The Watcher

Magnus & the ones left behind

It was time to move on but first he wanted to know what had happened to the others, the ones that had been on the peripherals of events. For some he wanted to see them happier without the encumbrance of evil in their lives and for others he wanted to make sure that promises had been kept. The creatures would be happy for one more feast before they moved on to another town, the search for evil never stopped and Magnus had been watching, waiting and acting for hundreds of years now. He never tired of his task, and he never rested, for Magnus it was all he'd ever known. His pets were always hungry and luckily there was no shortage of evil, unpleasant nasty people about to provide them with a meal.

Brenda Stanhope was financially comfortable; her recently deceased husband had left behind a decent life insurance policy which would enable the children to remain in the private schools they attended. As an added bonus she no longer had to tolerate the horrible, boorish little man she'd mistakenly married as a naïve young girl. The atmosphere in the house felt lighter without Evan coming home drunk and obnoxious, they could go out to dinner without him insulting the staff and upsetting other diners and showing them up. Brenda could invite her friends over again and she noticed the children were more comfortable bringing people back too. The funeral had been a decent one, she'd arranged it the way she'd thought he want but had opted for cremation of the small body parts they'd found rather than the burial he'd always said he'd prefer. The police believed that the animals had got to him and that possibly he'd died of natural causes although what he was doing skulking around in a disused tunnel was anyone's guess. Brenda had a feeling about that, Evan wasn't above paying for sex when he was drunk, and she suspected that he'd gone there with a woman. Maybe he had a heart attack and the woman had run off too afraid to admit she was there? God knows Evan's lifestyle was enough to kill anyone off, too much rich food, the smoking and the amount of alcohol he knocked back. Brenda folded the last of Evan's clothes and placed them into the bags for the charity shop, as a man who never gave anything of himself to others in life the least she could do was make a gesture for him in death.

Polly smiled as she brushed her hair, she'd let it grow long for the first time since she was a girl, now there was no-one to grab it and pull it and yank her around by it she felt safe to have it the length she wanted. Her new dress fitted her snugly and showed the new curves she'd developed; Polly had found that without the constant anxiety and fear of being Frank she had regained her appetite. No-one seemed to know where Frank was, he'd vanished without a trace after he'd half killed her in the park that night. She'd never know who called the ambulance, but they'd saved her life, the staff at the hospital had called the police and they'd told her that even without her input they planned to arrest Frank and charge him with assaulting her. At first, she'd lived in fear that he'd appear on the doorstep but slowly she'd become less vigilant and more able to settle of an evening. She was pretty sure by this point that he was on the run from being arrested and that he wouldn't risk coming back. The sound of the doorbell made her start at first and then she laughed at herself, it was just Jim, come to walk her to the pub so they could have a drink together. At the moment they were taking it slow, just friends, they reassured each other, but Polly's heart beat a little faster when she thought of him, and she knew it went deeper than that. Polly ran to the door, eager like a young girl on a first date and when she opened the door and saw Jim's kind, smiling face and felt his warm hand in her's she knew that she was safe. Outside in the chilly night air Polly and Jim chatted comfortably as they walked, both so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice the tall man with the unruly beard standing under a tree watching them walk by. His eyes were hard and cold but he almost lifted his lips in a small smile, almost, but not quite.

Izzie flung open the door and saw Calvin standing awkwardly on the other side of it, he was barely visible behind the large Christmas tree he was clutching. "Well, are you going to let me get this thing in or shall I just leave it on the doorstep for someone to nick?" Izzie laughed at his mock grumpy tone and pushed the door wider to give him and the tree some room. Lugging it into the living room he dumped it on the floor before disappearing back out and then returning dragging a huge bag behind him. Ushering her out of the room he shut the living room door, she pressed her ear to it but all she could hear was thumps, crashes and muttered curses. Albert was at nursery, and she'd have to go get him in a bit so she hoped he wouldn't be long, she wasn't entirely comfortable about him being in the house without her considering what he was doing when they first met. Finally, the living room door swung open, and he held his hands over her eyes as he marched her into the room, his touch was warm and gentle, and Izzie leaned back against him instinctively. Removing his hands, he shouted, "ta da" and Izzie's eyes widened in shock, standing in the corner replacing the tatty old tree she'd rescued from the bins was a giant, brand new one complete with flashing Christmas lights, baubles and tinsel. It wasn't just that though, underneath were a heap of beautifully wrapped gifts and standing on the old coffee table was a hamper overflowing with food and drink. Her eyes welled with tears, and she turned to look at him, his eyes glowed as he looked at her "the star is still in the box, I think little man should put that on." Izzie felt a rush of affection for the awkward man standing in front of her, thank you didn't quite seem enough considering that only a few days ago she'd thought that not only would they have nothing for Christmas she'd be sex working with Terry as her pimp. Cal held out his arm and she folded her's inside it and together they made their way out of the flat, Magnus watched them feeling the satisfaction of a decision well made. He'd been close to finishing both men that day, but he was glad that his instincts hadn't failed him.

No-one really missed Chelsea. Her followers wondered where she'd got to for a few days but soon found other people to worship from afar, social media platforms are awash with Chelsea clones, so it didn't take long for them to find someone new to follow. Strangely it was the waitress from the bar who was the most concerned about her, she saw the posts online asking, "has anyone seen Chelsea?" She went to the police and told them about the day she'd seen her and the homeless man who she thought had followed her up the road, but they didn't seem especially interested. "I expect it's all a publicity stunt and she'll suddenly show up to enjoy all the attention" a bored looking officer told her cynically. The waitress shrugged, she'd done her best and probably that officer was right, but she couldn't quite shake off the feeling that something bad had happened.