They watched in silence as the woman rang the bell. Next thing they knew, she was running away from the scene.
An intercom buzzed and a man got up from the couch, went to the door and descended the same staircase that they’d climbed earlier.
“That’s this place isn’t it?” asked Cliff.
Raven nodded. “And the man—that’s Robert.”
Robert trudged down the stairs, huffing and puffing. He was clearly not happy with the disturbance. Once on the ground floor, he noticed the pile of leaflets below his mailslot and opened the door.
They watched him look over the gift briefly and discount it as if he didn’t believe it could be for him. But soon, curiosity seemed to get the better of him, as he appeared to change his mind and leaned down to inspect it closer. Reading the label with surprise, Robert picked up the gift box and the card and returned upstairs.
When the door to his flat opened once more, it revealed a grinning Robert. With the card and gift in hand, he made his way to the livingroom to open his mail. Then he paused and looked up and the ceiling, puzzled for a minute, perhaps trying to figure out who might have sent him a gift. Eventually, he turned his attention to the card and tore open the corner of the yellow and brown envelope by sliding his finger along the top until the tear was wide enough to extract the card.
Robert smiled as he read over the contents of the card. It was obvious to all watching, that while he was happy with the gesture, he wasn’t overly emotional about it. He seemed more flattered than anything else. As though his ego has just taken a massive boost.
Discarding the card, Robert then turned to the gift. He made quick work of the wrapping paper, tearing it off in one motion. As they expected, it was the box of chocolates Scarlett had seen previously. Again, Robert was smug. It was evident that the gift had inspired little, if any, sentimental value. After spending a minute or so staring at the chocolates and the card in silent contemplation, he lifted the card and placed it on top of the chocolate box.
The vision then moved back downstairs. This time it featured a woman, whom Scarlett recognized as Raven in her human form. She looked happy as she opened the door and practically skipped up the first flight of stairs. The vision followed Raven as she made her way to Robert’s flat. As she placed her key in the lock, her smile turned to a grin and her eyes shone brightly. Her affection for Robert was palpable.
“Hi, Robert!” She called out, walking to the living room. She watched him hover over the coffee table, deep in thought. She tried again to get his attention, but received only silence in return.
Raven approached with caution. “Robert, whatever’s the matter?” She glanced down at the table. “Robert, darling.” She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes before lifting the card. “I’m touched, really, I am.
Suddenly, Robert sprung to life. “No, that’s not—”
Raven grinned, waving away his protests and opened the card. As her eyes shifted across the message in the card, her lips tightened and a scowl engulfed her face.
Robert reached for the card in a panic. “Here, give me that, it’s from a friend. She’s a bit crazy. She’s called Vera.”
Raven held the card out of his grasp. “Don’t insult me!”
“Darling, it’s true.”
“Vera, you say? A friend you say?”
Robert appeared to look at the ceiling for inspiration. “Well, I was going to keep this a secret, but—I’ve been going to amateur dramatics lessons. We’re doing a modern take on Romeo and Juliet and well—it’s just her idea of a joke. I told you, she’s a bit wacko.” He tapped his temple.
Raven, unflinching, stared him down. “I don’t believe you. I’ve never heard anything quite so ridiculous in my life.”
He reached out to pull her into a hug.
“Get off me!” She slapped his shoulder, over and over.
He caught hold of her hand and gently moved it down to her side. “Darling, come on, you’re beginning to hurt, now. Don’t you think you’re overreacting, just a tiny bit?”
“Overreacting?” Raven seethed. “I’ll show you overreacting.” She took out her wand.
Robert stepped back and raised his hands. “Don’t go doing anything you’ll regret! Put that thing away, will you, before—”
Raven ignored his protests, beginning to mumble in some ancient tongue. Part way through, she paused, and looked up at the ceiling as if trying to remember. When the thought came to her, she grinned and continued her chanting, clapping her hands, and then—a flash.
Robert looked confused. His eyes darted around the room. A meow pulled his gaze to the floor. Raven had turned herself into a cat. At the sight of his feline girlfriend, Robert doubled over into hysterics. He turned bright red, laughing so much that he could barely breathe.
He stood there for a moment, watching the cat scamper around the room. Then, it slowly dawned on him that she wasn’t going to turn back and his expression changed to one of concern.
He bent down to gently stroke her back but the fur stood on end. She arched her back and hissed, daring him to make another move.
Reaching out again, he tenderly stroked the side of her face. Unfortunately, this didn’t appease her for long. Robert watched as she scurried out of the room, leaving the flat through the window.
Robert, now looking like a broken man trudged back to the couch. Dropping his face into his hands, he began to cry. The entire room echoed with the sound of his sobs. A stream of tears trickled out through his fingers, and droplets fell to the floor, forming a dark patch by his feet.
In the present, Cliff peered into the vortex. “Tell you what, things are not looking too clever for Raven.”
Scarlett shook her head, her expression just as forlorn as Robert’s had been. “No, they’re not.” She perked up. “But it could be worse.”
Cliff looked intrigued. “How?”
“Because, she didn’t kill him, did she?”
“No, I suppose not.”
“He was alive when she left and that gives us a shred of hope. Something to cling to.”
Cliff nodded. “Yeah, well there is that. And I tell you something else, too.”
“What?” Scarlett didn’t sound too hopeful.
“There isn’t much stabbing she can do while in cat form, is there?”
Her face lit up. “No. No there isn’t.”
Scarlett wiped her glistening eyes with the back of her hand, looked through the window and smiled. It was funny how her emotions had gone from the pit of despair one minute, to elation the next. Had Cliff not been present, she might well have felt too dejected to continue.
“Look,” Cliff whispered, nodding to the vortex of smoke. “There’s more.”
The woman they’d seen earlier had now resurfaced. “Hi,” she said, sitting beside Robert on the couch, putting her hand on his thigh.
Robert flinched and moved away.
The woman look confused. “Babe, what’s with you?”
Robert shrugged, sending another flood of tears pouring down his face.
“What is it? Why are you crying?” She put her arm around his shoulder and tried to pull him toward her, like a mother to a child.
Robert pulled free. “It’s—Raven.”
Her compassionate expression shifted into rage. She screwed up her nose, took a deep breath and clenched her jaws together. “Raven has gone has she? Well, good riddance, that’s what I say.”
Robert shook his head.
“But, darling, don’t you see what this means? It means we’re in the clear. We can be together, get things out in the open, and go public at last.”
He rose to his feet. “Vixen, I think you’d better go.” He marched towards the door. “Leave me alone.”
Vixen didn’t seem to hear him. “What about me? Do you think it was a bed of roses for me, to watch you two all cozied up like that? Did you ever stop to think about what I want?”
“I did, Vixen, but—”
She pulled out a rather ornate-lo
oking knife.
Robert stood back, waving his arms in front of him. “Now, come on, don’t take this too far. I’m sure we can sort things out. I was in shock. Come to think of it, seeing you now like this, I can see things differently, I—”
“Oh, save it, will you?” She thrust the knife toward him, holding it inches from his stomach.
Robert eyed the knife and took another step back. “Put that thing down, will you?”
Vixen scowled. “No. It’s too late for all that. Your excuses mean nothing. Every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie.”
“But you wouldn’t want me to die, would you?”
“No, I don’t want you to die.” Her expression softened. “I love you, why would I want to kill you?”
“Well, what then? Why are you waving the knife around?!”
“Let’s make a blood pact.”
“A what now?”
“A blood pact, Robert. It’s the only way. It’s either this or die a bloody death.”
Scarlett stepped back from the swirl of smoke, being careful to remain inside the circle of salt. Mouth gaping, she turned to Cliff, who was grinning and shaking his head.
She smiled at Raven, who had moved forward to stand beside Cliff. “She’s insane Raven, you were right. You weren’t wrong about her being a bit obsessive.”
Cliff sniggered. “A bit?”
Raven ignored Cliff and looked up at Scarlett. “Yes, well I did try to tell you that before.”
Before she could respond, something interesting took shape in the vortex.
Robert leaned back as far as possible without taking a step. He shook his head. “No.”
Vixen stamped her feet. “No? What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, Vixen, you’re acting crazy and I’m not being party to this.” Robert’s voice was firm. “I’m not doing it and that’s final.”
Vixen glanced at the floor. “Well, if that’s how you feel. But, if only you knew how much I’ve been waiting, praying that this moment would arise. I just wanted to feel an unbreakable bond, like you were mine and I was yours forever.” Her face filled with rage. “But you didn’t want that. I wasn’t good enough for you. You never loved me at all did you?”
Robert approached with caution. “No, that’s just not true. I loved you right from the first moment I—”
Vixen’s eyes glazed over with fury. She was too far gone. “Everything you say is lies. I don’t trust you anymore, I can’t trust you.” She inhaled deeply, as if steeling her nerve. “I gave you a choice and you’ve made it.”
“What do you mean?” He held his hand out for the knife, obviously worried that he was going to get his fingers cut off. “Come on, give me the knife.”
“No.” She took a step closer and grinned. “No Robert, it’s too late. I gave you a choice and you made it. Now… ” Keeping the blade in line with his stomach, she pulled the knife back.
Robert’s face was awash with panic. “No, no… ”
“Take that!” She plunged the knife into his abdomen.
Robert thrust his hand over the open wound and screamed. He fell to the couch as the blood from his wound leaked through his fingers, onto his shirt.
Vixen stood nearby listening to him scream; grinning, mumbling and laughing as he writhed around in agony. His breaths grew shallow and increasingly sporadic until eventually, his head lolled to the side. Using all the strength he could muster, he opened his mouth to talk. “You crazy—”
Vixen walked toward him, laughing. She came to a stop, bent over and shoved his shoulder.
He turned his head to make eye contact, opened his mouth, but could only manage a gurgling sound.
She pulled his phone from his pocket and held it tantalizingly above him. “Here, take the phone,” she taunted him. “Call for help. See if anyone believes a single word you say.”
Robert reached out to take the phone, but his arm dropped and trailed along the front of the couch, fingertips grazing the floor.
For a moment, her expression filled with compassion. “Oh Robert, do you really think I’d leave you here to die?” She lifted his arm and put the phone to his hand. “Here. Call your precious girlfriend. See if she could give a damn.”
She took a step back to get a better view. She grinned as he tried in vain to use the phone. When his arm dropped for what was sure to be the final time, she started to cackle.
“Oh, Robert. I’m so sorry.” She sighed. “I’m sorry to do this to you, my love, but you gave me no choice. If only you’d done as I asked, you’d still be alive and we’d be lovers. But no, you didn’t want it. You didn’t share my dream, so in the end, you had to pay the price. Sorry my love, really, I am.”
She started with the cackling again, louder this time, and turned to leave. Finally, the vision faded.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Should be ‘round here somewhere,” Tarquin said to Tabitha as they drove through town. Tabitha looked at the GPS. “Says it should be around here, next to Costa Coffee.”
Tarquin looked through the window. “Well, here’s Costa. Hang on a minute, there’s a side road.”
Two minutes later, they were parked on the street running along the side of Costa, looking through the driver’s window at the parking lot used by employees and the yard that was piled high with boxes.
Tarquin unclicked his seatbelt and turned to look at Tabitha. “Okay, I think this is the place.” He leaned forward and peered through the window, up at the flat above Costa. “Looks like it’s up there.”
Tabitha looked in the direction of his gaze. “Hmm. Doesn’t look like the kind of place you’d want to be living in, does it? I only hope that Scarlett hasn’t come to any harm and that we’re not too late.”
Tarquin gave her a reassuring smile. “Tabitha, everything’s going to be fine.”
“Well, if you say so.” Tabitha reached for the door, then paused, her face a mixture of confusion and concern.
“Tabitha, what is it?”
“I don’t know. There’s just something. Can’t you feel it?”
Tarquin took a deep breath and silently studied the surrounding environment for a moment. “Well, there’s something, but I’m not sure it’s something to worry about. Should we go?”
“Yes. You’re right.” Tabitha opened the passenger door and stepped out of the car.
Tarquin followed Tabitha across the yard to the main door that served as the entrance to the flat block.
“Tarquin, I’m worried.”
He hurried forward to join her. “Worried, what about?”
“Well, this cat, this—Raven, is she called?”
“Raven, yes. What about her?”
“I’m worried she might be up to no good.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I—I don’t know. Call it a witchy sense if you like.”
Tarquin nodded. “Or an aunt’s?”
Tabitha smiled. “Yes, but it’s Scarlett that I’m really worried about. All this stuff, this interest in the dark arts. It’s all happened since Raven came on the scene.”
Tarquin’s expression turned solemn. “You think Raven might be doing… ”
Tabitha nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” She placed a hand on the door handle and paused, as if suspended in time.
“Tabitha, what is it? You’ve gone pale all of a sudden.”
“Tarquin, I… I’m worried about what I might find.” The image playing out in her mind made her worry that she might not be able to cope.
“Then, you stay here. I’ll go.”
Tabitha shook her head. “No, no. I’ll go.”
“No, Tabitha. I don’t mind. Really, I don’t.”
Tabitha took a deep breath and composed herself. “No, no, come on. Let’s get this over with, before that girl… ”
Tarquin grinned. “Oh, she’s not that bad.”
Tabitha heaved open the door. “It’s heavy,” Tabitha said, straining to pull it all the way open. “Here,
after you. You go first.”
“My pleasure.” Tarquin stepped inside, put one foot on the bottom stair and looked back over his shoulder to watch Tabitha bang the door shut. Darkness engulfed them. “Tabitha,” he whispered. “Are you okay?”
Tabitha grinned and wondered why people feel compelled to whisper in the dark. “Yes, are you?”
“Yes.”
Three more steps up, halfway towards the first floor, Tabitha paused, placing a hand on the banister.
Tarquin turned around. “What is it?”
“That strange feeling I had before,” she whispered. “It’s back.” Tabitha was filled with a sense of foreboding. She felt torn between the fear of what she might find waiting for her and her duty to ensure Scarlett was safe. She knew that she had to put Scarlett’s safety first, but inside she feared that something terrible might happen, and this might spell the end for her.
Tabitha took another step up the stairs and allowed her thoughts to wander. She’d been feeling worn out recently and knew her days as a witch were coming to an end. She’d soon be some ancient relic in a home with a tartan blanket over her lap and a nurse that wheeled her outside on sunny afternoons. The dark air around her grew tense, compelling her to stop and lean back as far as she could go.
“Tabitha, what is it?”
“The air’s gotten tense, can’t you feel it?”
Tarquin raised his chin and sampled the air. “Yes, there is something. I can feel it now.”
Panic flashed up in Tabitha’s eyes. “It’s the space-time fabric. There’s some kind of disturbance in the field.”
“You mean—?”
Tabitha nodded. “Yes, that’s what it is. The disturbance is causing the field to warp.”
“Come on.” Panic had crept into Tarquin’s voice. “We have to get there, fast.”
“Yes. I just hope we’re not too late.”
Without another word passing between them, they finished their ascent to flat 2B.
Tabitha tried the door and grimaced. “It’s locked.”
Raven (A Very British Witch Book 4) Page 14