Darkling

by Sabolic, Mima

  He could have told me in the restaurant. We were there for hours after all, but he hadn’t even suggested that he was leaving. I felt a slow warmth spreading through me; the pills were kicking in.

  “Baldur gave me a month off.”

  “That’s cool. Where will you go?”

  “Don’t know yet.” I didn’t want to go anywhere. I wanted to work here with Belun. And he wasn’t here anymore.

  “Don’t go home.”

  “Why?”

  “You might be disappointed by the people around you. You’re not the same person anymore,” she said. I guessed she had had a rough time when she had been away.

  “That didn’t even occur to me,” I admitted.

  “I suggest some exotic place. Blue sea, white sand . . .”

  “Yeah, you and Baldur too.”

  She laughed, waving me off with her hand.

  “You gonna ask Doris to join you?”

  “Right! Doris! She did mention that she had missed traveling.”

  The day dragged as slowly as ever. I used to think that stupidity was the worst thing that happened to humanity, but, no—boredom was. I called Doris, and she was so excited at the prospect of a month off that she immediately started to plan where we could go. I wasn’t actually interested in choosing right now, so I left it to her. I wasn’t sure if things would have been different even if I had been interested. She started rolling off places and people and everything, which was okay with me. It’s not like I’d seen any part of Europe besides the surrounding wilderness—just about anything sounded fine to me.

  Later, the girls dropped by.

  “Nice painting,” Mia said, and I saw Doris giggle.

  “Do you guys think that it’s strange that Belun just left like that? We were making progress with my Vocati.” I hoped to get some info. But a thought occurred to me, and an unpleasant one at that. Back at the restaurant, Simona had mentioned him joining them for something. Had he taken her up on the offer and left? An uneasy feeling filled my stomach thinking of him in a hot tub with her. But why would he have left the figurine?

  “He didn’t say that he was going anywhere,” Doris offered, and Mia shrugged. “It’s nothing official, because Aidan would know. And today he told me that Belun stood him up for a morning meeting or something. He tried to reach him on his cell, but he only got his voice mail.”

  Didn’t they find it odd? A month of absence! What did he need it for?

  “Last night I met Vuk for a drink, and when his phone rang he got all serious and stuff. After the call he said he had to meet with Belun later. That’s all I know. He hasn’t called me since,” Bryn exhaled deeply.

  So, the night before, Belun had had a meeting with the Priest, and it seemed to have been over a serious matter. Why had he wanted Vuk and not a Priest from the compound? I hadn’t noticed that they were close, which could mean that he was avoiding the official channels. And you do that when you don’t want someone to find out about certain things. That someone was probably Baldur and people close to him. But the big question was: what was Belun trying to hide? Whatever it was, Vuk seemed to have known, but the oddest thing was that he hadn’t told Aidan about it. Why keep his best friend in the dark? Safety? I didn’t like the direction my thoughts were heading.

  But Vuk was the link.

  “So, how’re things between you two?” I asked.

  “Slow,” Mia offered up, and Bryn agreed.

  “But something’s going on, right? So you had drinks. Now what’s the next move?” I pushed.

  “I don’t know. It was nice, but I haven’t heard from him since.”

  “He’ll call, don’t worry,” Doris said, calmly. “He doesn’t seem like a frivolous guy, he’s probably busy.”

  Yeah, busy with what, I wondered. It had to have something to do with Belun.

  “I’ve heard Vuk’s a Priest, but what does he do if he’s not assigned to the compound?” I asked. Bryn and Doris didn’t exactly seem happy about my nosing around, but they didn’t ignore me either. Fortunately.

  “He hasn’t bound himself to any place, because his Priest training isn’t over yet,” Bryn replied.

  “The Priest training could never actually be over,” Mia added.

  “So what does he do then?” I pushed the issue, and Mia and Doris looked at Bryn with a curiosity equal to mine.

  “He collects data about gifted people from these lands.”

  “So that’s how you heard about Arna,” Doris said.

  “Yeah, when he told me what he does, he mentioned Arna as an example. And once I knew her name, it wasn’t hard to track her down.”

  “Did he mention that there were more of them somewhere nearby?” Doris asked, giggling.

  “Really? After this Tin Man thing we’re on the verge of becoming a cautionary story! I don’t want any more ‘scandals’.” Mia shook her head in horror, and we all laughed.

  “A cautionary story? Girl, you became a punch line!” Doris threw a pillow at her.

  “So, any suggestions for a vacation?” I asked, when the pillow fight had calmed down.

  “I was thinking the south of France, then Spain . . . .” Doris said in a mysterious voice.

  “That sounds cool,” I agreed. Actually, it was a great choice. “Is the whole pack coming?”

  “It’s bad timing for me, girls,” Bryn said shyly, and we all knew she wanted to work on her thing with Vuk.

  “Unfortunately, I have some family obligations coming up.” Mia’s voice sounded grim. Whatever she had already planned wasn’t her choice, apparently.

  “So it’s you and me, kiddo.” I shoved Doris. “When do we leave?”

  “As soon as possible! I’ll organize everything tonight. Tomorrow we can fly toward the sun, for a change.”

  “Um, stupid question—sun?” I asked, and the three of them were practically rolling on the floor.

  “Girl, even the movies have evolved regarding that!” Mia could barely catch her breath.

  “Don’t you worry, I won’t crumble to dust on you,” Doris assured me, winking.

  “Well, sorry. We live here, out in the middle of friggin’ nowhere without any sun. Plus nobody mentions beaches and stuff. What else would I think?”

  “If you want a friend to lie with you on the sunny beach without shade for the entire day, you got the wrong person. And if you want your friend to burst into flames, or turn into dust—hmm, you also have the wrong person,” Doris teased. “C’mon, it’s not like we’re the living dead or something—we are a normal race. We’re not corpses!”

  “Unlike the Vocati,” Bryn added.

  “Yeah, but even they walk in the sun. Although, they do look for shade,” Mia offered.

  “Well, that’s solved. Now, how’re we going to bring a coffin?” Three pillows flew my way. Heh heh.

  Doris continued on about the places we were going to visit and where we were going to stay—which was mostly with her friends and family. I didn’t know how I felt about that. What was wrong with 4 star hotels? In Spain, we were going to her uncle’s palace and she seemed overwhelmed by the prospect.

  I liked spending time with the girls, and as soon as they left, my hand found the little figurine in my pocket. Belun’s image filled my mind, burdening me with more unanswered questions.

  I opened the window, thinking of the nocturnal visit. So, the time when I’d woken up and found myself in another dream with the window open—had he actually been in my room that night? The window was wide open, as if someone had been caught. Now it was barely ajar. Why would he have come the first time? Emotion swelled within me at the thought. Where the hell had he gone?

  I looked out the window, trying to figure out how he had gotten up to my room. But no such luck. Another mystery. If I hit one more wall of unanswered questions, I’d go ballistic. I had to know. I had to! Feeling anxious, I ran out of the suite. In the garage, I looked for the black SUV that Belun usually drove, but it wasn’t there. Maybe someone else had taken it, o
r maybe he had. In what direction? Well, at least thinking about his direction gave me the space to not think about my own. If I gave it at a single thought, I would never do what I’d set out to do. I took the car I found myself standing next to. Driving faster than I should, I soon found myself knocking at the door of the green house.

  “Good evening,” I said, knowing it was pretty late for visitors.

  “I thought I’d never see you again,” Arna said, leading the way down her hall.

  “Me neither.”

  “What brings you here, then?”

  I sat on the sofa. “An idea. It’s a long shot, but if you could help, that’d be great.”

  “You do know I can’t read you.” Her voice was calm as she sat down next to me.

  “Yeah, but can you read objects?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I pulled out the figurine. “Could you pull something out of this?”

  “I hope I can. I usually don’t have problems with objects, or people,” she looked at me. I guessed I was the sore spot on her CV. She closed her fingers around the metal. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes too. Almost a full minute passed before she spoke.

  “Green eyes saw this object in an antique store. It wasn’t expensive, but he had a strong emotional reaction to it. He bought it instantly, and carried it in his pocket for a couple of days.”

  Green eyes? This woman was good.

  Then she wrinkled her nose. “Something has happened, which apparently has to do with you since I can’t see it. But it’s probably something that you did and it created a huge confusion within him. And I see pain there too. For some reason he couldn’t stay. But I don’t know why.”

  I stared at her in bewilderment. What the hell was she talking about?! What could I have done to chase him away? Nothing. I did nothing to him. I hadn’t even seen him since Saturday, and then things were fine, I thought. On the other hand, he wouldn’t have left me the figurine if I was the reason of his departure. Pain? What could I have done that caused him pain?! Arna was wrong.

  “I really don’t understand a thing you’re saying.”

  “Me neither.” She patiently opened her hand, stretched out her fingers, and then wrapped them around the figurine one more time.

  “A window; someone’s bedroom. He lingered, leaving it on a nightstand. I can’t see who’s on the bed, so I’m guessing it’s you.” Shocked, I managed only a nod.

  “Why did he leave it?”

  She closed her eyes again, concentrating deeply.

  “I want you to know—to remember—it is not your fault.” Arna spoke each word with such force that I knew she had entered his mind when he was next to my bed. But what was the meaning of all that? To remember—remember what?! My fault—WTF?

  Arna opened her eyes.

  “That is all I can see. There’s a big mess inside him. A lot of disbelief.”

  “Disbelief?” My voice was filled with defeat.

  “Something about you. Not of a romantic nature, though.”

  I probably made a sad puppy face, because she suddenly seemed more compassionate.

  “He has strong emotions for you. I don’t know their nature; they could be romantic.”

  Could be? My innards sank.

  “How can I find him?”

  “He’ll find you.” She shrugged. “At least this time I was able to tell you something.”

  I smiled awkwardly, and on her doorstep I pulled out my wallet. However, she touched me gently on my shoulder and shook her head.

  “Thank you. Good night.”

  On my way back to the compound I felt empty and awkward. The figurine was safe in my pocket. So, what were the conclusions of the night’s visit? Arna’s apparently was not a fraud but a freak. I mean, man! She even guessed the color of his eyes! And that window-nightstand thing. Creepy. Apparently Belun left because of something I’d done. That didn’t seem likely, so I translated it into: he left due to something that I had been a part of.

  What was I a part of? Was it something that Tertius had said in our last session? I hadn’t seen Belun after that. His computer was still on, so maybe he’d heard something that had alarmed him. Maybe something from his past, or something about telepathy. Unfortunately, I could only speculate about it. Also, that thing that Tertius had said about a weak link—that could’ve had some meaning for him. What had been so alarming that he had to act immediately?!

  All that could have made sense if Arna hadn’t mentioned his pain. Disbelief and confusion went with the theory of a new discovery, but there was no place there for pain. Maybe it was something of a physical nature—that last Vocati attack. His wounds had not been healing well.

  Oh, and his strong emotions toward me, which could maybe be romantic. But not necessarily so. In our case it could be friendship, responsibility, or respect. Honestly, I had hoped for something like what she’d told Bryn, or, better yet, Doris: “You’ve found your happiness.” And what had I got? First nothing, and then a bunch of unanswered questions!

  On the table in the common room there was a package with my name on it. The presents for Doris and Jules had arrived.

  I had the same dream as the night before. Spending hours in a pitch-black space wasn’t exactly what I liked, and I felt as if I wouldn’t be rested enough for the next morning. Nevertheless, that didn’t seem to be the case.

  Doris’s text woke me. It said: Pack! So, we were leaving soon.

  “You’ve made plans?” Julia asked.

  “Doris has. We’re off to the south of France and then Spain.”

  “Cool! You guys are gonna have a great time!”

  “Jules, I have something for you.” I held out my hand with a small box in my palm. “It’s a small gift of gratitude for everything you did for me when I first came to this place.”

  She looked bewildered, accepting the gift. A wide smile crossed her face.

  “Nika, they’re beautiful!” She studied the earrings, her face radiating with joy. “You really shouldn’t have!”

  “But I wanted to. They seemed like something you’d like.”

  “And they are! I’ll wear them tonight,” she told me happily.

  It was really nice to see her smiling like that again. I’d missed it.

  “Thank you, hon.” She hugged me. “When do you leave?”

  “In a few hours.”

  “Have a safe flight then.” She laid a kiss on my chick and hugged me once more. “Your Vocati’s waiting.” Julia waved her fingers at me as she left.

  I asked Lena to bring me some bigger suitcases, and forty minutes later I was packed. One of the guards put my things into Mia’s car.

  “You’re coming after all?” But she shook her head.

  “Only for the drive,” Mia said.

  “Any news?” I asked, thinking of Belun.

  “Like what kind of news?” Doris asked, and luckily Mia jumped to my aid.

  “Did Belun call?”

  Too bad she wasn’t coming with us. It was easier to talk with her about some things. I had to work on communication with Doris. It was hard that she and Belun were close; it always seemed to be an obstacle that blocked me from telling her stuff about him. On the other hand, Mia was a great source of information. And she had a better eye for things.

  “He didn’t,” Doris replied.

  That’s it? Ah. We really would have to work on the Belun subject.

  First part of the trip was Tromsø-Oslo-Nîmes. Nîmes: our destination in the south of France. I felt excited when we finally boarded the plane. This was going to be an unforgettable vacation.

  Chapter 19

  Balthazar

  For most of the flight I read Kurt Vonnegut’s cynical and highly entertaining novel Galápagos. I thought of the world through the eyes of the narrator, Leon Trout, while we landed at the Nîmes airport. A critic of civilization settled in the Darwinian context. The destruction of the world as we know it through economic breakdown—not so fictional, though.

&n
bsp; A brand new black sedan awaited us.

  “I missed the sun!”

  “Sorry?”

  Doris laughed at my lost look, gesturing to the sky.

  “Sun, girl! We’re finally seeing it.”

  “Oh, right. Jeez, I almost forgot that it radiates warmth.” I looked at the late autumn clear blue sky. I hadn’t seen the sun above the horizon for something like three months. Doris said Nîmes was a French Rome, so to speak, but I didn’t see anything that might explain why on our way to our host’s place. A short drive took us to a sturdy gate situated between rocks, and then through a nice park up to an old villa. When I say old, I mean “old money.” It looked like the mansions I had imagined while reading the classics. It even had a mossy north side.

  “Balthazar is an interesting guy, you’ll see.” He and his family were our hosts. The sedan stopped in front of the landscaped steps that led to the front entrance, and there they were.

  “Doris Lazar!” A chubby man of medium height approached us with open arms, which Doris flew into.

  “Balthazar!”

  This guy in his late forties was her father’s old friend. Standing behind him was a woman who seemed several years younger, and three children were standing next to her. Looking at them, I wondered if any of them were vamps-to be.

  “This is Nika Young, my friend.”

  I offered my hand and he took it with both of his.

  “Welcome, Nika. Any friend of Doris is a friend of ours. I’m Balthazar, and this is my wife Clara.”

  I smiled politely at both of them.

  “Let’s get inside,” he said, putting his arm around Doris’s shoulders. I followed them up the stairs.

  The interior of the house was the opposite of the impression given by its haughty exterior. It was expensively arranged with modern furniture in white, brown, green, and gray. There were scattered red and pink flowerpots. It looked like a page out of some home magazine, but with soul, and I liked it. Balthazar showed us to our separate guest bedrooms, which were upstairs in the right wing. I had forgotten the way a bedroom with natural light looked. It was a good change.