I approached slowly and, thinking it was weird, I picked up one that seemed to be just a handle. At my touch a blade appeared as if it were unfolding in the air. I gasped in wonder.
"Those are specially for us," John said, smiling. “They can only be used by a Chosen One.”
"Here," Isys said. “Put it like that in your boot.”
Isys showed me while doing the same. She fitted her dagger into the inside of her boot, in a way that the dagger would be in her hands with just a single movement.
"I'm not wearing a boot," I said.
"Then use this," she said.
She gave me what looked like a holster, but smaller. I lifted one leg of my pants and placed it on my calf. Tied up, it was completely invisible.
“Okay. Now we can go," Zal said when they were finished.
We waited at the hotel entrance until John brought the car. We hid for a few minutes at the entrance of the hotel, waiting for the place to be empty, so no one would see us leaving. A few minutes later we were in the car toward the forest.
John drove for minutes — following my instructions — until he began to enter the dirt road. He pulled over we got out of the car. I started to walk near the tall trees. They had branches weighed to the ground, full of moss. I was hoping to see something that gave me an idea where to go. The others followed me in silence.
I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I knew that when I did I would recognize it.
"Are you sure you know what you're looking for?" Maena asked in a slightly mocking tone.
“Give me some time. I haven’t been here for years," I said calmly.
I kept walking for a few minutes — ignoring Maena's comments that we should go back — until I saw a small yellow bench.
“Here!” I shouted and ran to the bench.
Someone had stuck a small yellow bench in a tree and it was still there. The yellow was faded, but in the same place. I remember laughing when I saw it the first time and wondered why anyone would do that. Today I wondered if the hermit himself had put it there, to make sure he would find his way home.
“Are you sure?” Zal asked, giving me a not-so-convinced look.
“Yes, I'm sure. Now we just use the trail. It leads straight to the cabin.”
“All right then.”
We entered the forest and began to follow the trail. We walked in silence, with a strange tension beginning to form, for about thirty minutes until we reached our destination. We stood still in the middle of the forest, behind a broad tree, where we could see the hut, but no one in the hut could see us.
"Guys, the door is open," Isys soon checked.
"Do you really think he's in there?" Maena said, only now realizing that this was a good clue.
"We'll only know if we get in," I said, hiding my nervousness. I wasn’t going to let my fear get in the way.
“Wait. Does anyone know we're here?” Maena asked holding my arm.
“Why?”
"In case we all end up dead. That’s why.”
"Very pessimistic of you, isn’t it?" Isys said. "Have more faith in us.”
"I think Runne knows we're here," I said.
“Wow. That's very comforting, "Maena snapped. “Wait for the crazy one to help us.”
John crept around the tree, glancing around the cabin and completely ignoring the conversation. I only saw him this concentrated once. As soon as I opened my eyes after the hunter attacked me. He had that same look. As if the world was ending and it was his duty to stop.
"Doesn’t seem to be any movement inside. I think it's safe to go in,” he said.
"Come on, then," Zal said.
We walked slowly to the door of the cabin, John always keeping me behind him. They all had their weapons in their hands and I stopped and did the same. I wasn’t used to walking with a weapon. My heart was beating fast and my hands were beginning to sweat. If he really was there, what would happen? Would we kill him?
I struggled not to think about it, and went back to paying attention. Zal was the first to come in, taking slow, careful steps. As we entered, each went to a room, and since there were not many, we soon finished. The place was completely empty.
“Clean!” Zal shouted from the room.
“Clean!” Maena yelled from the bathroom.
I went to the small kitchen which consisted of a stove, a cupboard, a sink and a small wooden table with a stool. I began to open the closet doors, hoping to find something. Anything. I put the dagger I was still holding back in the holster so I could finish faster. I opened it one by one and the only thing I found was dust.
I walked to the bedroom and saw that the bed had no sheets, but the mattress was still there. The whole place was a mess, which is to be expected from an abandoned cabin, but nothing indicated that anyone was staying there.
"Find anything?" I asked, as I began to feel frustration.
"No," they all answered at the same time.
"This place stinks," Isys said, clearly irritated.
I went back to the kitchen and checked everything again, thinking it was worth it, but nothing. I stepped out of the kitchen and saw the glimpse of something colorful behind the stove just in time. I got down and got what I soon recognized as a pack of cookies.
“Everyone!” I screamed.
Everyone came into the kitchen.
“I found this behind the stove.”
“What do you think?” Zal asked, but he didn’t look very impressed. None of them looked.
"I think when he left, he cleaned the place. But he must have forgotten that, "I said.
“But...”
Isys began to speak, but was interrupted by a noise outside. We went to the door at once and saw a person running towards the forest.
“John!” I said.
He disappeared from where he was and appeared a few inches before the boy who kept running, surprising him with a blow to the face that instantly knocked him down. John took the boy by the arm, lifted him, and dragged him to the hut. We made room and John led him into the kitchen, sitting him on the wooden stool under the table.
The kid should be about 15 years old. He had curly blond hair that fell on his forehead making him look like an angel. He looked at us nervously and moved his leg frenetically. We stood in front of him, our arms crossed.
"So, do you want me to start?" Zal said and raised a fist, leaving it in the air.
“No, no! I didn’t do anything wrong!” The boy finally spoke. He was shaking so hard that the stool made a strange noise.
“What's your name?” I asked softly.
"Mike," he said, looking at us all.
"Mike, what were you doing here? And if you weren’t doing anything wrong, why did you run?” I said.
He kept staring at us. He blinked fast and I could almost hear his gears working. He was deciding — very slowly — if he should tell us. He certainly didn’t understand what had just happened.
"Don’t think we're not going to get the answer by force," Zal said, taking a step toward the boy.
“Fine!” He said, swallowing hard. “I came to leave a note.”
“And where is it?” John asked.
"It's on the porch. On the carpet.
John headed out the door.
"And who told you to come leave the note, Mike?”
“I don’t know. They only left the envelope with some change, the note and a piece of paper that said to leave in the Death Cabin.”
“They left where?”
“I work in a small supermarket at the end of the road. They left in my cashier.”
"And you didn’t find that a little strange?" Isys said, staring at the boy as if he were the dumbest person in the world.
"It had a few bucks," Mike mused. “I thought it was worth it.”
"If we kill you now, will it still be worth it?" Zal asked.
Mike's eyes widened while he got up from the stool. Maena pushed him back into his seat.
"No one's going to kill anybody," I
said, looking at Zal with an ugly face. "But you need to cooperate."
“Right. Thank you,” he said with a nervous smile. “What you want to know?”
"Are you sure you didn’t see who left the envelope?" I asked.
“I left for a minute and when I got back it was already there.”
"Didn’t you look around to see if anyone was there?” John said, coming back with a piece of paper in his hand.
"Of course. But there was hardly anyone at the time, just some girls reading magazines without buying. They do that all the time.”
"What does it say?" Isys asked as soon as she saw the paper in John's hand.
He looked at me with a nervous look. I realized he didn’t want to give the paper, and deep down I knew why. It was from him.
"You can give it to me," I said, but deep down I just wanted to get out of there and go home. Sit on the couch with Grandma and watch some dumb show together. But reality wasn’t so favorable. John gave me the paper that had few words. They weren’t handwritten. I started to read.
"I'm sorry that we left things that way. I promise that next time I won’t run away.
It ends with you. "
I felt a chill go through my body. Instinctively I brought my hand up to my neck, again starting to feel those hands squeezing. John took my hand and placed it between his. I looked at him and tried to smile, but I couldn’t. Although I felt much more confident that I would win a fight, I wasn’t anxious to test the theory.
“What does it say?” Mike asked.
I gave the note to Isys. She read it and looked at me with arched eyebrows. There was a mixture of pity and fear in her face. I didn’t blame her; I was scared, too. Maena and Zal read it after. John released my hand, taking a quick step as the boy looked at us with a confused expression. He caught him by his shirt, jerking him up.
"Who left that note?"
He shook the boy by the shirt. He looked like he would start crying at any moment.
“I already said that I don’t know!” He almost shouted.
“John!” I said. "He doesn’t know anything. Calm down.”
I looked at the frightened boy.
"Maena," I said. "Why don’t you do that thing?"
She looked at me and nodded. With all that was going on, no one seemed to have thought of doing that.
"All right," she replied.
Maena stared at the boy and after only a few seconds said:
"He's telling the truth. He didn’t see who left the note. But he does have some disgusting thoughts about the girls who were reading the magazines.”
“John...”
I took John's arm and he slowly dropped Mike's shirt and came to my side. I took his hand and squeezed it.
"Do you think he knows Liz is an Aster?" Isys asked.
"How would he know?" Zal said. "Not even the people at the hotel know.”
"And how does he know all this? That we would be here, who are the Chosen Ones, everything?” I countered with a nervous tone.
Mike was now looking at us with an expression that clearly said, "Who the hell are these people?" But he had the common sense to be quiet.
"We should leave," John said. "We won’t find anything else here.”
"I agree," Zal replied.
We all looked at the boy at the same time. He shivered with cold stares.
"What will we do with him?" Maena said.
“What do you mean? He can leave.”
"And if he tells ..."
"He didn’t see or hear anything. Right?” I said turning to the boy and raising my eyebrows.
"That's right, miss. Not a thing,” he said, swallowing hard.
"Then it's settled. You can go,” I said.
Maena frowned, but made room for the boy to pass. He stood up and walked slowly, as if he expected us to attack at any moment. When he reached the door, I could hear his footsteps hurrying toward the forest.
“Let's go.” John said.
"Actually, I want to take the opportunity that I'm already here and visit Grandma.”
“Okay. I'll take the others back and I'll pick you up.”
“All right.”
"Are you okay being here alone? I can take you first.”
"I know you won’t be long."
John smiled and winked.
"I'll be right back," he said.
John kissed me and took Zal and Isys by the hands. Maena put her hand on his shoulder and everyone disappeared in front of me at the same moment. I thought seeing Grandma would do me good, especially now that the hunter made it clear he was coming after me again. At that moment, standing at the door of that abandoned cabin, I realized that the probability was that only one of us would come out of this alive. Either he would kill me or I would have to kill him. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Three months ago, if I thought that today I would be talking about killing a person, I would laugh at myself.
Of course, I know it has to be this way. It's the old, simple "him or me."
But even so, it was a life. Friends, family, loves. All would die with him. And I couldn’t help it; I was afraid. I was terrified.
“Liz?” I heard in a low voice behind me.
I jumped with fright, putting my hand over my heart. John walked over to me, taking my hand.
"I'm sorry," he said, kissing my hand. "Forgive me, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
"I'm just a little agitated.”
“Are you alright?”
"With the fact that there's someone out there who won’t rest until he kills me? Of course, "I said, smiling.
I always use sarcasm in the worst moments. It's my most effective defense mechanism.
"I would never let that happen. Do you trust me?”
"Of course, I do.”
"Then trust me when I say I'll kill that bastard myself before he touches you again."
John could always make me feel safe. Even when he was just that mysterious guy at Joe's, I always felt safer with him around. I kissed him gently, with my hand still on his.
"I know," I said, looking into his eyes. “Thanks.”
We got in the car and drove to Agnes's house. When we arrived I was feeling nervous, but I knocked on the door and it was soon opened.
“Liz!”
Grandma hugged me and I hugged her back with the same force. I had never spent so much time away from her in all my life. Only now did I realize how much I missed her and found myself crying right there on the porch.
“Why are you crying?” Grandma said, also with tears in her eyes.
“Why are you crying?” I said, wiping away my tears.
We both laughed and hugged each other again.
"Ma’am...hum..." John began to speak. “Mary. It's a pleasure to see you again.”
"I see some things don’t change," Grandma said, smiling at John. "But you certainly have! You look very different, Liz. It even seems like you’ve grown!”
She took a step back so she could see me better. She took my arm and turned me around, analyzing me.
"You look stronger."
She had no idea, I thought.
“Let’s go in.”
Grandma directed me and then John. We went into the living room and sat on a huge couch. She sat in one of the armchairs in front of the large sofa, looking comfortable. In fact, she seemed extremely familiar with the place. I felt happy. She seemed to like it here.
“Where's Agnes?” I asked, looking around. The house was completely silent.
“She went out with some friends.”
"Why didn’t you go with her?"
"I preferred to stay home this time, I was testing some recipes for dinner tonight. I've been out too much. But how are things?”
"Grandma, we talk on the phone every day," I said, laughing. "I just came to see you. I don’t have any news.”
Certainly not news that I was going to tell her. Since the day I left the house, almost three weeks ago, I have called Grandma every day. I don’t know whether for
her or for me. I think for both of us. But I always leave out some parts. I came to the conclusion that telling her everything would only make her worry for nothing.
"But now I can see you," she said with sly eyes and a knowing smile. "You can’t leave anything out."
Dammit, I thought, but with a smile on my face.
"I’m serious, Grandma. It's all right. No news, just my usual boring routine.”
"It’s that true, John?" Grandma turned to him.
John was taken aback for being included in the conversation. He was sitting next to me and stared at me looking nervous. We really had to work on his fear of Grandma.
"Um..." John thought of what to say, but not fast enough.
"Right, Grandma," I said. She could always get the truth out of me. "Maybe I left only one thing out."
I knew exactly what would take her mind off the rest. I opened my hand and let a flame begin to burn. I would talk about my powers so we wouldn’t have room to talk about the hunter.
“Just one thing?” Grandma said, facing the fire that burned on my finger.
She couldn’t stop staring for a long time. She kept staring, openmouthed, even as I closed my hand and the fire disappeared. Only a few minutes later she blinked and the information seemed to be processed. I told Grandma what had happened; the whole business of being an Aster and how I found out.
"My goodness," she said, sighing as I finished telling the story. "Why didn’t you tell me this before? It sure is big news.”
"I didn’t want to worry you."
"I wouldn’t worry. I raised you well, I know you're going to use your powers in the best way possible.”
I smiled at her.
"Thank you, Grandma.”
"Aarion never told me about this. Aster. I've never heard of it.”
"Because until Liz, we've never heard of an Aster. It was just a story, " John said. “She is special.”
"She sure is," Grandma said, smiling.
"Okay, you can stop talking about me like I'm not here. And I'm not special. From what John said, an Aster appears in time of need, so...”
I regretted saying it, the moment it came out of my mouth. Now the conversation would go in the exact direction I wanted to avoid.
"And the ‘need’ you're talking about is the hunter?” Grandma asked.
I looked down, the fear coming back to bother me. And now I feared for both of us.
The Chosen Ones: Red Smoke Page 16