If he happened to be the Savior, even better. He would figure it out anyway. The test would bring to the surface what really was in him. If he survived the ordeal. He would put him to the limit, no question about that. He had ways to see through anybody’s game no matter how good his disguise was. The local Akandos had apparently mingled with the common people. It was a shame this Mila was friends with the terrible Natalie and Aiden had sunk even deeper. This Jason was a thug and apparently not the brightest light under the sun. What had happened to the proud Akandos? Instead of taking control over the mob, they even got bossed around by them. He wondered if they were still capable to master their skills. Well, actually it would only help him and his cause right now, seeing them as such an unorganized bunch. Apparently, this new guy had joined Aiden, Jason and a group of other guys. He would have to get him alone and corner him today to find out why he had done so. He felt the excitement rise within. If he would fight back with fire - what most of the Akandos would do, everything was clear. Water and earth had difficulties to defend themselves immediately, depending on where they were at the time of the attack. The only real possibility to fight him off was air. Otherwise, he knew with certainty that he happened to have the Savior in front of him. Yet if he was master of the air, he could resist him with no doubt. A good wind maker could even cause a storm on the loo. Therefore, either the lad controlled the air or he was history. He heard the soft voice in the back of his mind, he sometimes just couldn‘t get rid of, whispering to him. Still this time, it was different; he would be able to enjoy his cruelty, which happened unfortunately not so often. He usually stayed in the background and rarely acted himself. He had others doing the dirty work for him. Even if he would have loved to do it himself, he had to follow his orders. In his case however, he would be able to make an exception. To kill the savior was certainly an honor. He felt the familiar tingling in his body. If the guy was not the savior, he had nothing to fear.
Brooklyn has a problem
When Leyla accompanied her friend after school to help her plan and prepare some stuff for the summer festival, Brooklyn was in a pretty bad mood. In fact, Leyla couldn’t remember having seen her friend being so grumpy ever before. She usually was of a quite balanced nature. Maybe she had simply overtaxed herself. In any case, she got desperate for every little thing that did not work out and as the caterer canceled because he had apparently had an accident, Brooklyn completely lost it. Leyla decided to help her to find a replacement, since she actually didn’t feel like going to the meeting in the park today. She tried to avoid Gregory recently, since he had announced his crazy idea during their last meeting. If he happened to have a death wish, she would most certainly not support him in it. After all, it drove her crazy being so close to him and yet at the same time so far away. Therefore, she preferred getting out of his way for now. If she had to fall in love, why did it have to be the savior; a normal guy would have been just perfect. Looked as if she seemed to have a tendency to exaggerate.
Sometimes she would give anything to rewind and turn back the time when Gregory had just been her friend and not the savior of a whole clan. She sighed.
She decided that it would be a good idea to help the stressed out Brooklyn instead of thinking about Gregory. She watched her friend worriedly. Brooklyn looked very pale and seemed to be exhausted. Leyla couldn’t help asking.
“When did you actually eat something decent last?
Brooklyn kept on digging into a stack with decorations and pulled out a few origami folded roses.
"I had just a cheese sandwich for lunch, but it tasted kind of like petrol and since then, I feel sick.”
“Do you want me to cook you some tea?”
Brooklyn nodded, still digging in the decoration material. Leyla had just turned on the kettle when Brooklyn stormed by choking to the bathroom. Leyla followed her.
“Oh my god, your sandwich seems to have been really rotten.”
From the bathroom, there was a choking sound again.
Leyla just got the tea when Brooklyn came out of the bathroom. She was pale and still shaking.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately. Every morning I feel sick, and now I apparently can’t keep down my lunch any more. Maybe I should go and see a doctor”
Leyla looked thoughtfully at her friend.
“Could it be that you're pregnant?”
Brooklyn was shaking her head in denial.
“You must be nuts? It has been barely two weeks since the concert!”
“Umm I hate to tell you that, but maybe we should google Akando pregnancies. You will probably start to breathe fire too.”
Slowly Brooklyn became angry.
“I don’t think that’s particularly funny, Leyla,” she said venomously.
Leyla didn’t react staying focused. She grabbed her bag saying, “It does not make sense to put your head in the sand doing the ostrich approach. I ‘ll go to the pharmacy and get you a pregnancy test.”
In the meantime, Brooklyn had given in and was sipping her tea sulkily. After a while, Leyla came back with the test, but she was in a foul mood.
"You probably won’t believe it, but the pharmacist lectured me about teenage pregnancies. Even if I'm the personification of the Virgin of Orleans, apparently I look like a sly old dog.”
She looked at herself in the mirror with her threadbare Jeans, her faded shirt and her tangled hair. She giggled. She really looked like a man-eater, she thought ironically. She caught Brooklyn's tearful glance in the mirror and stopped giggling. “Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Come on let's get it over. Then, you've got clarity and know what you have to deal with.”
Brooklyn took the test strip and disappeared into the bathroom. Shortly afterwards she came back out with the strip in her hand. Leyla was busy reading the instructions on the label.
”Now we’ll have to wait. It says here that after five minutes either a blue plus sign or a minus sign will show. If a plus sign appears, it means that you're pregnant.”
They were both sitting in front of the strip not saying a word. Even Leyla was serious this time.
”Please can you have a look, I can't do it,” Brooklyn whispered.
She shook her head helplessly. Leyla grabbed the strip gingerly and remained silent. How could she break the news to Brooklyn without having her freak out? The blue plus sign was quite clearly visible now. She put the strip on the table in front of her friend. Brooklyn covered her mouth with both hands horrified.
“This is impossible. It was just this one time, the first time; it can’t be true.”
Leyla shrugged, she didn’t know what to say.
“It looks like Akando guys are probably pretty fertile.”
She really felt sorry for Brooklyn and she was glad that she had not taken things to a next level with Gregory. Otherwise, she would probably be in a similar situation by now. Brooklyn was completely shaken and desperate.
“What am I supposed to do now? I'm only sixteen and I still go to school,” she stammered. “He doesn't want to be with me. He doesn’t love me.”
She started sobbing. Leyla crouched in front of Brooklyn to bring her eyed to her level.
“That’s not true. He really wants to be with you. He told me so himself, but he can't and you’re much too young for a child.”
Brooklyn looked at her in tears.
“He really told you that? Or you are only making this up to comfort me?”
Leyla thought that maybe now, the time had come to tell her the truth, and so she told her the story about the savior and pretty much everything that Aiden told her so far, even if he had told her specifically not to. At first, Brooklyn seemed to be relieved, but then the sobbing started again.
“It all makes no sense, even if he is into me, as you say.”
I don’t want him to be killed because of me, or me being killed because of his savior Story. God, how I hate everything. I just want my happily ever after,” Leyla nodded.
“I unders
tand only too well, but you have to tell him that you are pregnant anyway.”
“Why? That it is none of his business. I'll probably have to have an abortion anyway and I don’t want him to know.”
Leyla didn’t agree at all.
“Nevertheless, I think he has a right to know.”
Brooklyn shook her head defiantly and Leyla realized that arguing any further at that very moment would not lead anywhere.
Gregory meets Gabe
Gregory was with Jason, who recently acted up as his best friend and followed him wherever he was going like a puppy, on his way towards the classroom. Jason was complaining constantly about what a shame it was, that Aiden and Gregory had some differences and so they couldn’t hang out anymore. When Gregory suddenly realized it was probably pretty reckless to carry around the vial he had obtained from Mila; the poison he should use on this blond guy when the time was right, instinctively, he decided to hide the stuff in the boy’s loo. Aiden showed him yesterday, before their faked dispute, where he could hide the flask. There was a hollow space in the wall. He asked Jason to go ahead pretending he forgot something. Gregory disappeared into the boy’s loo. Immediately, he found the hollow space and hid the flask in the second cabin behind the toilet. He just got up again, when the door opened with a loud bang and raised by a strong gust of wind from its hinges. He found himself staring at the blond guy - the leader of the Black Vultures, the one the Stuff had been prepared for, the one Aiden had a bad feeling about, but looked somehow familiar. He had an almost pleasant smile on his face, if one overlooked the cruel look in his piercing dark green eyes. Kryptonite, Gregory thought and stepped out of the destroyed cabin his bad feeling getting stronger. A cold glance met him when he was thrown against the wall. This lunatic actually attacked him on the toilet. What was wrong with the world today. Where could one have his peace and quiet if not in the loo? No, it seemed that there was no safe place anymore, not even in the shithouse! Gregory could not move at all. He was nailed to the wall. It was as if he had been pushed against it by the power of a storm.
“Don’t you want to put up some resistance against me kiddo?” Gabe said condescendingly, a sardonic smile on his face. Gregory’s thoughts were running wild. This was obviously a trap and he had to defend himself in a way this smug guy didn’t expect, otherwise he was literally screwed. Just you wait and see Kryptonite, you are not going to outsmart me that fast, he thought to himself.
He narrowed his eyes to slits and concentrated using every bit of his strength. He tried to do it, just like Eva had taught him. Then he opened his eyes and stared at Gabe intensively.
With a blast, the window to his left burst with a deafening clash and a strong wind came up, pressing Gabe against the sink. He was practically nailed to the sink, not being able to move at all. Branches and leaves being blown in through the broken windows darted like arrows down on Gabe. He held his hands protectively in front of his face and grinned.
“That’s enough my dear, you’ve passed the test.”
Gregory held his gaze and Gabe remained pressed against the sink.
“Are you completely nuts? What did you think you were doing and what kind of test are you talking about?”
Gabe still couldn’t move and that made him furious. But on the other hand, he found it quite intriguing to have found somebody who was not only apparently able to resist him but even had equal strength.
At that very moment, the door opened and Jason’s head appeared through the half-opened door.
“Dude, what the hell happened here?”
He looked startled at the broken window and the shattered door. Gregory lost his concentration.
“Don’t bother. It’s just some storm raging out there. Come on Jason, let’s get out of here.”
He started moving towards the door, leaving the completely bewildered Gabe behind.
Gabe realized that he could move again and followed them.
He grabbed Gregory’s arm.
"I absolutely have to talk to you.”
"It might sound a little harsh, but I’d rather skip out on further conversations as you call them. I am a highly sensitive kind of guy and your talks are somehow too violent. I am sure you understand that.”
He pointed towards Jason, who was walking in front of them.
“I actually thought Jason was a freak when he punched me in the face at our first encounter. But then again, you must be the king of all freaks. That was such a sick thing to do in the loo. At least on the toilet, a man should have his peace. If not in there, I ask you, then where?”
Gabe grinned, this time he even seemed to approve Gregory’s answer.
"I kind of like you. Oh and by the way, I didn’t introduce myself. How rude of me. I am Vincent and you're just the right man for my clan.”
Gregory didn’t show any reaction.
"I want you to come to our meeting after school today. You can support us with your skills. Since when are you here in this school?”
Gregory shrugged indifferently.
“A few weeks.”
“Didn’t you expect to be recruited by someone?”
"Yes I have, but as no one came, I thought that the story was nothing but a tale. Besides, maybe I am ignorant, but your approach on the loo can hardly be described as a recruiting process, only if you mean to kill the person to be recruited. Then again, it wouldn’t make any sense!”
“I had to make sure that you are not the Savior,” Gregory laughed sardonically.
”Me? What gave me away? How would I even qualify being the savior? Are you out of your freaking mind?” Gabe watched him closely.
“You’ve been here a few weeks and were hanging out with Aiden. Basically the idea isn’t that farfetched.”
Gregory understood.
“Ok. Ok. At first, I thought that he could be my Person of contact because his father had contacted my grandmother in Sicily on his way to the Caribbean. She told me that he sent for me to come to Canada,” Gregory swallowed hard, hopefully he had been convincing enough.
“What did you want to prove anyway when you attacked me?"
"If you had defended yourself with an element other than the air, I would have killed you. Air people are difficult to recognize, otherwise I would have discovered you a long time ago.”
Gregory felt a chill down his spine. Nobody had told him about that; maybe they didn’t know. Yet he decided to look at the bright side. Hey, he was still alive. Wasn’t that something?
“If my element had been the earth, what would you have expected me to do? Throw a leaf after you? Your logic is astonishing.”
This Kryptonite dude was indeed a scary sick guy, Gregory thought slightly frustrated. Gabe looked at him with undisguised interest.
“As I said, earth types are easy to spot. I would have probably killed you.”
“How thoughtful of you.”
Gregory shook his head in disbelief and followed Jason, who was waiting at the door for him, into the classroom. One thing was certainly clear to him: Kryptonite was not only crazy; no, it was far worst. He was a fruitcake, but one of the dangerous kind -insane to the very core. He had to be very careful luckily, he had been able to hide the vial before Mr. Crazy had caught him.
Meeting the enemy had been sure and pure fun. He had high hopes to survive the meeting of the delusional Black Vultures tonight. What a day!!!!
Who's afraid of Vincenzo Nyberg?
Aiden was sitting in front of his computer brooding about how he could possibly find out more about the new load of Black Vultures at school. He didn’t think that Gregory's idea to sneak in to the very nest of the Vultures pretending that he was one of them was such a good one. Unfortunately, either Leyla nor himself had been able to talk him out of this insane idea. Gregory was completely convinced that he could lure the Vultures on the wrong track. The only ones thinking it was a great idea were Mila and Alex. Gregory had virtually become their idol. They behaved almost like screaming teenagers who pursued their star,
or like the ancient Romans; they had cheered the gladiators, but on the other hand had also clapped their hands when they bit the dust. He had to do something. Gregory would get into dangerous territory, and despite his talents, he did not have enough experience to deal with someone like their blonde leader who seemed always to lie in ambush.
A brainwave hit him like thunder. Next to him lived this dude who looked like some kind of hobo, mostly unshaven and uncombed, almost like a homeless person. There were rumors that this guy apparently was a computer genius and could hack in to any computer. Aiden was lucky and met him outside the house with a can of beer in hand. Aiden convinced him to hack the school computer in exchange for a pizza and a six-pack of beer. Aiden was surprised how quickly Evan (that was his neighbor’s name) was able to hack into the school system. My God, with such skills, he should actually revel in wealth instead of roaming around the neighborhood in ragged clothes with a beer in hand. Whatever, Evan seemed to be pretty happy with his life. Maybe it was because he was usually dazed or drunk. Anyway, it was none of his business. Aiden had the files of the new students on screen in front of him. Most of the names were familiar. He had overheard conversations between his father and Carmine on a party some time ago. There were no major surprises here, even Angela di Benedetto, who now called herself Angel, the daughter of a Sicilian Mayor, who had recently attended a Party at his father’s house, was among them. He snorted as he looked at the photos and entries. Where was the blonde guy who had seemed so damn familiar in a bad kind of way? There he was; he had found him. He read the name and winced. Vincenzo Nyberg. My God, now it was all clear to him. It was Gabe. A flashback to his childhood and the angelic face appeared in front of him. The last time he had seen Gabe was when he was five. Even back then, he had been a callous and cruel animal abuser who had cast the blame on Aiden for what he had done. He had managed to appear completely innocent himself. His halo never ever fell out of place. Aiden felt anger rise within. The son of a…… Gabe's middle name was Vincenzo and his Uncle Carmine had a Swedish wife. Her maiden name was Nyberg. Now it all made sense. He patted Evan on the shoulder and thanked him. He laid a six-pack of beer on top and stormed back to his apartment. He reached for his phone; he absolutely had to warn Gregory.
ELEMENTARY VIRTUE: The Savior Page 12