The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘My friend Jackson who runs the pub, he seems to have an unhappy spirit. He has flickering lights, cold spots, nasty smells and knocking in vacant rooms. Then last night several of the glasses on the bar moved and then just exploded.’

  ‘I see,’ Fiona frowned as she yanked on her snow boots and pulled her coat down from the stand, ‘we better go and take a look.’

  ‘Um don’t you want to get changed first?’ Theo asked.

  She stared at him, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

  ‘Never mind,’ he replied.

  Grabbing her keys, she headed towards the door. ‘We may as well take your car,’ she told Olivia as they stepped out onto the porch.

  Nodding in agreement she led the way down to where she’d parked. By the time they pulled into the parking lot around the back of the pub Theo had a pounding headache. Olivia headed towards the private entrance and knocked lightly.

  Jackson opened the door, his usual carefree smile and laughing eyes were noticeably absent and instead his mouth was set in a grim determined line.

  ‘Maybe I should’ve taken you up on your offer last night,’ he told Olivia as she stepped into the pub.

  ‘What offer,’ Theo walked in behind her, nodding in greeting as he passed.

  ‘To sleep in one of your spare rooms.’

  ‘I take it you didn’t get much sleep last night young man,’ Fiona marched in behind Theo.

  ‘To put it mildly,’ Jackson held out his hand. ‘You must be Fiona.’

  ‘That’s right,’ she shook his hand briskly.

  ‘Why don’t we go on through to the bar area and take a seat,’ he offered.

  Fiona wandered off in the direction he indicated, followed by Theo.

  ‘Are those her pajamas?’ he whispered to Olivia as they followed.

  ‘Just go with it,’ she smiled.

  ‘Theo you’re looking a little green around the gills if you don’t mind my saying, are you alright?’

  ‘Theo decided to get up close and personal with Don Julio last night,’ Olivia replied.

  ‘Ah,’ Jackson smiled, ‘why don’t you take a seat my friend. I’ll make you something that’ll fix you right up.’

  ‘Thanks Jackson,’ he took a seat at the bar and laid his head on the cool wood.

  Jackson slipped behind the bar and grabbed a silver cocktail shaker and began adding various ingredients.

  ‘What the hell’s in that?’ Olivia asked dubiously.

  ‘Bit of this and that,’ he laughed, ‘some hair of the dog. It’s an old family recipe, don’t worry beautiful I’ll have your man as right as rain in no time at all.’

  ‘If you say so,’ she shrugged.

  ‘Mr. Murphy,’ Fiona interrupted, ‘if you don’t mind perhaps you could fill us in on what happened last night.’

  ‘Jackson,’ he corrected her, ‘well I’ll tell you alright. Like I said to Olivia last night, up until now our house guest has been pretty benign. A few cold spots, some flickering lights, some strange knocking noises. I’m used to that sort of thing; you expect it with these old buildings as they all come with a past.’

  ‘You don’t seem bothered by that,’ she lifted a brow questioningly.

  ‘Darlin’ I’m from Ireland, land of magic and myth. I was raised on tales of Red Mary of Leamaneh Castle in County Clare where I grew up. I’m certainly no stranger to ghost stories or the odd strange happenings but this is a whole new level for me. Last night I felt as if I was trapped in a William Friedkin movie. I almost expected Linda Blair to make an appearance.’

  He poured a nasty dark pungent liquid into a glass and placed it onto a coaster, sliding it over to Theo who picked it up and eyed it suspiciously.

  ‘Trust me Theo,’ he nodded.

  ‘I suppose if it kills me at least it’ll stop the pounding in my skull.’

  ‘It won’t kill you,’ he laughed, ‘but it will cure you of the evils of a hangover.’

  Shrugging Theo tipped his head back and gulped half of it down.

  ‘That is of course if you can keep it down,’ Jackson murmured.

  Theo’s stomach heaved in protest as he clamped his lips shut and swallowed convulsively.

  ‘If I vomit I’m aiming for you,’ he croaked as he dropped his head back down on the bar.

  Jackson chuckled and turned back to Fiona and Olivia.

  ‘As I was saying, up until now fairly benign, then last night it started getting more…active.’

  ‘Explain,’ Fiona replied absently as she began to wander around the bar area.

  ‘It started at closing time with the glasses detonating on the bar like tiny bombs. After that there was a lot of banging about. When I came in to check, the furniture had all rearranged itself, some of it was even upside down. I finally went to bed and sometime during the night the bed started shaking, gave me quite a turn I can tell you. Didn’t sleep much after that.’

  ‘I can imagine,’ Fiona murmured running her hand along the smooth wood of the bar and closing her eyes. ‘He was wronged in some way. He isn’t just restless he’s angry, so very angry.

  She opened her eyes and turned to face Jackson.

  ‘With you, he’s angry with you.’

  ‘Why me specifically?’ Jackson frowned.

  Fiona shook her head. ‘I get the feeling he’s looking at you and seeing someone else,’ she tried to explain. ‘It’s almost like you’re the proxy, he can’t have who he’s really mad at so he’s blaming you. It may be that you are related to the person who wronged him or it may be as simple as you physically resembling that person. Spirits can get confused and fixated on one person.’

  ‘Well that’s just grand,’ Jackson muttered sourly.

  ‘Judd,’ she mused after a moment, ‘his name is Judd. He’s tied to this building somehow, I can’t get much from him, just waves and waves of anger. I don’t think there will be any reasoning with him. Some spirits can be appeased and laid to rest.’

  ‘But not this one?’ Jackson replied.

  ‘No,’ she shook her head, ‘you need to trust me on this. Things will only get worse from this point. He’s escalating, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt and as this is a public building, usually filled with people, you can’t afford to take any chances.’

  ‘What do you suggest I do?’

  She rummaged in her jacket pocket and came up with a gum wrapper and the stub of a pencil. Leaning down on the bar she scribbled a number and handed it to him.

  ‘That’s the number for All Saints Church; you want to ask for Father Hubert.’

  ‘Are you suggesting what I think you are?’

  ‘Yes,’ she nodded, ‘I’m not a huge advocate for this solution usually but under these circumstances what you need is an exorcism.’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  Suddenly the screeching of wood broke the quiet as the chairs surrounding the individual circular tables fanned out simultaneously.

  Theo’s head snapped up as he looked at the new formation of the chairs. ‘What the hell?’ he frowned.

  ‘Here we go again,’ Jackson sighed.

  The loud screeching of the chair legs grinding against the wooden floor rose in volume and each chair began to spin slowly in a circle getting faster and faster. Theo moved closer to Olivia putting her behind him protectively.

  ‘Has it done this before?’ Fiona yelled above the noise.

  ‘Not like this,’ Jackson yelled back.

  Suddenly the furniture split straight down the centre of the room, parting like the Red Sea, as the tables and chairs were swept against the walls, piling up either side of the room. An ominous silence filled the air which was now thick with the stench of ozone.

  A shattering sound split the silence as the glasses stacked neatly behind the bar began detonating one by one, spraying the area behind the bar with glass. The bottles of alcohol were next, fountains of colored liqu
id spilled to the floor like tiny multi colored waterfalls. Jackson jumped up over the bar, skidding along the wood to drop down on the same side as Olivia and the others.

  They all turned as the doors and windows began to rattle and shake violently as if they were caught in the grip of an earthquake. A loud cracking noise forced them to turn back to the bar. For a fraction of a second Olivia thought she saw an older man, with a bald head and grey skin and wearing a plaid shirt, reflected in the mirrored wall behind the shattered bottles before the whole wall exploded outwards showering them with great shards of jagged glass.

  Olivia felt Theo grab her and spin away from the bar, folding her into him protectively as he shielded her with his own body. The sheer force of the explosion knocked them to the ground and then all was silent.

  The sudden stillness was eerie; the only sound was the creak and grind of the glass beneath them as they began to move.

  ‘Are you alright?’ Theo breathed as he checked her for injuries.

  ‘I’m okay,’ Olivia nodded wincing slightly at the sting in her left palm. Pulling a large splinter of glass from her skin she turned to Theo. ‘Are you okay?’

  He grimaced lightly and felt the back of his shoulder. When he pulled his hand away his fingertips were coated with blood.

  ‘Let me see,’ she pulled him closer.

  He leaned forward and she could see a large jagged piece of glass protruding from his shoulder.

  ‘Pull it out.’

  ‘Are you sure,’ she frowned.

  He nodded, hissing slightly as she did as he asked.

  Looking up she saw Jackson stirring, he looked as if he had a small laceration to the forehead but otherwise seemed to be unharmed.

  ‘Fiona?’ Olivia called, and as she turned towards the older woman her heart almost stopped. She could see Fiona lying on her back, gasping for breath, a huge shard of glass sticking awkwardly from her neck.

  ‘Fiona!’ Olivia pushed away from Theo and scrambled over the sharp debris to reach her.

  Blood pumped from the wound at her neck, pooling on the wooden floor and when she tried to open her mouth to speak, blood bubbled from her lips coating her teeth and running down her chin.

  ‘Hold on Fiona,’ Olivia breathed heavily, ‘we’ve got you.’

  Theo reached for the shard at her neck.

  ‘NO!,’ Olivia snapped sharply as she peeled the collar of her jacket back to get a better look at the wound, ‘it’s too close to her carotid artery. If we remove the glass she’ll bleed out.’

  She grasped Fiona under the arms and hauled her into a sitting position so she was lying reclined against her chest.

  ‘The wound is higher than the level of her heart. If we keep her upright her heart has to work harder to pump the blood up to the wound; it should slow the bleeding.’

  ‘I’ll call an ambulance,’ Jackson reached for the phone.

  ‘There’s no time,’ Olivia shook her head. ‘The medical centre is only a few blocks from here, it’s quicker if we take her ourselves.’

  Theo nodded as he slid his arms underneath her knees and her back, lifting her easily and trying to keep her in a seated position. With hands slippery with blood Olivia pulled her keys from her pocket as they headed out the back towards her car. Theo climbed into the back with Fiona while Jackson and Olivia jumped in the front. She tore through nearly every red light between the pub and the medical centre, the only crazy illogical thought circling her brain was who the hell would look after all Fiona’s weird cats if something happened to the sweet crazy old lady.

  She screeched up to the centre and planted the car in the middle of the emergency entrance, flinging open the door.

  ‘You two get Fiona inside I’ll move the car,’ Jackson told Olivia.

  Nodding as she helped Theo lift the unconscious woman out of the car she tossed her keys to Jackson and raced in after Theo.

  ‘HELP!’ she called as they ran through the entrance.

  The startled medical staff quickly pushed a gurney towards them and Theo laid her down. They both watched helplessly as she disappeared through the double doors of the trauma room.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Jackson rushed through the doors to join them.

  ‘Nothing yet,’ Olivia shook her head, ‘they’re working on her now.’

  ‘Jesus,’ he raked his hand through his hair.

  A nurse pushed her way through the doors of the trauma room and headed for Olivia.

  ‘Miss?’

  ‘West,’ Olivia told her, ‘is she going to be okay?’

  ‘It’s a bit early to tell,’ she told her gently. ‘She has a very serious wound and she’s lost a lot of blood. The doctor’s trying to stabilize her now and then she’ll be taken up to the OR. It would be really helpful if you could give me some details.’

  Olivia nodded mutely.

  ‘What’s her name?’

  ‘Fiona Caldwell, she lives over on Fairfield Avenue.’

  ‘Okay,’ the nurse nodded, ‘do you know if she has any allergies to any medication?’

  ‘I don’t know; I don’t know her that well.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ she squeezed her arm reassuringly; ‘we’ll pull her medical files.’

  The doors crashed open and the gurney Fiona was on was pushed out quickly, surrounded by a team of medical staff.

  ‘It looks like they’re taking her up to surgery now,’ she nodded. ‘I’ll keep you updated on her condition.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Olivia murmured as she watched Fiona wheeled into the elevator.

  ‘I guess now we wait,’ Jackson breathed heavily.

  The minutes dragged as they took it in unconscious turns to pace the hall waiting for news.

  Mac and Jake stalked purposefully through the doors, their gaze immediately falling on the blood stained trio standing by the trauma room, each looking slightly shell shocked.

  ‘Olivia,’ Mac nodded as they approached. ‘Why are you always covered in blood every time I see you,’ he sighed.

  Mac,’ Olivia greeted the new Chief of Police, ‘it’s not mine this time.’

  ‘Do you want to explain what the hell happened?’

  Olivia turned to Jackson. ‘Do you want to take this one or shall I?’

  ‘Er…’Jackson looked at the two police officers, trying to come up with an explanation that didn’t sound completely insane.

  Olivia shook her head and sighed.

  ‘We need to talk in private,’ she told them, gazing around at the staff who were trying not to stare.

  ‘Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you have to say,’ he breathed heavily.

  She stared at him expectantly.

  ‘Fine,’ he indicted towards the trauma room where Fiona had just been treated.

  Olivia glanced around as they entered the room, trying to ignore the empty blood bags, used gloves and wadded up bloodied gauze strewn across the floor.

  ‘Could you give us a minute?’ Mac asked the tech cleaning the floor.

  He nodded and slipped quietly out the door.

  ‘So spit it out then,’ Mac frowned as he threw a calculating look at Jackson. ‘Does this have anything to do with Nathaniel?’ he asked carefully.

  Olivia shook her head ignoring Jackson’s puzzled look.

  ‘Who’s Nathaniel?’

  ‘No one you need to worry about right now,’ she murmured.

  ‘Is this related to what we saw last night?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Olivia replied, ‘it got completely out of hand and trashed the pub.’

  ‘What got completely out of hand?’ Mac interrupted.

  ‘Jackson has a very violent spirit at the pub, it’s very angry, apparently at Jackson and while we were there it went on a bit of a rampage. It threw all the furniture around and smashed pretty much every piece of glass in the bar.’

  ‘A spirit?’ Mac repeated.

  ‘Yes,’ she nodded, ‘aga
in I know we’re kinda throwing you in the deep end here Mac, but I don’t think this will be an isolated incident. Apparently the spirits of the dead have all decided to throw a party and Mercy is the venue of choice. We’re still not sure why at the moment.’

  ‘I see,’ he replied thoughtfully.

  ‘You seem to be taking this pretty calmly,’ Jackson said curiously.

  ‘Well,’ Mac scratched his chin thoughtfully, ‘I probably would have been a little more skeptical if I hadn’t spent last night drinking scotch with my old partner who was shot and killed on the job fifteen years ago.’

  ‘You’ve seen them too,’ Olivia answered slowly.

  ‘I thought I was going crazy at first but then again after what I saw at Mid Winter I’m learning to take everything at face value.’

  ‘Probably for the best,’ Theo finally spoke up.

  ‘What about the woman who was hurt?’

  ‘Her name’s Fiona Caldwell, she’s a medium. She was helping us try to find out who was haunting Jackson, when it all just went crazy. She was hurt when the glass behind the bar shattered.’

  ‘I see, so what do we do now?’

  ‘We still don’t know what is pulling all the spirits into Mercy,’ Olivia told him. ‘We’re trying to figure it out at the moment but first we need to deal with the spirit at the pub.’

  ‘I take it you’re going to be closing for a few days until you’ve got this under control,’ Mac asked Jackson pointedly. ‘I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.’

  Jackson nodded.

  ‘We’ll get this dealt with immediately but even if we manage to exorcise the spirit it’s going to take a bit to get the bar repaired and back up and running. There’s quite a lot of damage, although I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna tell the insurance people.’

  ‘Okay then well, let me know if you need anything and keep me apprised of the situation.’

  ‘We will,’ Olivia nodded, ‘we should head back to the pub and deal with this before people start showing up for work. Can you have someone call me as soon as Fiona’s out of surgery so we know she’s okay?’

  Mac nodded and watched silently as the three of them filed out of the room.

  Olivia stepped out onto the street ignoring the stares cast her way as she was joined by Theo and Jackson.