Legacy (25 page)

So I looked Harran directly in the eyes and spoke softly.

              “So why are you pointing a gun in my face? What exactly would you do if I tried to run away? I’m worth a lot more to you alive than wounded – or even worse dead.”

Harran stared back at me coldly.

              “Try it and find out exactly what I would do, I dare you. I only need one to come and the other will soon follow. One thing is clear – wherever you are, trouble is never far behind and because you keep deciding to run away from me, I can’t tell where the next incident is going to kick off - at least by having you with me, I will be around when it does!”

I grinned sarcastically.

              “But you will never stop them! They are far stronger than you can ever imagine.”

              “I have already had a run-in with one of them while I was trying to help Short and I’m still standing!” Harran replied.

Lucius had never left my sight since we left the flat, so it must have been Zephal that Harran was describing right now and if that was the case, Harran was incredibly lucky to have walked away from it alive.

But maybe their next meeting would be a lot different.

What would happen then?

As Harran stopped talking, the two of us suddenly heard a cracking noise from above us and as we looked up, we both noticed a couple of branches from the massive old tree towering over us were moving.

The wind wasn’t even strong enough to make them move like that and there was also no sign of anything moving in the tree.

And while we had our gazes firmly fixed on the branches above us, neither of us had noticed that a third figure had suddenly appeared beside us.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

Harran had no idea that we had been joined by someone else, but something inside me sensed that we were not alone and as I turned to see who it was, the figure instantly disappeared before my eyes.

I was hoping that it was Lucius and I waited to see if he would reappear again, but to no avail.

In the corner of my eye, I suddenly spotted something moving slowly around some headstones and as I stared at whoever it was, Harran must have noticed me looking as he immediately looked in the same direction.

But where as I continued to see who it was that I was looking at, I was completely unaware that Harran had failed to see anything and was looking at me puzzled at what had attracted my attention so much.

It certainly wasn’t Lucius or Zephal who was moving around.

This figure was definitely that of a female and as I tried to make out her facial features, I found myself not afraid of her presence whatsoever.

In fact, she had an extremely friendly aura about her and I knew that she posed no threat to me at all.

She had long black hair that fell past her shoulders and some of the most beautiful facial features I had ever seen in my life – and when she smiled at me, a pleasant warm feeling ran through me.

I smiled back at her and once again Harran gave me a confused look as he couldn’t see what exactly I was smiling at right now.

But where as he couldn’t see the woman, she certainly could see him and judging by the look on her face as she turned her attention to Harran, I knew that she was well aware that he was up to no good.

Who was she?

And within seconds, she disappeared into thin air, causing me to turn around in all directions to find out where she had gone.

Harran looked at me and noticed that I was no longer gazing into the graveyard and I was sure that I saw a look of relief on his face as he realized that what had caught my attention was not Lucius or Zephal.

Suddenly, the air around us seemed to freshen and a sweet perfume surrounded me – very much like the aroma you get from a bunch of freshly cut roses.

Harran could smell it too and we both checked around us to see where it was coming from.

Harran found no clue, but I found its source immediately.

Standing directly behind Harran’s right shoulder was the same woman who had just disappeared from my sight a few moments ago and she gave me another smile before speaking to me.

Her lips moved, but no sound came from them.

Maybe I didn’t hear her properly and I listened vigilantly as she spoke again.

But the same thing happened.

Harran could see my gaze fixed behind him and he immediately spun around o see who or what was lurking there – and once again, nothing was visible to him.

I laughed to myself at Harran’s reaction, but the humour was about to come to an abrupt end.

Walking on top of the stone wall towards us was none other than Zephal – and the expression on his face as he spotted Harran immediately indicated that he was in no mood for playing games.

If that wasn’t bad enough for Harran, the branches above us moved swiftly once again, but this time a visitor jumped to the ground less than three feet from us.

Harran and I were now sandwiched between Zephal on the wall and Lucius right in front of us.

Harran didn’t know what to do as he realized how much danger he was in right now - Zephal could see this and began to mock him without moving from the wall.

              “It seems I have someone else who never learns! I like someone who shows spirit and determination, but when it’s mixed up with stupidity, it never fails to shock me! One thing that always amazes me is if someone has walked away from being annihilated by me, why would they be foolish enough to keep coming back thinking they can destroy me!”

Harran nervously aimed his gun at Zephal and shook as he squeezed the trigger.

The bullet that fired from it completely missed Harran and ricocheted off the stone wall instead.

              “Now, that wasn’t aimed for me, was it?” Zephal said sarcastically at Harran, “Because if it was, I may have to get down from this wall and show you exactly what happens to anyone who tries to harm me!”

Lucius joined in, his gaze fixed menacingly at Harran.

              “Not unless I get to him first, Zephal!”

Zephal leapt from the wall and landed a couple of feet from Harran.

              “Find your own prey, Lucius! He is mine to kill – and when I have finished with him, you will be next!”

Lucius and Zephal stared at each other as Harran began to cower between them. Zephal spotted this and grabbed Harran’s right hand tightly, forcing him to drop the gun.

At the same time, Lucius had noticed that I was handcuffed and with all the strength he could muster, he broke the metal around my wrists, setting me free.

Zephal turned to Lucius and mocked him.

              “What happened, Lucius? Couldn’t you even do a simple task of keeping Naomi from harm?”

Lucius saw red and began to walk towards Zephal.

              “I’ve managed to keep her away from you, Zephal – but thanks to this idiot, we have lost every advantage we had over you.”

Zephal gripped Harran’s hand harder, sending him onto his knees in agony.

              “It seems you do not have an ally to save you right now!” he said into Harran’s ear. “It seems ironic that you will die inside a graveyard!”

Lucius ran forward and glared at Zephal.

              “And he will not be alone in death as you will join him too, Zephal!”

The tense atmosphere between Lucius and Zephal was an indication that very soon their childish game of verbal ping-pong would soon turn into something a lot more serious.

Just one threatening move from Zephal turned the standoff into complete chaos.

It was at this point that the scent of roses returned and instead of seeing the woman again, I heard a female voice whisper something behind me.

              “You are in danger!” It said, “Head for the church! You will be safe there.”

Zephal had loosened his grip on Harran and I knew that he was going to pounce on Lucius at any second.

              “Lucius!” I shouted, “He’s going to attack!”

Zephal looked at me with such an expression of anger that I immediately knew I was going to pay for warning Lucius.

Harran made the best of his unexpected freedom and made a run for his life – Lucius had seen this and was just about to give chase when Zephal ran straight towards me.

Luckily for me, Lucius chose saving me over punishing Harran and I was relieved when I saw Zephal land on the ground after Lucius tackled him around the chest.

But Zephal still continued to taunt me from the ground, clearly meaning every word that came out of his mouth.

              “As soon as I am finished with Lucius, I will come for you, Naomi!”

Lucius instinctively knew how serious Zephal’s threat was and he quickly jumped onto him, inflicting a number of hard punches to Zephal’s head.

But Zephal didn’t seem to be weakening and Lucius struggled to keep him down on the ground.

Lucius quickly turned to me and shouted.

              “Get out of here as quick as you can!” he warned me, “I will find you, wherever you are!”

I panicked after seeing the look of worry that Lucius was trying to disguise on his face and as stupid as it may seem, I took the advice from the mysterious voice a few moments ago and headed straight for the church.

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

I ran as fast as I could up the pathway towards the porch of the church and as I reached it, immediately noticed that the large wooden entrance doors were wide open, revealing the inside of the church to me.

I stepped cautiously into it and noticed the vicar walking down the aisle towards me with a complete look of puzzlement on his face.

              “Young lady,” he bellowed as he got closer, “I hope you have some kind of explanation for all this sudden chaos. Who was that young man who just burst in here and headed towards the vestry?”

I knew that the man he was asking about was Harran and he too must have chosen to head here. I was just about to explain what was happening outside when there was a sudden crashing noise from my left.

The vicar turned his attention to what had made such a racket and as I followed, I could hear the strangest noises coming from where we were heading.

The vicar stepped into a small room which had a stone staircase in it and after looking up to where it led, I noticed that we were at the bottom of the bell tower.