“Honestly Olexander, you cannot just sneak up on people. It’s rude and you’re bound to give a human a heart attack one day.”
He chuckled. “My apologies Liliana please join me at the table. I have to show you something.”
“I go by Lily now, if you don’t mind, and you can lose the old world charm.” For some reason his polite tempered way of speaking to me was driving me nuts. Was it so hard to assimilate to this century’s vernacular? I took a seat next to him at the table where today’s newspaper was open and waiting.
“I think you will see the article of importance.”
I scanned the page. There was a political comic strip that wasn’t particularly funny, in my opinion. There was an article about a new water main installation in town, and then I saw it. The article was very small and quite short.
“The body of a young man was found stabbed early this morning on St. Andrews Street. Papers found in the vicinity indentify the body as Anthony Tenney. Anyone with information on this crime or the victim is asked to please come forward immediately.”
I felt my mouth fall open and my arms go limp as I read and reread the article five times.
“You know what this means, don’t you Lily? Your man William went to speak to a man named Anthony last night did he not?”
All I could do was nod. Part of my brain was certain this was all a coincidence and Billy had never even met Anthony. The other part of my brain screamed with doubt. Either way I was going to get some answers today. I decided to tell Olexander all about Jimmy. He should be just as aware of the situation as I was. He listened intently but had nothing to add. More hesitantly, I told him about the auras. This seemed to pique his interest, but he chose to stay silent if he had any theories.
“I don’t trust William, Lily.” He spoke the words tenderly and gently placed his hand on my shoulder. I needed answers and I knew this man, Anthony, was the place to start. I got up and walked to the window, an idea forming.
“Do you think we could get into the morgue, to see this man?”
Olexander looked surprised by my question. He sat his coffee cup down on the table, as if he needed two free hands to think. “I’m sure we could get in one way or another, but what do you think you will find out? If he was a Collector he will appear as a normal person now that he is dead.”
“Well I wasn’t going to cut him in half and count his rings Olexander,” I snapped. “If we can get a picture of his face, I can take it to the Pub, and see if anyone saw him on the night I was attacked. If they did, then he was most likely the culprit. It’s a place to start.”
I expected him to seem annoyed by my mood, or angry by my tone, but when I turned around he was wearing a wide grin.
“What?” I asked my anger subsiding. The beaming look coming from his face coupled with the golden light that came from every inch of him was filling me with warmth.
“Would it sound very patronizing if I said I was quite proud of you right now?”
“Yes it would, and thank you.” Now I was grinning. “When should we go?”
“After dark is our best bet I think, can you get away?”
“I don’t have to get away,” I snapped, “Billy is not my warden.”
His eyes narrowed but he didn’t respond.
“I better get back” I said. Billy wants to show me around Dublin. He once again opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off.
“Of course I will be careful and not trust anyone.”
He smiled wide and walked over to give me a kiss on the cheek. “I’ve missed you Lily.”
I wasn’t used to Olexander showing much emotion, but I gave him a tight hug anyway, “I’ve missed you too.”
He held the door open, and watched me until I was back in my own room where Billy was sitting on the edge of the bed going out of his skin.
“LiLi. I was two minutes from coming after you. What happened?”
I was really getting sick of reporting to everyone in my life these days.
“Olexander and I were simply catching up. Now aren’t we supposed to be tourists today?”
Billy hesitated, as if he were going to let it go, but then thought again.
“You know what I can’t stand? I can’t stand when things are being kept from me.” He said the words menacingly and slammed his hand on the night table, this time the glass splintered.
I halted in place, Billy had never acted like this before and I could feel the shock on my face. I took a deep breath, now filled with anger myself.
“Then perhaps we shouldn’t be around one another if you are going to turn into a common brute when you don’t get your way.”
That made him start laughing, laughing hysterically, which made me want to smack him.
“A brute? Who even uses that word? I’m sorry LiLi, I’m just so frustrated. I want to protect you, but I can’t do that if I don’t know everything. I overreacted, please forgive me.” His face was pleading and I let out a huge sigh. I was beginning to feel like a babysitter. I sat down next to him on the bed.
“Olexander showed me today’s newspaper. A man died last night. His name was Anthony Tenney.”
I studied his face, but it was unreadable, then it suddenly fell.
“And Olexander thinks that I killed him, doesn’t he?” Billy asked in a quiet voice.
“He may have mentioned it, but I don’t buy into everything Olexander says believe it or not.” I put a reassuring arm around his shoulders.
“Did it ever occur to you LiLi, that I wasn’t the only one who knew about Anthony? Olexander was in the room when you asked me about him.”
I flushed crimson, because in truth, I had forgotten about that.
“I just want you to be careful. If it helps don’t trust either one of us. Just don’t be at ease around him, ok?”
“I promise. Now let’s go see some castles.”
He grabbed my hand and towed me out the door. I couldn’t bear to look at Olexander’s door as we walked past. I wasn’t sure how I would explain my absence to Billy. I wasn’t sure I should even be absent.
Between the death threats and trying to weed out liars and cons, the beauty of the countryside was overshadowed. I put on a happy face for Billy but I could tell he was beginning to see through it. By dinnertime, the tourists filtered into restaurants and we headed back to the hotel. Anyone who saw us would have thought we were a beautiful young couple, holding hands, possibly in love, planning our lives.
“Is everyone still glowing?” Billy suddenly asked with concern and distaste clouding his voice. In truth, I had noticed that the bright colors were fading hour by hour from my view, but the vision of them would come back clearly if I concentrated.
For some reason though, a reason I didn’t even understand myself, I looked him in the eyes and said no. My answer made him smile. He even gave me a tight hug, he was pleased, but something felt off in the pit of my stomach. It was the feeling you get when you knew trouble was on a person’s heels; that happiness was subjective. The feeling of certainty that came with the belief that you keep other peoples secrets just as tightly as you would your own.
And so, I was happy when he quickly changed the subject.
“What do you want to do tonight?” Billy asked as he hung up his jacket.
He looked over and his upbeat attitude dropped when he saw me awkwardly standing in the doorway.
“I told Olexander I would visit with him for a few hours this evening. I want to hear about the protection ritual.” I said the words meekly afraid of his reaction.
“I don’t suppose I am welcome for story time?” He asked snidely.
“You two don’t exactly get along, besides I will be right down the hall the whole time.” I smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before he could object.
Once again, I found myself standing outside Olexander’s door. I raised my hand to knock and he whipped the door open startling me.
“Didn’t we already talk about this once today?” I said scathing
ly.
“My apologies,” he said still smiling, “are you ready to go? I assume you agree to the fire escape so we aren’t seen by William?”
I sighed in relief. “Yes that sounds perfect.”
He retrieved his black fedora and black suit coat from the hook on the wall and nodded toward the window. He lowered the ladder and climbed down first. I eased myself down to stand by his side and the ladder snapped back into place along the building. I smiled warmly at him and he quickly wrapped his arm tightly around my waist.
It was my vision that went first this time. It was like looking through a broken kaleidoscope again. I looked into Olexanders eyes and saw an expression I could not read. Remorse? Victory? I was not sure. As the pain overtook all my senses, I felt his hand cover my mouth, presumably to muffle my screams.
Chapter 9
I came to but my head still felt like it might explode. I was in pain and disoriented. I had the feeling I had been drifting in and out of consciousness for quite some time. Thick straps held my whole body in place but I could see my hands covered in blood. I passed back out. When I came to again I heard chanting, a language I couldn’t understand, and then once again blackness. The third time I awoke the extreme pain was gone. I was drained and weak and it felt like the earth was rocking. I was no longer strapped down but I knew I didn’t have the energy to move.
I seemed to be alone in a very small room. It took me a moment to recognize the familiar shapes. The small room was on a boat. It was rocking waves I felt and not some after- effect of my attack. After a time I raised my hands fearful of the blood I had seen covering them, but they were clean. The arm of my shirt was gone, and my left wrist heavily bandaged. I tore angrily at the dressing, ripping it to shreds and revealing a tattoo the size of a playing card. It was just like Olexanders. The strange symbols, the sparrows, the spade, it was identical. I heard the door creak open and dropped my arms pretending to be asleep. I heard someone place a chair closely next to me and sit down.
“Liliana, its Olexander can you hear me?” He whispered into my left ear.
It took all my energy to remain unmoving.
“Lily I am so sorry, but the ritual had to be done. You don’t understand how fleeting life can be. I had to protect you. You’re just so young.”
That did it. My eyes flew open and I summoned every ounce of energy I had within my body and swung my right fist at his face. It met his right eye perfectly and he fell clear off the chair. The negative side being I tumbled off the table too. I lay there unable to move, next to Olexander who seemed frozen in shock on the floor.
“You evil, untrustworthy, son of a bitch.” I yelled frailly.
He sighed and rolled over to right himself then picked me up effortlessly and placed me back on the table.
“Liliana you have to be more careful. You are vulnerable after being around another Collector and you need to rest.”
“It’s Lily,” I screeched more convincingly. “And the only person I need to be careful around is you. How long have I been here? And where is here?”
“We are on a vessel, just outside of Dublin’s shore. You have been here for five days. It takes four to complete the ritual of protection. “
“Don’t forget the extra day to kidnap and cripple me.” I said through gritted teeth.
“Come on now Lily, you know it isn’t like that. It was for your own good.”
I managed to sit upright and ignore the dizziness. I stood up and collapsed back into Olexander’s arms. He sat me in the chair this time and I closed my eyes to keep the room from spinning.
“Did it occur to you, at all, that this was my decision?” I could only force out a whisper. “Does Billy know where I am? He is probably frantic.”
“I left him a message at the hotel that you were safe with me for the time being.” He said as though I’d insulted him. As though he hadn’t kidnapped me.
“I’m guessing your message left out the part about me being taken against my will?”
He chuckled, “I’ll admit I did omit that, yes.”
“Who did you have with you?” I asked remembering the extreme pain. “There was another Collector.”
“Her name is Rebecca. She is very old, older than I am even, and very powerful. She has chosen not to have the ritual performed on herself, she feels like it takes away part of the burden that makes us who we are. She is not against its existence however, so she comes with us when we need a Collector anesthetized.”
“Who is we?” The room wasn’t spinning anymore and I could now look Olexander in the eye.
“There are five of us. Myself, Rebecca, Julia, Thomas, and Lydia. It takes at least three of us to perform the protection ritual on another Collector. However, Rebecca being our fourth brings the necessary power to keep you unconscious and comfortable during the ritual. The ritual can be quite painful for a Collector when awake.”
I thought a moment, “What about the fifth? Julia? Does she not enjoy kidnapping as much as the rest of you?”
He looked annoyed, but answered me nonetheless.
“Julia is only twelve, and is far too young to partake in such things.”
My response seemed to catch him off guard. “You’ve taken on another charge?”
“No, Lydia is Julia’s Mentor. Lydia was born a Collector, as we all are. She grew to almost adulthood, with no knowledge of her gifts. When she found out who she was, she embraced it, moving to the Alps with another Collector to learn our practice. She didn’t even know her sister had given birth to Julia until her sister was killed and Julia became her ward. She knew Julia was one of us right away, and has been her Mentor ever since. We simply stay together to avoid the Castus. There really is safety in numbers as it turns out.”
He smiled weakly. He’d always told me to stay on my own, that no one could help you as well as you could help yourself, and every friend was a potential loss. I was angry, so angry. I didn’t care that I wanted answers, or that I’d been kidnapped. I didn’t care what his two-bit soothsayer had said, I just wanted to go home. To sit with Sofie and drink coffee I didn’t like and I wanted to pet my cat. The thought of Valentine and my little apartment made me want to cry, but I forced myself to keep the tears locked away.
“I want to go back to mainland now,” I said my voice breaking.
He silently nodded and shouted orders up the steps.
“And I want to be alone until I get there.”
He once again nodded and left me to sit in the small room.
I knew we had docked when I heard the rich Irish accents floating through the air. I dragged myself up the steps. That is when I realized we were not on some small fishing boat. To call this boat a vessel didn’t convey its size properly. I was on a yacht. It was gorgeous, and danced with color being lit up by the intense sunset. If any celebrity in the world were going to have a boat, they would choose this boat. There was a table with a dozen cushioned chairs on either side located in the middle of the deck. Toward the front of the boat was what appeared to be a large circular swimming pool. There were five separate deck areas, so I assumed it had at least five staterooms. It all seemed a bit excessive, but I suppose Collectors needed their solitude even more than regular people did. No one was in sight. I saw my jacket sitting on the far bench and reached down to get it, the motion made me dizzy all over again so I sat to settle myself. She appeared like a ghost. One moment I was alone and then a hand was on my shoulder.
“Are you alright hon?” The woman was startling. She had long beautiful brunette hair and large green eyes. She was much taller than I was but to be honest most people were. She had a bright yellow sundress on despite the chilly weather. She looked like a fairytale princess. I could feel that she was very new to Collecting, probably no more than a decade and she had the spade tattoo on her chest. Her smile echoed nothing but kindness and concern.
“I’m Lydia Pierce. Olex told us to leave you be, but I wanted to introduce myself. We’ve heard so much about you.”
“You’ve heard about me?” I was surprised. Olexander usually didn’t talk about his life, at least he never had with me. He was gone a lot while I was growing up, but I had always been self-sufficient. It made me sad to think how vastly he must have changed in just 100 years.
“Oh yes, Olex talks about you non-stop, his wonderful Liliana, the best student a Collector could have.”
I blushed since I was far from studious. The sound of broken glass interrupted us and we both turned to see a small girl kneeling down to collect the shattered remnants.
“Julia Pierce you clumsy girl.” Lydia said with only mock anger in her voice.
The Sin Collector Page 8