‘Wow,’ she laughed, ‘he is restless.’
‘I know,’ Louisa yawned, ‘it’s like trying to sleep with a constant party going on in my uterus.’
‘God,’ Olivia laughed nervously, ‘and I’ve got double that to look forward to.’
‘And I will be there to commiserate with you every step of the way,’ Louisa tapped her hand in reassurance.
‘Do you want one of your own?’ Olivia asked in amusement as Louisa lifted her glass and took another sip.
‘Oh, yes please,’ she breathed heavily, ‘I’m so thirsty.’
‘I’ll get it,’ Fiona bustled to her feet, ‘you rest up old girl.’
‘I feel old,’ Louisa blinked. ‘I don’t think there’s an inch of my body that doesn’t ache.’
‘So,’ Olivia took a sip as Louisa passed her glass back, ‘you thought of names yet?’
‘A few,’ Louisa shifted uncomfortably, pressing her hand against her back once more, ‘but nothing that’s stuck yet.’
Tommy snorted behind his beer bottle.
‘What?’ Theo asked.
‘Ask her what she told my mother.’
‘What did you do?’ Olivia asked in amusement.
‘She went and told my mom we were going to name the baby Bartholomew if it was a boy and Brunhilda if it was a girl, or Tolley and Hildy for short.’
‘Well she totally deserved it,’ Louisa muttered sourly. ‘She wants to stop interfering or I really will do it, just to piss her off.’
‘Well what do we have here,’ Jackson strolled over with a wide smile, bouncing Miller on his hip. ‘Olivia darlin’ it’s nice to see you out and about.’
‘Yeah,’ she replied easily, ‘you know what it’s like, up to my eyeballs in research projects. I’ve barely left the house.’
Although Jackson knew a great deal about the true nature of the way things were, having himself been at the mercy of a violent poltergeist attack, he still didn’t know the whole truth about her parents and the demon presence in the town. Not wanting to drag anyone else into that mess, Olivia had thought it best to plead work as the reason she hadn’t been seen around much. After all, telling people it was because she was at risk of being kidnapped and tortured by demons probably wouldn’t go down too well.
‘Aye, I’ll bet you’re trying to get everything done before the babies arrive,’ he nodded.
‘Something like that,’ she smiled at Miller, who was chewing on a brightly colored plastic ring and reaching for Olivia, squirming in his father’s arms.
‘Hand him over Jackson,’ she held out her arms.
‘Are you sure?’ he replied with a breathless laugh as Miller threw himself forward and Jackson almost dropped him. ‘He’s a bit of a handful at the moment.’
‘I’m sure,’ she smiled as Miller locked his blue eyes on hers.
Jackson leaned over the table passing him to Olivia, watching as she settled back in the seat with Miller tucked comfortably on her lap.
‘The lad’s a demon right now,’ Jackson laughed, ‘can’t take my eyes off him for a minute. He’s crawling now and he’s wicked fast. God help me once he’s walking, or rather running.’
Olivia smiled as she bounced him on her knee.
‘Have you been terrorizing your daddy?’ she asked him.
‘Ah…’ he pulled the plastic ring from his mouth offering it to her and giving her a grin, revealing pink gums and two little white teeth at the front.
‘No thank you baby,’ she laughed in amusement, ignoring the thin line of drool which hung from the ring.
‘Bur...’ Miller patted her rounded belly, ‘Burr…’
‘That’s right,’ she told him with a soft smile, ‘babies.’
Miller shuffled off her lap so he was kneeling on his chubby little legs next to her. Her heart jolted in sweet affection as she watched him lean across her and cuddle into her belly, pressing his face against her stomach and patting her gently with his little hand.
‘Aya…’ he looked up at Olivia giving her another toothy grin.
‘What’s Aya?’ Olivia looked up at Jackson who was watching the exchange with a smile.
‘I haven’t a clue love,’ he shook his head in amusement. ‘He’s just starting to find his voice, so he’s coming out with all sorts of sounds. Aya’s a new one though, I haven’t heard him use it before.’
‘Aya,’ Miller took Olivia’s chin with his tiny hands, pulling her face so she was once again looking at him instead of his father. ‘Aya…’ he patted her belly again.
She watched with soft eyes, her heart melting as he bumped his mouth to her belly in a kiss before resting his face against her bump and closing his eyes, seemingly content to just lie down and listen to the sounds of her children in her womb.
‘Aya…’ he mumbled sleepily, sticking his thumb in his mouth, continuing to pat her belly softly as he slowly drifted into sleep.
‘Well I’ll be damned,’ Jackson muttered, ‘I’ve never seen him curl up on someone and go to sleep before, I mean other than me or Shelley.’
‘I’m probably just comfortable,’ Olivia chuckled. ‘I’m like a human cushion right now.’
‘Are you alright if I leave him with you for a bit, there’s a few more people I’d like to speak to.’
‘Sure go ahead,’ Olivia waved him off, ‘we’ll watch him for you.’
She watched him smile and disappear back into the crowd. She spent a few moments running her fingers softly through Miller’s blonde curls before looking up and scanning the room, her gaze finally falling on Shelley who was tucked into a corner and seemed to be having a heated discussion with her fiancé.
From the corner of her eye, Olivia saw Louisa once again check her watch.
‘Are you okay?’ Olivia turned to her. ‘Do you need to be somewhere?’
‘Yeah the hospital I think,’ she breathed heavily.
‘What?’ Tommy looked up abruptly as his wife sucked in a sharp breath. ‘WHAT???’
‘Relax, I’m only having contractions. I’ve got a while to go, my waters haven’t even broken yet…’ her voice trailed off and she looked down as she felt a warm gush of water between her thighs. ‘Oh would you look at that,’ she murmured, ‘my waters just broke.’
‘OHMYGOD!’ Tommy stood abruptly, hitting his legs on the table and knocking it out of place with a loud screech of wood. Several of the glasses on the table rattled, one toppling and spilling soda amongst the scattered bowl of chips.
‘Calm down,’ Louisa sighed, ‘you’re not the one who’s about to squeeze a small human out of your vagina.’
Theo blanched slightly and Olivia laughed out loud, her belly shaking and waking Miller, who looked up at the commotion, blinking his sleepy blue eyes.
‘Thankfully I don’t have a vagina,’ Tommy grinned as he crossed around the table to Louisa and slid his arm around her, gently helping her up from her seat.
‘What’s going on?’ Jackson jogged over.
‘Looks like we’re about to have ourselves a baby!’ Fiona cackled in delight slapping her thigh loudly.
‘Now?’ he glanced at Louisa.
‘Well, it will be if you don’t get out of the way Jackson,’ she squeezed her eyes shut and drew in a shaky breath, her knees giving slightly as she leaned her full weight against her husband. ‘This baby seems to be in a hurry.’
‘I’ll get the car,’ Theo slid out of the booth catching the keys as Tommy tossed them to him.
Olivia slid out behind him cradling Miller in her arms as she passed him to Jackson.
‘You’ll call me later?’ he asked as he settled his son on his hip.
‘Of course we will,’ Olivia dropped a kiss on his cheek. ‘Sorry to bail on you.’
‘It’s no problem,’ he smiled widely. ‘You take care now Louisa love.’
‘Thanks Jackson,’ she gasped. ‘Okay lets speed up people, this baby’s not waiting.’
‘Ho
w close are the contractions?’ Olivia frowned, taking hold of her friend’s other arm.
‘Too close,’ Louisa grimaced.
A huge rumbling round of applause went up around the pub as word spread. Several whoops, and calls of good luck filled the air, leaving Louisa chuckling through the pain as Olivia and Tommy helped her out the door.
Olivia blew out a deep tired breath as she stepped through her front door.
‘Well,’ she laughed as Theo stepped into the hallway behind her, ‘that was a hell of a day.’
‘Is it usual for babies to be born that quickly?’ Theo asked curiously as he dropped his arm around Olivia’s shoulders, steering her in the direction of the kitchen.
‘Not usual,’ she shrugged, ‘but I guess not unheard of. I can’t believe she did the whole thing in four hours and two minutes. God, I hope my labor is that quick. One of the other women in the waiting room told me her first labor took thirty two hours, can you imagine? Thirty two?’
‘I’m sure it won’t be that bad,’ Theo reassured her.
‘Wasn’t he beautiful though?’ Olivia beamed. ‘I can’t believe Louisa’s a mom!’
‘Yeah,’ Theo smiled as he started the coffee, ‘he looks like Tommy.’
‘God it was so cute, Tommy couldn’t stop grinning.’
‘I can understand that,’ Theo turned and wrapped his arms around Olivia stroking her belly.
‘I’m starving,’ she muttered. ‘I never did get anything to eat earlier.’
‘I’m just going up to the bathroom then I can make you something if you like?’
‘No,’ she shook her head, ‘its fine. I’ll throw something together; are you hungry?’
He nodded, dropping a kiss on her lips and slipping from the kitchen.
Olivia turned, humming contentedly to herself. It had been a long day and she was exhausted, first with the baptism and then with spending several hours at the hospital while one of her oldest friends gave birth to her gorgeous little, dark haired baby boy.
She stepped into the pantry and frowned. Leaning down she picked up an empty jar of peanut butter and two empty packets of Cheetos. That was weird, she thought to herself, she could’ve sworn Theo didn’t like Cheetos and she knew she hadn’t eaten them.
‘THEO!’ she called out, ‘did you eat my Cheetos?’
Not hearing an answer she crumpled the empty bags in her fist intending to throw them in the trash but as she stepped back into the kitchen she froze, her gaze dropping to the person sitting quite calmly at the center island.
‘No I don’t like Cheetos, you know that,’ Theo answered as he walked back into the room. He paused for a moment, his own gaze falling on the unannounced visitor sitting watching them both.
Theo skirted around the island and came to stand with Olivia placed protectively behind him.
‘Isabel,’ he spoke coolly.
‘Theo,’ she replied mildly, her gaze fixed on her daughter.
‘Why are you here mom?’ Olivia asked suspiciously.
‘Because,’ Isabel West fixed her intense gaze on her daughter, her violet colored eyes unreadable, ‘it’s time for you to know the truth.’
15.
Isabel trekked slowly back through the woods, the sky a dark stain of black and indigo scattered with tiny pinpricks of light. It was late, hours past midnight and well into the witching hour. The cold air pulled and teased at her clothes, stinging her cheeks and whipping her hair across her face.
She pulled up the deep lined hood of her dark cloak, tucking the heavy mass of her hair beneath it. It was a somewhat archaic piece of clothing admittedly, but eminently practical. The wind coming in across the lake was almost bitter and the cloak blocked the worst of it, as she pulled it tighter around her body. It also kept her concealed from prying eyes. While none of the town’s patrons would stray this far out at this hour of the night, it was not the human residents of Mercy which concerned her.
She could feel them even now, eyes in the dark, thousands of them. So many of them left behind when the gateway was closed. The gateway she herself had opened. She glanced out across the dark, oily water of the lake, her gaze drawn to the center, where not so long ago a gigantic gateway had speared up out of the water. She could still feel the echo of its power as the air shimmered, slightly displaced. The gateway was still there, it was always there, something she had not fully appreciated before.
Everything had changed since the crossroad.
She veered away from the lake, back under the cover of the trees. The huge canopy of dry leaves rustled above her, showering her with a myriad of leaves, the roar of the wind loud and ponderous like a freight train. She glanced through the tree line; something was tracking her. Stupid creature she thought scornfully, it wasn’t even doing a good job of it. Too used to easy prey with all the hapless humans on tap nearby. It was pure laziness as far as she was concerned. Still, it was going to learn a very powerful and poignant lesson if it tried for her.
She continued on through the undergrowth her feet sinking into the mossy ground, but the creature kept pace with her, tracking her movements, edging closer.
Frowning in annoyance Isabel stopped abruptly, she’d gone far enough. The creature didn’t seem to be getting the message and she didn’t want to lead it back to where she’d been staying.
She heard a strange cry, animal-like but yet not. Strangely enough it had an eerily human quality to it. She could sense it closing in, crawling through the dirt, unable to stand, only slither and claw its way across the ground. She reached out with her mind; the closer it got the more she could sense its form, its repugnant scent, its clawed hands and deformed body. Red slitted eyes blinked in the darkness. She could sense its jumbled thoughts, chaotic and hungry. Whatever it was now, it had once been human.
Her eyes narrowed as she knelt and pressed her palm to the ground. Purple light pulsed beneath her hand and spread out along the ground. Lighting it up along the way with a muted glow of lavender, it spread and throbbed like a network of blood vessels, reaching into the tree line. Hearing a sudden shriek of pain she wandered further into the trees and stopped, glancing down at the blackened, charred husk of the creature which had been following her, before smiling in satisfaction.
Ignoring the still smoking remains she continued on her way, her path once again leading her out of the trees and back towards the lake. This time when she neared the shore Olivia’s house was far away, almost on the opposite side, barely visible but for the soft light spilling from her windows. She stopped for a moment and stared at the house, the house that had bought her daughter so much joy and herself so much pain.
Her forehead pinched in thought as she deliberately turned her back on that soft pinprick of light and once again resumed her path. Her thoughts were once again drawn back to her daughter and the look of utter devastation on Olivia’s face when she’d learned the truth. After the first tidal wave of emotion passed, it remained to be seen if she believed everything she’d learned that night. She would wrestle with it, Isabel knew. It went against everything she’d ever believed and it would be painful for her, there was no doubting that. For the last twenty years Isabel was the only one who’d known the truth but now…now Olivia knew and there was no going back.
Once again heading back into the trees she came to a small neat cabin, once one of her childhood haunts. It had belonged to Clea Bachelier, a local Hoodoo woman who’d also been the maternal grandmother of the former, and rather deceased, Thomas Walcott.
Clea had been drawn to Mercy as everyone else with power had been. But with Clea it had been different. As a Hoodoo woman she worked closely with spirits and the other side. When she’d first made the journey from Louisiana to Massachusetts she’d hadn’t exactly understood what it was that had called to her so powerfully. Whatever it had been, had sung to her blood, drawing her from the only home she’d ever known. It wasn’t until she’d been standing on the shore of the lake looking into the wo
ods she’d finally understood.
It was a portal, a gateway to the Otherworld.
Isabel glanced across to the displacement of air close to the cabin. It was similar to the shimmering above the lake of the Hell gate, only this gate was smaller and led to the spirit realms. Clea had known what she had to do. Beside the cabin, between it and the gateway stood an enormous and ancient tree. From its branches hung dozens and dozens of colored glass bottles, while crushed and broken glass littered the ground around the tree in a kaleidoscope of colors.
The bottles had all been shattered when Isabel had first arrived. She’d taken the time to replaced them all; Clea had known what she was doing when she created the bottle tree. It was old world magic, pretty heavy duty too. It trapped evil spirits in the bottles until the sun rose and destroyed them.
Clea had spent years guarding the gateway and caring for the bottle tree, that was until she met Thomas Walcott's grandfather and had fallen wildly in love. She’d left her cabin and her tree in the woods, moving into the town. However she hadn’t forgotten her tree or her task. She returned to the tree and the gateway every day until the day she died. By then her magic had been so powerful it had endured even after her death. Even now Isabel could feel the old woman’s presence.
Isabel crossed the rest of the way, opening the cabin door and stepping through into the darkness of the single room.
Clea’s cabin had been the perfect place for Isabel to hide. It was close enough to her daughter to keep an eye on her and the residual Hoodoo magic, coupled with her own, had kept anyone else away...or so she’d thought.
She felt the presence behind her as the light flicked on, flooding the tidy little room with light. Isabel spun around and found herself staring into the furious eyes of her husband.
‘Hello Charles.’
He didn’t respond, he was beyond words. Seeing her face to face, he wasn’t prepared for the rage which nearly choked him. His lips peeled back in a snarl and he stood from the small wooden chair he was sitting on, tearing the table in front of him out of the way with such violence it crashed against the wall and cracked in half as he lunged for her.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 175
