Afterlife (Afterlife Saga) (65 page)

I wanted to cry out at my realisation. I knew deep down it had happened and I wanted to lash out at him for making me feel crazy. But there was a more important matter to deal with, like how did he know my real name and what else did he know...?

Meanwhile Draven had retrieved a folder from on top of his desk and was bringing it closer to me. I already knew what it contained so I looked away in shameful disgust.

“I don't want to talk about that.” I said feeling the emotion building up.

“What you mean is your past!” He said as he threw the folder back down on the desk making the contents spill out, scattering my life on pages across the polished wood. I kept swallowing, as I could taste the acid that my stomach produced. The anger started to replace my shame. What right did he have to do this to me?

“My past is none of your business! How dare you judge me! So you think because you found out my real name that this proves something...You don't know anything!” I shouted feeling my lungs needing more air as my hands shook.

“Don't be foolish Catherine, I'm not judging you, damn it! I'm trying to protect you, if you would let me.” He said trying to calm me down but it was too late for reason, we were well past that now.

“Protect me, from what?”

“From that!” He shouted pointing to the file spread out like a collage of my life.

“Well thanks, but I don't need your help. I coped on my own last time and I can do it again!” I said, but he looked down at my arms and came back with the ultimate hurt.

“Is that what you call coping?” 

I looked down at my arms that were covered with numerous layers as I still had my jacket and zipped hooded sweater on. I was so angry I could feel the tears developing and I wanted to scream out at him but instead I calmed my breathing and said in a controlled way,

“You think you know everything just because you have read some stupid file filled with evidence pictures and test results but you don't know anything about how I coped. You just take one look at me and you come up with the same conclu
sion as everybody else does!
After all, it was you that said presumption is the mother from which all mistakes are born!” By the end of this little speech I couldn't stop the beads of water that escaped my eyes.

“Then tell me.” He said
,
his voice filled with compassion at seeing me cry.

“What?” I said nearly sobbing.

“Well you say I don't understand, you say that I don't know the whole story and this is true, I don't.” He flipped open the file and continued “I have read this file over and over and there is not one statement from you, so why don't
you
tell
me
what happened.”

“NO!” Was all I said, but he walked closer to me stopping only a foot away. He tilted his head to see my face but I kept my head down.

“All I want to do is go...I need to get out of here.” I said without meeting his eyes, as I could feel them burning into mine.

“Ok... well we will strike a deal, if you tell me what really happened then I will let you leave.” He said and my heart rate shot up a couple of notches.

“You wouldn't.” I was keeping on my guard.

“I give you my word that if by the time you have finished and you still want to leave then I will allow it but....”

“But what?”

“I have to be satisfied that it is the truth.” He said placing his hand under my chin and then bringing my face up to see his. My skin tingled under his fingers and I mentally scorned myself for still feeling like this around him. I bit my bottom lip again and he smiled at the sight before letting go and stepping back away from me. My body instantly started to cool down with the distance he put between us and I almost wanted to go running back to him so that I could feel safe again. What was I thinking! NO! He was the enemy, I had to get that through to myself, he wasn't safe.... he was dangerous!

He motioned for me take a seat and I did as I was told as with the story I was about to tell I didn't know if my legs were up to the task of holding me up.

“What do you already know?” I asked not wanting to tell him any more than I had to but he must have realised what I was thinking because he just gave me a warning,

“Keira...please be reasonable.” He said quickly going back to calling me the name I used. I instantly felt better hearing it.

“I know your name is really Catherine Keiran Williams and that you’re 23 years old, you were born on the 7
^th
day of the 7
^th
month in 1987 in Liverpool. When you were seven years old you had something very unusual happen to you and you started seeing things you couldn't explain. You soon learned to control it and lived a semi normal life until you went to University, moving to Southampton at the age of twenty one. There you were to become a victim of a kidnapping.” Once he was finished I couldn't find my voice. That was my life in a nutshell. The very one I had been running from for over two years. And this was the night that I had finally hit a brick wall preventing me from running any more. I wanted to scream out in pain at what he knew. He was the one person in the world that I wanted to keep this from and now my fake world was crumbling around me leaving me standing in the rubble of my horrifying past.

So I took a deep breath and started to do the one thing that I didn't want but knowing it was my one chance to run away, I started with my story...

“My family all called me Keira or Kazzy, as my dad was convinced I was going to be born a boy. So my middle name is Keiran, which is what they would have called me if I had been. This was after my Grandfather. It was only when I went to Uni that I dropped it taking on a more adult sounding Catherine.” I said calmly, wishing I could have stopped at that, but I knew my chances of getting out of here lay with the
story I had to tell.

“I was studying History and Spanish, as I do now, but I also studied Art. For the first few months we had a guy teaching us who was due to retire. He was waiting for his replacement to arrive and unfortunately he did. His name was Hugo Morgan and he was renowned for his love of surrealism, which at the time I also had a passion for.”

“At first he seemed charming and it was clear his love for art had made him a very popular tutor among all of his students including me.” I laughed without humour as I continued, “I remember my friends being jealous as he seemed to single me out as his favourite pupil.” At the sound of me saying his name, it seemed I wasn't the only one affected as Draven's body went ridged at the thought. His intense stare wasn't helping so I lowered my face to continue.

“Time went on and it started getting more serious. I would see him following me everywhere, every time I turned around there he was. At first I put it down to being paranoid but then it soon became clear that he was stalking me. So as a result I would find myself skipping classes to get away from him but soon he confronted me. He told me how he was sorry if he had been a bit weird, it was just down to the fact that I reminded him of someone dear to him and that he didn't want it affecting my work. I decided to forget about it, feeling sorry for him and I went back to class, stupidly thinking it was now sorted. But my flat mate Charlotte wasn't convinced and didn't trust him, she thought that I should have gone to the police or spoke to someone at the university. But I didn't want to cause problems, so again I stupidly ignored her advice. Of course I was about to realise my mistake and pay dearly for it.” I paused wiping away a stray tear at the thought, but this made Draven look at me full of concern so he stood up and said,

“I think that's enough for now, we should continue this later after you have had some r
est.” But I didn't want to rest.
I needed to get out of here as quickly as possible. The more time I was here the less chance I had of giving Morgan the slip.

“I'm fine, I would prefer to carry on...Really.” I said nodding so he sat back down to listen to the rest of my dark drama.

“You said you knew about my visions, I don't know how you do but even if I asked I doubt you would give me any answers anyway. But I guess I'm used to finding out that you know what seems like impossible things about me without ever explaining why.” I said to him but he didn't react the way I would have thought he would. He just smiled at me and said.

“You will have your answers too, if you are ready for them.”

“Really?” I asked shocked but I gathered this was just another tactic to keep me here and I was soon proven right.

“Yes... if you wish, but after you have finished and I am satisfied with all I need to know
. ”
He said in a way that made me believe him. I could only nod before carrying on.

“Well one night it all changed. You see, I used to have visions of what I can only describe as Angels and Demons. I see
every day
normal people and then they would change into things I can't explain. So I figured if I had to live with it then I would try and control it and well...I found a way.” I said and Draven held a fascinating grin and he was looking at me, not like I was crazy as he should have been, but one in
amazement. As if I had mastered the secret to immortality or something.

“How?”
He asked shaking his head as though he knew this was impossible, which got me wondering what he knew about it?

“Well soon the visions only came to me in dreams and pretty soon I learnt how to control these too. See I would sketch what I saw, kind of locking it away I guess, so it couldn't come back. Well these visions calmed through years of concentration and persistence. But this night I had a nightmare that I had no control over. I saw Mr Morgan not as a Demon but being terrorised by one. It was everywhere he went, following him like a plague that was slowly killing him. It's hard to explain but I got the impression that it was sucking the life from him.” Draven reacted to this new bit of information and finally there was something he didn'
t know. He rose up from his seat suddenly and
he looked agitated, which soon might change to outrage.

“I have to leave you momentarily, but I won't be long.” He said moving towards the door but he stopped and turned back to me adding,

“Please stay here and wait for me.” And with that he left me alone. I wondered why this bit of my past affected him so much.

I got up and explored the room. It was like something you would find in a kings bed chamber. There were tapestries hung about the room, comprised of different war scenes. There were battles with Japanese warriors mounted on horses fighting what looked like winged soldiers flying from the heavens. I went over to the couch that I had been placed on and noticed a dark red stain that looked as though it could have been from my blood. I lent down to touch it when I jumped at the sound of the door opening. I expected it to be Draven, thinking how quick he had been but it wasn't him.

A small girl walked in with short black hair with blue streaks in it. She had a young kind face and wore a long black skirt with a blue corset on top of a shirt she wore underneath. She held a tray of drinks and fruit, which she placed on the table next to where I had been sitting. 

“My name is Candra. My Master said you might be thirsty or hungry. If there is anything else I can bring you then please just ask
,
there's an intercom on the side of the door I came through.” She said so sweetly.

“Thank you.” I said feeling awkward at a servant bringing me drinks, as after all it wasn't long ago I was doing the same job. She smiled and then left out of the same door which I heard lock immediately. So Draven didn't trust me. Of course, why should he? I mean really, just how many times had I run from the man.

I suddenly realised how dry my throat was and I nearly ran to the tray to get a drink. I poured some water from the silver jug along with some ice cubes that fell in my glass and downed it in one before filling it again. I also grabbed a few grapes from the bunch and went back to exploring the room.

I walked over to the large mahogany desk that was now scattered with bits of my life. I moved the papers around until I came to two pictures that sent dread up and down my spine. It felt as though I was being electrocuted by a loose wire I wasn't holding. I moved to hold up the first photo, which was of me in the hospital taken by a nurse for the police. I looked like death warmed up.