Coming From the Shadows Series
Coming From the Shadows: Lydia
Previous Instalments: Missing
- Missing: Part 1 – Chasing Shadows: The Mystery of Lydia’s Disappearance
- Missing: Part 2 – Desperate Calls: A Tale of Kidnapping in 1910
- Missing: Part 3 – Unraveling Secrets: The Search for Missing Lydia
- Missing: Part 4 – The Minotaur’s Daughter: A Tale of Cult and Growing Resistance
January 1910
Salford Hundred, Oldham
The biting wind howled through the remains of the old mill, carrying with it the stench of damp and rot; inside the air hung with the metallic tang of blood, compared to the beginning of the year, it was very stark – it felt so very long since the festive cheers of Christmas had been around, now.., within harsh grip of January’s winter an unforgiving icy dread now permeated.
Chapter 1:
Lydia, tethered in place slumped forwards; the chain that wrapped around her neck snapping against the wall as her body slumped, it sounded far louder than it actually was in the oppressive silence as she fell unconscious, her body now being held purely by her throat, limiting her already raspy breathing, the metal bit into her soft flesh around her neck – she was effectively suspended above the cold and unforgiving floor.
Her arms, bound by course rope that bit into the flesh around her elbows and wrists.
George stood above her, his attention now been shifted away from his daughter, who he had just been overseeing her torture – eyes, now on the new arrival brought before him, Sören held the whip kept his eyes on the unconscious girl now hanging limp, a cruel grin was present on his face, he had enjoyed pushing Lydia through such a painful experience – this interruption though had irritated him, as his eyes finally moved from Lydia to the new arrival, he observed George as he began to circle.
As George circled the new captive like a predator, he carefully observed him tremble; George began questioning him, learning his name is Owen, it is then he notices Owen’s eyes keep flicking back to Lydia, curious, George stops in front of him “Why do you keep looking towards her?” he questions, his tone sounded more curious than his previous questions
“I saw her in Manchester” Owen said “I…, I had this urge to attack her…, I struck her when she was walking….” He admitted
George shifted his gaze back to his daughter a moment, then to Sören “I was told she was found unconscious….” He slowly nodded his head “So…, that was your doing?” he turned his attention back to Owen
Sören shifted his gaze to Owen “So you are the reason we managed to finally capture this girl” he chuckled “You made our job so much easier; you have no idea how dangerous this one can be”
“What do you mean?” Owen looked to the Sören, then to George and back towards Lydia
“This girl before you has been trained since her childhood; she is trained to kill, first by my organisation, unfortunately she escaped us; but she has been trained further since, and has often been interfering with our operations” George explained
Owen looked to George carefully; watching as he seemed to look back at Lydia – he noticed how George seemed almost entirely devoid of any sort of paternal affection; his eyes predatory, it was unnerving as he watched carefully.
Kneeling down, George reached his hand out to Lydia a moment; at first Owen believed he was checking her, until he grabbed Lydia’s hair to push her head upwards, the look on George’s face just displayed an irritated anger before he let go; her head dropping back down again – George stood back up, straightening himself and returning his attention to Owen.
“Owen…” George seemed to purr; his voice dangerously soft – Owen now began feeling even more threatened than he had already “You assisted us greatly in your action; your contribution can not be overstated; she typically tends to prove very difficult” he then paused, despite the warmth of the praise he seemed to give, Owen still felt it was just some kind of false-sense of security
George’s grin seems to grow more sinister as he looks at Owen “However…., she is my daughter” he told him “And you decision, however helpful to us; will be punished…, severely; I cannot after all, allow for someone to believe they can bring harm to my own children free of consequence”
With a gesture; two of the Cultists that had brought Owen before him make a move to grab him once again; Owen let out a panicked scream.
Chapter 2
Outside of the old mill, Thomas now with the support of Wilson his handful of British soldiers and Miquel; began making their move, the daylight did not offer much in the way of help, they had to be careful with their movements, choosing to take up positions which offered the best vantage point without being seen.
The depravity of the Cultists had just been displayed, they knew what kind of people they were about to confront; and with the fanaticism that Thomas had witnessed, he knew that this was not going to be easy, regardless of how many were inside the building; but they were soldiers, and Britain, had many of the best trained in the world – they needed too with such a large Empire to protect.
“Right then” Wilson rasped; his breath misting in the cold air “We hit them hard; we hit them fast; Get in, grab Lydia and get out” he states firmly “No heroics; understood” the soldiers nodded, he then looked to Thomas and clapped him on the shoulder “We’ll get her out of there; she’s lucky you’ve been looking out for her”
With a silent nod; Thomas signalled to advance, they moved like shadows against the old mill, they made their move to reach positions but still keep each other in view to follow any signals made, Wilson, shifting his eyes glanced around a quick second before he made a hand gesture – they moved.
The initial assault was devasting; as the Soldiers burst through different entrances, they made use of rifles and revolvers; gunfire erupted into the old mill, chaos erupted, but the initial advantage would be short-lived, the interior of the mill was mostly lit up by dim lights which immediately shut off, plunging the interior into darkness, while there was brief moments of flashing from the firing of weapons everything died down.
Then; they came – their dark clothes helped mask their movements in the darkness, and they struck at the British soldiers with various weapons; most wielding knives, they had no qualms about being in close – the fighting turned into a brutal bloody melee.
Thomas, his heart pounding managed to fight his way forwards; he spotted Lydia and went straight towards her, spotting two Cultists trying to get her down, he made his move, firing a shot off at the first; the sound reverberating around – the second quickly span around to face him; but Thomas wasted little time in turning the revolver on him as well – the second ‘bang’ rung out, his attention shifted to the unconscious Lydia as he holstered his revolver.
He didn’t waste time; he pulled a knife as he reached for the iron bolt in the wall that the chain was attached too, he ignored the chaos around him as he tried to force the chain from the iron bolt; his eyes narrowed with his determination “Come on!” his voice a controlled anger as he struggled
When he managed to get the chain free; he quickly pulled it all the way from the wall; catching Lydia as her body slumped forwards; he knelt down and with urgency started tapping her face “Lydia!”
George; hearing someone calling his daughter shifted his attention, he raised his eyebrow – despite all the chaos, he simply stood in place, his hands resting behind his back, his face a picture of bemusement; he observed carefully before a slight chuckle escaped his lips “Interesting” he said quietly
Getting no response; Thomas picked Lydia up, her head lolling into his shoulder as he quickly turned to escape the chaos; Wilson saw this and fired his revolver up above his head “Back!” he simply shouted; the others knew what he meant – slowly they all began moving to get back outside.
Back out in the daylight; Wilson glanced about carefully – the Cultists though had no intention of allowing them to escape, they rushed in pursuit, forcing the soldiers to keep fighting; everything remained as chaotic as it had been inside the mill.
Wilson saw Thomas carrying Lydia “Oi!” he shouted “Get her out of here, we’ll catch up!” he shouted
Thomas shifted his attention to Wilson and nodded.
Chapter 3
As Thomas made his way further from the chaotic mess from the mill, he finally started to slow down, his eyes drifting downwards as he noticed movement – finally he came to a halt as he kept Lydia in his arms “Lydia?”
The silence stretched between them a moment longer before she made a grumbling noise in an attempt to answer him; when her eyes slowly opened, she looked up at him, the pain was clear in her expression; but she also seemed surprised when she saw who it was “Thomas?” he simply smiled at her “Put me down” she told him, realising she was in his arms
“Not sure that is a good idea” he told her
“I said; Put. Me. Down” the strain in her voice displayed she was still in a lot of pain, but, he decided to just do as she said “You need your hands” she said quietly
At first, he was confused; and despite Lydia almost collapsing as soon as he put her down; it was a sudden grip on his shoulder that snapped his attention around; it felt like a vice had just clamped down on his shoulder – he came face to face with George, who’s face was a mask of cold fury
“You are not going to interfere” George told him
With a strength that belied his age; George hurled Thomas away from his daughter; sending him crashing across the ground – Thomas realised what Lydia meant; he quickly scrambled to his feet, his hand instinctively reaching for his weapon; this was a confrontation he did not want.
George, despite his age and the appearance; was a monster, a man with years of experience in dealing with death; Thomas, despite all his training in the army still did not have the same experience as George – but that wasn’t going to stop him.
Further away from all of the fighting; another group had just arrived to Oldham – their faces etched with worry and determination, Cathryn could see the ensuing chaotic fighting around the old mill between the soldiers and Cultists, she recognised Wilson as the same officer she met in the Himalayan mountains years ago, she then shifted her attention around “Bloody hell” Elizabeth commented “Look at that mess” she added
Elizabeth looked at her mother; Cathryn’s eyes were still scanning around, she was clearly looking for something “There” Xian said; as he approached Cathryn, pointing to the east of the mill, he had spotted a fight between Thomas and George
“Go help the soldiers” Cathryn said; she started walking off on her own in the direction Xian pointed
“Mum?” Elizabeth called out; Cathryn stopped and glanced back towards her
“Go and help the soldiers” she told her firmly; she then resumed walking off
Chapter 4
Thomas shifted his position – he had been struggling so far, but was refusing to give up; battered and bruised he kept getting back to his feet to fight with George – George though moved with an unnerving grace, each of his strikes precisely placed, designed to incapacitate; Thomas retaliated with furious heavy swings.
Thomas was making desperate attacks; he could see just how experienced George was as each of his attacks were blocked or deflected away, the movement calculated.
George made a quick movement forwards; as Thomas tried to pull a knife in a desperate move, George managed to time his own movement as he grabbed his wrist, yanking Thomas’ arm up and back over his shoulder causing him to fall hard to the ground; George looked to the knife he now had in his hand “You have skill boy” George said, shifting his eyes to Thomas “A shame really” as he came down towards Thomas, the intention to stab him; his vision temporarily went dark; a pain spread across his face and he slumped backwards a moment; the knife fell from his hand, when he got his eye sight back, he looked to see his daughter crashing to the floor – she let out a pained scream.
Lydia; seeing Thomas fall to the ground, knew what her father intended – with his attention on Thomas, she forced herself to move, she used every ounce of determination, even as her body screamed at her; as George made his move, she just threw her body forwards, she didn’t care – her leg came up and across into a kick – her leg connected hard against her fathers face; but it hurt her far more than it did her father, her leg gave out, unable to hold herself upright and she went tumbling – crashing down hard to the floor.
As Lydia hit the ground; she felt every nerve in her body protesting at her action; she hard barely managed to even pull it off, now though she just could not move; she rested her head against her arm as she started to sob; she couldn’t control the pain rushing through her body.
“Such a foolish girl” George shook his head as he rubbed his face, he was highly irritated; but his fight with Thomas was renewed again; but he wasn’t going to waste his time now; he wanted to end this fight, and this time; Lydia would not be intervening – he landed a punch to Thomas’ lower back which stole his breath before one more and final devastating punch landed on Thomas’ gut – it sent Thomas down to his knee’s
Moving a moment, George collected Thomas’ own revolver and looked at it before turning it towards him “She wont save you this time” he told Thomas
With a grin he was about to pull on the trigger before his smirk disappeared entirely and he felt a sharp pain briefly on his hand; the revolver fired but the movement of George’s hand causes him to miss; he dropped it within a split second as he moved his other hand to grip over his right hand “Fuck!” his eyes looked to the clean cut across the back of his right hand – then his attention snapped up just as he realised someone was right up against him before a new pain engulfed his ribs; his eyes landed on Cathryn then downwards to the crimson beginning to blossom through his shirt – there was a knife lodged into his ribs
“I would run like the coward you are” Cathryn told him before she cruelly twisted the knife as she yanked it backwards
Chapter 5
As George stared at Cathryn; she yanks the knife backwards; he lets out a splutter as he stumbles away from her; Cathryn made it obvious she would attack again if he didn’t take the chance to escape while he had it – so, he did so, he moved slowly, but he made no effort to stay any further to fight.
Cathryn shifted her attention to Thomas; then her eyes landed on her daughter and she made her way quickly to her; dropping down beside her “Lydia” she said softly
It was obvious that Lydia was in no state to move; and with her moving in and out of consciousness she wasn’t able to really respond; Thomas, now back on his feet made his way to Cathryn and Lydia; he didn’t hesitate to pick Lydia up, Cathryn remembered the conversation in Egypt that she had with him, she knew how he felt about her daughter, a small smile formed – but, now they needed to get away from the Cultists.
Luckily, the Cultists, who had seen George’s retreat and seeing the British soldiers turning the battle once again, and even the added assistance of the new arrivals; they began to flee, the Cultists knew they had lost – they was not willing to stick around any longer.
When they were finally back in the safety of Stockport; Lydia, now wrapped in blankets and laying peacefully on a bed – Thomas and Norina remained by her side, watching over her offering whatever comfort they could.
Cathryn spoke with Wilson regarding the Cultists – Wilson made an offer of support, giving her a ray of hope as he suggested he would speak to others in the army; to weed out any Cultist influence if there is any, so that they would be able to present themselves as an ally against the Cultists.
Xian, an ever building desire to root out anywhere that the Imperium goes manages to convince Cathryn that they should track George, he was after all the leader of the Cult of the Minotaur and a member of the Imperium’s council; he was dangerous and needed to be tracked.
The Monk choose to remain behind, while Cathryn would travel with Xian, Elizabeth and Miquel agreed to work together to go and find Damir in Liverpool – as for Wilson and the British soldiers, they would return to were they had travelled from
As time ticked by; later into the night Lydia led in the bed, though beside her on the small table was a small box, and beside the bed stood a woman with raven-black hair and violet eyes that looked to Lydia; her hand gently resting on her forehead.
Written By: Westley H.
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