NINE ONE OF SIX
NINE
ONE OF SIX
‘ L iam, meet Opel. The Motus Keeper,’ Tariq says, proudly.
‘Hi,’ I say.
Opel scans me from head to toe, flicking her black, bobbed hair out of her eyes.
‘And which one is he?’ she says to Tariq.
That is exactly what my aunty Mary used to say when my cousins and I would visit her.
‘The Auctus, like Thomas was,’ Tariq says, putting a hand on Opel’s arm.
Is there something more than friendship between Tariq and her?
Opel gives me another once-over. ‘He won’t last.’
‘Excuse me?’ I say.
‘I’ve missed you, Tar,’ she says, ignoring me and embracing him with a kiss.
As she pulls away, she leaves behind a smudge of chocolate-coloured lipstick on Tariq’s bottom lip. Well, that answers my earlier thought.
I avert my eyes, taking in the surroundings as we begin to ascend the stairs of the Seven Angels. We pass several doors, one of which is Tariq’s room.
When we reach the second floor, we enter into some sort of study.
It’s similar to the rest of the building – low ceilings with exposed beams and an irregular wooden floor.
A single window overlooks the courtyard out back, casting a soft glow over the room.
An old stone fireplace, much like the one in Tariq’s room, crackles in one corner. I can already feel the warmth.
At the centre of the room sits a small wooden desk, positioned diagonally, with a high-backed armchair behind it. Two other armchairs are arranged, facing the desk. It reminds me of Principal Gellar’s office at college, only older.
‘Where’s Nathaniel?’ says Tariq.
‘Where’d you think?’ Opel says, warming her hands by the fire.
‘He’s making a cuppa, isn’t he?’
Whoever Nathaniel is, he’s not the most organised guy. Against the room’s longest wall is a bookcase, resembling one of those plate-smashing games you see at a school fair, only instead of old plates, it’s old books.
Even his desk is dishevelled. There’s a laptop poking out underneath a pile of papers. Still not as bad as my desk at home, so I don’t know why I am judging.
The door opens and a man appears with a tray holding a teapot and several mugs.
‘Hello, hello, hello,’ he says, setting the tray down. Ignoring Tariq and Opel, he heads straight for me, extending his hand. ‘I’m Nathaniel Thorpe. Welcome, Liam.’
I shake his hand firmly, taking in the kindness in his face.
He has a Jon Snow look about him, if Jon had spent a few more years at the Wall.
‘I trust Tariq has taken good care of you?’ he continues, a wide smile flashing across his face.
I nod, gazing at Tariq a bit longer than I probably should.
‘Good,’ Nathaniel says, clapping his hands together. ‘Tea?’
I’m more of a coffee guy, but I go along with it. ‘Yes, thanks.’
Nathaniel begins pouring from the pot, gesturing to Tariq and Opel, but they both decline.
‘Before we get to Liam, Nathaniel, something’s come up,’ Tariq says.
Nathaniel hands me my tea. ‘Oh?’
Tariq hesitates for a moment, seemingly more concerned about Opel than Nathaniel. ‘Draven Blyth is back in Sarumbourne.’
‘What?’ Opel says, dropping her hands to her sides.
Nathaniel sits in the armchair behind his desk. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Very sure. Liam and I were confronted by him just now out in the yard.’
Opel strides to the window, peering out.
‘Are you both alright?’ Nathaniel says.
I nod, unsure what to say.
‘Yes, but there’s something else…’ Tariq begins.
‘I can’t believe you didn’t say something straight away, Tar,’ Opel says.
Opel’s pendant is similar to Tariq’s, a rounded stone held by silver, but the shape of the metal is different, bent into vine-like curves.
‘He’s gone, Opel,’ says Tariq.
‘I will just have to find him, then,’ she says, moving for the door.
Tariq grabs her arm. ‘You know that’s what he’d want.’
‘I don’t care,’ she says, shrugging him off and leaving the room. With a flick of her hand, the door slams shut behind her.
‘Opel!’ Nathaniel shouts.
That was dramatic. Also, did Opel just shut that door without touching it? WTF list!
‘Draven made an offer. I’ll let Liam explain. I’ll go after her.’
‘Go,’ Nathaniel says.
Tariq rushes out, closing the door, the regular way, behind him.
I stand awkwardly with the tea in my hands. Nathaniel adjusts his blazer and then gestures to an empty chair in front of his desk. ‘Please, Liam, have a seat.’
I sit, trying not to spill the hot liquid.
‘Quite the eventful night for you, then,’ he says, the firelight reflecting in his black-framed glasses.
‘You could say that.’
‘First off, tell me about your encounters with Draven, while it’s fresh in your memory.’
I take a sip of my tea. It’s bitter, but in some way comforting.
I talk Nathaniel through it all, beginning with Draven in my dream, and finishing with his offer just now outside. All the while Nathaniel is jotting down notes on a pad beside him.
‘So, you think the business he has in Sarumbourne might relate to what you saw in your dream?’
‘Yeah, he seemed desperate to know what I saw. What do you think it means?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Nathaniel says, leaning back in his chair, ‘but it is unusual for a Keeper to see beyond their predecessor’s demise. It’s even more unusual to see a ritual take place.’
‘A ritual?’
‘You said there was chanting, and fire. These are signs of a ritualistic killing, but to what means I do not know. And you mentioned the girl’s eyes changed?’
‘Yes, they were… different. Not hers. Dark. And they looked at me.’
Nathaniel shifts uncomfortably. ‘Like it acknowledged you were there?’
I really don’t like the way he said ‘it’. I nod. ‘Is that bad?’
Nathaniel ponders for a moment, before writing in the pad once again.
‘Well, let’s not dwell on that for now.’
I could dwell on it a bit more, but we’re moving on.
‘We have a new Keeper in our midst. I must apologise. I understand how bewildering these past couple of days have probably been for you. Now that you’ve had some time to digest, you must have some questions. I hopefully have the answers, so ask away.’ Nathaniel takes his tea, relaxing in his seat.
I had a zillion questions, and now I don’t know where to start. I guess the obvious threat on my life is a good place.
‘That man, Draven. Who is he?’
‘Draven Blyth. The Blyth family has a long history in Sarumbourne and belongs to the Order of the Dark Friars. Draven is what you’d call their general, for lack of a better word. He’s also an immortal.’
‘He can’t die?’
‘Oh no, he can. Over the centuries he has found ways to not only prolong his life, but to keep himself immune from the powers of Keepers.’
That’s why he said Tariq’s power would have no effect on him, and why he was toying with Katie in my dream.
‘However, he’s not immune to physical damage,’ Nathaniel continues. ‘He can still bleed.’
‘So, in all this time, no one has been able to stop him?’
‘Liam, you must understand – Draven has been in this game a long time, far longer than any of us. He’s sly, he’s clever, and he knows Keepers inside out.’
The thought that Draven knows me and my abilities better than I do is frightening to say the least. I mean, hunting Katie down in Craythorn Forest, playing with her before he killed her. He’s sick.
‘Why didn’t you guys help Katie? Like you’re helping me.’
Nathaniel sighs and removes his glasses.
‘Katie Ford was a surprise. It’s been a while since we’ve had a newly awakened Keeper.
Believe me, Liam, we would have helped Katie if we’d known about her.
Unfortunately, the Guild’s tracking abilities are limited.
We have eyes and ears all over the city, looking out for new Keepers, such as yourself.
Sometimes we find them, sometimes we don’t.
Unfortunately, the Dark Friars discovered Katie before we did. ’
My tea is no longer steaming. ‘So, what you’re saying is that I’m lucky, and Katie wasn’t. That just doesn’t seem fair.’
‘When we heard the news that a girl had gone missing from the college, I sent Tariq to patrol the grounds to see if he could find anything concerning her whereabouts. I believe him running into you was fate.’
‘Fate?’ I say.
‘A successor doesn’t always receive their powers right away. It can take weeks, months, sometimes years, before a new Keeper is awakened. The fact that you began having your dreams just days after Katie passed, which led you into Craythorn Forest and Tariq finding you, that means something.’
Tariq saving my life, bringing me here, walking me home, lending me his pendant – were they genuine or was he simply following Nathaniel’s orders?
‘I see you are wearing Tariq’s seresberi stone,’ Nathaniel says, eyeing the chain around my neck. I pull it out from my hoodie and hold the stone in my hand.
‘I have instructed the Guild to fashion you your own, but until then, you must keep that one on at all times.’
The storeroom incident at college comes to mind. I hesitate for a moment. ‘About that… today at college, I sort of took it off…’
The door opens, and Tariq walks in. He nudges me lightly as he passes by, settling into the empty chair. His touch sends a warm shiver through me.
‘I trust everything is alright with Opel?’ says Nathaniel.
‘She’s downstairs in the bar with a G and T in hand, she’ll be fine,’ says Tariq, as he begins pouring himself a tea.
‘Good, at least that’s sorted,’ Nathaniel says. ‘Now, Liam, you were just saying, you took off your pendant…’
‘You did what?’ Tariq says, almost dropping his tea.
‘It was just for a few minutes,’ I say, quickly. ‘But then, this thing appeared, out of nowhere, screeching this ear-piercing sound like I’d never heard before, and—’
‘Wretch,’ Tariq says, rolling his eyes.
‘Yeah, I almost did, the thing was gross,’ I say.