Legacy (26 page)

Directly in front of us was a small wooden door which was just hanging on by its hinges and it became obvious that this was the source of the noise.

But nobody was to be seen.

But I instantly knew who had been responsible as I could clearly hear them fighting just outside the door.

The vicar was about to take a look outside, but I warned him not to as he could put himself in great danger if he did.

Behind us, Harran had suddenly reappeared and the expression on his face changed to sheer panic as he realized that I was standing beside the vicar.

              “Get her out!” Harran shouted to the vicar, “She is the cause of all this! There are two men outside fighting over her and they’ve killed anyone who stood in their way! If you value your life, stay as far away from her as possible!”

The vicar just looked at me.

              “Are you in serious trouble, young lady?” he asked.

I nodded my head and the vicar headed straight for the entrance where he promptly closed and locked the wooden doors.

After doing so, he beckoned me to follow him, but Harran suddenly stood in his way and put his hand on the vicar’s chest to stop him moving.

              “You’re making a huge mistake in protecting her!” Harran warned.

But the vicar just looked at Harran nonchalantly.

              “This is a house of God and we protect those who head here for sanctuary. The young lady is clearly in distress and I will help her as much as I possibly can.”

The vicar went to walk on, but Harran stopped him once again.

              “But I am a police officer and I am warning you –“

              “Warning me of what?” The vicar interrupted, “Helping someone? This is my church and I will not let you bully that girl while she is in my care!”

Harran reluctantly stood back and let the vicar walk past.

              “Believe what you want! That girl is poison!”

              “I believe in God, young man!” The vicar responded, “And he is far stronger than you. You do not scare me for I know that what I choose to do is solely for the good of others. That girl is my responsibility while she is inside this church. If you are not happy with that, then I would be more than happy to open those doors and let you out.”

Harran knew that leaving the church was not an option right now as any of the two men fighting outside would be more than happy to tear him limb from limb.

I joined the vicar and he gave me a friendly smile before leading me towards the altar.

              “Are you a churchgoer, my dear?” he asked me as we came to a halt.

I felt incredibly embarrassed as I shook my head – here I was, inside a church looking for safety when I couldn’t even be bothered in life to visit one regularly.

The vicar took my hand and started to lead me towards an ornate font.

              “Have you been christened?” he asked.

I felt a lot better in being able to answer yes to that question, but the way the vicar was looking at me as he asked was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable.

I looked across at Harran, who was now sitting on one of the pews like a spoilt child who was unable to get what he wanted and as he noticed that I was looking at him, he simply turned his head away.

The vicar noticed this and whispered quietly in my ear.

              “It seems our friend is not too happy at the moment. The police seem to think that they possess some power that they can do what they like without having to answer to anyone.”

I nodded my head in agreement, but after a few seconds I thought that a vicar shouldn’t really be speaking about others like that.

And before I could think any more of it, the church was suddenly filled with the sound of smashing glass, sending the vicar and myself diving to the ground.

We both looked to see where the sound had come from and immediately noticed that one of the majestic stained glass windows behind the altar had completely caved in, sending endless pieces of coloured glass onto the altar.

Something must have been thrown through it to have caused such a large amount of damage, but as I lifted myself from the floor, I noticed that it wasn’t a something – but a someone.

The vicar net to me struggled to get to his feet and he used the font to help to lift himself up – and as he grabbed hold of the marble, I suddenly noticed a tattoo on his left wrist.

The same dragon tattoo that I had seen on the Coroner who saved me against Zephal in the police station car park.

The same tattoo that was on the nurse’s arm back at the hospital.

The same tattoo that I spotted on the taxi driver who took me home from the hospital.

There was no way that many sightings of the same tattoo on different people over the last couple of days was purely coincidental and it made me feel incredibly uneasy.

But my main problem was standing about ten foot in front of me right now – the towering scary figure of Zephal.

I feared for my life as he approached, but I was shocked when he turned his attention towards the vicar instead of going for me or Harran.

              “Holy man!” Zephal called to the vicar, who instantly tried to run away.

But Zephal was too fast and caught up with him in the blink of an eye and took no hesitation in showing how much stronger he was against the much smaller and weaker vicar.

Zephal grabbed the vicar by the throat and carried him off to the altar without his feet touching the floor.

              “Vos verto vestri tergum in vestri own populus!” Zephal snarled at the vicar before throwing him into the wooden pews that Harran was presently sitting in with such force that pieces of wood flew in all directions.

This sent Harran completely over the edge and he ran as fast as he could towards the doors and started to unlock them with the keys that the vicar had left in the lock.

Zephal walked over to where the vicar had landed and he lifted him off the ground by his hair.

The amount of blood that was pouring from the head of the injured vicar was immense and Zephal was clearly enjoying what he was doing right now.

Even though I knew Zephal to be a cold-blooded killer, I found it very unusual why he went for the vicar when he was so hell bent on wanting to kill Harran outside.

But I doubt whether I would find out the answer to that question.

And Zephal was continuing his onslaught on the vicar feet away from me, his hand now tightly squeezed around the vicar’s neck and with the other hand, Zephal grabbed hold of the vicar’s waist and easily raised him above his head as if he weighed nothing.

I knew that Zephal was going to throw his victim at any moment and I prepared myself in case I had to move out of the way pretty sharpish if he chose my direction to throw him.

But Zephal’s choice of direction surprised me.

Zephal bent his arms slightly back and with immense power, he launched the vicar into the air and just as he had made his entrance, the vicar made his exit.

Straight through another of the church’s majestic stained glass windows – but this time I know that he wouldn’t have landed as safely as Zephal did earlier.
             

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

In all the time that Zephal had been inside the church killing the vicar, not once had I seen any sight of Lucius and with his absence continuing even now, I began to fear the worst.

Maybe Zephal had finally won the battle that had continued between themselves for years – but without Lucius, I stood alone and realistically didn’t stand a chance against Zephal.

Harran had finally managed to unlock the doors and had wasted no time in running away as fast as he could, leaving me all alone in the church with Zephal.

I wanted to do what Harran just did, but I knew that if I did attempt to make a run for it, Zephal had proven that he was far faster and would easily stop me from even reaching the doors.

It looks like it’s all over for me.

I really thought that Zephal would have relished this moment, but he wasn‘t exactly rushing to bring an end to my life. Instead, he just stared at me, but that was enough to put the fear of God into me.

It’s time to admit defeat and face what is coming to me.

I have gone through every emotion over the last few days, but I can’t put into words what sensations I am feeling right now.

I am facing death and there is nothing that I can do about it.

Zephal still hasn’t made his move yet – he is obviously toying with me and prolonging my agony until he decides when the moment is right for him to finish me off.

But when I think the moment has come for Zephal to make his move, I quickly discover that all hope is not lost.

The church suddenly echoed to a sound that was like music to my ears and my heart skipped a beat as I saw the most welcoming sight of Lucius standing in the doorway.

              “Zephal,” he shouted, “you know this is the last part of our journey into the mortal world. We must finish this battle off once and for all – one of us will return victorious, while the other won’t make it at all. Whoever does return gets Naomi. Now, if you are man enough to accept my challenge, then you know where you can find me!”

And with that, Lucius just turned and walked out of the church.

I just stood there speechless – in utter disbelief that Lucius had left me alone with Zephal knowing damn well what the man was capable of doing to me.

But the one thing that had started to get on my nerves over the last few days was how both Lucius and Zephal seemed to think that I was some kind of prize for the winner of their fight to keep.

Within a few moments of Lucius’s dramatic exit, Zephal decided to take up Lucius’s offer and started to make his way swiftly out of the church – with me in close pursuit.

Zephal’s determined walk started to turn into a light jog and I tried to keep up with him the best I could with absolutely no idea where on earth we were heading.

We left the church grounds and headed up a rough pathway and as we continued along it, I suddenly became aware that we were now quite high up.

Heights are not my best thing to deal with and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach begin to flutter more and more intensely as I discovered that Zephal was leading me towards the top of an incredibly steep and treacherous cliff.

And in the distance, waiting for Zephal’s arrival, was Lucius.

You could cut the atmosphere with a knife as Lucius and Zephal stared back at each other and this time I saw a look in Lucius’s eyes that I had never seen before – a look of determination, a look that would have sent fear into the hearts of others, but not Zephal.

I could sense the danger that was about to come as both men charged towards each other, sending both of them onto the ground where they continued to wrestle for a few moments with every ounce of strength they possessed in order to gain the upper hand against their opponent.

This wasn’t the best location for two people to have a fight and as they rolled around, they started to edge perilously close to the edge of the cliff.