Elemental: The First

by Alexandra May

  I cursed loudly under my breath, a few soldiers sniggered.

  “I think I need to talk to Daisy, I’m so mad at her,” I said angrily through my teeth.

  “Sorry Rose, but you weren’t to know. Top secret and all that,” Pritchard added apologetically.

  We walked the rest of the way in silence at an even pace. At the entrance, the gates were open and I walked through with the Captain. The men stopped at the gates, their duty was done I presumed.

  I stopped for a moment and stared at them. So, this was my security detail. Wherever I went, they wouldn’t be far behind. I was angered by Daisy, she should have informed me but these men were here to protect me from whoever was chasing my dad. I owed them more than my anger.

  “Thank you,” I said at them. “To all of you.”

  A couple of them lifted hands in acknowledgement.

  “See you around, Rose Frost,” Pritchard shouted as the gates began to close. Soon they were gone.

  I trod loudly across the gravel and soon caught up with Captain Robinson.

  “I think, Rose, that you’d better leave your fight with Daisy until the morning. She’ll want to tend to her friend tonight. The army doctor is here already and judging by Mr Cole’s injuries, he’ll be a while. Maybe it’s best.”

  I nodded at the Captain, unable to speak anyway with all the deception that was around me.

  The green army jeep on the driveway had a red cross on the door, and two other soldiers were already carrying medical equipment in through the hallway. The Captain entered the house and walked directly to the study, whereas I walked directly upstairs to my room, making more noise than I normally would.

  I slammed my door shut and fell on the bed, staring out into the darkness. There was nothing to see but at least I could lose myself in my thoughts without distraction.

  What a night it had turned out to be. Aiden Deverill was all I could think about initially. His voice was in my head, I remembered all of his words. His hand on mine, how safe it felt when he held it and his last sweet kiss on my fingers.

  And his eyes, most of all, his eyes. The truth was that I had never felt like this, this conflicted before, my feelings and emotions were all on a rocky plateau, ready to fall either way.

  This morning I had felt such an instant draw to Morgan and now this. I felt something for Aiden, I was drawn to him but it wasn’t a school girl crush or even a fancying him type of feeling. It was so much more, like we belonged together.

  Barry’s story about the monks had chilled me more than I let on. Something there wasn’t right and I wondered whether I should mention his story tomorrow when I saw Hannah and Jez again.

  Then Old Mad Cole and his pathetic form. I felt such sorrow for him now, the poor wretch. What must he have endured in those missing months?

  I sat for a while under the duvet watching the night continue out of the window, with my arms around my knees. My curtains were wide open but my room was still pitch black. It was the same outside. Not a light or star in the sky, except for the lights on in the cottage.

  Morgan was down there in the darkness. Within my reach.

  Morgan.

  For the first time ever, I closed my curtains and shut out the world that was watching me. Sleep finally pulled me down into the dark abyss.

  Halíka Dacomé

  I was surrounded by a hundred cloaked men. I couldn’t see their faces as they circled me, getting closer.

  The circle was decreasing with me at its centre.

  My back was against the wall of the tower. I couldn’t get back any further, the wet bricks jarred against my shoulder.

  But still they drew nearer and I had no escape. I screamed as the fire erupted around the brick turreted building, I was trapped. A fire in a perfect circle between me and the men. The only thing separating us. They halted at the fires edge. Roars and shouts filled my ears.

  “Kill her.”

  “Kill her.”

  I cried out again as a solitary shrouded figure drew closer through the mass. They moved aside for him to pass.

  The figure brandished a lighted torch, burning brightly, etching the smoky sky. The flames licked the air and grew higher as the swell of the roars increased.

  They roared in anticipation, their maddened chants filling the vastness. Their anger erupting into a frenzy.

  “KILL HER!”

  The shrouded man walked through the fire towards me without fear, unburned and untouched by the scorching heat of the flames. His torch pointing towards my frightened body.

  He stopped as he neared, only a few steps away.

  “Halíka Dacomé, you must die.”

  I screamed as he lifted his head and I could see his face clearly in the fiery doom.

  It was Aiden.

  I jumped up in terror. Tears trickled down my face as I screamed in horror, again and again. My body was burning hot against the cold air. I breathed as I cried, shrieking into the empty room.

  It had only been a dream, a terrible dream. But I could still hear. I could still feel everything. The terror as my body pressed against the cold hard brick trapping my escape, the evil shouts of the cloaked man calling for my death.

  And I could still see his face, angry and twisted; full of hatred towards me.

  Goosebumps prickled my skin and the hairs on my neck rose up in dread. I pulled at my head trying to rid the pictures from my memory.

  Aiden. What are you? What will you do to me?

  My body wracked as I sobbed. I tried to lessen them but I was so afraid.

  “Rose! Are you all right?”

  Morgan’s distressed but gentle voice entered the room.

  I didn’t answer. I couldn’t speak.

  His arms encircled my body as he pulled me against his chest, holding down my frantic arms.

  “It’s okay. It’s over now.” He whispered soothingly, stroking and kissing my hair.

  I wrapped my arms around him, drawing him closer as I cried into his chest. He lay me down next to him and drew me in, cradling my body like a magnet, protecting me from the world.

  His arms held firm as I calmed my tears. He wiped them gently away with his feathery touch.

  “No more tears, Rose. I’m here. I’ll protect you.” His golden voice was all I needed, I hid my head in his shoulder, and he laid his head against mine.

  “I thought you were mad at me,” I choked on my lessening sobs.

  “Don’t be silly. How could I be mad at you?” and he rocked me gently.

  His body was bare except for the tracksuit bottoms. He smelt faintly, a musky woody scent. I liked it and breathed in deep.

  “You’re cold,” I said through the tears.

  “It’s cold outside. The lawn was wet,” he whispered.

  I looked up into his shadowy face. The outline was all I could see. I reached up and touched his cheek, cold against my palm. He kissed my fingertips.

  “I’ll warm you,” I said and reached inside for my gift.

  The warmth trickled through my veins in milliseconds and spurted out of my finger onto his lips. I cupped his cheek against my palm. He didn’t flinch, but softly pushed his face closer to my warm hand.

  “That’s nice,” he whispered.

  I ran my hand down to his neck to his cool shoulder and gently stroked the length of his arm, warming his blood, heating his skin and as he sucked in a sudden breath I felt him shudder in response to my touch. I left my hand resting on his chest, and his cheek lay down against mine as I fell asleep.

  I was no longer scared of the darkness.

  - Chapter Nine -

  The bed was empty when I woke. Morgan had slipped away during the early hours of the morning to avoid Daisy finding us. I couldn’t imagine her reaction if she had found Morgan in my room.

  But he had been. The dream had been real and so had Morgan. I had opened up to him last night as I had never done to any boy before, and self-consciousness plus a small amount of embarrassment filled me. Last night hadn’t been m
e. In my distraught state he had comforted me, nothing else. I hope he realised that was all it had been, as I did now.

  I reached for my dream diary and wrote everything I remembered. The skin on my neck prickled as the raw fear remained fresh. They were getting worse, more terrible and horrid. I wasn’t looking forward to tonight. What would happen in the next nightmare?

  I showered quickly and towel dried my hair. In the mirror I could see the aftermath of my eventful evening and disturbed sleep. The dark circles had returned under my eyes; I looked pale and tired. No wonder, that dream would have disturbed the dead.

  I dressed in jeans and threw on a comfy white tunic top, ready for the day. Outside the sun shone but a cool wind brushed through the trees.

  After I cleaned my teeth I leaned on the wash basin and looked at my reflection closer, remembering how frightened I had been of Aiden. The circle of fire I had seen so often before had led to this point. Visions flickered of Henry Cole and his wretched form in front of my eyes. And I cursed softly about my encounter with Morgan. Oh crap. How would I explain that one?

  I sighed. Maybe I should stay away from Morgan for a while; maybe I should keep my distance and let the moment pass.

  On the landing a solitary soldier stood outside a bedroom door, Henry Cole must still be in the house. I closed my door and walked quietly over.

  “Is Daisy with him?” I asked Collins. He still wore his army green and khaki uniform but I was relieved that he no longer had the rifle on his person.

  “No, Ma’am. Daisy left the house a little while ago.”

  “Do you know where she went?”

  “I believe she was meeting with the Police, Ma’am,” he offered courteously.

  “Thank you, Collins,” I said and headed down the staircase.

  In the kitchen, Pritchard was making a cup of tea.

  “Want one?” he quipped as I sat on one of the stools and nodded.

  He put my cup down and sat next to me.

  “Why were you dressed as a fireman when I saw you first?” I asked, staring into my cup.

  “You have to understand that we’re here to protect you but we’re supposed to be incognito,” he said. “We couldn’t get near you at the fire, without sending up a helicopter, and by then it would have been too late. The only way to get closer was for me to hop on and dress in the gear as the engine pulled into the yard.”

  “So, you and the others have been tailing me ever since I arrived.”

  He sipped his tea. “Yep, pretty much.”

  “Do you know why you’re even doing it? I mean, why me?”

  “I’m just following orders. It’s not my place to ask questions.”

  I sniggered. “What I can’t get out of my head, is that the army don’t offer protection to anyone. Not even the Prime Minister has army security; he has Secret Service, MI5 or some such.”

  “So?”

  “Do you track Daisy when she’s out?”

  “No, just you.”

  “Have you had to intervene with anyone yet? Has anyone been a threat on my life?” I said cautiously, sipping my tea. I looked out the window, almost hoping he didn’t answer.

  “Yes, twice now.”

  I spun on my stool to see if he was joking but his face was stoic.

  I held my hands up in defence. “I don’t even want to know when.”

  “Just as well. But, Rose, maybe you could help us out?”

  “How?”

  “Tell us your movements so we can be in place before you get there.” He threw a side glance at me and I saw from his creased brow that he was completely serious.

  “Isn’t the whole idea of tailing me, so that you can do just that?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, but if we knew where you were going we could be in place before you got there, instead of spending our time guessing which way you go.”

  I thought for a moment. “Okay, but how do we do it, without being obvious.”

  “Text me. The minute your plans change, text me. When you decide to visit somewhere else, text me again. We’ll be following but it’ll give us a chance to move a second unit in ahead of you. You won’t even know we’re there, I promise.”

  “But, Pritchard, what about my privacy?”

  “You really think you have it here?” he flicked his head at the walls and the hallway. “There are cameras all over this place, at the gates, on the walls, even in some rooms.”

  “In my bedroom?”

  “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But if you mean, do we know McCaw visited your room last night, then we know.”

  “’Cause of the soldier outside Henry’s room. He would have reported it.”

  “He didn’t, but he told me. McCaw isn’t a threat on your life. You just had bad dreams, and you have them a lot.”

  I stared open mouthed in shock at him. “Does Daisy know?”

  “About your midnight visitor? No, Rose, she doesn’t want to know your personal stuff. And it’s only Collins and me who know about last night. It won’t go any further, I promise.”

  I breathed out a fresh sigh of relief.

  “Had it been the Deverill boy, though, things might have been different,” his ice cold stare told me he didn’t approve of Aiden. They must have seen how friendly Aiden was last night on the hill.

  “You don’t like him?”

  “It’s not that. There are good people who do bad things from time to time. And there are bad people who do good things occasionally. The thing is, your Aiden boy fit’s into both categories. Kind of confuses things a little,” he raised his shoulders and gulped down his drink.

  “So who authorised all this tracking and tailing? Daisy?”

  “Yes. She knows people in high places,” he offered lightly.

  My head shook again. “Unbelievable.”

  “But one thing, Rose.”

  “What?”

  “Keep it to yourself. Don’t look for us; don’t make anyone else aware that we’re out of there.”

  “What about Morgan?”

  “McCaw knows everything. He has full clearance.”

  I guffawed. “Full clearance? What is he? A spy?”

  “McCaw passes information to us, if he thinks it’s important. But he’s not a spy, and he doesn’t spy on you.”

  “No, that’s your job,” I sarcastically replied.

  “We don’t give a damn what you do, Rose, or who with. It’s not our objective,” he said as he stood and cleaned his cup in the sink, and returned to his army unaffected demeanour. “Where’s your phone?”

  I pulled it from my pocket and handed it to him. He tapped the buttons, looking closely at the screen before handing it to me.

  “The first number is mine. It’s marked ‘AAA’. Text a number, street address or your intended location. It will really help us.”

  I placed the phone on the side and nodded. “I hate this. I just want you to know. I’m mad as hell with Daisy. All because of my dad’s job.”

  “I don’t know anything about that, Rose. Just be careful, keep me informed,” and with that he left the kitchen by the back door, his boots heavy on the concrete outside soon crisping the gravel of the front driveway.

  I finished my tea alone. I wasn't in the mood for any breakfast so I went to the library. The door stood open and Daisy’s desk remained messy as it had been before. I drew the curtains wide open letting light filter into the semi-dark room. The view of the back garden was beautiful from here. Daisy had planted some miniature roses in a rock bed near the window, in a variety of colours. My mood was only blunted slightly when I caught site of Morgan’s cottage.

  I started pulling books from the shelves consciously remembering where they all came from. I sat at her chair and started writing notes. If I was going to Jez’s again I needed more information to help him with.

  The first book I checked through had nothing of interest. Mainly just information about Wiltshire in general. No myths or stories. I even checked the pictures to see if any three point
ed objects were depicted but there was nothing.

  The next one had information about King Alfred and his battle at Edington but there was no alchemist or shield mentioned, or buried treasure or monks. I put them both back and tried another from my pile. The next one was more about Imber and the history, the usual stuff. Not much mentioned about the church and no pictures of murals. I put it back as well.

  The last one I picked up showed promise. It was called “Treasures of Wiltshire,” the cover beautifully displaying a picture of a diamond shaped jewel encased with gold. I looked at the inside cover and read “King Alfred’s Jewel - One of four made. This jewel is currently located in Salisbury Museum.”

  The museum again, I remembered. The same one where the shield was being exhibited. Was it a coincidence that they were both related to King Alfred? I jotted the information down, there was always a chance it could be useful later.

  I folded the corner of the page and flicked through to the section on the jewel and read through the paragraph.

  The stone was a white crystal embedded with gold filigree which held in place a green emerald cut into the centre. It was said to be the head piece for a cane or staff. The rumours were that in times of need the crystal shone brilliant white and filled the bearer with the magic.

  There were four made altogether, the other three were plain white crystals similar but with no central emerald. They were the conduit which gave the King Alfred Jewel its power. The article continued by saying that if the three stones surrounded the Jewel it would illuminate and its power would be initiated. What power exactly, it did not reveal. Probably just old age superstitious mumbo-jumbo, I thought.

  I flicked through another couple of books but they held nothing of great importance. The next book was a soft cover much like a paper leaflet. The cover read “Halíka Dacomé and Nerído Xipilé - The truth.”

  At last, I thought. However to my dismay, the entire volume was empty. The inner pages had been ripped out, and the back page featured only a small biography of the author. Paul Pemberton again, he had been the author of the web page I’d tried to read. The biography stated that he lived near Warminster in a place called Heytesbury. In pencil and written by Daisy’s hand was an address.