by N M Thorn
The door of the waiting room opened up and Tessa got up, expecting to see a nurse with an update on Ryan’s condition. But it wasn’t the nurse. Zane was standing in the doorway. He met her eyes and a shy smile transformed his face. She gazed at him wondering how he could be so different. She remembered the way he kicked the door into the room back in the dental office, his every step driven by deadly purpose and self-assurance. Now he was standing, uncomfortably shifting from foot to foot, looking like a person who wasn’t sure if he was welcome here.
“Zane, you’re here,” she exhaled, surprised that he kept his word and came to the hospital. For some reason she was sure that she wouldn’t see him until the next Taekwondo lesson, assuming he would show up at all after the way Aidan treated him.
“I promised,” he said with a light shrug. He walked up to her and sat down in the chair across from her. “How is Dr. West?”
“Critical,” she said with a sigh. “Still no updates from surgery.”
“I’m sorry about your boss,” he said uncomfortably, and Tessa could see that he didn’t really know what to say.
“He’s not just a boss. Ryan is more like a friend to me,” said Tessa quietly, turning away so he wouldn’t notice tears gathering in her eyes. “You saved both of us, Zane. Thank you.”
He looked away and sighed. “I guess, I owe you an explanation, Tessa,” he said finally, still staring down at his hands.
She glanced at his hands – calloused and rough, these were the hands of a man who was used to physical work and practiced marital arts for years. And for some reason, she could hardly contain her desire to touch these hands. She looked up. His eyes were no longer glowing red. They were silvery-grey, the color of steel. And for a moment she wondered if what she saw earlier was just an illusion, a play of light or deception created by her mind, overpowered by fear.
“You don’t owe me anything,” she objected, leaning back in her chair. “But if you don’t mind answering just one question…” He gave a her a short nod and she continued, “What was that man? A vampire?” Saying the word vampire like it was a real thing didn’t come easy for her. “How is that possible? It can’t be real.”
“It’s real, alright,” he replied with a smirk. “There are many things that go bump in the night that are real. You wouldn’t believe me even if I tried to tell you. But this man wasn’t a vampire. I wish he was. It would be a lot easier to get rid of him.”
“What was he?” Tessa repeated her question, feeling the small hairs rising up on the back of her neck. She saw the spirits of dead people and she talked to them. So why wouldn’t she believe in the existence of vampires and whatever else was sneaking around in the dead of night.
“Upir,” explained Zane calmly. “It’s like a vampire on some serious steroids. You can kill a regular vampire with a wooden stake through his heart or by decapitating him. Not that simple with upir. But you saw it yourself. With an upir, you need to cut his head off and then burn his body, otherwise he still can come back. Upirs can walk in the daylight and they look absolutely normal. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one…”
“Wow,” mumbled Tessa, not quite sure who was the craziest person in the room. “Upir… I didn’t even know that there was such a thing. And you’re what, like a friendly neighborhood Buffy, the vampire slayer?”
“What?” he asked looking lost for a moment but then laughed. “No, I’m not Buffy. I’m Lancelot. The bravest and noblest of them all, ready to save any little damsel in distress.”
Tessa giggled and punched him in the shoulder. “I’m no damsel, you moron.”
Zane smiled but all of sudden tensed up staring somewhere over Tessa’s shoulder. She followed his gaze and noticed a weightless semi-transparent cloud that was softly glowing with a pure white light, slowly drifting through the wall, entering the waiting room. For a moment, the view of the room switched to negative and then back to normal. She didn’t need to guess – it was a spirit. Tessa looked back at Zane and by the expression on his face, she was positive that he could see it too. The realization that she wasn’t the only one who could see spirits of the dead gave her unexpected comfort.
She got up with a sigh and approached the blub of energy. The spirit finished crossing through the wall and came to focus in front of her eyes. It was a young man. He looked disoriented and sad.
“Where am I?” asked the spirit, his voice distant and hollow.
“In the Broward Health Hospital,” replied Tessa, trying to sound as comforting as she could.
The spirit stared at her for a moment, furrowing his brow. “I think I’m starting to remember something…” He fell silent and his glowing body shimmered like he was ready to vanish, but then he came back into focus and stared at Tessa intently. “I remember an accident. This driver… he just rammed straight into our car. Head-on collision at full speed and I had no time… My wife! She was in the car with me and she was pregnant! I need to find her. I hope she’s okay… the baby too…”
The spirit turned away from her and headed toward the door. Spirits don’t use doors. He probably doesn’t realize that he’s dead, thought Tessa and rushed after him.
“Wait,” she called after the spirit. “Before you leave, I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?” asked the young man.
“I’m not very good at being diplomatic,” she said apologetically. “So, I’ll just tell you straight. I think you’re dead.”
“Excuse me? You’re crazy,” he said with assurance in his voice which made it obvious that he didn’t believe anything she said.
Tessa searched the room and picked up a magazine from the coffee table. She offered the magazine to the spirit. “Take it. If you are not dead, you’ll have no problem holding it, right?”
“You’re crazy,” repeated the sprit but extended his hand to take the magazine. His fingers slid though the magazine. He tried again to no avail. He raised his eyes at Tessa and stared at her mortified.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, sadness gripping at her chest.
“But why?” he whispered like he didn’t hear her. “Why now? I was happy, we were going to have a baby… Why me? It’s not right…”
“You’re right,” she replied. “It’s not right, not fair, but it is what it is.”
“But if I’m dead, how can you see me, talk to me?”
“I don’t know,” replied Tessa. “I just can.”
“So, what do I do now?” He twirled around like he was searching for the proverbial white light. “Should I go for the white light or look for a door or something?”
“I’m not sure. I’m new to all this. But one other spirit told me that the next step is to cross behind the veil,” she explained, throwing a quick look at Zane. He was sitting in his chair, seemingly relaxed, like nothing out of ordinary was happening in the room right next to him.
“Veil? Is that like heaven or hell?”
“I don’t know what’s behind the veil,” said Tessa. “I never died before and I never met anyone who returned from behind the veil. But that’s what you need to do. And I think I can help you with it if you’re ready.” She extended her hand to him.
The spirit looked at her hand indecisively. “How about my wife? Is she dead too?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t see her anywhere around. So hopefully, she is alive.”
“Good…” whispered the spirit. He visibly relaxed and put his hand into Tessa’s. “Thank you…”
As soon as she touched his hand, the spirit shone brighter and a few seconds later, he disappeared, leaving a few floating sparks of white lite slowly drifting in the air. Tessa walked back to her chair and sat down without looking at Zane. She was afraid that he was going to ask some questions she wasn’t prepared to answer. But he wasn’t saying anything – no questions, no statements, nothing.
“You know that I wasn’t talking to myself,” she said finally, gazing at him tentatively.
He smiled and met her eyes. “Of
course, I know that. Was it a spirit of a dead person?”
Tessa nodded. “You could see it too, couldn’t you?”
“I could see, but I’m sure what I saw was a lot different than what you saw. I can see the energy that the human soul emits. Usually it’s a light, bright white or golden. But I can’t see the actual ghosts and definitely can’t talk to them or hear them talking.”
For the first time in years, hope rose in her soul. Maybe Zane could help her answer these questions that were bothering her for years – why could she see the dead? What was she?
“Zane,” she said, her heart thundering in her chest, “do you know what I am? Why can I see spirits and talk to them? Why can they talk to me?”
“No, not yet, but let’s see if we can find out.” He got off his chair and squatted in front of her, staring up into her eyes. “Don’t get scared. My eyes may glow red and try not to touch me. My skin may get a little hotter than normal.”
“Go for it, Lancelot,” she said with a sarcastic smirk.
Tessa calmly observed as his eyes started to glow red and then small flames manifested in the depth of his eyes. She felt the wave of heat his body was emitting, but she didn’t move allowing him to do whatever he was doing. A minute later, he got up and sat on the chair next to her. He was sitting quietly, thinking, and Tessa was afraid to ask.
“So, what did you see?” she dared to ask finally, staring straight forward.
“I don’t know… I’m not sure what I saw,” he replied slowly. “You have a pure human soul, so that would make you human. Normally, I can see the energy of magic and elemental power, but you don’t have either. I can also see the dark energy of demons and other evil beings, like vampires, upirs, werewolves, you know… But you don’t have any dark energy in you either. So, you’re not evil —”
“What a relief!” She interrupted him, rolling her eyes. “I knew that I wasn’t evil without you telling me that, moron.”
Zane chuckled and shook his head. “Having said that, you’re not a pure-blood human either. The energy of your soul is a lot brighter than the energy of a regular human. It’s warm and kind and pure… but I can’t recognize it. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“Wow, nice…” Tessa pursed her lips. She tried not to laugh, but the corners of her lips quirked up. “So, I’m a covert paranormal freak. And my cover is so good that even other paranormal freaks can’t recognize me.”
“You’re not a freak,” objected Zane. “We just need to find out what you are. I’ll do what I can to help you.”
“Do you know what you are?” she asked without looking at him and held her breath for a moment.
“Yes.”
“How did you find out?”
“The hard way,” he replied. His eyes drifted to the side like he was looking back into his past. “But I had my friends by my side. And they helped me through the transition. I also have a great mentor.”
“You had friends?” asked Tessa. “Where are they now? Are they alive?”
“Yes, they’re fine, but they’re far away from here and I came to terms with the thought that I’ll never see them again.”
For a moment he looked so sad and lonely that Tessa’s throat tightened, like she could feel his pain. Her first instinct was to touch him, comfort him somehow and she moved her hand to him, but a wave of heat around his body made her stop. What am I doing? she thought, surprised by her own actions. I don’t do touchy-feely.
“I have only one true friend – Aidan,” she said quietly, her voice hoarse. “But I never told him anything. He’s so… I don’t know… Normal? He would never believe in anything supernatural. And I didn’t want him to think that I was crazy.”
“Aidan? As in Aidan McGrath? He doesn’t believe in the supernatural?” asked Zane. He looked so shocked that Tessa frowned, wondering why he would think otherwise.
“Yes, Aidan McGrath,” said Tessa dryly. “He doesn’t know anything, and I want to keep it that way.”
“If he is your true and only friend, don’t you think he deserves your honesty?” asked Zane with a lopsided smirk. “You never know, he could be more open to the idea of supernatural than you think.”
“No!” Tessa got up, fear surging through her. “No, please. I don’t want him to know anything.”
“I won’t tell him about you, if you don’t tell him about me,” said Zane winking at her.
“I’m serious, Zane. I’m not going to tell him anything about you. I was unconscious and didn’t see anything. But if you say one word to Aidan, I swear, you’ll regret it!”
Zane raised his hands up, grinning. “Tessa, relax. I wasn’t going to tell him anything. I’m not that close with Aidan to have a heart-to-heart. The man hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you, Zane. He just doesn’t know you and Aidan is not a very trustful person. You need to deserve his trust first.” She sighed and finally touched his hand lightly. His skin felt like he was running a high fever, but it didn’t burn her. “Listen, can I count on you? Can you help me find out what I am?”
“Yes, of course. I already told you that I will,” he replied right away. “Can I have your cell for a moment?” She glanced at him surprised but gave him her cell phone. He quickly punched in the numbers. “Here is my phone number. If you ever need my help – call me.”
She stored his phone number in her phone’s contact list. “Why would I need your help?” she asked, giving him an arched stare. “You saw me in action. I can take care of myself.”
“You never know.” He shrugged, getting up. “You may have an infestation of upirs or an invasion of walking dead. I don’t know. Since you refuse to tell the truth to the only friend you have, when paranormal knocks on your door, who are you going to call?”
“Aw, I’m sorry. My first assumption was incorrect. You’re not Buffy, you’re an uncredited ghostbuster…” She snickered, getting up, patting him on his shoulder. “But on the serious side, Zane. May I ask you what you are?”
“Yes, you may ask,” he agreed, an evil grin on his face, “just don’t expect me to answer.” But he quickly changed his mind. “Fine, I’ll tell you. I am —”
He didn’t get to finish what he was going to say, as the door opened and a man in medical scrubs walked inside the waiting room. He looked tired and serious, and Tessa felt a spike of fear tearing through her heart. She took a step toward the doctor and stopped.
“Ms. Tessa Donovan?” he asked. “I’m Dr. Alister. I wanted to let you know that Dr. West is doing well. He lost a lot of blood, but we performed a successful surgery to fix the damage to his neck, and he’s stable now. We moved him to ICU and you can see him any time you’re ready.”
“Thank you, doctor,” mumbled Tessa, instantly feeling relief.
“Do you know what bit him?” asked Dr. Alister. “It looked like a bite of a large animal, but in my years of practice I had never seen anything like this. We’ll have to treat him for rabies.”
“I don’t know,” said Tessa, terrified of the idea of telling the truth to the doctor. “I didn’t get a chance to see the attacker.”
“Well, you can go to the nurses’ station and they’ll tell you where you can find Dr. West,” said Dr. Alister and left the room.
As soon as the doctor was out of the room, Tessa turned back to Zane. “I got to go,” she said. “Can you do me a favor?”
“What do you need?”
“Can you tell Aidan that I’m in the hospital with Ryan? I don’t want him to worry about me, so please go to the school as soon as possible and let him know. Don’t wait until the evening training. Okay?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell him.” He raked his fingers through his short hair. “I’ll have to find a way to explain to him how I know that you’re in a hospital with your boss.”
“Good point,” said Tessa narrowing her eyes at him. “What were you doing in my dental office, huh?”
Zane laughed and opened the door out of the waiting room, gestu
ring at her to pass through first. “I had an emergency appointment. Toothache.”
“Yeah, right. If only I believed you.” She scolded him with her eyes as she walked past him, pushing him with her shoulder. “And don’t you dare open doors for me, little man. I don’t need your assistance… Friggin’ knight in shining armor.”
“My lady.” Zane laughed and bowed to her. It wasn’t a traditional martial arts bow, more like a bow of a medieval knight. And even though his bow was full of mockery, Tessa couldn’t shake off the feeling that it wasn’t the first time he bowed like this.
This man is full of secrets, she thought walking away toward the nurses’ station. And there is nothing I love more than unravelling a good mystery. He’s my kind of puzzle.
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
Gunz left the hospital and walked through the busy parking lot, searching for his car. It didn’t take him long to find his white Mercedes. He sat down in the driver’s seat but didn’t start the car right away, thinking about Tessa and the mystery that surrounded her. She could see and communicate with spirits, but he didn’t think that she was a medium. He came across a few mediums before and they all had a different aura about them. Their aura included some energy of magic. Tessa had none of that and the brightness of her own energy was unprecedented.
He remembered the first time when the Fire Salamander in him reared its flaming head and the torture he went through until he learned to control his power. He didn’t know what was happening to him, and even though his power didn’t manifest in its full potency right away, he still hurt those closest to him – his friends who stood by his side, no matter how hard it was.
Now that he learned how dangerous his natural state was to humans, he was thanking God for not letting him gain his pure Fire Salamander state until much later on. By the time he grew into the full power of a Fire Salamander, he was under control of his mentor – Kal, the fierce Fire Elemental, the magnificent Great Salamander.