Circle of Death

by Thais Lopes

  Surprised with my thoughts, I interrupted the kiss and pulled away.

  Lucio stared at me in silence for a while, before speaking. “Kelene, never think about doing something like this again. I’m not worth the risk. It’s not worth risking your life in deals with Death.”

  “It was not a risk, not for me. And you were already in danger.” My answer was soft.

  He hugged me again, still holding me almost too tightly.

  “What happened here?” He asked, his voice muffled by my hair.

  I pulled away again, sighing and looking away.

  “You served at the Sanctuary… Have you ever heard about the Hands of Death?

  “I remember something like that, but nothing beyond the name.”

  “Death doesn’t take all the ones that need to die by herself. Actually, she only takes those no one else could kill. All the others are the Hands’ work. That’s what I am, a Hand of Death. But she pays me for every death, and can’t avoid it. That’s why it was safe for me. It takes time to train one of us, and she hates to lose one of the Hands.”

  He nodded, staring at me, clearly surprised.

  “That’s why you care so much about not being turned into a vampire… If Death could influence you, you wouldn’t be able to ask for the payment you want.”

  “Exactly. And I think you can understand a lot of things you wanted to ask, now.”

  “Powers of death.” He whispered, and I knew he was talking about the fight against Seth. “And what about the girl with whom you shared the apartment?”

  “She should have died before, and I protected her… But one night she came into my bedroom, she had heard voices, and I was arguing with Death about her. The shock killed her.” I answer, still not daring to meet his eyes.

  Lucio took my hands, turning them until he could see the inside of both my forearms. I saw his surprise at what was there, now that he understood what those marks meant. On my right arm, the small scars went from my wrist to the middle of the forearm. On the left, from the wrist almost to the elbow.

  “All these are people you killed?” His question didn’t seem different from any other, but I couldn’t understand what I was hearing in his voice. Disgust? Disdain?

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” I answered, getting up and almost running to the door. I didn’t want to face more disapproving stares… And not from him

  I barely took three steps when Lucio stopped in front of me and hugged me, the whole movement at vampiric speed.

  21. Lucio

  Now I had the answers to almost all of my questions, and they were nothing I would have expected. Kelene, one of the Hands of Death? I couldn’t say what I imagined the explanation for all her secrets would be, but that was something that had never crossed my mind. I knew the stories about them better than most people, but still… What I had heard about the Hands didn’t fit. They were said to be creatures between life and death, not human nor from the Otherworld, who existed in a kind of limbo. Vampires hunted them, as Death paid well to have them turned. But Kelene was human, I was sure of it.

  That voice I had heard in her bedroom, before she stormed out. It had been Death, I realized, ordering her to kill someone. And I also realized she would have been nothing more than payment for my destruction. But now Seth wouldn’t be able to do anything, thanks to the deal she had made. Death couldn’t take me before the span of one human life, seventy years, as the Otherworld usually counted it.

  Seeing how many scars she had in her arms was shocking. The number of deaths was too high, and I would never have guessed that a woman who looked as ordinary as Kelene did would be able to do it. But it didn’t matter. I still remembered the stories about the Hands. They didn’t kill indiscriminately, they only took those who needed to die.

  It was easy to read her expression when Kelene got up. She was ashamed of being what she was, and feared I would judge her for it now that I knew the truth. Surprised, it took me a moment to react. She had never seemed to be the kind of person who cared about what others thought about her, and still she cared about what I would think about her.

  Before she could leave the room, I stopped her with a hug.

  “Thank you. For everything.” I spoke against her ear.

  She went completely still for a couple of seconds, before raising her arms and hugging me back.

  “We’re safe for a while. Death will tell Seth to leave.” Kelene said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m one of the best Hands, and she knows I’ll be ready… And she knows I’ll die before letting Seth turn me. She won’t risk having him near me.

  My relief would have been easily noticed if she had been looking at my face. I needed to go to the Sanctuary tonight, there was no one else who could take care of the prison. And I wouldn’t be able to leave if Seth was still around and hunting her.

  “I have to leave for a couple of days. One of my allies from the Fae promised to watch over you.” I didn’t mention Avés’ name, as I didn’t know if he wanted her to know about him. This way he could introduce himself, if he wanted to.

  She released me, with a thoughtful expression.

  The rest of the day went by quickly as I got ready for a small trip. As soon as the sun set, I said goodbye to Kelene, who had spent the day locked in her room, and was already opening the apartment’s door when she grabbed my arm.

  “Running won’t help.” She said, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  I stared at her, without answering, surprised that she had understood what I was doing. Yes, I was running. Going away from her and trying to deny what had grown between us and seemed older than it should be. I didn’t know what to say not that she had noticed it, especially because she was right.

  But apparently Kelene didn’t want an answer, and her expression changed, becoming serious.

  “I’ve been before the Nameless.” Her voice sounded hard like iron. “He has plans for you. Please, don’t fall into his trap. All he could give you was already given, anything he offers now will be only an illusion.”

  “How…?” I began, not daring to believe what she had just said. Kelene had faced the Nameless and survived?

  “Don’t ask.” She sounded grim, in a way I had never heard before.

  I nodded and she pulled me into another hug. That was all I needed to give up running and kissing her before leaving.

  22. Kelene

  I didn’t want to think about Lucio’s reaction when he found out I was a Hand. It made me wonder if I could tell him the whole truth and he wouldn’t care, wouldn’t judge me. But I didn’t dare. Revealing who I really was… Even if he didn’t care if I was a Hand, he wouldn’t be indifferent to that other secret.

  That afternoon, I locked myself in my bedroom to try to add all the pieces to the puzzle. Lucio was the other firstborn, the one who was turned by the Nameless along with Seth. Ajoxb’ak and K’inich, as the first records about vampires called them. The name K’inich wasn’t strange, I heard it many times when the Nameless became furious. That was Lucio, I was sure. He had kept a name with the same meaning through the times.

  And now I wondered if Lucio was still a Keeper. Yes, surely; if he had turned his back on Death, as Seth did, the Nameless wouldn’t remember him in moments of anger. And that meant Lucio was going to the Sanctuary to check the prison and strengthen it. Someone from the Fae had given him the information that made him decide to go. That could only mean the final death symbols had appeared in all the imprisonments again, and that was never a good sign.

  I was worried when I warned Lucio, and got even more worried when he left for the Sanctuary. Yes, I feared what could happen. I would be safe, but him… The Nameless was a treacherous creature. After all, how many beings throughout history had been able to deceive Death herself? Besides, I knew that my deal had a failure, but the price to make it invulnerable was too high. Seth would probably take some time to think about it, but I was still wo
rried.

  Somehow, I managed to go to class. I couldn’t miss the two finals I had in the afternoon, and I rescheduled the one I had missed in the morning. I remember Artur asking what was going on, but my mind was far away from it all.

  I had just locked the door behind me when the phone rang. I answered, imagining it would be someone from the complex or from my class, but was surprised by a tenor voice with a strange depth that sounded familiar.

  “I’d like to talk to Kelene.”

  “It’s me.” I said, wary.

  “Lady, I’m Avés, a friend of Lucius. I suppose he has already left.”

  A sidhe. He must have been Lucio’s contact, and now I recognized that peculiar depth as something that was usual among his people. His use of an older version of the vampire’s name didn’t surprise me, who knew for how long this sidhe had known him?

  “Yes, he already left.”

  “I’m in charge of your protection in his absence. We are keeping a watch perimeter around you, lady. If you think you are in danger, call my name and those who are close to you will understand it as a sign to move.”

  “It won’t be necessary, but thank you.” I replied, my surprise clear in my voice. The formal treatment wasn’t strange to me, I had been used to it once. But an offer of protection from the Fae wasn’t something usual. And then I remembered where I had heard his voice before. “What did you say your name was?”

  “Avés, lady.”

  I smiled. “Avés dere S’nadi.” I revealed I knew his lineage name.

  He took his time before answering, probably trying to figure out who I really was. Outsiders didn’t know the lineage names, but I had been considered almost one of them, a long time ago.

  “I’m sorry, lady, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He finally said.

  “There was a fire circle, once, that was a trap.” I reminded him. “I was there.”

  “Kelene? That Kelene? I have to admit I thought about you when Lucius mentioned this name, but I thought you were dead!”

  “I’m back. It’s a pleasure talking to you again.” And it really was. Avés had kept me sane when I was a girl who didn’t understand what was going on around her.

  “The pleasure is mine, lady. Tell me, do you know what happened to Seth? He disappeared a couple of hours ago.”

  “I imagine he received new orders from Death.” I smiled as I told him what had happened.

  “It’s good to have you back, lady. And it wasn’t a coincidence that you met Lucius. We live in dark times, again.” He said when I finished, knowing those words would be enough.

  We had met in a dark time… A time when the Nameless walked on Earth and destroyed everything in his way. I really hoped it would never happen again.

  “I know it. And I’m ready.”

  “Knowing that you are back will encourage my people. You know you can count on the Fae as unconditional allies, lady.”

  “Thank you. I’ll remember it, Avés.” I answered softly before hanging up.

  Lucio’s contact was Avés. If I believed in coincidences I would say that was one, as the sidhe had always been my friend among the Fae. It was nice to know he was around, Avés was someone I trusted with my life, and I knew I could count on him when things got hard. And, now that he knew who I was, all the Fae would know. They would stand beside me no matter what happened.

  I didn’t dream that night, but I already knew that, sooner or later, it would be my turn to face the Nameless again.

  23. Lucio

  Even after all that time, I knew how to get to Death’s Sanctuary without any problems. The area had changed, the huge trees spreading all around, their roots and branches covering the rock formations, passing over the small waterfalls and hiding their true height. There was no sound besides the running water and the noise of the wind in the leaves, and there was no animal anywhere around.

  That was Death’s garden. A piece of land that no one who didn’t have a right to be there could find, even though it was in the middle of an area filled with tourists.

  The old path was still visible for anyone who knew how to look for it. A long time ago, it had once been a riverbed, dry since before the first time I had been there. My people had covered it with rocks, and that was the only sign of any kind of civilization.

  The cave entrance was now partially hidden behind towering trees, but there was no way to mistake the way. Once inside, I remembered the first time I had been there, and how I had spent hours appreciating the beauty of each hall. Now, even after so much time, the faces hidden in the rock formations weren’t enough for me to stop. I crossed the five halls in few minutes, with the quick steps of someone who had walked that way too many times.

  As I remembered, at the back of the fifth hall stood the imposing entrance to Death’s Sanctuary. I didn’t know if the gate had been made of gold or coated in it, but even after so much time without anyone taking care of it, it still shone with the faintest light. The symbols engraved in bas-relief on the entire length of the doors were of protection and imprisonment, their exact meaning still unknown.

  The gate opened easily, but that could be because I was the Keeper. I entered, waiting a few seconds until I got used to the strange light in there, to which not even a vampire’s eyes could adapt quickly. The bluish flames of the candles, which were never worn and never went out, gave a strange hue to the place.

  It was as if no time had passed there. The carved golden candlesticks were in their usual places, the ivory images as if they had just been polished. Only the slight fading of the tapestries spoke of the centuries that had passed since the Sanctuary had been open. Now only those of us who served could enter it.

  I went deeper into the entrance hall, until I found the hidden stairs that would take me to the lower levels. There, the light seemed to turn everything into shades of gray, showing that I had crossed into Death’s domains. In the golden years of the Sanctuary that level had always been bustling, those who were sworn to the temple occupying all the rooms with their studies and tasks. Now, everything was empty…

  I didn’t linger and kept going down, until I was in front of what I came looking for: the Nameless’ chamber. The doors were made of gold and black marble, following the same style of the Sanctuary’s entrance. But there were different symbols here, of final death. They weren’t always visible, and the fact that they were clear against the doors wasn’t a good sign.

  I hesitated for a second before going inside, and the doors closed silently behind me. I tried to discern the Nameless’ silhouette in the strange light, the fog that was always present in the room coiling around my feet. He wasn’t visible, which allowed me a moment of relief. That meant he hadn’t fully recovered, hadn’t broken the first imprisonment as I feared.

  Only then I moved deeper into the chamber, until the very back, where the large mirror stood on the wall. Its frame was of some kind of dark rock with silver veins, simple but refined, a work of art that I had always admired, even though it wasn’t there for its beauty. My image appeared, in a room that wasn’t full of fog, but I knew it wasn’t my reflection. After a couple of seconds where I didn’t move or speak, the image changed until it showed a shorter man, with long white hair in a braid, but who still looked young; maybe a man in his thirties with prematurely white hair. He was dressed in modern clothes, and for a moment I wondered at how he had been able to keep up to date with what was going on outside the Sanctuary.

  “Hello, young man. I knew you would come back.” Even his voice sounded young.

  “Yes, though maybe not for the reason you expected.”

  “No. You came back to check my prison. But tell me, what will happen when I free myself from this mirror? Will one Keeper be enough to hold me here?

  “I hope we won’t need to test it.” I replied, carefully avoiding his challenge. “But I think it would be enough, or you wouldn’t be trying so hard to get rid of me.”

  “I woul
dn’t try to destroy one of my own children.”

  “No, you would have someone else do it. Death wouldn’t give powers to Seth, not after he abandoned the Sanctuary.”

  “But not even Death can destroy you now.” He smiled, diverting the subject without confirming or denying my suspicions. “You managed to make a deal with the White Hand, and this is a surprise. I didn’t know my ungrateful daughter walked in life again, but her touch is clear on your protection.

  White Hand? Ungrateful daughter? What was he talking about? I kept my expression impassive, but probably wasn’t fast enough to hide my surprise. With a slow smile, he went on.

  “Don’t tell me she said she was just a Hand! No, my Kelene is far more than this, she is the White Hand the most powerful among all the Hands, the one charged with killing the most powerful spirits, and the only person to whom Death owes anything. I would really like to know what she made Death pay to have her back.

  My Kelene? Ungrateful daughter?!

  Kelene was the Nameless’ daughter? Was that possible? And the White Hand… That was something I believed, actually I already suspected it. But the Nameless’ daughter? My expression certainly showed my surprised, because he laughed.

  “You became her ally, but she would never tell you the whole truth. Don’t you think is time to rethink your choices?”

  He was baiting me, but I didn’t answer. Instead, I just made sure I would remember his words, as I needed to think about it all. I had no reason to stay there any longer, I needed to check the prison and had already done it.