by Rute Canhoto
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Although Marina had awakened several times throughout the night to make sure that everything was fine, she felt more relaxed. She got up, got dressed and went to the kitchen. A punctilious edginess invaded her when she saw the living-room window. Would the spooky man still be at the river’s wall? Curious, she walked to the window with uncertain steps and peered in a shy peek. There was nobody on the rail. Man or ghost, he had left her alone, which was a relief.
She had breakfast and went back to the bedroom to get her stuff, including her umbrella. She was sure that it would rain, as indicated by the clouds that insisted on painting the sky in shades of gray and black. Marina just hoped that it wouldn’t happen while she went to the crypt or after, on the way to school.
Once in her way, a question crossed her mind: should she take the same route, taking into account she had been chased out from there the previous day? The strange guy wasn’t on the rail, but he could have hidden among the trees surrounding the staircase. Two younger girls crossed before her, taking the trail she had doubts about. Responding to her instinct, she stood behind them. She would follow the girls glued to them. That way, even if the man was hiding, he wouldn’t dare to harm her. Stupid, she scolded herself. She should have accepted Joshua’s offer; she wouldn’t say no again. As things were, she shouldn’t walk around alone, exposing herself to unimaginable risks.
Her plan worked just fine and she crossed the dreaded area with no problems. Nonetheless, the girls attended the School of Pedro Nunes and not her High School, which meant that, from there on, she would have a long path to walk on her own. Either way, she would march alone to the crypt, since it was a course seldom frequented and only taken by tourists and vendors. Marina started the ascent towards the castle.
At the top of the slope, she headed straight to the crypt to finish her mission. Although the archaeological crypt was located in a corner, she had no trouble finding it. Under a concrete arch, the gateway to the historic space invited to cross it. Marina knocked on the door politely and a lady came in response. Her hair was gray, mottled with white locks, falling straight along her neckline. She was quite thin and dressed in a somewhat formal way.
“Good-morning,” saluted the lady.
Marina smiled and answered back, “Good-morning. My name is Marina and I’m here, because teacher Adelino sent me. He’s very sick, so the visit to the crypt won’t be going ahead.”
“What a pity,” the woman replied. “I’ve come early on purpose to be your guide.”
“I’m sure he’ll set things up for a new visit really soon. I wonder, would it be possible to transmit this information to my colleagues that may come here?”
Nodding, the woman assured, “Of course. There’s no problem, I’ll tell them.”
“Thanks. I’ll return to school now.”
“Okay. Thanks for letting me know of this. I had no idea what was happening. You teacher must have tried to tell me, but my phone is dead, so he wasn’t able. I guess I’ll see you soon. Bye then.”
Marina said farewell to the woman who went back inside the facilities and pulled the door closed behind her.
She took her phone from her pocket and gazed at the clock on the display. There was still half an hour for Portuguese class, so she could enjoy the landscape for a while. She sat on the stone wall, took a deep breath, held the air in her lungs for a while, and released it. Truth be told, she loved living in that city. She looked to her left and observed the urban part of town, where several houses rose on the north bank, following the river’s meander to the old bridge. The south bank surrendered to vegetation and agriculture fields, being the only jarring point the skate park by the river, where she had spent so many happy moments with Lucas the last weekend. Aiming her sight to the front, she focused on the Town Hall. In front of it, was the Pedro Nunes square, and straight ahead, there it was - the fatidic pedestrian bridge. Its traces of white and blue were beautiful; Marina couldn’t, however, forget the bad memories of what had happened there. She needed more time before liking that bridge as before. After a sigh, she focused on the area to her right. The houses on the northern bank ended shortly after in a huge chimney that belonged to a former factory.
An icy breeze caressed her back and made her shiver. It seemed like ice cubes had been thrown into her sweater. She adjusted her coat and began to rise: it was time to leave and seek shelter at school before it began to rain. Marina admired the view one last time as she took a deep breath, in an attempt to save that picture a little longer in her memory, and resumed walking toward her destination.
Suddenly, a black figure began to emerge through a mysterious fog behind the old watchtower, until it embodied in full. The air became heavier, almost unacceptable, and it caught Marina’s attention. Her stomach began to twitch as if it had been invaded by a million moths, and her sixth sense required all others to be on high alert. She knew that if she turned back, she would devise something she didn’t want to see. She tried to resist the urge to do so and made an effort to continue her walking. If she ignored it, maybe it would go away and she would be safe.
“Stop,” ordered a cavernous and frightening voice.
"Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking," Marina repeated to herself, trying to censure the demanding sentence she had heard. What she didn’t hear, didn’t exist, therefore couldn’t harm her, right?
“I command you to stop,” was yelled with a more charged and threatening intonation
Marina didn’t stop, although her feet were somewhat lingering to perform any movements. A gust of Arctic wind enveloped in black shadow passed by her and immobilized in front of her, materializing into a man with a dense and impenetrable expression. Watching that embodiment terrorized her to death. Her knees barely sustained her, and her pulse was so fast that she thought she was about to have a stroke. What could she do? How to fight something that she didn’t understand and get out of there alive?
The evil man approached his face to hers, until they were separated only by a few inches. He waited for something that escaped Marina’s knowledge. At last, the recognition took place: it was him! He was the guy who had chased her the day before and that she had seen sitting on the river’s rail after. She didn’t understand how she had failed to memorize his features, since she was very good with faces. It was like... No, that was impossible and ridiculous but... His face seemed to change each time she met him, hence the difficulty to remember from where she knew him.
The man let out a guttural sound that Marina learnt to be sinister laughter. By instinct, she put a hand to the bracelet on her wrist and grabbed it firmly in search of safety. The guy followed her gesture and shook his head as if he had just found something obvious, but that he had missed.
His cadaverous voice echoed, “Now I understand why you didn’t obey me. You’re under the stones’ protection. But the thing is nothing can save you from what I’ve planned for you.”
Marina started to back off with steps smaller than a baby’s, without ever letting go of the bracelet. She remembered Lucas. If she could just get the phone and call him… He would know what to do and would come to her rescue. However, she had serious doubts that the man - if he was a man at all - would give her enough time to do whatever it was.
The guy snorted in derision. He increased the distance between them and, in clear mockery, stated, “Lucas? You dare to think of him? Better let you know that if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here. He just had to fulfill what he had been ordered, but no... He always has to do things his way.”
The girl was startled by those words and felt a growing apprehension. In fear, she questioned, “What are you talking about? And how did you know I was thinking of Lucas?”
“My darling,” he scorned, “my nature and capabilities are way beyond you, so it’s not worth the effort for that useless human little mind of yours. Besides, what do you see in that miserable? He’s nothing but a LOST ONE!”
The man was keen to stress all syllables of the la
st two words, while perilously moving closer to her in a predatory way. Marina did what the sense of self-preservation dictated her, and continued to back off with short paces. With an expression of disdain, he gazed at her from top to bottom in a displeased assessment. He closed the black coat, so it would stop fluttering at the whim of the stirring wind, and faced her.
“You know, I’m not much of a talker, I simply act. But today I just came here for you to pass a message to your sweetheart: tell him that the time is running out and if he fails to fulfill his mission, I’ll do it myself. Missions aside, it would be a pleasure to send you away,” and the right corner of his mouth rose, showing how much that would satisfy him. “Ah! Next, I intend to settle accounts with him.”
In a theatrical pause, the man walked away, holding his chin with a finger as if thinking of something very important. Turning back to her, he affirmed, “Hmm, if I kill you first, he’ll be devastated and will beg me to kill him too. That won’t be fun, because I’d be giving him exactly what he wanted. However, if I torture and kill him first, it will be funnier, because he’ll be desperate to save you, since he knows that you’ll be next on my list. And guess what? You’re not going to get rid of me,” he shouted and burst out with intimidating laughter that made the air particles retract.
The time for small controlled steps was over. Marina had to get out of there. While the man chuckled, she broke into a fearless and unstoppable run. Her feet seemed to not even touch the ground such was the urgency she had to escape. The man didn’t follow her, but Marina could hear his voice crystal clear echoing in her brain, commanding ‘Deliver him my message.’ Marina was running so fast that she didn’t see the cyclist who was climbing the castle hill. She clashed directly with him, in a collision of metal and flesh dragging through the pitch. She sprawled on her butt, while the velocipede was projected from his bike and rolled on the ground. Stunned, she moved in a slow and uncomfortable rhythm. As soon as she remembered what she had just left behind, she stood up in a leap. She wanted to check if everything was fine with the cyclist, but there was no time to waste. She mumbled a scatterbrained apology and resumed her supersonic march.
When she arrived at school, she looked a major wreck: she was all sweaty, her jeans were dirty on one leg and her hair slipped from the pony-tail in misaligned sections. It didn’t matter: she had to find Lucas without delay and warn him of the danger. That eerie guy wanted to kill him! The rain began to fall all of a sudden with perseverance. The wind was unrelenting and brought hail with it. Volley? How weird… she thought as she kept running towards the back of the canteen. She had hope of finding Lucas there. However, her expectations fell into the void when she got there and found no one. Where would he be?
She took her phone to call him, when a bright flash ripped the skies. The lightning glow suspended her from the present and made her go back in time. She recalled Lucas there, a few days ago: he was with a man dressed in black and they were arguing. Her mind advanced in the time-line to the narrow staircase on the main street, and she concluded that the guy with whom they had struggled was the same. A new chronological jump was taken to the day Joana pushed her into the river: the figure there was the same man. Probably he would also be the black silhouette she noticed the day she had almost been run over. That was it! How had she been so blind? It even seemed that her reasoning ability had been sent in a rocket into outer space so she would remain in ignorance. She knew now that the supposed friend of Lucas, the doubtful shadow that appeared before an incident, and the man who chased her were the same. His face seemed to change without explanation every time they collided, but she was sure it was always him. That’s why she felt that she knew him.
Overwhelmed, Marina pressed the key for speed dial. From the other side responded a woman’s voice that said the device was off. An involuntary shudder took over Marina’s body, forcing her to sink against the wall. Would the man already have found Lucas and accomplished what he had mentioned? Gulping, she slid to the floor and stayed there until the bell rang. Even so, she didn’t want to leave that spot, because Lucas could come over and they would fail to meet one another. She tried to phone him one last time, but it was still off. She rubbed her hands over her face in a botched attempt to pull herself together and went out into the rain.
When she reached the classroom, the late bell was sounding. She opened the door, and found her classmates taking their seats. She cast a furtive glance toward the back of the room and, to her relief, there was Lucas in the seat next to Joshua.
The eyes of both boys widened in astonishment and uneasiness when they saw her. None of them had time to say whatever it was, because the teacher shouted from her desk, “Jesus Christ! What happened to you?”
Marina fell into reality and made a brief self-analysis. She was filthy and dripping water everywhere.
“And your arm… Have you noticed that it’s bleeding?” continued the professor.
Following the teacher’s indication, Marina’s gaze slid down her right arm. It had a trail from where the blood came out, leaking to her palm. The professor continued to stare at her sternly and her colleagues started to whisper among themselves. Embarrassed, Marina said, “Sorry. On the way to school, a cyclist knocked me down. As I was late, I came straight to the classroom instead of taking care of myself.”
Across the room, she heard Joana giggling after commenting, “I told you, you are invisible!”
The crowd cackled with her, but the teacher quickly told them to shut up or they would be punished, as she would not tolerate lacks of respect. Turning her attention back to Marina, the pedagogue said, “Just go take care of yourself, okay?”
Ana hastened to ask, “Can I help her so that she hurries faster, ma’am?”
“Sure. Go now and don’t take too long, otherwise you’ll miss part of the lesson.”
Ana walked to Marina and both rushed to leave the room. Marina just wanted to go to the bathroom to arrange herself, but Ana dragged her to the locker to pick up the hygiene material used in Gym classes. Then Ana took her to the girl’s locker room for a quick shower. While Marina was hurrying to wash herself, her friend tried to rub the stains from her pants. The sweater was too dirty, so Ana ran to her locker and grabbed a sweater that she used to keep in reserve there. You never knew what could happen in those corridors. When she returned, Marina had already cleaned and dressed herself up and was waiting for the sweater. While she put it on, Ana rubbed a towel on her coat to dry it. As for the trainers, there was nothing to do; they were soaked and Marina would have to wear them like that.
“So, aren’t you going to tell me? Were you really hit by a bike?” Ana asked as she concluded her task.
Marina nodded and pulled up the right leg of her jeans to show a bruise forming, with the pattern of a bike’s wheel.
“Damn! How did that happen?”
Marina rolled the jeans back down and replied, “I was coming down the castle road and he was going up, and we bumped into each other. It was no big deal. Just let me finish my hair and let’s go to the room before the teacher flips out.”
After taking care of her hair, both ran to Marina’s locker to leave the dirty clothes there. Next, they adopted a hasty step towards the classroom, knocked on the door discreetly and went in. The teacher didn’t interrupt the lesson, nonetheless Marina could feel curious gazes resting on her. Joshua and Lucas were two of them. Ana threw herself into the seat and Marina took the place at her side. While she was putting her backpack on the chair, Joshua asked her in a low voice how she was doing, to which she replied by sticking her thumb up and smiling, although it was a fake one. She had to talk to Lucas, but, to her dismay, that was a two-hour class, therefore she would have to wait until lunchtime. She looked at the bracelet on her wrist. It didn’t work very well, still it had helped her, as the Goth himself had admitted. She withdrew it from her wrist and closed it tightly in her hand so it would continue to protect her.
Before the bell, the professor indicated them
the homework. The students took note, put their things in their backpacks and left the room.
Ana turned to her friend and inquired, “Do you want me to have lunch with you? I don’t have a ticket, but I can go with you to the canteen just to keep you company, and then I’ll have something to eat in the bar.”
Joshua, who meanwhile had settled in front of their table, also offered himself to keep her company. “Ana can meet Dennis as agreed. I don’t mind staying here with you.”
Marina sighed. They were very good friends and she knew that they cared for her, but the only person she wanted to talk to was Lucas and he had already left. That didn’t worry her, since she knew that he would wait in the usual spot.
“That’s lovely, but there’s no need for that,” she said. She turned to Ana and assured, “You can have lunch with Dennis, and Joshua, you can go home. I know that when I arrived I wasn’t quite presentable, but that’s the result from falling on the dirty wet floor. Seriously, I'm fine.”
“Are you sure?” asked Ana, arching an eyebrow. She knew she was stubborn.
“Positive,” guaranteed Marina. “Besides, if I know you well, you have a lot of plans to think about for tomorrow, so you don’t want me around at lunchtime.”
Ana giggled about the comment. She thought that Marina didn’t remember her own birthday, nonetheless it was clear that she recalled the date and even expected her to set something up. In response to Marina’s little provocation, she retorted, “Okay, we'll go then, but under the condition that you have to what we want tomorrow.”
“What happens tomorrow anyway?” quizzed Joshua, since he didn’t understand the conversation.
“It’s Marina’s birthday,” informed Ana. She explained then that it was kind of a tradition to prepare something that never took place, because Marina never agreed with anything.
“In that case, you and Dennis will have a chaperon, because I want to participate in that plan too. Although I’m still reticent about leaving her here alone,” said Joshua.
Marina reassured them that she would be fine alone. In fact, she even needed a bit of silence and peace. She also told them that, after lunch, she would go to the usual table at the lobby, to do homework. When they got there, they would find her at the table. Still reluctant, Joshua and Ana ended up joining Dennis, who was waiting at the gate. Watching them leaving, left Marina a bit concerned: three minds occupied with her birthday… she feared what would result from there. Anyway, that was the only way she had found to be alone and would have to submit to what they’d decide. It could even be good; who knew?
Marina left her stuff in the locker and advanced at a fast pace to the back of the canteen. This time, Lucas was there. His first reaction upon seeing her was to come near her, pull her arm abruptly and push up the sleeve of her jacket to observe her wound. It was just a superficial cut, although it had bled more than expected. Maybe it had been an optical illusion due to the rain: the dried blood had dissolved and mixed with the water, so it seemed to be much more than it was. Marina hurried to pull her arm back and pulled down the sleeve. Despite the wound being just a scratch, now that she wasn’t dominated by the adrenaline, she was beginning to have some pain, not only in that arm, but also in the leg and along her right hip.
“Was it really a cyclist who did this to you?” inquired the boy in a neutral tone.
Marina nodded and signaled him to sit down. Though he was suspicious, Lucas obeyed. Marina knelt then in front of him and supported her elbows on his bent knees. She stared at the floor, so that she wouldn’t have to face him, and asked, “How well do you know the man I saw you here with once, and with whom you fought later?”
Lucas shuddered upon hearing the question and opened his mouth in amazement, to shut it soon after. His countenance became heavier and took an unreadable expression. He swallowed hard and measured the words before speaking. “He... is not a man. He’s very dangerous, so stay away from him.”
Marina chuckled tensely. “That’s what I wanted, but the problem is he won’t stop following me since yesterday.”
“What?” Lucas shouted as he stood up in haste, making Marina almost crash on the ground.
When she straightened up and composed herself, she continued, “He’s been stalking me since yesterday, even though he has been haunting me for quite a while before that. What matters is that this morning we had a… grotesque conversation.”
Lucas was even more agitated. What could they have been talking about? Would he have told her the truth about him and why he was there? He bit his tongue and covered his mouth with one hand to avoid saying something incriminatory.
Marina pushed her fingers onto his shoulders and made him lean against the wall sluggishly, preparing him for the next words. “He gave me a message. He asked me to tell you that time is ending. If you don’t complete your mission, he’ll do it. And he said that he wants… to get rid of me.”
Lucas took her hands off his shoulders and began to saunter furiously back and forth. He complained through incomprehensible phrases, too angry to stay still. “Son of a…! He can’t do this,” was the only phrase Marina was able to understand. Capturing the image in the corner of his eye, Lucas became conscious that she was holding tight her bracelet. He understood her gesture: she wanted to cling to something that would protect her. It was supposed to be him to protect her, nonetheless he had failed. That monster had come close to her and even dared to send him a message.
But the message wasn’t over yet. Tired of seeing him moving from one place to another like a dizzy cockroach, Marina stood in front of him and held his face, forcing him to endure her gaze. With her voice cracking, she told him, “Killing you after me wouldn’t be so funny, so he wants to kill you first so that you can’t help me later.”
It was as if Lucas had been hit by an imaginary bullet that ripped him apart. The tension increased exponentially within him and the fury reserve he kept inside threatened to simmer to the final explosion. So that was his plan: to get rid of him first and then do what he wanted with her.
Marina was still holding his visage, but she was unable to continue facing him. She lowered her eyes in defeat and let go of his face.
Lucas pulled her closer to him and hugged her, trying to comfort her. He whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry. He can’t harm me more than he already has. It will be okay, you'll see. I will solve everything.”
Marina tightened the embrace more. She wanted to believe in him, but she had no idea of what he could do to fix things. That man… that thing that was following her was supernatural and had powers that could kill her, and she only had a bracelet to protect herself. And Lucas, her spirit recalled her. He was her real weapon. If he died, she was at the mercy of her enemy. But what enemy was that?
Before Marina could verbalize any questions, Lucas pulled away from her in a slow and gentle movement and noted, “Yesterday you didn’t have lunch. It cannot happen again today.”
That said, he took her hand and led her to the canteen entrance. Marina was waiting for him to go in too, but he didn’t. “I have no lunch ticket,” he justified. “Don’t worry. Go in and eat. I'll be on the other side of the window looking out for you, I promise. Once you finish, you can come to me.”
Marina had no more strength to argue. Why oppose him? Her fingers loosened up to break free of his and she went into the canteen. She delivered the ticked to an employee, took a tray and began to collect the food. Lunch was mashed potatoes with braised pork cheeks. Besides not being a dish appreciated, the lack of appetite pushed her towards the outside instead of the tables. Even so, she sat by the nearest window and ate unhurriedly.
Minutes later, she left the refectory and met Lucas soon. He was smiling, waiting for her. They held hands and he guided her back to the rear of the canteen to what was becoming ‘their place’. Lucas leaned back on the wall and Marina sat between his legs, supporting her head on his chest. They said nothing for a long while. Although Marina had a million questions, she just
played with his hand while lost in a realm of infinite possibilities.
As noting an unquestionable truth, she blurted out, “Lucas, you know that the siege is tightening and soon you'll have to tell me all about you, don’t you?”
Lucas moaned through a painful sigh. “Yes, I know. I wish I didn’t have to. I'd give anything just to be myself, with nothing else involved, and to simply be with you without the sky threatening to fall on Earth...”
Lucas sounded quite disconsolate, which made her hesitate. She wanted to know everything about him, but whenever she surfaced the subject, Lucas recoiled. She knew he'd be bitter; as she didn’t want to sadden him more, she postponed the conversation, kissed his hand and curled up in him.
They stayed that way until five minutes before the bell for exit. Marina got up then and explained to Lucas that she had agreed to meet Ana and Joshua in the lobby, so she had to go. He let her rise, but remained on the same site seeming to have no intention of following her.
“Are you coming to classes?” queried Marina, curving her eyebrows.
Lucas's face was stern and he appeared to question himself as what he should do next. In the end, he acquiesced and added, “I have to stick around to protect you. I've had more than enough proof that I must stay close to you.”
Marina bent down, kissed him in the face and blushed. She soon admonished herself: how could she think of relationships and kissing when her life and Lucas’ were at risk? It was no time to think of anything else. She shook her head and went on her way.
She arrived at the lobby at the moment Ana, Joshua and Dennis were entering. She joined them and they sat at the entrance benches. Once settled, Ana presented Marina with a thousand ideas on what they could do for her birthday. None deserve her sympathy, since she considered many of them crazy. Joshua kept himself apart, while raising his arms in a surrendering way, claiming he had nothing to do with that. One minute before the bell, the possibility number nineteen won - they would watch a DVD and have dinner. But where? Marina’s house was small and Ana lived in the suburbs.
Joshua coughed and said, “It can be at our place. We leave school at 5.30, go home and order some pizza. We watch the DVD, have dinner, sing you ‘happy birthday’ and then each one goes back to his life since we have classes the next day. What do you think?”
Marina thought about it. She had to recognize that the idea wasn’t bad at all. It was something intimate, simple, and wouldn’t end late. Still, she had a condition, “Okay, but only if the film is not the same sort as the one we watched on Sunday. Sorry, Dennis, but that isn't my style.”
Dennis shrugged. It was her birthday, thus she could pick the movie. If it was too soppy, he could always entertain himself with Ana, who had some very interesting games.
Out of the blue, Lucas showed up behind Marina, and said loud and clear, “Movie and dinner? Hmm, sounds good. Save me a place at your side, honey.” He gave her a resounding kiss on the cheek and left, laughing without a taint of shame. Marina was mortified and redder than the sweater she was wearing.
Ana was the first to break the awkward silence by commenting that she had never seen Lucas in the lobby. Joshua remained silent. In Marina’s opinion, he was irritated, as he had clenched his fists behind his back. She dared not look at him, on pain of being rammed by his pressing anger. Lucas hadn’t acted correctly; he knew Joshua had feelings for her and intended to hurt him on purpose. Joshua was too important; she didn’t want to see him down. Ignoring the fear of his rage, she approached him and put his left arm over her shoulders, which made him goggle his eyes in surprise.
They started to walk toward the classroom. Pretending to be upset, Marina complained, “Honestly, Joshua, I’m disappointed at you. So you went to have lunch with Ana and you didn’t take those silly ideas out of her head? Do you know how long she’s been trying to make me buy one of those ridiculous options?”
Joshua's irritation faded somewhat, although he remained troubled.
They entered the classroom. Finding Lucas already sat in place, Joshua showed a triumphant smile that erased the one he boasted. He only pulled his arm back only when they arrived at her table.
After sitting at the desk behind hers, Joshua commented in a wry way, “Pizza for four tomorrow, right Marina?”
The girl quivered with indignation. Lucas had acted wrong and Joshua was retaliating by paying him in the same kind. Who the hell did they think she was: a prize to be won using any and all means necessary? They better not dare think about it. Annoyed, she turned back and applied a mighty pinch on Joshua’s arm. He complained of the pain, while Lucas turned his face in another direction so she couldn’t see his smirk.
Marina then replied to Joshua, with a somewhat cynical tone, “Yes, Joshua. The pizza is ONLY for four, namely me, you, your brother and Ana - nobody else.”
Ana arrived meanwhile and found Joshua scratching his arm. Whispering, she asked Marina what was happening. The girl groaned loud and clear, “I hate power displays. Geez!”
No explanations were necessary. After Lucas stunt, Ana figured that Joshua had done the same to prove him that, if he thought that he had conquered Marina for good, he was wrong. However, she knew who would win such dispute.