TITLE: The Watcher: Ghost Story 3/3
AUTHOR: vatwoman
FEEDBACK: Will be gratefully received, at: vatwoman@yahoo.co.uk
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Joss Whedon owns Giles and everything/everyone
else `Buffy.' No copyright infringement intended. Anna (and anyone
else I invent) is mine.
"That's 1881, 1891 and 1901, sir." The library assistant laid out the microfiche transparencies on the desk next to Giles. "You know how to use the machine?"
"Yes." Anna acknowledged. "Thank you."
"If you need more help, I'll be at the counter."
"Thank you." Giles smiled and watched the woman return to the main desk before turning to Anna. "So, shall we?"
"Please I want to see what this hunch is."
"Very well." He loaded in the transparency of the 1881 Census. A few moments scanning and there it was, 34 Bailey Street the actual postal address of her house, The Doctor's House. "Well, well " he murmured.
"How how did you know?" Anna reached out and touched the screen. " `Robert Freer. Aged 29. Occupation: Industrialist.' " She frowned and looked at Giles. "I suppose it could just be a coincidence; same name."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "How many Freers are there in the phonebook now?"
"None." She shrugged and looked a little annoyed, knowing that she'd just proved his point. "I'm ex-directory."
Giles suppressed a smile and turned back to the screen. "Your grandfather?"
"No " Anna shook her head, " my grandfather's name was Edward."
"Great grandfather, then." Giles leaned forward and scrolled down the Census entry. "Margaret Freer, aged 25, lady of the house." He continued down the list of the house's occupants. "Housekeeper, Cook, Lady's maid, two housemaids, Manservant, footman." He sat back. "Almost a full house." Turning to her, he asked, "What's missing?"
"Children."
"Exactly."
"Perhaps they were recently married?" She cautioned. "Marriage Register." She pulled over her notebook and added the first entry in their `Things To Do' list.
"Let's do some back-tracking as well; I'm sure this man is related to you, but we need make certain of it." Anna nodded, agreeing with him, and scribbled another note. "Time to move on, I think." He pulled out the 1881 record and replaced it with the 1891 Census record. The images whirred across the screen as he searched for the entry.
"There!" Anna stabbed out a finger and dragged it down the image as she went. " `Robert Freer. Aged 39. Occupation: Gentleman. Charity Roberts. Aged 54. Occupation: Housekeeper. Margaret Fleming. Aged 53. Occupation: Cook. Elizabeth Varney. Aged 21. Occupation: Housemaid. Mary Fletcher. Aged 18. Occupation: Housemaid. Jacob Evans. Aged 26. Occupation: Manservant. Edward Freer. Aged 3 weeks.' His wife's dead." she observed.
"Or she's left him." Giles countered.
A sceptical look flashed across her face. "It's possible, I suppose, but didn't wives in those days stay with their husbands through thick and thin? `Til death them do part?" Anna looked at the screen again. "Perhaps she died in childbirth? The baby " She shook her head, " I'm an idiot! What did I just tell you? Edward Freer!" She turned to him. "My grandfather!"
"Yes I assume so. This man " He pointed at the name just above the baby's entry, " Jacob Evans; he was on the 1881 Census entry "
" the footman."
"He's come up in the world." Giles mused. "Alright, let's expand our search. Births, Deaths and Marriages records of Robert, Margaret and Edward Freer and this Jacob Evans."
"Why?"
Giles stood, shoved his hands into his pockets. His thoughtful gaze rested on the flickering image on the screen. "Not sure, but he interests me."
"Another hunch?"
"Mmm and I've learned to trust them."
Anna studied the screen. The majestic copper-plate handwriting, ink faded with time, filled the page. When he looked at it what did he see that she couldn't? Perhaps this was just intuition the `intuition' of a researcher whose skills, she now knew, had been honed through decades of research into subjects far more esoteric than this.
Picking up her notebook and pen, she rose to stand beside him. "So, where do we start?"
>>>>>>>>>>>
Two hours later they had virtually all the answers.
"Robert Freer, born 1852, Margaret Freer, born 1856, married 1876." Anna read from their notes. "Four children born between 1878 and 1890." She looked up. "All died in infancy. Margaret Freer, herself, died in 1890 giving birth to the last of those children."
"Edward Freer, your grandfather " They knew this for sure now, " was born one year later " Giles continued, studying the notebook.
" mother " Anna finished, " was one Mary Fletcher, the housemaid. No marriage on record. He acknowledged the child, but refused to marry the girl."
"When did she die?"
Anna flipped over a page. "Two years later 1893."
"And Jacob Evans was declared dead by his family in 1911."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning there was no body he'd disappeared."
"Excuse me?"
Both Giles and Anna looked up: it was the assistant who'd helped them earlier.
"Yes?" Giles asked.
"I couldn't help overhearing you while you were working in the stacks: Jacob Evans?"
"Yes?" Giles prompted.
"I thought I recognised the name I transferred the old newspapers onto microfiche. I took the liberty of printing these off for you." She handed Giles a small sheaf of papers. "They're from `The Clarion'; the dates of the articles are written on the back."
Giles took the papers and quickly scanned his eye down the first of them. "Thank you. These look very useful."
The librarian nodded and left them once more.
"What are they?" Anna asked quietly.
"Newspaper clippings. Look " He spread them out across the desk. " this one from 1911." The photograph stood out in stark contrast to the clean script of the typeface.
"That's him." She whispered. "That's the ghost." She looked at him for confirmation. Giles nodded, almost as amazed as she was.
'LOCAL MAN DECLARED DEAD AFTER 20 YEARS'
Jacob Evans was declared dead by
his family yesterday, twenty years
to the day after he disappeared
whilst in the employ of the noted
industrialist, Robert Freer.
Mr Evans's family has always believed
that Robert Freer had some hand in
his disappearance, but despite an
exhaustive year long investigation by
the authorities, no sign of Mr Evans
has ever been found.
The declaration of his death brings
this matter to a close, ending years
of speculation.
"He disappeared " Her voice trailed off as realisation struck her. "Freer killed him?" Anna breathed out. "Freer killed him." It sounded no less astonishing the second time she said it. "Oh my god, he killed him!"
"Yes and probably in the house. "
"Hence the haunting?"
"Hence the haunting." Leaning forward, Giles quickly read the other articles, both from 1891, paraphrasing as he went for Anna's benefit. "Jacob Evans disappeared and eventually his family contacted the police. During the investigation it transpired that both and Evans and Robert Freer, his employer at the time, had had a relationship with the housemaid, Mary Fletcher. Interviews with Freer and his staff led the police to believe that Freer had consummated that relationship. Evans had not. The girl fell pregnant and had a baby boy, Edward. The baby was strong and healthy and whilst Freer acknowledged the baby, he made no attempt to `do right' by the girl."
"Heaven forbid that he should." Anna commented sourly. "She'd be nothing to him."
"But to a man who'd lost so many children, an apparently strong, healthy, baby boy would be everything. Mmm here " He indicated about halfway down the page, " Evans was in love with the girl and wanted her to marry him and for them to strike out on their own. Freer wouldn't give up the child. Mary wouldn't leave without her son. And Evans couldn't bear to stay under the same roof as the man who'd got his fiancιe pregnant. "
"So he left." She was further down the page. "Or so Freer told the police."
"His family pushed the `dutiful son who never went for two weeks without contacting his mother' routine and, when they found out what had gone between Freer, their son and the girl, publicly accused Freer of some nefarious act." Giles quickly read the second article, dated a number of months after the first, and then sat back in his chair once more. "It's interesting that there's no mention of Freer defending his name against such a slander especially interesting given that the police decided that there was no evidence of a crime, never mind a perpetrator."
"But we're sure that Freer killed Evans?"
"Who knows why; an argument that got out of hand? A fight? Doesn't matter, the answer's still `yes', if only because the ghost is Jacob Evans and it's haunting your house "
" me."
"Sorry?"
"It's not haunting the house, is it? It's haunting me." He hesitated and when he did she reached out and gripped his hand. "The truth, Giles."
"Yes."
"Then it wants revenge?"
A thoughtful look settled on his face. "I think so, but tricky things, ghosts. Revenge may be too sophisticated an analysis of the force that's driving it I would normally have categorised it as an extreme rage."
" `Normally'?"
"It spoke to you." He turned slightly to look at her. " `Soon.' Ghosts don't usually issue taunts, Anna."
She stared blankly at him for a few moments and then got to her feet. "I need some water." She strode away, out of the swing doors, and into the corridor outside. He watched her through the glass doors as she poured herself a drink from the water cooler and downed it in one gulp. The paper cup was crushed in her hand before she threw it into the wastebasket. She spun on her heel and walked away out of sight. Giles sighed, knowing how difficult this was for her: the violation of her home, her very life. He let his concentration turn back to the notes in her notebook and as he lowered his head, a small, sad, smile settled on his lips.
The air outside was cool and bracing and although she shivered in it, Anna welcomed its freshness. Her great-grandfather had murdered someone in the very house in which she now lived. A family's history - something she'd spoken of to him only yesterday twisted by a black deed.
She looked over her shoulder at the building across the street behind her. Giles was waiting inside. She'd placed such trust in him and he had not abused that trust and she knew that by the time she returned to him he'd have the solution. She braced her shoulders and taking a deep, steadying, breath re-entered the building.
He smiled at her as she retook her seat next to him.
"I disturbed something, didn't I? When I had the attic rooms demolished." She frowned. "But the workmen didn't find anything and all the internal walls were brought down."
"I know." Giles pointed to the newspaper articles. "The police thought of that as well and they didn't find anything either."
"What do you think happened?"
"I don't know. The end walls, perhaps, or under the floors. He may have just killed Evans in the house and disposed of him elsewhere."
"Do we need to find his body?"
He shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary."
Another deep breath. "Good that's good. So, what's today's Plan A?"
"Today's only plan. A form of exorcism, very ancient one; a very powerful one." He glanced at his watch. "I need to get some supplies." He stood. "Time to go, I think."
They gathered their belongings and left the building. As they stopped on the street outside Giles fished into his pockets and found his keys. He handed them to her. "I'll meet you at my flat. I shouldn't be more than half an hour. I'll pick up something for lunch on the way back: what do you fancy?"
She blinked at him, confused. "Lunch?"
"Ah hah you know, meal that's eaten in the middle of the day."
Anna rubbed a tired hand across her brow, "I'm sorry, lunch? All of a sudden that just sounds a little too mundane."
He laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be fine, Anna."
"I want to believe that." She told him and then added, "I don't know how to react to all this look around us." She gestured down the street. "People going about their lives, normal lives and I'm in the middle of something that is just not normal it feels completely unbelievable. How do you do this?"
Giles looked away and stared into the distance. "It'll be fine." He turned back to her and touched her arm again. "Go to my place I won't be long."
They held each other's eyes for a few more seconds before she gave her assent with a quick, jerky, nod. He left her immediately and she watched him until he disappeared around the corner at the end of the street.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
"When I draw the last symbol the circle will be complete. It's like a a shield. Stay inside it and it'll protect you. Trust it." His gaze was intent on hers. "Whatever happens, stay inside the circle. Do you understand?"
"Yes." She confirmed, without hesitation.
"Good." He looked up the corridor, evidence of the destructive power of the creature strewn around it, and nodded once, purposefully. "Alright then." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Let's get started."
Anna squared her shoulders and took a deep, calming, breath. She could feel a trickle of sweat running down her back. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Giles crouch down beside her, chalk in hand, poised to complete the intricate, interlinked, designs surrounding her on the floor.
She reached into the leather bag he'd given her and drew out a handful of the sacred sands and herbs she'd earlier watched him mix and bless. She tossed them into the air, away from her own protective charms, onto a lone sigil that he'd drawn exactly two arms' lengths in front of her. The burst of light from the mixture was like a waterfall, dropping pinpoints onto the now glowing design on the floor.
"Good. Well done." Giles encouraged in a quiet voice. "Now the incantation."
`You have to say it this time. It won't come to me; it's wise to that now' he'd told her - the same one as before, the one that he'd used to summon the creature the night before. So simple that it sounded like a child's rhyme. Hadn't he said that the power of this spell was in its simplicity? The same with the one Willow Rosenberg had spoken to bring Buffy back from the dead. Was this how a person was dragged into that life? Seduced by the notion that the simplest, most delicate, things in the world had unimaginable power? There'd been power in her asking him for help - she saw that now; a power within her that hadn't so much asked, as demanded.
In that moment she looked down and he up. The last sparkle of light reflected off his glasses and obscured his eyes from her. He looked silvered and golden a magical being waiting patiently at her feet, there at her bidding. Does he see what he is? The world's champion, battered by a life of service, yet still standing strong in answer to its call. She could think of no description more hideously anodyne than `Watcher.'
`Spirits of air, spirits of light Bring forth the stranger to our sight.'
Giles's eyes hardened as she spoke the few, simple, words of the summoning spell. It would come more quickly this time, with the path already trod. The memory of the last symbol came without effort and was added to the others in swift, smooth, strokes of the chalk. As he lifted his hand from the floor the air shimmered. He stood, nodding in grim satisfaction.
"Remember, Anna "
" I know, stay in the circle "
" no matter what .."
" Giles "
Her eyes darted left, looking over his shoulder. He half turned, facing down the corridor and saw it standing where it had first appeared, at the bottom of the stairs that led to the top-most floor of the house.
"Anna?"
"Yes?"
He looked back at her. "No matter what." He allowed her no more than a nod before he stepped in front of her and onto the sand covered sigil.
"Jacob Evans!" The creature's body tensed, head jerking up as it focussed on Giles. "I know you! I've summoned you! Answer the call!"
"The woman summoned me."
Giles heard Anna gasp out a breath and willed her to steadiness. "No, I summoned you. The woman does my bidding."
"A Freer does no man's bidding." The sibilant `s' sound slid through the air, pushing at the ears and nerves. Giles fought the urge to shiver and saw the creature that was Jacob Evans start towards him: an unhurried stride radiating contempt.
"Oh my god " Anna again, and Giles could hear the tremble in her voice.
She seen what he could see; the utter blackness following the creature down the corridor. It was like staring into the end of the world. The end of everything. The fore-told moment when, suddenly, there would simply be nothing. The image of Buffy falling falling crowded his mind. <This blackness is this what she saw?>
"She's his whelp." It was in front of him. Black eyes, like the blackness behind it. It's mouth, a maw, and when it opened, blacker still.
"No," Giles shook his head, denying it, "You do not have leave to visit the sins of the fathers onto subsequent generations."
"Yessss " The abyssal magnified the word, gave it power, lanced it into Giles's chest. He gasped harshly and clutched his heart. The creature took another half step forward. " even unto seven generations."
The blackness rippled and hissed; moved as if it had a life of its own. The threat of power behind it was almost too much to comprehend. It filled the corridor, floor to ceiling, pressing at the creature's back, demanding release.
Giles took a step away and the creature took the invitation. The next step brought it onto the sigil that Giles had vacated with his move backwards. Giles took another step further back.
`Lords of Night, the darkness is yours.
We tremble like children, frightened
By its power.
Lords of Day, the lightness is yours.
We tremble like children, basking
In its power.'
"She's his whelp."
The air shivered again and the thing that had been Jacob Evans moved forward as if to step from the sigil. Giles raised out his arms sideway, palms raised to the heavens.
`Lords of Day! Hear me! Hear me!'
The single design on the floor glowed briefly, and a humming started, low and deep.
`The Night encroaches, comes where it should not.
Forces away Day. Forces away Light.
Deny it!'
The humming grew louder as if responding directly to Giles's words. The sigil's glow grew brighter.
The creature stepped forward, but was stopped as its body was jerked back. It looked at the ground to see ripples of light playing up its legs. "No!" It tried to raise its feet, twisting its body as it tried to free itself. "I will not be denied!" It threw out its arms, reaching for him, and howled with rage. Its reach fell short by half an arm's length; the carefully measured space between Giles's chest and the sigil.
`Lords of Day! Hear me! Hear me!
The Night encroaches, comes where it should not.
Forces away Day. Forces away Light.
Claim it!'
"Noooo " The ripples had become tendrils, winding like the strong roots of a tree around the creatures legs. "Vengeance is mine! Retribution is mine! He left me in that hole! I am owed! I will not be denied!"
"Giles!"
Anna's warning and Giles saw why. The blackness had gathered itself, and was pushing at the invisible line behind the creature's body. The hissing grew, the pressure of sound increasing with each passing second, and even as they watched a finger of blackness twisted its way beyond the creature. It was like a dam bursting, a flood of utter night washing down the walls and across the floor.
Horrified, unable to do anything but watch, Anna saw the blackness flowing towards them. Giles had said the circle would save her from harm, but he was standing in front of it, between her and the creature, completely unprotected.
It reached her and the air around her flared in a harsh crackling display of fiery red light. She could see nothing behind her, nothing to either side. The sound was a shriek now, the high keening that she'd heard so many times before.
"Giles!" She had to shout to make herself heard.
"Stay in the circle!"
"Giles!"
"Stay in the circle!"
The light surrounding the creature grew again, and Giles was now silhouetted against it. Static rippled around him, making his outline waver, blue against the pure white light that poured from the sigil. The blackness closed in on him. The creature still writhed and twisted as it tried to free itself from the light's grasp, but it was smiling, it's black eyes knowing.
`Lords of Day! Hear me! Hear me!
The Night encroaches, comes where it should not.
Forces away Day. Forces away Light.
Defeat it!'
As he screamed out the last section of the incantation the blackness rushed over the last few feet and swallowed him whole. All the sounds ceased abruptly. <Stay in the circle. Stay in the circle> She heard his words in her head like a mantra. There was nothing. No light. No sound. No creature. No Giles. There was nothing beyond the flaring glimmer of her protective circle except the impenetrable blackness.
"Giles?" The sound of her voice carried no distance it felt as if the word had dropped from her lips to the floor at her feet. She turned around, carefully rotating on the spot, but saw nothing but black. <Where is he? Oh god, where is he?> "Giles!"
360 degrees and Giles was in front of her, a shout frozen on his open mouth, black as night, like a maw, his eyes dead with darkness. Her scream was terrible, rending the air around her, but choked off as he disappeared into the blackness again, pulled backwards by an unseen hand.
"No! No! No!"
She wanted to step from the circle, follow him into the abyss, but couldn't find the strength to move. It was happening again. Everything was curling in on itself; she could feel her will flowing from a body shaken to the depths of its soul. She fell to her knees and covered her head with her arms. Helplessly she rocked backwards and forwards, eyes closed tightly. A silly child's song appeared in her head. Her rocking gained a rhythm as she sang quietly to herself.
`Spirits of air, spirits of light
Bring forth the stranger to our sight.
Spirits of air, spirits of light
Bring forth the stranger to our sight.
Spirits of air, spirits of light
Bring forth the stranger to our sight.
Spirits of air
'
She giggled and then choked on it as her laughter became a cry of anguish, "Giles!"
The air exploded in light blowing away the protective circle in which she kneeled. For one horrifying instant the black depth of the abyss rushed at her and then it wheeled and shredded, it's scream of eons old hate deafening her. Reflexively she curled up into a ball, flinching as the debris in the corridor from the previous night was picked up and thrown around her head.
The scream went on and on and her screams joined it the sound of a human being losing its mind until she realised that hers was the only sound. She choked down and there was silence.
She might have lain there for a minute or an hour - the passage of time defeated her. Slowly, however, she found herself, almost without conscious effort, uncurling her body from its foetal position. Every movement wrapped tighter the dull pain in her heart. Every movement seemed to take an age to complete. She felt a thousand years old. She gained her feet, stood up straight and realised that her face was wet with tears.
The air felt hot. The walls and floor around her were scorched, burned by the coruscating blast of white light that had driven back and destroyed the dark. The corridor looked like it had been hit by a bomb. On down the length of it, wallpaper hung in ragged strips, the mirrors, glass already smashed, were twisted and broken, paint on the ceiling and varnish on the floor was bubbled and blackened.
On down the length of it and found him there, kneeling on the floor.
She was moving before she realised it, walk becoming a run that ended with her dropping to her knees and sliding into him. He caught her as she hit him and pulled her in tight to his body. No words. There were no words and as she pushed her face into his neck he twisted his legs out from underneath himself so that he could sit. He settled her in even tighter against him.
"It's gone, Anna. Can you feel it?" He whispered in her ear.
And she could. The lightness of the air hit her. <I can breathe. Oh god, I can breathe> The tears started slowly, grew, until they became a storm. He held her through it, and felt the release of years of grief behind them. Her mother, her father, her brother, her nieces, her husband and her baby. He held her even after the tears had stopped and he could only feel her breath hot and damp on his neck. He held her while she slept, watching over her until it was time for him to leave.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The afternoon sunlight finally woke her and she knew immediately that he was gone. Stiff from lying all night on the sofa she struggled to her feet, swaying as she sought her balance. She was cold, still tired, but desperately hungry. Taking that as a good sign she turned, heading for the kitchen, and saw the message light flashing on the answering machine. She pressed the `play' button and waited.
<"Anna, it's Giles. I'm sorry I couldn't stay, but I have to get back to Sunnydale. To to Buffy."> Anna walked to the window. The sun was warm through the glass and she lifted her face to it and closed her eyes. <"You saved my life yesterday when you repeated the incantation, it brought me back. Thank you. The house is clean now I hope that well "> She heard his tiny snort of embarrassed laughter. <"The sun was shining when I left this morning. I hope it still is when you wake up. Enjoy the day."> She heard the faint sound of a tannoy announcement in the background. <"Ah, that's my plane. I uh ... I don't know how long I'll be in America haven't really thought that through but I'd like when I come back perhaps I could call you? See how everything is? Ah ok, I have to go now I'll speak to you soon goodbye.">
The message finished with a quiet click and into the silence she heard the sound of the birds in the bushes under the window. Sparrows, Nature's noisy battlers, flitting in and out of the greenery, chasing each other as they fought to right their wrongs. Backwards and forwards they went, round and round, until she was dizzy with watching them.
Her laugh, strong and true, rang out into the sun - drenched room.
END