ELEMENTARY VIRTUE: The Savior

by Sonja Wuthrich

  She sat down beside him and scrolled with great interest through his contacts. She seemed to be in no hurry at all. Shane looked at her helplessly without being able to put up a fight or even move.

  “So handsome, what am I going to do with you now?" she sighed.

  ”I have all kinds of ideas, only too bad that I don’t have the time to enjoy myself torturing you a little.”

  She looked at him from the bottom to the top.

  “Such a shame, I must tell you it is kind of tempting. I like you. You really are my type. I might give you a tiny potion and you wouldn’t remember a thing later on. Kind of cool isn’t it. But hey, unfortunately time is running out.”

  She pouted touching his chin with her fingers.

  “Too bad pretty boy, but they always say that you meet twice in life.”

  She smirked looking at the screen of his phone and then she stopped triumphantly.

  “I truly wonder who G. Amnesia could be. I bet the G stands for our long lost savior. Let’s see if he wants to talk to you, shall we?”

  She chose the contact and looked a little disappointed when they contact's image appeared to be a black horse.

  She patted Shane's knee.

  “Well done big boy. Good camouflage, I'll give you that.”

  He heard the ringing. She had switched on the speaker.

  Shane hoped fervently that Gregory would not answer it, but unfortunately, there was a crack to be heard and then he could hear Gregory's clear voice as if he was standing right beside him.

  “Hey Alice how are things going in the big city. When are you coming back?”

  "Hello Gregory, who is Alice? I am Angel. I'm a friend of Shane. Unfortunately he can’t come to the phone and talk to you in person.”

  Gregory did not answer.

  “Hello,” Angel said again.

  Gregory’s voice had taken an unfriendly tone.

  “You're lying. You're no friend of Shane, he doesn’t know anyone except Leyla in the city. But I do remember you. What did you do to Shane? You're Gabe’s little witch, I know exactly who you are.”

  "Oh then you do remember me. Still why are you being so unfriendly? Your friend is doing well until now and if you want it to remain this way then it would be a good idea to tell me where you are.”

  There was no answer. Gregory had hung up.

  Damn, Angel was pissed, but she had many other tricks up her sleeve. Shane’s phone was hooting like a fog horn. He had apparently received a message. Angel’s spirits lifted again and she laughed smugly. She definitely was more than Gabe’s witch, without her, he was helpless. This idiot was so condescending. He probably thought he was the answer to the invention of aluminum foil. He would have to admit that he needed her. She had the threads in her hand and knew how to get out information from somebody. She looked at Shane regretfully. Such a pretty boy, "I'll have to leave now unfortunately.

  Your friend Leyla has just texted me the address for the party and I got Gregory’s number, which turns my mission into a big success. I can hardly wait to see Gabe’s dumb expression on his face when I give him the news. You've really helped me Tiger," she made a growling sound and laughed. "The two of us really were a great team." She gave him a kiss.

  "The Akandos will be surprised if a few Vultures shake up their party. Hey, what can I say? C'est la vie, as the French say. See you around handsome.”

  She disappeared through the front door. Rogan was barking like crazy in the back yard, still being locked out. Shane rolled his eyes, interestingly enough. They were the only part of his body he was able to move at the moment. This was truly a bad situation. He wondered how long he would be sitting here until someone found him. He asked himself feverishly what he could do.

  He had no idea how long he had been sitting on that couch without moving.

  It seemed to him as if he had been sitting there for ages when suddenly the door opened and his fear that Angel had come back to finish him off was choking him.

  To his great relief it was Leyla. When she saw Shane on that couch, it took her only one glance to realize that something had gone terribly wrong. Shane sat there in an unnatural bent position on the couch staring at her rolling his eyes. He was pale and white foam appeared all around his blue lips. Right behind her, Mila entered the house. She grasped the situation quickly and stepped up to Shane. She looked into his eyes investigating and feeling his pulse.

  “Leyla do you have chilies, turmeric and cinnamon in the house?”

  Leyla shrugged, “I don’t know.”

  Mila made her way to the kitchen.

  “Can you inform the others, the party is cancelled.”

  Leyla did not quite get it.

  “Why?"

  “Because the Vultures are on their way to Brooklyn’s house!

  I need you to spread the bad news immediately and I have to get our friend here back on his legs. It is quite urgent otherwise there could be some permanent damage. Leyla was petrified and didn’t move. Mila looked at her impatiently.

  “Do it, because I think there is only one besides me that’s capable to come up with such a potion. He has not been drinking it. She spilled it over him and it has penetrated from his skin to his body. Can you please make that dog shut up? I would be grateful, because I have to concentrate right now. We don’t want your friend to die.”

  Leyla hurried to the back door and brought Rogan a few tidbits that calmed him instantly. Rogan followed Leyla into the house and immediately rolled over in its basket under the stairs obviously exhausted. Leyla sighed, hopefully Mila would be able to cure Shane and bring him back to normal. Damn Angel had tricked them all. If she had written the text differently, they would never have thought that something was wrong, but Shane never used such swollen words. Shane texted her rarely. He was not exactly the most communicative guy in this world and if he wrote once in a while, his text was full of abbreviations. Sometimes she had no idea what he wanted and had to call him to figure it out. She smiled. He had invented quite a few abbreviations over the years. The last text she had received had been shortly before the accident, when he invited her for dinner. He had asked her if she liked CF.

  She would never have guessed in her lifetime that he meant

  cauliflower. Therefore, she had become suspicious when she received the perfectly formulated text today. Although she texted Brooklyn's address, she had a bad feeling about it. At first Mila called her paranoid, but then she had been right with her premonition. Thank God, she convinced Mila to check on Shane. There was a loud clattering sound from the kitchen.

  It seemed that Mila searched the kitchen for the necessary spices.

  “Mila, can I help you?”

  Mila shook her head.

  “I am missing some ingredients and I have to go to the store at corner Main to get them. “She looked worried at Shane who was still hanging rigidly on the couch. The only sign of live about him were his eyes which were wandering restlessly around.

  She touched his arm reassuringly and looked in his eyes.

  "It'll be all right. Hold on, I'll be right back.”

  His gaze was desperate.

  “I will kill this Angel bitch when I catch her,” Mila hissed on her way out. First Gregory, and now Shane. This bitch needs to be stopped and locked up.

  She disappeared through the front door. Leyla did not quite know what to do. She had no clue how she could help Shane, so she decided to spread the bad news, as Mila had told her to. She texted the whole Akando clan through their group chat about the newest disaster. She barely had pressed the sending bottom, as an infinite flood of replies arrived. Everyone wanted to help somehow. Leyla thought the idea was not particularly good, because she didn’t want to endanger even more of them, after seeing what Angel was apparently capable of. As soon as Shane was feeling any better, it was best if he disappeared quickly and moved on to Boston and avoided all of them including Gregory until the end of time for his own safety.

  Time crept by and Mila was
nowhere to been seen. Leyla slowly started to panic. She could not even call her because she had left her phone on the kitchen table. If the Vultures had caught her…… She did not dare to think about that possibility. Shane's nose and his cheeks had turned to the color of a ripe eggplant and his arms were covered with bluish veins. He looked like a drunk in the final stages. Damn what could she do to make it stop? Mila had mentioned something about cinnamon. Well, she used cinnamon only for baking at Christmas time. Yet it was definitely worth a try. She hurried into the kitchen taking the cinnamon from the spice rack. What should she do with it? She poured some of the powder into a spoon and opened Shane’s mouth so she could give him the powder. Her phone started ringing. Leyla jumped and spilled the powder all over Shane's face. Damn it, she reached for her phone hurrying back to the kitchen to get a rag.

  “Hello… Oh hey mom! You're on your way home? Great! Yes, Shane is here. No, he is just out with Rogan. I am ok, everything is fine. See you later.”

  Damn, that was just what she needed.

  Her mom was on her way home and would definitely freak out when she sees Shane in this state. This time it would be difficult to hold her back from calling the cops.

  Where the hell was Mila? Leyla was completely lost in thoughts when she got back with the rag that she didn’t notice at first that Shane's face had gone back to its normal color and that his lips were no longer covered with foam. She put her hands to her face in awe. She would take a cinnamon bath every day from now on and add tons of that stuff to her muesli. This shit really seemed to help. He still didn’t move but he looked quite normal again. Leyla crouched next to Shane on the couch feeling miserable. Her mom was soon coming home and then chaos would just be perfect. As if she had telepathic abilities, the front door opened exactly at this time and the disaster could not have been bigger, because her mom and Mila entered the house at the same time.

  "That’s what you call being out with Rogan, you‘ve got to be kidding me.”

  Her mother was angry, no doubt about that.

  “I'm sorry. I didn’t want you to get upset.”

  Leyla did not even know what she could say to her defense. To her surprise, her mom came to her, pulling her to her feet hugging her.

  “It's nice of you that you're trying to keep me out of it, but I think it is definitely too late now that Shane has been involved. He hasn’t got anything to do with this strange tribal story that had Gregory disappear or worst. I don’t want anything to happen to Shane, think about Steven. He wouldn’t survive another loss in his live. We have to defend ourselves and the ones we love.”

  Leyla looked at her in awe.

  “Thank you mom, you are the best”

  Mila cleared her throat.

  “I'm sorry to interrupt this touching scene, but Shane needs an antidote before he dies on that couch.”

  Leyla’s Mom nodded glancing at the couch, “I'm going to call your dad. He has to know what has been going on and I think that it will the best for Shane to leave before anything further happens.”

  Mila had started to mix different spices, stirring them up with water to an ugly green orange pulp. Leyla watched her and felt a slight nausea rise.

  “Leyla have you treated Shane with cinnamon?” Leyla nodded, “I actually spilled it over him when my phone rang. I stumbled and spilled quite a bit on him.”

  "Clever girl, I think you would have what it takes to be an Akando. What did he look like before you spilled the cinnamon over him?”

  “His face slowly took the color of a ripe eggplant and the veins on his arms were blue, so I got very scared and tried the cinnamon. You had been talking about cinnamon.”

  "Good, this means that you've already dealt with the exterior effects. Congratulations. But the nervous system still needs a kick off to get him back to normal again. Otherwise, it could take days and I think we don’t have that much time. He needs to take off as quick as possible.”

  She went to the couch with her greenish-yellow pulp; it looked like puke and Leyla could hardly stop herself from choking. This pulp made her feel sick, though she had no idea why. Normally, she was not as sensitive. Anyway, she could not watch how Mila stuffed the nasty pulp with a spoon into Shane’s mouth. It may have looked disgusting to her, but it had an immediate effect on him.

  He took a deep breath and jumped up in a frenzied movement. He whipped the bowl out of Mila’s hands, gesturing wildly and the rest of the pulp splashed all over the parlor. Leyla took cover. Great, now she would have the pleasure to wipe that stuff from the walls. Mila fell backwards when Shane had jumped inexpertly from that couch and was laying on the floor having him pushing her to the ground with his whole weight. Their faces were just inches away from each other. He looked at her in admiration. “You are not only the most beautiful and sharp tongued girl that I have ever seen, you also saved my life. For this, you deserve a kiss." He grabbed her head with both hands and kissed her right on her astonished mouth. Leyla's mother returned from her phone conversation and cleared her throat, “I don’t want to disturb this cozy little scene and I would like to give you two some privacy, but I think Shane should better get going. As long as this girl that apparently tried to kill him and her friends have not yet realized that the party Leyla told me about has been called off.”

  Leyla chuckled silently. This situation was just priceless.

  To experience Mila speechless was unique. Although she earned a reproachful look from her mom, it was totally worth it.

  Mila wiped her lips with the back of her hand, pushing Shane away.

  ”Get off me, you idiot. You stink like an Indian spice shop.”

  Shane smiled, a little embarrassed.

  “Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. I was so overwhelmed that I could move again that I got carried away. After all, you have saved my life.”

  He helped her up and there was a whole new look in his eyes. An expression of admiration and even something Mila was not sure if she wanted to find out about.

  “It's ok, I’m glad I could help.”

  She turned to Leyla and rolled her eyes. Leyla muffled a laugh. Leyla's mother went to Shane; he was standing obviously confused next to the couch not knowing what do or say after what had just happened. Leyla's mom hugged Shane and then held him at an arm’s length to look at him.

  “Shane, I am so happy that you are visiting us and now incredible things are happening. I would have loved to have you here, but under these circumstances, it's probably best if you go immediately to Boston if you are feeling better. You are in danger here, especially because you know where Gregory is.”

  Shane had regained his composure. He neglected however, to look in Mila’s direction.

  "Even Mila and Leyla are in danger and you, because they think that you are the only one who know where Gregory is.”

  Shane had almost forgotten to tell them the most important part.

  “There is something you all need to know. This witch has my phone and she has called Gregory while I couldn’t move.

  I don’t even have his number anymore to warn him.”

  Leyla shrank back in horror.

  “Are you telling us that Angel has Gregory's phone number? What did she say to him?”

  He looked up.

  “She has all our phone numbers and she tried to lie to him, but it seemed he remembered who she was, which is really great and he hung up on her. Yet she still has my phone with all my contacts. What can we do about it?”

  Mila paced impatiently up and down the room, until Leyla's mom held her arm.

  “This pacing around helps no one and makes me mad. Could you please stop?”

  Mila paused guiltily and said, “We have to warn everybody whose number is on your phone especially Maria and I think that it is a real bad idea that Gregory is living in your house. Is there any other place he could go?”

  Shane and Mila looked at each other and Shane said, “Elmhirst resort, that’s it. No one knows about Elmhirst Resort, except Mila. G
regory is good with horses and Mrs. Benson was very interested to hire him. I am sure she would let him stay any time. I will talk to her. She has a huge house and needs desperately someone who takes care of Romeo, since she will be in Europe next week with her other horses in a tournament. Romeo is not ready yet.”

  It sounded as if this would explain everything. Leyla and her mother looked puzzled at him and Leyla asked, “Who the hell are Romeo and Mrs. Benson. Shouldn’t it be Romeo and Juliet? And why isn’t he ready yet. You are speaking in code.”

  Mila put her arm around Leyla's shoulder.

  “Don’t worry, everything is ok and makes perfect sense. He's right! When I think about it, he actually is a freaking genius.”

  Shane nodded apparently satisfied.

  “Mila will explain everything to you. I have to go now. Does anyone have a phone for me so that I can call Maria on the road, and I need somehow to talk to Gregory. He must go to Elmhirst Resort immediately.”

  Mila threw her phone to him.

  “Take mine, but watch out for it like a hawk.”

  He looked confused.

  “That was a joke. Since when are you so sensitive?”

  He shrugged. Somehow, there was a certain tension between him and Mila.

  “Ok guys, I think Shane should really hit the road now. Meanwhile, the Vultures will have realized that there is no party at Brooklyn's address and that they have been screwed. I hope Aiden has come up with an idea to make it look like there never was any party planned at all.”

  Leyla sighed and grabbed Shane's hand.

  “We‘ll walk you to the car.”

  He nodded and they left the house. The coast was clear; no vulture to be seen anywhere. Shane got into the jeep, waved one last time and drove away.

  They waited until he had turned from Enderby Road to Main Street. Mila shivered and rubbed her arms. It was a warm summer evening, but she felt icy cold as she watched the backlights of the jeep. Leyla took her hand.