ELEMENTARY VIRTUE: The Savior

by Sonja Wuthrich

  “Come on Mila, we have to wipe some of your pulp from of our furniture yummy,” she laughed.

  “Somehow, I can’t shake off the feeling that you've started to like Shane.”

  "Don’t be ridiculous,” Mila hissed and went back into the house.

  The party is off

  Aiden and Brooklyn had their hands full spreading the word that the party was off and to keep people from showing up. Aiden even was of the opinion that it was best if no one actually stayed at the specific address, which meant not even Brooklyn. So they went to Aiden's apartment. Since it was the first time they were alone in a long time, the situation felt a bit awkward and both did not really know how to behave. Since Brooklyn told Aiden that she was pregnant, they had hardly talked about it at all and had met only in the presence of the other Akandos. After having informed everybody that Shane had to take off unplanned because Angel tried to poison him and had gotten hold of his phone and the party address, there was not much more to be discussed anymore for the party matter. Brooklyn was visibly nervous wandering around Aiden’s tiny living room.

  “So Aiden, this is the second time I'm here in your apartment. Do you think I could go home again later?”

  He shrugged and watched her with his black eyes as she drummed with restless fingers on the backside of the couch. It looked as if he made her nervous.

  “Honestly, I don’t think it's a particularly good idea if you go home. Finally, your parents are not there and who knows if the Vultures will pay you a visit. It would be better if you stay here tonight, I think.”

  She tapped on with her fingers and sat on the edge of the couch, as far away from him as she could.

  “You're probably right,” Aiden moved closer and grabbed her chin. He turned her head so she had to face him.

  “Are you afraid that I could throw myself all over you or something like that? I thought you knew by now, that I'm not that kind of guy.”

  She freed herself from his grip, got up and walked a few steps. Then she turned around and looked at him with tears in her eyes, “Yes I know that, but I also know that my hormones run wild when I'm with you. So it could be that I am the one throwing myself all over you.”

  She stopped, startled and embarrassed at the same time about what she had just said. Was she mad? What a stupid thing to say to a guy that got you already pregnant. What would he think of her? My God, she really was completely out of her mind.

  She looked warily at him. He sat on the couch and a big smile lit up his dark features. Her heart leaped and she seriously felt that way about him. She could have eaten him alive but that certainly made no good impression. He patted beside him on the couch.

  “Sit down beside me and explain that thing about the hormones, I am not quite getting it yet.”

  She slowly came closer and sat down gingerly beside him. She looked at him and cleared her throat, “Every time, since the first day I saw you at school, I lose my mind somehow and can’t think straight. All I have in mind is to kiss you.”

  To her surprise, he grinned.

  “In that case you should have started doing so as soon as you laid eyes on me. I would have enjoyed it even back then, but for now, you shouldn’t hold back any longer and put your plan into action.”

  All she did was smile and bend her head towards his.

  The storm is on

  Shane was heading south on the high way for some time. He had almost left the city behind him, when a storm broke loose out of the blue. The sky that had been cloudless just a few seconds ago suddenly became dark and cloudy. Lightning flashed through the clouds. How was this even possible, he thought. When a storm came up, it was usually announced by high humidity, heat and no wind at all, but this one seemed to come out of nowhere. To his luck, traffic wasn’t all that bad on this Monday evening and so far, he was actually proceeding quite rapidly in the evening rush. After having a look at the dark cloud front, he turned on the radio. At least he would be prepared and hear about either traffic jams before he got stuck in a storm or a traffic jam. He would get some temporary shelter at the next exit. He felt his stomach growl. A burger wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all and he could wait out till the storm had passed. Frankly, he did not want to be stuck in a storm on the highway. He promised that he would leave the city as quickly as possible, but he couldn’t help being hungry in an upcoming storm. He looked up at the panel on his right, the exit for the next Mc Donald was only about half a mile away right after the city limits. In his mind, he was already ordering his menu, when the storm struck with full forces.

  He looked in the rearview mirror when the clouded sky lit up behind him and several flashes hit the dry ground at the same time. He heard dull thunder rumbling followed by torrential rain. A fascinating spectacle if you were not sitting right in the center of it. The radio announcer seemed to be slightly overwhelmed and stammered incoherently that because of unusual weather occurrences for the season, it would be best not to leave the house if possible in this sudden and unexpected situation. Great, Shane thought. That was certainly a good approach, but the thing was, he was sitting right in the eye of the storm. Well, maybe more in the front part. The storm front rolled up from behind towards him. He snapped out of his thoughts when some shrubs and trees flew by and some parts landed on his car It was raining heavily now. Shane couldn’t see a thing anymore.

  He set the wiper on the highest possible level, but it was useless. A huge traffic jam was the result of a large panel thrown onto a car in front of him by the storm. The chaos was perfect. Shane was able to change lanes and pull over in a daring move that was followed by a huge chorus of horns but without major damage. He knew that his action was kind of prohibited and not really fair to other people driving behind him, but he also thought of Mila's words that he had to get out of town as fast as possible. He felt this incredible storm rising within like the expression of a huge wave of anger and he wasn’t able to shake off the feeling that this anger came from the storm hitting behind him. It was like the end of the world. Shane drove on without bothering anymore who he pushed aside, even though the cops had now come up behind him and the siren was on. For a second, he considered stopping the car, but his instincts told him to move on and to get the shit out of here. Screw the consequences. He stepped on the gas to accelerate and the jeep shot like a bullet through the storm. As it turned out, not a second too soon, he watched in horror through the rearview mirror what was going on behind him. An inferno broke loose and the cop’s car following him with flashlights and alarm, had been hit by a truck instantly going up in flames. Shane was totally shocked but continued to accelerate without stepping from the gas for an instant. Stopping now would make no sense. Metal parts whirled through the air behind him and he had the feeling to drive through a wall, because suddenly the sun was shining again ahead of him and the swirling dark wall disappeared behind him as if he had passed a gate to another world. He still was in a hug traffic jam because everybody that had been able to get somehow away from the storm and had followed his example and traffic had come to a complete halt. The sun was shining and the sky was blue and cloudless on his side. He didn’t dare to think about what happened to the cars behind the storm wall.

  His heart was pounding like crazy. He let down the window and tried to see what was going on around him. He had to wipe leaves and branches to the side. The dark storm wall was still there right up where the city limits panel had been. So he had managed to leave the city.

  The end of the world seemed to take place exclusively over the

  city of Toronto, as if the storm could not get over the city limits, which was odd.

  Shane felt nausea rising and he thought about the people he had left behind - Leyla, her parents and her friends. He felt sick and hoped that nothing had happened to them. He set the signal and managed to get back into the normal track. Finally, he was off city limits and he was not in to attract any attention with the county police on this side of the storm front. He was too messed up now for
any kind of confrontation. He wondered what had happened to the people in the cars behind him, whether they had survived or not? Then he thought of the cops and the explosion and he felt sick once more. He took a few deep breaths and the queasy feeling passed. It was horribly hot in the car, because the air conditioning had died off. He was sweating like a pig. Today definitely was not his day - first this crazy Angel had tried to poison him and now, this mess. This day happened to be some roller coaster in a bad way only going down. Besides, he was stuck and still didn’t get any further in this jam of the century. He fumbled in his pocket for the phone Mila had given him. Whom should he try to call first? The battery was at 25%, which meant he had to decide what the most important thing to do was. Should he warn Gregory? He was not even sure if he knew his number by heart. Or Maria and his dad? How could he explain to them what he had gone through. They would think that he had finally completely lost it. Well, he could not even blame them, considering how he had acted during the last past months. Gregory, however, would believe him. Maybe it was best if he didn’t mention the crazy thing about the storm he had just experienced. He should call Leyla to make sure everything was ok with her.

  Even before he was able to take a decision, the phone vibrated in his hand and the fanfare of Star Wars filled the air. Startled, he dropped the phone. Shit, he thought. Good thing he was in a traffic jam. He crawled out of the car to get on his hands and knees to look for the damn thing. He groped around beneath the driver's seat and hit his head hard on the steering wheel. Cursing, he continued searching, wondering what would happen next. This day came close to a nightmare, only that it was freaking real.

  There he was, he’d ended up in the traffic jam of the century, at least no one honked while he was crawling around under the seat; they all had their own problems as it seemed. In any way, it was far better to be stuck here than to be pushing up daisies. Good, he heard the Star Wars fanfare again. He finally had located the phone. He grabbed it and sat back down on the driver’s seat behind the wheel being completely exhausted. He took the call. The number was unknown to him, but he had little choice.

  “Hello,” he said out of breath.

  He heard Mila’s worried voice, “Shane, are you being ok? We were worried sick. Where are you? Tell me that you're still alive.”

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn’t help teasing her and he said with a slightly sarcastic tone, “I think so, or do you always keep up phone conversations with corpses.” He heard her sob and regretted his joke immediately. “For heaven's sake, Mila what happened?”

  To hear the tough Mila sob made him gasp in fear.

  “I do not know,” she said awkwardly.

  “We were worried about you, as hell broke loose shortly after you left - water pipes burst, trees were uprooted, heavy rains and wind gusts started; it was incredible. We can’t even leave the houses anymore. The government has declared state of emergency. Leyla's dad has to stay in office, because it is too dangerous to go outside. There is bare chaos. I truly hope that Brooklyn is with Aiden. We can’t reach no one, probably because the telephone network has broken down or is overloaded in the city. That I could reach you probably means that you have made it out of the city in time!” Shane hesitated.

  “I guess that pretty much nails it. Behind me, there was this police car bursting into flames. I could just get away and still feel like I was driving through a wall. Behind me, there was chaos like the end of the world had come and ahead of me, there was the blue sky and sunshine.”

  Mila let out a hoarse cry.

  “Oh my God, I've seen it on the news. Then you were the one in the car that got away. I could not make it out. Where are you now?”

  “Not much further shortly after the city limits of Toronto to the south. I had the impression that the storm was raging exclusively over Toronto, as if it could not get beyond the city limits. This was no ordinary storm, was it?”

  “No,” Mila sounded tired. “Things are getting out of hands and it was death and destruction caused by someone who is pissed to the core. I think it was Gabe.”

  “Are you sure about that? Why Gabe?"

  “As far as we know, he is the only one who can influence water and air”

  Shane didn’t seem to be convinced.

  “But you said that Gregory is the only one that can control more than one of the elements.”

  “No, Gregory can control them all and that makes him the Savior. He is the good guy remember?”

  “More or less, you meant this Gabe is his enemy and apparently quiet a dangerous one? Yet why would he do such a foolish thing? His people could have been killed too.”

  "Because he's got an ego the size of Texas and he is a choleric asshole stopping at nothing. He does not care who is getting in the way. The only thing apart of himself he cares about is his Daddy, who happens to be the head of the whole Vulture organization around these parts of the world.”

  “I see. That probably means that he is even meaner than his girlfriend, and I know what I am talking about. I have already had the pleasure with her today, as you might remember.”

  "Exactly. And Shane please don’t forget that the storm has been caused partly because of you. He must have thought that you are the only person knowing where Gregory is hiding and that you had come to the city to inform us. That makes you a persona non grata for him and his whole gang. Adding to his misery was the fact that his ace, Angel, hasn’t accomplished the job as planned today and they didn’t know more than before, plus you got away. So drive as fast as you can to Boston without turning back and don’t contact any of us in the near future. They have no clue where you are. So let’s keep it that way. The same goes for Gregory. He must disappear from your house immediately. I hope he can hide out at Elmhirst Resort. No one knows about that place except the two of us.”

  “I will see to that. My dad will take care of things and warn Gregory,” he paused.

  “Mila, I am very glad that nothing happened to you.”

  She didn’t answer and he continued.

  “I think I have an idea, but the less you know the better. I have to hang up, the battery is almost empty and I still have to call Maria. I’m’ not sure if I remember Gregory's number because that bitch stole my phone and I don’t want to waste the battery. But don’t worry, I'll figure things out. Tell the others that I am ok. I'll get back to Leyla as soon as everything is under control. Gabe has created such a mess and he won’t be able to track me down and follow me, as he can’t leave the city either for now. Let's just hope that he doesn’t do anything stupid like blowing up the whole continent. I have to get out of this traffic jam. I still have a good nine hours’ drive ahead of me.”

  He had it all figured out so far, which was a good thing, Mila thought.

  “Take care of yourself,” she said hanging up.

  She encrypted his phone number so that no one would be able to find out who hid behind it.

  Evil is all around

  Gabe sank into self-pity. Had he not done what his father had expected him to do? Had he not done everything in his power to keep the savior from completing his task? Still, he hadn’t been able to destroy him once and for all. Then this damn dude had turned up at school and everything had gone off track. Not even Angel had fulfilled her task and the guy had slipped through his fingers as well as the whole damn Akando bunch. There had been no party at that blond Cheerleader’s address. They had played them pretty bad and his temper had flashed to a full storm. The only silver lining at the horizon was that he was in possession of that guy’s phone.

  Unfortunately, it was not of much use, because Gregory had become suspicious and didn’t answer anymore. Angels call had been too short to track him down. Carmine Grande was very angry and had made Gabe understand that his temper causing the storm of the history that had paralyzed the whole city didn’t equate to proof that he had things under control. Deep down, he knew that his father was right, and that he had completely lost control after no on
e had showed up at the address at which the party should have taken place. He admitted that there had been a moment and a small chance that he could have blown away the whole damn house. If Angel hadn’t been there to calm him down, who knew what he had been capable of doing. Rage made him do things he sometimes truly regretted later on.

  Angel had proved that she was on his side and that she was as cold-blooded as they come. God, he was an emotional wreck; it was a fact that he had lost control. People had been killed because of his temper and there had been quite some damage because of the storm. Such a thing could never happen again.

  He was glad that Angel had stayed with him even though he had been losing it, consumed by hatred and hadn’t been neither friendly nor nice to her lately. He got up and opened the liquor cabinet of his father. He took out a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and poured himself a generous drink. He drank it in one single gulp. Angel just had enough of guys with a bruised ego compensating it through some stupid action, then sinking into self-pity, and eventually drowning their failure in whisky like Gabe did now. She had met more than enough of these guys. At first, they showed up as the big heroes and then they became all small and ugly.

  She looked over at Gabe. Well, he wasn’t ugly even in his misery, yet his good looks probably wouldn’t help him this time. He had gone too far causing that storm. Too many people outside the clan had been concerned, not to mention, people actually had been killed and there had been a lot of damage. Daddy certainly wouldn’t be pleased and would reduce his check further because she hadn’t stopped Gabe before he did what he did. Daddy clearly communicated that he was disappointed in her, but she was no damn babysitter. She couldn’t watch Gabe twenty-four seven. What the hell was she supposed to do? Hold his hand all the time or he would devastate the whole country? Gabe’s father had threatened to withdraw Gabe from the mission and let someone else get in command. She didn’t really care anymore, but Gabe’s mood had dropped even further down after his dad had spoken to him. He was afraid that his stepsiblings, Cian and Anabelene, he didn’t even know they existed, would get in command of the mission or something like that. He did not know exactly; he was not very communicative when it came to his family. His stepsiblings lived in Spain and his father had threatened to let them fly over taking over the Savior matter, which also meant out of Gabe’s apparently incapable hands. He had told Gabe that he would grant him one last chance to get things back in order, otherwise it would be over and he would be sent back to Switzerland.