Black Knight

by Svetlana Ivanova

  "Well." Jack shrugged haughtily. "Guys throw punches at each other and say things girls would never think of saying, but when it all blows over, we play football together again."

  Jack Conner took a few steps closer towards me. I backed away from him. The charged air between us was filled with austere chill and unease.

  "I have nothing to talk to you. Please leave me alone." I felt like I was in the face of a rogue wolf that could smell my fear. Without wasting any more time with my cousin's ex, I turned around and began to walk away quickly, but Jack came to block my path. His face was unnervingly close to mine.

  "You mocked me, Nina, and you humiliated me by doing this," Jack hissed like a maniac. All of a sudden, he seemed intimidating and maybe a little unstable.

  "I don't know what you're talking about, Jack. Stay away from me!" I said and sidestepped him, but he grabbed my hand and swirled me around. I tried to pry his grip off my elbow but to no avail.

  "Let me go right now, Jack, or I'll scream," I said in threatening voice. He still didn't seem to show any sign of backing off.

  "This is ridiculous. You both are girls! What does she have that I don't have, Nina?" he growled.

  "Everything!" I snapped back and pushed Jack's broad chest away as hard as I could with both hands. He stumbled but gripped me back by the waist and hurled me against the wall of his muscular body.

  "I love you, Nina. She can't make you happy like I can," Jack said desperately and tightened his hold around me.

  "No! Let go of me!"

  I was thinking about what was the best angle to kick his nuts and how much strength it would require me to do so. One kick that could deliver a tremendous jolt of sharp pain to make him think it was the end of the world.

  But I noticed he was wearing jeans and I couldn't get a clear opening.

  "Let me show you what pleasure with a guy feels like, Nina. You won't regret it," he said.

  I struggled against his barbarous advancement, but he was too strong. I screamed as loud as any panicky girl would scream. Yet I was so far away from people. The music was booming too loudly in a distance. No one would hear me. Jack knew this and he took full advantage of it. He held me with iron hands that would bruise my skin.

  "Let me go, Jack!" I cried and struggled against his vise-like grip. "Help! Somebody, help me!"

  In that moment, the only person I wanted my cries to be heard was Allecra. But she was probably still shoving her tongue down Eva's throat. Jack nuzzled my neck with his nose. His unshaven face scratched my skin. My mind raced in tandem with my heart.

  If I couldn't run or kick his balls or head-butt him, my last solution would be to bite the hell out of Jack. Bite like a frenzy pit-bull that wouldn't let go. My father told me that you could take a man off guard if you inflict real pain on him. At least, you have a small chance of escape. I was about to open my mouth and bite Jack when a fierce powerful voice came from behind us.

  "Let go of her immediately!" Allecra growled, which sent relief spreading through my pounding chest. Like an answer to my prayer, she had come to save me like I knew she would. Deep down even in my moments of panic, I knew that I would be safe as long as Allecra was near. She had an almost clairvoyant knowledge of where to find me.

  I turned my head and saw her stomping towards us. This time, my heart leaped to my mouth. Allecra looked terrifying...and breathtakingly beautiful. She marched forward with a deadly air of the grim reaper. I had seen her like that once.

  "Allecra," I breathed. Jack released me, but still kept a firm hold on my wrist.

  "What are you gonna do about that, blondie?" he challenged. I knew he was trying to look equally frightening, but it fell short. He was no match for the grace and power Allecra possessed within her. It was like watching a kitten snarling at a lioness. I could feel him shifting on his feet. Without a response, Allecra's eyes went ablaze in turquoise light. I gasped as she turned those pair of stirring galaxies to Jack.

  The guy dropped his jaw and stumbled back in a shocking bewilderment. He tripped over himself and fell.

  "Holy shhh...! What the hell is that?" Jack cried in obvious fear. Allecra's glowing eyes had not dimmed back. They still burned in a frightening death glare. Jack was now panting on the ground, speechless and pale like a ghost.

  I went up to Allecra, but she only turned me away as gently as she could. Her face was purposeful. Her gaze never left the gaping and voiceless Jack Conner.

  "Allecra, no! Please, don't," I tried to speak to her and pull her back, but she didn't budge at my plea. I realized Jack was no longer making any sound. He was just kneeling there, staring back with the blankest look on his blood-drained face.

  "I have put up with this one long enough," Allecra growled from the depth of her chest. "I'm going to take away his memory, scattering everything in his brain. I'm gonna make him live in a vegetative state!"

  "Allecra, no!" I cried. "Please, Allecra, don't do that."

  She didn't listen and just held Jack's empty stare. His body started trembling like he was having a seizure.

  "Goodbye, asshole," Allecra muttered icily. "You might be as good as dead."

  Jack's pale face contorted. His hands went up to clutch his head and rake his hair. The guy threw his head back and screamed in a strangled choking voice. It was horrible to watch. He was being punished in the most unusual way.

  Whatever Allecra was projecting was probably so painful. And now Jack was on the receiving end of this highest form of brutality. I didn't know Allecra was capable of doing such things.

  "Allecra, stop!" I cried again and came to put myself between her and the tortured man. My tears flowed freely over my frightened face.

  Only when she heard me sobbing that she blinked again and turned to look at me. Her eyes were still glowing, burning with unnatural light. Jack finally collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

  "Why are you doing this?!" I cried and pounded her chest with my small fist. She held me back arm-length by the shoulders. Her gaze searched mine with deep concerns and confusion.

  "Nina, what's wrong with you? Can't you see that he was trying to do bad things to you?" she said. "What would happen if I hadn't found you first? He deserves more than this. I should have toasted that hollow head of his for what he did to you!"

  "No, Allecra! You're being cruel!" I yelled and shrugged her hands off me. And as if I needed a sweet reminder, the thought of her and Eva streamed back into my mind again. It fueled my rage, coupling with disappointment and heartache to rage like a feral storm. "You did worse to me than him. You're so mean, and I hate you!"

  "What?" She looked at me long and hard, like she didn't have the slightest clue of what I said.

  "You know what you did!"

  Just like that, Allecra's strong arms wrapped around me and forced me to walk away with her from the spot. I tried to shrug off her again, but she wouldn't let go of me.

  "Where are you taking me?" I cried.

  "Shh...be quiet," she said. "We need to talk."

  "Don't tell me to be quiet!"

  "Nina, please!"

  "Don't you Nina me!"

  Allecra grunted in her throat and kept speed-walking even faster. We skirted around the garden and came out again on the other side. I realized she had brought me back to the pond. She released me and now pulled me by the hand instead. Then we came over the bridge to the island garden, and she stopped us under the same willow tree.

  Allecra turned me around to her at last.

  "Now tell me what the hell was that about?" she demanded as if I was the one who almost killed a man and kissed her ex. "I don't know why you're so angry at me. I was just saving you from that sorry piece of trash!"

  "It's not just about him! You knew what you did," I spat and turned my back to her like a sulking child.

  She came around to face me again. "Nina, for the sake of all things good, just tell me what the heck did I do to make you upset?"

  "You want me to tell you? Alright, first of all, you n
eed to know that it's wrong to kill a person. It's a crime against humanity..."

  "Are you using humanity to protect that beastly man?" she said.

  "Second," I went on, ignoring her defense, "if you didn't mean all the things you said to me, you don't have to lie to me anymore."

  "Lie about what?"

  "That you love me and care about me!"

  "But I really do!" she snapped. "How else should I tell you that? Damn it!"

  "You're a liar, Allecra," I said. "Your actions proved otherwise. I saw what you did with Eva."

  Allecra looked stunned. "You did?"

  "Yes, you kissed her! Don't you lie to me about not having feelings for her," I cried and stared at her through my hot tears. "Why did you do that? You told me you both were over. And now look at what you've done to me!"

  There was a long pause between us. I was waiting for her to say something and to explain to me what was going on, that I got it all wrong, but my heart fell further downward when Allecra remained silent. Her lips pressed into a thin line. Then she closed her eyes and turned away from me. My mouth fell open and closed again like I was a goldfish.

  "I see," she sighed a moment later.

  "Is that all you've got to say?" I asked with a glare. Allecra didn't answer. She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and heaved another loud sigh. I was still waiting, but she only walked towards a nearby bench under the tree and sat down. I watched her in confusion mixed with rising anger. Unable to tell what she was thinking, I just stood there. At last, Allecra turned her face to me again. Her bright eyes dimmed down from the light overhead.

  "Come here and sit on my lap," she said to me. Her voice was calm and collected.

  The nerves!

  I wanted to scream from all the coursing frustration in every cell of my body, but at the same time, my feet were inching forward, pulling me to her with an irresistible force.

  Please give me the strength not to sit on her lap.

  A moment later, I dumped myself on Allecra. She wound her arms securely around my waist like an octopus's tentacles. Then she shifted her body a little to the side, swaying me along with her as she dug her right hand into her hip pocket. Allecra pulled out a sleek black leather box. It was wrapped with a sumptuous purple ribbon.

  She proffered it to me. "Happy birthday, Nina."

  I stared at her in disbelief. And after a moment, I took the small box from her hand and threw it to the ground. It landed without a sound on the grass beneath our feet. I wanted Allecra to see that I was still mad at her.

  "I don't want your gift anymore," I said fumingly. Allecra looked back at me with her penetrating brilliant eyes.

  "Pick it up," she said in a tone that made my body shiver.

  How I wanted to cry and do something drastic in that moment, but in the end, I stooped down to retrieve the box from the ground. I shoved the gift back into her hand.

  "Are you happy now?" I said with a grumpy look.

  "You spelled trouble, Nina, you know that? Adorable, sweet, and sassy—yet my very special trouble," she said.

  "Then why don't you go back to Eva?" I snapped back. I couldn't help it. Allecra gave me a look that was enough to shut me up.

  She turned away again and held the little box in her hand. Allecra began to untie the knot of the purple ribbon while her other hand still wound around my waist. The black lid soon popped open.

  Most girls would squeal just at the sight of diamonds, but not me. I had never felt any desire towards any gem-related objects before. Partly it was because I knew I could never afford one.

  Yet whatever sparking inside the tiny box made me gasp in astonishment. It was the most beautiful piece of a rare-looking jewel ever. The gem was shaped like a raindrop fashioned into a white platinum necklace.

  "Erytus stone from Arzuria," Allecra told me as I stared unblinkingly at it. My head turned to look at her with wider eyes.

  "It's from your planet?" I gasped. Allecra nodded with a smile.

  "Erytus is the most precious and rarest of gems in our world," she said. "It's harder than diamonds and changes color from blue-green in the daylight to purple at night. Its incandescent light is what makes it special."

  I watched her slender fingers delicately pick the gem out of the box and held it by the string. The stone swayed in the air and sparkled like a twinkling star. It was the most beautiful reflection I had ever seen.

  "Erytus was formed inside a mountain where it crystallized under low pressure and a high temperature of the volcanic rhyolitic magma," Allecra told me again. "This one was said to be unearthed among the skeletons of a half-ton elephant-bird in my planet. Very few specimens like this exist."

  She fluidly fastened the necklace around my neck and pulled my hair gently back around my shoulders. I looked down at the gem that sparkled lustrously on my chest.

  "I know people on earth like to give diamonds to their loved ones as a precious token of love," she said. "In Arzuria, Erytus stones were only given to those you would cherish for life. Once you give it to someone, you're bound to them forever."

  "Allecra..." I tried to say something but amazement stole my power of speech.

  "I want our love to be like this jewel, tested by fire and ice yet unbreakable and beautiful in the end."

  "You're so confusing. Why do you give it to me?" I said.

  "This is the only way I can hope to make you understand how much I need you in my life, Nina," she told me.

  I tried hard not to give in.

  "No, I don't think I'm worthy of it," I said with all the detachment of an exhausted heart. "You should give it to someone else."

  I didn't want to specify who I was referring to. She couldn't expect me to accept the gift and disregard what had happened like it was a wrapper on a candy bar.

  "What do you mean, you're not worthy? You're more precious to me than all the gems in the universe," Allecra said.

  "What about Eva?" I asked.

  Allecra scowled back at me.

  "I can make you forget about everything in a blink of an eye, but I won't do that, you know why? Because whatever you think you saw between me and Eva was just a scratch on the surface, the tip of an iceberg."

  "You mean my mind played tricks on me and that my girlfriend kissing her ex isn't real?"

  "Eva understands that I can't go back to her," Allecra said, "but she needed some memory to remember me by. She doesn't want to feel like there is something missing and not knowing what it is. I want her to move on with her life."

  "So you kissed her," I said sarcastically. "How's that supposed to help her move on?"

  "She needed me to break up with her like a normal human lover would do," Allecra said. "All Eva wanted was for me to say it out loud without memory erase and my disappearance like a coward. It's still hard for her, but that's the only way she can convince herself that our relationship was real; it did happen, and it had ended, so it's time to let go. It's like an unfinished play that has to be curtained. Our kiss was just to signal it. That is the least I could do for her, Nina. I hope you understand."

  Now I couldn't decide whom I should feel sorrier for, myself or the violinist. Eva was so brave and strong to be able to confront this. Knowing what she must have felt made me feel bad for her. I also felt guilty for my hasty judgment and misunderstanding.

  "Is that true? It's nothing but a goodbye kiss?" I finally asked, even though I already believed everything. I wanted it to be true so I could forgive Allecra, and I was more than happy to do that because I couldn't stand not having her back in my life.

  Allecra took my face in her soft hand and stroked my cheek gently.

  "Sometimes, I feel like we both are fellow criminals, fearing one another, who might kill the thing that is our love."

  "You started it," I said. "I just need constant reassurance that you still need me."

  Allecra smiled.

  "I'll make sure you'll go to bed feeling you're loved and needed every single night," she said. "I jus
t want you to look at me and think that you're my happy ending, Nina. I want you to fantasize about kissing me as much as I do about kissing you. I want to be loved by you and craved by you. This is the truth. You have to believe me."

  Her face leaned forward and she pressed her luscious lips over mine. I deepened the kiss. And I found myself falling in love with this blonde alien all over again.

  "I believe you," I whispered.

  "Thank you," she whispered back between our laps of tongues and heavy breaths. "It feels like heaven when you kiss me. It makes me forget all the times you put me through hell."

  "Excuse me? I'm the one who puts you through hell?" I said and broke our joined lips. Allecra groaned in dissatisfaction by the separation.

  "Yes, you are! You know how many times you drove me crazy? The first time you rejected me, those times when you were with Jordan, when you were being so stubborn, and just tonight alone you almost made me die from all my worries by disappearing. Maybe I just wanted you to fight for me instead of giving up and walking away," she said. "It hurts, Nina. How I wish you think 'she's mine' when you look at me because I always think of you that way every time I look at you."

  After all that had been said, I stared at her and finally understood. My arms went around her neck and she held me closer to her.

  "I'm sorry," I said in remorseful voice.

  "Please don't be. It's not your fault. It's okay," Allecra said and shook her blonde head over my shoulder. "You don't know how I am absolutely infatuated with the way you play with my heart and still don't know it. But I love you, Nina. I really do."

  "I love you, too," I whispered. I was afraid I would cry from the outburst of happiness inside my chest.

  Allecra said softly, "I'll tell you how much I love you again if you forget."

  I giggled when I heard that. We pulled away and looked into each other's eyes for a long moment.

  "You know, I'm eighteen now," I said shyly as if to remind her what it meant. She smiled.

  "We don't have to rush."

  "I'm not rushing."