Soul Snatcher Page 10

  He was dressed in his usual black suit pants and a clean, loose white peasant shirt. Though he was dressed casually he still looked incredible and it looked as if he had put effort into his appearance. It made her wonder where he had just come from and the spark of jealousy reared its ugly head again. She could see just a little of his shoulder and chest where the shirt drooped off his frame slightly. When he wasn’t looking at her she strained to see more but she didn’t get the chance often because he kept his eyes stuck to her most of the time.

  “Why did you startle me?” She whispered, fearful someone might hear them talking.

  “I was not hidden. You were the one who neglected to pay attention,” he said cheekily. Annie went to say something but there was a knock at the door.

  “Miss Belle, are you alright?” Garrick asked through the door.

  “Yes Garrick, I…uh…I thought I saw a mouse. I am just settling down to read a book,” she half lied, keeping her eyes on Baden to make sure he didn’t disappear. His lips turned up in a small smile, he seemed pleased that she kept him a secret.

  “Very well, call if you need anything.” With that Garrick left.

  “Reading?” Baden quickly took the book from her hands and turned away from her. She tried to grab the book back but he kept it out of her reach.

  “‘Methods of the soul snatcher’, how droll.” He smiled as he flicked through the pages.

  “Baden, give it back,” she demanded as she continued to try and grab it back off him. Before she had time to realise what he was doing, he turned and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, the book in his hands behind her back.

  “Surely you will not waste your time on such drivel?” He said leaning his face close to hers. If there had been some distance between them there may have been a chance for her to configure an actual response but she simply stared at him, trying to remember how to speak. “I can think of much more productive ways for you to use your time, Annie.” He threw the book and it landed on a reading chair close by.

  “I just thought…” She struggled to find the words. “A little…light reading would be…sufficient,” she stammered. With him she always managed to lose herself.

  “Reading myths and fables? I cannot think of a greater waste of time.” He let go of her and walked over to the seat where the book lay. When she had some space to breathe she could think more clearly. Did he just come here to insult her?

  “I think I will be the judge of my past time!” She said harshly. Who did he think he was, coming there and telling her what to do? “Have you just come to offend me, Baden? And how do you keep finding passage into my room?” She asked as she walked over to inspect the window. The latch wasn’t broken and nothing seemed amiss. She looked over to him in question but he was right next to her. She took a step away from him, surprised by his closeness.

  “Skilled,” he said as if that was enough to explain it. He looked her up and down and a strange look came across his face, it was almost as if he were sad. “Tell me, Annie…are you afraid of me?” He took a step towards her and for a reason she didn’t know she took a step back. The same look came across his face. He couldn’t decipher the feelings he sensed in her soul and the confusion of it played across his face.

  “I would not say afraid.” She wasn’t sure how she would describe the way he made her feel. “How should I feel?” She turned it around on him instead of responding. He thought for a moment before he answered her.

  “Well…” He took another step forward and she took another step back. “Why do you keep doing that?” He asked curtly. She looked at him unsure of what he meant. “Why do you keep moving away from me?” He clarified when he felt her confusion.

  She looked down to where she stood in comparison to him and she didn’t have an answer. Why was he stepping so close? He slowly moved to take another step forward and she decided to stay where she was. They stood toe to toe, him peering down at her as she looked up into his face. Her breathing fluttered a little and the smallest smile formed on his lips.

  “That was not so difficult, was it?” He spoke quietly.

  “No,” she said just as softly as he had. He gently touched her hands with his fingertips then ran them up along the length of her arms until they rested on her slender neck. It sent a thrill through her.

  “Now what was I saying?” He asked seeming distracted by her.

  “You were…” she had to take a breath before she could continue. “Advising me how I should feel towards you,” she reminded.

  “Yes, I was.” He tickled along her neck as he spoke and a little shiver made it past her self-control. Again the half smile played across his lips. “If we piece it together logically then maybe we can deduce together the appropriate response?” She barely nodded but he saw it so he went on.

  “Firstly, I am practically a stranger to you.” The words seemed odd to her because she felt like she knew him, or more so it felt like she trusted him. “Secondly, I seem to break into your room silently and effortlessly.” Annie knew she should feel scared of that fact but she didn’t. “And lastly, when I ask you to do something you seem not to question my demands. It is as if you find them reasonable.” He moved his hands and rested them on her waist.

  “So you are advising me to be afraid?” She asked, her mind tangled up in all of the conflicting thoughts. His actions were so different to his words, he was telling her to keep away but he was holding her close. How was she meant to know what that meant?

  “You may choose the reaction you believe best suits how you feel,” he answered tactfully.

  “Who says I do not feel frightened by you?” She bluffed. He looked at her with those clear, blue eyes as if he was hurt by the fact that she might be.

  “I notice everything you do and your actions beg to differ. From the way your chest rises and falls more erratically when I am near, as if you are trying to calm yourself. The way your lips quiver ever so slightly when I touch you in certain places.” He tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her closer still. “The way you lose your words in my presence.” The way he stated his observations made it sound as if he enjoyed her reactions to him quite a bit. What he didn’t tell her was that he could sense her soul and it told him more than she ever could.

  “To level this one sided exposure, enlighten me as to how you feel towards me?” She asked feeling marginally bolder.

  “I believe the question that is fair to ask, in conjunction with your previous wording, is how should I feel towards you?” He clarified.

  Without warning he stepped away from her and into the open space of the room. Somehow she felt colder with him further away. He looked around the room as if he could care less about his feelings towards her.

  “I think I have nothing to fear from you,” he commented. “You are a fledgling, unassuming and obviously naïve. You are not a threat in any capacity.” He did not look at her once when he listed his observations.

  His words hurt her and she almost felt like she could cry from them, which was strange because she usually didn’t cry at anything. Suddenly the cold became too much and she walked across the room to the unlit fireplace. His eyes remained on her the whole time. She took some small logs from her reserve of wood and aggressively threw them into the barren fireplace. After her kindling and tinder were in place she used her flint to start the fire. She had done it before many times for Miss Danes and found it to be no trouble. She used the excuse of lighting the fire as a reason not to acknowledge Baden at all. She stood there looking into the flames, holding back her tears.

  Annie turned without looking in his direction to retrieve a rug from the bed but he was right behind her. He was so close she could only just stop herself from running into him. She moved to get around him but he stepped in her way. She moved again and he did the same. This time she used her body to try and barge past him but he simply put his arms around her and held her in place. She struggled against him but he held her tighter.

 
“You are upset,” he said. She looked up to him, shocked at how unfazed he seemed by that.

  “And you are callous.” She spoke from her hurt without thinking and looked away from him when he seemed to become uneasy. Why should she feel bad after what he had said to her?

  “I am sorry that I hurt you.” He sounded so genuine she looked up at him to see if he was being sincere. His face was that of earnest regret and something else, she could only recognise it as pain. Seeing how he had hurt her soul made him ache and he was almost desperate to comfort her.

  “Then next time you should aspire to think before you speak. It will save you the trouble of apologising,” she advised trying not to let him think he could treat her harshly then get away with it just by apologising.

  “My words were meant to make you want to guard yourself from me but instead they made you more vulnerable,” he explained. He was trying to do the right thing and warn her to stay away from him because he knew that deep inside he wouldn’t be able to keep himself away from her.

  “From what you say, it seems that you would prefer not to keep my company. If so then why do you continue to return?” Annie wanted him to keep coming back more than she had ever wanted anything in her life but not if he didn’t want to.

  Just when she thought he was about to say something that would change everything between them, he slowly dropped his arms and stood back. Without another word he walked to the window and with one glance back towards her, he left. This time the tears spilled onto her cheeks and she didn’t know why. Everything he had said was true, he was a stranger that did enter her room uninvited and she should be afraid but she wasn’t. She walked over to the window and looked out to the empty landscape. Empty not because there were no trees or hedges or flower beds but empty because he was not there.

  Baden watched from the trees as Annie moved away from the window and out of view. When she walked away it felt as if something else walked away with her but he wasn’t quite sure what that was.

  CHAPTER 11

  Annie walked over to the seat to get the book Baden had put there but when she looked it was gone. She searched the rest of the room until all she could deduce was that he either took it or hid it. Why would he do that? Deciding there was no use in trying to understand him she went back down to the library to find another.

  There Annie waited all day and night for Eli to come back. She was concerned that he was out there chasing a dangerous snatcher and would get himself killed. She took her meals in there and only left the room when nature called. She waited until eventually she fell into an exhausted sleep on the multi-purpose day bed.

  When Eli came in that night Garrick met him at the door.

  “Sir, Miss Belle has fallen asleep in the library. I believe she has been waiting for you,” he informed. Eli shrugged off his coat and handed it to Garrick.

  “Thank you.” With that Eli went to the library and found Annie asleep. He bent down beside her and looked at her face for a moment.

  She looked so peaceful just laying there, so vulnerable. His desire to protect her grew inside of him as he watched her, he promised himself that he would do anything to keep her from harm. He would be anything she needed. He gently brushed a stray curl off her face and her breath fluttered in her sleep. He smiled to himself at how lovely she was.

  Very carefully he picked her up and carried her through the house, up the stairs to her room. His heart did strange things from having her so close to him. He laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. For another stolen moment he took the time to look at her and before he could help himself he lightly brushed his hand along her cheek and down her neck. She stirred slightly and before he could disturb her anymore he left her to her rest.

  The next morning Annie woke up late into the day. She washed with her bedside basin and readied herself by throwing on a light pink day dress, rushing down stairs when she was done. In her hurried state she turned at the end of the stairs towards the kitchen and ran right into Eli. She crashed solidly into him but he managed to keep her from falling backwards. In fact she had run into him so hard that her arm felt a little sore from the collision.

  “Needing to be somewhere?” Eli asked with his friendly smile. She took a step back and he hesitantly let her go. She rubbed her arm trying to rid it of the ache caused by their crash.

  “I was coming to find you,” she said as she inspected her arm. Eli found her very distracting as he took in her attire and his mind started to wander to other things. He realised he was staring so he snapped himself out of it before she could notice.

  “Splendid because I am guilty of the same. Shall we continue our talk from yesterday?” He offered.

  “That is exactly what I was going to suggest,” she said, relieved he was so willing to be open with her.

  “To the library then, I have tea and treats waiting for us.” He held out his arm and she took it without hesitation. “Are you hurt?” He asked noticing the way she was looking at her arm. She stopped concentrating on it to assure him she was unharmed.

  “No, it is fine,” she lied. As they walked she wondered who had made their tea. “Did you make the refreshments?” She asked, noticing that he had come from the kitchen.

  “Uh, why yes,” he answered. “The help come and do their chores in the morning then leave. I pay them a higher rate to reside off the premises so I can maintain my needed privacy and keep them out of the house.”

  They headed silently to the library after that and he let her enter the room before him. She took a seat on a brown, leather reading chair near where the morning tea was set on a little table. Eli took the dagger he had removed the previous day and replaced it in its notch.

  “How did yesterday’s events…conclude?” Annie asked cautiously. How was she meant to feel at the fact her old employer was a snatcher and her current provider went to ‘rid the world’ of her? He took a seat across from her and started pouring some tea.

  “Not as well as intended,” he informed. “She seemed to have left on that trip a little earlier than expected. But I will complete my task as soon as she returns or as soon as I can locate where she is.” He said it so easily you would think he was talking about the weather rather than killing a mythological creature.

  “Forgive me if I sound rude but how is it that you dare to rival against a being that is much stronger and faster than yourself?” He passed the tea to her and started laughing. She took the cup and saucer he offered but couldn’t help feeling a little demeaned.

  “Excuse my laughter. I overlooked the fact that you still do not know what I am.” She froze at his words. What he was? Was he not human? She felt fear start to creep up inside of her at what he might be. He saw her qualms and immediately started his explanation.

  “I am a tracker. I am designed to eliminate soul snatchers,” he stated as if it made perfect sense.

  “Come again?” Annie asked as she calmly stirred her tea. Her actions were so contrary to her surprised expression that he smiled to himself as he served himself tea.

  “Trackers are a group of men that are different in the way they are designed, you could say. We sleep and eat just as humans do but we are different. We heal quickly and are not easily killed. Our senses may not be as powerful as what snatcher’s have but we are strong, fast and resilient. We are strong enough to defeat snatchers,” he explained further. Annie was astonished.

  “How did you become ‘different’?” She asked, curiosity obvious in her voice. Eli hesitated before he answered. Everything he had told her so far was meant to be kept a secret but he had disclosed it anyway. But he figured there wasn’t really much left to tell and his position amongst the tracker hierarchy allowed him more flexibility in what he was permitted to do.

  “I can only repeat the things I have heard,” he advised before he started into his explanation. “Not long after snatchers began to grow in numbers their myth also started to grow and a group of men decided to do something about them. They were no diffe
rent from any other, perhaps stronger than the average man but human none the less. One night a man in the group was bitten during a brawl with a snatcher. The group took him back and locked him away, trying to determine what to do with him. They did not want to kill him so they tried to find remedies.”

  “How gracious of them,” Annie said sarcastically not knowing how she felt about a group that could very well turn on one another.

  “In any case, after being locked away in solitude for days he came out different…subdued. He was different to other snatchers they had previously encountered and from him we were created. He had a son and his son had one and so on.”

  “We?” Annie asked.

  “When I say ‘we’, I am referring to the other trackers. We keep in touch and monitor and record whatever we can. There are quite a few and more are coming about,” Eli explained. When she seemed satisfied he continued. “They found he could reproduce and he…has not yet perished.” Annie looked blankly at him.