Soul Snatcher

by annie nadine

  “He seems to think of everything,” she whispered, sounding almost stunned.

  “That he does,” Garrick agreed as he started walking again. He took her to a room and held the door open for her. She walked into the room hesitantly, it was all very dream-like. “Good night, Miss Belle,” he said then closed the door. She stood there just taking a moment to soak in her surroundings.

  There was a huge fireplace, with a roaring fire, that almost covered one whole wall. The bed was bigger than any she had ever seen and looked softer than clouds seemed, with its white fluffy pillows and light blue quilt which matched the walls. A writing desk sat in between two huge windows and there was another door on the other side of the room that she guessed was a dressing room. The rug was the same as the ones throughout the house and just one reading chair sat near the fire place, she could see it was coloured emerald green as the firelight flickered against it.

  There were some nightclothes laid out on the bed, obviously Eli’s because it had his monogram in white stitching on the breast pocket. The simple pants and button shirt were a royal blue, very neat and very Eli. She quickly got dressed into the oversized clothes and placed her soaking wet dress near the fire. She would dry her other clothes later. The nightclothes were so soft against her chilled skin. As she looked around the room, and thinking back to the rest of the house, she was beginning to think that his favourite colour was blue.

  She scurried over to the seat near the fire to warm her chilled bones. As she sat there looking into the flames she couldn’t help but think about Baden, as she had for the past few days. She wondered where he was right then and suddenly she realised that he could be with someone he loved. The idea of that caused her to feel unsettled and she found that she didn’t like the feeling at all. Pushing away the thought she looked around the room and thought of Eli. She smiled to herself, thinking of how kind he had been to her without even knowing her. She found it a little intense that he had taken such a liking to her in an extremely short amount of time but it was sweet in its own way. It did make her wonder why Baden hadn’t.

  After she felt warmed up enough by the heat of the fire she eased herself into the bed. Her aching bones welcomed the plush comfort of the mattress and soon she was fast asleep, dreaming of those blue eyes and that smooth voice.

  The next morning Annie slept in until ten o’clock. When she looked over at the clock on the mantle and saw the time she sat up and rushed out of bed. Before she could think of what to do next there was a knock at the door.

  “Who is it?” Annie asked.

  “Eli.” His voice was muffled through the door. She looked down to check her clothes. They completely covered her and they didn’t seem inappropriate. In fact, they were just ridiculously baggy.

  “Come in,” she said after careful consideration. The door clicked open and Eli came in, a smile coming to his face as soon as he saw her. Suddenly she realised that she hadn’t locked the door last night and it made her feel vulnerable.

  “How are you feeling?” He asked as he stood in front of her, hands in his pockets. He left his top button open and had no jacket on. He looked very casual and quite handsome in his white shirt and black dress pants.

  “I am feeling rejuvenated…though I am shocked I slept in so late,” she said a little disappointed in herself.

  “You obviously needed the rest,” he rebuked her self-scolding. His smile faded when he saw the bruise that had developed on her cheek and anger filled his expression as he realised what had happened.

  “No matter, what may I do to help?” She asked enthusiastically, trying to avoid having to explain the bruise.

  Annie wasn’t one to use people, she always wanted to pay her way and she certainly didn’t want anyone’s pity. Seeing that she didn’t want to talk about it he decided not to rehash last night’s event.

  “I want you to do nothing,” he answered. She looked at him perplexed.

  “Mr…” she paused, remembering to use his first name. “Eli, please. Let me assist with your daily chores. I want to be a help to you,” she insisted.

  “You are not my hired help, Annie. You are a guest in my manor and you will be treated as such.”

  “Then a guest has a departure date. When will that be?” She asked.

  “Never,” he declared. She raised her brow in surprise at his answer. “I mean to say, stay as long as you like. As far as I am aware you do not have another place to go?” He reasoned and she wondered how he knew that.

  “Not to sound ungrateful but what am I meant to do with my time?” She tried to ask politely.

  “Whatever you wish.” His grin was so wide it looked as if it would stretch off his face. “Before we continue going around in conversational circles, I came to say that I am off. I will return this evening but it would be my privilege if you would accompany me to dinner tonight?” His offer was smooth and well spoken, almost as if he had rehearsed it.

  “I do not think I have anything appropriate to wear,” she said trying to subtly decline the offer.

  “All of your clothes have been washed and put out to dry by the maid, your other belongings have been placed in your room and I do not see why you cannot purchase another dress if you find your others to be unsuitable.” He seemed to have a dispute for everything.

  “Purchase?” She looked at him as if he was daft and didn’t realise she was penniless.

  “Yes, I have accounts set up in most stores. Feel free to charge it to my name,” he offered.

  “I think one of my current dresses will be fine.” She tried to mask her shock at his generosity.

  “Annie, you just said they were inapt. I will arrange for Garrick to take you in town,” he said as he turned to walk away.

  “That is unnecessary,” she called after him. He turned back to her when he reached the door.

  “Have a lovely day, Annie.” He wasn’t meaning to be rude by ignoring her, it was just his way of saying the conversation was over and that she would be going in town to buy new clothes. After his trademark smile he left. She thought to herself that her stay was going to be an interesting one with a man as assertive as Eli. She didn’t realise how right she was.

  CHAPTER 6

  Garrick had left Annie at the most elite seamstress in town. The waiting room alone was lavish, with its plush, oversized white chairs. Flowing, red velvet curtains hid the rest of the store away like it was a special secret. The carpet was ivory and Annie thought to herself that she was glad she wasn’t the one having to clean it. Though the store was very feminine in its design it did still tailor for men, which would explain the ones sitting in the waiting room.

  Annie felt very out of her element as she awkwardly approached the young attendant standing at the counter. The woman looked to be only a little older than Annie but she was immaculately dressed and had an air of arrogance about her. That haughtiness vanished once she was told which account Annie was charging to, she became instantly accommodating, producing the owner immediately. Annie seemed to come before all other customers and nothing else appeared to matter to the owner except her new client.

  The proprietor, Antoinette was French and still had a noticeable accent. Sometimes she would speak and Annie couldn’t understand what she was saying. The seamstress had almond hair with flecks of grey throughout and was very petite. She dragged Annie through the red curtains, into the largest fitting room and flustered about to close the drapes.

  The same theme flowed into the backrooms, with the same red curtains sectioning off the fitting rooms. Each room had a small stepping stool and huge mirror fixed to the wall, leaving Annie feeling like there was nowhere to hide. Antoinette proceeded to undress Annie without a second thought.

  “Annabelle,” Antoinette said in her French accent. She had merged Annie’s first and last name together, making a whole new name for her. Annie stood there in her undergarments, thankfully hidden behind the red velvet curtain of the dressing room. She looked at herself in the mirror that lined the whol
e wall, from ceiling to floor, and couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.

  “We…uh…accentuer your buste. Oui, oui!” Antoinette said as she measured Annie. She mixed her French and English words together when she wasn’t concentrating.

  “We what my what?” Annie asked feeling lost.

  “How do I say….bust, your bust,” Antoinette tried.

  “Do what with my bust?” Annie was mortified at the direction of Antoinette’s idea.

  “Show!” She explained seeming excited to have such a splendid model.

  “I prefer to stay on the side of modesty, if that is not too much trouble,” Annie expressed her opinion hesitantly to the assertive owner. Antoinette seemed to pick and choose what parts of the English language she understood or more so, paid attention to.

  Her designs seemed to be a little ahead of their time and quite original from some of the ones that were on display in her store window. Annie was wary as to what she was going to walk out with.

  Antoinette muttered something under her breath in French and left before Annie could protest anymore. She walked back in with a dress and slipped it over Annie’s head. After she had wriggled into it, Antoinette started fiddling around the skirt as Annie appraised herself in the mirror.

  It looked more like a dress that Annie had seen on Grecian women in the books she had read. The line still ran under her bust but was a thick layer of shimmery lace that ran itself up over her shoulders and down her back, becoming the only support for the dress to remain on her body. The sleeves were not puffed like other dresses but just thin pieces of the dress’ fabric cut to rest loosely against the shoulder and drape elegantly down her arm. The material was coloured ivory with flowing waves running the length of it. Annie instantly liked it because of its uniqueness and simplicity. It fit perfectly, except for the length which was just a little too long. The only thing that concerned her was that her bust did seem to be a little more noticeable than usual. She tried to stay as modest as she could so woman wouldn’t be rude to her.

  “Is there something we could do to change the bust line a little?” Annie asked as clearly as she could.

  “The bust? Ne,” Antoinette answered. Annie stared blankly at her. “No,” Antoinette bluntly clarified for her. Here Annie thought she was the customer but all she seemed to be was a life sized doll. The bell rang through the shop indicating a customer’s entrance. “Maudit,” Antoinette muttered as she walked out to serve them.

  “I am here to retrieve my coat.” The smooth mail voice came to Annie’s ears. Forgetting herself, she ran out of the dressing room in a flurry and pushed through the dividing curtain. She came upon Baden waiting at the counter for Antoinette to return with his item.

  “Baden,” Annie said breathlessly. Baden looked around to his name being called and froze when he saw her. He hadn’t realised that she was actually in the store because he had already been thinking of Annie and had thought he was simply recalling the memory of her.

  She stood there just staring at him. He was even more incredible than what she could recall. His lips had the most desirable curve to them with the softest pink hue. His eyes were a stunning, clear sky-blue and his wild, perfect hair was ink black, yet somehow almost shone blue when the light touched it. His strong jaw was framed with the slightest hint of stubble and he looked breathtaking. It felt like he towered over her with his broad shoulders and strong body. He seemed to ooze strength and power.

  “Annie,” he said after he had been silent for what felt like forever. He seemed to swallow hard but she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  He was dressed to perfection, his pants black with a crisp white shirt to complement. His shoes were polished flawlessly and remained unblemished from walking. He wasn’t wearing all the fussy extras that most men wore but he looked even better than all of them. Her heart sank as she thought he must be going somewhere if he was dressed so well. He definitely looked like he was trying to impress someone but who was it? Something sparked inside of her that she had never felt before…she realised that she was jealous. Before either of them could speak Antoinette returned with his jacket.

  “Sir,” she said handing him the jacket. Baden gave her some money and took the formal looking coat he had ordered. He turned to Annie and half smiled but she was too stunned to do anything but stare at him. Antoinette started to shoo her back into the dressing room and Baden turned to leave.

  “This is fine, Antoinette. Please put this on Eli Brighton’s account,” Annie instructed as she went after Baden. She was about to run out the door but she had no shoes on. She ran back into the dressing room, stepped into her slippers and went after him.

  “Your things, Annabelle,” Antoinette called after her.

  “Please place them in a carrier for me,” Annie called as she went out the door. “Baden,” she called after him.

  Baden walked a few more steps then stopped and slowly turned to her. She walked up to him cautiously, the nerves kicking around in her stomach. The hour was late in the afternoon and there weren’t many people about, keeping their meeting more private. As she approached he looked down at her dress and she suddenly felt very self-conscious. She went to fold her arms across her chest but felt it would be too obvious. She didn’t want to make any sudden movements in case it caused him to disappear, as if he was a wild animal ready to flee. She finally made it up to him and stopped not too far from where he stood.

  “Mr. Brighton seems to be making good use of his money,” Baden remarked, sounding angry. She wasn’t sure how he had heard her say that because he had been out the door. She must have yelled it. She started to wonder if he knew Eli.

  “He is quite generous in my time of need,” she explained. Baden’s eyes narrowed.

  “Need?” Baden asked, concern obvious in his voice.

  “The predicament of being homeless has come upon me suddenly and he has offered to aid me for a time,” she informed softly. She felt anxious, as if she was making an excuse to a school teacher as to why she was late to lessons.

  “You are living with him?” He asked after realising the situation. This time Annie thought she could hear jealousy in his voice, it was easier to detect after she had realised her own feelings. She nodded hoping he wouldn’t become angry. Antoinette ran up to them with Annie’s old dress wrapped in brown paper. She handed it to Annie and she grabbed it in a daze, she had completely forgotten that she had even been to Antoinette’s.

  “Come back to me again, Annabelle,” she said. Annie smiled and nodded, she liked this seamstress. Antoinette left with a grateful smile and Baden and Annie were left alone once again. She looked back to him and it surprised her how he seemed to become even more magnificent every time she saw him.

  “Are you off somewhere?” He asked eyeing her dress again, his gaze distinctly hovering around her neck. It sent a shiver down her spine.

  “Eli…” Annie paused when she saw the anger in Baden’s eyes after she said Eli’s name so intimately. “Mr. Brighton has asked me to dinner…” Annie couldn’t help how shy she felt around Baden. She had never really been nervous around men before and it was completely new for her.

  “So then that is it?” He asked a little harshly.

  “Is what it?”

  “I was unaware that you and…Mr. Brighton…” the words came out strained. “Were something of an item.”

  “We most certainly are not!” Annie said indignantly. Baden studied her as if to gauge the truth in her words.

  “And how are your feelings towards him?” Baden didn’t seem to mind that he was stepping over the boundaries of social etiquette. Annie didn’t notice, all she was concerned about was making her feelings about Eli clear.

  “I can assure you that they are strictly of the most respectful manner and I do not wish for our association to be construed as romantic,” Annie said confidently. A small twitch that was almost a smile came to Baden’s lips. He stepped towards her and she moved back just a little but they were much c
loser than they had been a few seconds ago.

  “And how would you like our association to be construed?” His warm breath melted over her and she felt like she could pass out from the pleasure of it.

  “That is….is…certainly…uh,” she stumbled over her words. “An interesting topic to raise.” When she saw the pleasure he seemed to be getting from her inability to answer she thought giving it back to him would work a treat.

  “It may be best if we bring this back to your perspective of our association?” She suggested smugly. Far off in the distance Baden heard Garrick heading for Antoinette’s store and it stole the fun right out of him.

  “Another time, Annie.” She loved when he said her name. He gently touched the trimming of her shoulder and looked at her intently. “It is a lovely dress on such a divine creature. It will be fortunate eyes that witness your exquisiteness tonight at dinner,” he said softly then he walked away. She felt a longing to follow him but something held her back.