by Rute Canhoto
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Marina’s mother didn’t show up for dinner. Dad and Paula had left after the meal leaving Marina like an island in the confines of the world - isolated. Upon hearing the doorbell, she opened the door and let her mother in. Before she rushed into the bedroom, Marina hastened to explain that she was alone. Even so, she went to Sofia’s chambers. That sucked! She wasn’t only the mother of Sofia, she was also hers. Sulking, Marina turned her back and returned to the living room - better alone than in bad company. She settled on the couch. As Paula hadn’t moved the blanket and the quilt, she decided to sleep there again.
The unexpected presence of her mother in the living room scared her; she wasn’t expecting her to appear there. Luísa sat at her feet and stared at the flickering screen of the ‘box of dreams’. It was on a soap opera, something that neither of them appreciated. Marina observed her mother and concluded that she have aged considerably in the last few days. As if Sofia’s problem wasn’t enough, she had discovered, without previous preparation, that her ex-husband had a girlfriend and he was living with her for a year and a half. It had been quite a shock and she wasn’t dealing with the situation very well. Marina didn’t know how she could help her.
Finally, her mother spoke in a serene and decided way, “I spoke to the doctor again, and he said that Sofia should be out on Monday. I'll stay here to bring her home and see how she’s adapting to the neck collar. Since Monday is a school day, tomorrow morning your father will take you to the boat, for you to cross the river to the train station. There, you can catch one for Alcácer. When you get to town, there will be the bus waiting for passengers; you catch it and go home. This way you’ll have time to rest and prepare everything for school. I’ll come back on Monday night, okay?”
Marina wanted to protest, since she wanted to see Sofia one more time before returning home. However, she recalled that on Sundays there were only a few trains circulating, so that would be the most suitable schedule. Besides, being alone at home wasn’t a bad idea, since she had a very important issue to resolve - Barbatos.
Her mother got up, wished her a good night and disappeared, merging with the shadows that danced in the dimly lit room. Only then Marina remembered that mom hadn’t told her what time she had to wake up. It was okay - when it was time to get up, surely someone would wake her up. She turned to the other side on the couch, settling in better, allowed her eyelids to gradually shut and didn’t take long to fall into a deep sleep.
It was Paula who woke her up the next morning. Marina rubbed her eyes several times before being able to focus. With one eye open and one closed, she tried to see the hour on the DVD player: it was 10.20. Paula told her that they had to leave in fifteen minutes, whereby she should get ready. The girl asked for her mother, and dad’s girlfriend explained that she had left shortly before to go to the hospital. Marina made an annoyed face. Visits were only allowed in the afternoon. Was it that hard to wait for her to wake up to say goodbye to her? Geez, it would be a great sacrifice. Ignore, Marina. For your sake, ignore it, she commanded herself.
When she returned to the lobby, dressed and combed, her father and his girlfriend were already waiting for her. Paula held a bag in her hand, with two sandwiches, a juice and a liquid yoghurt bottle, in case of her being hungry during the trip. It was probable that that would happen, even because she hadn’t eaten breakfast. The three went down the elevator to the ground-floor, hit the street and entered her father's Jeep.
The pier wasn’t exactly close, but they enjoyed the luck that there was no traffic, which allowed them to get to there in less than half an hour. Her father left the car badly parked, so he turned on the hazard lights, and ran to the ticket office to buy her a pass. Marina and Paula followed behind him at a slower pace.
“The ferry won’t take long to leave; it’s at 11.20. The train will take a little longer, since it’s only at 12.30. But if you caught the following ferry, you would get to the other shore at the last minute. This way you have more maneuver time,” explained Paula.
Marina assented. Not only she hated being late, if she was late in that particular case, the consequences would be unpleasant and would result in long hours waiting for a new train.
Her father arrived meantime and passed her a ticket. He bade her farewell with a simple kiss on the cheek and a “see you next time”. He returned to the Jeep almost running, before police showed up and threatened to run him a ticket. Paula had the sensitivity not to go away except when people were allowed to go on board-
“It was nice to meet you, although the circumstances were not the best. I hope you return soon: the doors of our house are always open for you.”
“Thanks,” appreciated Marina. “Make sure my sister sends me some news from time to time.”
“I'll try, but I promise nothing. This rebellious phase is very complicated,” admitted Paula. “Go now before you miss the boat.”
Marina grabbed the rucksack and headed for the ferry to join the people who were climbing aboard. She waved Paula goodbye and went inside. Inside, she whined: it wasn’t Paula who should be there, but her father. The short time they had spent together on had provided the confirmation that he hadn’t changed, and was still as distant and detached as ever. Putting any thoughts aside, she chose one of the chairs on the last level, next to the window to be able to see the route. A minute later, the ferry moved away and divided the waters, moving stately among the small waves. Marina peered through the window and observed the waters of the river Tejo: they were of a green so dark that it left nothing to anticipate. Nevertheless, she could swear that sometimes she saw something rise to the surface that seemed like jellyfish. Could that be possible?
The crossing took about twenty minutes. As soon as she disembarked, she followed the people to the ticket office at the train station. The queue was starting to grow, but she was lucky to have only seven people in front of her; if she had taken more time to get off the boat, she would have to wait much longer.
The queue moved with sluggishness. When her turn came, she asked for a ticket to Alcácer do Sal. While the box office man handed her the ticket, he explained that the train shouldn’t take long, although it only departed at noon-thirty. The trip would take almost two hours, given the stops along the route that it had to respect. Marina was delighted with the explanation: the man, who was quite chubby, had an excellent diction and spoke better than her Portuguese teacher. His advanced age gave him a touch of class, which made her think that maybe he had been someone important somewhere in life, or he had attended elite circles until some time ago. Who knew? It was possible. Marina kept the ticket in her wallet and sat on a bench, waiting.
As the box officer had told her, the train didn’t take long to arrive. It was only 12.10p.m, but since people started to get into the coaches as soon as the passengers got out, she decided to do the same. She chose a seat near the door and close to the window. Whenever she travelled, she liked to sit by the glass: enjoying the landscape might seem a trivial thing, but she loved to observe where she passed by and uncover the marking characteristics of those places.
On the bench beside hers, a passionate couple settled down. He packed his girlfriend’s suitcase and let her take the seat by the window, her favorite place. When they seated, she cuddled up against his chest and they held hands. The scene made Marina a little jealous, which surprised her; she had never reacted with jealousy to couples that went by her, probably because she had never been in love before. But such envy had a cause - she missed Lucas. Her sister’s problem, the exaggerated reaction of her mother, and the discovery that her father had a girlfriend had distracted her enough and prevented her of thinking of him too much. However, witnessing that scene made her miss him and wish he was there. She wished that they were those lovers, leaving together on a voyage around the world. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. It was better not to dream too much of it, nor about the company. Lucas might not forgive her for stepping away, or he might simply not want her back �
� those were hypotheses for which she had to prepare herself.
The train began to move slowly, gaining speed few by few. Marina leaned her head against the window, mad at herself. She had spent two whole days without Lucas and already didn’t care about anything but to find him. Quite consistent, huh? It was time to be honest: she hadn’t distanced herself from Lucas because he was a demon, but because he had deliberately concealed his true nature from her, building their relationship upon a lie. That had shaken her confidence in him. Or not? The other reason that led her to depart from him was related to her safety. Lucas had told her it wasn’t safe to be near him, but after they were separated, the danger continued to pursue her and her family - the fault wasn’t his. If there was anyone to be blamed, that would be Barbatos, that monster who had dared to approach her sister. Marina was a simple mortal, but she would do whatever it took to find a way to stop him. As for Lucas, she would try to regain his friendship and then she’d wait; she didn’t want to have too many hopes. She would have to make great penance to apologize to him.
When the locomotive reached the station of Alcácer, she already had a sore butt from being sat for so long. She grabbed her rucksack, got out of the train, and left the station. As expected, the minibus was waiting for the arrival of passengers. Marina went to the vehicle, paid the driver and sat right on the first bench. When the train left, the bus did the same. The trip home wasn’t long, as the minibus had to stop only once before stopping in front of her house.
She took the key from her backpack and entered the old building. Her first reaction was to go to her room and throw herself onto the bed; it was good it was to be back to her beloved bed. Free from the rucksack, Marina went to the living room and called her father for him to tell her mother that she had arrived and that everything had gone well. The conversation lasted no more than a minute and a half, since her father literally got rid of her and didn’t even give her the opportunity to ask how her sister was. Always attentive, she thought with sarcasm. She glanced at the clock and noted that it was almost visiting time, so there wouldn’t be much news at the moment. Maybe mom would call her at night; then, she would have an update on her sister's status.
The obligation of reporting her arrival fulfilled, Marina walked to the wash-room to have a bath for an hour. Besides not having had a shower at her father’s place, it would feel good to relax before the herculean task of facing Barbatos. She opened the taps, turned on the radio, undressed and got in the tub
Bath salts, oils and foam fulfilled their role and allowed her to forget about the world for a while. Moments like that approached perfection and made her believe that everything would be fine. Her insight came out of the wonder state and she finally returned to reality; she had to think better about what to do. Where could she find Barbatos? And what would she say? She felt like calling him a few unsympathetic names, but had to focus on the most important. A red light turned on in her mind, pointing to that she would go to him as cannon fodder. She needed something that prevented him from hurting her, but what? She hadn’t found any data on the Internet and she also wasn’t an expert in any matters of the supernatural world, nor knew anyone who to ask for some tips. Except for Lucas. He was a demon and he knew Barbatos, so maybe he could help her. That was it - she would talk to Lucas first. The notion that she hadn’t her mobile phone with her saddened her. That way she couldn’t contact him. How to get around this issue? Marina brained on the subject until her skull began to throb. Out of the blue, she remembered - the skate park. Lucas had told her once that, if she needed him, it was there that she could find him. Maybe he’d be there. She had to risk it and go there.
When the skin of her fingers began to shrivel up, she wrapped in a towel and tidied the bathroom. She went to the living room window and glanced at the river’s wall where she had seen Lucas sat slouched for several times. However, there was no sign of him. She heaved a sigh of disappointment and went to her chambers. What to wear? A sportive cloth would fit wonderfully. She got dressed, put on her favorite sneakers, undid the knots of her hair and let it fall loose to dry freely.
Before leaving home, a fearful thought occurred to her: what if Barbatos found her before she could talk to Lucas? She would be absolutely unprotected and without anything that guaranteed her safety. She needed to find something to make him think twice before threatening her. She recalled the films of exorcisms that she had watched; they always involved prayers. Would there be any prayer to St. Bartholomew? Perhaps if she threatened to invoke his protection, Barbatos would retreat. Still, St. Bartholomew was the direct opponent of his boss and not him. Would he fear him too? Feeling the need to cling to something more solid, she settled on the bed with the laptop on her knees. She turned it on and searched the words ‘St. Bartholomew’. Before searching orisons, she wanted to know more about whom he was and how he was related to Astaroth. With no time to lose, she went right into the first page. The text said that Bartholomew would probably have been the bridegroom at the wedding in Cana, in which Christ performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. She continued reading, till the most important part jumped to her view:
"It was in Armenia that the Devil had an oracle who responded to questions from his followers by the voice of the wizard Astaroth. However, just as St. Bartholomew crossed the doors of the temple, the devil's voice was silenced. The Saint commanded the Devil to announce the name of Christ as the true God and to destroy the pagan idols of the temple, which had happened."
The remaining information was related to the saint's death and what had happened to his remains. As that data was outside her range of interest, she relegated them to second place. So it was in a temple, in Armenia, that Astaroth and Saint Bartholomew had met each other. The episode seemed no big deal. Pretty much, St. Bartholomew had come into the temple to silence the demon forever and had accomplished it. That wouldn’t scare Barbatos. Plus, it was a story that he probably had heard about before.
It was time to move into a new direction. Marina returned to the search engine and wrote ‘Pray to Saint Bartholomew’. She opened the second page suggested and, after reading it with reinforced attention, she copied the prayer to a notebook:
"Glorious St. Bartholomew, model of virtue and graces of the Lord, protect this servant who humbly kneels before you, and begs you to have the benevolence to intercede for me before the throne of the Lord. I invoke your powerful intercession, hoping you hear my prayers and I get this special grace I ask: (indicate the desired grace), and still the grace of salvation of my soul. Amen."
It seemed a good prayer. She could indicate the desired grace in concrete and this could be something like ‘set me free from the evils of the demon Barbatos’, or ‘get Barbatos and his malevolent intentions away of me’. She would say it that same night; it wouldn’t harm.
She bit her lip, hesitating. She didn’t know if the prayer would intimidate Barbatos, after all they were nothing more than words. Still, they were her safety net and everything she had at the moment. It would have to be enough. She turned off the computer, folded the sheet with the prayer and put it in her coat pocket. She made sure she left everything in order at home and locked the door behind her.
The day didn’t look good: there were a lot of clouds covering the sun and the wind was unpleasant. Marina feared that, when the wind stopped, it would give way to the rain. She went across the road, to the side walk by the river’s rail. Lucas wasn’t there, but he could be at the skate park. The hope of the re-encounter made her vibrate, but also tremble with nervousness, since she feared his reaction. And how would she begin the conversation? It was better to start by apologizing, admit how silly she had been, and then she’d talk about Barbatos. The question of their relationship would remain pending.
Marina followed to the pedestrian bridge. Idiot, she admonished herself when she got there. Why had she walked so far, when she could have just gone through the old road bridge, which was much closer to her home? She couldn’t explain it; it w
as as if she had been unconsciously drawn to that site, which made her feel a little agitated. Anyway, since she was already there, so she wasn’t going back.
After moving from side to side on the platform, she went up the bridge at a swift and decisive pace. It was with no surprise that she reached the center of the course in quick time. Feeling satisfied, Marina even dared to stop briefly near the railing from where she had been thrown into the river. She stared at the water beneath, but she distanced herself from the rail right away after feeling a shiver. Her sense of self-preservation rose in a savage way, driving her to get out of there the sooner the possible.
“It's a hell of a fall, huh?” asked a deep voice.
Marina gave thanks for no longer being near the railing, because if she was, the fright she got could have ended badly. An influx of apprehension washed over her in an overwhelming way. In an automatic gesture, she put a hand into her pocket and held the sheet of prayer with vigor. She wished she had the protective bracelet there too, but she hadn’t and it didn’t matter: she would find deep inside the needed courage and strength to defend herself. I’m a well of endless energy and no one can defeat me, she repeated within, encouraging herself to maintain a steady posture.
With short steps, she went up to the closest post of the bridge, seeking for something solid to hold on to. She stared at Barbatos and studied his face; he seemed to have adopted a more mature look than the last time she had seen him. How could she memorize a face that constantly grew old or rejuvenated? At least the Gothic style persisted, which helped with his identification: he continued to wear pants, blouse, jacket and boots, all in black. Wouldn’t there be another range of colors available in Hell’s boutique? Despite the tension in the air, the joke made her laugh inside, allowing her to achieve a greater self-confidence.
As if he could read her thoughts, the demon observed himself for a second and shrugged his shoulders, grimacing at the same time. He approached her and said, “I heard you were looking for me. So here I am, my dear. How can I help you?”
He could help her by doing nothing. She didn’t want to make any pacts with the Devil nor wanted any favors that later would be charged at a high price; she just wanted him to leave forever and to take his threats with him. She thought of her sister and felt anger swelling within her. It was a powerful weapon that gave her a large injection of extra bravery; she hoped that it was stronger than the fear inspired by Barbatos.
“Did you attack my sister?” inquired Marina in an accusing tone.
Barbatos let out a black chuckle and he made a theatrical gesture, like an innocent culprit who didn’t understand of what he was being unjustly accused. “Je? Moi? Me, myself and I? Ich?!” he joked. “I am completely innocent and free of blame. Have you asked her friends who were there in the pool with her? I’m sure they can attest that I wasn’t there.”
Marina snorted with irony. It was obvious that nobody would say that he was there: he was a demon with the ability to become invisible to human eyes. How could they have seen him, if he was hidden by the cloak of invisibility conferred by his powers? The proof was her sister.
“Sofia saw you. Are you going to deny it?” she threw.
Barbatos sank against the bridge railing and pretended to think about that possibility. He shook his head and replied, “I don’t deny it nor want to do so, even because I want you to be sure that I was there. You can rest, it wasn’t me who caused the accident, but you know, when I'm around I tend to attract negative energies. Not to mention that I also have several unruly demons in my legions, whose actions sometimes escape my control. And their sense of fun, well... it's not funny for whoever stands in their way.”
Marina frowned as she reasoned fast. So that was it: he had put one of his demons to do the dirty work while he had fun, watching. It was time to take over the reins of the conversation. In a secure intonation, she said, “Really? You left credits in other’s hands? So that's why you felt the need to send a message later in a dream. What was it? Ah! Tell her I won’t stop.”
Barbatos seemed offended by the comment, whereby he closed the gap between them in an intimidating movement, forcing her to squeeze out against the pole. He put his hands on the white surface on the line above the girl’s shoulders, pinned his eyes on hers and murmured, “You can bet that will not stop it. You'll beg me to kill you.”
If he sought fear mirrored in her eyes, he would find it for sure, but also shreds of burning hope too. Marina gathered her energies, raised a hand to his chest and pushed him away vigorously. She laughed at his threats, “You want to kill me? Then you'll have to try harder, because I do not intend to make this any easier.”
Barbatos was delighted with her hollow courage. He loved when a human decided to play hero, when she already should have realized that she hadn’t the slightest chance against his immense power. He was a demon and humans were insignificant insects.
“My dear, killing you is the easiest thing to do,” he affirmed. “What I really want is to make you suffer. I want you to feel the despair and the anguish consuming you. I want the agony to corrode your guts and make you feel so lost and miserable, as if you were about to pop. Then, you shall give me your soul and you’ll beg me to end your suffering. And believe me, that time I’ll do it for real. I'll play with you until the last moment as a mean kid, and I’ll ruin your life till its debris evaporates to the line of oblivion.”
Marina shuddered. She wanted to direct the conversation, nevertheless the opposite was happening. And Barbatos had just made it quite explicit that she had become his new favorite voodoo doll, which he wouldn’t leave alone until it was wholly crushed and ready to throw into the trash. She had to act quickly.
She put a hand in her pocket, pulled out the prayer sheet and unfolded it little by little at Barbatos’ eye level, to allow him to follow her movements. She pretended to be curious about the sheet she was holding. She stared at Barbatos by the corner of her eye and said, “You know, I was very upset when you called me dumb the other day, so I decided to be smarter before coming here.”
“Yeah? I don’t see how,” answered back the fiend.
“Simple! I did what you said: I used the technology available, and do you know what I found out? A lot of interesting things about -” Marina dragged her sentence to create more suspense, “- Saint Bartholomew.”
The name made Barbatos reel backwards two steps instantly. Good! That should mean that somehow he also feared him. Perhaps the prayer could be useful for real.
To her chagrin, Barbatos burst out laughing the very next moment. He turned to her, shook his hands pretending to tremble, and cried out, “Uh! I’m so scared! Didn’t you also read that little Bartholomew only likes to play with the Grand Duke? He doesn’t give a damn about us, the wicked assistants. To our joy, he underestimates us.”
Marina gulped, but insisted, “Maybe yes, or maybe you're bluffing. I have the key on this sheet. Believe me when I say that I’ll read this prayer every day and more than once. Who knows if St. Bartholomew hears me and goes after your boss? If you get unemployed, maybe you’ll stop bugging me.”
Barbatos clapped as if he was a happy child, which irritated her. He was ridiculing her attacks. She felt like tearing him into a thousand pieces or kicking his ass away to a place far away from there.
The demon locked his attention back on her and announced, “I’d thank you so much if he ended with Astaroth. Guess who would succeed him? I give you a clue. The successor’s name starts with a ‘B’ and ends with ‘atos’."
“You wish! There are two other assistants in the spotlight. Do you think they would not fight you? What guarantees do you have that you would win?” shot Marina, showing that he was undervaluing her knowledge.
For the first time Barbatos went silent for a long while, which gave her time to counter-attack. She took two steps towards him and said in a quite safe voice, “I want you to get away from me and my family once and for all, or I swear I will do everything so that St. Bartholom
ew punishes you.”
Barbatos recovered and resumed a posture of menace, while he showed his teeth, reminding her of a vampire, one of those who weren’t particularly nice.
“Do what you have to do, but be certain of one thing: I do not forget who stands up to me, which means that I'll never leave you in peace.” The fiend’s voice grew thicker as he stated, “I have all eternity to hurt you, and I have no hurry at all. On the other hand, you’re becoming too impertinent. I should kill you right here.”
With this, Barbatos launched himself at hallucinating speed in her direction. His hand landed straight on the girl’s throat and he lifted her into the air with no effort. Marina felt her trachea being crushed. Besides the agonizing pain, the air was unable to get through, leading her lungs to struggle to overcome the distressing blockade. She put her hands to her neck, to try to get rid of Barbatos, and tried to wrestle as much as possible so that it would become difficult for him to hold her and he'd end up by dropping her. Barbatos, however, was determined to end it all right there, and Marina was losing her strength. Two tears rolled from her eyes. She tried to talk, to call for Lucas, but she couldn’t - the syllables died even before she was able to articulate them. In a last act of desperation, she began kicking the demon. If she was going to die, then she would die fighting - she would not surrendered. She was about to faint, still she thrashed as a fish pulled out of the water.
Unexpectedly, Barbatos dropped her, making her sprawl out across the bridge. Marina put both hands to her throat and tried to suck in as much air as possible at once, but it insisted on passing only bit by bit.
Barbatos chuckled as if he had just watched a scene so comical, that he just felt like rolling on the floor laughing. When he noticed that Marina had recovered a bit, he crouched down beside her and said, “While you were there, skating in the air, I was thinking. You’re an opponent too funny to waste just like that, so I have a game for you. From what I can see, you and the Lost One developed some sort of connection, and he’s important to you. How about me taking him to Hell and inflict him with 30 years of painful torture?”
Her heart seemed to stop beating in her chest. Marina opened her eyes wide. How did he dare? He could not hurt Lucas; he couldn’t even approach him. She wanted to demand him to stay away from Lucas, but her throat ached so hard that she failed to express a single word.
Barbatos interlaced his fingers behind his back, turned around and proceeded, “Here's my final offer: tell the Lost One to go back to the legion and I’ll leave your family alone.”
From torture, the demon’s proposal moved to his private army. Marina drew a question mark with her face. What would the return of Lucas to that legion imply? And would the fiend be telling the truth, would he really leave her family alone?
Seeing doubt patent in her eyes, Barbatos puffed, “Don’t worry about your precious sweetheart. I promise that I won’t dismiss him; he will be of great use. As for your family, I have no interest in them. I only used them to get to you.”
Marina continued to breathe slowly, as the tears kept falling into a translucent curtain that didn’t allow her to discern the sinister figure of Barbatos accurately. She had to do some thinking before giving a response to the demon, but she couldn’t do it at that moment: the air seemed to not reach her brain, making it impossible for her to formulate any reasoning.
Barbatos drummed his fingers on the railing, exasperated by the response that she couldn’t give him. He snorted, rolled his eyes and declared, “Okay, I already noticed that you have a bad throat. Tell you what: if the Lost One doesn’t come to me by tomorrow night, I’ll get back to your family. The next one on my list is your mother, and believe me, she’s a very easy target since she’s sick and weakened. It won’t give me any pleasure to attack a prey so easy, but be sure that I will.”
Having said these words, he dissolved in a black mist. Now that he was gone, Marina felt that she could cry at will and so she did. She hid her face in her hands and opened the gates of the internal dam that begged to overflow.
Her eyes were swollen when the last tear dared to roll down her cheeks, in the final stage of the catharsis. As she felt capable of reasoning with minimal clarity, she hastened to get up and to finish crossing the bridge before anyone went to her to check if everything was fine. Still trembling, she staggered to the end of the walkway. As soon as she stepped on the southern shore, she ran to the nearest bench and threw herself into the seat abruptly, burying her head in her knees. She wanted to continue and go to the skate park to search for Lucas, nevertheless she was much too shaken.
Twenty minutes later, she got up and advanced faltering steps to the half-pipe. She sought the image of Lucas with urgency and despair, but he was not there. Where could he be?