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Authors: Wendy Saunders

Crossroads (2 page)

BOOK: Crossroads
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‘And how exactly would you know that?’ Charles asked suspiciously.

‘I know a great many things Mr Connell,’ her mouth curved.

‘What the hell is going on Tammy,’ Mac moved closer, ‘how do you know about Olivia and Theo?’

‘Because’ she answered slowly, ‘my name isn’t Tammy Burnett. It’s Beckett…Temperance Beckett.’

She glanced around the room at the bewildered faces.

‘Theo is my brother.’

 

Chapter 2.

Olivia groaned and rolled over, gradually becoming aware that she was lying on the hard ground with her back curved at an odd angle. She sat up; blinking a few times to clear her blurry vision she scanned her surroundings with an appraising gaze. It looked familiar she frowned in confusion, as she tried to recall the events of the previous night. Hades had promised to send her across the Veil and into the Otherworld, the spirit realm, but as she looked around it didn’t seem any different from the real world and she wondered with a start if it had even worked at all. Maybe she was still in Mercy.

Climbing awkwardly to her feet she brushed the gravel and powdery residue from her jeans. She was standing at the side of an empty road which seemed to stretch endlessly for miles, surrounded by woods. She looked up at the moody sky, watching the swirls of pale grey and white and although the skies were overcast it wasn’t cold. Glancing around she noticed there was no snow; when she’d left Mercy everything had been covered in several feet of snow but now it looked like the beginning of spring.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she set off down the road reasoning that sooner or later she would encounter a town or at least a person. Readjusting her backpack so it was more comfortable she walked at a brisk pace, anxious to find out where she was exactly. After a few miles she found she had to unzip her heavy winter coat and remove her scarf. Settling herself on the carcass of a fallen tree at the side of the road she pulled off her backpack and opened it, reaching inside for a bottle of water.

She’d been walking for what felt like hours and she didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Taking a sip of water, she closed her eyes and listened. This close to the woods she should have at least been able to hear birdsong or the ripple of the air through the thick green canopy of trees but there was nothing. It was like someone had hit the mute button, either that or she was temporarily deaf.

Tucking her water bottle back into her bag she rummaged through it, taking stock of what she had with her. Fortunately, she still had the small first aid kit she’d packed before they went after Charon. She also had Hester’s Grimoire back. Breathing a sigh of relief, she pulled the book out and laid it in her lap, running her fingers over the deeply embossed leather cover. Something inside her, that she hadn’t realized had been so tightly knotted, relaxed as she felt the power thrum beneath her fingertips. Opening it up she watched as the now familiar curly black script curled and undulated across the page until it settled into words.

Her mother’s grudging admission that she couldn’t read the book had come as a surprise to Olivia. She was aware that neither Theo nor any of her friends had been able to read it but she had just assumed it was a charm which protected the book from anyone who wasn’t of Hester’s bloodline. But if her mother couldn’t read it, despite being a West, it begged the question could any of the other women in her family read it? Neither her grandmother nor her great-aunt had mentioned the book when she was younger. She hadn’t even known of its existence until she’d retrieved it from the safety deposit box at Old Mercy Mutual. Shaking her head she closed the book and slipped it back into the bag.

She pulled out her flashlight and flicked it on. At least that still worked and might come in useful. Sticking her hand back in the backpack her fist closed around a chunk of cool metal. Pulling it out her eyes narrowed as she studied it. She searched the bag until she came up with its counterpart and turned the two halves over in her hands. It was the demon collar she’d removed from Charon’s neck back at the hotel. He’d said it was used to enslave souls and neutralize supernatural abilities. He’d also said once it was on it was impossible to remove, barring decapitation. She still wasn’t sure how she’d managed to unlock it. To be fair everything that happened in the hotel was still a little blurry thanks to the urgency and adrenalin. Still, if she could figure out how to use it…she chewed her lip thoughtfully, wondering if it would actually work on a demon or whether it was called a demon collar because it was made by demons. Frowning she dropped the two pieces back into the bag. As soon as she was able she’d have to research it further. Sooner or later she would have to deal with Nathaniel. A powerful demon who was thousands of years old, she wasn’t even sure he could be killed, let alone how to go about it. But maybe, just maybe if she could get close enough to collar him his power and strength would be neutralized, then all she would have to do was to shove him headfirst back into the devil’s trap at Boothe’s Hollow. It wasn’t ideal but it was a solution…of sorts.

Tucking her scarf into her bag she zipped it up and removed her coat. A glint of gold flashed in the pale daylight and Olivia lifted the compass Hades had given her on the long chain which hung around her neck. Running her fingers over the metal, now warmed by her body heat, she studied it carefully. The front cover was etched with what looked like exquisite miniature star charts and constellations. She pressed the tiny gold button and the lid flicked open on a well-oiled hinge. Inside was a circular compass which sat inside a larger circle, which in turn sat in another larger circle. It had several hands and dials and once again she was at a complete loss as to how it worked. Tapping the glass face softly with her fingernail the hands would still not spin. Frowning in frustration she clicked the lid closed and tucked it safely back inside her shirt.

Picking up her bag she slung it over her shoulders and sliding off the fallen tree trunk she picked up her coat and once again headed down the road. Another hour passed and she was once again struck by her surroundings. She knew she should know this place, it was there tickling the back of her mind with maddening familiarity.

She continued on and soon she began to pass even more familiar landmarks. As she approached the outskirts of the town she realized she was still in Mercy, she was just approaching it from the other road on the opposite side of town to where her house was. She quickened her pace as she headed into town, cursing Hades for playing her for a fool. Well, the hell with him and his stupid cruel games she was just going to head straight back to her house and she was going to find a way to open the doorway to the Otherworld even if she had to go through every single scrap of paper and book in her library. If that didn’t work she was going to blow up the internet for information and if that didn’t work…well, she may just damn well kidnap Charon herself. Whatever it took she was going to get Theo back.

Her pace quickened as she stalked angrily into the town proper and headed for Main Street. She could have blamed her stubbornness and irritation for the fact she didn’t immediately notice that something was different about Mercy. She passed the town offices and turned the corner heading towards the museum. Gradually slowing her pace, her brow folding into a puzzled frown as her mind began to process something that should have been glaringly obvious the minute she stepped foot into town. She stopped abruptly across the street from the Pub, just past the Bailey’s convenience store and scanned her surroundings.

Where were all the people?

Olivia crossed into the street, slowly stopping in the middle of the usually busy road which ran the length of Main Street. There was nothing, no cars, no traffic and most importantly, no people. She turned a slow circle scanning the sidewalks and shops. Nothing, she was the only person there; it was like she’d woken up from a coma and found herself in the middle of a Zombie apocalypse.

So Hades had kept his word, she must be in the Otherworld but why did it look like an exact abandoned replica of her town?

Confused she crossed back to the Bailey’s store and tried the door. It was unlocked, it swung open easily and she stepped into the cheery little store. The florescent lights glowed brightly highlighting row upon row of fully stocked and untouched shelves. She stepped behind the counter and found the register fully loaded with cash. There was a small TV behind the counter also and although already turned on it simply showed static. She changed the channels but each one was the same, as if there were no TV stations left broadcasting.

A little freaked out Olivia stepped back out onto the street and walked a couple of blocks. Every door she tried was the same, unlocked; each room beyond pristine and undisturbed with not one single person in sight.

‘Hello?’ she called out as she wandered down the street. ‘Hello, is anyone here?’

Nothing but silence.

She noticed for the first time that the light hadn’t changed. She’d been walking for hours, in the real world the sun would have reached its midday peak and then started to descend towards the horizon and into night. But here it remained the same, covered by the strange swirls of cloud and bathing the town in a pale constant light with a faint bluish cast to it.

Trying to think about the problem logically she unconsciously chewed her lip. If Theo had been pulled into the Otherworld and ended up here, where the hell would he be? She tried to put herself in his place. If it’d been her pulled through the gateway what was the first thing she’d do? she asked herself and the answer was simple, head to the place that was most familiar to her.

Her house…

If Theo were to head to the most familiar place it would be her house. In fact, even if he didn’t realize he’d been pulled into the Otherworld that would be the first place he would go looking for her.

She turned the corner intent on heading straight for the lake when she stopped abruptly. It would take ages to walk to her house from here. Wishing she had her banged up old Camero, which she’d affectionately named Dolly, she scanned her surroundings. Her gaze finally landed on a shiny red bicycle which was propped against the side of a small shop.

‘That’ll do,’ she murmured as she grabbed the handles and swung her leg over the frame.

Stuffing her coat into the embarrassingly girly basket at the front she set off towards the lake.

She cycled down the block but as she turned the corner she skidded to a stop, her mouth hanging open in confusion. She turned back to look behind her to the street she’d just come from but the woods now stood at her back. Frowning she turned back to the sight in front of her. It was her house, it should have taken her at least an hour to cycle there yet it had taken her no more than a few moments and one turn of a corner.

Climbing down off the bike she pushed it towards the front steps of her porch. So strange, she was beginning to feel a little like she’d fallen down a rabbit hole. Nothing seemed to make sense.

She leaned the bike against the side of the house and trotted up the steps, already calling out to Theo as she opened the door and stepped into the familiar hallway.

‘Theo?’

She headed for the dining room which had become his studio. The room was silent and still. No longer holding the devastation which had occurred when Theo’s dead wife had viciously materialized in her house, the room was once again neat and ordered. His art supplies were neatly stacked on the table with pots containing brushes and tools fastidiously lined up against the wall. Many completed canvases were stacked around the room and pencil sketches were tacked to the walls. There was not one single portrait of Mary anywhere; all of Theo’s pictures were once again as he had originally painted them.

Wandering back out of the room she headed for the library, her favorite room. After her mother had attacked her and ransacked the room in her pursuit of Hester’s Grimoire Olivia had not bothered to put it back as it originally was, opting instead to neatly stack the books and paperwork around the room while she sorted through hundreds of years of accumulated family history and books on magic. But unlike the real word, here the room was once again as she remembered it from her childhood.

Turning her back deliberately on the room she checked the kitchen and then headed up the stairs still calling out to Theo as she went but there was nothing. The house was empty.

As she slowly moved back down the stairs her gaze snagged on Beau’s leash that had been dropped on the floor by the open front door. She knew Beau wouldn’t be there, she’d left him behind in the real world but the house still felt strange without him. She only hoped someone was looking after him for her while she was gone. Sinking down on the bottom tread of the stairs Olivia stared out of the front door absently.

They would have realized by now that they were missing. Had they figured it out? she wondered or did they believe that both she and Theo were dead? She sighed as her brow folded into a frown, wishing she had some way to contact her friends.

She stared out of the open front door, so lost in her thoughts it took her a moment to fully comprehend what her eyes were seeing. She stood abruptly and stepped closer to the open door. Directly opposite, across the grassy expanse of land in front of her house which led to the edge of the woods, a small wooden cottage had appeared. Nestled at the edge of the tree line a small curl of smoke rose from the chimney giving it a welcoming homely appeal.

That hadn’t been there when she arrived she thought curiously, she would have noticed. She moved to step over the threshold of her house onto the porch but paused, suddenly turning back to look behind her into the house. She felt something brush against her arm and just for a moment she could have sworn she had heard Jake’s voice.

Shaking off the strange feeling she stepped out of the door and headed towards the strange little cottage.

 

Jake shivered as he crossed Olivia’s doorway, feeling as if someone had just stepped over his grave. Unwrapping his scarf and removing his hat he closed the door behind him.

BOOK: Crossroads
6.26Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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