ELEMENTARY VIRTUE: The Savior

by Sonja Wuthrich

  "Then talk to her; tell her that she can stay with me if she wants to. Gregory's room is empty at the moment.”

  Mila nodded, “You're right, as always.”

  She got up and went over to Natalie who was sitting on the stairs with Jason. Leyla watched her walk away thoughtfully. She would of course help Natalie if she needed her, but she also had quite other things on her mind. Today after school, she would go with Brooklyn to her doctor’s appointment as promised and then she would take the train to Port Hope. She had been skyping with Shane yesterday. He seemed to do fine and so far, no one seemed to be on his heels. Boston was a big city, and no one really knew where he was, except Maria and his dad. Shane had a pretty good idea where Gregory was hiding. There was that cottage in the woods. Leyla remembered exactly where it was. She had taken that unpleasant path through the woods many times in her childhood. For somebody like her that hated hiking, it was no fun at all to go there. It was about a good hour's walk from Elmhirst located between Peterborough and Elmhirst deep in the woods. At night, it was damn scary to be there in complete darkness. Shane used to tell her scary stories before bedtime and succeeded each time to scare the shit out of her. Embarrassed but also frightened because every crack outside made her cringe, she had regularly climbed into her parent’s bed. Sometimes, Shane really was an incredible idiot, but she loved him like the brother she had unfortunately never had. Therefore, it was her duty to prevent him from getting hurt. Finally, he didn’t have anything to do with that prophecy. Shane was worried about her going into the woods on her own. Not because of the forest, although there was always the slight chance to run into a bear or a cougar, but most of the time they took off and hit the dust quickly when they saw any human. He told her to be careful because of Gregory.

  Leyla had laughed at him, “What exactly are you expecting him to do to me? Kill me?”

  “We don’t exactly know what’s going on with him. Leyla, nobody knows, even if the antidote worked. He's all alone in the woods and could attack any intruder, so just be careful.”

  Somehow, he was probably right, although the idea of Gregory attacking her hadn’t occurred to her previously. She had imagined their encounter quite differently. Anyway, she felt relieved that at least Shane knew about what she had found out and where she was off to. Keeping her plans a secret drove her kind of crazy. At least if something should happen to her, Shane knew where to find her. She was aware that Gabe seemed to watch every step she made closely. She had been extremely careful when she was skyping with Shane. They had talked in some kind of code to each other. They had developed that way of talking when they were kids. It had been their secret language. Shane’s friends had treated them as weirdos back then because of their codes. She snapped from her thoughts when Mila suddenly stood in front of her shaking her head. Leyla looked at Natalie, who walked away tightly entwined with Jason.

  “He's going to kill her!”

  Mila looked after them helpless and sighed.

  "This guy will be her undoing, but you can’t save anyone who doesn’t want to be saved, don’t you?”

  Leyla put her comforting hand on her shoulder.

  “You did your best and she does know now that she can always come and stay with me.”

  The bell rang and they went back to class. Another three hours ahead, Leyla thought and she felt quite edgy.

  She would find Gregory, and he wouldn’t kill her.

  The accident

  Right after school, Brooklyn and Leyla were on their way to the Crossways Clinic that lay near Dundas Subway station. First, they climbed into a streetcar and then they changed to the subway. The weather had changed; it was pouring down in torrents. A real summer storm was breaking loose. In no time, they were both soaking wet until they got shelter in the subway station.

  They didn’t talk much. Brooklyn was visibly nervous because she hadn’t decided what she should do about her pregnancy and she was afraid about what that doctor would tell her.

  Leyla took her hand, “It'll be okay Brooklyn, I promise.”

  Brooklyn was so quiet and absent-minded that Leyla looked over from time to time to make sure if she was still there at all. They got out and waited for the traffic light to turn green to cross the street. Leyla tried to hold her umbrella over Brooklyn. However, she apparently didn’t notice and seemed to be miles away with her thoughts in another dimension or in a parallel universe. Leyla squeezed her hand reassuringly. The traffic light had turned green and they were about to cross the street when a black Buick shot at them out of nowhere. The brakes squeaked but the impact was apparently somehow planned and unavoidable. He rammed Brooklyn in full speed. She slammed first against the hood of the car and then she was thrown to the ground. She didn’t move and lay apparently hurt on the street. Leyla had fallen by the force of the impact on the ground too. Slightly dazed, she scrambled to her hands and knees looking around to see what had happened. Then the unexpected happened.

  The black Buick just continued driving on, as if nothing had happened and Leyla was too dizzy and off track to recognize the panel number. The driver did not even get out of the car to see how badly the person he had hit had been hurt in the crash. Meanwhile some people had called an ambulance and the police. A crowd was accumulating on the sidewalk. An elderly gentleman helped Leyla to her legs.

  “Are you hurt Miss? This thug has committed a hit and run, but I wrote down his number. He can’t get away with it, the son of a bitch. I will give it to the police.”

  Leyla shook her head and tried to think clearly again. She saw her bruised hands, and when she looked down at the torn knees and her jeans, she realized that she was bleeding.

  “Guess I've been lucky and got only a few scrapes.”

  At that moment, she realized that Brooklyn was missing.

  “My God, where is my friend? Is she okay?”

  She stumbled to her feet. The older gentleman helped her getting up. The ambulance with its loud siren and the police arrived at the same time. Leyla's eyes fell on a body lying on the ground and she realized that it was Brooklyn who was lying lifeless in a curved position on the road. The paramedics were placing her carefully on a stretcher. Leyla hurried over to them, but they stopped her. It took a moment before she could explain to them that she had been with Brooklyn when the accident happened. She held out her bleeding hands as evidence that she had been hurt as well. They finally understood that she was injured.

  “Miss, you‘ll have to be cured and it must be ascertained whether you are suffering from any further internal injuries.”

  They gave her a blanket and asked her to get into the ambulance. She sat in the back part.

  “Please, how is my friend?”

  Leyla was desperate. No one seemed to want to say something to her.

  “Calm down, we are going to take care of both of you.”

  With that, they left her in the ambulance. Shortly after that, one of the paramedics came to check on her. She checked her eyes with a small lamp and asked her various questions. Leyla could not stand it any longer.

  “What about my friend? She's still alive, right?”

  The paramedic put her hand reassuringly on Leyla’s arm.

  “Don’t worry. we'll get straight to the hospital. Your friend has as it looks a broken leg, a few bruises and probably a strong concussion, but she will certainly get well again. However, she will have to stay a few days in the hospital.”

  Leyla sighed with relief.

  “Thank God. Can I see her?”

  The medic shook her head, “You are going to stay where you are love, and your friend will be carried in any minute on the stretcher.”

  Leyla nodded and then she remembered the doctor's appointment. “Oh, she had an appointment with Dr. John P. Burgess in the Crossway Clinic. Could you inform him about the accident?”

  The medic patted Leyla's hand, “We'll see to that.”

  As soon as she was gone, Brooklyn was brought in. Leyla saw that she was wearing a whit
e ruff and her leg had been splinted. She took her cold hand and smiled encouragingly. “Everything will be all right, you are going to be ok.”

  Brooklyn looked at her unhappily.

  “Who does such a thing? Whoever it was, he or she tried to kill us. The cops say that there are witnesses who have indicated that we were hit intentionally. The driver committed a hit and run. Did you know that?” Leyla nodded.

  She hadn’t thought about it yet. It had all happened so fast. There were so many thoughts buzzing in her mind having her confused.

  "I don’t know Brooklyn. There are several people that I suspect being able to do something like that, but why us?”

  She said it more to herself than to Brooklyn.

  “Maybe we know too much, or they didn’t want to kill you, but me. Yet then, the question would be why? I could possibly be useful for the Vultures to find out where Gregory is hiding.”

  She shook her head puzzled.

  “Whichever way I look at it, it doesn’t makes any sense.”

  She looked at Brooklyn, “The most important thing is that you’re getting well. Do you want me to call your parents?"

  Brooklyn’s face went pale.

  “No, forget it. Dad is in Europe and mom is on some stupid beauty farm.”

  Leyla frowned.

  “Your dad's a big shot - an important banker. Do you think he has enemies who are envious enough to be behind the hit and run?”

  Then she shook her head

  “Does that make any sense at all?”

  Brooklyn looked small, pale and exhausted as she lay there on that stretcher. Her voice was little more than a whisper.

  ”Call Aiden. I need him now, please! Without him, I can’t handle this situation.”

  Leyla fumbled for her phone realizing that the display had been broken during her fall. Crap, she thought, but at least the thing was still working. She dialed Aiden's number and he answered right at the first ring.

  “Hey Leyla, is everything ok? What did the doctor say?”

  "Aiden, please try to stay calm and don’t freak out. We had a little accident and Brooklyn needs you now!”

  “What kind of accident? What happened? Didn’t you go to the doctor with her?”

  There was panic in his voice. He was freaking out just as she had been expecting. Leyla cleared her throat.

  “Aiden please calm down and come as fast as you can.”

  She looked around and saw the logo of the hospital where they had been taken to - St. Michael’s Hospital.

  A car hit Brooklyn and me and the driver has committed a hit and run.

  “What? Is Brooklyn ok?”

  Somehow, everything was too much for Leyla and she burst into tears. She sobbed into the phone.

  “She has some bruises, a broken leg and a concussion. She‘ll get around but she needs you now. Her parents are not around as usual.”

  He seemed to have understood that Leyla wasn’t able to talk and needed someone to comfort her and calm her down.

  “I'll be right there, hold on.”

  Leyla hung up and crouched in her seat. She wondered if she should call her parents, but dismissed the idea immediately. They would not let her out of sight for the weekend if she told them. Yet she had to go and find Gregory; it seemed to be more important than ever before. Brooklyn had closed her eyes and looked as if all life had drained out of her. Fear choked Leyla's throat. Was had happened to her calm, organized life?

  A true nightmare! Once inside the hospital, she was separated from Brooklyn and was being examined in a separate room. Her wounds were disinfected and fortunately, no further injuries were identified and they told her she could go home. Leyla was relieved that she did not have to inform her parents because she seemed to be more or less ok. There would be enough time to do that later on when she was back from Port Hope. She wrote her mom a text and asked if she could stay at Brooklyn’s house today, which resulted in an immediate phone call. Yet Leyla was lucky that her mom probably had to fix something important at the fitness center. Over the weekend, there was an aerobics marathon at the Forever Strong, her mother’s fitness club. This meant that she had to organize everything, which was quite a hand full. Normally, Leyla should have given her a hand, but since she wrote that Brooklyn didn’t feel so well, which was true, her mother agreed for her to stay with Brooklyn. Leyla told herself that she hadn’t actually been lying to her mom.

  No, she just hadn’t told her everything and her mom knowing Brooklyn's parents didn’t qualify for an award of the parents of the year and had probably felt sorry for her friend. Leyla heard heated debates in the background and her mother sighed. “Say hi to Brooklyn for me and don’t do anything stupid. You know that crazy marathon lasts all weekend and dad is in Vancouver. Are you going to come here tomorrow then?”

  Leyla hesitated. She was not used to lying. So she tried to hide some very important details.

  “Mom, I'll call you. Let's see how Brooklyn is feeling until tomorrow. You know it is important for her to have a friend around, because her parents are never there and you and dad are not at home anyway.”

  She was ashamed because she really pushed all her mom’s bottoms to have her agree. Her mom gave up.

  “Ok Leyla, I'm counting on you. No nonsense and I see you latest on Sunday evening at home when this damn thing here will be finally over. If you need anything, you know where to find me. Oh by the way, please remember no wild parties at Brooklyn house, you know what I mean. I'll usually find out anyway.”

  "Mom, don’t worry. A party is really my very last thought at the moment. Love you mom.”

  She hung up, sitting on the orange hospital chairs feeling guilty for a while. What kind of a horrible daughter was she? All the slyness made her feel sick. Yet, her parents would never let her go on her own to the cottage in the woods and she didn’t want to burden Aiden with it. Just as she was feeling so depressed and desperate, someone slumped into an orange chair beside her and a camouflage shoulder bag clattered to the floor. Startled, she looked up into Mila’s worried brown eyes.

  “Girl, you‘ve got me scared. What happened? Aiden's text was all shambles. Are you all right? He wrote something about a baby?”

  Leyla looked at her in shock, then she put her hand to her mouth.

  “You mean Brooklyn has lost the baby?”

  Mila looked distressed.

  “Crap, I completely forgot that Brooklyn was pregnant!”

  Leyla looked surprised.

  “Oh, then you knew? We were on our way to the doctor. Today was the day she had to take a decision whether she would keep it or not.”

  Mila looked upset.

  “Today? No one ever tells me anything.”

  Leyla narrowed her eyes looking annoyed.

  “Are you crazy? A car hit us both, the driver has committed a hit and run, Brooklyn has a broken leg, a concussion and apparently lost the baby and you're offended?”

  She snorted and looked ruefully at her dusty Vans.

  Mila looked guilty.

  “I am sorry, I probably overreacted a bit. I'm simply worried. I guess I'm sometimes like a bull in a china shop.”

  “That does really nail it Mila! Aiden is with her now and I didn’t know anything about her losing the baby. As I said, we were on our way to the clinic. Her options weren’t that brilliant either way. If she would have kept it, she would have been disowned by her folks or something. After all, she is still going to school. Aiden on the other hand has great difficulty with his dad and his mom is not around anymore.

  The situation would have been a big burden in anyway even if both of them wanted to keep the child. Looks as if fate intervened in the form of a mad car driver who has hit and run.”

  Mila looked at her quite speechless. Leyla took it as a good omen to tell her about the internet research and the prophecy as well as her plan going to the cottage to find Gregory. Mila stared at her as if she had grew suddenly two heads, still being speechless and Leyla tried to screw th
e promise out of her not telling anyone a word about her plan.

  Mila asserted several times that she had completely lost it, but finally agreed pretty hesitantly that she wouldn’t tell anybody about her plan. Leyla didn’t care whether Mila thought her plan was some kind of bullshit. The important thing was that she would keep quiet and that someone actually knew what she was up to.

  “Thanks Mila, you are a real friend. I knew I could count on you.”

  She didn’t tell Mila exactly where she was going. She didn’t even know why, but she just didn’t feel like it.

  “Let’s go see how Brooklyn is holding up. I still need some excuse why I won’t be able to visit her this weekend.

  I think I will tell her that I have to help my mom with the aerobics marathon at the studio.”

  Mila shook her head in disapproval.

  “You tell your mother you are with Brooklyn and Brooklyn you are with your mom, are you being serious?”

  Leyla shrugged, an uneasy smile on her face.

  “Well what can I say, my second first name is genius”

  "Ok, genius then let's go.”

  Where is Gregory?

  Leyla had left Toronto behind. She was sitting in the train watching the dusky landscape pass by. Night was falling slowly over the passing scenery. It was already after nine o’clock in the evening. The sunset looked gigantic, but she had no eyes for natural spectacles. The day she had behind her had been something else. After having confessed Mila her plans, they had visited Brooklyn - a scene that both of them wouldn’t be able to get off their memory soon. The moment they saw Brooklyn softly weeping, pale and only a shadow of the girl they used to know and Aiden petrified in his sorrow and anger but at the same time, helplessly sitting on her bed, had been a turning point for Leyla. She realized at that very moment that everything had changed and would never be the same again. They had lost their youth no matter what they did now, whether she took the risk and went to the cottage or if she buried her head in the sand. Things had changed and they could not turn back in time. Everything had gone to pieces, whether she liked it or not. On the other hand, there was a saying that once you hit the bottom the only way was up. She truly hoped that this wisdom would prove to be true. She had left Brooklyn after a while under the pretense that she had to help her mom.