"But you did my silly little sister, remember how you said he was on an island? There is only one island that pops to my mind, you've helped me more than you know, Sis. Oh, yes, and I wouldn't worry too much about your girlfriend. Greyson has been waiting quite a while to hit the sheets with her and console her doing a little Netflix and chill. She’ll forget that moron Gregory in no time." Ana realized that he was right she had mentioned an island on the phone. God, she really was a traitor. She grabbed her bag and hurried out of the door without looking back. She was desperate and didn't know where to go. Leyla hated her, and her Mom was on the move. There was only one person she could turn to, Saul!
Saul Marques was trying to make an omelet, and his sister watched his efforts suspiciously frowning. "Do you think I am going to eat this? Just because Mom and Dad are gone, I don't have to be your guinea pig. It looks disgusting, and it still has eggshell in it," she grumbled. “I want to eat at the Olive Tree. You don’t have any talent as a cook." Saul looked at the pan contents Sophie was right it looked anything but appetizing. Well, maybe he could repurpose it to scrambled eggs and take out the eggshell. He shrugged, "You won Kiddo we’ll eat out or better yet we'll go to Aunt Jennifer's, who always has something tasty in the fridge."
"Great," Sophie was already on the way up to get her jacket and her shoulder bag, without that bag, she didn’t go anywhere. She called it her lucky bag and carried it around wherever she went since she was stuck with it someplace and it had saved her from being hit by a car a few weeks ago. Saul grinned, looking after her when his phone vibrated. He looked at the screen, and his grin became even wider when he saw that it was Ana. Looked as if he hadn’t messed up things completely with his stupid behavior at the baseball game after all.
"Hi Ana, I am so glad you are calling." Then he heard her voice full of panic, and he became serious immediately. She seemed to be quite messed up and was crying. "What happened? Where are you, Ana?" She gave him Gabe's address and continued sobbing. "Stay where you are, I'm coming to get you as quick as I can." He hung up, and Sophie, who was ready to go out, came down the stairs, and in an instance knew that something was wrong. "What's up bro, everything ok?"
"No, something happened to Ana, she is completely messed up. I’ll go to meet her, downtown, go ahead by yourself to Aunt Jen's." Sophie rolled her eyes, brothers in love were such a bore, "See ya later then." She disappeared through the front door.
Saul immediately went to the subway station wondering what had happened to Ana that she was so desperate. He hoped that it was nothing with her eating disorder because he had no experience at all with such a thing. Whatever it was, he would soon find out. He would have preferred her to call him because she missed him and couldn't wait to see him again, not because something had happened that got her off track. But what the hell, the main thing was, that she had called him no matter why. About twenty minutes later, he got out of the subway, and when he arrived on top of the stairs at the exit, he saw Ana, standing in front of the entrance of the big building. When she saw him, she turned around and shot like an arrow towards him. He could barely catch her putting both arms around her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. For a moment, they both didn't speak. He just held her pressed tightly against his chest. Her hair smelled like peaches, and he felt dizzy. When he thought she had calmed down, he kept her at arm’s length away, looking deeply into her dark, sad eyes. She looked so tender and vulnerable, and all his protective instincts came to the surface. Man, he didn't even know that he had that in him.
"What happened Ana?" When she continued staring at him not saying anything as if she was somewhere else with her thoughts, he shook her slightly. She looked at him, her eyes were full of warmth, and for a moment, the despair was gone, "Thanks for coming. You're the only one I wanted to see." Saul didn’t know what was happening, Ana put both hands to his face and looked at him as if he was one of the seven wonders which had suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in front of her. She pulled him down to her, and then she kissed him. He had kissed many girls before including Ana, but this kiss was earth shattering, it would be difficult ever to get out of his mind. The kiss was full of despair and broken loose emotions and as frustrating as it was for him, it felt like being used because he doubted that this kiss had anything to do with her feelings towards him. It was rather a valve to get off some steam. Somehow, Saul felt abused, but the joy of the fact that she called him and had even kissed him won over his frustration.
She dropped her arms. Saul took her hand and pulled her into the next coffee shop. "Tell me what's going on Ana?" She clasped his hands as if they were an anchor and then everything bubbled out of her, she told him about Gabe, who set her up to spy on Leyla. That Leyla figured it out today and that she hated her now. She even said that it hurt her when he ditched her at the party after they had been so close. Her candor surprised Saul, and he was, after all, more than flattered that she called him in her desperation. When they had the beverages in front of them, he reached for her hand again.
Leyla was about to prepare a feeding frenzy. She urgently needed a whole load of sugar to deal with the fact that Gregory had been right and that an innocent-looking girl, who consciously or unconsciously, spied on her, had tricked her. Whether she was a sly bitch or if Gabe used her didn’t matter that much. She just returned from the fridge armed with a bowl of Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake and a spoon and was on her way back to her room when the doorbell rang. Leyla decided to ignore the ringing. She didn’t feel like company. But, whoever was at that damn door, didn't give up quickly. The ringing continued, probably a little rogue had stuck the stupid bell with something. The ringing strained Leyla’s already tense nerves. She stormed down the stairs with the bowl of ice cream in her right hand yanking the door open and was taken aback because Saul Marques was standing on her doorstep. She shook her head in disbelief what did a Popstar want from her at her house?
How did he know where she lived? She looked at him, frowning. He smiled friendly, pointing to the bowl of Ben and Jerry in her hand, "That's my favorite ice cream. Are you going to share?"
"Good for you, but no, I am not in the mood for sharing anything, you better believe me. Besides, what are you doing on my doorstep, I hardly know you. What the hell do you want from me?"
"I am glad you're asking," he grinned winningly then his expression suddenly became serious, "I want you to talk to Ana. She didn't mean to hurt you. You have become a good friend to her, and she doesn’t want to lose you. Her half-brother Gabe played and manipulated her. It was not her fault. She has been manipulated."
Leyla gasped for air, "And who the hell you think you are in the whole story, her lawyer?" She thought about throwing her Ben and Jerry at him, but no, she would not waste perfectly good ice cream to this treacherous bunch, to which he no doubt belonged, "This cowardly traitor doesn’t even have the courage to come here by herself. Tell her to show up herself, if she wants to talk to me." Saul stepped aside and pulled Ana, who had been standing sideways hidden at the wall behind him on the doorstep. Ana looked damn guilty, "I'm sorry, I had no idea what a madman Gabe was, and I should have told you from the beginning. Please forgive me!" She looked at her pleadingly. Leyla sighed, "Well then come in, you sure as hell have some explaining to do," she said grimly. "Looks as if after all I’ll have to share my ice cream with you two wackos," Saul grinned and pushed Ana through the door, "if you want me to, I can come by later." Ana quickly grabbed his hand, as if it was her anchor, "No, you are going to stay here." He laughed, "Ok, but I am warning you I'm gonna claim a whole bowl for me." Leyla shook her head stepping aside letting them get into the house, mumbling something not very friendly to herself. "Did you say something?" Saul asked in a sugary voice.
"Welcome to my humble home," she pointed to the table, and took two more bowls from the freezer and put them in front of both of them together with a spoon. Ana wanted to reject it, but one brief look at Leyla's grim face kept her silenced she took the bowl, putting th
e spoon into the creamy mass. How long had it been since she had eaten ice cream? Memories of last year flooded through her mind when she had nearly starved herself to death, and the evil voice in the back of her mind constantly told her how fat and ugly she was. She slammed her spoon with full force into the ice and led the heaping spoon towards her mouth. She would show this filthy voice that she didn’t listen anymore. She would not get herself into the mess she had been in last year again, as sure as Amen in a church. So, what? Then she would become fat, who cared?
During her inner struggle, she forgot Saul’s and Leyla’s presence completely. Only the ice cream and her victory over her evil inner voice were important. She was physically and mentally no longer present. Leyla suddenly noticed that something was wrong looking at Ana, who was staring at the ice cream as if it was a snake with two heads, attacking her any moment. She remembered Ana’s eating disorder. What the hell had she been thinking? God, Ana had been in a clinic due to an eating disorder and she smashed her a huge bowl of Ben and Jerry's in her face, no wonder that she was freaking out. Even if she made a mistake, she didn’t necessarily have to be tortured. Leyla got up, going to the other side of the table taking the spoon out of Ana’s cramped hand. She put the spoon in the bowl hugging Ana, "I'm sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you. I don’t want you to relapse because of me. I'm an idiot." Meanwhile, even Saul had finally realized what was going on.
Leyla looked at him over Ana's shoulder, well guys were a bit slower than girls, which probably explains why they sometimes react strangely or not at all in an obvious situation. Anyway, he had got it in the meantime and grabbed Ana's hand. Ana felt like waking up from a bad dream being overwhelmed, feeling Leyla’s hug and Saul's hand. She allowed the embrace looking at Saul over Leyla's shoulder. He smiled encouragingly. His brown eyes were sparkling as if he wanted to tell her 'you see everything is fine I am here for you and even Leyla doesn’t hate you. You are not alone.' Leyla freed herself from the embrace and looked at Ana, who had her eyes fixed on the ground. Ana whispered barely audible without looking, "Leyla, I didn’t say anything to him only about the Island. I couldn’t help it to slip out on the phone because he was annoying me." She looked up, expecting Leyla to look angry and was quite surprised to see her understanding look. Leyla patted her arm, "Don’t let it get to you, we all make mistakes sometimes, after all. We are human no robots. Besides, Gabe is the most manipulating ass I've ever met. Believe me."
Ana shook her head sadly, "Still, I should have told you from the beginning about my strange brother. I’ve made myself an accomplice in this plot."
"Forget it. I know how Gabe can be intimidating." Ana sighed, "You may be right, and this stuff that he takes gives him the idea to be invincible. He becomes delusional. He scared the shit out of me," she added softly. Leyla looked stunned, "What stuff?"
"I don't know some blue pills, he orders from a certain Gary. I overheard him. If he takes the stuff, he is even a worse version of himself. He stands for hours on the terrace, somehow letting it rain, creating storms and stuff. I know it sounds crazy. He turns in circles with a crazy smile on his face, and sometimes he loses it completely. Lately, he destroyed a building because he didn’t stop the storm. Carmine appeared, and they had a fight. Carmine said something about Gabe pulling himself together and that the Savior had to be prevented from doing something. He said something about a volcano, but I didn’t quite understand." Ana looked at Leyla with anxious eyes, "Like in some crazy fantasy movie and to make things even worst I delivered them the information they needed. That he is on this damn island they suspected him to be. They seem to know even where he is. Even if I didn’t know that, so they don't have it from me."
Leyla squinted, "Tell me everything you know Ana so that I can warn Gregory. I would do anything to protect him," she glanced at Saul. The way it looked he had no clue what they were saying. He looked slightly shocked. Ana noticed her gaze and squeezed Saul’s hand, "Leyla will tell us everything she knows about this crazy story, so she will be able to warn Gregory." Saul was puzzled. He didn’t know what they were saying. What had he gotten himself into and who the hell was Gregory? Still it was somehow exciting because he loved fantasy series and now he seemed to be in the middle of one himself.
Ana turned her gaze back to Leyla, "They have somehow found out that he is in Solanto with a Circus named Motta Benedetto. They have their spies everywhere," she reached for Leyla’s hand, "I overheard Gabe saying, that he is gathering some of his people to go to Sicily. They want to keep Gregory from doing something. I haven’t really found out what it is. Anyway, the locals apparently don’t have as many powers as Gabe does. Still their goal is to destroy Gregory. Although I still don’t understand how a single boy can be such a threat to them. I heard Carmine and Gabe saying some crazy stuff like one can fight fire only with fire and that they need to throw the Savior into the crater of the volcano. Because a prophecy says that, everything had to do with the volcano. It was the only way to destroy the Savior. They can apparently not kill him just like that. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I think that this Savior must be Gregory, right? I'm sure that you can explain everything and then warn him. So that he can hit the road before this bunch of crazy, dudes including my delusional brother show up in Sicily." Saul looked from one to another in disbelief, “Is there a hidden camera somewhere?" Leyla gave him a wary look with a cheesy smile on her face, "Unfortunately not. I wish we were on hidden camera, but we are talking real stuff. Actually as real as it comes."
Then she turned back to Ana, "When are they going to leave?" Ana thought about it for a moment, "I guess he said something about the autumn break, so no one would get suspicious asking strange questions if all of a sudden some students were missing at school." Leyla nodded, she suddenly looked very calm and determined. The notion of panic that had previously shown on her face was gone, "I will warn him and gather the Akandos. He can use whatever help he can get." Saul looked at her stunned, and then he said, "Who the hell are the Akandos? Would be very nice to explain what I have gotten myself into here. Because I feel that Gandalf is knocking at the door anytime now." They both looked at him surprised as if they forgot he was there. Great, he thought. Leyla took a deep breath, "Well, I think now that you have been involved in this mess, it does make sense if you know what it is all about, doesn’t it? But, I am warning you. Keep yourself out of it, even if you know what's going on because the Vultures are the kind to walk over dead bodies." “Who are the Vultures?" Saul lifted his arms in a gesture of sheer despair. Ana looked at him, shrugged, and then they both looked at Leyla waiting for an answer.
She told them everything she knew. Except for some details, she thought were not relevant in her opinion. For example, that Gregory had been compromised because of her, at the summer festival, as she was there with Greyson. That he lost control because he was acting jealous and became negligent. First, she didn’t say anything about it because she still felt guilty, and second because she rescued him later on. So, the matter was balanced. After all, these two didn’t have to know everything, right? When she finished, they were both speechless. Saul was even a bit pale, it seemed, and they both stared at her with wide eyes, “What's wrong? Did you become speechless all of a sudden?" Saul grinned, "Wow, that's all I have to say." Ana nodded, "Yes, I think that about sums it up." Leyla shrugged, "What about some ice cream now? I don’t know about you, but Ben and Jerry's always calm me down amazingly." She looked at Ana, "Or, is that a problem for you?" Ana shook her head, "No, no problem at all, compared to what you've just told us." She pushed a heaping spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. Saul leaned toward her and kissed her softly on her cheek, "You're damn right girl. Who knows if we're still alive tomorrow, if I listen to that shit. I think, we should enjoy the moment."
Leyla looked at them, and it gave her a small stitch in the heart. Who knew what the future would bring, and how could she enjoy the moment without Gregory. He was thousands of miles away? She could hardly wait
for the two of them to leave so that she could call him. She hoped to reach him, because she had to warn him and she knew exactly where she would spend her fall break. Pretty bad news for her lately rescued bank account.
The Warning
All the way to the stone pit, Antony was feverishly pondering how he could convince Gregory to forget about that stupid duel with Keanu. He had a queasy feeling about the whole damn thing. This day would end disastrously if he didn’t do something to stop them. Except the fact that Nonna Tiziana would kill him if he admitted that, something happened to the long-awaited savior, and on top of that, that someone of his or her people would kill Gregory. He could vividly imagine what she would do to him. She'd torture him by no doubt or even worse, and for that, he was too young. He didn't want to die, and he was going to put an end to this madness. So, when they arrived at the stone pit, Antony waited until Gregory took off his helmet turning off the Vespa. Antony grabbed a large stone. Like they were lying around hundreds of them in the stone pit, and when Gregory turned around, he quickly knocked him down hitting the stone over his head.
The blow came unexpected, and Gregory fell like a tree. Antony dragged him back to the Vespa, and heaved him face down on the saddle, "Sorry Bro, but I didn’t know what else to do, and as you apparently are tired of living, you hardly mind me hitting you, knocking you unconscious and stuff." Then Antony walked up and down nervously. He hoped that he hadn't seriously injured Gregory. Shit, he saw that Gregory was bleeding heavily on the temple. Remained to be hoped that he hadn’t hit him too hard. He couldn’t stop from walking panicking around, where was damn Keanu? Wasn’t he even in time for his duel the stupid moron? Shit, shit, and shit again. He rummaged through the pockets of his cargo pants for his phone but instead found cigarettes and a lighter. How the hell did it get in his pocket? Valentina was apparently smoking again secretly, they both stopped some weeks ago, and they had a bet going on. So, she tried to cheat on him, the little brat. Looked like he took the wrong pants off the leash in his rush and despair this morning. Or, they were someone else’s pants. Anyway, they weren’t his. He decided quickly to start smoking again after glancing worried at the still spaced out Gregory. He lit a cigarette and started to cough heavily. Man, he was no longer used to that stuff. Suddenly someone grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy Page 14