by K.N. Lee
Since the storage facility was on an industrial estate, it took a few attempts before they found someone who knew where it was.
This time, she let Alex come with her. The receptionist was reading a newspaper when they entered. He quickly put it down and smiled at the pair.
“How can I help you?” He was not much older than Anais was but had not yet got over his teenage acne. A name badge pinned to his chest read ‘Rhys.’
“Hi, Rhys. I’ve come to get something from my locker,” Anais said brightly.
“Ok, what number is it?”
“4027”
He tapped something into his computer.
“Here it is, not exactly a locker though. It’s one of our larger storage rooms. Hockley, right?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Oh, pardon me, I was supposed to ask you your name. It’s only my third day here. Sorry. Can I see some identification instead?”
Anais laughed. “Don’t worry.” She pulled out her purse and opened it to get out her driving licence. It was American but she hoped he’d accept it.
Thankfully, he did and ushered them through. It was a massive warehouse and they passed streets and alleys of storage units. It was like being in a maze, but thankfully, the units were ordered in a logical way. All the 1000 numbers were small units, with 2000 being bigger, and so on. All the units numbered 4000 like the one Anais had rented were the biggest and could easily fit August’s range rover in twice. All the 4000 numbers were situated on the ground floor, which made it easier to track it down.
When she got to the huge garage-style door of 4027, she pulled out a key and turned it in the lock. The door was electric and opened automatically for her, clanking noisily as it lifted.
Inside the room were hundreds of cardboard boxes piled floor to ceiling, none of them labelled. She wished she’d done a better job of packing up, but she’d been drunk when she’d moved all her stuff in here. She’d paid a couple of college kids with a van to help her transport it all here. They’d obviously just piled it up as thoughtlessly as she had packed it, as there was no order to the place at all. Furniture from her house in England, which had been bought new, intermingled with the antique furniture they had had shipped over from the US. Some of the boxes had arrived from Los Angeles after her parents had died, and though she’d never got round to opening them, they’d been stashed here with all her other stuff.
“What exactly are we looking for?” Alex asked her, stepping carefully into the unit.
“Books, journals, my father’s diaries. He wrote hundreds of them. They can’t be that hard to find.” But even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t true. It could take them hours to sift through all the boxes.
“Ok.” Alex opened the first box, which was filled with pots and pans. “Nope! Next!” He closed the box and moved it to one side.
“Just a minute.” He ran off in the direction of the reception, returning minutes later with a permanent marker. Taking the lid off he wrote ‘KITCHEN’ on the box he had just opened. Anais moved to another box and opened it. It had books in it, but none of them were her father’s journals. They were novels belonging to her mother. She borrowed the pen and wrote ‘Books’ on the side before adding ‘Novels’ underneath. One day she would come back and sort this whole place out. She earmarked the novels for a charity shop.
Box after box, they went through, labelling as they went. Alex was also piling them up in some kind of order. Everything for the kitchen was neatly piled in one corner whilst ‘Living Room’ boxes rested next to them.
Finding a box of her mother’s clothes made her tear up a little, but she managed to hold it back. She was also beginning to feel a bit dizzy, with the bending and stretching she was having to do. Alex noticed she was looking a bit peaky and ran to get her a drink from the vending machine in the reception area. He came back with two cans of cola, and they both sat and drank and had a rest for a few minutes. Alex ordered her to stay sitting down while he went through the boxes. They had already been there three hours with no luck and Anais didn’t want to slow it down, but she admitted to herself that she needed the rest, so she obeyed him. Thankfully, it only took a few more boxes until Alex finally hit the jackpot.
A box filled with journals. They were covered identically in green leather with A.H. stamped in gold on the cover.
She realised that she’d seen those initials already today then she remembered Alex’s initialled handkerchief. They all had the same initials, Alex Hyde, Aethelu Hyde, Alistair Hockley, Anais Hockley. It must get very confusing when the postman delivered a letter. She wondered if Andrew had a surname beginning with ‘H’ too. She hoped, for his sake, he didn’t.
“Right I need the whole box taken. Can you carry it for me?”
Alex looked at her, “It won’t fit in the car. The boot and back seats are already filled with boxes of books from the shop. I can’t fit in another box.”
“Oh.” That made things difficult. Anais thought for a few seconds and then came up with a solution. “Can’t we just swap a box? Leave one of Winnie’s here and take this one instead?”
“No. I promised Winnie I’d bring her books home and we have put her out enough as it is today.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you were in the solicitors, I checked my phone. I knew I had charged it recently. Sure enough, when I turned it on, it had nearly full battery. Imagine my surprise when Mama called and told me that she’d texted you to come home. She seemed to have no recollection of speaking with you earlier.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for lying to you. What did you say?” She felt awful for lying to Alex.
“Don’t worry. I figured it must be important for you to lie about it. I told her we’d be home in a few hours and not to worry because you were safe with me.”
“Thank you. You are a real friend.” She stood up from the box and gave him a hug. She didn’t deserve him.
“Ok, pal,” said Alex sheepishly “What are we going to do with the Journals?”
She quickly searched through the box hoping that what she was looking for was in this box. She flicked through eight or nine of the books until she found what she was looking for. A journal dated the year her mother was pregnant with her. She held onto it as she closed the box and wrote ‘Journals’ on the side. She put her key in the lock and the shutters came down, once again shutting her old life away. They made their way out of the maze of units and were once again in the cold winter air. It had darkened considerably since they had been in the storage facility, although it was only about five o’clock.
Anais had only taken a few steps before she began to feel dizzy. Ahead, Alex was unlocking the car and hadn’t noticed her stopping.
The world began to spin and before she blacked out, she managed to shout “Alex.”
He spun round, just as Anais’ legs gave out beneath her and she came crashing to the ground.
Chapter 18
What could have only been seconds later; she came round to find Alex above her with a concerned look on his face.
“Are you ok?” He helped her to her feet.
“I think we should get you to the hospital, just in case.”
“That’s not necessary, I’m fine, honest.”
“I really think you should be checked out.”
“I can’t go to the hospital, remember? Eternal blood group and all. I’ll have Aldrich look at me when we get home.”
“Oh yes, of course.”
He seemed very flustered as he helped her get into the car. He broke at least a dozen speeding laws on the way back to Baildon, but luckily no police were out and about to stop him. Anais was too tired to notice. The day had exhausted her, and she just wanted to get home and lie down.
Once back, Winnie tried sending her straight to bed, but Anais only complied once she’d explained that Alex had looked after her well and her fainting was not because of carrying heavy things. She was not sure if that was really true, but she really di
dn’t want to get Alex into trouble after all he had done for her.
She drifted in and out of sleep, only getting up at dinner time when Winnie demanded that she eat for the sake of the babies. She realised that she didn’t have just herself to think about anymore. She was responsible for three little people and ultimately, the rest of the world was dependent on her health. She ate well and then took herself back to bed, not needing Winnie to ask her. Tomorrow, she vowed, would be different. She would rest and eat and follow Winnie’s orders to the tee. Too much was at stake to do otherwise. She lay down on her bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day found them in the middle of a storm. Rain lashed down, forming puddles like small lakes all over the grounds and finally clearing away the snow. The small stream that ran through the property was now raging with such force that it had burst its banks and flooded onto the driveway. Even August had not braved the weather and had, instead, come to the house with Baker through the tunnel.
Alex, taking lessons from his mother, was now fussing over Anais even worse than Winnie had. He flatly refused to let her go for breakfast, instead taking her breakfast in bed. It was only when Anais threatened to throw the food all over him if he didn’t let her leave, that he relented and she ate in the library which seemed to be becoming her new home.
After breakfast, she sought out Aldrich to give her a check up. She’d rather have just been left alone to read in the library, but Alex was refusing to leave her until he knew she was alright.
Aldrich checked her temperature and blood pressure and proclaimed her fit and well. He told her to take it easy, no more excursions for at least a week, until they could do a pregnancy test, and rest, rest, rest.
When she got back to the library, she could see that Alex was still there, waiting for her. He looked so worried that she almost laughed.
“I’m fine.”
“And the babies?”
“We have another week to wait before we can find out if they held on, but Aldrich seems to think everything’s normal. He told me to rest.”
He ran over and guided her to the sofa, a gesture which although sweet, irritated Anais. She hated all the attention and being treated like an invalid.
She immediately felt bad about her irritation, after all, a lot was at stake and Alex was doing his best to help her out.
She let Alex put his hand on her belly and although she’d not felt anything herself, he was obviously experiencing things that had eluded her.
He was talking to her stomach, to the babies.
At first, she was happy to let him get on with it whilst she read her book, but it was so cute to listen to what he was saying, that before long she’d discarded the book and started listening to him.
Talking about the future, about what they would all do together.
He was enthralled with this pregnancy. Her thoughts moved to all the other couples in the same position, in awe of the new life they had created, but they weren’t a couple and the new life was only there to save other lives.
Listening to Alex wax lyrical about a future that could not happen made her feel sad. She’d not put much thought into what would actually happen if everything turned out well. The situation seemed so bleak, whichever way she looked at it. She envied the naive optimism Alex had, where everything looked rosy and a future of ball games and trips to the park were possible. If by some miracle, she didn’t suffer the same fate as the other Guardian women and by a further miracle, these babies possessed the perfect blood, then what? The little family unit Alex was dreaming of was just that, a dream. She loved Alex and she could see how great a father he would be, but her heart belonged to Aethelu and nothing could change that.
Still, it was nice to hear his voice. It made her feel calm about the crazy situation and the warmth of his body lying next to hers on the sofa was comforting, with his hand stroking her belly as he sang a lullaby she’d never heard before.
She closed her eyes as she listened to him, singing, oh, so softly, she finally felt at peace. Her mind began to wander and the soothing tones of Alex’s lullaby were sending her off to sleep.
She smiled as she heard Aethelu talking. It was the same dream she’d had since Aethelu left. She knew it so well. It was beginning to feel like an old friend. Aethelu by her side, Aethelu taking her hand, Aethelu and her in the studio, just talking and holding each other. It was really just the memory of their one night together replaying itself over and over again on a nightly basis. It probably wasn’t any good for her, emotionally, to be replaying the past, but it’s all she had of Aethelu.
This time, the dream was different. She could hear Aethelu’s voice as usual, but now it sounded different, clearer somehow. Even though she was dreaming, Anais was confused, why was Alex in her dream? He’d never been in it before. Also, why was Aethelu talking to him instead of her? It was her dream!
She could still hear Aethelu’s voice, but now it was calling her name. Someone was stroking her cheek.
“Alex.” she awoke with a start, calling out his name, wondering why he was touching her cheek.
“Well, that’s not exactly what I was hoping to hear from my girlfriend, but as she’s so beautiful, I’ll let her off.”
“Aethelu!” Anais sat up quickly and threw her arms around Aethelu, who had taken Alex’s spot on the sofa.
Both of them were wearing long sleeves so it was only Anais cheek that burned with The Light as it touched Aethelu’s face. Anais didn’t care though, the immense feeling of happiness and sheer joy to see Aethelu overcame the electric shocks of The Light. She kissed Aethelu hard on the lips for as long as she could stand it, and when it finally became too much, she pulled back.
“I guess we are going to have to spend a lot of time touching each other to desensitise you again.”
Aethelu grinned “I certainly hope so. It’s almost worth all the time I was away, just to hear you say that! I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me, too. I thought you’d be home days ago. I was so worried.”
The pressure of the last few days finally left Anais, replaced with joy. She felt as light as a feather and didn’t even try to hold back the happy tears that were now coursing down her cheeks. She hugged Aethelu again, never wanting to let go. The feel of her was so familiar, the warmth, even the red clothing. Anais had missed it all so much.
Reluctantly, Aethelu finally pulled back from Anais and wiped her eyes with a smile.
“Don’t cry, my Honey. I’m back now, and I will never leave you again. Ever!”
“I wouldn’t let you! So what happened? Are your aunt and uncle with you? Tell me everything.” She desperately wanted to hear about Aethelu’s mission, but she also knew that the longer Aethelu kept talking, the longer it would be until she had to tell her about the babies.
“I found Ava and Alfred really quickly, but they refused to come home, so I got on their boat to persuade them. What was meant to be a short journey turned into a nightmare when we got caught in torrential storms. When we finally got to Cape Verde, I couldn’t get a flight, because of all the snow in the UK. I finally flew to Paris and got the train home, although now that the snow has gone, I could probably have waited for a direct flight and still got home quicker. I’ve been travelling for thirty-six hours.”
“But you are here now.” Anais couldn’t help herself, she hugged Aethelu again, although this time being careful not to touch her directly. She didn’t want to let her go.
“I know about the baby.”
Anais pulled away. She looked at Aethelu. In her happiness at seeing Aethelu again, she’d forgotten the hell of the last few weeks. She burst into unexpected tears, saving her from having to speak. She wouldn’t have known what to say anyhow.
Aethelu held her and stroked her hair until the sobbing subsided.
“Who told you?” sniffed Anais.
“I got back about twenty minutes ago. Mama cornered me before I got to you and told me everything.”
“And you’re not
mad?”
“I’m raging, but not with you, my sweetheart. I’m so angry at what they have done to you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare be sorry.” Aethelu’s face was calm and smiling as she spoke. She wiped the tears from Anais’ face. “After everything that’s happened to you, it’s not you that should be sorry.”
“You still love me?”
“Anais. You are the bravest person I‘ve ever met. I spent every second on that boat thinking of you. You are my whole life now. I didn’t think it would be possible to love you more, but seeing you here, it turns out I was wrong. I love you more than I ever believed possible. You are my hero.”
“But what about Alex and the babies?” It was then that she realised Alex had left the room.
“Babies? Plural?”
“Three were implanted.”
Anais was now worried that this would be too much information. Seconds passed which felt like eternity to Anais. Finally, Aethelu spoke.
“Then we buy a triple buggy for our little ones.”
Anais burst into tears again, but this time they were tears of happiness. She’d caught the use of the word ‘our’ and everything suddenly felt right.
“Our babies,” she smiled.
“Yes, ours. That’s if you want me to be a mama.”
“Of course, I do.”
I hoped you’d say that. I’m going to be a mum!”
“You’ll be a wonderful mother.”
Now Aethelu joined in with the tears, and both girls hugged once again.
The door opened, and Arcadia entered. She took in the girls embracing in front of her and cleared her throat for attention.
“Not interrupting, am I?”
“Cadie!” Aethelu jumped up and hugged her sister.
“I’ve just come to tell you that August has put your bags in the studio.”
“The studio, why?”