Talisman Of El (Arcadia, Book 1)

Chapter Four - The Other Thief

WHEN CHARLIE WOKE THE following day, it was several seconds before he remembered what had happened. He was lying in bed, looking through his photo album. The shock of what occurred that night had taken a while to wear off. For a time, he tried to convince himself that it had been a hallucination. Jacob wasn't a thief. There had been no woman with mysterious powers. After all, he wasn't in any pain, which he should have been had someone thrown him around like a rag doll as he'd thought. Just a dream, he told himself; yet he still could not get Candra out of his mind.

Frustrated, he thrust the photo album onto the floor and sat up, swinging his legs out of bed. Candra's scarred but beautiful pale face kept flashing through his mind. She had looked to be in her thirties, her alluring green eyes clouded by the deepest sorrow –

The sound of a click brought Charlie's thoughts to a sudden halt. He looked at the door and saw Jacob glaring at him.

'We're leaving at eleven tonight,' Jacob said. 'You better be ready.'

Charlie averted his eyes. 'How can I forget? You've been reminding me every second.'

'Don't get smart with me, you ungrateful brat.'

Charlie sprang to his feet. 'You expect me to be happy?' he said through clenched teeth.

'I expect you to do what you were brought here to do.'

Charlie paused, scowling as he processed Jacob's words. 'What do you mean?'

'Did you think I took you in out of the kindness of my heart? Let's face it. I'm not getting any younger. I need a new pair of legs.'

Charlie stared at Jacob in shock and indignation. 'You don't really want a son.' His low voice was tense. 'You never have.'

'Bravo.' Jacob clapped his hands together. 'I knew I made the right choice with you. The first time I saw you, you looked so lost. You had no one and nothing to your name. My mother used to say that a person with no expectations was a person with no disappointments. She was a clever woman, my mother. "Don't let anyone tell you that you can't have what you want", she used to say.' A vacant expression appeared on Jacob's face as his gaze wandered around the room. After a moment, his eyes locked on Charlie, and he stared intently at him, as if he'd only just noticed him. 'Why so glum? You have nothing to lose, so shut up and get on with it.'

'How many times have you done this?'

Jacob grinned. 'That depends on if you mean robbing from the dead or just in general.'

Oh great, I live with a kleptomaniac. Charlie felt a headache coming on. He looked at his clock – 11:40 a.m. – and remembered he had planned to meet up with Alex at twelve. 'I'm going for a walk.'

Jacob huffed. 'I don't think so, boy.' He grabbed the door handle and retreated out of the room, slamming the door shut.

Charlie heard keys jingling, followed by a loud click. He was on lockdown.

***

Charlie's bedroom door unlocked.

It was time.

It took them a little over thirty minutes to arrive at their destination, longer than it had taken them the previous night, due to the slippery roads caused by the melting snow. The car veered off the road and entered the woods.

Charlie could see why someone like Jacob could get away with this for so long. It was easy to carry out since Capeton was seventy percent woodland and thirty percent civilisation. One could easily get away with murder.