by Angela Foxxe
Isaac was ruthless. He would stop at nothing, Gabriel thought, just like how Isla wouldn’t stop with her questions. Gabriel had hoped she wouldn’t ask what his family name was. He was glad she missed out on that. His initials were on that pocket watch, after all. It was easy to figure out who A.B. was once she found out his full name…
He hadn’t been called Aidan Blackwell in years. The moment whispers began of his perpetually youthful face, he fled and changed his name numerous times. Gabriel Ramsey was probably his 20th and he had put his money to good use, utilizing the right people for his cover.
Gabriel couldn’t take away the restlessness that was gnawing at him. He wanted to know if the stone was still inside the watch, but he needed a human to hold it for him. He needed Isla for it. He had planned to ask her about the watch later on. He knew that Isaac wouldn’t be moving right away, Isaac had to heal first and healing from silver took time. He had to have numerous sources of blood, and knowing his brother, Isaac would have a lackey or two doing his bidding. That was what he had heard the last time, probably fifty years ago.
He didn’t care much before, he wanted to avoid Isaac as much as possible. But last night was a different thing. He had to face his older half-brother again. He hoped it would be without bloodshed. He had been traumatized from their last face-off and he knew full well that Isaac was traumatized, too, except he didn’t show it. Perhaps that was why they hated each other immensely, they blamed each other for their misfortunes.
They blamed each other for Lily. Isaac had seen how Isla looked like her, and the thoughts forming in his head were unlikeable but it was most probable. Now, Isaac would stop at nothing to get Isla. It would become an obsession for his brother, his brother who had been most competitive, and his older half-brother who wanted everything he had.
He would never allow Isla to get hurt. In the short span of time he had known her, he had this strong urge to protect her from anything that could harm her. He knew he was being irrational, but he couldn’t help but fall for Isla. Was it because she looked like Lily? Their mannerisms were different, she was headstrong, while Lily was gentle.
Why? Why are you doing this to me, Lily? I haven’t atoned for all I’ve done. To my family and to you…
*
That red diamond had to be there. Isaac was sure of it. It had to be at the site. That was why Aidan took the time to date that woman who was part of the excavation. He wanted to be close to her. Was it coincidence she looked like Lily Ashworth? Isaac wanted to laugh all of a sudden, laugh boisterously alone. He had gone mad a long time ago, and he didn’t care if further madness was added to it.
Turning into a nightwalker was the best thing that had happened to him, but it didn’t get him the inheritance he knew he deserved. It didn’t get him the respect of London society. To the many others back then, he was just a mistake during Lord Blackwell’s moment of weakness. His mother, Jane, was labeled a harlot, masquerading as the daughter of a lowly clerk – a woman who had seduced the young heir to Blackwell Manor. He would never forget the humiliation of being an earl’s bastard, and he was the eldest child, before Aidan came along. A year after his own mother gave birth to him, Lord Blackwell married the lovely Elizabeth Litton, wasting no time in producing a true blue-blooded heir for their many estates.
What had started off as childish competition grew into something serious. Aidan didn’t take life seriously, but he did. He had wanted to prove to his father he was the rightful heir, even if he was a bastard. He thought becoming a respectable doctor would be part of his transformation as Earl of Blackwell Manor. He dreamed of becoming the royal family’s doctor. He realized he dreamed wrong. Every time he thought he had made it, Aidan would overshadow him with his antics.
Aidan was never stern with duties, he worked but played hooky when he could, got drunk often, experimented with drugs, enjoyed the company of questionable men and women, lost protocol in London Society – people called him irresponsible and devilish, but exceedingly charming and handsome… and still, their father loved Aidan better. All for being the son of Lady Elizabeth, an heiress in her own right.
His younger half-brother didn’t have even a quarter of his skills and talents. Aidan hadn’t achieved many things by the time he turned eighteen, while he, Isaac Whittock, was a star pupil, with manners akin to royalty, and an education that could rival his siblings’ private tutors. Indeed, life was unfair, but he wanted to carve his name onto the Blackwood family tree. He was worthy of it. The moment his father died from consumption, along with the rest of his family, he knew he would never get a shot at earldom, unless he could have Aidan killed.
He had thought that his life would be afresh the moment he met Lily Ashworth, the loveliest woman he had ever laid his eyes on. He had gone on a doctor’s call, along with his mentor from school, to Lord Ashworth’s house. The viscount had hastily arranged for a quick stitching, from some supposed hunting accident; when he saw Lily, hovering about closely to her father. She was unlike any other person he had ever met.
The instant she spoke, he knew he was in love. They had corresponded often that month, and he was glad his mentor sent him over to check on the viscount, as it meant he could see her often. He had sent her letters, expressing his sentiments for her; and she would thank him in her beautiful cursive, never mentioning how she felt for him.
Many years after losing contact with Lily, he had found out that Aidan had begun to pursue her. Aidan, the prodigal heir, had left merely weeks after his entire family died, some weak form of escape from responsibility. He hadn’t been seen in two years. In mere months, Aidan had gotten a hold of Lily’s feelings, effectively pushing Isaac further to the backseat.
Thus, his studies were forgotten, and he became addicted to opium, squandering what money his father had left for him, which was a sizeable amount, but it was nothing close to what Aidan was set to have. He had become so embittered, he lost his scholarship, and his hands had become unsteady, too unsteady to perform the simplest procedures during mock operations.
He was expelled days after engaging in a fistfight, a fistfight where he had lost miserably. The days passed by in a haze. He met many people, some who hated him, and some who were figments of his imagination. One night, as he enjoyed his morphine once more, a gentleman approached him. He was a refined looking man who didn’t belong in a squalid pub, where whores and opium abounded.
But there was something about his eyes. Isaac later found out that William was hungry and he was the most pitiful person in the room. William only stopped when he realized Isaac was resigned to die, so he was spared. He didn’t listen too well to William at first, amazed by his skills as a nightwalker. He now had the upper hand against Aidan, and he would get Lily this time.
He was so sure of his skills, so sure of putting Aidan in his place, that he had forgotten the cardinal rule of the nightwalkers. He became reckless. He killed a few women for good measure, a test of his skills. Jack the Ripper, they called him. He gloated, but William was more than disappointed in him. Isaac became the last human William turned, before he gladly killed himself with sunlight.
Isaac was left to fend for himself, feeding like a glutton. There was this human part of him, an addiction that never left even if he died. He was addicted to seeing people’s lives fade away before his eyes, until he met Lily once more. She was still as beautiful as she was the day he first saw her. He didn’t even want to hurt her. She was his respite in a world full of blood and screams and darkness.
Lily was his for the taking now. But he didn’t count on something else. Aidan got in the way. And Aidan killed his one true love. He was ready to snap the woman’s neck last night, until he saw her face. Old feelings resurfaced, even if he didn’t know her.
To Isaac, she was another Lily. Some reincarnation. It was a sign. This was his chance. And this time, he would be hers, no matter the cost.
CHAPTER NINE
Isla couldn’t concentrate at work. She lacked sleep, but she didn’t
care. Her mind was somewhere else. It was with Aidan, no, Gabriel. It was with Gabriel. Perhaps it was true that emotions manifested differently when two people met under duress. While she was attracted to him the moment she saw him, she was drawn to him now, more than ever.
Did he hypnotize her? Did he have that kind of power? She shook her head; she had been curious about him from the beginning. She had a bit of a crush on him, so to speak. That curiosity and liking had escalated into something beyond her control.
Gabriel wasn’t as serious as she thought he was. There was also something else he was hiding, something he didn’t want her to know yet. Her mind had raced through for possibilities. What could she have that the other nightwalker wanted so badly? There was her blood. There were her ties to Gabriel. What else? She had no knowledge about them, no other contact with nightwalkers. She only had archaeological and conservation knowhow.
Why would nightwalkers be even interested in the excavations she had been doing? She had only faced mud-ridden buttons and tattered clothing and rusted pocket watches so far… then her eyes widened. The pocket watch. How could she have not realized this sooner? The excavation was all over the news, the biggest Victorian Era find as of late; a cornucopia of skeletons and trinkets. Surely, that nightwalker that attacked her had been following the news.
She waited for Ravi to leave the room and she quickly took the pocket watch out of the safe-drawer. Grabbing the microscope closer to her, she held it in her hand.
A.B.
Aidan. Aidan something. Was it possible that this watch belonged to Aidan? He had seen this, yet showed no intense curiosity for it. Was it only a ruse? What if all of this was a joke? What if he had planned this all along?
Her hands began to shake and grow cold. She had been duped. Duped with sentiment and theatrics (which were still real), duped by his charm. Those dates were only meant to get himself closer to the watch. And the stone. The stone!
Her hands still shaking, she pried it open carefully with her tools. She stared at it, tucked safely inside the secret compartment. This was the stone that nightwalker wanted? She turned to type on the keyboard, searching for whatever stone this was. Was this the red diamond? This unpolished lump of stone?
She shook her head, wondering if the diamond had healing properties. It was just the most expensive gemstone in the world, prized for its brilliant hue, its uniqueness among collectors and enthusiasts.
It didn’t come up that nightwalkers needed it. Of course, nightwalkers had to keep this to themselves, so why would it be on the net? She remembered the polished gem on Gabriel’s finger. Perhaps it was a different kind of red diamond. How many were there in the world? It was sold online. Anyone with money could buy it. Unless, unless that red diamond was different from the others.
She heard murmurs coming from somewhere, murmurs coming from the stone. Keep it safe. Safe. Keep it safe, a woman’s voice kept repeating, in the faintest voice possible.
It was coming from the stone! She dropped the watch in shock and it clattered on the table, and for a moment she was afraid she had broken it. She swore she had heard something. Or maybe it was lack of sleep. Was she losing her mind? It was too soon for that; she wasn’t even brilliant by historian standards yet...
She quickly closed the secret latch, just as Ravi and Sarah came in.
“Still not over that watch, I see,” Ravi told her, “you’re obsessing over a time piece.”
She forced a smile. “I just need to know who A.B. is. Maybe there’s something to this mass grave. No one leaves something like this behind. And it’s silver.”
Aidan, Aidan could be A.B. Aidan could have seen how this grave started, and more importantly, how it ended.
According to old maps, the place was a marsh before culverts and dams were made. There was also a large village that had been abandoned initially, then relocated due to numerous deaths. The villagers had returned fifty years after the questionable deaths stopped. The village of Headstall had a sizeable population, and the village cemetery still existed merely a few miles away from the excavation site.
“Those bodies weren’t buried there on purpose. They were left behind, hastily covered, by all intents.”
Was it possible Gabriel had something to do with this? And his older brother, Isaac? Did they kill all those poor people, leaving behind something significant in the ensuing chaos?
“Well, records show the villagers left in haste.”
“Can I have access to the census in that village?”
Ravi shook his head. “Look, it’s a mystery that even I’d like to solve, but we’ve got bigger things to do. Why don’t you leave it at that for the meantime? You have a term paper due in a few weeks, right?” he said, raising a brow.
She nodded, feeling defeated.
Ravi sighed. “Isla, if it means that much to you, I’m giving you access to those digital copies. Some of them have faded despite our best efforts during scanning, though.”
She smiled this time, genuine and bright. “Thank you, Ravi.”
“That paper of yours will be the death of you,” Ravi joked, shaking his head. “You haven’t been resting properly, now have you? If your father were here…” his voice trailed off.
“He’d approve of what I’m doing,” she finished.
Ravi shook his head. “Well, do what you do best. But I’m informing you of the deadline for that other excavation, alright?”
In a separate lab, filled with more monitors and machines was Isla’s work space for the next hour and a half. Headstall had a census, and scanned newspaper copies from the 1894. It was there that she read about a mysterious disease that was “almost like the consumption,” which had begun to spread toward London, starting in Gloucestershire, where a manor she had wanted to visit still stood.
People had anemia, they coughed up blood, and ultimately died. The village’s graveyards were filled in a matter of a year, and then suddenly the deaths stopped in 1895. 1895. Gabriel had mentioned that he had last seen his brother in 1895.
The 19th century gothic revival manse was owned by the Blackwell family, a mansion that had been left in good condition, even if no one lived in it. Blackwell. Aidan Blackwell, she suddenly realized, her eyes widening. Gabriel owned the locket! The stone. The gemstone… he needed it too. Why didn’t he try to steal it while he was here? Was that why he visited her? So he could see if it was his pocket watch she had been working on?
She felt like a complete idiot this time, blabbing on about her excavation project. It was all he wanted! To get to the watch! She shook her head, knowing he was coming for her later. He didn’t want to keep her safe. He only wanted the one thing that nightwalkers wanted, so they could walk in daylight. She would probably come in handy as a snack when she’d sleep in his manor, a manor with no one else around except for a middle aged butler.
She had to escape, she had to get away from him, from his brother, from everyone. But how? She couldn’t very well go back to the US. She almost wanted to laugh, confused about which one was worse, losing her internship or losing her life.
Isla had built her whole life on this, and to die meant that her parents’ dreams for her would die too. She suddenly hated herself for actually thinking she was falling in love with Gabriel. It wasn’t even his real name! She fell for someone who wasn’t even human. She fell for someone who wasn’t truly honest with her to begin with. Of course, his kindness meant something had to be given in return, how could she have thought he was genuinely nice?
He had played her well, and she didn’t see through any of it. She was an unwitting victim to some antiquated power play. She had only wanted to go on dates with him, she had only wanted to get to know him better, and perhaps, develop something beyond physical attraction.
I got more than I bargained for.
*
Gabriel frowned. Her phone was out of coverage area. He wondered why this was so. They had agreed on this; he would pick her up at five in the afternoon, while the sun still l
ingered. He didn’t get annoyed, even if he had waited for ten minutes already. In fact, the alarm bells in his head began to ring. Something was amiss. Isaac couldn’t be here. He couldn’t have sent his drone to do his bidding. That nightwalker wouldn’t have the defenses for it.
As far as he knew, there were only fifteen nightwalkers in the entire world who had the gemstone, cut from the same, single, large, and cursed red diamond found in South Africa. He had gotten the last two cuts, and he intended to keep it safe from Isaac. Isla, however, was top priority.
Now, where in the hell was she? He decided to park at Russell Street and quickly walked for the museum, his identification card hanging from his neck.
“Sir,” Greg welcomed, seeing him enter the office. “What are you doing here? Is there some board of trustees meeting I didn’t know of?”
“I’m here to see Isla Morgan.”
“You’ve met one of our interns? Has she done something?” Greg looked confused, then his face broke into a smile. “Ah, I see. Well, she is a bright young woman.”
Gabriel nodded, giving his best congenial smile. He followed Greg toward one of their laboratories. He saw a familiar tall, dark-skinned man, and a rather cranky looking woman working individually on tables.
“Ah, Mr. Ramsey,” Ravi greeted, “what brings you here? Isla left quite early. She said she wasn’t feeling very well.”
Gabriel nodded. “Oh, I suppose I’ll visit some other time. By the way, how have the excavations near Gloucestershire been doing?” he asked.
Ravi smiled. “Good, good. We’ve been in contact with archaeological forensics. The bones showed no signs of tuberculosis. Something else killed those poor Victorians.”