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

by Wendy Saunders

  She felt wrung out, it seemed like she hadn’t stopped since the moment she stepped back into Mercy and she found herself wishing it would all just stop, just for a minute, so she could catch her breath. The only peace and quiet she’d had was after that night at Boothe’s Hollow while she was recovering from her bullet wound. She and Theo had holed up in her house, just the two of them, and looking back now it had been bliss. For a while the outside world hadn’t existed. Once her shoulder had begun to heal they’d spent long lazy days curled up in the warmth, making love or watching the snow fall silently outside the windows, covering the outside of her property in a thick undisturbed blanket of white. They’d talked endlessly about history and watched silly movies. She almost wished she could go back to that time and stay there. She sighed and tipped her head back, allowing the water to soak her hair and sluice down her body, washing away the last remnants of fatigue.

  She was so frustrated; everyone seemed to be looking to her to figure everything out and she found herself on more than one occasion with the words ‘why me’ hovering on her lips. If she could just figure out the mystery of the Ferryman maybe they could find him and get him to send all the spirits back to the other side and close the gateway, but the truth was she didn’t have a clue how to locate Charon or even if he wanted to be found. She couldn’t actually discount the possibility he had simply left rather than being forcibly abducted.

  The problem was there was now a distinct possibility that other creatures were coming through the gateway and she could only imagine it was going to get worse. How the hell were they supposed to deal with that? She had no idea what half the creatures were, let alone how to stop them from harming anyone and since when was it her job anyway? She was a historian and an author for God’s sake. She hadn’t even started a new project in months and although she had some tidy little royalties rolling in from her various publications and also had money set aside for a rainy day, she would have to start working again soon.

  Feeling the water start to run cooler she washed quickly and shut off the water, stepping out of the shower and shivering in the cold air as she grabbed for a towel. Throwing her discarded clothes absently into the hamper she headed back into her room but found herself drawn towards the window. It was snowing again, big fat flakes coming down fast. At this rate her poor little car was going to be useless, the snow would be too deep. As quickly as they were ploughing the roads it was simply getting covered up again. Shaking her head and sighing she turned from the window and pulled out clean warm clothes. She was going to have to run to the store and stock up on food and emergency supplies in case they got snowed in.

  Once dressed she ran the dryer quickly through her hair and scraped it back into a messy ponytail. Trotting down the stairs she headed for Theo’s studio, which was usually where she found him, but he wasn’t there. She paused for a moment hearing the low murmur of voices coming from the kitchen.

  She stepped into the warm well lit room and her eyes widened slightly in surprise as they fell on Veronica who was sitting at the island with Theo, chatting comfortably as she sipped her coffee.

  ‘Good Morning,’ Theo smiled, ‘I thought you were going to sleep the day away.’

  ‘Not quite,’ she replied.

  ‘Hello Olivia,’ Veronica gazed directly at her with clear blue eyes.

  Olivia was about to reply when the quietness was split by a roll of thunder so loud it shook the cold frozen windows.

  ‘What the hell?’ she frowned. She moved towards the window and looked up into the sky, but all she could see was the blizzard. ‘Thundersnow?’

  ‘Thundersnow? Theo repeated, ‘what’s that?’

  ‘Basically the same as a regular thunderstorm,’ she replied thoughtfully, ‘only the main precipitation takes the form of snow rather than rain.’

  ‘I didn’t know that was possible,’ Veronica murmured.

  ‘It is,’ Olivia gazed out of the window, ‘it’s just really rare. They’re more likely to happen over or near large bodies of water because of the lake effect but I’ve never seen one before.’

  ‘What are you thinking?’ Theo asked seeing her puzzled expression.

  ‘I’m just wondering what is driving this extreme weather’ she answered, turning back towards them., ‘even the snow itself. At this time of year, it should start to let up a bit as we head towards Spring, but if nothing else the snow seems to be getting heavier and the temperature is getting colder.’

  ‘I think I may have an explanation for you,’ Veronica spoke up nervously.

  Olivia slid onto the seat next to Veronica as Theo threw her a reassuring look and rose to make Olivia a cup of tea.

  ‘First I’d like to apologize for not contacting you sooner. I don’t want you to think I was avoiding you after the other night. I keep losing the signal on my cell phone because of the weather and I’ve been busy trying to sort out the final renovations at the Museum, which are finally finished. I did stop by last night after work.’

  ‘That was you?’

  Veronica nodded. ‘You were exhausted and I didn’t want to disturb you,’ she replied. ‘After the other night, after everything you told me, I kept running over and over it in my mind. Although I’m finding some of it hard to believe, I know that the spirit problem is very real which got me thinking about what you said about there being a gateway and about other creatures coming through. Do you remember what I told you that night about the woman I saw in the snow?’

  ‘The naked one with eyes like a snake?’

  ‘That’s it,’ Veronica nodded as she rummaged in her bag and came up with a large flat reference book. The tips of post-it notes peeked from the top of the pages where she’d obviously tagged the ones that were of interest to her. ‘Well I started to wonder if she was one of the other creatures that had come through the gateway so I started doing some research.’

  ‘Of course you did,’ her mouth curved in amusement as Veronica opened the book at one of the bookmarks and slid the open book across the surface so Olivia could get a better look.

  When she looked down at the illustration she saw a picture of a beautiful woman with slitted serpentine eyes. She was naked and surrounded by what looked like a sandstorm.

  ‘This is what I saw the other day, only she was surrounded by snow instead of sand’ Veronica told her.

  Olivia’s eyes slid over to the text accompanying the drawing.

  ‘Janns, a class of evil spirits from Islamic tradition. They can transform into animals or humans but as humans they appear as beautiful women with slit eyes like a snake. They are savage, causing storms and bringing death,’ she read out loud. ‘Are you sure this is what you saw?’

  Veronica nodded. ‘I didn’t want to believe what you told me, I mean it’s crazy. Things like this don’t happen outside of books and movies, but…’

  ‘But?’ Olivia prompted.

  ‘I can’t reason away the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve felt,’ she sighed. ‘I saw one of these creatures, I know I did.’

  ‘I believe you,’ Olivia told her softly, ‘it’s not the only creature on the loose.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Veronica frowned as she watched Theo place a cup of tea down in front of Olivia.

  ‘We think there’s another creature who has come through the gateway, a Raksasha.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of one of those before,’ she pulled the book back towards her and started leafing through the pages.

  ‘It’s Hindu in origin I believe’ Olivia told her, ‘they cause disease and death amongst humans.’

  ‘We were at the hospital yesterday,’ Theo spoke up, ‘and there were many sick people being admitted. Apparently many more than are usual, showing symptoms of diseases and illnesses that are also not commonplace.’

  ‘God,’ Veronica breathed heavily, ‘what a mess.’

  ‘Tell me about it’ Olivia shook her head, ‘and it’s only going to get worse. At the moment people are g
etting sick but it’s only a matter of time before people start dying.’

  ‘What can we do about it?’

  ‘Find the Ferryman,’ Olivia replied bluntly. ‘These creatures are way above my skill level. The only way to send them back from where they came from is to find Charon and hope to whatever God you believe in, that he has the ability to send them back and close the doorway.’

  ‘Still having no luck with that?’

  ‘No,’ Olivia shook her head in frustration, ‘we’ve hit a dead end. I can’t find any more information on him and at this point we’re not even sure if he’s left on purpose or if he’s been abducted, although we’re leaning more heavily towards the latter.’

  ‘I’ll see if I can find any information for you’ Veronica told her, but to be honest if you can’t find any then I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much better.’

  ‘Thanks anyway,’ Olivia sighed, ‘at this point we need all the help we can get.’

  ‘There was another reason I stopped by to see you.’

  ‘Renata’s funeral?’

  Veronica nodded.

  ‘With no surviving family there really wasn’t anyone else to arrange the funeral and Jewish tradition dictates that the body be interred as soon as possible, as anything else is considered a humiliation of the deceased. Not only that but Jewish law forbids cremation or any kind of embalming. She also doesn’t have any surviving family to sit Shiva for her.’

  ‘Shiva?’

  ‘It means ‘in mourning’ for her. Shiva can last anything up to seven days but as none of us are Jewish I found a compromise. I have arranged a Rabbi and a Jewish service for her but afterwards the Mayor has given permission for us to hold a small wake at the museum for her. I think she would have like that.’

  ‘Of course she would,’ Olivia smiled. ‘It’s a perfect way to say goodbye, she loved that place.’

  ‘Anyway, it’s all been a bit of a nightmare trying to organize it in such a short amount of time and this weather hasn’t helped much’ Veronica told her. ‘The last I heard, at the cemetery they were having trouble actually digging the grave for tomorrow as the ground is frozen so solid. Also the phone lines keep going down so I’m heading out that way after I leave here, to double check everything is ready for tomorrow.’

  ‘If you don’t mind, I might tag along’ Olivia replied. ‘I need to go into town to stock up on some supplies anyway and I’d quite like to see Jed, he’s the custodian of the cemetery.’

  ‘Not at all,’ Veronica smiled, ‘I’ll be glad of the company. Usually cemeteries don’t bother me but after everything that has happened recently….’

  ‘That’s understandable,’ Olivia turned to Theo, ‘do you want to come?’

  He shook his head. ‘Not unless you specifically want me to, I have a painting I want to finish.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘You don’t mind do you?’

  Olivia smiled. ‘Of course not, I told you, you don’t need to tag around after me all the time, you should have your own interests. You don’t need to feel guilty if you want some time to yourself.’

  Without saying a word, he simply rose and dropped a kiss on her upturned lips. Her eyes followed him in silence as he smiled at Veronica and wandered out of the kitchen with Beau trailing along on his heels.

  ‘God, he’s gorgeous,’ Veronica sighed, ‘you’re so lucky.’

  ‘Yes I am,’ she murmured thoughtfully, still watching the doorway he’d disappeared through.

  ‘Olivia?’

  ‘What?’ she was startled out of her thoughts, ‘oh right, the cemetery.’

  Veronica glanced out of the window. ‘The snow seems to have stopped for the moment, we should probably get going before it starts up again.’

  Olivia slid off her seat ‘okay I’ll just get my boots and coat on’.

  Veronica finished her coffee and politely rinsed the cup out, before picking up Olivia’s cup and realizing with a smile that it was still half full. She didn’t know what it was about Olivia but she never finished a cup of tea. Dumping the cold contents into the sink she rinsed that cup out too and set them both in the drainer. She was just tucking her book back in her purse when Olivia reappeared, all warmly wrapped up.

  ‘Let’s get going then,’ Olivia grabbed her own purse.

  With a quick goodbye to Theo and Beau, they were heading down the steps of her front porch when Olivia noticed that instead of her car, Veronica was driving a shiny new truck. Not only that she realized with a small jolt, it was one she recognized.

  ‘Isn’t that Jake’s truck?’

  ‘Yes,’ she climbed into the driver’s side.

  ‘Did something happen to your car?’ Olivia asked curiously.

  ‘No,’ Veronica frowned.

  ‘Why are you driving Jake’s truck then?’

  ‘Because he stole my keys.’

  ‘He stole your keys,’ Olivia replied slowly, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. ‘What’s going on?’

  Veronica sighed heavily. ‘He seems to think I’m clumsy and accident prone. He said he’d feel better if I was driving his truck instead of my car in this weather.’

  ‘That was sweet of him,’ she answered in amusement.

  ‘No it wasn’t, it was bossy and controlling,’ Veronica scowled. ‘He seems to forget I grew up in Boston, I’m used to winters like this. I’m perfectly capable of driving in the snow.’

  ‘Does he look out for you often?’ Olivia asked innocently.

  ‘He drops by most days, says he’s just checking I’m okay, but he probably thinks I’m going to accidentally burn my apartment down.’

  ‘No, he probably is just checking up on you to make sure you’re okay. He was there the other night when you told us about the Janns you encountered outside the museum. He knows what’s going on and he knows there are more and more creatures coming through the doorway, that’s why he’s checking up on you.’

  ‘Oh,’ Veronica frowned, ‘I guess that is kind of sweet.’

  ‘It is, so maybe you should cut the guy some slack,’ she smiled.

  ‘Hmmm we’ll see…’ Veronica replied as she pulled away from Olivia’s house and headed down the driveway.

  Theo watched from the window as they disappeared from view before turning back to the picture he had covered on the easel. It was something he’d been working on for Olivia.

  Beau curled up on his cushion in the corner and with a sigh laid his head down, content to watch Theo as he pushed up his sleeves and started to pull out various tubes of colour and squeeze them out onto a pallet. He took his time sorting through the masses of brushes he’d accumulated, checking them meticulously and discarding the ones he didn’t want to use. With everything set up the way he wanted he turned to the easel and pulled the sheet off. His heart jolted and then sank as he saw the picture in front of him. No longer the painting of Olivia’s Stick House under a stormy sky, the picture of his wife once again stared back at him. Turning in frustration to the finished paintings he had stacked facing the wall, he began to turn them round one by one, searching for Olivia’s painting but now every single one of them bore the same cold unforgiving face staring back at him. Abandoning the paintings, he picked up his sketchbook flipping through page after page of the same thing. All his pencil sketches were gone, replaced by picture after picture of Mary Alcott Beckett.

  He picked up the next one and the next, but all the sketch pads contained exactly the same thing. Throwing them back onto the pile in frustration he turned back to face the room and froze. All of the paintings which had been neatly stacked against one wall were spaced around the room facing him, dozens of pictures of Mary’s face all staring back at him.

  Sighing in defeat, he pulled out the bottle of Jack he had stacked behind a pile of art supplies and poured himself a generous glass. He dropped down heavily into his favorite chair and mockingly toasted the portrait of Mary. A door slammed violently somewhere in the house as Theo t
hrew his head back and drank deeply.

  ‘Okay then Mary,’ he spoke into the still room, ‘now you have my attention.’

  Olivia and Veronica pulled up to the cemetery and the first thing they noticed were the two police cruisers parked just inside the entrance, alongside the Coroner’s van.

  ‘Oh for God’s sake’ Olivia muttered, ‘what now?’

  They both climbed out of the truck and waded through the deep snow to a plot that was cordoned off with police tape. The gravestone seemed to have been knocked off kilter and set at a strange angle and the pristine white snow was streaked with mud and wooden splinters. They watched in morbid curiosity as the coffin was winched up out of the earth and set alongside the exhumed grave. Veronica’s breath caught in her throat as they saw the top of the coffin, the wood split and caved in. Rather than something trying to break out it looked as if something had tried to break in. Olivia shivered, not knowing which reality was worse as both scenario belonged in a horror movie.

  Dr Achari stepped forward as the men prized the remains of the lid off, and peered into the coffin. He reached in with gloved hands, briefly examining whatever corpse was in there. After a brief scrutiny he turned to Jake and the two began a hushed conversation. Jake nodded after a moment and Dr Achari beckoned his two assistants forward. Noticing Olivia and Veronica, Jake broke away and stalked through the snow towards them.

  ‘Hey Jake,’ Olivia greeted him.

  ‘You two seem to make a habit of showing up at the wrong place and time,’ he frowned. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I came to speak with Jed about Renata’s funeral tomorrow,’ Veronica told him.

  ‘What’s going on Jake?’ Olivia asked.

  He sighed and readjusted his hat. ‘It looks as if we’ve got some nut job on the loose, who’s been disturbing graves.’

  ‘And when you say disturbing graves, you mean?’

  ‘Digging them up and cracking the coffins open.’