Soul Snatcher (8 page)

She scurried
over to the seat near the fire to warm her chilled bones. As she
sat there looking into the flames she couldn’t help but think about
Baden, as she had for the past few days. She wondered where he was
right then and suddenly she realised that he could be with someone
he loved. The idea of that caused her to feel unsettled and she
found that she didn’t like the feeling at all. Pushing away the
thought she looked around the room and thought of Eli. She smiled
to herself, thinking of how kind he had been to her without even
knowing her. She found it a little intense that he had taken such a
liking to her in an extremely short amount of time but it was sweet
in its own way. It did make her wonder why Baden hadn’t.

After she
felt warmed up enough by the heat of the fire she eased herself
into the bed. Her aching bones welcomed the plush comfort of the
mattress and soon she was fast asleep, dreaming of those blue eyes
and that smooth voice.
 

The next
morning Annie slept in until ten o’clock. When she looked over at
the clock on the mantle and saw the time she sat up and rushed out
of bed. Before she could think of what to do next there was a knock
at the door.

“
Who is it?” Annie asked.

“
Eli.” His voice was muffled through the door. She
looked down to check her clothes. They completely covered her and
they didn’t seem inappropriate. In fact, they were just
ridiculously baggy.

“
Come in,” she said after careful consideration. The
door clicked open and Eli came in, a smile coming to his face as
soon as he saw her. Suddenly she realised that she hadn’t locked
the door last night and it made her feel vulnerable.

“
How are you feeling?” He asked as he stood in front of
her, hands in his pockets. He left his top button open and had no
jacket on. He looked very casual and quite handsome in his white
shirt and black dress pants.

“
I am feeling rejuvenated…though I am shocked I slept
in so late,” she said a little disappointed in herself.

“
You obviously needed the rest,” he rebuked her
self-scolding. His smile faded when he saw the bruise that had
developed on her cheek and anger filled his expression as he
realised what had happened.

“
No matter, what may I do to help?” She asked
enthusiastically, trying to avoid having to explain the
bruise.

Annie wasn’t
one to use people, she always wanted to pay her way and she
certainly didn’t want anyone’s pity. Seeing that she didn’t want to
talk about it he decided not to rehash last night’s
event.

“I want you to do
nothing,” he answered. She looked at
him perplexed.

“
Mr…” she paused, remembering to use his first name.
“Eli, please. Let me assist with your daily chores. I want to be a
help to you,” she insisted.

“
You are not my hired help, Annie. You are a guest in
my manor and you will be treated as such.”

“
Then a guest has a departure date. When will that be?”
She asked.

“
Never,” he declared. She raised her brow in surprise
at his answer. “I mean to say, stay as long as you like. As far as
I am aware you do not have another place to go?” He reasoned and
she wondered how he knew that.

“
Not to sound ungrateful but what am I meant to do with
my time?” She tried to ask politely.

“
Whatever you wish.” His grin was so wide it looked as
if it would stretch off his face. “Before we continue going around
in conversational circles, I came to say that I am off. I will
return this evening but it would be my privilege if you would
accompany me to dinner tonight?” His offer was smooth and well
spoken, almost as if he had rehearsed it.

“
I do not think I have anything appropriate to wear,”
she said trying to subtly decline the offer.

“
All of your clothes have been washed and put out to
dry by the maid, your other belongings have been placed in your
room and I do not see why you cannot purchase another dress if you
find your others to be unsuitable.” He seemed to have a dispute for
everything.

“
Purchase?” She looked at him as if he was daft and
didn’t realise she was penniless.

“
Yes, I have accounts set up in most stores. Feel free
to charge it to my name,” he offered.

“
I think one of my current dresses will be fine.” She
tried to mask her shock at his generosity.

“
Annie, you just said they were inapt. I will arrange
for Garrick to take you in town,” he said as he turned to walk
away.

“
That is unnecessary,” she called after him. He turned
back to her when he reached the door.

“
Have a lovely day, Annie.” He wasn’t meaning to be
rude by ignoring her, it was just his way of saying the
conversation was over and that she would be going in town to buy
new clothes. After his trademark smile he left. She thought to
herself that her stay was going to be an interesting one with a man
as assertive as Eli. She didn’t realise how right she
was.

CHAPTER
6

Garrick had
left Annie at the most elite seamstress in town.
The waiting room alone was lavish,
with its plush, oversized white chairs. Flowing, red velvet
curtains hid the rest of the store away like it was a special
secret. The carpet was ivory and Annie thought to herself that she
was glad she wasn’t the one having to clean it. Though the store
was very feminine in its design it did still tailor for men, which
would explain the ones sitting in the waiting room.

Annie
felt very out of her element as she
awkwardly approached the young attendant standing at the counter.
The woman looked to be only a little older than Annie but she was
immaculately dressed and had an air of arrogance about her. That
haughtiness vanished once she was told which account Annie was
charging to, she became instantly accommodating, producing the
owner immediately. Annie seemed to come before all other customers
and nothing else appeared to matter to the owner except her new
client.

The
proprietor, Antoinette was French and still had a noticeable
accent. Sometimes she would speak and Annie couldn’t understand
what she was saying. The seamstress had almond hair with flecks of
grey throughout and was very petite. She dragged Annie through the
red curtains, into the largest fitting room and flustered about to
close the drapes.

The same
theme flowed into the backrooms, with the same red curtains
section
ing off the fitting
rooms. Each room had a small stepping stool and huge mirror fixed
to the wall, leaving Annie feeling like there was nowhere to hide.
Antoinette proceeded to undress Annie without a second
thought.

“
Annabelle,” Antoinette said in her French accent. She
had merged Annie’s first and last name together, making a whole new
name for her. Annie stood there in her undergarments, thankfully
hidden behind the red velvet curtain of the dressing room. She
looked at herself in the mirror that lined the whole wall, from
ceiling to floor, and couldn’t help but feel
self-conscious.

“We…uh…
accentuer your
buste. Oui, oui!” Antoinette said as she measured Annie. She mixed
her French and English words together when she wasn’t
concentrating.

“
We what my what?” Annie asked feeling lost.

“
How do I say….bust, your bust,” Antoinette
tried.

“
Do what with my bust?” Annie was mortified at the
direction of Antoinette’s idea.

“
Show!” She explained seeming excited to have such a
splendid model.

“
I prefer to stay on the side of modesty, if that is
not too much trouble,” Annie expressed her opinion hesitantly to
the assertive owner. Antoinette seemed to pick and choose what
parts of the English language she understood or more so, paid
attention to.

Her designs
seemed to be a little ahead of their time and quite original from
some of the ones that were on display in her store window. Annie
was wary as to what she was going to walk out with.

Antoinette
muttered something under her breath in French and left before Annie
could protest anymore. She walked back in with a dress and slipped
it over Annie’s head. After she had wriggled into it, Antoinette
started fiddling around the skirt as Annie appraised herself in the
mirror.

It looked
more like a dress that Annie had seen on Grecian women in the books
she had read. The line still ran under her bust but was a thick
layer of shimmery lace that ran itself up over her shoulders and
down her back, becoming the only support for the dress to remain on
her body. The sleeves were not puffed like other dresses but just
thin pieces of the dress’ fabric cut to rest loosely against the
shoulder and drape elegantly down her arm. The material was
coloured ivory with flowing waves running the length of it. Annie
instantly liked it because of its uniqueness and simplicity. It fit
perfectly, except for the length which was just a little too long.
The only thing that concerned her was that her bust did seem to be
a little more noticeable than usual. She tried to stay as modest as
she could so woman wouldn’t be rude to her.

“
Is there something we could do to change the bust line
a little?” Annie asked as clearly as she could.

“
The bust? Ne,” Antoinette answered. Annie stared
blankly at her. “No,” Antoinette bluntly clarified for her. Here
Annie thought she was the customer but all she seemed to be was a
life sized doll. The bell rang through the shop indicating a
customer’s entrance. “Maudit,” Antoinette muttered as she walked
out to serve them.

“
I am here to retrieve my coat.” The smooth mail voice
came to Annie’s ears. Forgetting herself, she ran out of the
dressing room in a flurry and pushed through the dividing curtain.
She came upon Baden waiting at the counter for Antoinette to return
with his item.

“
Baden,” Annie said breathlessly. Baden looked around
to his name being called and froze when he saw her. He hadn’t
realised that she was actually in the store because he had already
been thinking of Annie and had thought he was simply recalling the
memory of her.

She stood
there
just staring at him. He
was even more incredible than what she could recall. His lips had
the most desirable curve to them with the softest pink hue. His
eyes were a stunning, clear sky-blue and his wild, perfect hair was
ink black, yet somehow almost shone blue when the light touched it.
His strong jaw was framed with the slightest hint of stubble and he
looked breathtaking. It felt like he towered over her with his
broad shoulders and strong body. He seemed to ooze strength and
power.

“
Annie,” he said after he had been silent for what felt
like forever. He seemed to swallow hard but she wasn’t sure if that
was a good thing or not.

He was
dressed to perfection, his pants black with a crisp white shirt to
complement. His shoes were polished flawlessly and remained
unblemished from walking. He wasn’t wearing all the fussy extras
that most men wore but he looked even better than all of them. Her
heart sank as she thought he must be going somewhere if he was
dressed so well. He definitely looked like he was trying to impress
someone but who was it? Something sparked inside of her that she
had never felt before…she realised that she was jealous. Before
either of them could speak Antoinette returned with his
jacket.

“
Sir,” she said handing him the jacket. Baden gave her
some money and took the formal looking coat he had ordered. He
turned to Annie and half smiled but she was too stunned to do
anything but stare at him. Antoinette started to shoo her back into
the dressing room and Baden turned to leave.

“
This is fine, Antoinette. Please put this on Eli
Brighton’s account,” Annie instructed as she went after Baden. She
was about to run out the door but she had no shoes on. She ran back
into the dressing room, stepped into her slippers and went after
him.

“
Your things, Annabelle,” Antoinette called after
her.

“
Please place them in a carrier for me,” Annie called
as she went out the door. “Baden,” she called after him.

Baden walked
a few more steps then stopped and slowly turned to her. She walked
up to him cautiously, the nerves kicking around in her stomach. The
hour was late in the afternoon and there weren’t many people about,
keeping their meeting more private. As she approached he looked
down at her dress and she suddenly felt very self-conscious. She
went to fold her arms across her chest but felt it would be too
obvious. She didn’t want to make any sudden movements in case it
caused him to disappear, as if he was a wild animal ready to flee.
She finally made it up to him and stopped not too far from where he
stood.