Chapter 9

At those simple words, more of the puzzle clicked into place for Sarah. Tom’s distracted behaviour, the leech’s words of warning and even the strange propositions from the vampire and werewolf made sense to her. It was all because of this one man and their dread of invoking his anger. Looking at the powerful sorcerer she no longer blamed the creatures for their fear-induced comments.

Sarah guessed it would take a lot to draw fear from the monsters in the room and it spoke volumes to her that this man could do it so easily. His presence was intimidating, his aura was powerful and with one look at his eyes, she was left feeling empty and meaningless. The other creatures in the room might not feel exactly as she did, maybe being undead made them immune to the depth of feelings of a mortal, but she could relate to their quiet fear and unwilling respect. This is what they had been waiting for, this man, Thaddeus, was their saviour.

The sick feeling she had felt earlier doubled as she knew with certainty that things were going to get even more unpleasant for her. The imposing man facing her owned the house, it was his home, and as was evident by his unmasked hostility he wasn’t happy about her presence there. She felt like an unwelcome houseguest, uninvited and crashing the party, and now she had to face the consequences. Her mind shied away fearfully at the thought of what those consequences could be.

‘What is she doing here Thomas?’ the older man’s voice was quiet, barely any effort put into the motion of speech yet his words cracked in the air like a whip.

Sarah found herself recoiling at the tone, let alone the fact that he was talking about her.

‘She’s staying here with me,’ Tom’s words weren’t loud but his voice held an edge to it that she hadn’t heard before.

‘I can see that,’ Thaddeus spoke with condescension, his words striking at Sarah like thrown knives as he glanced again at their hands. His tone made the coldness she had felt before seem like a tropical breeze compared to the freezing fear she felt now. ‘But I asked why.’

‘I found her on the road not far from here,’ Tom’s words were weighed, a challenge in every syllable. ‘In this realm.’ Sarah noticed a quick look of surprise from Thaddeus at that. It was a look he hid smoothly, she had only noticed it as she had been watching his reactions carefully. She still wasn’t sure why she had been able to enter this realm in the first place and it scared her to realise that Thaddeus didn’t know either. She didn’t think there would be much that he didn’t know.

She wondered if Tom had noticed the look as well as he continued. ‘I couldn’t leave her there with all your … guests … coming through, she wouldn’t have survived. And as I was compelled,’ the word was laced with obvious bitterness. ‘By you to come here I couldn’t take her somewhere safe. What would you have had me do?’

‘I think the answer to that should be obvious,’ as Thaddeus spoke, he glanced at Sarah with contempt and she was glad that it had been Tom that had found her that night. She felt certain that his father would have left her to fend for herself. ‘There were many ways you could have rid yourself of the problem, having sex with her wasn’t one of them.’

Sarah would have died of embarrassment on the spot if she could. As she felt a flush colour her face, she momentarily considered giving herself to be eaten by one of the creatures nearest to her just to escape the awkwardness of the conversation. She had a feeling none of them would touch her though unless the imposing man granted his permission. It was bad enough that she was the subject matter, and not looking too modest in it either, but the way they were talking about her as if she wasn’t in the room was insulting.

She felt Tom’s power radiating up from her hand, letting her know that she hadn’t been forgotten, but it didn’t reassure her as it usually did. The magic couldn’t fight the crushing loneliness she felt, let alone the overwhelming fear, anger and shame. She looked at Tom, there was no sign of embarrassment at his father’s reprimand instead she saw only the anger that had been written on his face since the older man had walked into the room.

‘She’s trouble. She has already proven to be on many occasions,’ Thaddeus hadn’t changed his tone but he had probably intended his words to sound more like an appeal. To Sarah, his argument still held the weight of authority and she didn’t think they would be given a chance to counter. She watched him make his way towards them, his feet gliding over the floor as if he wasn’t touching it. The power radiating from him intensified with each step until she almost felt he would crush her with his nearness before he stopped in front of them and continued in the same tone. ‘If you hadn’t been outside trying to return to her realm you wouldn’t have been captured. Fortunately, you weren’t captured for long but they might have learnt all kinds of information from you during that time. The creatures might know about us now, they might know our whereabouts and might be forming an attack. You have risked everything … for a human.’

She couldn’t help but notice he was well-informed about their activities and wondered which of the creatures had run to him with the story as soon as he had arrived. Looking around her she couldn’t see any indication on the faces nearby but if she was placing a bet her money would be on the leech. There was something about that woman that made her uneasy, besides the fact that she was a giant leech, and she wouldn’t be surprised to find that gossiping was a favourite pastime of hers.

His words also made her silently question how they had known Tom had been captured so quickly. At the time she had just been grateful for the help but as she thought about it there was something that didn’t add up. They hadn’t been missing long before the rescue team was sent out and she was getting a mounting feeling that it hadn’t been the vampire’s or werewolf’s idea to rescue them. Delia had mentioned someone using a spell but she hadn’t said who. Looking at Tom’s father she wondered if it was a coincidence that he had come home when he did.

The authority of his voice pulled her out of her thoughts as his argument continued. ‘And while she’s in this house she’s a distraction for many of the creatures. They can’t focus, with you parading her around in front of them, tempting them. We need to be united in our fight against whatever it is that is out there taking our kind. She will be our undoing,’ he continued quietly, staring into his son’s face. ‘She will be your undoing.’

Suddenly he moved away, turning his back on the younger man as if he didn’t matter. ‘Get rid of her!’ The words were a command and as he still had his back to his son Sarah was sure he had been addressing the other creatures in the room.

Sarah felt cold fear grip her at his words as she knew he wasn’t talking about solving the problem of her presence by returning her to her realm. Getting her safely to her world, or saving her life, wasn’t as important to him as it was to his son. Looking at the hungry creatures around her, and their sudden unreserved interest in her again, she realised it wouldn’t be hard for him to make a human disappear. She knew the police would never find her body in another realm.

Thinking of her life, her friends and more importantly her sister, Sarah despaired knowing how worried they would be if she disappeared. Deanne would live in the shadow of grief and sadness, never knowing what had happened to her while holding onto the hope of seeing her again. She thought of her beautiful sister, a newlywed, and all the grief she had already gone through during her life only to face more pain. A pain that would be caused by this sorcerer with a god complex.

Suddenly a spark flared up in her. Mentally fanning the angry spark into flames, she swallowed her fear and stepped away from Tom, yanking her hand away from his in the process. She was sure it only worked because he hadn’t been expecting it.

‘Wait!’ her tone must have carried the command she had hoped for as she watched Thaddeus stop a few feet from her. As he turned, she noticed his face showed his surprise at the way she had addressed him, it was a look that was mirrored on every other face in the room. She wasn’t sure if it was the way she had spoken, or simply that a human had spoken, but she pressed on quickly, capitalising on his shock. ‘I can help you.’

The surprised looks didn’t leave any of the faces in the room and she hoped she did hold the ace card. The moment stretched on under his direct intimidating gaze while she tried not to show her nerve was dissolving.

Finally, a look close to amusement crossed the sorcerer’s face before he mouthed one word at her; ‘How?’

‘I saw more of the building than the others last night,’ Sarah hoped she was showing the correct amount of bravado rather than insolence as she moved over to the small table where the giant leech generally did her paperwork. Surprisingly the monsters nearby eased away from her as she passed rather than lunging at her vulnerability as she had expected. She was careful to contain her relief, knowing that her sudden power was borrowed from the situation. ‘If you would like I can tell you what I saw.’

As she waited next to the desk, she didn’t look at anyone else in the room, sure she would lose her nerve if their expressions showed amusement or disapproval, instead she focused on the man’s bottomless eyes. Finally, he moved forward and she held her breath as he closed in on her, unsure of what he was going to do. She was sure he could read her every emotion and wasn’t happy at the pleasure he seemed to gain from playing with her. He stopped on the other side of the table, close enough to loom over her but far enough away that she could still breathe. She was mesmerised by the force of the power that surrounded him like an aura.

‘By the way, my name is Sarah.’

She held out her hand to him and ignored his condescending smile before his large hand engulfed her own. The force of his power before was like a small ripple compared to the avalanche she could feel radiating through their clasped hands. She stood still under the onslaught, sure he was testing her and knowing what the penance would be to fail his test. There was a flicker of some unnamed emotion within the depths of his eyes before the show of power slowly withdrew. She held on to the last, drawing strength from the fact that she had been able to, but was unable to contain a sigh of relief when it was over.

She indicated to the chair next to him, polite and professional, and took her own opposite, wondering if he would kill her on the spot for the audacity of telling him where to sit in his own home. Still, she wanted to keep an eye on him, or more accurately on his eyes. They may be bottomless pits but she knew they were the only part of him that would give her any indication of what this imposing man might be thinking. He didn’t relax into the chair as he sat almost formally in front of her, his body language telling her that while he was playing along for his reasons he was still very much in charge.

She felt more than saw Tom at her side. He didn’t touch her or give her any strength from his power and she was grateful. Thaddeus would know if he did and it might make her slip in his esteem if he had any respect for her at all. This was something Sarah had to do alone. She was bargaining for her life. Still, it was nice to know Tom was close just in case it went wrong.

‘Go on,’ Thaddeus said, his voice was soft but Sarah wasn’t convinced.

She leaned forward, folding her hands on the table in an imitation of his. ‘How do I know you won’t just have me killed as soon as I tell you what I know, to save you any more trouble?’ her words were soft as well.

‘How do you know that I can’t just take what I need to know from your mind?’ he was mocking her, playing a game that for him was a diversion but for her would mean death.

Sarah thought for just a moment as she quelled the fear she felt at his words, still, she was confident and spoke calmly. ‘I would be dead already.’

He inclined his head towards her in an imitation of a bow. It was a chilling verification of her answer and another show of his contempt. Again, she was reminded that her life meant nothing to this man. The information she had was the only thing keeping her alive, it was all she had to bargain with and she hoped it would be enough.

She held out under his arrogant gaze, feeling each moment of defiance would be her last, as she waited for his word that he would keep her safe. She knew he could lie, could order her death as soon as she told him what she knew, but she held her tongue waiting for his assurance. For some reason, she believed it mattered.

He remained silent, testing her. She sat still through the test hoping to appear confident, the idea to bargain for her life with the little she could remember from being captured was wobbly at best but she hoped he couldn’t tell. The silent battle of wills played out for only moments but it seemed to Sarah to last an eternity. Finally, she felt the tension within her ease as the external force abated and she found herself able to take deep breaths again.

The sensation didn’t last long before Thaddeus spoke. ‘If,’ the word was drawn out as if it was an impossibility. ‘You can tell me something that will help us against those creatures then I will give you my protection as a guest in my house. No harm will come to you under this roof. If not,’ there was no change to his expression or tone as he continued. ‘I will cast you out of the building and this time there will be no rescue.’

His gaze moved to Tom as he spoke the last words, underlining to Sarah that she was on her own. Taking a deep breath, she nodded in agreement as she tried to suppress the feelings inside her. She had this deep resounding feeling that Thaddeus was a man of his word. From what she had seen of his hostility towards her already she knew he would have no qualms about following through on his threat.

Thinking about the banshees she had encountered, and even the creatures that could be passing through this realm on their way to visit Thaddeus, Sarah knew she wouldn’t survive long outside on her own let alone make it safely back to her realm. If she had ever doubted the danger Tom had been working to protect her from, the image of her ruined car and her time in the cage had convinced her.

‘Although you are wasting your time as I have all the information I need,’ Thaddeus’s tone was suddenly hard as he spoke and as he moved to stand Sarah could see he thought the meeting was over. Any barely-held patience on his behalf dissolved as she saw his contempt for her once again disfigure his arrogant face. It was clear to her now that he had never intended to listen to her. Sarah had known it was a dangerous game she had been playing, a game that she had never been in control of. ‘What made you think you would know something that I don’t?’ Thaddeus asked with condescension, looking down on her with a cruel challenge in his eyes.

‘Well,’ Sarah answered his rhetorical question as calmly as she could while rummaging around the desk to find paper and pens. As she looked back at Thaddeus, she was glad to see a measure of surprise in his expression and disbelief in his gaze. She returned his look evenly before continuing. ‘I’m sure the ones that rescued Tom last night have filled you in on some of the building we were kept in, and I know Tom will be able to tell you about the caged area and the creatures themselves,’ Sarah spoke carefully, glancing around the room to seek out the other creatures as she spoke. She could see that they wanted nothing to do with the conversation as they looked at her with matching expressions that questioned her sanity. ‘Delia said you found us by using a spell,’ she spoke as she shuffled the blank papers together that she had found spilled across the table. ‘So now you know where to start looking. But as your information seems to be quite recent, I’m sure I can help you fill in a few blanks.’ She sent up a quick prayer as she said this hoping it was true.

Sarah looked down at the blank pages in front of her, calling the images to her mind, before starting to carefully trace outlines and symbols on the paper. As she did so she noticed Thaddeus take a seat across from her again. She kept as much of an eye on him as she could while she sketched and she could tell the moment that his amusement with her returned. She was glad of it, the condescending amusement was better than the wrathful arrogance, if he stayed amused by her maybe he would hesitate to have her killed.

‘When I was taken from the cage, I walked with one of the creatures through their building. We went the other way from the stairs that we escaped from so I don’t think anyone else would have noticed it,’ she kept drawing on the page as she spoke. The lines began forming together into the images she could see imprinted in her mind. She could sense the interest from the creatures around her, especially from the sorcerer and his son as she continued. ‘There was a room with the banshees inside. At first, I thought they were celebrating and must be working with the other monsters but when one noticed me she ran towards me before stopping abruptly at the door. There was nothing to stop her from attacking me … except this.’

Sarah finished off the foreign markings and looked at the symbols she had traced, it wasn’t a language she recognised but the marks had emblazoned themselves into her mind. She had always loved old languages and texts and it was a hobby of hers to try to translate bits and pieces she came across, but she was confident she would never find a book to translate the symbols she had drawn onto the page. She slid the paper over to Thaddeus carefully. ‘It was written above the doorway and I think it’s what the creatures are using to control the banshees. They didn’t look too happy to be there, maybe if you break the spell …’ She let her words die off as he examined the paper she had given him.

She noticed Tom move away to peer at the page over his father’s shoulder. His face was a perfectly unreadable mask, almost a replica of the older man’s expression. Neither said a word, obviously deep in thought as they stared at the strange marks on the page. After several moments Thaddeus grunted, it was the only indication Sarah had that the marks meant anything at all.

‘There were more symbols too,’ Sarah continued as she quickly started drawing on the fresh page in front of her, encouraged by the grunt. ‘These were in a chamber that was empty except for a large altar. These symbols were burnt into the wall, and the room seemed important.’

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Sarah finished off the drawing, including a crude example of the altar and rough measurements of the size of the room to indicate the height of the mysterious symbols and therefore convey their importance. She slid the paper across the table towards the two men, nervously holding her breath. She was surprised when Tom took the paper instead of Thaddeus before studying it intently.

‘They were draining them,’ he spoke as if to himself before continuing to his father, his voice the calmest she had heard it so far when addressing the older man. ‘I saw a few of their prisoners, all creatures like us but their essences had been drained almost completely. They only left enough to keep them alive.’

‘And you?’ Thaddeus asked with the first glimpse of concern for his son showing on his imposing features. Sarah couldn’t help the snide thought that if she hadn’t been successful in saving her life at least she had brought the family to more reasonable talking terms.

‘The banshees bound my powers,’ an expression of remembered pain flashed fleetingly across Tom’s face, gone before most would have noticed it. ‘And I couldn’t use them while I was held captive but I got them back, eventually. What they did to the other creatures was a lot worse and also seemed permanent. This room must be where they were doing it.’

As she remembered the other creatures in the cages it suddenly clicked to Sarah that they were once like the imposing monsters in the room in front of her, only broken and scared by their powerlessness. She wondered at the magical strength it would take to turn those creatures into the feeble shadows of themselves that she had seen, doubting the experience would have been a quick, painless one. Still, she couldn’t find it in her to feel any pity for them.

The older man rose to his feet lithely. ‘I will have to translate all these markings. Thomas, I will need your help later with breaking the spells. It will require a great deal of time and magic if it can even be done.’ He gave Tom a pointed look at this and Sarah nervously realised he was referring again to her being a distraction.

Observing that their interview must have drawn to an end she prayed that she had passed. She didn’t know what to expect as she watched Thaddeus pause and carefully fold the papers she had given him, running his nails precisely down the creases before placing them in the breast pocket of his shirt. The task completed he began to move away from her wordlessly. She knew he was playing a game with her again and as she watched him making his way to the stairs she bit her tongue, refusing to beg. Still, she watched for the slightest command from him to the expectant creatures in the room. None came.

Sarah rose to her feet carefully, forcing her weak legs to hold her up. She felt wobbly from relief, a relief that was increasing with every step Thaddeus took from her. She knew he could still command her death, could toss her outside without touching her and that he wouldn’t have to be close to hurt her but still with every moment she felt a tiny bit safer. Even her breath came more easily as his crushing power moved away from her.

At the base of the stairs, before he started ascending, he stopped. He turned and Sarah felt her earlier freedom snatched away from her as she held her breath and waited to see what would happen next. His endless eyes pierced her, and at that moment she was sure she knew what death felt like.

‘What do you do in your world?’ His question was so odd and out of place that Sarah wasn’t sure how to answer it.

‘I’m … uh … I work in a library.’

His slow assessing gaze started at her feet and moved painfully up her body. There was nothing seductive about the course of his examination and she could feel the power probing at her being before his gaze rested on her eyes. His assessment was soon over but the results would not be forthcoming. He turned and ascended out of sight.

Sarah looked around the room at the faces of the confused and disorientated creatures still crowding around. Any unity that their awe might have invoked earlier had vanished with the powerful man and she was now appalled by the nearness of the ugly faces surrounding her. The arrival of Thaddeus had installed an almost humanlike fear in them, a need to hide from his penetrating gaze and avoid his wrath, but with his departure, they resorted to the base monsters they were. It took only a moment before she noticed their expressions turn from confusion to something far more sinister, and again the looks were directed at her.

Not liking her chances at bargaining with a room full of monsters she turned and looked for Tom. Finding him nearby gave her some comfort but with his recent withdrawn, almost inhuman, behaviour she wasn’t sure if he would be the saviour she was looking for. The expression on his face did little to reassure her. Tom didn’t move closer to her and she wondered if he too was afraid of invoking his father’s anger.

‘Is Thaddeus protecting her now or not?’ the voice interrupted Sarah’s musings and brought her quickly back to the moment and the danger she was in.

Scanning the mob in front of her she realised the melodious voice belonged to a woman that she had noticed before, mostly because the woman was beautiful but also because she looked so human. There was something lithe and agile about the young woman and Sarah found her to be completely mesmerising. Despite the confusion in her voice when she had asked the question she smiled at Sarah now, noticing she was looking at her, and Sarah found herself unable to look away. As the young woman began to move slowly, almost seductively, in front of her Sarah’s mind began to fog as her senses reeled and she was glad when another voice cut through the tension bringing her out of her stupor.

‘We should put her outside so they can take her. Thaddeus said she was trouble and we don’t need any more trouble,’ another voice added from the crowd and although Sarah turned, she couldn’t locate the owner of the angry tirade.

Sarah felt the danger she was in. The monsters had never needed much convincing to turn on her, they just needed permission and Thaddeus might have given it to them. She doubted that whatever Tom had been using to keep them away from her would work now and wondered if he would even try. She missed his touch, his presence that protected her and made her feel secure and wondered at his lack of concern in the situation. As she looked at the monsters she grimaced in fear and revulsion as they started to advance on her.

Unexpectedly she heard a noise, it sounded so odd and was something she would never be able to explain to another person. It was incredibly peaceful, the simplest form of tranquility, like the moment before falling asleep or the way you would feel if you were meditating in a green meadow beside a quiet stream at the bottom of a rainbow. She closed her eyes involuntarily as the feeling washed over her, filling her senses and soothing her nerves like a comforting blanket, reminding her of moments of safety from her childhood.

Awareness came back slowly. Taking a firm hold of her senses once again and opening her eyes Sarah noticed that obviously, she was the only one in the room that felt the moment was relaxing. Tom was standing tensely, his jaw clenched tightly in anger or abhorrence. She noticed he was doing much better than the other inhabitants of the room though who were all writhing on the floor clutching either their stomachs or heads in agony.

Tom moved over to her, carefully stepping over one victim that had wriggled their way between them on the floor, before resting his hand on the small of her back. She was relieved by the small touch although she couldn’t detect any magic from him as the sensations around her were too overwhelming. She looked over at him and was rewarded with a small, tight smile.

His apparent calmness was at odds with the chaos in the room, and Sarah looked at Tom in question before a single word formed unaided in her mind; Thaddeus. He had been true to his word and was protecting her now. The look on Tom’s face made it clear to her that he was distrustful of his father’s influence and she didn’t need to be told that even though she was safe from most of the monsters in the building she might have just bargained herself into the protection of the biggest one. She was sure there would be a cost.

She suddenly felt sickened by the power as she thought of the man that had produced it. The feelings of peace and security she had felt moments before were tinged with something dark, something untrustworthy and she wished she could have nothing to do with it. She didn’t want to be protected by him but as she looked at the monsters in the room, easily kept at bay in one stroke, she also didn’t want to be without it. Still, she couldn’t help wondering if she was going to come out of all of this intact - with her soul.

She marvelled at the man that could do this to other beings. She felt no sympathy for the monsters as they would do far worse to her if given the chance and she was sure they would have no lasting injuries from the experience, they were after all immortal, but as the monsters continued to writhe she wondered why they would tolerate it. It was understandable that they were afraid of the banshees and their masters and of being stripped of their supernatural essence. She just wasn’t sure that Thaddeus was much better.

Feeling Tom’s hand still at her back she slowly became aware of his power radiating toward her. It was soothing, calmer than the raging force of his father’s, and she felt it clear the last wisps of confusion from her mind as she mentally moved from the inability to absorb the horrific scene in front of her toward the calm logic of what to do next. She looked at him, thankful for the assistance that she knew had been deliberate. Remembering his look of aversion to his father’s powers she wondered if he could relate.

Wordlessly Tom walked forward, carefully directing her away from the monsters but strangely moving straight for the solid wall in front of them. He didn’t pause in his headlong momentum and Sarah had to stifle a scream as she expected to walk face-first into the hard panelling. Taking a final breath before impact she realised that she should have trusted Tom more as she found herself instantly in another room.

‘Was that the building or you?’ she asked, remembering the building’s ability to transport people.

‘Bit of both,’ Tom responded flippantly. He seemed more at ease now they were away from the spectacular display of his father’s power. ‘Although this isn’t where I wanted to go, at least you will be safe in here. He won’t enter this room.’

She curiously looked around the large room in question. It was another bedroom with an enormous four-poster bed and heavy wooden furnishings. The room was decorated in the same style as the rest of the building but she could detect some definite female touches that some of the other rooms lacked. The dark, sombre colours were the same hues that she had become familiar with, but the furniture was more ornate and was better quality, the chandelier was huge and expensive and the bedding was lavish with hints of dark lace and comfort.

Walking over to a large portrait on the wall she recognised Tom’s father with a beautiful woman at his side. It was an old-fashioned piece, the standard pose of the man standing next to the chair the woman was seated upon and their clothing suited the Victorian theme perfectly. They seemed happy as they smiled out at her from their place on the wall and she could see the love they had for each other in their comfortable embrace. It was as if they couldn’t help but touch each other.

Still, there was something hard about them that seemed at odds with the picture of romance. Looking at Thaddeus she noticed the painting didn’t quite capture the power in his eyes but the fine lines on his face hinted at the hardness within the man. The sweetness of the young woman’s appearance didn’t quite cover the tightness in her face either or disguise the fiery will Sarah could imagine burning within her gaze. She shuddered at the thought of meeting them as a couple and instead turned to face the man in the room with her.

‘This is his house, isn’t it?’ she asked already knowing the answer. ‘This is your house.’ Tom merely nodded as he leaned against an antique writing desk on the other side of the room watching her.

‘Where is she now?’ She indicated to the beautiful woman in the picture.

‘She passed away, during my birth,’ he answered, any emotion hidden in his tone. ‘My father told me she wasn’t strong enough to have a magical child.’

Sarah felt a pang of sympathy at his words. She knew what it was like to lose her parents but she had grown up in a loving family enjoying a happy childhood. She could only imagine what it had been like for Tom to grow up in this house with no mother and such a stern father, especially if Thaddeus had blamed him for his mother’s death or worse if Tom blamed himself.

She looked back at the seemingly strong-willed woman and wondered at the comment about her not being strong enough. The woman in the picture looked strong enough for anything. Although she was slender and petite, she almost looked like she could jump out of the picture and chase Sarah out of her bedroom.

‘What was her name?’ Sarah asked without taking her eyes from the picture in front of her. She hated to push the topic, knowing the conversation had to be hard for Tom but she felt she had to know more about the woman in the picture. It was as if there was some connection between them. A bond that she found more than a little terrifying.

‘Catherine.’

Sarah realised she had known the woman’s name before being told. The bond she could feel between herself and the woman in the picture became almost a living thing in front of her as it tightened with the realisation. She turned away quickly, breaking the unnatural connection with the simple movement.

‘They look happy,’ she commented, carefully hiding her unease about the couple.

Looking back at the picture she made sure to keep her eyes trained on Tom’s father, noticing the differences in the man with his smiling wife compared to the man she had met moments before. Her first impression was that he had hardly changed, but there was a hardness about him now that the picture only hinted at.

‘They were,’ Tom confirmed. ‘He built this place for her.’

‘The house?’

‘The realm.’

Sarah spun around to see if Tom was joking but his expression was as calm as ever. She wondered just how powerful Thaddeus was that he could create an entire realm, and do so for the woman he loved.

‘It was a place between both their worlds where they could be safe,’ he explained, moving from his position across the room to come and stand in front of the portrait. As he wordlessly stared up at the image of his parents, she looked from the painting to the man next to her noticing the similarities between the three, especially between him and his father.

‘But you said a human couldn’t find their way into this realm?’ Sarah queried softly.

‘She was the only one that could,’ he answered before turning to her. ‘Until you.’

Uncomfortable with the query in his expression and the intensity of any possible reasons behind her accidental foray into his realm she moved her questions to safer ground.

‘What about the creatures here, wasn’t she in danger from them if she was human?’ Like I am, she added silently in her mind.

‘My father only invited them after her death,’ he explained. ‘Before she died it was just the two of them here. Unfortunately, they only enjoyed it for a few short years.’

She knew he meant until he was born.

‘How long ago was that?’ she queried, her curiosity about him piqued before she flushed and quickly rephrased the question. ‘Since the house was built, I mean.’

A raised eyebrow was the only indication that he had noticed her slip before he answered, ‘It was built nearly thirty-six years ago.’

‘But it looks so old!’ Sarah couldn’t hide her surprise that the house had been built so recently, as she mentally skimmed a few years off the figure to work out Tom’s age. She was relieved to hear he wasn’t hundreds of years old and that he also appeared to be aging normally as far as she could tell. The thought reassured her. She had held on tightly to the idea of him being half-human as it made her feel less alone in the paranormal realm.

He laughed briefly at her surprise before explaining about the house. ‘My mother wanted to live in an older era. They were accurate with their … decorating, and my father hasn’t changed much in the house.’

Noticing his rare display of levity, she pressed on with her questions. ‘So, it was just the two of you here while you were growing up?’ She was hesitant to bring up an uncomfortable topic but she wanted to know more about his relationship with the hard, cold man she had just met.

‘Most of the time,’ Tom answered, his tone was serious but still light and she wondered at him being so open about his past when everything about him had been closed and distant recently. ‘Sometimes we would have visitors and we travelled a lot.’

‘Visitors, you mean like the ones visiting the building now?’ Sarah shuddered at the thought of a child coming into contact with the creatures she had seen during her stay. It was a terrifying thought, even if he was only half-human.

To her surprise, he smiled broadly at her expression. ‘They aren’t that bad,’ he stated teasingly and she wondered if he would feel the same way if any of them had tried to eat him. ‘It was Elinor who started my interest in becoming a magician.’ Sarah looked at him blankly at the name. ‘Elinor’s the one that usually sits at the desk you hijacked before.’

‘Ah, the giant leech,’ she said sardonically but kept her tone light like his, ‘Sorry I haven’t been formally introduced.’ She didn’t add that it was because the woman hadn’t been interested in meeting her unless it was for a meal.

His smile stayed at her tone. “She gave me a magic kit when I was about seven,’ he went on with his story. ‘It was probably just a joke but it got me interested in illusions and magic acts.’ She noticed the cards were in his hands and had been the entire time they had been talking, she wondered when she had stopped noticing. She could now understand the connection he had with them if he had been practising since a child, it had probably been some form of a lifeline for him. ‘It also made me interested in your realm,’ he added.

‘You hadn’t been to my, umm, realm before?’ She had thought that travelling would have included her home as well but he shook his head.

‘My father didn’t want anything to do with the human realm or even humans, after ...’ He looked back up at the painting on the wall.

Sarah felt she had at least part of the answer. She didn’t think Thaddeus would approve of how Tom made a living with magic and living in the human world. She also knew that Thaddeus wouldn’t approve of her, because she was human.

‘But you like it there?’ Sarah kept her tone purposely neutral.

He nodded as he answered. ‘I went there as soon as I was able. I found your world and the people in it had an innocence that appealed to me. As you can imagine it’s hard to impress the creatures here with a few tricks and illusions,’ he smiled as he said this and she chose to ignore the condescension in his tone realising he probably wasn’t aware of it. ‘So, I decided to stay.’

‘Well, it’s pretty easy for you to come home whenever you want.’ She thought of the convenience of having access to portals everywhere that could take you wherever you wanted to go.

Tom’s expression turned serious. ‘I never come back here.’ There was an edge of finality in his tone as he spoke and she was sure it was only the dire circumstances that had forced him to return this time.

She remembered his wording to Thaddeus that he had been “compelled” and the anger in his tone as he said it and sighed internally at the heavy-handedness she could imagine in the compelling. She decided not to press, remembering the sensation of the creature forcing her to walk with him and the feeling of not having control of her body. It had been a terrifying experience and wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, she was sure he wouldn’t either. Again, she wondered about the powerful man that had singlehandedly raised a half-human child but didn’t hesitate to control him with magic.

Tom continued, a lightness to his tone that she didn’t believe. ‘But I travel to other realms regularly, there are a few that are still impressed with magic.’

Suddenly Sarah was overcome with the sensation of weakness that she had felt before in her bedroom, only this time she wasn’t surprised to see the woman appear on the other side of the room. She could see the ghost clearly and it was obvious that she was the woman in the picture in front of her; Tom’s mother, Catherine. Whereas before she had been a brief glimpse or an impression of a presence, the woman now stood boldly in front of her staring at Sarah with an indescribable expression. She looked exactly as she did in the picture, nearly the same age, wearing the same clothing, and with the same forceful tightening around the mouth.

As she looked at the apparition Sarah realised something that hadn’t occurred to her before and she turned back to the woman’s likeness in the picture quickly. It shocked her that Catherine had been so young when she had died. She had barely been in her twenties to look at her and she felt instantly saddened for the life that had been lost. The house had only known a brief time of happiness and had been consumed with sadness since.

The overwhelming feeling that accompanied the spirit abated slightly and Sarah realised that she could handle it better than she had before. She could still feel the bond, only now it connected her to the ghost in the room rather than the picture of the woman, and with the strengthening of the connection came a feeling of shared emotions. Although she could feel little from the ghost Sarah felt that her sympathy towards the young woman was being picked at and carefully assessed, along with every other emotion within her. Rather than feel violated it made her feel stronger, surer of herself than she had felt since setting foot into the strange realm of monsters.

She turned back to look boldly at the woman standing next to the bed.

‘It’s nice that you have your mother around still, even as a ghost,’ Sarah spoke to Tom but kept her eyes on the apparition opposite her.

‘My mother has passed on,’ Tom spoke with certainty and Sarah glanced at him in confusion. There was no anger or hurt in his tone at her comment, just an absolute knowledge that his mother was no longer in this realm, in any form. She looked back to where the woman was standing, her confusion deepening as she watched the spirit vanish, the fatigue and weakness leaving her body simultaneously. She wondered how Tom, even with all his power and perception, didn’t know that his mother was still in the house watching over him.

She was just about to say so when suddenly Tom moved to the window and drew back the lacy curtain, a look of deep concern marring his features. Wondering what it was this time, and feeling sure she didn’t want to know, Sarah moved to peer outside with him. She didn’t need to be told what the swirling mass of clouds contained and it wasn’t long before she began to hear the sound that she would recognise anywhere. It was a noise that she had heard before; it was the banshees.