece together. But he usually found that if he picked up a paintbrush whatever was subconsciously bothering him would end up on the canvas sooner or later.

  Dropping his coffee down on the table he moved over to the canvases stacked against the wall, intending to find either a clean one or something he could paint over. He flicked through them idly until he reached one that made his blood run cold. Pulling it out he set it on the easel and stared at it in disbelief.

  The portrait of Mary Alcott Beckett stared back at him with cold hard accusing eyes as he felt his heart thump wildly in his chest. He’d burned this portrait, he’d taken it outside and burned it, burying the ashes beneath the snow. There was no way it could be back here amongst his things and yet there it was, pristine and whole as if it had only been painted the day before.

  ‘She’s not going to be ignored.’

  Theo jumped at the familiar voice behind him and spun around. Sam sat comfortably in Theo’s favorite shabby chair beneath the curved window looking at Theo with sympathy.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Your wife Theo, she is not going to be ignored and she is not going to let you destroy that painting. You are going to have to face the truth and deal with her.’

  ‘What are you doing down here anyway?’ Theo scowled irritably. ‘Shouldn’t you be in bed resting?’

  Sam grinned, his face a kaleidoscope of varying shades of bruising. The swelling in and around his eye had mostly subsided and he was at least able to see out of it once again. His fingers were still bound together in splints and one arm was bandaged across his ribs but otherwise he appeared to be on the mend.

  ‘I’ll be back in bed before Olivia returns,’ he chuckled. ‘I wouldn’t want to deprive her of the opportunity to fuss over me.’

  Theo retrieved a hammer and turning the painting over he used the claw to yank out the nails holding the painting to the frame.

  ‘Are you feeling better?’ Theo asked as he dropped the discarded nails onto the table.

  ‘I’ve had worse,’ he shrugged.

  ‘I don’t suppose you are going to tell us what happened to you?’

  ‘No,’ Sam replied. ‘I can’t, but I am grateful to you both for taking care of me.’

  Theo peeled the painting from the frame and rolled it up.

  ‘I’ll be leaving soon,’ Sam told him.

  Theo slotted the rolled up painting into a leather tube and set it in the corner of the room, before turning back to face Sam and studying him intently. He’d been with them for days and he’d healed a lot quicker than any normal person would have. That in itself raised a lot of questions but the truth was he owed Sam, he’d saved him and brought him to Olivia. If he needed to keep his secrets Theo would respect that and help him, with no questions asked.

  ‘Olivia won’t be pleased.’

  ‘Olivia likes to mother everyone, whether she realizes it or not,’ Sam smiled. ‘She’ll get over it, besides pretty soon you both are going to have your hands full.’

  ‘You know you’re really annoying when you do that’ Theo frowned, ‘giving us cryptic little comments but not actually helping.’

  ‘I know,’ Sam sighed, ‘I get that it must be very frustrating for you. I wish I could do more but I can’t risk changing anything and by helping you there is a risk I could inadv
ertently influence decisions you will have to make, which may ultimately change the time line. Everything that happens from now on will lead up to a fixed point in time. That event has to happen and I cannot interfere no matter how much I want to. I know it’s frustrating but eventually you will understand.’

  ‘This event, does it have to do with the Ferryman? Can you at least tell me that?’

  ‘He is the catalyst; it all begins with him and snowballs from there. You have to find him.’

  ‘I know,’ Theo replied, ‘but we don’t know where to start and I’m guessing that’s one of the things you can’t help us with.’

  Sam simply smiled at him.

  ‘I will give you one hint,’ Sam answered carefully after a moment. ‘Everything is connected, just think of everything that is going on at the moment in your lives as threads of a much larger tapestry. Once they are all woven together they will form a larger picture.’

  ‘That doesn’t really help,’ Theo frowned.

  ‘It’s the best I can do,’ he smiled apologetically, ‘and she is one of the threads you need to deal with.’

  ‘Who?’

  Sam indicated the easel behind him and as Theo turned he swore silently. The canvas he had just taken so much care to remove and store away in the leather tube was now once more firmly attached to the frame and staring back at him.

  ‘She’s not going to be ignored,’ Sam told him, ‘so tell Olivia about her.’

  ‘If I do will Mary stop plaguing me?’

  ‘That I honestly don’t know,’ he shook his head. ‘If she escaped through the doorway with the other spirits it’s possible she has her own agenda regarding you but it will affect Olivia too. She needs to know that Charlotte is not the only spirit loose in her home.’

  ‘That’s easier said than done,’ Theo replied.

  ‘Now’s your chance,’ Sam grinned and disappeared as Theo heard the front door open.

  Theo took the painting down from the easel and tucked it back against the wall behind several other canvases, just as Olivia wandered into the room with a bag of groceries.

  ‘Hey,’ she smiled.

  ‘Hey,’ he turned back towards her.