by Stefania Gil
Isabel sighed again as they entered a bar that appeared to be about to collapse with the number of people inside.
The humidity inside was unbearable. She still did not understand how in Europe they refused to use an ideal temperature inside establishments, so it was winter. In that case, air conditioning was urgently needed.
She didn’t understand how there were people who didn’t know about the use of body deodorants. Things like these slowed her adaption to the European country.
Juan Carlos purchased a caña.
“Let's toast,” he suggested, raising his voice a little.
She smiled at him
“To what?”
“Thanks to your sister's curiosity, I can be here, now, by your side.”
A swarm of bees could suddenly be felt in her stomach.
She blushed.
The immortal liked it but it was not fair to use it ‘once in a while' when he was so good at doing that to her.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you, Isabel?”
“For that I need a week while living inside the Horchatería surrounded by churros and hot chocolate.”
“Done.”
He took her hand and raced her out of the bar. They almost ran across the streets and in a few minutes, they were at the famous Horchateria.
It was bustling with people, but Juan Carlos had learned, in a very short time several things from Edward about modern times. He called a waitress and gave her a good tip for getting them a table, churros, fritters and chocolate in less than five minutes.
The waitress surprised Isabel. No more than her surprise with his impulsive reaction to satisfy his curiosity.
Why did he go through so much trouble to know about her life?
What did he want to know about her past?
“Juan, why are you doing all this? Why do you want to know my problems?”
“Oh! My dear, Isabel,” he said as he took her hand again and brought her gently to him. He kissed the top of her head. After a sigh he said, “I want your heart to heal so you can see that I am very interested in you being by my side.”
Isabel thought her legs would fail in this moment. She clung to Juan Carlos as if she were trying to save herself.
Could that be?
Could Juan Carlos be her salvation?
***
The immortal thanked someone around him for saying it was almost time to light the bonfire. That made him lower his guard a little regarding what Isabel’s sadness was producing.
He hoped he never ran into this Luke. The truth was he hoped he did because every time he thought about such a miserable being, he wanted to punch him good a couple of times to teach him how to be a man and treat a woman like her with dignity and delicacy.
He encouraged Isabel up and hurried her to the most impressive monument, in his opinion, the one in town hall square.
Isabel explained the giant perfect lion had the world under its feet to represented the strength humanity could have.
Her idea didn’t seem far-fetched.
He was struck by how magnificent it was.
There was a loud detonation like an explosion and Juan Carlos could not avoid running to a safe place. He doubled over to protect himself from the attack he thought they were suffering.
Unconsciously, he dragged Isabel to him when saw the large question mark on her face.
“What happened?” Isabel asked.
“Can’t you hear us being bombed?”
His heart was racing.
Isabel erupted into laughter.
He caressed her face gently and Juan Carlos thought that this was how people must feel when they talked about 'floating'.
“They're called fireworks. In Spain they are called firecrackers. They are not bombs, although they are as dangerous. This is a cultural act, the authorities have taken preventive measures so that no one gets hurt. You do not have to be afraid.”
Juan Carlos took a deep breath, at that moment the city’s sky began to illuminate with bursts of colored lights.
Juan Carlos could not believe his eyes.
It was beautiful. Although the noise continued to frighten him. The closer they got to City Hall the more nervous he became.
The air began to fill with a thick cloud and a strange odor. His eyes began to burn.
After a few minutes of watching the lights in the sky, they announced the burning of the fantastic monument was about to begin.
He was sad at the thought of burning it. The statue was very beautiful.
A spark began on one of the surrounding buildings’ balconies descending a cable full of firecrackers that were exploding nonstop. It reached the top of the feline figure crowned with a dove trapped in sparkling flames causing the figure to burn from head to base.
In the beginning, the spectacle was impressive for Juan Carlos. When the fire settled inside the figure it illuminated dimly for a brief moment in the abundant feline mane and then, almost in a blink, the flames began to devour it changing the image from amazing to nightmarish.
When the flames engulfed the animal and began to grow, the image brought back Juan Carlos’ memories of being burned in the bonfire.
His breathing became shallow.
His vision blurred as he remembered the infernal episode that he had lived through so many years ago. His body refused to forget how the flames wrapped around his melting skin and producing a foul odor.
His hands began to tremble and a knot lodged in his throat.
“What is it, Juan?” Isabel looked at him frightened.
“Get me out of here please, I beg you.”
***
People were starting to look at him strangely.
Juan Carlos watched the bonfire with genuine terror on his face.
Isabel was about to panic also, she did not know how to deal with this type of reaction.
She took his hand and did as the immortal pleaded.
The whole city was submerged in chaos due to the bonfires. Every street had a flaw, surely they would find another bonfire burning and it was not helping that Juan Carlos had already began to look around with the characteristic panic of someone being pursued.
“Take it easy, Juan. Let's get out of here.”
Isabel was desperate to get to where cars were once again traveling through the street. She left hers parked away from there and with the condition Juan was in, it was best to take a taxi and get away from all the chaos as soon as possible.
That was what they did.
“We're getting out of town. Calm down, please.”
She asked Juan as he still looked around with fear.
He rubbed his hands in anguish. She felt her stomach twitch. How many things this poor man had lived through to suffer the terror that beset him at the moment.
She took both his hands and pulled them apart, wrapping one of the immortal's arms around her neck and letting her head rest on his chest.
Her heart was beating wildly.
“We're fine. We are okay.”
She caressed his chest gently.
He buried his nose in her black hair. He drew in a deep breath and pressed her hard against his chest.
She raised her face gently.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered. His voice still trembled. “I didn’t want to let you down, but I had bad memories I couldn’t control.”
He had nothing to apologize for. He was not guilty of the horrors that marked his infinite existence.
They met each other's eyes for a few seconds.
Isabel enjoyed the immortal’s appearance. So intense. Sometimes serene, sometimes agitated —as at the moment— but always captivating.
She tucked her head back into his chest and felt calmer as she felt the immortal's pulse take a more rhythmic pace.
He kissed her on the crown and she smiled.
She didn’t know why, but she liked when he did that.
She was grateful they repaired the iron gate entrance to the estate. Fortunately, after
a good treatment, it was like new and with an automatic mechanism left it like any modern gate. They took the precaution of opening it with a remote control and it had a numerical key in case the control was not available. As was the case, the control was inside her car, in the city.
He punched in the code and they entered.
They walked slowly, holding hands.
Isabel did not quite understand what was happening to her. She still had feelings for Luke, though she could not express exactly what they were because, for the first time in a long time, she realized it was not love. It seemed like; after all, time did heal all wounds inflicted by lack of love, even though she had recently broken up with Luke.
Perhaps the wear and tear of so many years helped her to quickly overcome her misery. She felt sadness when she thought of Luke but she was sure it was not love and that's why he acted the way he did when he called her.
She didn’t regret it.
No.
It was very true she could not spend her life waiting for Luke. She didn’t want that for herself.
He peered at Juan Carlos.
Sigh.
Juan Carlos stopped when they reached the house’s door and squeezed her tightly against his body.
The surprise hug confused Isabel more. She felt comfortable in his arms.
Very comfortable.
He stroked her back and she snuggled a little closer. She felt how tense the immortal’s body remained.
“Are you still nervous?”
He nodded and let out a sigh.
“If you want to— Isabel broke off when he began to say something.
She separated a little from him, it was necessary to look him in the face.
They smiled a knowing smile.
“You give me peace, Isabel.”
Isabel felt herself blush.
“So how come you're still nervous?”
He smiled wickedly.
“I’m determined to kiss you tonight.”
He approached her and barely touched Isabel's lips.
That was enough for her knees to tremor and an uncontrolled desire that in this moment she hoped would never end. The immortal showed her the act would last as long as she liked as he invaded her mouth with serenity and sweetness.
Then she understood.
Juan Carlos liked her more than she believed.
XV
“Please, honey, give me another chance. You will not regret it. I miss you and I really want you”
Is Luke not going to get tired? Isabel thought.
She no longer knew how to respond to him. He kept insisting on sending her those messages so she would agree to be with him again.
Things had changed in a couple of weeks.
Her thoughts were no longer Luke's. Now she thought of herself first, and then, very often, of Juan Carlos. That man knew how to infuse himself into her life and wanted to keep her with him forever.
At least as long as she lived, of course.
They talked a little about the subject. It’s not that she wasn’t grateful to grow old or to notice he would remain the same thanks to his immortality.
They wouldn’t get into that now, especially since they were just beginning a relationship. Later they would figure out how to solve it. There were a lot of years left before anyone would begin to notice the age difference between them.
Isabel sighed.
There was a feeling, she knew. She recognized it. The illusion, the joy of his presence, how well they were when they were together and above all, the tranquility he transmitted. She felt free to be herself when she was at his side.
The only thing Juan Carlos Requena had that did not please Isabel very much was how right he was as a man. She was getting impatient. She wanted to be in his arms, to sleep next to him but she had not gotten him to agree.
“If they go on a trip?” Her sister asked. They were in Carlota’s study, in which they recently finished decorating.
“I thought so.” Isabel smiled mischievously at her sister. “We are going to wait for you to come back from the book’s official presentation and then I will organize a trip to some places in Europe.”
“Are you aware we're going to be in America for three months?”
“Yes, Carl. It is the perfect time to make the last arrangements to the house and so I can put in order the new interior decoration headquarters that I intend to open here. Johanna accepted the New York office society and I'm happy about that. After you, she's the person I trust the most.”
“You must tell him the truth about Juan Carlos at some point.” Carlota looked at her knowingly. “Are you going to actually settle in Spain?”
Isabel nodded.
“Have you heard anything else from Luke?”
“Every day,” she sighed. “It's strange, I feel nothing. I just read his name and automatically delete the message. I'm not curious or angry. Not even nostalgic.”
“I see you’re happy,” the older Alcalá smiled.
“I am, Carlota. Juan Carlos is a very special man.” She opened her eyes wide as she saw part of the cover of her sister's book. “Hey! You did not tell anyone how the book was.”
Carlota smiled again.
“Soon everyone in this house will have a dedicated copy. Thanks to you all it came out wonderful.”
Isabel poured more coffee. She was enjoying the afternoon, talking to her older sister like they had not done in a long time.
Carlota was renewed. Her editorial agent claimed it had been worth the time it took to write this last novel. Apparently, the story surpassed all the previous books her sister had written and predicted a million dollar sale in only the first week.
She was dying of curiosity to know what the story was about. Carlota was hermetic during the writing process and did not allow anyone, not even her beta reader - Isabel - to read the manuscript.
She only gave a copy to her agent and left the rest of humanity intrigued. The only thing Isabel knew and only because Juan Carlos told her, was that after much debate, he agreed the novel’s main character could have infinite life like his and also, it seemed convenient for Carlota to include the herbal tea legend the immortal’s mother taught him and his brother with which turned them immortal.
Juan Carlos explained to his beloved he wanted to find his brother. Something told him he was still alive. If Carlota’s books were read all over the world, maybe he could find Francisco. Hiring private investigators would be a problem because he would have to tell them the real story of the Requena and well, it was one thing to mention it in a fictional book and another for Juan to disclose it personally.
Isabel supported the idea of the man whom she was beginning to fall in love.
“Are you ready for the trip?”
“Yes. I do not want to leave, but the truth is that I am very excited about this book.”
“Are you going to tell me what it's about before you go?”
Carlota burst into laughter.
“I can only tell you it involves a strange character, a house nobody approaches because it is believed to be haunted and a real estate agent determined to acquire the house because of the immense potential it would have once remodeled. It's a good story.” She smiled in delight. “It's going to be a lot to talk about.”
“At least tell me the title.” Isabel begged.
“A Coffee to the Past.”
XVI
Four days later, Juan Carlos was like new.
He felt so good, even better than the day he was taken and burned at the stake.
They fed him good food. Bread, meat and wine.
They were plotting something at court. Juan Carlos knew it and was already resigned to anything that came at him.
He would become an experiment for those animals that held him here. They would do the worst things imaginable to a human being and him due to him having the necessary strength to endure all the physical and psychological pain that awaited him thereafter.
He wanted to find a way to escap
e.
Sigh.
“Mother,” he said in a whisper. “You always told us that things happen, for a reason.” He looked up at the ceiling of the room. “I hope all this is for a good reason.”
The cell door swung open.
A guard stepped in Juan Carlos’ direction who jumped up from the floor.
The expression on the guard's face was one of complete anger toward the prisoner.
He struck him with a clenched fist, directly in his face.
Juan Carlos lost his balance and hit the wall behind him.
The guard placed his huge hand around Juan Carlos's testicles and squeezed them so tightly that Juan Carlos thought he would rip them off.
He screamed in pain. The guard applied more pressure. Juan Carlos's legs faltered and he fell to the ground but the guard continued to squeeze.
Juan Carlos couldn’t stop screaming.
“Stop talking to Satan, in this prison, the evil one has no entrance.” He gripped his testicles again. “Is that clear?”
Juan Carlos’ ears were ringing and his vision was clouded by the terrible pain in his crotch.
The guard loosened his hand a little, only to squeeze hard and pull down while repeating almost at a shout:
“Is that clear?”
Juan Carlos nodded slightly as tears streamed down his face as he was carried away by the fog that surrounded him.
***
Several years later, Juan Carlos became an experimental slave to the inquisitors of Spain.
It was with him they tested for the first time many of the most terrifying methods of torture used in the Inquisition. Especially on those accused of heresy.
Every so often, they invented a worse torture machine. More sadistic, more painful and some were deadly.
Juan Carlos beat them all.
The first time he was taken to the North Wing torture chamber, he felt the same panic like the first time he was taken to the previous torture room. He vomited before and after the torture session. Fear did not allow him to control his sphincter and he ended up crapping himself.
The first torture they performed was a new version of the rack. He was tied tightly to a frame with rope around his body and limbs. The ropes ended in a lever controlled by the executioner, who was tightening the ropes by turning the lever. With each turn, the ropes bit the meat crossing it and causing serious injuries to Juan Carlos.