‘Come on you guys I’m starving,’ Louisa called from the kitchen, ‘I’m going to die if you don’t feed me soon.’
‘I see some things never change,’ Olivia shook her head.
Jake laughed and dropped his arm companionably around her shoulders as they wandered towards the kitchen.
‘You should never come between Louisa and food; she’ll take your head right off.’
‘Hey I heard that,’ Louisa replied indignantly as they entered the room. ‘I just pulled a double shift and I haven’t eaten since this morning.’
Louisa had removed her coat, revealing the scrubs she was wearing with plastic IDs clipped to the waistband.
‘Wow, you’re a doctor?’ Olivia’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘That’s right,’ Louisa mumbled as she continued to open random cupboards. ‘Hey where are your wineglasses?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Found them!’ she answered triumphantly as she pulled down three glasses with beautiful blue stems. ‘These are gorgeous.’
‘You’re really a doctor?’ Olivia repeated, barely glancing at the wine glasses.
‘Yes,’ Louisa answered in amusement.
‘But that’s so…so…’
‘Unexpected?’ Louisa supplied helpfully.
‘Respectable,’ Olivia breathed. ‘What happened to you running away to join a band?’
‘Ah yes,’ Louisa’s eyes went distant, ‘that was my third grade ambition wasn’t it. Well there was a problem with that.’
‘Which was?’ Olivia asked curiously.
‘Turns out I can’t sing or play an instrument.’
‘It's true she really can’t,’ Jake laughed, ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got any beer around here have you?’
‘Sure,’ Olivia nodded towards the refrigerator.
‘That’s not the only respectable thing about me,’ Louisa grinned and from under her scrubs she pulled a delicate chain which held a wedding ring.
‘You’re married?’ Olivia’s eyebrows rose, ‘To who?’
‘Tommy Linden.’
‘Linden,’ Olivia murmured thoughtfully, trying to cast her mind back twenty years. ‘Cute dark haired boy, a bit shy?’
‘That’s the one.’
‘You married the cutest boy in class?’
‘Yep, he went from being the cutest boy in class to the hottest guy in school,’ she replied smugly.
‘Hey!’ Jake objected as he popped the cap on his beer.
‘You don’t count,’ she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
‘Apparently,’ Jake mumbled as he took a long pull of his beer and sighed in satisfaction.
‘So where is he now?’
‘He’s serving a tour in Afghanistan.’
‘Oh,’ Olivia replied quietly, ‘I hope he gets home safe.’
‘Me too,’ Louisa took a sip of wine as she handed a glass to Olivia. ‘We Skype each other but I won’t relax until he’s back home on American soil.’
‘When’s he back on leave?’
‘Not sure yet but soon hopefully.’ Louisa’s smile was suddenly small and pensive.
‘Okay,’ Olivia squeezed her hand reassuringly, ‘so let’s feed you.’
‘Yes please,’ Louisa hopped up on the counter and took another sip of her wine.
‘A cop and a doctor,’ Olivia shook her head, ‘your parents must be proud.’
‘Yeah,’ Jake answered. ‘What about you? What do you do?’
‘I’m an Historian and author. I specialize mostly in historical books, specifically the witch trials, not just those in Salem but across early America and Europe and also the history of witchcraft itself.’
‘Wow,’ Louisa sipped her wine, ‘a historian, just like your daddy.’
Suddenly she realised what she’d said and her face paled.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…’
‘It’s okay,’ Olivia sighed. ‘I knew the subject of my parents would come up sooner or later. We might as well get it out of the way and then you won’t have to worry about tripping over your tongues.’
‘You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to Olive, it’s none of our business,’ Jake stared pointedly at his sister.
Olivia smiled, every time he called her Olive she was transported back in time, making her feel as if she were eight years old again.
‘Its fine,’ she looked over her shoulder at them as she began to scoop the spaghetti into bowls. ‘Go ahead and ask, if I don’t want to answer I won’t.’
‘Alright,’ Louisa jumped down off the counter and topped up both wine glasses. ‘What happened that night? I mean what do you remember?’
‘Not much to be honest,’ Olivia absently picked up her wine and drank, ‘I have some pretty big holes in my memory, and the therapist they forced me to see said I was repressing the memories because they were too traumatic.’
She turned to face them both and leaned back against the counter.
‘I remember being inside the house, the smoke and the fire. I remember my father standing over my mother’s body with a knife in his hand, and the blood.’ Her eyes became distant, lost in memory. ‘There was so much blood.’
‘Jesus,’ Jake hissed as he raked his hand through his hair, ‘I’m so sorry Olive, I’ve seen my fair share of crime scenes and no kid should ever have to see something like that.’
Olivia shrugged.
‘It’s been part of my life for so long, I don’t really think about it much anymore, or I try not to.’
‘So what happened after that?’ Louisa frowned.
‘It's a blur,’ Olivia shook her head, ‘We were in the car, I remember being really cold because I didn’t have a coat. From what I’ve been told we made it as far as Philadelphia before the cops caught up with us and my dad was arrested.’
‘So he’s still alive then?’ Jake asked, ‘in prison?’
Olivia shook her head.
‘He’s alive alright but when they caught up with him, he was raving. I mean like whole buckets of crazy, kept ranting something about demons. After he was convicted of the murders of my mother and grandmother he was institutionalized in a high security psychiatric hospital and I was put into the foster care system where I bounced around between family placements and group homes. I was made a ward of the state and put up for adoption but no one wanted me, after all who would want to adopt the kid of a murderer.’
‘I’m so sorry, Olive,’ Jake looked at her sympathetically.
She shrugged and took another sip of wine.
‘What I don’t understand is why you weren’t brought back to Mercy, why wasn’t your Aunt Evelyn given custody?’ Louisa frowned.
‘That’s a story for another time,’ Olivia sighed, ‘Now do you want your dinner or not, because it’s getting cold.’
‘I want it,’ Louisa smiled, sensing the topic was now off limits. She filed away the rest of her questions for the time being.
‘Good,’ she handed them a bowl each. ‘Let's go through into the library, its more comfortable and as it’s the only other room I’m using at the moment it’s the only other room that’s actually clean.’
After retrieving another couple of bottles of red from her aunt’s private stash and some more beer for Jake they settled comfortably in the library with Louisa stretched out on the saggy old couch and Jake in an adjacent chair. Olivia as she preferred pulled some big cushions onto the floor and curled up in front of the fire.
‘So Jake, what happened to the bartender over at The Salted Bone? That’s all anyone’s been talking about today,’ Louisa asked her brother.
‘That’s right I forgot about that,’ Olivia took a mouthful of spaghetti, ‘I was at the grocery store this morning and Mrs Bailey was all over that.’
‘I just bet she was, the old bitch,’ Louisa rolled her eyes; ‘I also bet she just loved the fact you’re back in town.’
Olivia sn
orted,
‘You should have seen her face when she figured out who I was. It was like Christmas had come early for her but anyway,’ Olivia turned back to Jake, ‘she thought Adam was just a drifter and that he’d robbed Jackson and taken off with the money.’
‘You know Adam and Jackson?’ Jake asked
‘I met them the other night.’
‘Well I can’t really discuss an ongoing investigation,’ Jake swallowed a mouthful of his dinner; ‘all I can say is Adam didn’t turn up for his shift today and hasn’t been seen since last night.’
‘Come on Jake,’ Louisa whined, ‘give us something to work with here, what good is it being related to a cop if you don’t get the good gossip.’
‘There is nothing to gossip about. Adam did not rob the pub and whilst I may not like Eustacia Bailey, the woman did have a point. As likable as Adam was, he was a drifter. The chances are he probably just decided to take off.’
‘But you don’t think that do you?’ Olivia’s eyes narrowed as she watched Jake’s expression remain carefully neutral.
‘There are just a few things that don’t add up for me,’ he conceded with a swig of beer.
‘Such as?’ Louisa prodded.
Jake sighed.
‘I trust this will go no further than this room?’
‘I promise,’ Louisa replied eagerly.
‘Yeah me too,’ Olivia agreed.
‘Adam’s car was left in the parking lot with the door open, the keys were found on the ground and what looks like blood was found on the door rim. Not only that, but all of his possessions were still in his room over at The Black Cat Motel where he was staying.’
‘You think something bad has happened to him?’ Louisa asked genuinely concerned.
‘We just don’t know at this point,’ Jake replied. ‘We’re making inquiries but we don’t have a lot to go on.’
‘Poor Adam,’ Olivia frowned, ‘I only met him once but he seemed to be a nice guy and I think he had a thing going on with the red haired waitress there.’
‘What makes you say that?’ Jake asked sharply.
‘Just the way they were looking at each other, it was familiar and intimate.’
‘You always were good at reading people,’ Louisa murmured. ‘Well I hope that you find him and that he’s okay.’
‘Time will tell,’ Jake said philosophically.
They all settled down in companionable silence for a while as they finished their meal.
‘It’s getting a little cold in here,’ Olivia shivered putting down her empty bowl, ‘I think I’ll light the fire.’
Jakes face lit up.
‘Are you going to light the fire or you know... light the fire,’ he put a great emphasis on the word light the second time.
‘Jake,’ Louisa hissed.
‘What? I just want to see if she can still do it,’ he grinned.
‘Do what?’ Olivia replied innocently hiding her smile behind her wine glass.
‘You know exactly what. When we were kids you used to be able to create fire out of thin air, I watched you a dozen times light the candles just by blowing on the wicks.’
‘Oh that,’ her eyes glittered mischievously, ‘child's play.’
The fire suddenly roared to life in the still cold hearth without even a whisper of sound or movement from Olivia.
‘I’m so much better than that now,’ she smiled.
‘Holy shit,’ Jake jumped at the sudden roar of flame, spilling his beer in his lap.
‘Wow,’ Louisa’s mouth dropped open.
Olivia simply laughed and topped off her wine.
‘That shit is awesome,’ Jake laughed in delight, ‘What else can you do?’
Olivia took a slow sip of her wine as she regarded Jake thoughtfully. It’s true that when they were kids they knew everything about each other. It seemed only natural to share everything with her best friends, but a lot could change in twenty years and for the first time since she’d been back in their company she wondered at just how much she should reveal.
Louisa seemed to feel her reluctance and slid off the couch to sit on the floor next to her as did Jake, so they were arranged in a circle in front of the cheerfully roaring fire. She watched silently as they joined hands and reached out to take hers and for a brief moment she was transported back in time and they were all seven and eight years old again.
‘We keep each other’s secrets,’ Louisa murmured with a smile.
It was the vow they always used to make when they snuck off together and met up in secret.
‘We keep each other’s secrets,’ Jake repeated.
Olivia sighed as she looked at each of them; this was what she had been missing and that deep dark place that had always seemed to be inside her, narrowed slightly for the first time in two decades.
‘We keep each other’s secrets,’ she conceded breathing quietly as she completed the circle.
‘Cool,’ Jake grinned with all the eagerness of a little boy. ‘So come on what else can you do?’
With a small smile curving the corner of her mouth she held her hands out in front of her body, fingers splayed out as if she were holding an invisible ball. Slowly she twisted and moved her hands and a burning orb appeared between them. They watched fascinated as her warm honey coloured eyes suddenly burned molten gold and the glowing sphere grew in size swirling and writhing in her hands like a fiery new born planet.
She slowly pulled her hands apart vertically as if she was stretching the tiny primordial world and it began to lengthen, gradually taking on a new shape. One of her hands dropped slowly to her side whilst the burning writhing mass swirled in the palm of her other hand. They could now clearly see its shape. It churned in a vibrant funnel like a miniature tornado made of pure flame and energy. Every now and then it crackled and snapped with micro bursts of lightening.
Olivia watched, entranced at the ribbons of orange, yellow, red and gold that made up the very substance of her magical fire. They wound round and round in never ending circles connected yet separate. No one could see the fire the way she did, it was hers and hers alone.
Her eyes met Jake’s across the circle.
‘Do you trust me?’
Her voice was like a siren call, he would think later, if he could think at all. It wasn’t just the deep liquid gold of her eyes he couldn’t turn away from, but her skin itself seemed to glow, reflecting the flames.
‘I trust you,’ he whispered.
‘Then touch the flames,’ she smiled holding out her hand.
He reached out, hesitating for a split second as his fingers hovered at the edge of the flame before taking a deep breath and plunging his hand into the fire.
A gasp of shock hissed from his lips as his eyes widened in surprise.
‘The flames are cold,’ he breathed in wonder.
Louisa’s eyes widened and she too reached out and dipped her fingertips into the fire.
‘Well I’ll be damned,’ she murmured.
Olivia turned to the small coffee table which sat beside the couch. It had a glass top, edged in metal, and was mounted on twisted iron legs. Grasping it with her free hand she dragged it into the centre of their little circle and tipped the flames onto its reflective surface.
The glass suddenly turned cloudy and crackled, as a snowflake pattern appeared, spreading out to the very edges like a pond freezing over in sub zero temperatures.
Louisa traced the surface of the table before snatching her hand back.
‘It’s frozen solid,’ she gasped.
Olivia smiled to herself as she focused on the fire. Moisture began to pool on the surface as the flames heated and melted the icy glass. The tornado bobbed and weaved across the table until it reached the metal edging and suddenly the metal began to glow cherry red, like a poker pulled from a forge. The metal heated and began to bubble dripping down the iron leg of the table like a candle.
‘You can control its
temperature,’ Jake breathed in awe. ‘The flames, you can make them burn as hot or cold as you want can’t you?’
‘That’s not all,’ Olivia replied.
‘What?’
‘How about a different colour?’ she cocked an eyebrow.
Suddenly the red and yellow flames flared and changed to pure gold, then to a pale icy blue before settling into a light lavender colour.
‘Holy crap,’ Louisa laughed in delight.
Olivia cupped her hands around the fire and it jumped back into her palms. She pressed her hands together and the fire was extinguished.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Louisa breathed, ‘that was amazing.’
Olivia shrugged.
‘So I guess you decided to follow in your family’s footsteps and live as a witch then.’ Jake stated more than asked.
‘It wasn’t so much a conscious decision,’ Olivia picked up her glass and took a thoughtful sip, ‘I always knew what my mother and grandmother and aunt were, they never hid it from me, although we were never allowed to discuss it with anyone outside the family. After my mom and Nana died I turned from the power for a long time. Not only because the fire reminded me of that night but because I was trying so desperately to fit in with all the other foster kids and I didn’t want to be seen as a freak.’
‘So what changed?’ Jake asked quietly.
‘I did,’ Olivia dropped her head back against the couch and breathed deeply. ‘I don’t know, I guess I figured choosing to be a witch was kind of honouring my mom. It was a way of being close to her because I missed her so bad. But in the end I realised that being a witch wasn’t a choice, it’s who I am, if that makes any sense. The power I have is part of me, and I can’t ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist because that would be denying who I truly am.’
‘Wow that’s deep,’ Jake whispered.
Olivia grabbed a cushion and threw it at his head.
‘Brat,’ she laughed.
He grinned as he caught the pillow and tucked it comfortably under himself.
‘So what about you two,’ Olivia asked, ‘did either of you explore your gifts?’
Just as fire had always been Olivia’s greatest skill, she knew her best friends were also gifted; it’s what had drawn them all together in the first place. Louisa had always been able to tell what was wrong with someone if they were hurt or sick and Jake, well Jake had this uncanny knack for knowing if someone was lying or being deceitful. Suddenly she realised that they had made use of their gifts, even if they hadn’t realised it, by the professions they’d chosen.
Mercy (The Guardians Series 1) Page 5