Catan was nowhere to be found … and he seemed to have transformed into every piece of perfection that was Lipton. Lipton groaned as the throbbing pain erupted through him like wild fire, and he had to shut his eyes tight against the aching effects of the transformation. He looked drowsy and like he was about to puke, but he strained against doing anything of that sort and flicked a glance at Kalista, who was staring at him with her mouth agape.
“L-L-Lipton …” Kalista trailed off, not knowing what to say as waves of shock exploded within her. She couldn’t believe that she had met him once more again … and he looked so perfect, so harmless.
The last time she’d seen him was at the Maze of Doom. She thought that Lipton had come to her rescue, and he seemed really genuine at that time. Kalista had completely trusted him, only to be betrayed by him in the end. Yes, Lipton didn’t exist at all. In fact, he was Catan … Lipton had been a guise to lure Kalista into Catan’s trap. Lipton was just a myth, just a creation. He was non-existent, and when Kalista realized how foolish she had been, anger pierced every fiber of her being.
“Stop this trickery, Catan!” Kalista demanded furiously, her eyes glazing hot with fire. “Stop turning into someone else … stop making me …” Kalista trailed off when she realized that she couldn’t bring herself to say those words … feel weak at my knees when I gaze into your eyes. Yes, Kalista was at a loss for words when she gazed into those genuine embers of Lipton’s eyes. She could be lost in those eyes forever … they were so pure, so beautiful. It was hard to imagine that Lipton was actually an alter ego … Catan’s alter ego.
Kalista closed her eyes, refusing to gaze longer at Lipton and believing that there was any good in him.
“Just let go of me, Catan!” Kalista cried, straining to get out of the car and as far away from Lipton … Catan … or whoever he was.
“I’m not Catan!” Lipton finally said, placing a hand on Kalista’s shoulder, but Kalista shove it aways as though it was diseased. “I’m not Catan … that is the truth!”
“Stop lying to me, Catan!” Kalista fumed, groaning in pain as she tried to move her body. Kalista knew that it would be impossible for her to run as it seemed that her body had been battered badly and all her muscles were groaning in protest whenever she tried to move.
Mustering all her strength and breath, Kalista cried in pain as she flung herself out of the car and rolled across the sidewalk, her body taking more strain and impact than she could bear … and Kalista ended up screaming with tears of pain streaming down her cheeks.
Lipton was overwhelmed with concern for Kalista, and seeing the sight of her misery tore his heart. He punched at the door at his side and it flew off its hinges. He whooshed out of the car, his wings flapping swiftly, and he swerved in the direction where Kalista was lying in pain on the sidewalk.
“Are you OK?” Lipton asked, kneeling beside Kalista, who was writhing on the floor as if she was lying flat on a floor of needles.
“Does it look like I’m OK to you?” Kalista cried, straining against the pain that was consuming her like deadly poison.
“I hate to see you suffer like this …” Lipton whispered, the pain evident in his voice. “It’s not your fault … it really isn’t your fault. If there’s anyone to blame, it is me.” There … he finally said it. He had finally admitted that he was at fault. Even though he knew that Catan was the main person to blame for all this predicament, Lipton had to share the blame too. Lipton and Catan shared one body, and it was hard for Lipton to manifest at will. If he’d learned how to control his emotions and tackle Catan’s, Lipton would be able to manifest and suppress Catan for good. And also, it was his fault that he was cursed … he shouldn’t have upset the sorceress in the first place … and maybe none of this would have happened. Kalista wouldn’t have to suffer to much.
“Yes, it’s all your fault, Catan!” Kalista raged on, twisting and turning as the pain stabbed her body mercilessly.
Lipton heaved a sigh. Kalista kept repeating Catan’s name. Apparently, Kalista thought that Catan was him, and that he was actually Catan in disguise. What Kalista didn’t know that was that he and Catan weren’t the same person at all. Catan was deeply suppressed, and Lipton knew that Catan was struggling hard to manifest … which could be at any moment … it was unpredictable.
“I’m not Catan,” Lipton said dejectedly, sadness washing over him at the thought that Kalista could not see him for who he was. “I’m … Lipton.” Lipton hoped that Kalista would believe him, but seeing the way Kalista was writhing on the sidewalk with fury in her eyes … he realized that it was impossible to make Kalista believe anything that he said.
“Go to hell, Catan!” Kalista went on in a tirade, throwing dagger looks at Lipton. “Just get away from me! Please!” Kalista broke into hysterical sobs, her eyes turning bloodshot and desperate.
Lipton couldn’t bear to see Kalista suffer any longer. A sudden epiphany lit his eyes up. Why didn’t he think of this before? He should have done this the moment Kalista rolled out of the car like a train wreck. He was a Wingman, after all. And Wingmen had certain supernatural abilities, such as absorbing the energy from another being.
Lipton hadn’t absorbed another person’s energy for a very long time, and he didn’t know if he could do it again. He recalled that the last time he did energy absorption was probably about five years ago during near a bar down Meddleton Avenue. A stranger had gotten utterly drunk, and overly energetic, intimidating the patrons in the bar. The bouncer managed to kick him out of the bar, and he wandered around the streets, filled with delirious energy. He intimidated passers-by with his incoherent rambling, and occasionally, he would slap them hard for no apparent reason.
Lipton had witnessed this drunkard’s hysteria, and wanted to put an end to it, so he confronted him, and using his supernatural abilities, he absorbed the drunkard’s energy, weakening him and dampening all the fiery energy that had been burning inside of him. The drunkard finally calmed down, but he faltered around for several moments before collapsing onto the ground, all his energy drained.
Lipton had absorbed all the drunk energy, causing him to be intoxicated. Lipton was thrown into fits of hysteria, zooming up and down the sky like a crazy bird, feeling completely delirious. However, even in his state of drunkenness, Lipton was mentally aware of what was going on, and his conscience was still working full-time. He refrained from harassing the passers-by, trying to fly as high as he could into the clouds, away from the humans. Lipton was able to contain his drunken hysteria after quite some time, and he felt so much better after that.
Lipton’s train of thoughts returned to the present, and he stared at Kalista, his heart terribly aching at the pain she was suffering. He had never tried absorbing someone’s pain before, and maybe he could take away Kalista’s pain by absorbing every last bit of her pain. He didn’t know if it was possible to absorb pain from another being, but it was worth a shot. If he could absorb energy from another being, why not pain?
Lipton positioned his hands above Kalista’s body, and focused on drawing his power. He closed his eyes, feeling the magical energy bubbling through his body. He could feel the surge of power flowing through his veins, and the minute he opened his eyes, he saw the palms of his hands shrouded in an ember glow.
In her agony, Kalista saw Lipton bent over her, his hands all aglow, and she shrieked in fear, “What are you doing, Catan? Can’t you see I’m in pain? Just leave me be, please! You’re scaring me!”
Focus, you need to focus, Lipton told himself repeatedly, opening up his soul and his mind, willing himself to receive the pain and suffering which Kalista was enduring. Lipton focused on absorbing all of Kalista’s pain, and he could feel that it was working as stabs of pain started to sting him.
Yes, let me feel her pain, let me absorb her pain, so she won’t need to suffer like this, Lipton continued chanting, the pain slowly seeping into his body, but it was still tolerable for him as he’d suffered worse pain than this. His mu
scles started to ache, and he felt as though his bones had been crushed. Lipton growled as he strained against the pain that was slicing all of his insides. The pain doubled, tripled, and got worse and worse as the waves of pain transferred from Kalista to Lipton’s body.
“What’s happening to me?” Kalista questioned, her eyes suddenly becoming more alert and livelier. Minutes ago, she had been squirming in pain, and now, she felt like she hadn’t cracked a single bone at all, and her body was intact. The pain was completely gone … it was as though it had seeped out of her body, and dissipated into the air. She sprang up to her feet in a spritely manner, flexing her body, amazed that everything had healed so quickly. How could this have happened?
Then she spotted Lipton squatting on the sidewalk next to her, grunting as though he was in pain. It was evident of his face that Lipton was suffering tremendous amount of pain, but he tried to suppress it, trying to keep his groaning to a minimal.
Instinctively, Kalista knelt down beside Lipton, perplexed at what had just happened to her, and what was happening to Lipton. Lipton bore the bruises and marks which was similar to hers when she had been physically abused by Catan. Perplexed, Kalista glanced at her body, and gasped when she saw that all her bruises were gone. And she swiveled her gaze back at Lipton’s body.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Had her pain and bruises somehow been transferred supernaturally to his body? It seemed like the only logical explanation.
Kalista knew that this was the perfect chance to run, to escape from this mysterious winged man who had caused her so much misery. But something in her heart screamed, telling her to stay put and help this man. Kalista protested mentally, refusing to have anything to do with this man, but when she saw the pain in those pure eyes, her heart melted.
Lipton seemed to be able to keep the pain under control after a few moments, and he glanced up at Kalista, sweat trickling down his face. He flashed her a weak smile, grunting a little as he tried to suppress the pain.
It ripped Kalista’s heart to see Lipton this way … she never knew that she could feel for this heartless bastard. She should just walk away now … before it was too late. But something in Lipton’s eyes propelled her closer to him. She couldn’t sense evil in those eyes … instead … they were filled with immeasurable sadness. All of a sudden, the anger and fear that had swirled within Kalista had evaporated, and she was filled with sympathy for Lipton. Why must she feel this way for him? Why? He was evil … and she wasn’t supposed to mingle with evil.
Lipton finally calmed down from all the pain, relaxed his shoulders and stretched his wings outward, the white feathers glinting in the moonlight. He looked so majestic and so gorgeous, and for a moment there, Kalista felt as though she couldn’t breath. He literally took her breath away.
Lipton folded his wings inward again, and then turned to glance at Kalista, his face returning to normal once again. There was no more pain in his eyes. He seemed fine, although there was a glint of sadness in those eyes.
“You-you-you’re OK?” Kalista stammered, still unable to digest what had happened earlier. Everything had happened so fast … and she still couldn’t believe what she had seen.
Lipton nodded, and cleared his throat. “I am OK now. I have conquered the pain inside of me. It took some time though … it wasn’t easy. The pain was crippling me inside out, but I was able to channel the pain away, away from me … I think I succeeded …”
“So you’re not feeling any pain now?” Kalista asked, her eyes getting teary due to the emotions that were bubbling inside of her. “The pain is gone?”
“Yes, it’s gone,” Lipton confessed, a smile lighting up his face.
There were a thousand questions Kalista wanted to ask Lipton, but she didn’t know where to even begin. Should she even trust him … after all the things he’d put him through?
But when Kalista looked into those eyes again, she couldn’t see any hint of evil … it was as though this person wasn’t Catan at all.
After a moment of awkward silence, Kalista finally spoke, her shoulders slightly trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I saw what happened just now … I don’t understand … did you take my pain away?”
The smile in Lipton’s eyes answered Kalista’s question.
“But how did you do that?!” Kalista asked, clearly puzzled. “How did you transfer my pain to your body? I mean … you’re able to do that?”
Lipton reached out a hand for Kalista, but she took one step backward, as though she didn’t know whether she should warm up to Lipton or back off. After all, she still thought that Lipton and Catan were the same person, and Lipton was just Catan’s disguise.
“Why are you so terrified of me?” Lipton asked, the hurt obvious in his eyes. “I’m not here to harm you … and to answer your question … yes, I absorbed all your pain, all of it … so that you won’t feel the pain anymore. I couldn't bear to see you suffer. It just tore me apart …” He trailed off, waiting for Kalista to respond.
“Why did you even care?” Kalista cried, rubbing the tears in her eyes. “Why do you even care for me? I thought you wanted to kill me, Catan!”
Lipton felt a stab in his heart. Catan. Kalista still thought that he was Catan, even though he clearly wasn’t. Yes, Lipton and Catan might share the same body due to the curse, but when Lipton manifested, he just didn’t possess any of the traits Catan had. He was entirely himself, and he was well aware of that.
Kalista was probably confused about the whole Catan-Lipton thing, and Lipton realized that he’d some explaining to do if he didn’t want this to end badly for both him and Kalista. And anyway, Kalista deserved to know the truth after all the pain and agony she had gone through.
“Kalista, look at me …” Lipton pleaded, staring hard at her. “Do you see any hint of Catan inside of me? Do I carry the aura of evil around me? Do you sense any of it? Do you? I can tell you for sure that I’m not Catan at all. I’m Lipton, and far be it that I’m this evil vampire called Catan …”
Kalista looked at Lipton as though he was crazy. “I don’t understand … but I thought you were Catan. Are you trying to fool me, Catan? I know you can transform into anyone that you like … that is one of your supernatural gifts? Am I right?” Kalista challenged, trying to dig deeper into this cluster of confusion.
“You’re wrong, Kalista,” Lipton protested, “but at the same time … you are right. Yes, Catan and I share the same body, but we’re two completely different entities day and night. We were cursed centuries ago by a sorceress who made us share the same body. When Catan manifests, then I’d would suppressed, and vice versa. I cannot manifest at will, so the transformation can take place at any time, and it becomes unpredictable. In fact, Catan may manifest at any time now as I’m speaking to you … and let’s hope that he doesn’t … because you’ll be in deep danger and I can’t be there to protect you.
Kalista stared hard at Lipton for some moment, trying to let the words sink in. “But why were you cursed? What did you do in the past?”
Seeing the puzzled look on Kalista’s face, Lipton decided to fill Kalista in on everything that had happened … how Jacelyn had bound both Catan and his soul together because he had killed her powerful father, and Catan had killed her one and only sister. To avenge their deaths, Jacelyn summoned all the powers of the universe to create that curse that would torture and haunt both Lipton and Catan for the rest of their lives … and invoking that powerful curse took a toll on Jacelyn and killed her on the spot.
When Lipton had finished explaining everything to Kalista, there was a look on understanding on her face, replacing the hatred and confusion that had consumed her earlier.
“So are you saying that at this moment … you’re not Catan? But you’re … Lipton?”
Lipton nodded. “Yes, I’m myself. Catan has been suppressed, but he will manifest at any time … I can’t control that. But for this moment, I’m purely myself … I’m Lipton, and everything Catan has done in the
past … his evil deeds … they have nothing to do with me. We just share the same body, but when one of us manifests, we will take on our own identity, our own individual form.”
Kalista’s eyes were lined with tears, as though she couldn’t believe that Lipton had to endure such a miserable curse for eternity. “So that day … at the Maze of Doom … when I first encountered you there … were you really yourself … and not Catan? I had actually thought that you were there to save me from Catan, but I was devastated when I thought that you were actually Catan, who was taking on your disguise, completely fooling me.”
“Yes, it was me … Catan was suppressed during that brief moment of time, and I manifested. Actually, I manifested because I pushed myself to manifest. When Catan harassed you in the Maze of Doom, I could sense your fear, even in my suppressed state. My emotions got the best of me, and I willed hard to manifest … and eventually, I was able to manifest victoriously … I guess I was just lucky then … It isn’t always easy to manifest at will, but I guess that feeling your fear and also the injustice that was done upon really fueled my emotions and energy, helping me to manifest faster and keeping Catan suppressed. But of course, while Catan was being suppressed, he was also struggling to manifest back, trying to suppress me. I guess his immeasurable wrath for my disturbance fueled his energy and eventually he was able to suppress me and then manifest himself … That was why before I had the chance to help you, I transformed back into Catan because he had won over me in that bodily battle. Even at this moment as I’m speaking to you, I can feel Catan inside of me, trying to manifest … I can feel his anger … his desperation … but I’m trying my very best to keep him suppressed for as long as I can …”
Tears streamed down Kalista’s cheeks freely as she heard the tragic account Lipton had told her. She finally believed every word he had said. Looking into those eyes, she could sense purity and truth in every part of him, and she didn’t doubt a single thing.
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