Soul Snatcher (33 page)

She was in no
way trying to give snatchers a safe passage to a killing spree, she
was merely trying to make him see that there could be hope for some
of them. Namely, his brother.

“
Humans have police to patrol them and soul snatchers
have trackers. They are all the same!” Eli yelled not caring who
heard either. “My brother being turned has been the most painful
thing I have ever been through, including the death of my parents.
But at least I can remember them fondly and who they were remains
unmarred. They would turn in their graves to know what their son
had become. I wish I had the privilege of knowing Baden was dead!”
Eli spat the words. They were so foul to Annie that she took a step
back. She dropped her arms to her sides and let her disgust of his
attitude show on her face.

“
You loved him once and just because he now wears a
different label you turn against him? He could have been
different!” She tried to make him see through his
stubbornness.

“
He will never change!” He yelled.

“
You will never change!” She screamed the words at
him.

They stood in
silence, both breathing a little heavier from the emotion and
yelling. They looked at each other, neither one ready to give up
their side.

“
What if it were me?” She asked, her voice now a
whisper from the pain. “What if I were the one who had been
changed?”

“
Then I would not have a choice.” He said the words
before he had thought about them.

Annie turned
and ran out of the room and away from the person who she used to
think was her friend. When she was at the bottom of the stairs she
heard Eli call after her but she ran faster to her room. She ran
inside and slammed her door shut, locking it with fervour. Eli came
running up, grabbing the handle to try and open it. She stepped
back as he struggled with the lock.

“
Eli, leave me alone,” she said through the
door.

“
Annie, please. I did not mean it,” he
pleaded.

She thought
she might have heard tears in his voice but she did not care. She
had no desire to make amends, at least not tonight. Silence
suddenly filled the air. Both of them knew that he would be able to
break the lock if he really tried but he didn’t. He had already
ruined everything. Annie was the only woman he had ever loved and
now look what he had gone and done.

With his
fingers weaved together, Eli stood with his hands holding the back
of his head trying to figure out what he could do to change what
had just happened. Seeing that there was nothing he could say to
fix it he closed his eyes and realised he would have to give up on
trying, for tonight at least. He dropped his hands to his sides
feeling defeated and went to his room.

He closed the
door and smashed the wall next to it with his fist. The gaping hole
looked odd in the elegantly decorated room. He looked around in the
shadow of the room, as if he would be able to see something that
would console him. Everywhere he looked, all he saw were
silhouettes of things that reminded him of his family now gone in
one way or the other.

Exhausted and
regretful Eli dropped onto his bed, kicked off his shoes, pulled
off his coat and crawled under the cold covers. He closed his eyes
and tried to push away what just happened but he found it
impossible. He predicted a long, sleepless night.

Annie stood
in her dark room in shock. She had never yelled at anyone before
much less fought with them so fiercely. Her heart was racing and
her hands shook from the adrenaline. Holding her hands against her
chest, as if they would protect her from the pain of the fight, she
made her way to her bedside table and relit the lamp that had gone
out. Seeing the book on the bed she picked it up and started
reading the rest of it frantically. Baden said he would be there
the moment she finished the book and all she wanted to do was see
him.

She sat and
read faster than she ever had in her life and when she finished the
last word she snapped the book closed and stood, holding the book
high as if to declare her completion. Where the space at the end of
her bed had been empty Baden now stood watching her. Wearing just
his usual black pants and ivory slip shirt, he looked incredible as
always.

Something on
his face told Annie that he had heard every word of the fight and
it made her heart break. She slowly placed the book on the bed and
paused for a moment. Finding no hope in stalling she let her tears
fall and she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and
crying against his shoulder.

“
I am sorry, Baden,” she said through the tears. He
enclosed her in his arms and held her close. He had spent so many
years fighting the pain of his brother’s disownment and had avoided
it with his anger but this time he let himself be hurt from it. He
refused to cry though, he would not give Eli the
satisfaction.

“
Annie, I have always known the way Eli has felt
towards me. Please, do not cry,” Baden said trying to comfort her.
She pulled her head back and looked at his face.

“
It does not mean it is acceptable or does not hurt
you,” she said knowing that he had to be hurting. He couldn’t help
but love her even more. She was kind hearted and thoughtful and
most of all selfless.

“
I agree but there is nothing we can do for the time
being,” he reasoned, wanting to forget about it. She nodded knowing
he was right. He looked over to the book then back to
her.

“
I have finished,” she informed
unnecessarily.

“
So you have,” he said. He was too fearful to ask what
the outcome would be. For a moment they stood in silence, both a
little afraid to say anything.

Finally, he
spoke.

“
Before you say anything I want you to know that no
matter what may come, knowing you has changed who I am. I do not
think I will ever be the same and if you ask me to leave and never
come back, just know that I love you.” He said it as calmly as he
could though inside he felt as if he would die if he had to walk
away from her.

The words
squeezed around Annie’s heart and though she had already made up
her mind, his words helped to cement what she had decided. Instead
of speaking she pushed up on her tiptoes and moved her lips closer
to his. Baden’s lips trembled a little in anticipation of kissing
her. He swallowed back his nerves and took in a breath to prepare
himself.

“
Are you sure?” He whispered when her lips grazed
against his. She froze and nodded, not wanting to interrupt the
moment.

Before she
continued towards the kiss he beat her to it, wrapping his lips
around hers with gentle passion. She tightened her grip around his
neck and he crept one of his hands along her back, up into her
hair. He used the other to pull her against his body even more and
he felt her warmth against him, it tingled through him.

The momentum
of the kiss grew and became more intense by the second. Their
breathing became heavy and stilted. She wanted him and he wanted
her and they both new it. She started to pull them towards the bed
and, though he would be able to physically restrain her, he moved
with her eagerness. He could feel her soul trembling with desire
and it fuelled his own.

Annie went to
lie on the bed, hoping that Baden would move with her but he
stopped them. Their kiss was paused but their lips remained
together. He looked at her, not wanting her to make a choice she
could never take back. She could see the question in his eyes and
though she was thankful that he was being careful for her, it did
not change her mind. She continued to pull them towards the
bed.

After the
slightest hesitation, seeing that her answer was yes for him, he
went with her.

With his arms
around her he gently lowered them onto the bed, being careful not
to push all of his weight onto her. As they kissed she began to
pull his shirt up and over his head and he moved in order to help
her. It slipped off easily and she almost exploded from seeing his
perfect, shirtless chest. He let his lips trail down her neck and
move to her chest as he slipped his hands along her legs and
started to pull the skirt of her dress up. She arched her back in
pleasure and moved her legs so they were either side of him. She
intertwined her fingers through his hair as his mouth moved lower
on her chest. When his lips hadn’t grazed low enough for her
liking, and his hand had reached well up her thigh, he stopped
suddenly.

“
What is it?” Annie asked desperate to keep going.
Baden twitched his head to one side then looked up to her in his
frozen position.

“
Damn,” he whispered under his breath, his body tensing
in frustration. He moved and kissed her quickly then pulled back
much faster than he wanted to. “Until next time,” he promised then
he disappeared out the window, grabbing his shirt on his way
out.

Before she
had time to react she heard her door lock being opened with a key
and Eli barged into her room. She barely stifled the scream that
tried to jump out of her.

“
What are you doing?” Annie yelled with anger in her
voice from the disruption of the single greatest moment of her
life. She rushed off the bed and stormed up to him. “How dare you
come into my room without knocking!” She said shocked and
angered.

“
I cannot keep it like this. We must resolve our
conflict,” Eli demanded. In the back of his mind he noticed the
open window and her flustered look. He didn’t have much time to
think about it before Annie pulled him away from the
thought.

“
Fine it is resolved, please leave.” But they both knew
she was not over it.

“
I am sorry to come in like this but there was no other
choice,” Eli said not sounding sorry at all. She tried to grab the
key he had used to open the door from his hand but he moved it away
from her grasp.

“
I can see how you had no other choice than to intrude
upon my privacy,” she jeered, grabbing at the key again to no
avail.

“
Annie, I tried to kill Baden.” Eli stunned her into
silence and she stood still just staring at him. “I was with him
the night he was attacked, I waited for him to turn and I tried to
kill him. I did it because I was meant to as a tracker. I knew how
strong he already was, let alone how strong he would be after being
turned and it was too much of a danger to leave him. I could not
take the chance of leaving him alive in case he chose to embrace
snatching. At the time I had not even heard the story of Stewart
and I went there thinking that I was going to kill him.” The
confession tumbled out of his mouth quickly, as if the words were
desperate to break free.

Annie
took a step back from his words. Eli
was the reason why Baden hated humanity. What kind of person
betrays their brother in such a brutal way? She could barely bring
herself to even look at Eli, she found it hard not to push him back
out the door and never speak to him again. Somehow her loyalty for
Baden had grown just as quickly as her love for him and she felt
like defending him with every portion of her being. But she
couldn’t because Eli knew nothing about the two of them and she
wanted to keep it that way.

“He and I
were close…closer than any other brothers
could be and we had always been taught to protect each
other. My father said that I had to take are of Baden because he
was younger than me,” Eli said solemnly. “After our parents died
all we had was each other…until he was turned. And because of what
I did, Baden has hurt many people.” Eli’s guilt washed over his
face.

“Why would
telling me this make it better?” She asked him, not caring that her
anger was obvious. As much as it annoyed her, she could see the
sorrow in his eyes.

“
I did not want to and every day since then I have
blamed myself for what Baden has become. Every murder is another
weight on my shoulders. It is entirely my fault,” he confessed his
personal torture. And as much as she wanted to stay mad at him she
couldn’t because she could see that he truly did regret what he had
done. And because of her inimitable, forgiving soul she forgave
once more.

“
You should tell him, Eli,” she encouraged. “You cannot
take responsibility for the actions of others but you can change
the actions that you regret in your own life.” She realised that
blaming Eli for Baden’s actions was just an excuse because no
matter what, Baden was the one who was responsible for
himself.

“
I know that but somehow it does not make it easier,”
he said sharing his feelings with her. Her anger slipped away and
was replaced with compassion. Giving in, she embraced him
forgivingly and he held onto her desperately, feeling comforted by
her touch. “I do not want to lose you,” he whispered.

“
Do not fret, Eli. You have not been freed from me that
easily,” she assured him light-heartedly but she meant it in a
different way than he did. She pulled away and he reluctantly let
her go. “Now let us look into this tomorrow,” she suggested. He
nodded in agreement and held the key out for her.