by Rute Canhoto
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
If someone asked her what they were learning at the Portuguese class, Marina would have no idea of what to say. She hadn’t heard a single word since she had sat down; she just remained there, motionless as a statue. Sporadically, she scribbled in her diary what the teacher said, an acquired reflex.
She didn’t want to be there, she wanted to go look for Lucas and to beg him not to surrender. What would Barbatos do to him, what plans did he have? She couldn’t stand the idea of her beloved being tortured. She remembered how sad Lucas looked when he appeared to her in a dream and told her that she had no idea of the harm done in the underworld. For some reason that name was unmistakable - Purgatory. However, and despite being quite alive, she was going through a veritable hell on Earth. If she sacrificed herself, Barbatos would claim her soul and maybe she could stay with Lucas. Or maybe the fiend would spend the whole time making her false promises and they were forbidden to meet. Maybe, maybe, maybe… She was tired of possibilities, she wanted certainties. She decided that, when school ended, she would try to find Barbatos to plead with him not to hurt Lucas; it was the least she could do for him. She could skip classes to do it, but she felt that she owed it to Lucas to stay there. Though her thoughts were immersed in a whirlwind of disorder, something assured her that he wanted her to live and to succeed – she didn’t want to disappoint him, it was her obligation to survive to pay for his oblation.
At the end of the Physical Education lesson, Marina decided that she would shower at home. She couldn’t uncover her neck in front of her schoolmates, otherwise they would see the bruises in the shape of fingers around her throat. She took the sports bag, said goodbye to Ana, went to the locker to get her backpack and left the school grounds.
Shortly after crossing the gate, Joshua ran to catch her. Noting that she was still wearing the clothes of Gym class, he questioned, “Why didn’t you have a shower? I thought you used to do it in school.”
“I'm getting the flu, so I thought it was better not to walk outside with wet hair with this cold. When I get home, I’ll spend hours in the tub,” responded Marina with some effort.
In an attempt to tease her, Joshua winked his eye and provoked, “Do you need someone to wash your back?”
They both smiled at that indecent offer. Marina shook her head, certifying that she didn’t need his help. She remembered perfectly the bath at his place; it had been good, because, in addition of having her back rubbed, he had also given her a spectacular massage. It would feel pretty good a massage like that; it would help to untangle the knots of tension accumulated on top of her shoulders.
“If I wasn’t this bad, I’d ask you for a massage. But I’ll have to pass,” she said.
“Whenever you want it, Princess,” joked Joshua, who, after that, put an arm over her shoulders.
They continued the path back home. His arm touched on her neck with insistence, which hurt her a lot. However, and as she couldn’t let her disguise be discovered, she swallowed the moans that were fighting to escape from her sore throat, and she locked the pain in a fantasy chest.
When they were almost at the point from which they would follow different paths, Joshua inquired, “Don’t you want to come to my house? You’ve got your bag with your stuff; you could have a bath there, and then we could study for tests. You would also meet my cousin. Come on! You’re even going to be home alone until late...”
The proposition was bold, but not tempting; not that day. She wanted to talk to Barbatos and then to be left alone, as she wanted to mourn her loss and wait anxiously for the arrival of her mother. She would only be fully rested when she saw her walking through the door in one piece.
“Thanks for the offer,” she replied. “You're a sweetheart, but what I need is soup and rest. Besides, tomorrow I’ll get to know your cousin at lunch, right? Will you meet me tomorrow morning?”
“Always. Unless a meteor falls on my head, I'll be there every day, waiting for you.”
Marina laughed at that hypothetical, highly unlikely scenario. Joshua withdrew his arm from her shoulders gently and she sighed. It was a relief to get that weight from around her poor neck; the journey to there had been painful enough. They said goodbye parted and each went a different way.
The first part of Marina’s plan consisted of trying to talk with Barbatos. Maybe she would find him at the pedestrian bridge, like the day before. She headed there in fast strides. A flash of anguish pierced her soul: what if Lucas had already turned himself in and Barbatos didn’t take long in punishing him? She hoped he hadn’t hurt him.
She climbed the stairs of the dais and stopped; she didn’t feel like walking the rest of the path. What if the wily demon wanted to choke her and throw her into the river? She had already given Lucas to him. Most likely, she was of no more use to him, so he might want to get rid of her for good. She sat on the bench on the bridge platform and contemplated the city, the river and the south bank. She prepared her psyche to the pernicious clash that would follow. When she felt ready, she murmured, “I'm here, Barbatos. I'm waiting for you.”
Marina was wearing only a t-shirt and the training-suit coat, which wasn’t much to face the day’s low temperatures. She ripped the zip of the sports bag, and exchanged the training-suit coat for the warm coat she had worn that morning and the scarf. She wanted to go home have a shower, but she had to solve that issue first. She crossed her legs and arms to remain warm and waited.
The sun began to go down on the horizon and the cold increased. It looked like the fiend wouldn’t answer her call. He already had what he wanted, so why would he trouble himself to listen to her? Feeling that her bones were starting to freeze as time passed by, she decided that it was time to go home. She tried to rise, but she couldn’t get up. Marina attributed the probable blame for lack of control to the Gym class. She tried once again and nothing – she didn’t move a single inch. The blood stuck in her veins and uproar invaded her. Hearing a noise beside her, she turned her head and got frightened: Barbatos was sat beside her and imitated her, observing the landscape. He looked at her and unfolded his arms, as if he was surprised to find her there.
“Look! The girl who was looking for me!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to find you here, but it seems that... oh, you’re already leaving? Don’t go. We can still have a little chat before nightfall.”
Marina struggled in place, but her body disobeyed her orders. It was as if she had turned into a quadriplegic all of a sudden, and was only able to swing her head from side to side.
Barbatos put the indicator in the front of her nose and shook it vigorously, saying at the same time, “No! If I don’t want you to get away from here, you won’t. Besides, you’re not wearing the bracelet today, meaning, you have to obey me. But let’s cut to the chase. What brought you here?”
“Lucas,” stammered the girl.
She had requested the demon’s presence and there he was. He was dominating her completely, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to convey the message that had brought her to that prophetic place.
Barbatos pretended not to know what she was talking about and simulated digging his memories in search of the name she had mentioned. Finally, he stretched his indicator in the air and spun it around. A black mist began to appear. When it turned into a compact ball of dark haze, the demon made roll onto the floor. The contact with the platform made the darkness expand until it began to take shape: in front of Barbatos appeared Lucas, with one knee resting on the floor and head down, in a sign of respect for his master. Like early in the afternoon, he was wearing only a pair of jeans, he was barefoot and had his chest was exposed. Seeing him, Marina struggled harder, but it seemed that she was stuck at the same place by tons of Super Glue. All her muscles of her body were suspended.
“Was this the Lucas you were talking about? You have to excuse me, but to me he's just another Lost One. They are so many that I stopped memorizing their old names. It's easier to call Lost One to them all,” said Barbatos with
disdain.
“Yes, this is the Lucas I referred to,” replied Marina dryly, with pressing anger simmering in her voice.
Amused, the demon asked, “Very well. And what do you want to say about him?”
With humbleness, Marina said in a low voice, “I want to request... to beg you not to hurt him. He’s at your service again, so I supplicate you to not harm him, nor torture him.”
“Me? Torture? You mean I can’t do anything like… this?” Barbatos slid his finger along Lucas’ shoulder, opening a cut that bled abundantly.
Marina was perplexed, but she was powerless – she couldn’t help him. The scarlet liquid soaking his skin made her remember the wound that Lucas had on his other shoulder when he had visited the night she had gone to the bar. At the time, he had been involved in a fight with Barbatos to defend her after he appeared on the dock during canoeing class. However, the next day Lucas had recovered almost completely. Could he recover that fast in Hell too?
Barbatos contemplated the horizontal incision he had made and, considering that his masterpiece wasn’t complete yet, he did another one, but in the vertical. Lucas cringed in the same spot, making a huge effort not to scream.
Marina felt multiplying within her a colossal outrage that could only culminate in an imperious explosion. Under the influence of anger, she ordered with strength for her body to break loose. Spasms went through her muscles, encouraging them to break free from the spell. Barbatos raised his finger to tear Lucas’ flesh once more. Marina let the tame-less cholera climb inside her, an extreme frenzy.
“No!” she yelled.
Marina's body was run by an electric discharge that provided her the strength that she thought that she had lost. She freed herself from the invisible shackles and jump at Barbatos, making him fall on his back on the bench. She held his wrists to prevent him from moving his hands. Then she spoke, sounding authoritative and solid, “You will never ever touch him again. Never!”
After the initial surprise, the demon regained his mocking posture and chuckled at her. So fast that it was impossible to stop it, Barbatos’ hand slid up to Marina’s neck. He didn’t need to exert great pressure, since her throat was sore and only a light touch caused her great suffering. Marina moaned a single time, but it was enough to make Lucas try to react. However, he seemed cemented in place, as she had been before, and he failed to release from his masters’ subjection.
Barbatos turned to him abruptly and ordered, “Quiet, Lost One, or she suffers the consequences.”
Without a choice, Lucas remained motionless.
To Barbatos’ astonishment, Marina censored all pain and took both hands to his throat. She squeezed it as hard as she could. She knew he wouldn’t choke since he was beyond dead, but he had to stop. With her sight blurry, she shut her eyelids for seconds and recalled all the happy moments spent with Lucas: the closeness that they had experienced the night he had appeared to her injured; the day they had passed in the skate park; the painting in the drawing workshop; him watching over her from the wall in the rain; their first kiss; the roses he left at her door... He had done so much for her and she did so little for him. She remembered helping him one single time, when she found him on the stairs of an alley, fighting with Barbatos. Back then, she had thrown a rock at the fiend for him to leave Lucas alone. A spark of cognition hit her and she quickly came to a conclusion: Barbatos could be injured. She had hit him and she remembered seeing blood dripping from his forehead. She couldn’t get him to suffocate, but she could hurt him.
Impelled to act, Marina recovered one hand and made it slither down his face, scratching him. The devil stopped fooling around and disappeared beneath her, materializing two feet away while rubbing his face frantically. When he stopped doing so, Marina verified that he had three marks similar to burns in his cheek.
Barbatos turned toward her, furious and amazed at the same time. Between his teeth, he hissed, “I misjudged you and you gave me a new war scar.”
“I’ll make it much worse if you dare to touch Lucas again,” she shouted. “He gave in, so don’t push it or I swear on my soul that I’ll spend the eternity chasing you, to punish you. I'll be your personal devil, and believe that the fear that Astaroth has about St. Bartholomew's is nothing compared with the fear that you'll have of me. You will shudder just from hearing my name!”
Her threat made him hesitate for two seconds, which led her to conclude that her oath was possible to affirm. She got off the bench, crouched beside Lucas, removed her scarf and pressed it with care onto the wounds inflicted on him by Barbatos.
Taking advantage of the fact that his master had lowered his energy level for moments after her attack, Lucas was murmured, “Run.”
“Never! You'll never be his and I’ll figure out how to save you. I won’t let you down.”
Barbatos threw himself onto the bench and forgot for an instant what the girl had done to his face. His expression was now serious and he assumed the posture of a businessman. He shook the sleeves of his jacket and straightened it. He pretended to clear his throat and declared, “This was fun, but enough is enough: let's finish it. The Lost One surrendered, as agreed, so I’ll do my part - I’ll leave your family alone. As for him, I better let you know that he will be turned into a mangy fiend again very soon. And maybe I’ll send him back to fulfill his original mission. Do you know what assignment had been given to him?” Barbatos echoed triumphant, as if he was about to make the greatest revelation of the century.
Marina trembled. She long suspected what the incumbency was, but she always refused to consider it. Barbatos imitated the frill of a drum, beating on the bench at which he was sat. Marina held Lucas harder and prepared for what was about to come.
“So, your precious Lucas was sent straight from Hell to... Let’s just say that his great mission was... to kill you!” Barbatos was keen to accentuate and highlight his very last words.
There was the confirmation of what she feared...
The fiend proceeded with his speech of supposed novelty. “Everything was going swimmingly, but the crazy Lost One had a breakdown, and from there on, it was a total collapse. If he had fulfilled his mission and allowed you to die, I wouldn’t have come here personally to bore you.”
Marina remained crouched next to Lucas, holding him. She didn’t move and didn’t intend to leave him. Knowing something sinister inside of her and hearing it from the mouth of another was different. She was hurt by the idea that Lucas wanted to see her dead before they met, but quickly shook the thought away, to remove any bitterness. It hadn’t been his decision; those were orders he had been given and he hadn’t followed them.
“You say nothing?” asked Barbatos, in an intonation marked by disillusionment.
The answer came from Lucas, who managed to whisper "I’m sorry."
Without any of the supernatural beings expecting it, Marina kissed Lucas' forehead and continued to hold him by his shoulders, not moving away for even a second.
“Hey, chick, are you a masochist or what? You kiss your killer?” questioned Barbatos, amazed.
Marina caught his gaze and retorted, “He was sent to kill me, but as you see, I’m alive. And do you know why? Because he saved me. Besides, what we have now is more important than some stupid orders he received in the past.”
Furious for not having the desired impact, Barbatos snapped his fingers. Lucas disappeared the same way he had appeared, making Marina fall to the side for having lost the support to which she was leaned against. She rose clumsily, while the demon uttered the rest of the decree, “Like I said, your family is free and I'll turn Lucas into a mean devil again. As for you, we’ll take a vacation from each other for a while, but never forget: I'll come back and when I do, there’s no negotiation. I'll take your life and your soul with me.”
The last words were still rumbling in the air when Barbatos evaporated, mingling in the dark cloak of the night that had arrived meantime.
If someone looked at the wooden dais o
f the bridge, they would see her standing there alone, staring into the void. She wanted to scream or to break something, but in private, without being judged and accused of craziness, so she caught her backpack, took the sports bag, and ran until reaching the shelter of her house. She was tired when she arrived at the old building. Her fingers trembled in such a way that she couldn’t insert the key in the lock. When she finally unlocked the door, she hastened to get in and rushed to the living room window. She stared at the river’s rail, hoping to find Lucas there. Who knew if he had managed to escape? The confrontation with his absence made her sad: he hadn’t run away nor wanted to, because he knew what would happen to her family if he did. She wanted to let herself fall to the tiles and cry out the frustration she felt, nevertheless she knew that if she did so, it would be difficult to rise again.
Taking advantage of the adrenaline still pulsing within her, Marina went to the bathroom, opened the taps and got inside the tub. Seated, she formed a shell with her hands and filled them with water that she threw to her face. She repeated the gesture several times, allowing her tears to merge with the crystal liquid that slid down her face.
Back in her room, Marina settled on the bed and pulled out her stuff of French and Geography to study for both tests. She opened her French notebook to review the exercises they had done in class. Her brain, however, wasn’t prepared for anything of that kind yet and led her into a different direction. In basic terms, Barbatos had given her a false choice: the security of her family or Lucas’ freedom. Lucas had spared her the decision, since he knew who she would choose. She sighed; she owed him so much! She really wanted him to be free from Hell, but what could she do? Nothing… yet. Reason told her that she should stay on the sidelines in the near future. Barbatos had assured her that he would return and then she would die and he would take her soul with him. Until then, she would keep researching on how she could defend herself and how she could release Lucas. She would take her life with the greatest normality and would take the nights to research about the supernatural world and its creatures. Still, there was one thing that she could do for the moment. She turned on her laptop and entered the Word Document of the prayer she had found. Her throat hurt her a lot, especially after Barbatos turned to squeeze it, nonetheless she had to read that. Marina gulped and began:
"Glorious St. Bartholomew's, 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 her before the throne of the Lord. I invoke your powerful intercession, hoping you hear my prayers and get this special grace I ask: protect my family from any dark forces that wants to harm them, keep them safe. Also illuminate the way for Lucas, so that he can find the light in the darkness; allow his soul to be saved and let him feel no longer lost. I also ask the grace of salvation for my soul. Amen."
Marina intended to repeat this prayer every night before going to sleep. Maybe St. Bartholomew would answer her prayers - she had to keep hope alive that one day everything would be right.
Feeling that she couldn’t do anything else, she turned off the computer and put it back in its place. Her stomach complained loudly, although she didn’t feel that hungry. By discharge of conscience, she went to the kitchen and prepared a bowl of porridge Maizena. At least it was soft, therefore easy to swallow. Despite her throat being soar, swallowing was easier than expected and she soon finished her meal.
In bed, she pulled back the school manuals. The plan was to lead a life as normal as possible, so she would study. She started with French and when she got tired of that, she moved on to Geography and studied the primary sector.
It was nearly ten o'clock in the night when Marina gave up her study session. Tired, she packed her school supplies in the rucksack and turned on the TV.
Although she had tried not to fall asleep while her mother wasn’t home, she wasn’t able to stay awake. It had been another day of true exhaustion. It was nearly four in the morning when Marina felt movement in her bedroom and woke up, startled. The flickering light of the TV screen made her recognize a figure, which was still on, helped her to see a figure.
Before she got more frightened, her mother calmed her, “Don’t be afraid. It’s just me. I arrived now.”
“Why are you so late?” asked Marina, dragging the words.
Her mother sat on the bed, at her feet, crossed her arms to wrap in her comfortable warm coat, and replied, “Ouch, that little hoarse voice of yours! You have to take better care of your throat. Anyway, I left your father's house late, but it took me even longer to get here, because of a nasty accident involving several cars. I had to wait for the police to clear the road. As I was on the freeway, I couldn’t escape to some other way.”
The word ‘accident’ made her let out a groan. Marina had always thought that, if Barbatos attacked her mother, he would do it using an automobile crash. The incident had indeed happened, but mom was well. Changing the subject, she asked, “How were things with Sofia?”
“Dear Lord, she complains of the neck collar like hell! But there's no escape: she has to wear it for a while. Well, it’s late. I’m going to sleep a. Tomorrow I start work at 8.30a.m. See you soon.”
“Bye, mom. Sleep well.”
Her mother turned off the TV and left the room. Marina turned to the other side and snuggled the bed clothes up to her neck. Now that mom had arrived safely, she felt more rested. With her eyelashes weighing more and more, she ended up closing them and went back to sleep. The rest of the night revealed itself quiet, except for the last two hours, which were spent dreaming about Lucas being plagued by the insane and Machiavellian Barbatos. Marina wanted to scream and ran towards the boy to help him, but a red curtain suddenly fell from the sky and separated them forever. Barbatos’ voice echoed then, saying that the play was over.
Marina felt a little jolt in her shoulder and heard a familiar voice far away - it was her mother telling her that she was leaving for work. The girl stammered something too complex to decode and turned to the other side. All of a sudden, she opened her eyes wide to the maximum with a crazy idea. She jumped out of bed, put on her slippers and rushed to the front door. She opened it with anticipation. The glint in her eyes quickly dwindled: there were no roses waiting at the entrance step. She expelled all darkest judgments from her brain with an ostracism order and told herself that it was still early; the rose could appear there until time to go school. If he had put it there before, her mother would have caught it instead of her. There was still time.
Deciding that it wasn’t worth lying down again, Marina made her bed, got dressed and combed her hair. Next, she went to the kitchen. Although she still had a purple neck, her voice sounded better and it wasn’t so hard to ingest food now, thus she had toast and a cup of tea. Joshua was supposed to arrive within five minutes, hence she still had some time for herself. She walked to the living room window and stared at the river’s rail. Lucas wasn’t there. Would she ever see him sitting in that same place again? She doubted that Barbatos would ever free him, yet she kept the secret and profound hope that one day they would meet again.
Someone knocked on the door, waking her up from the chimera of the reunion. She ran to get her backpack and rushed to the front door. When she opened it, she stepped back in an automatic gesture of astonishment: Joshua was holding a beautiful bouquet of red roses and displayed a disconcerting smile that broke her into a thousand pieces.
He shrugged and, while he passed her the bouquet, he explained, “I was thinking about the roses that the secret admirer left here for your mother. I guess it’s fair that the other woman of the house receives them as well.”
Marina took the bouquet really moved.
Seeing tears looming in her eyes, Joshua hastened to utter, “Come on, don’t cry. I just wanted to be nice. Don’t tell me that you’re so happy that you even want to cry? Women! They are so complicated that they leave men clueless.”
Not knowing what to answer, the girl decided it was bes
t to leave things as they were. She nodded her head in a sign of agreement, while Joshua commented that he didn’t know that she was so sensitive regarding acts like that.
Marina went back inside and went to the kitchen to look for a jar. She filled it with water put the bouquet inside, left the roses in the living room and ran to the toilet to wash her face. She didn’t want Joshua to see her in that sorry state. He was trying to be kind to her, nevertheless she couldn’t be happy with his gesture: it wasn’t a bouquet that she wanted, but a single rose and from Lucas. She expected to receive it back some day; it would be a good sign.
Marina joined Joshua in the street, tied her coat and arranged the scarf to protect herself from the freezing cold. On the way to school, they talked about the tests. Joshua shared that he too was concerned about the English lesson, since it was the first since they had pretended to be dating. Marina also feared the arrival of that subject; she wondered whether the teacher would have some reprisals saved for her as revenge for her allegedly having ‘stolen’ her the pretty boy.
At the school lobby, they came across Ana and Dennis seated on one of the benches. Joshua rolled his eyes and explained to Marina that now they came to school earlier every day just to be together before classes began.
Ana called her, but Marina motioned to her friend that she would be back soon, because she had to go to the locker. In part, she didn’t lie, because that was the first thing she did when she left them. Next, and taking advantage of the fact that there were still five minutes for the bell, Marina ran to the back of the canteen. When she reached her destination, she was panting. She took her phone and tried to call Lucas. His device was still shut down. She already expected it… She waited, in vain, that he would appear there from nowhere, as he did so many times before. She called his name softly on several occasions, until the bell rang and set the limit. She would return at lunchtime, but her expectations were low. From there on, that place was inhabited only by memories, dreams and promises, nothing more.