"Yes it really is. Oh and by the way, what is even more horrifying is the fact that my mother told me Gabe and Angel came by, asking about Gregory to know if he was feeling any better.”
"Crap, they are in fact ruthless. Wait a minute, this means that your parents know what’s going on?”
“Yep, I had to spit it out. I had no choice. My dad had to know what he was up against.”
“And how did he take it?”
"Surprisingly well so far. He's tough. He does have a lot of doubts when it comes to Gregory being the savior and having some magical properties. It is hard to believe for him. Anyway, at least, he was a great help so far. My mom is different and we are better off if she doesn’t know too much, but until now, she doesn’t know what exactly is going on. Maybe we will be able to tell her just some light-weight version of the whole mess.”
His voice was still concerned.
“That might sure be a good idea not to make her worry too much. At least now, it’s clear to me why there was nobody at your house when I got there. I'm kind of relieved that your mom said she thought he was sleeping. This gives us time until Monday to come up with a story about Gregory’s vanishing. When are you coming back?”
"I think dad and I are coming back tomorrow morning, as long as Gregory's condition will be stable until then and Maria will be able to take care of him in that case.”
“What about his paranoia thing then? Won’t he try to take off?”
"As I said, it all probably depends on whether they could force him to take that sedative. We don’t want to attract any more attention than necessary and consult a doctor. A doctor would ask questions and we don’t need anyone to ask questions. Shane has some sedative pills on stock, because he had to cope with a lot of emotional troubles.”
"Oops. So many fruit cakes around us, seems to be a real problem lately. Who the hell is Shane anyway? Please don’t tell me that there is another crazy guy out there with you. I'm going slowly insane myself and can get in line.”
“No, don’t worry, he is the son of my godfather and his mother died six months ago in an accident. So he has every right in the world for a sedative.”
In the background, she heard Mila’s excited voice.
"What's going on Aiden?”
"Oh, nothing. Mila is just worried about Shanlin. She is afraid that she will have a heart attack. Me on the other hand, I still believe that she is stronger than Mila thinks and that she is willing to help us with the antidote. Even if she’s got the impression that we are a bunch of irresponsible losers, she is one of the wise elders and she will help us. She knows how important the Savior is for the future of the clan and the rest of world. She will help Mila to figure out an antidote helping Gregory to fight off the poison in his veins.
Mila isn’t able do it on her own yet. It could take some time though until they are ready. We hope to find out more about the prophecy from Shalin. We depend on her in so many ways. Without her, we are groping in the dark when it comes to the prophecy. The savior seems to be a major threat to the Vultures, and that’s why they want to get rid of him so badly. The thing is that whether Gregory nor we ever knew what the hell the savior’s purpose was, whom or what he was going to save and why those damn vultures are so hysterical about him. It looks to me as if he was scaring the shit out of them. The only question is why? We are eager to find out once we read it. Hopefully, we will be able to understand its meaning.”
Leyla couldn’t have agreed more with him.
“You are right but listen, I have to go now. I have to figure out if they have been able to sedate him or not. Wish me luck! I’ll see you tomorrow then. Do you want me to come to your place?”
“Come to the beach house tomorrow afternoon. We will meet there; all of us at three o’clock in the afternoon. I have called a meeting for this urgent situation. Please don’t tell your dad about the meeting and be careful when he drops you off so that no one sees you.”
"No problem. I’ll let him drop me off two blocks from the beach house and I’ll come up with some excuse, don’t worry.
Does Brooklyn know what’s going on?”
“No, not so far, but I'll call her later so she won’t have to worry if she is not able to reach you.”
"Ok, because I didn’t answer any calls and I saw her number on the display a couple of times. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
She put her cell phone in her pocket and got back to the house with mixed feelings. She really hoped that Gregory had been sedated by now.
When she entered the house, the air was filled with an indescribably delicious smell of roasted chicken. Maria was in the kitchen singing in Spanish and cooking something delicious, no doubt about that. Her father was on the phone trying to explain the actual situation to her mom in a light-weighted version. That there was a deafening noise from the parlor, sounding a lot like machine gun fire, did not make the task any easier for him. He put one hand over one ear and disappeared on the porch. Shane had thrown himself back in front of the TV and was playing some stupid game where there was quite a lot of bloodshed for Leyla's taste. My God, didn’t Shane have any other hobby anymore? She came closer and realized in awe that Gregory was sitting on the other couch with a second controller in hand. He was playing too!
He looked completely relaxed and at ease. His poise couldn’t be compared in any way with the condition he had been in when she left the house earlier.
“Hey,” she said, “that game is loud and violent. How come he seems so at ease?”
Shane didn’t even look up, he swore as a building blew up on screen. Gregory looked at her, frowning. It looked as if he was wondering who this unfamiliar person was that dared to interfere with their game.
Leyla shrugged. Well, at least he seemed to have calmed down. She went to Maria into the kitchen to see if she needed any help. Maria gestured her to come in. Ven, ven you can cut my onions. That was always your specialty Querida. You could chop them into tiny little pieces. Anyway, mucho mejor than I will ever be able to. She spoke in her Spanish English chant as she always did.
Leyla grabbed her sunglasses from the dining table.
“Un momentito por favor. You know Maria that’s my little secret when it comes to onions. These are indeed magic sunglasses - they keep me from crying while I chop the onions into small pieces,” she grinned putting on her sunglasses and started chopping an onion. Unfortunately, this particular onion seemed to have a strong flavor and despite the trick with the sunglasses, a few tears ran down the cheek. When she looked up, she noticed that from the parlor, both Shane and Gregory were watching her. “Leyla's become a real crybaby,” Shane said to Gregory patting his shoulder.
“She used to be a real wild thing,” Gregory looked blankly and went back to death and destruction on the screen.
Leyla chopped those onions as if her live depended on it.
"So tell me Maria, how is Shane doing? Is he doing any better? Or is all he ever does is to sit in front of this brain-damaging X-Box?”
Maria sighed and folded her hands.
“Dios mios, yes this is all the boy ever does the whole day through,” Shanes’ mocking voiceto drown out the banging sound from the parlor.
“Ladies or Senoritas, I can hear you loud and clear over here, if this should be of any interest to you.”
Leyla lifted her sunglasses and gave him a withering look, and then she closed the sliding door to the kitchen.
“So that's a wrap. Tell me what’s going on? How is he really?” Maria started to cry silently and it was not because of the onions in front of her.
“Non se. He is no longer himself. The friendly boy who everybody liked no longer exists. Either he plays his games with this maldito box or he sits there and looks into the void.”
“What about Steven?”
“The two of them barely talk.”
“And the horses?”
“Sometimes he goes to this resort but not so often.”
She added the onions to the
hot oil until it sizzled.
“Oh but they make therapia Shane and his father.”
Well, at least there seemed to be a silver lining on the horizon Leyla thought, opening the sliding door. She was going to set the table and put the salad bowl on the table, when she heard Shane's stunned voice.
“Wow man, that’s sheer madness. How did you do that? You've got everything burned down to the ground, awesome. I didn’t even know that was possible.”
Gregory frowned apparently baffled.
“What do you mean by wow? Is that's a bad wow?”
"No man, it’s just a wow!”
Shane looked at him still amazed.
“Wow! Hey Leyla, your friend here has just burned down an entire city and played all levels without losing his live just once. Unbelievable something like that.”
"Well, let’s put it that way, it has always been his special talent to let things go up in flames, as far as I remember,” she laughed.
“But more in real life than on a screen in a game.”
Gregory looked up questioningly, “I was a professional arsonist, in real life?”
“Good question my dear, sorry but I can’t answer that at the moment.”
His eyes had changed. They were now of a bright blue-green, almost turquoise. If this was a side effect of the poison or the drugs, she had no clue.
"You speak in riddles,” he said staring at her without flinching with those irritating eyes. Leyla felt uncomfortable and went back into the kitchen away from him.
She cleared her throat.
“Shane when is your dad coming home? Supper is almost ready.”
“I don’t know, he usually works late. Sometimes he doesn’t come home at all. Maybe you’ll not even get a chance to see him while you are here.”
“Then we should probably eat,” Leyla said.
Maria called them to get to table and Shane had been right. Steven came home very late that evening. Leyla was already sleeping when he got home. Dinner had passed quietly without any major discussions. After dinner, they watched one of these fantasy sequels on TV and there had been no need for talking. Leyla went to bed pretty early. She had fallen asleep already while they had been watching TV. Her dad assured her that he would take care of everything and would wait up for Steven as he wanted to talk about Gregory staying here for a while.
She woke up late the next morning. She really was exhausted yesterday and had needed a good night’s sleep. She strolled down to the kitchen where Maria was already busy preparing coffee.
“Buenas Dias,” she said to Leyla hugging her.
She had already prepared a delicious breakfast. Hastily, Leyla ate her breakfast and drank a cold chocolate. Then she went looking for her father and found him and Steven by the pool. The two of them had already done some serious swimming, not only a few laps as it seemed. They tried to convince Leyla to get into the pool. She hugged her godfather and told them that she didn’t feel like swimming at all. She was shocked about Stevens’s appearance trying not to let it show. He looked years older than he had looked only six months ago. There were deep lines of sorrow that showed on his face now.
Brooklyn used to compare him to George Clooney and he really had been a handsome man for his age. Now, however, he looked tired and old. It seemed as if not only Shane had severe difficulties in coping with the sudden death of his mother.
Her dad mentioned that Shane had offered to take Gregory to Elmhirst Resort to get some fresh air. Leyla was surprised that Shane had been so thoughtful and she was glad to avoid an awkward goodbye.
The Prophecy
After their return from Port Hope early afternoon on Sunday, her dad dropped Leyla off two blocks from the beach house. She told him that Brooklyn was meeting her at the beach.
He had promised to tell her mom just the bare necessities so that she wouldn’t have to worry too much. Leyla had no clue how he was planning to do that, but that was not her main concern for now. She rushed to the beach house; it was three clock in the afternoon, and it was bloody hot. There was nobody around as far as she could see. She squeezed through a gap in the bushes and climbed over the fence. They all avoided getting into the house through the main gate. As the owner was on holidays, the neighbors would eventually become kind of suspicious if a bunch of youngsters where passing by on a lazy Sunday. That was the reason Aiden had arranged the guys to fabricate a secret entrance through the bushes. Leyla was surprised to find no one in front of the house and slipped into the back door. She was quite absent-minded wondering where everybody was. Therefore, she was not prepared to being attacked. Suddenly, someone literally jumped on her. She fell to the ground and felt that someone was pushing her down. She held her arms protectively in front of her face. When nothing happened, she looked carefully through her spread fingers. She looked into the face of a pale blond girl holding a frying pan in her hand grinning mischievously.
“Hi Leyla, I thought you were a Vulture.”
She helped Leyla get to her feet. Leyla patted the dust off her jeans.
“Yep, I get it. Happens to me constantly lately,” she grinned and glanced at the young girl. It was Gaia, an otherwise rather dull blond girl with short hair and glasses from her class. A loner hanging around mostly alone, like Mila did. Today, however, she was a different person. She glowed with a great self-confidence and was unusually chatty. Her brown eyes sparkled, full of adventure and the glasses were gone.
“I am Gaia, Matt’s sister, but I guess you know that. After the incident on Friday, our community has decided that I am exceptionally allowed to participate at the meetings even if I am only sixteen.”
She was apparently proud and lifted her right arm to let Leyla see the tattoo on her upper arm.
It was a circle with a leaf in it.
“I've even got my tattoo,” she said full of pride.
"Congratulations, my dear. Yet it would certainly not be that bad, if you would also understand the importance of the situation and you took some caution to stay alive so that you will be able to be proud of your tattoo for a while and not get killed on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Alex and Sebastian have already lost their lives, and Gregory is something close to a zombie.”
Gaia looked embarrassed to the ground.
“Of course, you're right. I'm sorry but I got a little carried away, it was probably somehow out of line.”
Leyla patted her shoulder.
“I guess you could say that, but I'm just coming back from visiting Gregory and it was kind of gross to see him like this. Where are the others?”
"Come with me, they are all on the terrace having some kind of a crisis meeting.”
Leyla followed her onto the terrace where Mila was just giving a speech to all of the Akandos gathered around her, sitting on the ground. She was talking about Shalin and the creation of the antidote to the poison. The moment she caught sight of Leyla, she paused and ran over to her hugging her fiercely. Leyla was quite surprised. Mila had never been that fund of her nor was she a warm kind of personality.
“We are glad that you're okay,” she said apparently moved and somehow shaken. A murmur of agreement was heard from the others and Aiden came over to hug her too.
"How is he?”
Leyla felt uncomfortable, as always when she was at the center of attraction.
"According to circumstance, quite ok, I guess. Shane and my dad have sedated him with some psychotropic drugs for the time being.”
Everyone seemed to be pleased with her answer looking at her in suspense.
“Yet he does still not know who he is and we urgently need the antidote. Otherwise, he is not going to be of much use for your cause. His body might be alive, but his mind and his spirit are somewhere beneath the surface and we need him to get to his senses again.”
They all nodded in agreement and she continued.
“Have you decided what we are going to say at school tomorrow? I am sure the Vultures can hardly wait to get some information.”
“I will suggest to my parents that we file an official missing report. There is no other way. Although it won’t be easy to convince my parents, especially my mom, that it is necessary to lie to the cops.”
Then it suddenly came to her mind that his stepparents would be informed too about Gregory being missing. How the hell would she deal with all of that? The web of lies started to get out of hands and take its own course.
“Crap, you will have to help me. It is getting out of hand and we have to come up with some reliable ideas on how to deal with that situation. I don’t know how I can deal with it all by myself; my parents, his parents, school and not to forget the cops,” her voice trembled in despair.
“We need a strategy, sticking together all saying the same things. I am depending on you all.”
She looked helpless and worried at them. Aiden came up to her, putting his arm comforting around her shoulders.
“Don’t worry, together we can do it. We’ll figure out something. We have to stick together, you belong to us now. Mila will read out the exact wording of the prophecy from her Grandmas holy book and we will try to find out what those words actually mean. No one, not even the wisest elders of Akandos has knowledge of the meaning.”
Leyla nodded and looked past Aiden into the crowd of the Akandos. She could hardly believe her eyes. Brooklyn was sitting amongst them with a straight serious face next to James and two boys she identified as Tyler and David, twin brothers from her math class. She looked different and didn’t look her usual glamorous self. Dressed in black sweatpants and sneakers, a sleeveless top with a hood. Her blond hair braided into a pigtail, hanging over her left shoulder. She hadn’t used any make up and looked even better than ever before. She waved, but didn’t come over. Probably she didn’t want to attract any attention and step out of line. Leyla knew what Mila and probably everyone else thought about her being here.
Leyla looked approvingly at Aiden, bringing her here was certainly his doing and was clearly a statement to show everyone else that they were an item. This plainly deserved recognition. She waved at her discreetly and Mila followed her gaze. She didn’t seem very enthusiastic about Brooklyn's presence.
ELEMENTARY VIRTUE: The Savior Page 18