Time Weaver

by Jacinta Maree

  Alarms rang inside his mind, making him charge forward. He cleared the table in one leap and speared Dennis’ neck with his Collector’s blade. The force shoved Dennis over. His back hit the windows beneath him. The glass splintered. Time zapped out of his body. Dennis tried to shoot again, but Klaus smacked the gun from his grip. Instead, Dennis reached for the bone shiv, only to drop it as Klaus grabbed him by the throat. He was fast. Brutal. He squeezed with all intentions of killing him. He wanted to kill him. It was going to be easy.

  Benjamin tried to separate them and Klaus spun around with his elbow bent. He struck hard, harder than he intended, his body still hot with rage and panic. He heard bone snap, felt the brunt force of his swing drive into Benjamin’s temple. Klaus felt the warmth pulsed within Benjamin’s chest, circling his head momentarily, and then blinked out. With his eyes still open, Benjamin’s body fell.

  Before anyone could register what had happened, Catherine leapt onto Klaus and drove the bone shiv deep into his shoulder. Pain exploded. She had stabbed him with such force the blade snapped inside his muscle. Klaus flung himself through the train window, the momentum catching Catherine and bringing her with him. They dropped down a five-meter slope of trees, tumbling head over heels’. Before Leah could scream, they vanished.

  #

  Death was never easy to accept. Even in a profession such as hunting, where death was witnessed and killing was practised daily, it still could shake a person to their core. An emergency crew waited at the train station to save Benjamin’s life, but he was gone the moment Klaus’ elbow connected with his head. Leah broke. Her screams howled down the corridors. There was nothing anyone could do. Elizabeth saw herself in Leah’s devastation. Heard herself in her shrill cries, as well as in the silence of her disbelief and agony. The police questioned them about Benjamin’s death, and blamed Klaus for the murder. Crowds formed around the train carriage as Benjamin’s body was carried out.

  Elizabeth gripped her arms. She sat quietly on a public bench feeling the suffocation of loneliness creep back. Klaus and Catherine were gone. Dennis didn’t speak. Leah wailed. Hudson perched on top of their suitcases in the middle of the crowded platform. The overhead clocks hit their chimes, signalling midday. Elizabeth fell into a still silence, guilt burrowed deep into her mind. She didn’t know what to say to the others. Not like they would listen to her anyway. Eyes from the crowd glazed over her. Amongst the swirl of the busy platform, a face popped out. Eyes of familiar blue, smooth brown hair braided down the side. The pinch of a smile, pulling on her left cheek, just like Elizabeth’s. Elizabeth bolted upwards. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “Mother?”

  Ana Blackmore stood meters away, her attention on the crowd. She turned around, searching the faces before walking away. Impossible. Ana Blackmore was dead. Yet, Elizabeth was certain she saw her mother’s face. Elizabeth fought against the natural current of the crowd, unable to find her voice to shout out. Ana’s head bobbed into the swell of the people.

  “Wait…wai—” Elizabeth sprinted as she saw Ana duck behind a pillar. Hope fluttered. Disbelief. Need. Possible scenarios rushed to the front of her mind, trying to explain how Ana could possibly be there. She caught up with the woman and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. Under closer inspection, Elizabeth noticed the inconsistencies. Ana’s body walked as though slanted, tipping her slightly right. Her skin was cold, sticky, and her eyes dulled as though they were painted on. Elizabeth retracted her hand. This thing wasn’t Ana. It wasn’t even human.

  “Hello, Elizabeth.” A chilled voice ran up her neck. The Ana clone crumpled into shards, dissolving back into shadows and the bendable forms of Nikolas’ gremlins.

  Elizabeth stumbled back, feeling her heartbreak all over again. “How dare you!” she choked, nearing tears. Nikolas stepped closer.

  “Where is Klaus?”

  Elizabeth shook her head, trying desperately to stop the whimper in her voice. “You’re a monster.”

  “Fear is good, but there’s no point in fearing monsters, Elizabeth. It’s not going to help you.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Fear is a powerful motivator. Desperation, even more so. I know he’s capable of it, I just need to play this game carefully. Delicate hands to hit those pressure points.” Nikolas held his fingertips to her forehead, seeping shadows through her skin and into her mind. He caught only fractions, burns of images, sharp colors, shrilling echoes, and disrupted white noise. Among the fray of distorted memories, he witnessed Klaus fling himself through the train window taking with him an unknown woman.

  Pain threw Nikolas’ head back and his connection on Elizabeth dropped. She dipped unconsciously into Nikolas’ arms and he carefully laid her down by the pillar. As he crouched, droplets of blood spotted the floor. He dabbed his nose clean, the weight of magic burning dark blotches over his vision. He wobbled, having to grab the floor to stop from toppling over. Can’t keep doing that. The gremlins bickered, biting bruises on his neck, arms, and knees, but Nikolas paid them no attention. Only minor details remained. A bullet wound, cut through Klaus’ bicep. A white dagger, too small to see clearly, snapped in half. A swell of panic. Five different people. No wait, only four. One is dead now. Bruises lined the dead man’s temple, matching the shape of Klaus’ elbow. Nikolas cast a long sideways look. The gunshot on Klaus’ body reminded Nikolas of his own old scars. There’s only one thing capable of conflicting that type of injury and I assume they are here for me.

  Careful not to overextend his capabilities, Nikolas sent the gremlins toward the travelling group. At the forefront of his mind, he watched through the gremlin’s foggy eyes as they scurried around their feet, collecting swabs of smells. Wine. Detergent. Perfume. Sweat. Tobacco. Leather. Gold. Gun powder. They climbed the woman first, then the two men. Among them were two unaccounted aromas. One belonged to the dead man, the other to the woman thrown from the train. The gremlins rushed into the docked train, searching the carriages for the spot where the man had died. They caught one of the scents, eliminating the last remaining smell as the woman’s. He concentrated on it, expanded it, and like trained sniffer dogs the gremlins singled out the trail. Follow it. The shadows lurched forward, seeping through the slits of the metal panels and galloped down the tracks. The scent thickened into a smoke trail, honing in on the woman’s location, until it suddenly disappeared. The smell dulled and the gremlins slingshot back to him.

  Nikolas grinned. Klaus is still with her, for now. Guess I’m going to have to find him the old-fashioned way. His attention shifted back to the group. Pieces of Elizabeth’s memories blurred together, but it was clear enough the blue-eyed male had the closest connection to the missing woman. Her scent was all over him.

  Similar to how he baited Elizabeth, Nikolas conjured the gremlins and spindled them into a distorted copy of Elizabeth’s form. The copy was flawed, awkward, but from far away the shadow could convince him it was really Elizabeth. The creature waved the man over. Nikolas smirked, “Thank god for human error.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two:

  “Will it work? This little plan of yours?” Nikolas took a deep breath. Grief pulled at him, slouching his back and numbing all his emotions except for rage. The desire to inflict torment on Klaus drove his every move, controlled his every thought. The woman beside him reached out, coaxing Nikolas’ attention back. “Nikolas?”

  “With her, I believe so.” He didn’t look away from Elizabeth, unconscious on the thin mattress. She would be the perfect thorn to plant into Klaus’ side. Nikolas took a long drink from the bottle of wine he carried.

  The woman sighed. “I may not know Klaus as well as you, but I know what he isn’t capable of.”

  “You didn’t see it, Juliet,” Nikolas whispered. “He is so afraid, so desperate.”

  “And how will that make him fall in love?”

  “Fear controls Klaus. It’s what allows him to live unattached from others. I want to heighten that fear, make him desperate enough that his
need to protect Elizabeth blurs his judgement. Dress him up as a hero, and Klaus may just believe he is one.”

  “How endearing.” Juliet smiled.

  “He needs a heart first for me to break it.” Noises carried down the tunnel. Nikolas turned toward it. “Time to play. The other one is for you.”

  “Not exactly my type,” Juliet pouted. “Can’t we swap?”

  “After we’re done. Best you go and check on our friend.”

  With a nod, Juliet walked into the tunnel. Nikolas lingered, watching for signs of Elizabeth stirring out of sleep.

  Elizabeth awoke on a mattress. She sat upright, alarmed, and turned around, trying to make sense of the strong murky smell, the stone archway above her head, and the echoing drip of a leaking pipe. Dark, wet bricks stretched into the narrow tunnel. Around her, shadows danced against the flicker of a steady bonfire flame. Stripped mattresses lined the walls, sheets of old blankets left in bundles, dirty dishes, trolleys full of clothes, and cardboard boxes scattered the space. A network of homeless lived here, but how she ended up here remained unknown.

  Elizabeth slowly stood. On the table beside the bonfire, a glint of silver caught her attention. A Collector’s blade. Realization dawned on her. Nikolas. He must have taken me here. She searched the dim lit room for him, remaining wary of the dark corners.

  Nothing but silence, yet he was known for his quiet presence. He will be here, watching from somewhere. Elizabeth approached the table and hovered over the weapon. He left it behind?

  The patterns of the twisted cogs were structured differently from Klaus’. It was long and slightly crooked like a deer’s antler.

  “I wouldn’t touch that if I was you.”

  She flinched at hearing Nikolas’ warning. Elizabeth watched him carefully cross the room. Darkness collected beneath his eyes, shallowing his face whereas the orange flames haloed around him, warming the yellow in his hair. He reached over and picked up his blade, examining it fondly. She searched his face, growing madder at the curl of his smile. Nikolas had taken so much from her. He was nothing more than a ruthless romantic, listening to the commands of his tyrant lover. “You have questions?”

  “Just one.”

  Nikolas smirked. “Let me guess, why did I kidnap you? Come on, Elizabeth, you’re smarter than that.”

  “That wasn’t my question.”

  “What then?”

  Elizabeth stepped forward, lifting her chin. She had been sitting on this thought for so long it felt raw to say it aloud, but seeing her mother again, allowed her to speak through the pain. “Why did you pick her?”

  “Who?” Nikolas took another mouthful of wine.

  Her jaw clenched angrily. “My mother. Tell me, why her?”

  Nikolas didn’t speak. Elizabeth couldn’t read his blank expression. His eyes remained vacant and blurred from the alcohol. Her anger deepened, dropping her voice into a whisper. “It’s the least you can do for me…”

  “And why should I do anything for you?” His demeanour changed, hardening with his rage.

  “You destroyed my life.”

  “Then I guess we’re even.”

  “I didn’t harm Claudia.”

  His face tightened at her name. “No, but Klaus did.” He turned away to face the fire. “I’m not blind to her betrayal. I’m sure Klaus called me foolish. He is a man without feeling. An animal, focused only on surviving.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  Nikolas smiled. “No, all seasons change, don’t they? This is a game, Elizabeth, a slow trick of the mind. Klaus will learn there are things far deadlier than me.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  Nikolas smirked. “With any luck, human error.”

  A loud groan carried down from the end of the tunnel. Elizabeth turned toward it as Nikolas took another long gulp of wine, emptying the bottle before throwing it into the fire. “He’s awake.”

  “Who? Who is that?”

  “I believe you know him.” Nikolas sidestepped to allow Elizabeth passage. “A friend to keep you company.”

  Elizabeth walked past him warily and followed the tunnel down toward a separate room. Inside, Hudson sat on a wooden chair with both wrists and ankles tied up. Beside him waited a young woman leisurely reading a book. Hudson looked up at Elizabeth’s entrance. “Elizabeth?”

  “Hudson?” She hovered by the door, confusion holding her back. “What are you doing here?” Her attention shifted to the other woman. Her beautiful brown skin did little to hide the cosmos of freckles stretching across her cheekbones and onto the tip of her nose. Her brown eyes sparkled as she stood, subtly brushing loose black curls behind her ear.

  She smiled warmly in greeting. “Good evening.”

  “Who are you?” Elizabeth asked.

  “An accomplice,” Nikolas answered as he entered behind them. Elizabeth stepped back until she reached Hudson’s side. Nikolas continued, “Unlike Klaus, I do not buck against the company of others.”

  Hudson straightened up in his chair, focused on Nikolas’ face. “Is it… I know you! I know what you are!”

  “Yes, I’m sure you have my picture hanging on the walls at those little meetings of yours.” He laughed, smugly. “Don’t take offence if I don’t return the interest, I don’t bother to learn the names of dead men.”

  “We kill creatures like you.”

  “History begs to differ.” Nikolas cocked an eyebrow. “Funny, you try to threaten me but welcome Klaus into your pack.”

  “Klaus isn’t corrupted,” Elizabeth said.

  Nikolas sighed and rolled his eyes. “The word corrupted is thrown around so easily nowadays, but do you know what it means?” At their silence, he continued, mockingly. “So typical of humans. You act without thinking and hate without understanding. Corruption only means I do not live by the code. I can deny contracts at my whim and those I do accept, I get to keep the time for myself.”

  “What do you mean you keep the time? To do what with?”

  “To live longer, and of course, the added extras. Interesting aren’t they?” Nikolas answered by pointing to the gremlins. “The power of a mortal’s life. Pure energy manifested into the shadows. Things for me to control. Unlike Klaus, we are not controlled by words.”

  “We?” Elizabeth whispered, looking toward the woman. “You’re a corrupted Collector too?”

  The woman’s smile widened. “My name is Juliet, and I am so much more than that. I also enjoy moon gazing, if you’re interested?”

  “Why bring us both here?” Elizabeth demanded.

  “Oh, I think you know why.”

  Hudson bucked against his restraints. “You can go to hell.”

  “I can see why he likes him.” Juliet beamed. “Fiery.”

  “I’m afraid not this time, Juliet.” Nikolas corrected, much to Juliet’s disappointment.

  She looked away. “How boring.”

  “Is this part of your game, Nikolas?” Elizabeth interjected, “Baiting Klaus?”

  “More like saving him from a lesser evil. As your time cannot be touched, Elizabeth, I’m going to have your companion here offer it up for me instead. Don’t worry, it won’t cost much.” He gave Juliet a brisk nod. She stepped up to Hudson and placed her thumb to his forehead. As she prepared, Nikolas turned away, directing his attention mostly to Elizabeth. “We all have our special talents, Elizabeth. I have my gremlins, a network of shadows I can manipulate at will. Juliet’s is a bit more focused.”

  Her thumbnail cut into Hudson’s forehead, drawing a line of red across his skin. Above their heads, the lights flickered. Darkness thickened, seeping out from Juliet’s shadow and upward into her fingertips. Hudson started to convulse. He screamed, violently shaking in terror.

  “What are you doing?” Elizabeth panicked.

  “Only nightmares,” Nikolas said, dismissively. “Tricks.”

  Hudson continued to shout, his face blooming red with stress. Juliet’s body tipped slightly forward with exhaustion, b
ut she was careful to keep her thumbnail embedded in his skin.

  His screams were too real, too raw for Elizabeth to handle. “Stop it, please! Take the time from me!”

  Nikolas ignored her.

  Through his grunts of pain, Hudson shouted, “Please, I’ll do whatever you want! Find Catherine, save her!” Juliet stumbled off of him, immediately losing her grip. She collapsed to her knees against the wall. Nikolas drew the time from Hudson’s unconscious body before tending to Juliet. Elizabeth quickly ran to him and checked his pulse. It raced erratically.

  “Hudson? Hudson, are you alright? Hudson?”

  “He’s fine. A dead contract will break the wish after all,” Nikolas said. Pulses of magic filled his veins, expanding within his lungs with every breath. The gremlins bubbled up with excitement, the tiny, black rodents already chasing down Catherine’s undisturbed scent. Even within Klaus’ presence, the wish wouldn’t be disrupted. “Juliet will ensure he is looked after. You and I have a family matters to attend to.” He helped Juliet sit up on the chair and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Keep him here.” She nodded as she dabbed her bloody nose clean.

  “And what about those other Guardians you spoke of?”

  “You know what to do. Leave Mr. Hudson until last.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three:

  Pins and needles worked into his shoulder. Klaus howled. His voice cracked under the strain. Fire ran up his arm. He shook feverishly, sweat dampening his collar and forehead. Veins pressed to the surface, exaggerated by the intensity of the damage. He didn’t know how long it lasted as time suspended around him. Over the pain, tingles shifted like forming ice, expanding over the wound and crystalizing his arm into rock. His body cooled but still trembled with the aftershock.

  Once the pain was gone, he collapsed into the dirt. The entirety of his right arm was tucked against his body like a broken wing. His fingers were frozen in a clenched fist, immortalizing his struggle. It took him a few moments to catch his breath before gingerly sitting up. A few meters away, he could hear the struggling gasps of Catherine. She was twisted around a tree, her shoulder popped up against her ear, wrist broken, legs turned out in the wrong direction and her ribs shattered. Blood ran from her nostril, mixing in with her tears and sweat.