Suddenly it all came rushing back to him. He started towards the door, yanking it open so violently he heard the hinges groan and splinter slightly. He glanced out, squinting into the driving rain and realized the horses were gone. Swearing softly to himself he ran out into the rain, knowing it would take him twice as long to reach the Beckett place without his horse. Undeterred he set off. No matter what happened or how long it took him he was going to help his children, whatever it took.
Olivia turned and watched as Theo placed Mary down next to Matthias under the small lean-to where the firewood was kept neatly stacked. She backed up across the open space in front of the house and looked up until she could see the flames licking up the side of the building. Stretching her arms out she opened her mind, searching out the heat and flames of the fire. She closed her eyes so she could focus easier, in the driving rain she could hardly see anything so she would have to rely on her other senses. Feeling the cold rain stinging the tender skin of her face and washing away the sickly smoke she tried to clear her mind, once again reaching out towards the fire which was beginning to burn out of control. She could see the gold and red strands of the flames wild and untamable, as beautiful as they were deadly, but she did not fear it. The fire was hers, it would never harm her. A quiet, dreamy kind of lassitude fell over her as she grasped onto the flames, soothing them as she would a fractious child until they began to bank down. With the rain and her own control of the flames the fire finally smothered itself and petered out. Part of the roof had gone and there was nothing left of Temperance’s room but a charred out blackened hollow. The rest of the house remained intact though.
Breathing heavily Olivia glanced up at the house in satisfaction, they’d done it. Mary and Matthias were alive, the house largely remained standing and Sam had taken Temperance. She just hoped that they had made it to present day Mercy safely.
‘Well, well, well,’ a cold voice spoke from behind her. ‘Now there is something you don’t see every day.’
Olivia spun around in the direction of that chillingly familiar voice.
‘Nathaniel,’ she hissed and without thinking she drew her hands apart and her bow burst into blue black flames of pure Hell fire.
‘Interesting,’ his eyes widened as he beheld the fiery bow she wielded. ‘Now you really have my attention.’
Olivia swore under her breath. She should have stopped and thought not just reacted, but now she had Nathaniel in all his demon glory standing in front of her and he knew she had power. She felt Theo step in beside her and watched him from the corner of her eye. His jaw was set in a grim determined line and as he raised his hand, the molten metal set deep into his skin melted, running down his arm to coalesce in his palm. It didn’t form the knife Olivia had originally transformed for him but instead became the sword Hades had adapted and this time, as it met the sure grip of his fist, the blue black blade burst into flames, rippling in the rain with a fusion of sapphire Hellfire and cool silver Spirit fire.
‘Nathaniel,’ Theo ground from between his teeth, ‘walk away. This does not concern you.’
Theo would have loved nothing more than to split the smirking demon in half like a corn husk, but he had to remind himself this was not the rotting misshapen creature Isabel West had trailing after her but Nathaniel in his true form. Theo was not entirely confident that their weapons would actually make a difference. At this point the best they could possibly hope for was to distract him long enough to escape.
‘Theodore Beckett isn’t it?’ His black oily eyes narrowed as he tried to place Theo’s face. He glanced briefly at the Beckett house behind him. ‘I don’t know the woman though…yet…her I’m very interested in.’
Theo growled stepping partially in front of Olivia, as if to shield her from him.
‘I mean it Nathaniel,’ he warned ominously, ‘you don’t want to fight us.’
Nathaniel eyes suddenly widened and he looked at them both in surprise as if only just realizing something.
‘You don’t belong here,’ he spoke slowly. ‘You don’t belong in this time frame.’
His mouth curved into a cold gleeful smile.
‘I am going to enjoy learning your secrets,’ his fingers flexed unpleasantly as he took a step closer.
Olivia’s eyes narrowed as she took aim, releasing her grip and letting loose a bolt of pure black fire from her flaming bow. It streaked through the streaming rain and hit its target with a sickening thud, knocking Nathaniel back several paces as he skidded through the slimy mud. Regaining his balance he looked down at the smoking burn dead center of his chest then raised his head again, his face splitting into a feral grin.
‘Itches a bit,’ he replied coldly.
As he charged towards Olivia, Theo spun her around behind him and lunged forward running Nathaniel through with his sword. The blade appeared protruding from his back and he let out an animalistic cry of rage and pain. The flames of the sword licked through his wound filling the stormy air with the sickening stench of burning flesh. Nathaniel gripped Theo’s arms and threw him backwards. Losing his footing on the slippery waterlogged mud Theo rolled to the ground sliding a few feet away.
James hurried through the trees towards the outskirts of the Beckett property. He could see figures close to the house and he quickened his pace, praying that he was not too late. He bypassed his horses tethered nearby to a tree and headed towards the boundary.
Nathaniel grasped Olivia by the throat hauling her so close to his body she could smell his fetid breath.
‘What are you?’ he growled. Flecks of bloodied spittle appeared at the corners of his mouth. ‘How is it you can call the ancient fire?’
Olivia struggled against his death like grip, clawing at his hands to try and get loose. He wasn’t holding her tight enough to cut off her oxygen just enough to cause her pain and prevent her from escaping.
‘How is it you came to be here in this time?’
Lightning lit up the sky and he caught a glimpse of something shiny at her throat, partially concealed beneath the open collar of her dress. He hooked his cold finger beneath the chain and withdrew the compass his eyes widening in pure shock. His fist closed around the compass and he held it up to her face.
‘Where did you get this?’ he demanded.
Olivia tried to speak but all she could manage was a croak as his fist tightened on her throat in fury.
‘THIS BELONGS TO MY BROTHER! WHERE DID YOU GET IT?’ he roared.
Olivia scrabbled at him weakly, trying to get him to release her throat. In his incandescent rage he didn’t seem to realize he wouldn’t be able to get an answer out of her if he choked the life from her. A glint of light reflecting off the dark shiny metal of a blade cut across her vision and the pressure on her throat was suddenly released. She fell to the ground sliding through the mud and gasping for air. A shrill scream split the air and as she looked up she saw Nathaniel throw Theo to the ground before stumbling backwards himself, clutching the stump of his arm which had been severed at the elbow and was now gushing thick black blood. Olivia glanced across at the discarded limb lying beside her in the mud. Resisting a shudder of revulsion, she peeled back the limp fingers and pulled the compass free. She could feel it pulsing in her hand, the lid flipped open and as she saw the hand spinning wildly she knew what she had to do. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest and her breath came in short adrenalin filled gasps.
Nathaniel’s furious pain filled eyes locked on hers and he peeled back his lips in a hate filled snarl as he started towards her, lurching unsteadily. Olivia dug into the mud hauling herself across the soaked ground towards Theo. As she reached him she grabbed onto him tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, her grip tightening on the compass so hard it bit into the soft flesh of her palm. She felt it burn white hot against her skin, heard Nathaniel’s wrenching cry of denial and suddenly everything around them shifted and blurred.
They lay on the ground not moving, watching as the space arou
nd them went light then dark and then repeated itself over and over again. It was almost as if they remained constant in the same space but time had sped up, passing through endless rotations of day and night around them and all they could do was hold onto each other and hope they ended up in the right time.
Nathaniel raised his face to the sky and howled in outrage as Olivia and Theo disappeared before his eyes. He looked down at the stump of his arm, raising it in front of him. The bleeding had slowed to an unpleasant ooze and before his eyes the limb started to elongate and stretch. The bud appearing at the end split into five and continued to grow until he had a completely new arm. He flexed the fingers experimentally a few times and bent it at the elbow. Satisfied it was as good as the original he glanced down to the ground where his discarded limb had bubbled and decomposed, disappearing into the mud. Steeling himself and reining in his fury he glanced back at the Beckett house. His black eyes were cold and his mouth thinned into a bitter line. He would be keeping an extremely close eye on the Beckett family from this moment on.
James pressed himself back against the tree out of sight, his heart beating wildly and his eyes wide in disbelief. Had he really just seen the young cleric Nathaniel grow back a severed limb? He couldn’t believe it; he’d known there was something not right about him but he had no idea…
There was no way to get into the house now, not with Nathaniel so close. He now understood what Olivia had been trying to tell him about being exposed. Olivia and Theo were gone, so he swallowed hard and ruthlessly smothered his pain. He looked up at the Beckett house and saw the fire damage to the structure just as they’d described. He could only hope and pray that they had gotten Temperance out in time.
Sneaking back through the trees he untied the horses and set off back towards his house. He couldn’t let Nathaniel suspect him of complicity. Olivia and Theo may be gone, hopefully having jumped successfully through time, so now he was going to have to wait and protect their secret at all costs.
Chapter 12.
Mercy Medical Center
December 1983
Harriet leaned over the nurses station her gaze running over the doctors notes she’d been handed and sighed, there was no way she was getting out on time. She glanced up at the clock and frowned, her shift ended five minutes ago but she still needed to dress a wound, check another patients’ stats, restock the exam rooms and all while trying to cover the front desk as the temporary desk clerk seemed to have disappeared with her boyfriend again.
‘Harry,’ another nurse shot past her, ‘we need a bedpan for the patient in 2.’
‘Why can’t you get it?’ she called after her retreating form.’
Damn it she swore under her breath, it was always crazy around the holidays but despite the fact that everyone seemed to be trying to poison themselves with bad eggnog, falling off ladders or trying to electrocute themselves with fairy lights it was usually fun. However right now she was having a lot of trouble finding her Christmas spirit, half the staff were out sick with the flu and they were desperately understaffed. She glanced back at the clock sighing again, there was no way she was going to make her date in time.
She glanced across at the huge gaudy tree Dougie, the maintenance guy had dumped unceremoniously down in the middle of the ER. It was slightly wonky, a bit bald on one side and covered with so many decorations and angel hair it was like Santa had just vomited up Christmas all over it. Still, a small amused smile crept across her face, the damn thing was so ugly it was kinda cute.
She shook her head and turned towards the small radio sitting on the nurses’ station. Kim Carnes voice was once again filling the air is wasn’t that she minded her singing about Bette Davis’ eyes but to tell the truth she was getting slightly sick of hearing it on repeat. Reaching for the dial she turned it to a different station picking up the upbeat sound of Olivia Newton John getting physical which to be honest wasn’t much better. Twisting it again she finally settled on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Merry Christmas (War is over) a song which may have been over ten years old but she still loved it. It was a song which never failed to make her feel Christmassy and yet humble at the same time. Lost in the song and humming happily to herself she jolted at the sudden voice of her friend Joelynn behind her.
‘I see Hazel has done a disappearing act again.’
‘Her boyfriend turned up with a rather limp sprig of mistletoe and a bad apology and I haven’t seen them for the last hour,’ she rolled her eyes as she turned towards her friend.
‘Eeew the girl has no class; it’d take a lot more than that to win me back if I’d caught my man gambling my rent money on a poker game.’
Harriet’s eyes narrowed as she studied her friend carefully, ‘what have you done to your hair?’
‘Do you like it?’ Joelynn fluffed her hair, the ends had been dyed a bright almost white blonde leaving the roots still her dark natural colour, she’d also scrunched it into wild curls and tied it back from her face with a length of thin lace.
Harriet's gaze continued on, taking in the rather large crucifix’s dangling from her ears to the dozens of black rubber bracelets at her wrists.
‘You do know you’re not Madonna don’t you?’
‘You can talk,’ Joelynn smirked, ‘what’s with the Brooke Shields?’
Harriet’s hand automatically went to the large barrel curls and flicks of her soft shoulder length brown hair.
‘I had a date,’ she frowned.
‘Had?’ she raised once dark eyebrow.
‘I’m not going to be able to make it now.’
‘With who?’
‘Johnny finally asked me out,’ she smiled shyly.
‘Johnny? As in John Gilbert?’ Joelynn’s eyebrows shot up, ‘he’s cute.’
‘I know,’ Harriet sighed.
‘Harry,’ Joelynn spoke softly, ‘go on your date I’ll cover for you.’
‘But your shift doesn’t start for another hour.’
‘And yours ended ten minutes ago, just because they’re short staffed and you’re here doesn’t mean you have to pick up everyone else's slack. Besides I’m here now so I may as well start,’ she shrugged out of her coat and hooked it over one arm smoothing down her white nurses’ uniform.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Please,’ she rolled her eyes, ‘you have been making eyes at John Gilbert for the last six months, if the guy finally plucked up the courage to ask you out you can’t stand him up.’
‘You’re the best,’ Harriet threw her arms around her friend and squeezed hard.
‘Yeah yeah I know,’ she grinned, ‘just make sure you name your first child after me.’
‘But you hate your name.’
‘Fine,’ she conceded, ‘you can use my middle name instead.’
‘Which is what?’
‘Louisa,’ she replied.
‘Actually that’s a really pretty name.’
Joelynn started laughing.
‘God,’ Harriet rolled her eyes, ‘I can’t believe we’re talking about baby names, we haven’t even gone on a first date yet.’
‘And you won’t if you don’t hurry,’ Joelynn shooed her along, ‘you still need to change out of your uniform yet.’
‘Okay okay,’ she laughed as she skirted around the nurses’ station and headed for the locker room.
But as she crossed the waiting area a strange flicker caught the corner of her eye and as she turned to look more fully, a very young looking dark haired man appeared cradling a small child. Harriet frowned in confusion, she could’ve sworn he hadn’t been standing there a moment ago.
‘Sir?’ she saw him stumble, ‘Sir are you alright?’
‘Help her,’ he croaked stumbling forwards into Harriet, ‘help her.’
He pushed the young girl into her arms, the action, combined with the sudden weight of the child had her dropping to her knees and when she looked up the man was gone. Ignoring him she turned her attention back t
o the small girl, she looked to be not much more than eight or nine years old. She was dressed in only a thin long white nightgown which was clammy and damp with sweat and she was burning up. Harriet could feel the heat of the girl’s body through her nightgown and her breathing was labored.
‘HELP!’ she called out, ‘SOMEBODY HELP!’
Joelynn rushed to her side as she grasped the tiny child carefully and lifted her, heading for one of the empty exam rooms with her friend hurrying along behind her.
‘Find Doctor Hughes now!’ Harriet told her, ‘she can’t breathe.’
She laid the child down on the crisp white bed as Joelynn darted from the room.
Temperance opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the muted light everything looked fuzzy and out of focus. She tried to swallow but her throat was so painful it was like she had swallowed a pincushion full of needles. She shut her eyes against the throb and sway in her head taking a deep breath. It was only then she realized she could breathe easily, it no longer felt as if a large slab of stone was pressing down upon her chest. She sucked in a deep lungful of air which no longer triggered a painful bout of coughing.
She opened her eyes again and slowly the room began to swim into focus. Her brow folded in confusion as her eyes widened and this time when she sucked in a breath in was in panic and fear. She pulled herself up the firm bed and glanced around. The room was very strange, it was so bright, the walls were painted a crisp cold winter white and a large window dominated one wall. She looked down at her body noticing she was dressed in a clean nightgown which was pale yellow and scattered with pictures of tiny daises. The bedding covering her was also the same bright white as the walls and folded neatly over a pale pink blanket. There was a table by the end of the bed and on it stood a pretty pot with flowers in it.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 135
