The Year of the Great Seventh

by Orts, Teresa

  We now knew the four symbols, but the most difficult part was going to be what exactly those words meant.

  “And?” Nate said impatiently.

  “I need to think about it. I’m sure the four words are an encrypted message. The symbols must be connected to the prophecy from the Caesareum.”

  I knew sooner or later I was going to understand what Cleopatra was trying to tell us with those four words. But as things stood with Nate at the moment, it was going to have to be sooner than later.

  “We don’t really have that much time.” Until now, he hadn’t exposed so plainly how desperate he was.

  I tried to hide my alarm at what he just said.

  “Let me see.” Nate grabbed the book and studied the page over and over as if he thought by doing so he would understand the message.

  The chandelier in the middle of the room was aligned with Nate. The soft white light illuminated his face, enhancing the contrast between his white shirt and his golden tanned skin. When Nate turned the page, the cuff of his shirt slid up his wrist slightly, and something caught my eye.

  Without hesitating, I kneeled forward, reaching over Nate’s shoulder, grabbed his wrist and slid his sleeve up his arm.

  Nate didn’t pull away, but he automatically looked away.

  The gray stain had extended all the way from his back to almost his wrist, covering his entire arm.

  “It’s not going to stop, is it?” I mouthed almost soundlessly as I stroked the edge of the stain on his wrist.

  It was uncannily warm and white veins throbbed violently just beneath his skin.

  Nate looked away again, trying to hide his fear. He didn’t need to speak. We were both thinking that whatever was going to happen when that stain covered his entire body wasn’t going to be good.

  I clenched my hand around his wrist, wishing I had some self-healing power and could make that horrible stain disappear. Or at least hoping I could soothe Nate’s pain. Or if not his physical pain, then the suffering of his soul. Nate moved his hand away and rolled his sleeve down to cover his wrist.

  Nate looked down at the book, showing defeat in his eyes and waiting for me to say something comforting. The truth was at the moment, I had nothing that could offer him any hope.

  But I wasn’t ready to give up. I was going to find out what those four words meant. Whatever it took.

  “How much time do you think we have?”

  Nate slowly brought his gaze up until our eyes met. I could see the fear in his eyes. “Two days… maybe three.”

  My mind reeled out of control. I didn’t expect him to say we had so little time. I grabbed the book from his hand and scanned through the pages again. I was going to have to be much faster piecing the puzzle together.

  Then the unexpected happened. I looked again at Nate to find him covering his face with his hands. His shoulders heaved up and down like pistons with each sob. Invincible Nate had broken into tiny pieces.

  He didn’t seem to be able to cope with what was happening to him anymore. Holding my tears, I hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, unsure of what to do. Then I wrapped my arms around him.

  “Everything’s going to be all right. I promise,” I murmured into his ear as if I could predict the future.

  The sweet smell of his skin, the sense of his body pressing against mine made my heart race out of control.

  Nate finally let his hands drop from his face and wrapped his arms around me.

  “Promise me that I’m going to wake up from this nightmare,” he whispered into my ear, lost in his torment. “Tell me this isn’t happening for real.”

  His words were like daggers in my heart. He was asking me to change the course of destiny. I couldn’t come close to understanding it, let alone controlling it. But like always, Nate’s spell overthrew any rationale.

  “Everything’s going to be all right.” My voice cracked like a liar’s might.

  I could feel the skin on his back burning through his shirt. The kind of heat that emanated from his body wasn’t normal. There was no chance that the human body could produce that kind of fire.

  “Ahem,” the woman at the catalogue information desk said, looking up at the balcony and making us aware that every person left in the room was staring at us.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Nate stood up and pulled me up by my hand.

  He proceeded to put the book back on the shelf.

  “Hold on. We’ll need copies of those pages.”

  Nate rested his hands on my cheeks and planted a kiss on my forehead. “I know you won’t give up on me.”

  CHAPTER XVIII

  WE WENT BACK TO our rooms when we got back to the hotel. I wanted to analyze the four symbols from the crabs, and if Nate was around, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to focus on anything else.

  In the morning I left the room a total mess. Towels were all over the floor. My clothes were scattered on the sofa. I even managed to disorganize the living area, leaving cans of Coke and cookie crumbs on top of the long dining table.

  When I returned, magically, all my clothes had been folded and carefully placed inside the drawers. My jacket and dresses were hanging in the closet, and the few papers I’d left around were perfectly squared on top of the desk. Not one trace of my disorder anywhere.

  Life in this fancy hotel just kept getting easier and easier.

  I’d been thinking about the crab symbols since I got back, but I wasn’t sure how to link them to the prophecy. I was drained of energy from the day’s events, and I needed a break to regain my focus. I didn’t know how to take my mind away from it all for a while.

  Suddenly, a smile appeared on my face. I knew exactly who could help me forget about the prophecy for a few moments—Megan.

  After taking off my thick jacket in which I’d been stuffed all day, I grabbed my cell phone and threw myself in the middle of the puffy pillows that covered my bed. The interrogation Megan had probably planned since I’d been dodging her calls was going to take my full attention.

  I dimmed the lights with the bedside switch, so I could see the New York skyline sparkling while talking to Megan.

  I dialed her number, and while the call was connecting, I began to wonder how I was going to handle the grilling that was coming my way. Megan knew me too well and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fool her.

  “Sophie?” Megan picked up her phone on the first ring.

  “Hi, it’s me. Are you still in Asia?”

  “Sophie, where are you? I called your place ‘cause you weren’t returning my calls or emails, and your dad told me you were going to be in New York for a week. Why are you there so long? What—”

  “Okay, take it easy. You first. Where are you? I need to know your coordinates first.”

  “Sydney, Australia, hotel room, stinking hot in December. Happy? Now your turn. Wait, hold on!” I heard Megan talking to someone in the background. “Hey, I’m busy! I’ll meet you in the lobby in twenty.” It only took me a split second to add it up.

  “Was that Alex? You’re sharing a room, aren’t you?”

  “Irrelevant. Your turn. Why are you still in New York?”

  “What do you mean irrelevant? Have you slept with him?”

  “Come on, Sophie! I’m not going to let you distract me so easily. This is about you.”

  Silence…

  “Okay, fine,” she said quietly. “I did sleep with him, but not a big deal. It’s the first one that matters, and as you know, that’s not the case.”

  I didn’t want to put it like that; any guy that turned your world upside down mattered, regardless of whether it was the first one or the third. Megan didn’t want to make it sound like it was a big deal to her, but I knew it was. She adored Alex.

  As is well known, child actors grow much faster than regular kids because they have jobs, pressure, and on top of that, they spend their days surrounded by adults. Megan’s first time had been a year ago when she was only fifteen. She met another kid her ag
e when she was working on a movie in Louisiana. That kid had a small part in the movie, and it happened in her trailer while they were rehearsing some lines. After they finished shooting, she never saw him again, but she used to say it was better that way. She didn’t have time to fall head over heels for anyone, as she was too busy with school and her acting jobs.

  “Hold on a minute,” Megan said. Then I heard the beeps of her cell phone keys as though she was dialing another number.

  “Megan?”

  You must be kidding me. Megan had conferenced Emma into the call.

  “Guess who’s on the line with me? M.I.A…”

  “Sophie?”

  “Hi…”

  “Where are you? Why haven’t’ you returned any of my calls? I called you twenty times. Why are you still in New York? When are you coming back?”

  “Emma, you need to breathe. You’re freaking me out.”

  Silence filled the line again. They were waiting for me to confess.

  “Okay, you guys are making a huge deal out of nothing. I’m here for an NYU tour that’s slightly longer than normal. You both know that this is where I want—”

  “Sophie, you’re not talking to your mom. Who goes on a campus tour for a whole week?”

  “You’re there with Nate, aren’t you?”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Well, you’re not around at school, and he isn’t either. Not that difficult to figure out!”

  “Has anyone else at school reached the same conclusion as you?”

  “If you consider Tyson and Chase as anyone, yes.”

  God, I had to start telling them the truth. They knew me too well, and I was just digging myself in deeper and deeper.

  “Yes, I’m here with him, but he wanted to check out NYU too.”

  “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…” Emma went into one of her oh-my-God overdrives. I stopped listening after the third.

  “Your mom is going to kill you.” Megan chuckled as if she were picturing in her mind the different ways in which Mom was going to torture me.

  “Have you slept with him?

  I grabbed one of the pillows and pressed it against my face so they couldn’t hear me laugh. These two were the teenage versions of Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.

  “Okay, guys, time out! I’m here with Nate for an NYU tour, and no, I haven’t slept with him. My parents obviously don’t know he’s here, and I’m expecting it to be that way when I get back to L.A. Capisce?”

  “Okay, chill, Sophie.”

  I heard someone knocking on the door.

  “Hold on,” I said, leaving the cell phone on the bed and walking over to the door.

  “Who is it?” I shouted from behind the door.

  “I’m going to the lobby to pick up a package; I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Nate said from the corridor.

  “Okay,” I shouted from the other side of the door.

  “Did you order any…? Forget it.” Nate’s steps faded away down the corridor.

  I went back to the bed, and this time, I just sat on the edge.

  “I’m back,” I announced, waiting for them to start bombarding me with questions again.

  “Was that him?” Megan asked. “Does he look as hot as always under his winter gear?”

  “Okay, guys. You’re just talking nonsense right now. I have to go, but I promise to not disappear anymore.”

  “But we just started—”

  “I really have to go. Megan, good luck with the end of the promotional tour, and Emma, I hope you’re taking notes in all the classes instead of playing with your phone. Megan and I are going to need them.”

  I could hear Megan giggling in the background.

  “I don’t play with my phone…”

  “Okay, hanging up now. Love you!”

  A knock sounded on the door again. I rushed to the door, expecting Nate in the corridor. I rested my hand on the handle and when I was about to press it down to clack the door open, something made me hesitate.

  “Nate?” I murmured.

  Aware that my voice came out as a whisper, I spoke again, this time much louder. “Nate is that you?”

  No one replied. I became more aware of the traffic noise humming in the background.

  “Sophie, open the door.”

  “Is that Preston?”

  “Yes, please open the door.”

  “Where’s Nate?”

  “He’ll be here in a moment. Please let me in. I need to talk to you.”

  “I… I can’t.”

  “Why? Come on! It’s just me.”

  “Nate told me not to let anyone in.”

  “But it’s me, Preston. Just open the door.”

  “Nate told me to—”

  “I told you to open the dammed door, or I’m going to pull it down.” Preston kicked the door, creating a loud thud.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I want that bracelet. Either you voluntarily give it to me, or I’m going to break the door down and get it myself.” The silence stretched for a moment. “And if you make me waste my time, I’m going to be mad.”

  I could hear him trying to force the lock.

  “Go away!” I begged as I could see the door handle moving slightly up and down.

  “Do you think Nate cares about you? He’s out of your league. You’re just his toy. He wants to play Robin Hood, but before you know it, he’s going to get bored with you.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “You’re just his pet. Don’t you see it?”

  “Leave her alone!” I heard Nate’s voice and then a huge crash as if someone hit the floor. Next I heard the sound of glass smashing.

  What were they doing? I couldn’t wait inside the room, doing nothing. Driven by the anxiety of not knowing what was happening outside and feeling my heart pounding through my chest, I pushed the door handle. The door creaked open.

  I peeked through the crack. The corridor table from across my room was split into two pieces. The vase that had been on top was smashed into tiny pieces, and a silver candle holder lay in the middle of the corridor. I looked up the corridor to see Preston and Nate rolling on top of each other on the floor.

  Preston was on his knees on top of Nate, punching him maniacally, and Nate grabbed Preston at his shoulders, trying to push him away.

  I slid the door open a bit more and stepped into the corridor. I felt my hands shaking. Nate pushed Preston away from him after dodging one blow and managed to roll over on his back. Nate was now on his knees, punching Preston. Blood dripped from Nate’s lip while he hammered Preston’s face.

  Preston was lying on his back, trying to get something out of his pocket while covering his face with his other arm. He reached and grabbed the silver candleholder, hitting Nate on the head with it.

  “Ahhhh!!!” Nate yelled, covering his face with his hands and crawling into a ball on the floor.

  Preston quickly got up and started kicking Nate with no mercy as he groaned on the floor.

  “Nate!” I shouted, not knowing what to do.

  Preston gazed at me through the corner of his eye, becoming aware that I’d been watching them all this time.

  “Go back into the room!” Nate shouted amidst his agony.

  Preston kicked Nate again with all his force. Nate rolled onto his side in pain.

  I turned back into the room, as I saw Preston running toward me.

  It was as if I were trapped in one of those dreams where you want to run away, but you can’t move from the spot. I saw Preston getting closer stride after stride as I moved in slow motion back into the room.

  Simultaneously, Nate pushed himself up with both hands, sprinted onto his feet, and chased after Preston. As I turned into my hotel room, I saw Preston seemingly suspended in midair, getting closer to me with one hand outstretched to grab my hair from behind. As I got through the door, I felt Preston reaching my hair. I could feel his grasp closing on it.

  Ri
ght before he was about to pull me to the floor, Nate jumped on him, and he seemed to be able to move faster than Preston. He shoved him against the emergency exit door, causing it to open. Then we heard Preston falling down the stairs.

  “Go in the room,” Nate ordered, rushing after Preston.

  Leaning on the door, I tried to compose myself. I couldn’t understand what happened. The corridor was the evidence that it hadn’t been my imagination. There were pieces of glass on the floor, and the side table was split in two. Drops of blood trailed along the white carpet.

  “He’s gone.” Nate appeared through the emergency exit door. “Are you okay?” He rushed over to me.

  Realizing I was in a state of shock, Nate grabbed my hand and led me into the room. I sat on the bed, unable to utter a word.

  “Did he do anything to you? What did he say to you?” Nate paced up and down the room, bewildered.

  I hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to tell him the truth or not.

  “I think he knows why we’re here.”

  “What do you mean?” Nate turned around at once.

  “He wanted the bracelet.”

  “Why would he?”

  “I don’t know, but he obviously knows what’s going to happen if I take it off.”

  Nate looked out the window anxiously. I knew he’d reached the same conclusion I had, but he seemed unwilling to accept it.

  “This is a family thing, isn’t it? Preston knows about it because maybe it’s happening to him too…?”

  Nate’s gaze was fixed on the black spot that occupied Central Park. The silence lapsed between us. He didn’t seem to want to weigh the possibility that Preston was in this, too.

  “Are you okay?”

  Nate’s lip was still bleeding. He stared out the window.

  He wasn’t making an effort to cover the spreading gray mark anymore. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and I could see how the stain covered both of his arms. I couldn’t play this game anymore. Nate must’ve known that someone was after us. It was too obvious.