ELEMENTARY VIRTUE: The Savior

by Sonja Wuthrich

  Summary

  You thought your life was rough? Meet Gregory.

  Gregory’s eighteen and he’s seen enough movies to know that a hero often rises from nothing, fights the bad guy, gets the girl and eventually saves the world.

  What he doesn’t know is why all of a sudden he turns into being “THE SAVIOR”

  —a prophesied mystic with some embarrassing talents

  He actually thought that he’d hang out with his friends, kill a little time before college. Instead he’s caught in the crossfire of an ancient war between two rival clans and in a flash his life is at stake

  Getting himself into a weird undercover mission doesn’t make things any better.

  Then there is Leyla, his feelings for her are confusing him and when jealousy is blurring his mind everything gets messed up. He blows his cover in a time when he needs to lay low and keep his cool to avoid detection.

  Will he be able to unravel the secrets of an Ancient prophecy, thwart his enemies, and deal with his feelings towards Leyla in time?

  Don’t miss the second book of the Fantasy Sequel - Elementary Virtue

  "The Prophecy" - Release date - to be announced

  Prologue

  He felt like he was walking through a haze. The street in front of him was nothing but a blur, his eyes unable to focus on his surroundings. His legs felt numb and every step was pure agony.

  He almost fell off the sidewalk, lurching out onto the street where a passing white Ford almost hit him. The driver barley missed him, performing a daring evasive manoeuvre. He heard the curses yelled in his direction, as the car thundered by. He felt woozy, the heat of the sun bore down on him mercilessly, and sweat dripped over his forehead. He felt sick from the smell of his own stench. Curiously, the sleeves of his dirty jacket smelt of dried vomit and vodka.

  He had no clue where the hell he was or how he got there.

  He dragged himself up, shuffling past a nearby church. It must have been early afternoon. The sun was burning high in the sky. How could he be in such a miserable state? He tried to remember what had happened the previous night, but his mind drew a blank. Where was he? What had happened to him? He didn’t even have a cell phone on him. But whom would he call anyway? He didn’t even remember his own name! He arrived at the entrance of the cemetery behind the church, the iron gate stood wide open. The sun seemed to burn him alive from the inside. He put his dirty hand in front of his eyes and spotted a wooden bench, in the shade of a big weeping willow not too far away. He struggled towards the bench with his last ounce of strength. He had almost made it as his vision began to blur. Just before he got there, he blacked out completely. Crashing to the ground, he lost consciousness.

  Elementary Virtue

  The Savior

  © Copyright

  by Sonja Wuthrich 2014

  All characters, situations and events are fictional.

  Table Of Contents

  Leyla

  Gregory

  Leyla is in for a big surprise

  A whole new world

  Gregory’s violent touchdown

  Leyla’s epiphany

  Flirting and Disaster

  Brooklyn is stalking Aiden

  Jason, Greyson and other accidents

  Natalie's attitude towards chocolate cakes

  Fireworks and herbalism with Aiden and Mila

  A fateful concert

  Brooklyn devastated, and did they really meet Harry Styles and Niall Horan incognito in the subway?

  Gabe

  Angel

  Toronto, Scarborough - the gene pool of superlatives

  Two vultures meet

  The Assembly of vultures

  Civic Park - Covenant Church

  Mila - Master of poison

  Gabe’s test

  Brooklyn has a problem

  Gregory meets Gabe

  Who's afraid of Vincenzo Nyberg?

  Aiden is too late

  The summer festival

  Family planning

  The countdown is on and Alex can’t keep his mouth shut

  Gabe’s revenge

  No queen, no king, but death and destruction

  The Morning After

  Amnesia

  The rescue of the Savior

  Port Hope

  The Prophecy

  Mission antidote

  Who the hell is Alice?

  Sometimes it is easier to forget than to remember

  Girls Night

  School life

  An angel with devilish intentions

  The party is off

  The storm is on

  Evil is all around

  After the Storm

  A crow named Moonworthy, or how to expose a witness?

  (Poly) nomen est omen

  Chayton Moonworthy

  Natalie Hastings

  A day like any other

  The accident

  Where is Gregory?

  The Cottage among the reeds

  Informants live dangerously

  Gangster in the reeds

  Among Crocodiles

  The Sicilian pillars

  An almost perfect escape

  It's over!

  Leyla

  My name is Selena Gomez; I'm famous and everybody loves me. Yet, I am not really gifted in the selection of my boyfriends, but what the heck; I am swamped with admirers anyway. She blew herself a kiss, looking at her face in the mirror. Unfortunately, reality had quite a different face than her daydreaming. Leyla Johnson-Rossi looked irritated at her reflection. Today she sure did look fabulous. Dark circles under her swollen, bloodshot hazel eyes, as she’d been reading her vampire novel until late last night. The result? She hadn’t slept at all. Imagining black hooded men standing in her bedroom the whole night through. At dawn, she finally managed to get some sleep, but in a blink of an eye, the alarm clock began to screech mercilessly.

  She glared at the pimples on her nose. They hadn’t been there yesterday, right? Where was her concealer? Her mother was deeply invested in cleaning and order, and had cleared everything away that seemed to be out of place.

  She thought about how her hairstyle resembled a dry bush, or a feather duster, depending on which side you looked at it from, as she twisted her mouth into a wry grin. With her braces, she looked like a little monster. The good news was that Dr. Taptiklis, her Greek Orthodontist would be removing them today. He always reminded her of Freddy Kruger. Anyway, it was important that it happened before Gregory arrived. Gregory! She sighed dreamily… She was torn from her thoughts suddenly when she heard the doorbell ring.

  She heard her dad’s low voice, as he opened the door. Hearing another shrieking voice, which couldn‘t belong to anyone other than the senseless Melissa Christiansen-Rosinelli - known as “the coat hanger” by almost everyone- her life’s purpose was to become a model, and her behavior fit the bill perfectly. Melissa was totally into Leyla’s dad. In fact, all the girls from her class were. Melissa was the worst of them all. It was embarrassing, because after all, her dad was an old man. His hair had even begun to turn grey at the temple, but she guessed that it was quite an improvement compared to Melissa’s dad, who was bald and had a head that shined like a Christmas bauble.

  Leyla had just turned sixteen, and was attending the Scarborough High School for bilingual students, due to the fact that her parents put great importance into the Italian issue, as she used to secretly call it.

  She should improve her knowledge of the Italian language as much as possible. Leyla didn’t give a damn about it, she would much rather have been with all the normal kids in class instead of these Gucci freaks. Ugh, she shook herself in disgust just at the thought of those broads. It was a
lmost an all-girls’ class! The only thing she really loved about Italy was Gregory, her step cousin. The adoptive son of her aunt Shannon and her uncle Franco. Shannon was her mom’s sister and Franco was her dad’s brother. Yep, as weird as it was, she thought that her aunt and uncle were married. What the hell, at least they had managed to adopt Gregory, which had been a really good decision. Leyla loved him more than anything else in the world. It seemed to her that he was the only person who had ever really understood her.

  Gregory

  Flying had never been his thing. If people were meant to fly, they would probably have wings, he thought. His step parents’ well-intended talks had not made it any better. Today was definitely not one of his best days - on a scale of one to ten; this was probably one - the so-called bottom line. So far, he never knew that things could always get worse.

  Shannon, his stepmother, hugged him with a fervor, almost crushing him. He was aware that they had sent him away heavy-hearted, for the exchange year in Canada. It was hard enough on him because he loved his stepparents with all of his heart, but recent events at school and in his surroundings here in Lerici, had made the change inevitable, finally forcing them to take action.

  He was, after all “il Matto di Lerici.” The gloomy lunatic. They even used to call him the ‘Prince of Darkness’ behind his back. Yep, over there, he was the crazy one. In fact, most of the girls used to fall for the bad guy, which happened to make him quite irresistible; but on the other hand, that again made him a big threat to all of the macho male idiots at the Liceo Superiore. This meant that he was always in some kind of trouble, whether he was looking for it or not. For this reason, his parents had decided to send him off to his relatives in Canada for his senior year of high school. He understood their decision only too well, but he was by no means looking forward to Canada; he had enough on his mind with his uncontrollable outbursts. If ever he thought about his step cousin Leyla, he felt kind of sick. God, she’d had a crush on him since ancient times, and there was not a single minute gone by that she didn't remind him of it. With her big brown eyes full of admiration, she looked just like Bambi.

  It was not that he didn’t like her. She was a nice little thing, and they’d been friends since their childhood. He remembered briefly how they played Cowboys and Indians, and how he used to shoot her down with his wooden stick every time. Remembering it brought a smile to his brooding face, but now he had more important problems than a teenage girl that had a crush on him. He would have to keep his distance!

  He hugged his weeping stepmother once more, and walked firmly towards the gate for boarding, without looking back. Once he’d boarded the plane, he got comfortable in his seat, put on his headphones and turned on his favourite music from Articolo31- his favourite Italian band.

  He didn’t have the slightest intention of being interrupted during the flight. He had begun to doze off, when he suddenly felt himself being observed. He opened his eyes and found himself looking at a girl that he would simply refer to as a ”Gothic Teenage Girl”, or even a dark witch without a broom sitting on the seat next to him. He nearly jumped, as her face was only inches away from his, and he could smell her minty breath.

  “Ever heard of crashes caused by electronic devices, handsome?”

  She had a gentle voice, which was quite contrary to her menacing appearance.

  He shrugged and switched off his IPod.

  "Sorry, I must have dozed off,” he said awkwardly.

  She grinned wickedly at him and seemed to check him out. Was she trying to hit on him? He was not in a flirty mood at all. He tried to avoid her leering eyes and pretended to sleep. It really would be stupid if he were to succumb to one of his unsolicited outbursts just because she was hitting on him. He did not want to be the cause of any explosions or damage to the plane.

  “Are you flying to Toronto?”

  Her smooth voice came from somewhere alarmingly close to his ear. Now she was definitely going too far, and it was impossible to ignore.

  "No, actually I am planning to jump off in New York. I'm visiting some of my homies there! What a stupid question!”

  She grinned.

  “Finally, I get a reaction out of you Bro! Such a flight can be very boring if you have no one to talk to!”

  She held out her hand, which was decorated with a big brass knuckle on each finger.

  “I'm Natalie!”

  “Sure, and do you know what else you are? You are freaking mental and for the record, I'm not your Bro!”

  He glared angrily at her, and became fully aware of her excessive appearance this time. She had black hair with purple streaks in it, and her face was deathly pale. Her dark eyes were painted broadly with eyeliner. Apart from the piercings on her eyebrows, lips and god knows where else, she somehow reminded him of Amy Winehouse. Nevertheless, he had to admit that there was something about her that had a sudden calming, or even cheerful effect on him. He reached out his hand to hers.

  “My name is Gregory”

  “Oh what the heck, nobody can choose his own name, except maybe certain celebrities like Snoop Dog, which is still kind of a shitty name,” she said chirpily.

  "Hey, you're sassy!”

  At the same time, Gregory somehow felt relieved although he quite fathom why. There was something about her which somehow made him feel less of the darkness creeping within. Even if at first sight, she appeared somewhat dark herself. She must have been hiding behind some kind of mask.

  “What are you going to do in Canada, Bro?”

  Gregory did not have the strength to tell her once again that he was not her Bro, and accepted his new nickname.

  “I'm off for an exchange year. I’ll be going to Scarborough High School in Toronto.”

  She pushed him in the ribs so hard that it knocked the breath from his lungs.

  “No shit bro, the same shitty school I go to!”

  Natalie twisted her heavily made-up lips into a crooked grin, resembling The Joker from Batman. Maybe she should consider using a mirror next time she puts on lipstick, Gregory mused.

  "Really?”

  Gregory unsure as to whether she was kidding or not.

  She put her hand to her chest.

  "Nah Bro I swear, I go to that school, no kidding! How old are you? What year of High School are you in?”

  “Actually, today is my 18th birthday, so I’ll be in the graduating class”

  She covered her mouth with her hand.

  “Bro, get out of here, you'll be in my class and the chicks are gonna go nuts and chase you around swinging their bras, you poor bastard! Oh by the way… Happy Birthday!”

  “Thank you. I am not worried about the broads. I know how to handle them. Usually I have trouble getting on with the dudes,” Gregory said, musing.

  “Jeez Bro, do you play with the other team?”

  Horrified, Natalie lifted her eyebrows.

  “Whoa, what kind of a team?”

  What in God’s name was she talking about?

  "I mean are you gay Bro? It would be kind of a waste from what I saw so far.”

  Gregory finally got it.

  “No, don't worry, the problems I have with dudes have nothing to do with sexual activities. It is more that they feel threatened by me, which makes them do stupid things, and that’s when things usually get out of control”

  Natalie looked at him, puzzled. Gregory grinned.

  “You know what, just forget what I said. You’ll find out soon enough what I mean if you're really in my class.”

  Natalie gave up reluctantly. Apparently, he didn’t want to spit out what it was all about. She would have to dig deeper to find out.

  "Hey, Bro look down, we’re almost there. You can already see the CN Tower!”

  She was right; they seemed to be descending, which meant they would be landing soon. The time had really flown by, thanks to Natalie.

  Leyla is in for a big surprise

  Leyla was standing in the arrivals lounge of the airport with her m
other, waiting to pick up Gregory. She had put on her best skinny jeans and her midriff-baring T-shirt with the word SWAG printed on it - one of her favorite words these days.

  Scary old Freddy had removed her braces. She giggled to herself. She had put on some makeup, tamed her hair and sprayed her favourite Victoria’s Secret perfume. She was very nervous. The last time she had been face-to-face with Gregory was more than three years ago. She had still been almost a child back then, and he had been a rebellious teenager, but she had never felt so at ease and at the same time excited by a boy. She had adored him from the beginning. He was so cute! She remembered him as a 15 year old boy. Big and strong, with dark blonde scruffy hair, which had always reminded her of a blazing flame. She also remembered him as having the bluest eyes she had ever seen, as deep as the ocean.

  He had always defended her when others were mean to her, and he had always been there for her whenever she needed him. The last three years she had written him numerous emails, and sent him many text messages; sometimes he had even replied!

  She was curious as what he would look like, and whether she could make him fall for her. So far, she had still never had a boyfriend. It seemed the wrong guys were always interested in her. Yet, if she was being perfectly honest to herself, she had only ever wanted Gregory.

  The arriving passengers started to pass by. Her mother craned her neck, looking out for Gregory. Leyla tried to seem uninterested and calm on the outside, but she could not fool her mother. Mom knew that Leyla always had a crush on Gregory. Suddenly, she raised her hands and waved. Leyla's heart skipped a beat as she looked up. She couldn't believe her eyes! Gregory had definitely grown up. He was taller and leaner than he was three years ago. The same dark blond hair, tousled from the flight, and the same radiant blue eyes. But where did this smug smile come from? There were a lot of things about Gregory but he had never been the smug one. To her surprise, he was not alone! A silly looking black-haired girl, with thick makeup and piercings had linked arms with him, and he seemed to enjoy it. He was even laughing at one of her remarks. Then their eyes met, and he did not show any reaction, as if he didn’t remember her at all.