His past self was walking the streets of Salem freely and in his true unfettered form. It wouldn’t take long for them both to figure out a way to break this disgusting prison of pig flesh Isabel had forced him into. The other version of himself would also be able to help him to summon Zachary, although it would be difficult. After the disaster at the Crossroad, he would imagine his faithful second in command had gone into hiding. He had no doubt that not only would Hades be tearing the Underworld apart brick by ancient brick searching for him, but that if he returned to Hell then he would be trying to stay off Lucifer’s radar too.
There was still a chance to salvage this situation though, he just needed to get his hands on that book. Once he had the Hell book in his hands and unlocked its secrets he would be unstoppable. He would rip that Witch whore Isabel to pieces and then he’d do the same to her daughter. Theo he’d take his time with, for all the inconvenience he’d caused him, maybe even make him watch what he did to Olivia. He repressed a shiver of pleasure at the thought of the pain he would bring to the humans and that was before he’d even started on the others. He’d raise his brother Seth from his cage and together they would deal with Hades and Lucifer and anyone else foolish enough to stand in their way. They’d tear down the walls of the Hell dimensions, all of them. Hell, Sheol, Tartarus, they would all fall, the carnage spilling out onto the human infested Earth and once the plague of humanity was wiped clean they would climb the mountain of mortal corpses to the gates of Heaven itself and paradise would belong to them.
Now all he had to do was find the past version of himself.
‘Hester come on, mama’s waiting,’ Bridget sighed as she juggled the pile of twigs and sticks in her arms.
‘I’m coming,’ Hester hurried to keep up with her twin sister’s brisk pace.
‘Hurry up it’s going to be dark soon and you know mama doesn’t like us being out after dark.’
‘The dark doesn’t bother me’ Hester grinned, clutching her own armful of firewood tighter.
‘Me neither but I’d just as soon not make mama cross,’ Bridget rolled her eyes. ‘Besides I’m hungry.’
‘You’re always hungry.’
‘Am not,’ Bridget frowned.
‘You are too; you always have a second helping.’
‘It’s because I’m growing, mama says so. That’s why I’m taller than you.’
It was true, despite the fact the girls were identical in every other way, Bridget was indeed a little taller than her sister.
‘Fine,’ Hester conceded with a small grin. Bridget was just too easy to tease.
‘What’s that?’ Bridget stopped, her expression wary as her gaze fell on a rumpled heap of material lying amongst the rainbow leaves.
‘Come on,’ Hester darted forwards.
‘Hess be careful,’ Bridget called out but it was no good, Hester had already approached the pile of cloth giving Bridget no choice but to follow her impulsive sister.
‘It’s a lady,’ Hester let the sticks she was holding drop to the ground and fell to her knees beside her. ‘I think she’s hurt.’
‘Come away Hess’ she frowned, ‘mama said not to go near strangers.’
‘She’s not,’ Hester murmured.
‘Not what?’
‘A stranger.’
‘What do you mean? Have you seen this woman before?’
‘No,’ Hester shook her head thoughtfully.
‘I don’t understand,’ Bridget replied.
‘I don’t either,’ Hester turned to her sister. ‘Run to the cabin and fetch mama, she’ll know what to do.’
‘I don’t want to leave you.’
‘I’ll be fine’ Hester replied, ‘hurry though, we’re losing the light.’
Torn between leaving her sister on her own with an unconscious stranger or going to fetch her mother Bridget wavered, her face wrought with indecision.
‘Bridey go!’ Hester told her firmly.
Unable to resist her sister’s command she darted back into the trees towards their cabin, running as fast as she could. Fortunately it wasn’t too far and she could already see it from where they had been standing, but she still had an inexplicable feeling of unease.
Hester watched her sister run back to fetch their mother but as she disappeared amongst the trees Hester turned her attention back to the woman lying unconscious on the ground. There was something familiar about her, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She wasn’t sure what to think as so many conflicted emotions crashed in on her. The woman wasn’t a stranger of that she was certain. However, there was something about her that made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The mysterious lady had power, she could feel it thrumming through the air surrounding them both and when she leaned forward and tentatively touched the cool pale skin of her cheek a jolt of energy surged through her fingertips and up her arm.
There was something else that was strange about her, something only she would be able to see. Her gift, as her grandmother had called, was that she was able to see peoples ‘threads’. The threads of life her grandma had explained, the long colorful strings that bind all life together. Very few witches could actually see them but she was one of them. It was like looking at the world through a spider’s web of brightly colored yarn. Every person was connected to each other in one way or another by different colored threads. Except for this woman. Her threads were dull muted colors not at all the vibrant rainbow colors she was used to. No, this woman’s threads were a pale washed out version and they weren’t attached to anything. It was like they’d been severed with a huge pair of scissors and lay scattered on the cold hard ground around her.
She didn’t trust her, she didn’t trust anyone who was adrift with no ties to anyone or anything, but she couldn’t ignore the fact the woman was most likely injured and needed help. Her heart wouldn’t allow her to turn away anyone who was in need. She looked up and was glad to see Bridget hurrying back through the trees with their mother in tow.
‘Hester love are you alright?’ she asked breathlessly as she approached, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders against the wind which had now picked up.
‘I’m fine mama,’ she looked down at the unconscious woman, ‘but she’s not.’
‘Let’s see,’ she dropped down next to them and laid her hand gently on the woman’s forehead. ‘There’s no fever thankfully.’
The woman stirred with a groan.
‘There, there, take it easy’ she soothed in a gentle voice.
She looked down at the woman and felt the same strange jolt of recognition of power, but couldn’t quite place it. Maybe it was just like recognizing like, for there was no doubt in her mind the woman lying on the dirty ground was a woman of power and given everything that had happened in Salem over the past several years she had a good idea what she had been running from.
‘Alright, take it easy love,’ she soothed. The woman’s eyelids fluttered and opened slowly, and she found herself staring into the deepest pair of lavender colored eyes she’d ever seen. No wonder the woman had been running. With eyes such a beautiful and unusual color she would have been a target for every Witchfinder within a ten-mile radius.
The woman blinked groggily and flinched, as if afraid of the woman and two children leaning over her.
‘Shush it’s alright, we mean you no harm,’ she smiled warmly. ‘My name’s Abigail, Abigail West and these are my two daughters Hester and Bridget.’
‘Is…Isabel,’ she swallowed lifting her head weakly, ‘my name is Isabel Connell.’
‘Well Isabel, can you sit up?’
‘I think so’ she replied, shakily pushing herself up into a sitting position. ‘I’m sorry, where am I?’
‘In the forest just east of Salem Town,’ Abigail replied softly.
‘Salem?’ her eyes widened fearfully. ‘I’m sorry I have to keep moving, I can’t let them find me.’
In a panic she started to rise but was
held back by Abigail’s firm grip.
‘It’s alright’ she assured her, ‘we’re far enough away from the main town. You’re safe here.’
‘No I’ve heard about Salem,’ she shook her head. ‘I can’t stay.’
‘You’re in no condition to be going anywhere,’ she told her firmly. ‘When was the last time you ate?’
‘I don’t…’ she shook her head, ‘I don’t remember. I had to keep moving so they didn’t find me.’
‘Who?’ Hester asked suddenly, ‘so who doesn’t find you?’
‘Hester,’ her mother admonished, ‘you bite your tongue. Can’t you see the poor woman is afraid and we know what that feels like, don’t we?’
Hester nodded slowly. Her head may have dropped contritely but her piercing whiskey eyes continued to watch the strange woman intently.
‘Come to the house won’t you?’ Abigail offered.
‘I don’t want to be a bother,’ Isabel shook her head.
‘Nonsense,’ Abigail took her hand and helped her to her feet, ‘it’s no bother at all.’
Isabel effected a convincing stumble, causing Abigail to wrap Isabel's arm around her shoulders to steady her.
‘Poor thing you must be exhausted,’ she started back towards the house taking most of Isabel’s weight as they stumbled across the forest floor towards the cheery little cabin. ‘Don’t forget the firewood Hester, there’s a chill in the air tonight.’
‘Yes mama,’ Hester replied dutifully as she stooped to retrieve the sticks she’d dropped earlier.
Once back inside the house Abigail settled Isabel into a chair by the cheerful fire and retrieved a blanket to place over her legs.
‘You just sit there for a bit and get some warmth back into your bones.’
‘You’re too kind,’ Isabel's eyes glazed with tears as she blinked to keep them from spilling over.
‘It’s been a while since anyone has shown you a kindness isn’t it?’ Abigail spoke softly, her eyes brimming with sympathy and flickering over the bruise along Isabel's jaw.
‘You have no idea,’ Isabel breathed heavily.
‘Oh I think I have a fairly good idea,’ Abigail replied seriously, ‘having to hide what you are.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Isabel stiffened.
‘Yes you do’ Abigail nodded, ‘but it’s alright you don’t have to admit anything. Just know that you are with kin and that you are safe.’
Isabel looked up at her, her expression unreadable.
‘Well then, time for some supper I think,’ Abigail smiled genuinely. ‘The girls will be starving by now, they’re growing like weeds. Do you have any children Isabel?’
‘A daughter, once,’ she murmured.
‘Once?’
‘I lost her,’ she replied quietly.
‘I’m sorry,’ Abigail replied sympathetically, ‘there is nothing in this world worse than the loss of a child.’
‘I don’t know’ Isabel muttered, ‘there are some things worse.’
‘Life’s been hard for you I can tell,’ she answered after a moment, ‘but you mustn’t let it take you to a dark place.’
Isabel sat watching quietly as Abigail handed her a steaming cup.
‘It’s tea’ she told her gently, ‘made from herbs. It will help you regain your strength and soothe you.’
‘Thank you’ she murmured, taking the cup and cradling it in her hands.
Abigail did not speak further for a while, seeming to allow her some time to herself. Isabel sipped her tea, quietly watching as the other woman busied herself preparing a simple meal of vegetable stew and warm fragrant bread.
Taking a moment to glance around the room she noticed it was indeed one large room. A huge stone fireplace dominated one side of the cabin and alongside it was a small preparation area where she kept her plates and utensils. There was a small rough table and benches and in the corner, warming by the fire, were thickly folded wads of material which she assumed were bedrolls. There were no beds anywhere which implied the three of them simply slept on the floor in front of the fire at night. Primitive but cozy.
‘Where is the girls’ father?’ Isabel asked after a moment.
Abigail paused as she lifted a pot of stew from the warming oven, a momentary shadow of pain crossing her features.
‘He died two winters past now.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Isabel murmured.
‘It’s just me and the girls now,’ Abigail carried the stew to the table and set out the bowls. ‘Bridget, Hester you go and wash up now,’ she called to them.
‘What about you?’ Abigail turned her attention back to Isabel.
‘What about me?’
‘You have a man? A husband?’
‘I did once,’ she replied quietly, her expression hardening as she unconsciously rubbed her chest. For a moment she was transported back to the house, the fire, the heat. The sensation of the knife sliding into her chest, gripped in both his hands and hers as they struggled. His eyes, she’d never forget his eyes for as long as she lived, the way his gaze locked with hers as the knife tore through her flesh.
‘He betrayed me,’ she answered finally, ‘and stole my daughter.’
‘So you are all alone now?’ Abigail sighed.
‘Something like that.’
‘Well not any longer,’ Abigail decided. ‘You’ll stay with us for a while.’
‘No,’ Isabel shook her head, ‘you’ve been so kind and welcoming but I couldn’t impose on you like that.’
‘I insist’ Abigail replied firmly, one hand propped on her hip.
Turning to ladle the stew into the bowls Abigail didn’t see the cool calculating look in Isabel’s eyes, nor did she see the satisfied smile curving the corner of her mouth.
Chapter 14.
Light, dark. Light, dark. The strange flickering lights which surrounded them finally began to slow and Olivia could almost see the turning of day to night and back to day again. It was so weird watching the passing of time, the turn of the seasons, the people who passed by them so close they could almost reach out and touch them and yet unaware of their existence because it was like someone had hit the fast forward button.
It was almost dizzying as they lay on the hard ground of the Beckett farm clinging onto each other, filthy, exhausted and covered in mud. The spinning sundial on the compass finally slowed and came to a stop and so did time. They both looked up to find they were lying on the ground in the middle of the farm and it looked to be about mid-day judging from the sun’s position in the sky.
‘Are you okay?’ Theo pulled Olivia close checking her for injuries.
‘My throat’s a bit sore as both your wife and Nathaniel tried to choke the life out of me.’
Theo’s expression hardened.
‘One of these days I am going to kill him,’ he bit out coldly.
‘We can only hope,’ she murmured.
Theo hauled his protesting muscles off the ground and pulled Olivia up, gently wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair as if to reassure himself that she was indeed okay.
‘Do you think we hit the right time period this time?’ Olivia asked looking around. ‘You know, for a farm it’s awfully quiet around here.’
‘You’re right,’ Theo frowned, glancing around the place he’d once called home. ‘Something isn’t right.’
‘We need to figure out when the hell we are,’ Olivia stepped back and glanced up at the house.
The section of the house which had been destroyed by fire that night had now been demolished and rebuilt. The clapboards covering the exterior of the house were somewhat worn and weather beaten, indicting they’d been gone a fair while since that night.
‘We should go and find James,’ Theo told her.
‘I hope he’s alright,’ Olivia replied worriedly. ‘If Nathaniel had followed us from the orchard that night it might lead him to suspect James was i
nvolved somehow.’
Theo’s heart thudded in his chest. Damn it she was right, they needed to find out what had happened after they left that night.
‘Okay, we head to James’ house,’ he nodded in agreement.
The unexpected slamming of a door and heavy footsteps suddenly startled them. Theo grabbed Olivia and pulled her in close to the side of the house. In the distance they could see a tall dark haired man in a black coat and breeches striding towards the barn with some sort of book tucked under his arm.
They both backed up slowly, hoping he didn’t see them but for some reason he suddenly stopped and turned around, glancing in their direction. Theo pulled Olivia down behind the woodpile where they both crouched, almost holding their breath. Unable to control her curiosity Olivia peeked carefully around the neatly cut logs stacked in front of her and her breath caught in her throat. The man standing in front of the barn scanning the property behind him was Theo. She turned back to look at her Theo crouched protectively beside her, almost to reassure herself that it was indeed him and he’d not somehow slipped around in front of her.
This really was the weirdest thing she’d ever experienced. Seeing Theo in two places at once. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the man in front of her. He didn’t seem younger. In fact, he looked identical to her Theo, which meant they must be pretty damn close to the time Sam pulled Theo from the burning barn and jumped him through time, dropping him in Mercy right in front of her car on Halloween.
‘Damn it,’ she swore under her breath, ‘he’s coming this way.’
‘Who?’ Theo whispered unable to see around her.
‘You are’ she mouthed, her eyes wide in panic.
Theo had intended to head straight to the barn, it was the only place he felt comfortable these days. The only place not filled with painful memories. There wasn’t much to do on the farm, it had fallen into a shocking state of disrepair especially since his brother Logan had taken a vow as a Witchfinder and left to work for Nathaniel.
Theo sighed.
He’d tried to keep the farm going for as long as he could but it was no use, his heart just wasn’t in it. Temperance was gone, his mother was gone, he’d failed Mary and now she too was gone. His father Matthias was gone also, although his was the only passing he did not lament. Logan was all he had left and so he’d made a decision. He’d left the farm behind and joined him in Salem. It had been a mistake, thinking he could save his brother. He thought he could pull him back from the edge of whatever dark abyss he was perched so precariously on, but he had been wrong. Logan didn’t want to be saved and all that had happened was that Theo had nearly lost himself in the process.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 137
