‘There is…there has to be. Hades told me when he first sent me here to find you, that there was a way back to the real world, another gateway.’
‘And that may be true’ Theo continued, ‘but over half of this world has already disappeared into the Void. There is no way of knowing if it was pulled in and destroyed or not and even if we go and look for it, there’s no guarantee we’ll even find it in time.’
‘Theo…’ she whispered.
‘I know’ he replied softly, ‘Jake is my best friend. I’d give anything to help him but I just don’t see a way to do it.’
‘Theo’s right’ Sam spoke up, ‘there isn’t time, and besides you gave Hades your word.’
‘You think I don’t know that?’ she hissed, but this is my mess to clean up.’
‘Why would you think that?’ Theo frowned.
‘Because it’s my fault,’ she closed her eyes against the wave of guilt and nausea. ‘That night at Boothe’s Hollow I had my chance to stop my mother from freeing Nathaniel and I failed. I should have killed her when I had the chance and because I hesitated they escaped. If I had done what I was supposed to they would have never taken Charon and the gateway would never have been opened and allowed the Soul Collector to escape into our world. All those souls he has taken, that’s on me.’
‘No its not Livy,’ Theo stroked her arms comfortingly. ‘Please don’t do that to yourself, of course you hesitated, no one should ever be expected to kill their own mother. So we both failed to stop her from releasing Nathaniel, but what happened after? Every decision they have made since, every choice, that’s on them.’
‘Olivia,’ Sam interrupted sympathetically, ‘you need to stop blaming yourself and just accept there are some things you can’t do anything about.’
‘I don’t accept that’ her eyes blazed angrily, ‘I’m not going to abandon the people I care about.’
‘You know she’s right,’ a smooth amused female voice spoke up behind them. ‘There is a gateway and it’s still accessible…for the moment.’
They all turned to see a woman sitting demurely on a fallen log. Her gown clung indecently to every curve and dip of her body and her long dark hair fell over one shoulder in loops and curls. Her dark fathomless eyes regarded them curiously, even as her lips curved.
‘Who are you?’ Sam frowned.
‘Persephone?’ Olivia whispered.
She smiled in amusement, ‘at least the little witch recognizes me.’
Where is the gateway?’ Olivia asked as she stepped closer.
‘You know the time traveler did make an excellent point, you made a promise to Hades.’ Her brow arched as she looked directly at Olivia, ‘and my husband is not known for tolerating disobedience and oath breakers.’
‘I have no intention of breaking my promise to Hades,’ Olivia replied carefully, ‘but I have to help my friends. I’ll be back in time to stop Nathaniel from reaching the last crossroad.’
‘Some might say that’s cutting it a little fine.’
‘So what are you saying?’ she shrugged, ‘that I have to sacrifice the people in my world for what… the greater good?’
‘Sometimes a sacrifice is unavoidable.’
‘And sometimes it is avoidable,’ Olivia stood her ground, her firm gaze never wavering. ‘I’m telling you I can do this, I can stop the Soul Collector and be back in time to go after Nathaniel and my mother.’
‘You don’t know how close he is to the fourth crossroad; you can’t be sure how long you have.’
‘What do you want from me Persephone?’ she frowned. ‘To just abandon the people who are important to me?’
‘Maybe I just want to see if you have a backbone.’
‘What?’
‘You’ve already defied him once,’ her gaze flicked to Theo for the barest hint of a second, ‘and you lived to tell the tale. Like I said my husband tolerates no disobedience and yet he seems uncharacteristically lenient with you. I do believe he is almost fond of you.’
‘Is that a problem?’ Olivia asked carefully.
‘Not at all,’ Persephone’s mouth curved, ‘perhaps I just wanted to see what all the fuss is about.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ll tell you the location of the gate…I’ll also tell you that Nathaniel is much closer than you think to the fourth gate. You don’t have much time, so’ she smiled slowly, ‘we’ll just see exactly what you’re capable of.’
‘A test?’
‘If you like,’ Persephone shrugged elegantly.
‘God,’ Olivia shook her head, ‘you and Hades really were made for each other.’
‘Thank you,’ she replied in amusement.
‘Olivia are you insane?’ Sam hissed. ‘This is completely crazy. Do you really think you can jump back to the real world, deal with a soul stealing demon and be back here in time to cross over to the Underworld, before this world is sucked into the Void? You don’t even have a plan. Just what the hell do you expect to do with this demon when you find him? Theo?’ he looked across at him, ‘will you talk some sense into her?’
Theo shook his head ruefully, ‘if there’s one thing I know about Olivia it’s that you can’t tell her what to do, but I’m pretty sure she’s already got the beginning of a plan.’
She smiled at him. ‘I do as a matter of fact.’
‘So what are we going to do with a soul stealing demon?’ he asked curiously.
‘We’re going to use that,’ she turned and looked at the Void.
‘The Void?’
‘Exactly. We grab him, pull him back through the gateway and toss his ass into the Void.’ She began to rummage through her backpack as she looked across to Bridget. ‘You said it yourself anyone who goes into the Void never comes back out.’
‘That is true,’ she replied thoughtfully.
‘So exactly how do you plan to grab him and get him back here, without him either killing you or ripping your soul out?’ Sam frowned.
‘By using this,’ she smiled and when she pulled her hands free of the bag, she was holding the two halves of the demon collar.
‘Well I’ll be damned,’ Sam murmured, ‘where the hell did you get one of those?’
‘Nathaniel and my mother used it on the Ferryman when they kidnapped him.’
‘And you were able to remove it?’ Persephone asked curiously, ‘without causing him harm?’
Olivia nodded, ‘he told me that it cancels out the supernatural abilities of whoever is wearing it. It also depletes their strength. If we can get this on him, we should be able to easily drag him back through the gateway.’
‘It’s still risky.’
‘There’s something else,’ she looked up at Theo, ‘Roni was wearing the crescent moon I gave to Jake. She told Danae that because she was wearing it the Soul Collector was unable to harm her. You and I have the other two parts of the pendant, so I’m guessing that will give us some measure of protection too.’
‘I suppose that just about covers everything,’ Theo replied, ‘so where’s the gateway?’
Olivia turned towards Persephone, waiting expectantly.
‘You already know where it is Olivia.’
‘More riddles,’ she fought the urge to roll her eyes and sigh in frustration. She was just as bad as Hades when it came to not giving a straightforward answer.
‘Think about it.’
She didn’t want to think about it, just for once she’d like someone to just answer the fucking question. How the hell was she supposed to know where the gateway was that allowed spirits to sneak into…huh. Her brow folded into a thoughtful frown…the bottle tree.
‘It’s the bottle tree,’ she turned back to Persephone, her mind frantically trying to piece it together. ‘There’s a gateway by Clea Bachelier’s cabin isn’t there? She could see them, that’s why she put the bottle tree there, to stop any evil spirits from escaping the spirit world into our world.’
&nbs
p; ‘Clever girl,’ Persephone murmured, ‘now ask yourself this. What are the bottles for, what were their purpose?’
‘To trap evil spirits. When they were caught in the light of the sunrise they would be destroyed,’ Olivia chewed her lip, ‘but not just evil spirits though.’
‘Go on,’ Persephone encouraged her.
‘Any spirits, the magic she used to trap the spirits in the bottles would work on any spirits and spirits are just souls without mortal bodies. So theoretically the bottles could be used to trap a human soul. That’s what he’s doing isn’t it? The Soul Collector is using Clea’s bottles to imprison the souls he’s stealing. That’s why he’s spent so much time at the North West wood, because that’s where he takes the souls after he’s harvested them. Because they aren’t evil they wouldn’t be destroyed by the sunrise, they would just remain trapped. It’s no longer a bottle tree, it’s a living breathing tree of souls.’
Persephone sat back smiling, ‘so what are you going to do?’
‘We’re going to set the souls free. If we break the bottles the souls should be able to return to their bodies.’
‘I bet that’ll get his attention,’ Theo replied. ‘We won’t have to go looking for the Collector, if we start setting souls free he’ll come to us.’
‘Let’s go then,’ Olivia picked up the two halves of the collar and shoved them into her pockets before pulling on her backpack.
‘There is one more thing,’ Persephone stood slowly.
‘There always is’ Olivia breathed, turning back to face the Goddess.
‘The gateway is one way only. If you go through the door will snap shut behind you.’
‘You mean we can’t get back?’
‘You need to find something to tether yourself to on this side and wedge the door open.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Sam offered. ‘Bridget, can you tether them to me by magic?’
‘Yes,’ she nodded, ‘I believe I can.’
‘Then I’ll wedge the door open and when you’re ready I’ll pull you back through the gateway.’
‘Okay then let’s go,’ Olivia agreed.
Bridget and Sam both disappeared in a blur. Theo reached out and took Olivia’s hand as they turned back to look at Persephone one last time.
‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t thank me just yet Olivia,’ she replied. ‘If you fail my husband, I doubt even his fondness of you will be able to save you.’
Olivia blinked and she disappeared.
‘We can do this,’ Theo squeezed her hand reassuringly.
She nodded and for a moment their surroundings blurred and then Olivia found herself staring at the small cabin she’d tried very hard to forget. A chill ran down her spine and her palms grew sweaty.
‘It’s okay Livy love,’ Theo stroked his hand down her spine.
She took a deep breath and turned to look at the bottle tree which clanged in the wind. It looked quite ordinary and harmless.
‘Okay Sam so where’s this gateway?’
‘Give me a minute will you,’ he murmured as he closed his eyes. He inhaled deeply and stood still, his head slightly cocked as if listening to something they couldn’t hear. ‘There it is,’ he opened his eyes and pointed to a space a few meters from the tree. He held up his hand, his palm outstretched and suddenly the air began to shimmer and undulate. It was like looking at the ripples on a pond.
‘Is that it?’ Theo asked.
Sam nodded.
‘How did you do that?’ Olivia asked curiously.
‘A guy’s got to have some secrets,’ he grinned turning to Bridget. ‘Okay Bridge, do what you have to.’
‘Don’t call me Bridge,’ she frowned, ‘it’s Bridey if you insist on being so familiar.’
His smile softened fondly, ‘okay then Bridey, if you wouldn’t mind handcuffing me to those two maniacs please.’
‘Of course,’ she indicated for Theo and Olivia to step forward. ‘Hold out your right hands if you please.’
The three of them stood in a rough circle their right hands joined together at the center. Bridget laid her own hands over the top and began to mutter softly. Her voice was so low it caught on the wind and was swept away before they could make out any of the incantation she was using. Olivia stared down at their joined hands and saw bright golden threads appearing. They wound themselves round and around their hands, glowing brightly until it caught and pulled tight, seeping into their skin.
‘Okay that should hold you,’ she told them. ‘Olivia and Theo you take a couple of steps back, you won’t be able to see the threads but you should be able to feel them.’
They did as Bridget suggested and both felt a curious pulling at their wrists.
‘Feel that?’ she asked them.
‘Yes,’ Theo replied, ‘so how are we going to signal when we want you to pull us back?’
‘Pull on the threads hard three times,’ Bridget told them both. ‘Sam will be able to feel it.’
‘And if I pull the threads hard, it means get your asses back her because we are being sucked into the Void okay?’ Sam told them bluntly.
‘Okay,’ Theo took Olivia’s hand and turned towards the shimmering gateway, ‘are you ready?’ he looked down at her.’
‘As I’ll ever be,’ she swallowed hard, ‘okay let’s go.’
They both stepped forward and straight into the strange disturbance. It felt like stepping through water and although they didn’t get wet, it had a strange fluid like consistency to it. The transfer was instantaneous. As they stepped out of the other side of the gateway, they were still looking at Clea’s cabin, however it was now night time. As Olivia stumbled Theo reached out to steady her.
‘Are you okay?’ he frowned.
‘Yeah I’m fine,’ she swallowed back the sudden wave of nausea and dizziness, ‘I don’t like gateways.’
As the nausea passed and she steadied on her feet she looked up at the cabin. It was dark and silent which only seemed to make it even more creepy. She hated the place, she’d love nothing better than to see it burnt to the ground. Looking up to the sky she realized that although it was dark and lit by stars, there was no moon. So why was the cabin highlighted by a bright moonlight glow?
‘Olivia,’ Theo whispered behind her.
She turned to look and her mouth fell open on a gasp.
The old gnarled tree in front of them speared up into the sky, lit by dozens and dozens of glowing bottles. It was so bright and tall it looked like a Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Before she even realized she was moving Olivia walked towards the tree until she was standing directly under the lowest branches, looking up at the bottles of light. It looked as if every single bottle was filled with a trapped fairy as the lights bobbed and weaved and butted against the glass.
‘Look at them all,’ Olivia breathed.
‘There are more than one soul in each bottle,’ Theo frowned, ‘there must be hundreds of souls trapped in here.’
‘Then it’s time for them to go home, don’t you think?’ Olivia looked up at Theo.
‘Yes I do,’ he smiled as he reached up and unhooked one of the bottles. He removed the cork and turned it upside down. The ball of light shot out of the bottle and circled Theo twice in a mad dance, before shooting up high into the sky and disappearing. He dropped the empty bottle to the hard ground, watching in satisfaction as it smashed.
Olivia smiled and reached up for a bottle of her own. As Theo had done she released the cork and upended the bottle, watching as two smaller lights escaped into the dark night. Theo had already reached for another and before they knew it there was a growing pile of glass at their feet and the night sky was lit by dancing lights, making it look like it was filled with insanely large fireflies.
‘We can’t reach the ones higher up,’ Theo frowned throwing another bottle to the ground.
‘I have an idea,’ she grabbed Theo’s hand and pulled him away from the tree. She reach
ed down inside herself for the heat and light of her magic. It furled liked a sleepy dragon roaring to life, flooding her body with magic and when she stretched her arms up to the sky several large dragonflies made up of pure flame burst from her hands and shot into the darkness. They circled the tree climbing higher and higher, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Their bodies glowed brighter and brighter until they were almost white with heat. Suddenly a bottle exploded raining down glass shards, then another exploded and another. Every bottle the dragonflies touched exploded and before long glass dust rained down to the ground and the night sky was flooded with hundreds of white glowing balls of light as the souls escaped.
Olivia looked up smiling, with Theo by her side. For one single moment they stood in awe of the sight before them. Everything else was forgotten, her mother, her father, Hades, the book, it all faded away and she breathed in the air which pulsed with magic and love and joy. She could feel them, every soul, every emotion and for a second it was so overwhelming she wanted to cry.
‘You feel it too don’t you?’ Theo whispered looking down at her with a smile.
She nodded, unable to put into words how it felt to stand in the presence of the raw beauty and radiance of the human soul.
Theo was the first to notice something was not right. He felt a shiver run down his spine as if he’d just been doused in cold water and his mouth and nostrils suddenly flooded with the pungent scent of lilies. He turned to Olivia and opened his mouth to speak, when he saw two hands with long white spindly fingers wrap around her torso and jerk her backwards.
Sam shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, his hand pressed up against the shimmering patch of light. He glanced nervously up at the sky that previously had been filled with that strange pale blue diffused light. Now it began to boil ominously with dark black clouds which swept in, butting up close to the wall of nothingness that was the Void. The clouds themselves churned and lit up at random, with little micro bursts of lightning as if they were charged with some sort of electricity.
The wind picked up and began to howl, pulling and tearing at his clothes, buffeting his body in the strong air current. He grasped onto the gateway with both hands and stared. All he could see was his own distorted image reflected back at him, misshapen and grotesque like a house of mirrors at a carnival. He took a deep frustrated breath and his fingers tightened into fists. If only he could see what was going on, on the other side. He hoped it was going to plan he thought, as he cast one more glance at the threatening skies, because he had the uncomfortable feeling they didn’t have very long.
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