Illusions, p.9
Illusions, page 9
“When she first showed up on our radar, she was twenty, and the elders had originally thought, incorrectly, that it was her that the prophecy was about, as her mother had been a seventh daughter, and we believed her father had been a seventh son. For the few years after she turned twenty-five, she was trained much as you are being trained now.
“Then you were born. And we realised that we’d got it wrong. When the elders looked back over her family history, it turned out there had been a stillborn older brother before her father, the birth was never registered, though, and her father hadn’t known of him. Therefore, for a few short years, Alana had gone from feeling like nothing to believing that she had this destiny. To be told that the same destiny was not hers but was the birthright of this young woman who had everything in life that she’d never had… Can you see where this is going?” I could, and although I pitied her, which I was sure she would be thrilled about, I found that I was angry as well.
“She wants this destiny? She can have it for all I care!” I was beginning to feel like a petulant child, but I was beyond caring.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, as you know.” The way that he spoke to me, like a parent, was beginning to grate on me, but I gritted my teeth, as there was still another question that I felt needed answering.
“There is more to it than that, though, isn’t there? She seems to think that I’m out to steal you away from her or something to that effect… Doesn’t she?” I looked him directly in the eye and was amused to see him squirm a little uncomfortably at the question.
“She is jealous of the fact that we spend so much time together, as she has made it clear to me, on several occasions over the years, that she wished to have a relationship with me. She is under the impression that you and I have developed feelings for each other.” I rolled my eyes, though I ignored the fact that I was pleased that he didn’t appear to return her feelings, telling myself it was because I believed that he was too good for her.
“Does the fact that I was engaged to be married until three months ago even factor into her way of looking at things?” Liam smiled a little.
“No, unfortunately, it doesn’t. Anyway, that is why Alana is, rightly or wrongly, treating you the way that she is. Now, why don’t we head to the gym to work off some of that anger you’ve still got stored up? Seeing as I’m clearly not going to be able to get any sleep while you’re this angry and screaming every thought in your head.” He got to his feet, putting a hand out towards me. I took it and stood, looking up at him.
“I thought you could block out our thoughts?”
“I usually can. But with your thoughts, Isolde… I seem to have trouble tuning you out.” He held my gaze for a moment before turning and leading the way out of the room. I could see that the conversation was now over, but I didn’t feel any better for it and just wished that Alana would get over her issues and realise that if it were up to me, I would give up my destiny in a heartbeat if it meant that I could go back in time and still be a happily engaged woman, preparing to marry the love of my life. I didn’t understand why she would think something was happening between Liam and I, anyway. I treated him no differently than I did anyone else in the house, and I couldn’t see anything different in how Liam treated me compared to the others… I mean, sure, he looked out for me, but that was his job, right? I guess we all had a few issues to deal with…
That afternoon, Aurora and I went to have a look at a few houses together, finally taking a step up from scrolling through the rental listings online. After looking at the first three houses, I was starting to feel a little disheartened, as the homes that were in our price range weren’t what we had hoped. We stopped into the real estate agent who had handled the sale of the townhouse, thinking that they may have apartments for us to at least look at.
“Hello, girls. I heard you’re house hunting?” It was the same shameless woman who had sold the townhouse for me. I’d hoped never to have to deal with her again after the settlement went through a few weeks ago, and I was almost tempted to ask for another estate agent, but she had already started talking.
Don’t they usually have different people who handled the rental side to the sales side of the business?
“I have the perfect place for you. It’s just a few streets away…” She continued prattling off info about the house, and Aurora and I wrote down the address, saying we would meet her there in ten minutes, as it was currently empty.
“I doubt this place is going to be any good, Is. I mean, is a house in Bulimba really going to be in our price range? It’s probably just an old shack.” I nodded in agreement as Aurora tried to find the house listing on her phone while sitting in the passenger seat.
I followed the directions the GPS lady gave me in her prim and proper voice, and moments later, Aurora and I got out of the car, gaping at the house in front of us. This couldn’t be it, surely? The address we wrote down must have been wrong…
On the outside, the house ticked all of our boxes. It had a small front yard with a simple garden and a beautiful big frangipani tree that was still in flower, unheard of in late June.
We stepped through the gate and met the estate agent at the door.
“Megan, are you sure we can afford this place?” I was certain she had made a mistake. She probably hadn’t been listening properly. I looked around the wide verandah, wishing that I could afford an old Queenslander like this. It had been renovated to pristine condition. Through the window, I could see polished floorboards.
“It’s under the amount you told me.” Aurora and I must have had identical looks of disbelief on our faces as Megan nodded vehemently as she continued. “Yeah, the landlord was adamant about how much to list it for. Only just went on the market today. Come on. We’ll have a look inside.” Aurora and I exchanged excited looks and clung to each other, both trying not to get our hopes up.
But upon stepping through the door, I knew immediately that we’d found our new home. With its polished wooden floors and high ceilings, the four-bedroom house was exactly what I had always imagined living in. The location was perfect, only three streets away from the river. I could easily walk to and from the ferry if I wanted to. Two of the large bedrooms had adjoining bathrooms, which meant I wouldn’t have to share with Aurora and Jacob… I forced aside the tightening feeling in my chest and tried not to imagine growing old here with Will and instead pictured the home that Aurora and I could make for ourselves… It was bittersweet, but I knew we had to make this place ours. The twinkle in my sister’s eye confirmed my feelings, and we did our best not to do a happy dance right in the middle of the lounge room.
After having dragged both of our parents all over the house and signing all the paperwork at the real estate agents to get the ball rolling Aurora and I could do nothing else but talk excitedly about our new home. My father was convinced that at that price, there must be something wrong with it, but I refused to let myself be concerned. It was the first time since Will’s murder that I had felt any kind of excitement. It felt good to feel something other than grief, anger, frustration or the debilitating numbness that I was so familiar with.
I made myself a simple dinner that night, enjoying having the house to myself for the first time since we’d moved back in, as everyone else was out for various reasons. After indulging in a lovely, relaxing bath, I entered my bedroom that evening and immediately brought Ainslie’s number up on the messages app on my phone. I was excited to share some great news with her, having dropped off the radar with her lately. I hadn’t been in touch with any of my friends much since Will’s death, and I knew I needed to start to reach out more.
A movement out of the corner of my eye made me look up and promptly stopped texting. Sitting on my window ledge, just as Liam had done several weeks earlier, was Will.
Chapter Eleven
I dropped the phone and stood motionless, staring at Will, who leaned casually against the window frame, as though sneaking up the sides of houses and terrorising women in their bedrooms was something that he did every day… Which, for all I knew, could be true these days.
It had been seven weeks since I had seen him, although I had felt his presence in the dark outside of the house, a constant reminder of what he had become. But the creature sitting on my window looked exactly like my Will, the man that I had loved for the greater part of my life.
He smiled his breathtakingly beautiful smile that had always been able to make me melt at the knees.
“Hey, beautiful.” God, his voice. I hadn’t heard it since that fateful night, which felt like a lifetime ago, but was only three short months.
Every part of me wanted to run into his arms and hold him so tight that he could never disappear again. Every part except the pit of my stomach, which was screaming at me to run back out the door.
“What… No hug? Is that any way to greet your dead fiance?” I backed up a step, although I knew he could not come into the room.
“What are you doing here?” I finally found my voice, though it sounded alien to me, robotic even.
“I came to see you. I miss you.” This was near impossible. Although I knew what he was, what he’d become, he didn’t look like the demonic creature that had attacked me in my front yard. Why did he have to be so beautiful, so perfect… so Will? I took a deep breath and stepped back again, now standing in the doorway of my bedroom, still staring at the man at my window.
“Leave now. I know what you are, and you are not welcome here.” As I said this, I sent a silent plea to Liam, hoping against all hope that he was listening from somewhere nearby. I hadn’t spoken to anyone from the Order since this morning, but I knew Liam was usually the one on the nighttime watch when I wasn’t at the Manor.
“Now, now. Someone has been telling you stories, haven’t they? Telling you that I’m one of the bad guys.” Will shook his head, the condescension in his voice making me want to throw something at him, but I was still frozen where I stood. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe your precious Protectors are the bad guys? What sort of person spends their entire lives stalking someone?” I raised an eyebrow at this last question.
“Yes, who would spend their entire lives stalking someone? Tell me, Will, what is it you have been doing every single night since you woke up? Leaving me threatening notes and dead animals? Staring up at my bedroom window, by any chance? Or hiding in the shadows, waiting for me to be alone? I’ve felt your presence, Will, so don’t try to deny you’ve been the one doing the stalking.”
“I won’t deny that I’ve been watching you, Isolde. You’re the love of my life, and it breaks my heart to see you with him.” Will spat out the word ‘him’ as though it was a bad taste in his mouth. For a moment, I wondered who he was talking about, but then I realised he must be referring to Liam. I didn’t know how to respond to this and just stared at Will, praying that Liam would appear soon and this torture would be over.
“You know what he is, don’t you?” Will continued to taunt me, but this question threw me.
“He’s one of the Protectors. Like me.” I shrugged as though this statement meant nothing.
“He’s nothing like you or any of the others.” Will was enjoying this; I could see it in his ice-blue eyes. Eyes that were so similar to Liam’s, now that I thought about it.
I refused to let him get to me, although I knew where he was going with his goading remarks, and I didn’t like it.
“Don’t you want to know what I’m talking about? The Isolde that I knew would have been bursting at the seams with curiosity.” Something in me flickered, a memory, though it was gone before I could recall it.
“The Isolde that you knew is gone. She disappeared the night you died.” Although I said this with a hardness that I truly wished I felt, inside, I was falling apart.
As I struggled to pull myself together, Will continued to grin at me cruelly. It was a smile that I would never have thought possible on his face. He truly had become a stranger to me.
“You can’t fool me, Isolde. You forget I know you better than anyone, probably even better than you know yourself.” How true this statement once was.
As I struggled for a comeback to this last remark, Will suddenly disappeared from the window. I heard a loud crash and the sounds of struggle, though I was too afraid to go near the still-open window. I could hear the sounds of fists hitting flesh, and every part of me wished that I could see what was going on, that I could see who had come to my rescue. My instincts, however, told me that it was Liam. With the racket they were making, for the first time, since I’d learned the truth, I was grateful that my family was out after dark.
After what felt like an eternity, the sounds of fighting disappeared, and I stood motionless in my bedroom doorway, preparing to flee the room if necessary. When Liam appeared soundlessly at my window, I let out the breath that I had been holding and moved to sit down on the bed, my legs unable to hold me up anymore.
“Are you alright?” Liam made no move to come through the window, taking Will’s place on the window ledge, and my suspicions of his true nature were doubled. Seeing him sitting where Will had sat only moments ago did not help my feelings of unease, and he watched me warily.
“Not even the smallest bit. He’s going to keep coming back, isn’t he? I’m never going to feel safe again.” I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling as though I needed to protect myself from some unseen danger. I missed the feeling of protective arms around me, of someone else shielding me from the world’s dangers. The realisation that I was now alone in a cold and dangerous world was crashing down on me. I didn’t realise I was hyperventilating until I looked in the mirror and saw my reflection. Liam could do nothing from his vigil at my window, and I realised that he was the one who would be there to protect me, no matter who or what he was.
“Come in.” I managed to breathe these words out in between my gasps for air, and after a moment’s hesitation, Liam climbed through the window and was at my side, his arms enfolding me as I continued to sob silently.
“You’re not alone, Isolde.” Liam held me close, stroking my hair in a way that made me feel safe, something that Will had done only a few short months ago when I awoke in terror. Something that my mother used to do when I awoke from my nightmares as a child. Nightmares about creatures in the dark, with piercing blue eyes, terrorising my dreams. As I rested my head against his shoulder, tears streaming down my face, the memories of all my nightmares over the years came flooding back to me. With startling realisation, I understood now that Liam had been in the dark, watching me my whole life, and entering my dreams, almost as though his presence in my mind drove out the terrifying creatures that lurked in the dark.
I pulled away and looked up at him through my tear-filled eyes. He reached to wipe a tear away, and I clasped his hand in my own.
“You’ve been in my dreams all my life, haven’t you?” Liam touched my face again with his free hand, wiping away another tear that slid slowly down my face.
“I’ve been watching over you since you were born, Isolde. I have protected you from your nightmares as much as I could over the years, though I could not do it after you turned twenty-five. Those nightmares are part of the process that you need to go through to deal with what your life now involves. The ones you had as a child, though, I could protect you from those.” We sat so close that I felt as though I was falling into his eyes. I had known that part of his mind-reading abilities meant he was able to communicate telepathically to a degree, but I had never put the connection together. Something had changed between us in that instant of realisation, and I was petrified of what I was feeling.
“You’re the younger brother, aren’t you? The daywalker?” I had to know, though I didn’t know what I would do with this information once it was confirmed. It was probably better for me not to know, but I couldn’t bear being treated so delicately anymore. I needed to know everything. Liam just looked at me sadly for a moment before nodding. I let out another long breath, feeling as though I was deflating.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I was tired of all the secrets and lies, of being treated as though there were things I wasn’t allowed to be told. Liam let go of me and stood up. I thought he was going to leave, but he just moved to the door, closing it so that the light that had previously flooded into the room from the hall was reduced to a sliver under the door. I should have been afraid, but I had come to trust Liam so much with my safety that it did not occur to me to be scared. I just wanted answers.
“In life, I was Liam O’Brien. These days, my last name has disappeared, as has the love I once held for my brother. I am simply Liam. However, yes, I am the younger brother. When I said I understood more than you could know, I meant it. I know how it feels to have my whole life ripped apart and have all of this thrust upon me. “ The sadness in his eyes was heartbreaking. “And the reason that no one told you was that I asked them not to. I wasn’t ready to have you look at me with the same fear that you hold for Will and Adam.” Liam didn’t return to sit on the bed, instead sitting on the window frame again, as though waiting for me to tell him to leave.
“Liam, the number of times that you’ve come to my aid in the past three months alone, and yet you still thought I’d view you as a monster?” I tried not to be offended at this thought, and Liam smiled, relaxing a little. I moved to his side, peering out the window to reassure myself that Will had truly left, before leaning against the window, my arm lightly touching his.
“I guess I keep forgetting how incredibly well-adjusted you are. Although you thought that we were all mad and that this was some nightmare, you’ve accepted it, taken it all in, and just got on with it.” I thought he might have been thinking of someone else; there was no way anyone could have believed that I was well-adjusted. I had certainly declared that all of them were insane and needed to visit the mental ward on several occasions. Liam smiled, and I knew he must have heard my train of thought, which raised another question.
