All Hallow's Eve (58 page)

Sturdy
a
rms wrapped around her,
holding
her own
tightly
against her chest
.
A voice sounded in her ear
,
but she could not make out
the message
.
It made no difference
what words
it
used
; she refused to allow the
Olc
to take her again!

Bending her neck, she bit down
with all her might
a
nd
pinched the
flesh
under
the
Olc
’s
opposite
arm
.
T
wist
ing
in
it
s grip
, she was free.

Elizabeth threw
her upper body toward the table
and
grabbed something hard,
swinging
it at the attacker. Strong hands caught the item
before it made contact.

The
Olc
took hold of her legs. She kicked
as hard as possible
,
and
it
released her
.
Elizabeth
launched herself toward the table
, h
er
fingers
in
stantly ide
ntif
y
i
ng
the
cand
e
labra.

Scrambling to her knee
s, she raised it
high
above her head
when she heard
the
shout
that stopped her
.
“
Elizabeth!
I woke you
from
a nightmare!
”

Kneeling over her foe, Elizabeth blinked a few times, trying to focus on the face
behind the arms held out in
self-
defence
.

“William?” she panted.

He lowered his arms.
“Yes!”

Almost unable to accept that this was not some sort of trick, Elizabeth
hesitated before
lower
ing
the cand
el
abra.

“You are safe, Elizabeth. It was only a dream.”

She sat back on her heels.
Moving very slowly, William took
the weapon
from her
and
lit
a
candle on the table
beside him
.
Facing
her,
he
c
ross
ed
his legs.
“Did you not hear me speaking
to you
?”

Elizabeth shook her head.
“I could not make
it
out
.
I was
consumed
by
fear.
I
could not
allow
the
Olc
to
– to
...”

He gently pushed her hair from her face, and
she saw the bite mark she had inflicted
. “Oh, William
, y
ou
are
injured
!
”

William
chuckled.
“
I now fully understand why y
our father cautioned me not to
attempt
hand-to-hand combat with you!
”

His attempt at humo
u
r did not lighten
her
mood in the least
.

“Come!” Elizabeth crossed to her dressing room.
Pouring fresh water into a basin, she
cleansed
the
wound and dressed it
,
using the
betony leaves that Jane had left to be applied to her injured wrists.
“It was not a dream
, William
.”

“You
were
asleep, Elizabeth. Your fitfulness woke me
,
and when I realized that you were having a nightmare, I tried to wake you.”

She shook her head.
“It was not a dream.
It was a memory.”

He stood
and
pace
d for several minutes before standing before her again
.
“You
said that Wickham did not give himself over to the
Olc
as others had done
. J
ust
how many victims’ memories have you been inflicted with, Elizabeth?”

“There are too many to count.”
Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned to rest her ear against his heart. “Through
out
the centuries, some were used for short periods of time, others longer. I am having trouble separating the similar personalities from each other.

“Since
Cher-nog
was fond of being in authority, some people were chosen due to their excellence in certain fields.
At first
,
all
fought
against
surrendering to
it
.
Excessive p
ride urg
ed
them to improve
their circumstances
.
Eventually
each
person
of this type
came to appreciate how
Cher-nog
built upon what they had
already accomplished
.
It
created a lifestyle that they had always hoped to
achieve,
but
in much less time
than they could have themselves
.
Most of these people had dis
honour
able dispositions even before they were possessed and
,
therefore
,
did not have any qualms about the methods that the
Olc
used. They became powerful leaders within trade, business, politics
,
or the military
without having to expend any effort at all.

“Another variety of character
Cher-nog
repeatedly possessed were those with extraordinarily strict moral
dispositions, forcing them to experience...” She blushed. “
...o
bliging them
to
become familiar with acts that were
unquestionably
wicked
. The
F
iend reveled in their agony.”

William
closed his eyes and
pulled h
er
closer to him.

“At times, the
Olc
would switch
briefly
to
the person
it
had treated badly
,
in order to
re-
experience the abuse
from another perspective
, as a memory
.”
Elizabeth
inhaled
William’s
scent deeply and concentrated on his touch to remain in the present
time
.
S
he knew that it would not be difficult to become lost
in these foreign recollections. “
It was o
ne of
those
memories
that
c
a
me to me as a dream
. W
hen I woke
,
I
could
only
recall
what had happened
in the dream.
When I
felt that
someone
was
nearby
,
I
had
to protect myself!
”
The tears she had been repressing made their way down her cheeks.
She sobbed,
“I did not mean to hurt
you
, William
!”

William
soothed
her until she calmed.
“Elizabeth
,
would you rather that I not
—
that
is to say, there would be less of a risk
of
frighten
ing
you if I did not sleep in the same bed.”

“No!
Truly, I did not mean to...
”
s
he replied without thinking, but the memory of William having to defend himself against her
caused her to consider it
.
“
You
would
probably
sleep better if there was not the chance of being attacked
while you slumber
.”

“It is not
for
my sake,
Elizabeth.
It is only that
I do not wish
my presence
to terror
ize
you
.
”

She pulled away and looked into his eyes.
“You could never do such a thing.”

He smiled.
“If it happens again, we can think of it as training
. I
t cannot hurt
for my skills to
be test
ed
at times that I would le
a
st expect it!”

~%~

Late the following afternoon,
William squeezed his wife’s hand and then knocked upon the chamber door where George Wickham resided at present.

“
Good afternoon
,
”
Lydia
greeted the couple as she
stepped
out into the hall.
“
Has anyone spoken to you today
of
George
’s condition
?”

“No, we
had
left word that we should not be disturbed
,
” Elizabeth answered.

“Oh
,
Mama examined him earlier.
Physically, he is well, but
otherwise
.
..
”
Lydia
shook her head
. “I have been try
ing to convince him to join us
for a meal.
Will you help me?
”

William
answered,
“George
is recovering from
a horrible experience
, Lydia
.
It will take time.
W
e should not press him.”

Lydia
sighed
,
nodded,
and led them into the room.

As
the newcomers neared the fireplace
,
George
stood
and bowed slightly,
his gaze directed at the floor
.

Mary rose.
“Good day
.
I hope you are
well
recovered, Lizzy?”

Elizabeth answered,
“
Good afternoon. I did rest
a little
, thank you
, Mary
.”

Mary’s gaze flitted from William to
George and back
again
.
“Lydia and I were just
about to
tak
e
our leave
to prepare for dinner.”

“But
,
Mary
!
”
R
eceiv
ing
a glare from Mary
,
Lydia stopped speaking suddenly, and then began again,
“Yes
,
I d
o hope to see you
all
this evening.
”
Her
voice
was filled with anticipation.

George
looked up.
“I – I
do not believe
I will
be able to
attend
.”