He followed her down to her car and before he knew it they were pulling up to the garishly colored house on Fairfield Avenue guarded by a whole platoon of freakishly happy garden gnomes. Veronica snatched up her laptop and was out of the car and striding up the path towards the front porch before Jake had even managed to get his seatbelt off. He scooped Beau up and hurried down the path after her. He debated on whether or not to put Beau down, but knowing the legion of cats Fiona had he was willing to bet that would be an incredibly bad idea.
Veronica frantically pounded on the door, almost dancing on the spot impatiently as she waited for the crazy old British woman to answer and when she did she certainly didn’t disappoint.
The door was abruptly yanked open and Fiona stood there scowling. She’d obviously tried to tame her wild grey wiry hair into some semblance of order but it still stuck up in all directions, except for a small patch at the front which was pinned ruthlessly by a small barrette with a ladybug on it. She wore a bright yellow sweater and red leggings with giant daisies on them and her trademark red Birkenstocks. Her eyes appeared hugely magnified behind her cat’s eye glasses and her mouth was covered in white foam with a toothbrush handle protruding from her lips.
‘Why are you brushing your teeth now? It’s like three in the afternoon,’ Jake asked in confusion.
She pulled the brush from her mouth and pursed her lips.
‘Got something stuck in my teeth, was annoying me, not unlike you. What do you want?’
Veronica pushed past her impatiently and moved into the hallway.
‘Well by all means come on in,’ she added sarcastically, ‘please make yourselves at home.’
‘I have something I need to show you Fiona and I’m sorry it couldn’t wait.’ Veronica breathed heavily.
Fiona’s eyes narrowed as she took in her pale face and trembling hands.
‘Better go on through then,’ she nodded in the direction of the lounge.
Beau barked suddenly as he caught sight of one of the cats and scrambled madly in Jake’s arms. Roni headed into the room with Jake right behind her. Once satisfied there were no cats in the room Jake shut the door and dropped Beau to the ground. The puppy rushed over to the nearest sofa and started sniffing madly, following a trail all over the room with his tail wagging.
Fiona slipped into the room and shut the door firmly behind her, wiping her mouth with a cloth, her toothbrush still clutched in the other hand.
‘So what is it that’s so important you had to come barging into my house?’
Veronica dropped the lap top onto the nearest table and opened it up.
Fiona stood silently watching the footage on the screen as it played through.
‘Well,’ she folded her arms across her ample chest and fixed Veronica with a steely eyed stare, ‘you already know what it is don’t you?’
Roni breathed heavily and numbly dropped into a deeply cushioned chair.
‘I was hoping I was wrong, that you’d tell me I’m wrong.’
‘Sorry girl,’ she replied, her voice gentling slightly, ‘but you’re not wrong.’
‘What?’ Jake interrupted, ‘what is it?’
‘The figure in the footage,’ Roni answered, her voice no more than a whisper, ‘he’s the Soul Collector.’
Her eyes bore into his, a deep worried blue.
‘And he’s stealing human souls.’
Chapter 8.
‘I’m sorry, what?’ Jake replied as if he couldn’t quite believe the words coming out of her mouth.
‘You heard the girl,’ Fiona bustled over to a drinks cabinet at the side of the room and retrieved a bottle and filled three glasses.
‘I’m on duty,’ Jake shook his head as she offered him a glass.
‘Trust me boy, you’re going to need it.’ She thrust the glass into his hand and passed the other to Veronica. Picking up her own glass she lifted it in a mocking salute, ‘to the utter shit hole we are currently up to our necks in.’
Veronica threw back the fiery liquid, but even as it burned a trail down her throat and past her esophagus her body still felt cold.
‘Roni,’ he placed his untouched glass down on the low coffee table and kneeled down in front of her, taking her icy cold hands in his. ‘Explain to me what’s going on.’
‘You’d better take a seat and get comfortable,’ Fiona dropped down into a nearby chair her knees cracking loudly as she went.
Jake took a seat next to Roni, staring at her patiently as she organized her thoughts.
‘His name is Charun, I came across his name when I was helping Olivia research Charon. Quite often the two of them are confused for the same person but they’re not. Charon as you know is Greek, the Ferryman of the Underworld and servant of the God Hades. Charun is Etruscan, it is thought that his name is derived from the Greek Charon as he is also known as Charu. He is a Psychopompoi of the Underworld.’
Jake looked at her blankly.
‘Psychopompoi comes from the Greek word Psychopomps which literally means ‘guide of the souls’. These creatures, depending on the religion, can be spirits, angels or even deities and it is their responsibility to escort the newly deceased souls from Earth to whichever afterlife they are destined for. It is not their place to judge the souls only to provide safe passage. In Greek mythology Charon is considered a Psychopompoi as is Hermes, Hecate, Mercury and Anubis because they all share a common role even if they are from different civilizations. A more recent example of a Psychopompoi is the English version of the Grim Reaper which originated from the 15th Century but has since been adopted by many cultures.’
‘So this Charun is some kind of Angel of Death?’
‘Not exactly, like I said, Charu is Etruscan. Both he and his counterpart the female, known as Vanth, were demons of the Underworld. It was their job not to punish the dead but like Charon to escort them to their final destination in the Underworld. Vanth was always portrayed as quite benevolent despite her origins as a demon. Charu was her opposite, he was often portrayed as menacing and dark.’
‘So,’ Jake frowned, ‘this Charu is taking these souls and sending them to the Underworld?’
‘That’s just it, he’s not doing what he’s supposed to. These people aren’t dying, it’s not their time to cross over. He isn’t escorting their souls, he’s harvesting them.’
‘What for?’
‘I have no idea, but if you look carefully on the video footage you see him trap the soul in a glass bottle. What he is doing with them after that I couldn’t say.’
‘That ball of light? That’s a human soul?’
Veronica nodded.
‘In many beliefs, when a spirit is not ready to cross over it must be violently ripped from its body. That’s what he’s doing, he’s ripping these souls from their bodies. That’s why Mr Bailey is in a coma and on life support, his soul is gone. His body is just an empty vessel now. The body cannot survive without the soul. Sooner or later it will shut down permanently and no amount of medical intervention will be able to save him.’
‘Where is his soul now? Is there any way to return it to his body?’
Veronica shrugged helplessly. ‘I just don’t know.’
Jake turned his gaze on Fiona.
‘I don’t know either,’ she poured herself a drink, ‘but what I do know is that he won’t be satisfied with just one soul.’
‘You’re right about that,’ Jake murmured.
‘He’s taken someone else hasn’t he?’ Roni breathed heavily her eyes filled with worry, ‘it’s not just Mr Bailey?’
Jake shook his head. ‘He took one of Louisa’s interns, her name is Hayley Adams.’
‘God,’ Roni held out her glass to Fiona and watched her fill it almost to the brim before she threw it back and downed it in one.
‘Roni,’ Jake frowned, ‘I think you’d better slow down there.’
‘You don’t understand,’ she turned her troubled gaze on him, �
�there is no way to stop him.’
‘What are you talking about? There must be something, some way to…’
‘No,’ she cut him off, ‘he can’t be killed, he can’t be reasoned with, he can’t be stopped. He is going to go through this town like a plague harvesting every soul, until he is wading through the corpses of everyone you have ever known or loved. Mercy will become nothing more than a desolate wasteland of ash and bone.’
‘I don’t accept that,’ Jake replied stubbornly, ‘I’m not giving up. If we can’t stop him or kill him then we find a way to send him back to wherever he came from.’
‘He must have come through the gateway with the others,’ Fiona mused as she swirled the amber liquid around thoughtfully in her glass. ‘Question is why wasn’t he pulled back through?’ she looked up at them both and took another sip. ‘Makes you wonder doesn’t it?’
‘Wonder what?’ Roni asked.
‘How many others weren’t pulled back through; how many were left trapped in Mercy.’
‘Jesus,’ Roni dropped her head into her hands.
‘One problem at a time,’ Jake murmured absently as he rubbed soothing circles on Roni’s back, ‘just breathe sweetheart. It’s going to be okay.’
‘How is this possibly going to be okay?’ she looked up at him, ‘none of us have the skill or the power to send him back.’
‘No, we have something better.’
‘What?’
‘Someone on the inside,’ he smiled. ‘If we can’t open the gateway from this side, maybe Olivia can from the Other side.’
Fiona cackled in delight. ‘I guess you’re not just a pretty face after all boy.’
‘We need to contact Olivia,’ Roni replied.
‘We need to contact Olivia,’ Jake agreed.
Olivia sat perched on the edge of the roof, staring at the town laid out before her like a miniature replica. She took another swig from the bottle of Johnnie Walker she’d swiped from the pub and stared down at the sidewalk far below her, wondering idly how far a drop it was. If she fell would she actually die she pondered, after all she was already in the spirit world. Did that mean she was now invulnerable to injury or even death?
‘Not a good area for experimentation,’ Sam appeared suddenly next to her.
‘For God’s sake Sam,’ her hand jumped involuntarily to her rapidly beating heart. ‘Give me a heart attack why don’t you?’
‘Sorry.’
‘You’d think I’d be used to that now wouldn’t you?’
He grinned at her boyishly.
‘I swear you do that on purpose.’
‘Do what?’ his eyes widened innocently, ‘and in answer to your earlier question I don’t think you’d actually die but I can’t be sure. You’re not a true spirit, you’re technically still wearing your mortal body, which means if you damage it in here you probably won’t survive out there.’
‘Fair enough,’ she took another swig from the bottle, ‘and just for the record I wasn’t planning on actually doing it. I’m frustrated not suicidal.’
‘If you say so,’ he took the bottle from her and drank deeply himself.’
‘It makes me really uncomfortable when you do that’ she frowned, ‘you don’t look old enough to drink.’
‘Don’t let the face fool you’ he laughed comfortably, ‘I’m older than I look.’
‘How much older?’ she asked curiously.
He shook his head in amusement. ‘I wouldn’t want to make you more uncomfortable.’
Smiling she turned back to the view. Letting out a deep breath she raised her gaze to the sky.
‘It’s a little disconcerting you know.’
‘What is?’
‘Not knowing how long I’ve been here for.’
‘It’s not really relevant you know.’
‘I know, I know, time has no meaning here, blah blah blah,’ she rolled her eyes and took the bottle back. ‘I just…’ she shrugged and sighed a little, ‘I miss the sunset.’
‘You really don’t have a clue how it works here do you?’
‘What?’
Sam turned to face her more fully.
‘Tell me what you love about the sunset,’ he asked softly.
‘The feel of it,’ she replied quietly, ‘that quiet moment when you feel the air change. When the world slows and the sky softens into swirls of vivid pink and purple. For that one moment everything shifts and the whole world is still, holding its breath, waiting for the stars.’
She looked into Sam’s eyes and saw him smile.
‘Olivia.’
‘Yes.’
‘Look up.’
She did and a delighted laugh fell from her lips as she drew in a breath of wonder.
‘Oh my God,’ the strange blue tinted daylight was gone and the sky was now ablaze with magnificent swirls of sleepy pink and purple. ‘How did you do that?’
‘I didn’t,’ he whispered smiling softly, ‘you did.’
‘Oh my God’ she breathed, looking up to the sky, ‘that’s so cool.’
‘In this place anything is possible. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen.’
She looked back at him as he held out his hand to her. She took it gently and he smiled.
‘Now think of any place you want to.’
She did as he asked and even as the thought began to take shape in her mind her surroundings began to shift and blur like a painting left out in the rain. When she looked around they were no longer perched on the edge of the roof top, but were now standing inside the museum in front of Hester's portrait.
‘Wow,’ she breathed, ‘is this what it’s like for you when you translocate?’
‘Close,’ Sam smiled letting go of her hand. Turning to face the portrait he studied it closely, ‘she looks like you.’
‘So I’m told.’
‘Why here?’ he asked curiously.
She shrugged. ‘It just sort of popped into my head, this was one of my favorite places when I was a kid. I thought it was so cool my family had their own exhibit. I don’t know, I guess it made me feel important.’
He nodded in understanding as they started walking, slowly looking at the exhibits as they went.
‘So what about you Sam?’
‘What about me?’
‘I’ve told you pretty much my life story, how about telling me yours?’
His brow folded into a sudden frown and he sighed. ‘I can’t, sorry Olivia, there are rules I have to abide by.’
‘Whose rules?’
‘Nice try,’ his mouth curved slightly in amusement.
‘Well can you at least tell me how you ended up here?’
He blew out a deep thoughtful breath as they continued to walk past the glass fronted display cases.
‘My father wanted me to do something that I didn’t agree with. I refused and he cast me down here and locked me in, to give me some time to think.’
‘How long have you been here?’ she frowned.
‘Time is irre…’
‘Yeah yeah I know irrelevant, forget I asked,’ she shook her head. ‘What did he want you to do?’
Sam hesitated for a moment, as if he were unsure how much to reveal.
‘He wanted me to betray someone I cared about,’ he replied finally.
‘Who was she?’
‘So sure it’s a she, aren’t you?’ he smiled.
She simply raised her brows and waited.
‘Fine,’ he answered after a moment, ‘she was…is a friend, sort of.’
‘How can someone be sort of a friend? If you care about her enough to be exiled because of her, either she’s important to you or not.’
‘She is,’ his voice was soft and tinged with an emotion she couldn’t quite name, sadness perhaps? Or maybe remorse. ‘You remind me of her actually,’ he looked up at Olivia. ‘She is beautiful and clever but she can be incredibly stubborn, and she’s sweet and kind. She has a de
ep love of lore and history.’
‘She sounds like my long lost twin, except for the sweet and kind part,’ Olivia chuckled lightly, ‘so what’s the problem? She sounds pretty perfect.’
‘She’s the daughter of a traitor.’
Olivia stopped suddenly and stared darkly at Sam. ‘And you hold that against her?’
‘No,’ he realized she’d got the wrong idea, ‘I would never hold what her mother did against her. It was not her fault, she had nothing to do with it and yet she is paying the price for it. Even her own people,’ he shook his head in disgust, ‘you should see how they treat her, it’s like they look at her and see her mother. They can’t see who she truly is. Even my people treat her with distrust and suspicion.’
‘I see so it’s like a forbidden love kind of thing?’
‘No,’ he shook his head, ‘it’s not like that.’
‘Isn’t it?’
‘We’re not even the same race.’
‘So! There’s nothing wrong with mixed race marriages.’
‘For humans perhaps, but not for us. Our races have hated each other for thousands of years, they barely tolerate each other. Any inter-race interaction is kept to a strict minimum. There’s no mixed race friendships, let alone marriages. I don’t even know if…’ he shook his head in denial, ‘it’s impossible, especially after what I’ve done.’
‘What did you do?’
He turned away and started walking again, almost as if it were easier to confess if he wasn’t looking directly at her.
‘I used to be like them, the rest of my people. I was raised to view the others as my enemy, not to be trusted. My father chose me, said he had something very important for me to do. He wanted me to seek her out and befriend her, secretly of course. He was convinced she was just as much a traitor as her mother. Tainted blood he called it. He was obsessed with the idea she was going to continue where her mother had failed.’
‘So what did you do?’ she asked softly.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 94