by Pat Spence
“Theo,” said Mrs de Lucis softly, looking into Theo’s eyes, “I need to know. Is she the one? The one you’ve been waiting for all these years?”
“I …. I don’t know.” Theo’s voice was barely a whisper. “I think she may be.”
The room was silent as everyone took in the significance of his words. Aquila stared at him with an intensity that was bordering on ferociousness. Pantera placed her hand on his arm, restraining him from further outburst.
“Do you know what you’re saying, Theo?” asked Mr de Lucis.
“Yes, I do,” cried Theo, defensively, “and I do understand the implications. And you have to believe me, I would do nothing to put us all in danger.” His voice dropped low again. “But if she is the one, I can’t let her go again.”
Mrs de Lucis sat back and pressed the palms of her hands together thoughtfully. The others all watched her. “The way I see it,” she said, at last, “is that we must proceed very carefully. There is too much at stake to squander on a mistaken infatuation. I suggest, Theo, you get to know Emily a little better. In a few days, invite her to Hartswell Hall, so we can all meet her. Take things slowly… Then we will decide on the best course of action.”
“You put at risk all that is dear to us…” began Aquila, but Mrs de Lucis put up her hand.
“My word is final on this for the present,” she said in a firm voice, turning to her husband, “Leon, my love, are you in agreement with me?”
“Yes,” he said, then added ominously, “it’s essential we keep any potential threat close at hand. That way, we can deal with things quickly should the danger become too great.”
He addressed his son. “You must take great care, Theo. Our existence may depend upon your actions.”
“Yes,” said Theo, “I understand. Now, is there anything else, or can I go?”
“You can go,” said Mrs de Lucis, giving her husband a worried glance.
Theo got up, his face taut and strained. As he walked towards the door, Aquila made a sudden movement towards him, pinning him against one of the old oak bookshelves.
“Nothing can get in the way of the Blue Moon Ball,” he spat out venomously, his face close to Theo’s, his voice little more than a whisper. “Do you understand?”
Theo stared at him, then roughly pushed him aside and walked out of the door without looking back.
“Be vigilant, everyone,” said Mrs de Lucis in a calming voice, looking round the room. “Keep a close eye on Theo, we can’t afford to alienate him. Especially you, Aquila.”
Aquila snorted derisively and swept out of the room, followed by Pantera.
Joseph and Violet went after them, leaving only Mr and Mrs de Lucis behind. She stared thoughtfully out of the window, the sunbeams playing on her blond hair, making it shine like a golden halo, and giving her white skin the translucency of fine porcelain. Her husband came to stand next to her.
“Aquila informs me the local ‘situation’ has come to an end,” she murmured, under her breath.
“And can’t be traced to us in any way?” he asked.
“Absolutely not,” she replied. “It was most regrettable and not as we intended. But it reinforces the fact we are dealing with a force that has powers beyond even our comprehension, and that we must never underestimate its capabilities. To believe we control it could be our undoing.”
She turned and smiled sadly at her husband, who bent to kiss her cheek.
“The pathway gets ever harder, my love,” she whispered to him.
“But the prize is worth it, Viyesha,” he reminded her. “You must never forget that.”
PART TWO: DESIRE
8. A Change of Heart
The first day of the summer term was sunny and warm. I woke up with the 7am alarm, drew back the curtains and let the bright rays of sunshine fall on my face. The sunrise was amazing; red, yellow, purple and golden hues streaked across the sky like a crazy Impressionist painting. I stared for a moment enrapt, bowled over by the beauty of nature. Things might not be great for me, but you couldn’t deny the sheer magnificence of the morning sky. I pulled on my new skinny blue jeans and pale blue sweatshirt, relieved on the one hand to be going back to my regular routine, seeing my friends and getting back to normal, nervous on the other about seeing Violet and Theo, and wondering how they’d be with me, what to say to them, if indeed they deemed me worth talking to.
I must have been quiet at breakfast because my Granddad gently put his hand over mine and said comfortingly, “Never mind, Emmie, if he’s not interested in you, he’s not worth bothering with. Concentrate on your studies and your friends. Someone else will come along who doesn’t play games, you wait and see.”
I smiled at him sadly. The problem was I didn’t want anyone else. I only wanted Theo. How could anyone else compare to him? Those deep cornflower blue eyes, that flawless skin, the tousled hair, the perfect looks. I pulled myself up short. What was I doing? They were his physical attributes. I knew nothing about him at all. We’d scarcely spoken more than a few words. Talk about shallow. Since when had I gone on looks alone? I’d always said personality was more important, the ability to laugh and share a joke. I had no idea if Theo even had a sense of humour. He might be a prize idiot for all I knew. And yet, I knew, instinctively, that he and I would be a perfect match. I felt with every particle of my being that we would be good together, would share the same sense of humour, belonged together.
“Stop it,” I told myself. “He’s not interested. Get over him. It never even got started, so there’s nothing to even get over.”
Still that niggling voice in my head refused to be silent, reminding me that he had been watching me from the upstairs window at the hall, had even told his mother about me. I had made an impact, I knew. I just couldn’t work out why it was so problematic for him. What was it he’d said to me, that day by the tennis courts? “Stay away, for your own sake.” What was that all about? It seemed a touch over-dramatic. I sighed. There was something here I couldn’t fathom.
“I’ve just heard the most amazing story on the radio,” said my mother, walking into the breakfast room and breaking into my thoughts.
“What’s that?” I asked, blankly.
“A local woman has been found dead,” she answered. “Apparently, she was in her forties, but when they found her, she looked as if she was over 100. Her husband said she’d been full of life and energy one moment, then suddenly started ageing and died the next. The coroner said he’d never seen anything like it.”
“Yuk. Sounds like something out of a horror movie,” I said.
“Probably overdid the anti-ageing products and they backfired,” suggested Granddad.
“That’s very funny, Granddad,” I said, laughing. “You’d better watch it, mum, you might be next.”
“Not funny,” said my mother, pretending to be upset. “By the way, have you seen the time? It’s ten to eight. If you don’t go now, you’ll miss the bus.”
“Alright, I’m out of here,” I said, grabbing my backpack and making for the door.
“Just for the record, Emily,” she called after me, “You’ll be old yourself one day.”
“Not me,” I called back.
I met up with Tash and Seth, walking up to the bus stop.
“Alright?” said Tash.
“Yeah, sorry haven’t been around over the hols, I felt pretty bad. I think it was a virus,” I glanced at her. She looked back, not smiling, which wasn’t encouraging.
“You better now?” she asked.
“Yes, have you done your assignment on love poetry?” I ventured.
“Don’t even mention it,” she sighed.
“No don’t,” said Seth, “I don’t want you two quoting love poetry at each other again.”
“Seth!” we both exclaimed at the same time, and as we laughed, just like that, it seemed we were back to normal.
Tash sat next to me on the bus and I was hugely relieved when neither Violet nor Theo was waiting at the bus stop by the
hall. With any luck they wouldn’t be at college today and I wouldn’t have to address the problem of what to do about them. They seemed to take days off with alarming regularity and I couldn’t understand what they did or why the college allowed it.
“No Blondie,” Tash said pointedly.
“No,” I agreed, “I don’t know what’s going on there. It’s all a bit strange.”
“Told you I thought there was something about her that wasn’t quite right, didn’t I?” Tash laboured the point.
“Yes you did, but as I haven't seen anything of her, can we just drop it? Please? It’s getting humungously boring.”
“Okay. Consider the subject dropped.”
“Did you hear that story on the radio, this morning?” Seth called over.
“What about the local woman who’d aged and died?” I asked.
“Yeah. Weird or what? How can that be possible? She was in her early forties but apparently looked over a hundred when she died.”
“I reckon she’d lied about her age,” surmised Tash. “Probably was older than she said, then she got ill and suddenly started looking her age.”
“My Granddad reckoned she used too many anti-ageing products and they backfired,” I said.
“Ha ha,” laughed Seth. “Let that be a lesson, Tash, not to overdo it. You’re always using some cream or other. You’ll wake up one day all wizened and shrunken, looking like a mummy. That’s what they reckon she looked like.”
“Oh, totes hilaire, Seth. You are so not funny. Do you see me laughing?”
“No, heaven forbid you might get laughter lines,” he taunted.
He ducked as Tash threw an exercise book at him.
I beamed. It was good to be back with my friends. I felt as if life had resumed some degree of normality, and so it had until lunchtime, when events took a very unexpected turn. We’d had an uneventful morning. English Lit and Business Studies had gone past in a blur, and I felt slightly disembodied, the after-effects of the virus still with me. Violet did not appear and I allowed myself to relax a little.
At lunchtime, I sat with Tash in the cafeteria, enjoying a pepperoni pizza and salad, both of us looking forward to Double Art in the afternoon and chatting about our Abstract Art project for the summer term.
“I was thinking about using light and dark and shadow,” I said.
“I thought I might do something with broken glass and newspaper,” said Tash, “you know, experiment with different textures. Oh no…” She broke off suddenly and focused on the opposite side of the café. “ It’s the terrible twins.”
“What d’you mean?” I asked, turning round and following her gaze.
There, standing against the opposite wall, the sunshine framing them in a glow of bright light, stood Theo and Violet. My stomach lurched and my heart flipped. I felt the blood rush to my face and was conscious of going bright red. I turned back rapidly.
“What’s with you?” asked Tash, incredulously, staring at me. “You’re as red as a tomato.”
“Nothing. Nothing,” I muttered, looking down, desperately trying to calm down and stop blushing.
“Yeah, it looks like nothing,” said Tash sarcastically. “OMG, they’re coming over. Don’t look.”
It was too late, I’d already turned, and, like an idiot, I felt my hand rise up waving at them, as if someone was pulling my arm like a puppet on a string. Never had I felt more gauche and awkward, and totally not up to the situation.
“Hi, mind if we sit with you?” asked Violet, her crystal voice friendly and reassuring.
“No, not at all,” I said, in total shock.
“Hi,” said Theo, his beautiful smile lighting up his face, his eyes blue and dancing.
“I’m Theo,” he said to Tash, going to shake her hand, “pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise,” said Tash, allowing her hand to be shaken, and gazing into his eyes.
I felt a stab of jealousy and watched for any sign of static electricity between them. Was he flirting with Tash? He couldn’t be. It was me he was interested in. Tash appeared to be spell bound, overcome with the iridescent beauty before her.
“Do you have a name?” asked Theo.
“She’s called Natasha,” I said loudly, causing Theo to break his gaze with Tash and look at me. I saw with alarm that she continued to stare at him. “Tash for short, isn’t it?” I almost shouted at her, forcing her to break her gaze.
“Yes, yes, it is,” she said falteringly.
No. This was not going well. The last thing I wanted was for Tash to fall for Theo. If I couldn’t have him, I most certainly didn’t want her to succeed.
“How are you, Emily?” asked Theo, his voice tender and full of care. He looked into my eyes and I felt an involuntary shudder go down my spine.
“I’m good, thank you,” I said primly. “How are you?”
No, this was far too formal.
“Yes, I’m good as well.”
“Oh good,” I looked at Violet in a panic, and unable to think of anything else to say, asked, “How are the renovations coming on? Is everything finished?”
“Yes, why do you ask?” she answered, which completely threw me. This was one totally weird situation.
“Just wondering,” I said lamely, explaining to Tash, “they’ve been renovating Hartswell Hall. It looked fabulous when I saw it over Easter.” I regretted the words as soon as they were out and couldn’t bear to look in Theo’s direction.
Tash snapped out of her spellbound dream and said in a spikey voice. “You were at Hartswell Hall over Easter? What about your virus?”
“Er, it was when I was feeling better. I went for a walk and ended up at the hall,” I mumbled. “I didn’t go in or anything. I just stood in the driveway and saw the renovations from the outside.”
This was now mega embarrassing. I’d just admitted to Theo that I’d been standing outside his house. Even if it hadn’t been him at the window, he now knew for definite I was stalking him. Violet regarded me with amusement and I felt like an insect wiggling on the end of a pin.
“Look, I’ve got to go,” I stood up quickly, banging into the table and knocking over a bottle of water. Thankfully, the top was still on. “I have to see Mrs Pritchard. She wants to talk about my essay. I’ll see you all later.”
I quickly picked up my backpack and walked out of the cafeteria as fast as I could, without a backward glance. I didn’t want to see the expressions on their faces.
I saw Tash in Art, but she barely acknowledged me, and although she sat next to me on the bus home, our conversation was minimal and strained. I was glad to see Theo and Violet weren’t on the bus. Judging by the gleaming black Jaguar that was parked outside the college gate, I guessed their horrible chauffeur had come to collect them.
Good. I didn’t want any more embarrassing scenes. If I’d stood any chance with Theo, I’d most definitely blown it now. I’d behaved like an awkward adolescent, with absolutely no social graces. He was plainly light years out of my grasp. Too old, too sophisticated and all round too god-like for the likes of me. I slunk home, feeling pathetic and small. If this is what love was all about, you could keep it. It wasn’t making me feel great at all, just a great mass of uncontrolled emotions. Never had I been so glad to see mum and Granddad. Sometimes, all you needed was the bosom of your family, I reasoned. Theo could go take a hike. I was way out of my depth with all this.
The next day, Tash was polite but distant, while Seth was irritatingly cheerful, trying to joke us back into familiarity. It wasn’t working, and both Tash and I were relieved when we arrived at college and could go our different ways, her to Geography and me to Business Studies. At break time, I went to my locker, putting away the books I’d just used and getting out the textbooks I needed for my next few lessons. I was turning the key in my locker door, when I became aware of someone standing behind me. I didn’t need to see who it was. I knew. I could feel his energy surrounding and caressing me, his presence strong and powerful. I turned slowly a
nd looked into his eyes.
“Hi,” said Theo gently.
“Hi,” I said back, my legs feeling like jelly, my heart beating rapidly.
“Would you like to take a walk?” he asked.
I pinched the inside of my wrist, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. A walk? With the god-like Theo? What was going on? Was he about to warn me off? Ask for Tash’s details? Declare undying love?
“Yes, of course,” I answered, trance-like. “Where do you want to go?”
“Follow me,” he said, mysteriously, and I had no choice but to do as he said.
He led the way past the lockers, down the stairs and out of ‘A’ Block. Outside, he walked through the quadrangle and continued on towards the netball courts, close to the scene of our previous strange encounter. All the while, he didn’t say a word. There was a small private area close to the Games Block, where the wall curved back, and it was here that he stopped and turned to face me.
“Emily, you must know how I feel about you.”
“Well, not really,” I admitted. “You’ve been sending out rather mixed signals.”
“I suppose I have,” he sighed, “it’s just that…”
He looked into my eyes and I felt as if I was looking into eternity. Flecks of blue and steel grey granite flew towards me as I was drawn into his mesmerizing gaze. I experienced warmth, love, passion, pain, suffering and the utmost longing, all in a fraction of a second, and I found it hard to breathe.
“What?” I asked softly, “What is it…?”
He hesitated. “It’s just that … so much has happened… I just want to keep you safe…” He paused and seemed unable to continue. It was still making no sense to me.
“I know a lot has happened,” I said, reassuringly. “You lost your home in Egypt, you’ve moved over here, you’ve had to start again…” I was trying desperately hard to understand him.
With a huge effort, he seemed to gather his thoughts and focus. “Yes, you’re right, I’m feeling unsettled with all that’s happened. The thing is…”