Peris Night: Terakon (Secret Language)

by Eva Maria Klima

  “Trouble in paradise?” Andreas asked hopefully.

  “I don’t know whether he is still my boyfriend,” I replied mirthlessly. Andreas tried to put on a sympathetic face, but it was obvious that he welcomed this development. I wasn’t ready to discuss my relationship with him, so I changed the subject. We talked about our studies. When we left the pizza parlor, he put his arms around me and hugged me close. When I asked what he thought he was doing in an irritated voice, he laughed and tried to kiss me. “Come on, I just saved you, that must be worth something,” he huffed in frustration.

  He could be such an asshole sometimes. Again he pulled me closer. I hoped that I didn’t need anyone to save me from his advances now. It was depressing, demoralizing and infuriating that I was unable to defend myself if things got rough. I pushed him away with both hands. “Andreas, we’re friends, nothing more! Thank you very much for your help.” One thing was clear by now; he was not the type to give up easily. “Alright, I’m going out with the guys later. Do you want to tag along?”

  It was all too much for me. I burst out: “So you can keep hugging and snuggling me against my will? I have no idea why you’re this interested in me all of a sudden. I know one thing for certain though: Everyone who has been interested in me recently didn’t want me, but my blood, my energy, or the devil knows what else!” Had I really just said that out loud? Andreas stared at me, perplexed by my words. He was probably wondering whether to call the nice men with the white jacket and the padded cell.

  “What? Excuse me, did you say they wanted your blood?” he stammered after a few seconds. paralyzed by my own stupidity, it took me a while to come up with an answer. “I have a very rare blood type … donating blood, you know?” He had fixed me with his stare the entire time. I shook my head helplessly and tried to get away with a forced: “I’ll see you soon, yes?” But he grabbed me by my upper arm. “If you need help, you can call me anytime. Trust me, I can help you.” He let go of me, and I hurried home.

  I felt relief when I shut the door to my apartment behind me. I was so glad to be back within my own four walls. I wanted to think about everything in peace, but then I discovered Silvia, who was sleeping in my bed. I realized wistfully that I wasn’t alone. I crept quietly into the bathroom to take a look at my bruised cheek in the mirror.

  11 MOVING IN

  The following morning, the police was at my door. I had just gotten up and was still wearing my pajamas. Would the evening have repercussions for me after all? But these were not the officers from the night before. One of them looked close to retirement, the other seemed more my age. He was a little taller than me, with brown hair and eyes. They didn’t waste any time, but asked if they could come inside. I had nothing to hide, so I stepped aside and let them in. I pushed my desk-cum-table into the middle of the room, offered the two men my folding chairs and a glass of water each, grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt from my closet, and disappeared into the bathroom to get dressed.

  I sat down with them and gave them an expectant look. What was this about? They threw curious glances at my bed. They had spied Silvia there, who was just waking up. She gave a start when she noticed the visitors, excused herself and slipped into the bathroom.

  “Is she your partner?” I heard the younger officer’s voice. There was an odd note of hopefulness in there.

  “Though I’m sure that that is none of your business, no, she’s not! She’s a friend who fled her alcoholic boyfriend. Why are you here?”

  “A woman was murdered in the building next door on Monday. Her name was Gerlinde Mariach. Have you heard about that yet?” This time the older officer had spoken.

  “I heard that a woman was murdered, but not that it was Gerlinde. Please give me a minute to process this news.” The men waited patiently.

  Although I hadn’t been particularly close with Gerlinde, I was saddened and shocked by her death. When the first wave of emotion, which felt overwhelming and paralyzing, finally began to subside, I spoke up: “I met her outside on Monday, on my way to university. She was crying, so I hugged her and asked what was wrong. She didn’t tell me.”

  “Do you know whether she had any enemies?” the younger cop inquired.

  “No, I have no idea.”

  The conversation went back and forth. As it turned out, Gerlinde had died shortly after I’d met her. When all their questions about Gerlinde had been answered, the younger cop wanted to know: “What happened to your face?” I had all but forgotten about that. In the meantime Silvia had come out of the bathroom. She was leaning against the pantry door and studied me with curiosity. I returned her gaze and explained: “Silvia’s ex-boyfriend wanted to know where she is staying.” That brought a panicked expression to her face, but I quickly added: “I didn’t tell him anything.” She took a relieved breath and sat down.

  The two officers wanted to know everything about Manuel, but before we could answer, the door to my apartment was opened. Michael and Stefan came in, looking assertive and in control. My tiny apartment had reached capacity; you could barely move. The Peris greeted everyone very politely. Michael came over, kissed me on the forehead and inquired after the reason for the police visit. After a brief upshot of our conversation he quickly convinced them that their job was done here.

  Once they were gone, Stefan sat down with Silvia, while Michael examined my face. “What happened?” I told him about my run-in with Manuel, and about Andreas coming to my rescue. I did not mention his advances though, since I knew that Michael only possessed so much self-control. My boyfriend, the amazing dreamboat, stood before me in his blue jeans and his dark dress shirt, his expression blank.

  I searched his eyes, starting to feel insecure again. “Are you still sore? I didn’t mean to offend you. I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking you for money, and I still don’t intend to do that. I was serious when I said that I’d neglected my studies, and I’m sorry, but those meetings are creepy. When you go on a haunted house ride, you know you’re not in danger, but you’re still frightened. Please say something!” I didn’t get the reaction I was hoping for, so I started to feel anxious. “I’ll call you my great big invincible protector,” I joked with a pleading look in my eyes.

  It was as if he could no longer keep a straight face. He laughed out loud and embraced me. I sank into his arms, happy that he was still my Michael, inhaling his acerbic scent. Once again he’d played me for a fool.

  “Will you do me a favor?” he asked, still giggling, as he reached out and stroked my cheek. “Don’t be childish, move in with me, at least until you’re rid of your roommate again. Her ex is violent, and I don’t want to have to worry about you all the time. I’ve already had a room furnished for you so you have a place where you can study undisturbed.” Why not, I told myself, if it was only for a week or two? Silvia had promised to look for her own place, and I also felt sheepish about declining his offer. I had to clarify one thing however: “But it will only be temporary.”

  “Of course.”

  “What did Stefan do to Silvia?”

  “Paralyzed her for a moment. I wanted to speak to you alone.”

  Human beings were like toys for them; they did as they pleased. “How was your dinner last night?”

  “Boring.”

  “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

  “You know I went to another business dinner. I switch off my phone for things like that. We were done an hour ago, and when I couldn’t reach you, I came over right away.” His explanation sounded plausible. I packed a few things, said goodbye to Silvia, and asked her to start her search for her own place as soon as possible.

  Michael and I got into the back of the car, while Stefan assumed the chauffeur’s role. Something bothered me. “Michael, if you’re concerned about Manuel, why don’t you simply put some sort of spell on him?”

  “You have a knack for asking the right questions,” he chuckled, before kissing me and pulling my shirt up over my head to nuzzle my breasts. Shocked, I jerked away and put
it back on, staring at Stefan. He seemed amused.

  Michael smirked and shook his head. “Come on, it’s only Stefan.”

  “Yes, only your son!”

  “Melanie, I’m eight hundred years old. You two can hardly shock me. Plus you have a beautiful body.”

  I was embarrassed and forgot all about my last question. Was that what Michael had intended? Stefan’s amused expression seemed evidence for that line of thinking. I sulked for a while, but when we arrived at Michael’s house, I had already forgiven him. I couldn’t be angry with the man. He showed me my new den first. It did not look like a provisional solution at all. He’d even bought a massive wooden desk for me. There were shelves for my books and folders, and a comfy couch to lounge on. Even a desktop computer with an oversized flat screen was waiting for me to use it. “Wow, is this really all for me? The room is larger than my entire apartment.”

  Michael wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck. “I’m glad you like it.”

  “Thank you, but that wouldn’t have been necessary. It’s only for a few weeks.”

  “True, but I’m guessing you will stay overnight from time to time even after Silvia has moved out of your place again. Won’t you?”

  We had become a real couple so quickly! I hugged him and kissed him with happy abandon.

  Stefan and several other Peris including Alesssandro were waiting for him in the kitchen, so he left me alone. He had cleared space for my things in his gigantic bedroom closet. I unpacked, took a quick shower and put on some make-up. It didn’t take long for me to feel bored. I left the bedroom and followed the sound of voices downstairs. The kitchen was busy. “Michael, if we can’t hear what they’re saying, they’ll mess with us again,” Nicky said. I hadn’t seen him anymore since the night Jeremeia had bitten Sarah. He wasn’t much taller than me, with bleached-blonde hair, brown eyes and extraordinarily dark skin.

  “I know, but we can’t eavesdrop on them. We would have to use Scarborough herb, and they would smell that. Maybe not Hugorio, but his vampire would smell it.”

  “What if we intercept his fink?” Stefan suggested.

  “That might work. It’s complicated, but possible. We can’t afford to make a mistake,” Michael replied.

  I was focused on their conversation and didn’t realize I had stepped closer. I knew of a very simple solution for eavesdropping on a magically concealed exchange. “Why don’t you ask me?” My words immediately drew everyone’s attention, but not their goodwill.

  “Well, great, now his little human starts interfering in business matters,” Anastasia griped, sounding irritated as hell. Stefan dropped a dismissive: “Melanie, stay out of this,” while Alessandro threw me a murderous glance. Michael asked me to wait in the living room. The reactions were unanimously annoyed. I was lucky that none of them was tempted to wring my neck.

  I was a little intimidated and ducked my head. “I could eavesdrop for you. It worked the last time.”

  “We’re talking about a vastly different order of magic right now,” Michael explained patiently.

  “It’s worth a try.” He studied me for what felt like a long time, and I was surprised when he finally nodded. “Stefan, Alessandro, use a comparable spell and then talk. We’ll see what she’s capable of.”

  Alessandro was miffed. “Come on, that’s a stupid waste of energy.”

  Michael raised his eyebrows and gave him a look. One of his ‘who-is-the boss-here’ moves, and it had the desired effect. The two of them did as he’d told them, focusing on their spell, before Alessandro spoke up: “Done. Stefan, this is nothing but a waste of time. We really have more important things to do. We’re running out of time, and here he went and fetched his little pet, telling her whatever. As if the world would end if she moved in a day later. And now this!” Stefan started to laugh. “Yeah, she got suspicious about moving in here. Do you want to know what he did to distract her?”

  Taken aback, I threw Michael a loveless look. “So you didn’t put a spell on Manuel because you wanted me to be scared of him and move in with you. All your talk of being worried was bullshit.”

  “Melanie, let’s talk about that later, okay? Thanks, guys; you couldn’t have talked about the weather, could you?” He looked around the room. “So we do have a plan?” I expected him to at least be glad that I had offered a solution to their dilemma, but he looked concerned. Did he think I would mess up? “Don’t worry, I can do this.”

  “Melanie, just to be clear, this meeting tonight won’t be all nice and cordial. Hugorio can’t stand formalities, so he will come here. And you won’t leave the kitchen on your own!”

  I felt my courage deflate in the face of Michael’s obvious tension. I was scared. “Why, is he that dangerous?”

  “Just stay with us. We’ll integrate you into our camouflaged conversation, and you’ll tell us everything you overhear.”

  “Just to be sure though: Are you sure that the camouflage works on me, too? I mean, are you sure they won’t be able to hear what I tell you?”

  “Yes, because our spells influence the air around us. They prevent the sound waves from traveling beyond our circle.”

  Anastasia had watched me the whole time. “She’s not simply a talented human. A human can’t do things like that.” I wasn’t in the mood for another round of ‘What is Melanie really?’, so I left them and went to my new den.

  12 HUGORIO

  I was sitting at my desk trying to catch up on my studies, when Michael entered the room. “I hate to interrupt your concentration, but you should get ready.”

  “When will they arrive?”

  “Soon. Half an hour, at the latest.”

  “What do you want me to wear?”

  “You can stay exactly as you are. If you come into the kitchen after they’ve arrived, that will look suspicious. Take your things and sit down at the kitchen table, pretend that you’re studying. He’s very arrogant and will not pay you any mind.” I had a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as I followed him into the kitchen. Before I sat down in the chair he indicated, he pulled me into a quick embrace. “Nicky, you sit next to her. Don’t let her out of your sight even for an instant! Are we clear on that?” His behavior frightened me. I had never seen him more concerned about my safety. Nicky took a seat next to me and gave Michael a grave nod.

  It made no sense to cower and count the seconds until they arrived. I resolved to actually continue to study. I had to solve several second-order differential equations, a task that provided the perfect distraction. Two equations later, they arrived. When they entered the kitchen, I raised my head briefly, greeting them with a polite “Good afternoon.” The party consisted of five people. The first one was a tall, blonde male, who stalked into the room in a high-handed manner. If the others hadn’t treated him with an extraordinary measure of respect, I’d have taken him for a human. He was followed by a vampire with blonde hair and green eyes, then three Peris: two women and one man. One of the two women greeted Michael, Stefan, and Alessandro with a hug. I focused on my equations. The tall, blonde guy knew everyone in the room except me, and I was introduced as Michael’s human, as usual. He took the empty seat on my other side, glancing at my papers with keen curiosity. “So you are familiar with our world?”

  Michael had mentioned that he didn’t care for formalities. “I know it exists. But that is about it.”

  “Normally you humans like to claim you know everything about our world.”

  I nodded in the vampire’s direction. “I can see that the blonde man is a vampire, and that your other companions are Peris. Beyond that, I have no idea what you guys do.”

  “Do you know what I am?”

  I shook my head.”

  “What do you think magic is?”

  How was I supposed to know? I didn’t even recognize magic when it was there. I decided to say what it was to me. “An illusion.”

  “Really? Then how do you explain that it exists?”

  I almost replied
that in my world it didn’t exist. What I said was: “Does it, or is it maybe just a science which humans don’t know yet?”

  “An interesting take, but science is not an illusion.”

  “True, but what I meant was the stuff most people think of as magic.” He wasn’t really that creepy, I decided. I felt comfortable in his presence.

  I heard a voice I couldn’t place. “She smells fantastic. May I taste her?” That could only have come from the vampire.

  I made eye contact with him. “I don’t think so, unless you want an upset stomach,” I answered before Michael could say anything. Why was I so confident all of a sudden? The atmosphere in the kitchen was heavy with expectation. It seemed as if I’d stepped out of line, but I didn’t lower my head. I continued to stare into his green eyes. The tall, blonde man next to me laughed and ruffled my hair, the way you might do with a small, cheeky child. That caused everyone to relax visibly. He took my hand and I could feel his energy flow slowly through my body. Now that was rather creepy, and I realized I wanted to tell him the truth when he asked: “Tell me why you are studying here in the busy kitchen. Doesn’t Michael have enough private rooms?” The Peris’ tension was once again palpable. “Michael claimed it would be rude of me to hide in my room.”