by Orts, Teresa
I unzipped my coat and shoved my wool hat in one of the pockets. I pulled the paper with the copy of the four symbols out of the back pocket of my jeans and went around the room, trying to see if I could spot the symbols anywhere else.
First, I checked painting by painting, scanning each of them from top to bottom. Then I went around surveying the display cases with the jewelry pieces.
Small groups of people came into the room and saw the entire exhibition while I was still standing in front of the same painting. After a few minutes observing every little part of the print, I moved to the next, always with the hope that this one was going to be the one.
I could tell the guard watched me out of the corner of his eye.
The more time went by, the more hopeless I felt. Maybe the most sensible decision was to go back to L.A. and let the doctors do whatever they could. He had to tell his parents everything. This time it was tangible. They couldn’t pretend that the gray stain wasn’t there.
Maybe we could still take the last flight back today. I grabbed my phone and called Nate, but he didn’t pick up. Instead of leaving him a voicemail, I decided to send him a text. It was more likely that he would get back to me right away.
Would you be willing to go back to L.A? It’s time to get real help. Maybe we can make the last flight today. Please call me ASAP.
The Greek and Roman sections were as disappointing as I expected. Not one mild hint or connection related to the symbols.
As the museum wasn’t closing for another half hour, I walked around the Egyptian art section while I waited for Nate to get back to me. Maybe we missed something last time.
I looked around, but deep inside, I knew I wasn’t going to find anything. I missed Nate so much, and I didn’t understand why he was alienating me this way. I’d done everything in my power to get to the bottom of this mystery, and he’d shut me out.
Maybe the cause of the stain was obvious. It had started appearing since I’d been around him and, specifically, since I started wearing the Syenite stone necklace.
Nate claimed the stone made him feel different, and it must’ve been true because as long as I was wearing the stone he was able to control his episodes. I suspected the Syenite stone had a side effect and was causing the stain. I had no way of proving it, and I didn’t have the luxury of time to start formulating new hypotheses.
Time was gold now. I decided that I couldn’t hang around the museum waiting for him to come to his senses. I walked over to the bus stop right across from the museum on 5th Avenue. Darkness had almost fallen, even though it was only a quarter to six.
Waiting at the bus stop, I called Nate again to let him know that I was on my way. Maybe he could call the airline and get our tickets changed. But his phone was now off. Nate always left his phone charged. He’d obviously seen my text message and switched off his phone.
The cars flew down 5th Avenue, splashing puddles onto the sidewalk. I didn’t feel comfortable hanging around New York City on my own after dark, but I wasn’t sure if I should spend the few dollars I had left on a taxi ride.
It was freezing waiting for the bus. There was no one else. I was probably the only person crazy enough to stand on the street in this cold. The parts of my face that were exposed to the wind were burning. I tried covering my cheeks under my scarf, but it was still unbearable.
A taxi with the “available” light on cruised down 5th Avenue and without thinking about it twice, I raised my hand to hail it. I only had forty dollars left, but I didn’t care. If I stayed here waiting for the bus, I was going to freeze to death.
In the taxi, my anger began to transform into worry. My sixth sense warned me that maybe something had happened to Nate, regardless of what happened with his phone. What if Preston had found him? What if he’d hurt him?
As the taxi stopped in front of the motel, I gave the driver a twenty-dollar bill, and, without waiting for the change, I ran out.
Moving as fast as I could, I rushed past the shabby lobby. The man at the reception desk was watching TV, looking away from the door. I don’t think he even noticed me running past.
I climbed the steps two-by-two while unzipping my jacket and taking off my hat. Catching my breath, I pounded on the door and waited for a few seconds. I didn’t get any answer so I knocked again. I knew he was in there.
Just to let him know that I didn’t want to play this stupid game anymore, I knocked again, but this time slamming my fist on the door. The thuds resonated in the corridor.
“Stop it! Please open the door. You’re scaring me.”
The flickering fluorescent light shone on the peeling paint of the walls. The more time passed without any reply, the more I feared the worse.
“I know you’re there,” I shouted angrily, knocking on the door over and over.
“Open the dammed door for the girl!” a man shouted from another room at the end of the corridor.
Before someone came out and got me into trouble, I decided to go down to reception to get another key. I threw my jacket, hat, and gloves next to Nate’s door and rushed downstairs to the lobby.
The man behind the desk was still absorbed in whatever he was watching on the small TV. He was looking away from the desk.
“Room number?” he said, not moving his gaze from the TV.
“204.”
The man automatically placed his hand on the key rack behind him. He looked around at it.
“The key’s not here.” The man finally swirled around on his chair to look at me. “Your boyfriend must’ve gone out and forgot to leave the key here.”
I pressed my lips together, not able to hide my concern.
“I can give you the second key, but I’ll need a forty-dollar deposit,” the man volunteered, probably aware of the panic on my face.
Digging into my jeans pocket, I got a bill out that was wrinkled into a ball and realized it was my last twenty. I’d given the taxi driver the other twenty.
“I only…”
“That’ll do!” The man yanked the bill from my hand, handed me the key, and turned around to continue watching TV.
I walked up the stairs, but this time I took one step at a time, to delay getting to Nate’s room. As I climbed each step, I became more aware of my pulse pounding violently. I wasn’t sure if I had enough courage to open Nate’s door all alone. I crossed my fingers, hoping that he’d gone out. That really had to be it.
I picked up my jacket, gloves, and hat from the floor and took a moment to compose myself. Holding my breath, I slid the key into the lock, turned it, and slid the door slightly open. The room was silent, but the night lamp was on.
“Nate?” I said with a trembling voice. I stood still in the corridor. The door blocked my view of the room, but I was able to see the end of the bed, and Nate’s immobile feet were on it.
“Nate?” I repeated, fearing the worse.
“Sophie, don’t come in,” Nate murmured softly.
I didn’t manage to respond or move. Nate said it again. His words were faint. “Please, don’t come in.”
“I’m coming in,” I said with an assertiveness that surprised even me and then I held my breath as I entered the room.
CHAPTER XX
NATE WAS LYING ON the bed in his boxers. He had a pillow pressed against his face. His whole body was shaking. He pressed the pillow harder to muffle a growl. I could feel the level of his agony.
Nate knew I was now in the room, observing him, but he ignored my presence. It seemed more out of necessity than choice, as he seemed to need all his energy to bear the pain.
His entire body was completely gray and covered with strange white lines. He had bumps on his torso, as if someone had punched him from the inside and left the outline of the fist popping out.
I dropped my jacket, hat, and scarf on top of a chair and stared out the window, trying to convince myself that I would wake up from this nightmare. This wasn’t happening, at least not to Nate and me.
He recoiled in pain. He pres
sed the pillow tight against his head. It was freezing in the dim hotel room, and Nate was compulsively shivering and sweating.
The noise from the street was still loud, even though it was past six o’clock. Night had fallen, but it seemed that life was only starting in East Harlem. The cold weather didn’t appear to slow people down in this part of town.
Out of the window I could see three black women shouting at each other by the traffic light on the corner of East 118th and 1st Avenue. They were arguing with someone in a black car that had stopped at the intersection.
Nate’s constant breathing resonated in the room, long, deep breaths. He exhaled and there was a long pause, as if he’d stopped breathing; then he inhaled again. Every few breaths, he would press the pillow against his face as an agonizing groan escaped.
A man in his thirties with a New York Yankees cap was hanging around outside the deli across the street. Another man approached him and with a quick hand gesture, they exchanged something. Then the man kept on walking like nothing happened.
I’d failed Nate. I was losing him, and all I could do was look out the window and listen to him suffer. I thought of calling an ambulance, but how were we going to explain this? And, anyway, what could they do?
I played with my bracelet, rotating the mummy replica around my wrist. I knew exactly what I could do to save him, but I was scared. The thought of what would happen once I took off the bracelet terrified me.
The man with the Yankees hat rushed inside the deli just as a police car turned around the corner. It cruised slowly along the street.
“Don’t even think about that,” Nate murmured, removing the pillow that was pressed against his head, but looking away from me.
“You know exactly what this is doing to you, don’t you?” I said, rushing through each word, unable to hold it anymore. “That dammed prophecy! You know if I take off the bracelet that stain will stop!”
His sweaty hair was stuck to his scalp. His shoulders heaved as he shivered uncontrollably. I wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to endure the pain.
“You also know if you take it off I’ll end up hurting you,” he mumbled, grabbing his side in agony.
“Don’t you understand? The stain won’t stop until you’re dead, and that bracelet is the cause.”
Nate murmured to himself as if he were praying. “‘Ammateus, marked by the legend of Orion, will suffocate with his own hands the life that guides him. Then he will bring the sons of Satan back from the dead, marking the end of it all. Only the divine stone found where heaven meets earth will save her.’”
“You knew the bracelet was killing you, didn’t you? You’ve known it all along. You knew it was me or you, and you already decided it was going to be you.” My fury was palpable. “What about the part that says, ‘The salvation to both lies down beneath?’”
I stared out the window, unable to face him.
“There’s no time for that, Sophie. This… is… all my fault.” He groaned.
That was it. I wasn’t going to hear his mea culpa plea anymore.
I rushed to his side, making the floor creak with each step. “Listen to me. It’s my choice to be here. You have to stop…”
As I sat on the bed to talk to him, Nate rolled over so I couldn’t see his face.
“I don’t want you to see me like this,” he said with chagrin in his voice.
I got up, squeezed around the bed, and sat on the other side. “I don’t care how you look. You’re still Nate. It doesn’t matter to me.”
My stomach swirled when the lamp lit up his face. I could barely recognize him. His eyes were bright red, and his irises had almost turned white. His lips were purplish and his face was slightly deformed around his jaw. His skin was pale gray. White lines similar to veins spread across his cheeks.
I stroked the side of his face, following along one of the white lines.
Nate examined my reaction, unable to utter a word.
The room was empty, just like my soul. The bare walls and the stained, beige carpet made the situation even more depressing. One of the table lamps was broken and flickered like a strobe light, bringing me back to the moment this all started.
All of a sudden, Nate pushed against the bed in a brisk move and struggled to lift himself up.
“Grrrr.” He bit his lips to stop himself from screaming.
“Please don’t move.” I grabbed him by the arm, but he ignored me. He pushed even harder until he managed to stagger upright. He sat next to me at the edge of the bed.
After catching his breath, he tenderly moved the locks of hair falling over my eyes. His hand was shaking.
“I need to ask you something really important.”
I knew exactly what that was, and I didn’t want to hear it.
“You have to promise that no matter what happens to me, you won’t take off that bracelet.” Nate gasped deeply as if he were running out of steam.
“But I can’t agree to that. We don’t even know…”
Nate shook his head from side to side. “We can’t take chances this time. I’ll do anything to protect you.”
Now that the lamp lit up part of his torso, I could see that his skin had come off in places. My hand went to my mouth. There were round spots where bloody flesh was visible underneath.
He slowly dragged his hand along the bed until he reached my other hand. Then he took it and pressed it against his chest as though he wanted me to sense his heart beating.
“Sophie, tell me that you understand why I bailed out yesterday. You saw what was happening to me. You knew I wasn’t controlling my actions anymore.”
I nodded.
“It’s not about you. There’s nothing in the world I wanted more than you.”
“I know,” I mouthed soundlessly.
“In fact, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’ll always be thankful for that.” He searched my eyes as if preparing me for a shock. “Wherever I go next, you’ll always be a part of me.”
“Stop it, please,” I begged, removing my hand from his chest as if that would change the course of destiny.
We could hear a police siren down the street. Soon, the car was right outside the hotel with its blue and red lights reflecting on the ceiling.
“I’ll never forget you, Sophie. You don’t have to be afraid. Somehow I’ll always be with you.”
I didn’t want to listen to him anymore. He was wrong. He was making it sound like a farewell. I could see right through his deformed face. I could see the Nate who’d turned my world upside down. The one who cast a spell on me the first time I saw him. His beautiful smile, his dark brown eyes, his white-pearl smile.
“We’re going to get through this. You’re not going anywhere,” I said, trying to believe my own words.
Nate grabbed both of my hands, and with his bright red eyes and his swollen face, he stared at me with a grimace. I finally knew this was for real when I saw his eyes brimming with tears.
“Sophie, I’m okay with it. Sometimes you can’t fight destiny. You just have to promise you’ll move on with your life.”
Not being able to bear the distance between us, I threw myself into his arms. I couldn’t control my blubbering. “Please don’t say that.”
I could feel Nate’s body shaking. He emanated a strong heat. “Sophie, I love you so much,” he murmured in despair.
His once strong arms wrapped around me. He held me tight against him as if he wasn’t going to allow anything to separate me from him.
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let him go. I wasn’t going to ever allow that. I pushed him away from me.
“Sophie!”
“I can’t do this.” I stormed out of the room, holding my tears.
I went to my room and paced up and down the small space next to my bed. I had to do something. I had to come up with a plan.
Having little control of my actions, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.
“Where’s your emergency?�
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“Sorry, wrong number.”
I hung up without thinking. What was I doing? They weren’t going to be able to help him. I knew there was only one way, and it had something to do with those stupid crab symbols I couldn’t decipher. I was sure the answer had been in our faces all this time.
Megan always says the solution to anything is always on the Internet. This was my last shot, and I needed a miracle.
Wishing with all my heart for just that, I turned on my laptop and connected to the wireless modem. I typed the words corresponding to the four symbols from the crabs into a search engine: enemies, Mars, realm, and blood. I pressed search and waited for the different links to appear.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. There, right in front of me, a whole page of hits from the quatrains of Nostradamus.
Nostradamus was a French seer who lived in the 1500s. He wrote a series of prophecies. His most popular piece of work was a collection that he gathered in a book simply called The Prophecies. This book was composed of 942 quatrains divided into ten groups known as centuries.
Some people claimed that Nostradamus had been able to predict major world events, such as the great fire of London, the rise of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, and the September 11th terrorist attacks, and some even ventured to say that in the quatrains he predicted the end of the world. Whatever Nostradamus did or didn’t know, there was evidently a link to Cleopatra’s secret.
I scrolled up and down the quatrains, but there were 942 of them, and the words enemies, Mars, realm, and blood appeared in many.
Nostradamus lived in a time when there was a fear of witchcraft. It is said he may have deliberately made the quatrains obscure by using metaphors, symbolism, and misspelling proper names so as to avoid being prosecuted and executed for witchcraft.
Nate and I needed a solution right now. There was no time left to investigate any further.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t tried something as simple as putting the four words into an Internet search engine before. I opened another of the links from the search. This one was a facsimile of the original edition. Scrolling page by page, I quickly realized that the quatrains from the original edition were in French—Nostradamus’s mother tongue. Not understanding a word, I decided to move on to the next link.