by annie nadine
The skirt was longer at the back and the material fell agreeably against her. Her black gloves ran along her arms, almost far enough to reach her sleeves. The whole dress was covered in a light, golden veil and her black coat fit the length of her sleeves and the length of her dress. The only detail the coat had was that it was lined with a small frill at the edges.
The black was a striking contrast to the colour of the dress but it made it look even more incredible. Her neck line was plunging and her bust was perfectly creamy, milk. Her hair was gathered into soft tresses atop her head with a thin, golden cord wrapped twice around her head and was tied in a bow at the nape of her neck. She wore no jewellery, unlike every other woman that would be at the party, and the dress would have been considered plain amongst the other overdone gowns but Annie’s beauty shone through and the dress was nothing compared to her breathtaking face. She was truly indescribable.
She slowly made her way down the stairs. Her shoes were simple slippers as she did not find boots comfortable. She had argued with Antoinette to wear them and she had only won because the dress covered them anyway.
Annie stopped when she was in front of Eli and took in his appearance. He looked neat, strong and very handsome.
“I would say something but I do not think I could produce any words that would be equivalent to how becoming you are,” Eli said slightly short of breath. She smiled and straightened his collar for him.
“You look rather charming yourself,” she complimented, trying to fend off her nerves.
“Shall we?” He asked holding out his arm for her to take. She rested her hand in the nook of his elbow and they made their way to the carriage.
By the time they arrived at Miss Darla’s house the event was already in full swing. The manor was huge from the outside and the courtyard was filled with endless carriages and their drivers, who mostly kept out of sight. Eli helped Annie down from the carriage and they made their way, arm in arm, to the door where they were greeted in the doorway by their host.
“Eli!” Miss Darla said loudly over the orchestral music and came over to greet them. She was a rounder woman, her soft chocolate hair touched with grey throughout. She gave Eli a motherly hug and then turned her affections towards Annie. “You must be Annie,” she proclaimed as she hugged her. “It is more than a pleasure to meet you.” The foyer felt like it was filled with people and it was incredibly hot. Or was that Annie’s nerves?
“As it is you,” Annie responded truthfully, trying to forget her worry. Miss Darla looked at Annie for a moment before she turned back to Eli.
“There is someone here that may be of interest to you, Eli,” Miss Darla said with a meaningful look in her eye. Annie looked between them to see if she could read what it was she was missing but failed. Eli’s expression turned a little sour but he covered it quickly. He turned to Annie and smiled.
“Annie, feel free to make your way into the dining room. I will be there shortly,” he said. Before she could say anything he was gone.
“Annie, come with me,” Miss Darla offered as she took her arm and led her away from the cramped doorway. They moved into the extravagant dining room. It really was closer to a ballroom but a table lined one side and was covered with every type of food imaginable. It was out of the way of the main space, which seemed to have hundreds of people filling it.
The place was lit fiercely with a ridiculous amount of candles. Some were held by candelabras, others by tall, gothic stands and some candles were so huge they were tall enough to stand by themselves. The flattering light fell on the crowd in a soft glow as they mingled in their little huddles. The small orchestra was set in the corner of the room so the crowd would have space to dance when it came to that time of night.
“This is amazing,” Annie whispered as she took it all in. Everyone was dressed in ridiculously over-styled dresses and suits but they all seemed rather proud of it. Miss Danes was wearing a modest, blue dress but it was still lovely and Annie guessed that it reflected the type of person that she was.
As they made their way through the crowd she received a few appreciative, sideways glances from the men and the woman openly judged her for it. Suddenly she remembered why she didn’t enjoy socialising all that much.
“Do not worry about such people, they are just jealous of what you have that they do not!” Miss Darla said with a flick of her hand through the air after she noticed the attention Annie was receiving. “Now I do not like sitting down being stuck next to the same dreary person at a dinner table so I do not sit my guests. They eat from the table and then they move around. Simple,” she explained as they came upon the table. Annie didn’t feel hungry, she just felt out of place and nervous. Miss Darla went to say something but someone came rushing up to her through the crowd.
“Miss Darla,” the person called to her as they approached. The young man looked like he was a little flustered. He must have been part of her hired help because he was dressed moderately compared to the others around them. “I am sorry to disturb you but there is a matter in the kitchen that needs your attention,” he said breathlessly. After he finished he looked towards Annie for the first time and a blush formed on his cheeks. Miss Darla rolled her eyes.
“Fine, I will come,” Miss Darla said to the young man. She looked to Annie before she left. “I am sorry for this interruption. I shall find you as soon as this matter is dealt with,” she assured. Annie nodded and Miss Darla left, leaving her alone in the snake pit.
Annie inspected the food table and took a grape to eat, just for something to do. She folded her arms self-consciously and began to wish she hadn’t come at all. Great, now what was she meant to do? When she started to look around for her escape route someone came and stood next to her. She quickly looked around to the person.
“Good evening there lovely,” Micah greeted with a smile. For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt happy to see him. She smiled in relief.
“I am so glad there is someone here that I know,” she said. Before he could respond the orchestra struck a note that was well received by the crowd. Everyone seemed to recognise it and the crowd dispersed and made way for the dancers that were forming on the floor.
“Would you care to dance, Miss Belle?” Micah asked with his hand extended. Her nerves became worse and she almost refused but then she remembered how much fun she had dancing with Eli.
“Why not?” She reasoned as she took Micah’s hand. He swept her onto the dance floor and into the motions of the music. She instantly recognised the dance, it was a quick paced dance that required a fair amount of coordination and stamina and she rose to the challenge effortlessly.
It came to the time when they had to switch partners and Micah reluctantly let her go to a tall, young gentleman who was eager to take her. He held her a little too close and tried to talk with her but she just smiled and nodded, finding it hard to hear him over the music. As they swept across the floor she glanced over to the watching crowd and someone caught her attention but then they were gone in a flash. He had looked familiar but she hadn’t had enough time to see him properly.
Suddenly they changed partners again and she tripped ever so slightly on her own feet. She didn’t care though because she was too preoccupied with the person she was searching for. Her new partner was yet another young man, quite handsome really. He attempted to talk to her but she down right ignored him.
Annie frantically searched the crowd for the familiar man but it was hard because she was being moved all over the dance floor. When she started to lose hope she saw the top of the person’s head in the far corner near the orchestra, close to the doorway that led to an unlit room. Annie assumed he was moving towards an exit and she begun to panic. Falling out of step with the music she tried to push onto her tip toes to see him. It looked like he was talking to someone.
Her dance partner was finding it difficult to maintain the pretence of the dance though he didn’t mind too much, as long as he got to hold Annie. Before too long
the music came to an end and so did the dancing. Everyone started clapping so she mindlessly did the same as she looked in the direction where the familiar man stood. She started to move towards him, ignoring the glances of the people she walked past. He began to move away so she picked up her pace. All of a sudden the crowd felt overwhelmingly thick and she was worried that she would lose him. When the stress to push past everyone started to mount the crowd suddenly parted and she saw the mysterious person she was searching for. She stopped breathing and completely froze as he turned to face her, like he had been expecting her.
Baden stood there amongst the crowd looking more beautiful than he ever had. He was dressed in a full suit and he looked utterly perfect. The crowd bustled around them in preparation for the next dance but Baden and Annie remained motionless. Baden had been trying to leave when someone he had known from years ago started to persistently talk to him. He had heard Annie coming towards him and he decided not to hide anymore. As he felt her soul so close to his he couldn’t help but be grateful for giving up, just so he could soak her in. But now Annie knew he was alive. Part of him felt relief but mostly he felt dismay as now he had no idea what was going to come of it.
She blinked repeatedly, expecting him to disappear but he didn’t. There he stood, alive. The orchestra struck up a song that Annie new was meant for an uncommonly slow dance and the dancers gathered themselves on the floor again. Baden slowly made his way over to her and stopped when he was close enough that he could embrace her if he wanted to. He let out a long breath before he spoke.
“Annie,” he said her name tenderly. “Would you do me the honour of giving me this dance?” The words were humble and vulnerable. Her eyes were glassy from tears but she managed to hold them back. She had no hope of finding any words so she simply nodded.
Baden took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. She rested into his arms and they moved easily together with the music. It felt like a dream touching him, having him touch her.
“Baden I,” she whispered but he stopped her.
“Let us just enjoy this one moment…where we can pretend complications do not exist,” he said quietly.
And for that one song they held each other close and pretended that they were two people who had no other care in the world, other than the love caught between them. Baden held her closer than anyone else had and she felt safe with him. He felt like home.
Before enough time passed, the music ended and the crowd clapped softly in its enchanting wake. They held each other for a moment longer than the song allowed then reluctantly let each other go. Baden gently brushed a small tress away that had fallen onto her cheek. He heard Eli approaching and started nodding, knowing he had to leave.
“Until next time,” he said then he disappeared into the crowd.
Before Annie even realised Eli was walking towards her she rushed after Baden. He had made his way outside and when she was past the crowd she ran through the doors into the cold night air. It was like waking up from a dream you didn’t want to end. She stood peering across the empty courtyard feeling as if she had just lost everything. She heard footsteps and swiftly turned to whoever it was.
“Tonight has been eventful in a way that I had not anticipated,” Eli said as he stood a few feet away from her.
Annie had no idea how she was going to explain anything but all she cared about now was that Baden was alive.
CHAPTER 28
The carriage ride home was excruciating. Annie and Eli had left immediately after Baden had gone and hadn’t said a word to each other since. Their silence made the time slow to a deathly pace and neither had felt more uncomfortable in their lives.
They arrived home and were now headed to the library. Annie was becoming more and more uncomfortable with each step and she was completely unprepared for what she was going to say. She followed next to Eli until they arrived at the door of the room where he let her enter first.
She took a leather reading chair and he took one close by. After the leather had stopped squeaking when she was settled, they sat in awkward silence. Eli did not even look at her. When it felt like she was going to go insane from the suspense he finally spoke.
“I am sorry,” he said. It took a moment for her to realise what he had said but when she did she looked at him quizzically.
“What?” She asked in confusion.
“For letting him get that close to you,” he explained. What did he know of Baden and her relationship? What was he talking about?
“I…do not understand what you are saying,” she said expecting more of an explanation. Eli became a little lost in the conversation himself.
“The last man you were dancing with tonight is a soul snatcher, his name is Baden.” He was acting as if this would be new information.
It dawned on her that he didn’t know that she knew Baden. Should she admit what was really going on or should she play dumb? Looking at Eli now helped her make up her mind. Play dumb, at least for the time being.
“How do you know?” She asked wondering what Baden’s story was.
“It is complicated but he is one of the most dangerous soul snatchers ever to exist,” he informed. Annie didn’t like where this was going. She swallowed back her fear and asked her next question, though part of her wanted to stay ignorant.
“Why is he so dangerous?” She asked quietly, as if speaking too loudly would expose her.
Eli took a moment to think about what he should do, tell her everything or keep most of the story to himself? Looking at Annie now helped him make up his mind. Keep most of it from her.
“He was once a tracker,” he said and Annie’s expression was worth a thousand words. Her eyes went wide with shock.
“Tracker?” She repeated to clarify. Maybe she had heard him wrong? He nodded and decided to give her some more details.
“He was known in the tracking society and when he was turned it was a rather big event. There has only been one other case of a tracker turned before and it was not something any of us wanted repeating,” he said.
“What other case?” She was still stunned from the revelation.
Eli stood and started moving around the room. At first he seemed aimless but he eventually went to his desk draw and retrieved a tanned, leather journal. He sat back in his seat and handed it across to Annie. She looked at it before she took it from him. Very carefully she untied the leather cord that clasped it together and opened the pages. He explained as she looked.
“I was not born when this happened so I only have the journal to reference. No one has spoken to the one surviving tracker that helped to contain the beast, “Eli said the word with bite. Annie looked up at him but he was looking around the room so she turned her attention back to the pages of the journal. “However, we do correspond with him.”
“Is this journal his?” She asked.
“Yes, it is Timothy’s. He is the tracker that helped to capture the first tracker-turned-snatcher and his journal has been passed to me to analyse,” Eli confirmed. She was curious as to why Eli had been given something so important but she didn’t have time to ask before he continued. “A few hundred years ago the tracker Stewart Mayclair was turned during a struggle with a snatcher. He lost and for a reason unbeknown to any of us, the snatcher turned him. It was not known that Stewart was turned until sometime after the transition as he maintained pretence as a tracker.” Annie continued to flip through the pages as he spoke. The journal had sketches and musings along with entries.
“He was helping?” She asked as she turned the pages.
“He did help in tracking and killing other snatchers, yes,” Eli answered. She looked up to him in question. He turned his gaze from the room and concentrated on her.
“What happened when he was discovered?” She had a feeling she was not going to like what he said next.
“When it was discovered they plotted to kill Stewart,” he informed. The words were said easily, as if he were speaking of something other than murder.
> “They what? Did they not take into consideration that he had been helping them?” Annie was appalled by this.
“He was a danger. He killed many,” he reasoned.
“Was this before or after the trackers tried to kill him?” She didn’t think anyone had a reason for murder, and she wasn’t condoning what Stewart had done, but she also wasn’t in agreement with what the trackers did either. Eli looked a little put off, it was clear he had never thought of the point before.
“I cannot say with certainty,” he said almost apologetically. After he saw that Annie wasn’t going to ask anything else he went on. “The first tracker that was sent to kill him never returned so two more were sent, then three. All died but one, who managed to return before he died. He told them that they had stabbed Stewart countless times but he would not die. The tracker died shortly after his recount as he was fatally wounded.” Eli went quiet for a moment as if in remembrance of those now gone.