“Can you open the zipper?” I said, turning my back to him.
The zipper ran from the back of my neck to my waist. He opened it slowly, trailing a finger delicately where the zipper traveled. I turned to look at him, his gray eyes staring at me intently. I felt things get warmer as he stroked my arm up to my neck. I fumbled and left the room quickly and entered the bathroom. I wasn’t ready for that. Not now that our lives were a mess.
To my own surprise, I left the bathroom as quickly as I entered, startling John. He was still standing in the same place. He turned when he heard me.
"I’m sorry," I said. “I didn’t want to leave like that…”
"Please don’t apologize," he replied, his face lightly flushed. “I do. Liz, I don’t want you to think, for a second, that I'm pushing you to do something you don’t want to do.”
"I want to," I said quickly.
He stared at me in silence, not understanding.
"But not now," I finished. “Not like this.”
"And I understand," he said, smiling. "Believe me, I would wait a lifetime for you.”
I realized how lucky I was to have him. I smiled and hugged him for a few minutes. I went to the bathroom to put on my pajamas, and when I returned to the bedroom John was waiting for me leaning against the door.
"Isys came to invite us to eat cake," he said.
Between taking a quick shower and putting on my pajamas I had completely forgotten that just a few minutes ago we were at a party downstairs.
“You go. I'm not in the mood,” I said.
Actually, I just wanted to go to bed and sleep. I've had my share of excitement for today.
"Come on, Liz," he said, coming up to me. "Your friends are waiting for you downstairs."
It was weird to hear that. "Friends". I've never had more than one at a time. But now, that's exactly what they were. Each in its own way.
"And you made the cake," he continued. "If it's bad they'll want to complain in front of you."
I started to laugh. I grabbed a coat and put it on.
“Right. Let's go.”
We went down to the hall and the crowd was already much smaller. Most people must have called a night when the madman tried to kill us all. Some sat at their tables eating cake, others still seemed to be shaken by the events.
Isys and the others were at our table. They talked and ate quietly. We arrived and sat on one of the empty chairs and soon Runne put an exaggerated piece of cake in front of me.
"I cut this piece for you, Elizabeth," she said proudly.
"Thank you, Runne," I said, smiling. "But I think I'm going to share it with John. It's a very generous piece.”
And I really didn’t feel like eating. I wasn’t in the mood for any of this. The image of Charles waking up, with countless bruises, and not knowing what happened was repeated in my head. I tried to put it aside.
"Runne insisted on cutting a big piece for you, Liz," Isys explained. "Everyone agreed you deserve it."
"You destroyed that guy," Zal said. “I taught you well.”
"But he didn’t deserve it," I said. “He was innocent. He was just being used.”
"But he came in here with a knife in his hand," Zal said, making it clear he didn’t regret anything. "We were just protecting our people. We have to take care of each other. No matter what.”
I could agree on that.
I set the plate aside and gave John a fork. We began to eat the cake as we heard Lucius and Zal point to the high points of the fight. I already wanted to get out of there long before Lucius started talking about the tear in my dress.
"Right," I said, rising quickly. "Thank you for the invitation, people, but I'm going up."
“But already?” Lucius said.
"Yes. It's late and my jaw hurts," I lied.
“Really?” John got up quickly. “Let's go. I'll get you a painkiller before bed.”
I knew with all my heart that I had done the right thing. There was an immediate threat to my people, and I prevented it. But I didn’t have to feel good about it. I was going to let the time go by and concentrate on finding the hunter and finish this.
We went up to the bedroom and I fell into bed. John came with the medicine quickly and I took it, just in case. It didn’t take me five minutes to fall sleep.
I woke up the next day and went straight to the bathroom to change. John still slept softly, not caring about a ray of sunshine directly on his face. He looked so serene that I decided not to wake him. I practically ran downstairs to the kitchen and ate my breakfast in a hurry.
I waited at the hall, kitchen and office until I saw Torim. To my complete disappointment, the conversation was brief. He couldn’t help with what we needed.
"I’m sorry, Aster, but the Council Sorcerer took care of this sort of thing," Torim informed me, still surprised that I had chased him down the hall. "I was just on the Council.”
I remembered the story Grandma told me about when my father was in prison in Pacem. Grandpa had to befriend the Council Sorcerer so he would reopen the portal home.
"And the Sorcerer was the one who took care of the Dagger?" I asked.
"And some other objects that the Chosen Ones used, yes," he replied, getting impatient. “Why?”
"Oh, no, nothing," I said.
It was easier and quicker to explain nothing since the conversation hadn’t really helped.
I went to analyze Runne’s drawings. I picked them up on the bedside table and sat down at the foot of the bed. John was still asleep. I watched those drawings for half an hour trying to make sense of them, but it just didn’t happen.
Another half hour later, John woke up.
"I already spoke to Torim," I informed him. "It didn’t pan out.”
He stopped at the bathroom door, staring at me and seeming not to know what I was talking about.
"It's too early for this," he said, and went into the bathroom.
A few minutes later I explained everything to John and we sat down together at the foot of the bed examining the strange drawings. And that's how we spent the whole day. Taking bathroom and food breaks, we kept trying to make sense of those images. We simply couldn’t admit that there was a possibility that they meant nothing.
"I can’t look at those anymore," John said, standing up. "Liz, please, you don’t have to do this. You tried, but there's nothing there.”
"It has to be” I said, not taking my eyes off the sheets.
Bedtime came and I finally gave up. John had already been asleep for a few minutes. I went to take a quick shower. Yesterday I fought with a man twice my size, but it was today that I was exhausted. My back ached and I was impatient and bored. I just wanted to be able to really help to end this suffering.
I left the bathroom and put on a new nightdress Maena gave me. It was a white satin knee-length dress. It seemed comfortable, so I accepted it without complaining. While I dried my hair with a towel, I bent down to take the pictures and put them away for good. That's when it happened. As if I was looking at those papers for the first time, I realized shapes and colors that I hadn’t noticed before. I wrapped the towel in my hair in a way it wouldn’t fall and sat down again.
Slowly, I moved the drawings, and instead of looking at them individually, I began to see them as one. A minute later, it came to me.
“It's a puzzle!” I said loudly, quickly putting my hand to my mouth and turning to look if I hadn’t woken John.
The green and brown tones formed a majestic glade with a full moon illuminating it. Suddenly I was so happy with myself that I just wanted to come out screaming. It was little, I know, but it's a clue. I spent a few seconds deciding whether I would wake up John to tell the news. I remembered how he'd spent all day helping me and hadn’t complained. I should at least let him sleep. Tomorrow I would tell them all.
I got up, leaving the puzzle on the floor, and combed my hair in the bathroom. It still dripped some water, so I passed the towel one last time to get the excess. I went bac
k to bed, now ready to sleep. I accepted that little victory.
The moment I closed my eyes, I heard a noise coming from the bedside table. I recognized the sound of my phone vibrating. I thought it was strange. It was late and no one called me at that hour. I took the cell phone, unlocked it and opened the message. It was just an attachment. I opened it.
Grandma, her mouth gagged and tears streaming down her face. I sat down quickly. She sobbed, looking at the camera and shaking her head.
"No, Liz!” She cried, barely able to utter the words. “Don’t do it!”
And the video ended. Another message came in the next second. It came from an unknown number.
"Come to the portal right now. Alone.
If I see one of your Chosen One friends, I’ll cut Grandma's throat. See ya!"
I fell to my knees on the floor. I couldn’t breathe. My hand rested instinctively on my chest that begged for air. It seemed like I was going to die. I choked on tears. I was having a panic attack, I was sure.
I regained my breath and continued to cry. My skin was on fire with a mixture of fear, hatred and more fear.
As soon as the last tear fell, my first instinct was to run. I left the room and ran down the stairs faster than I thought possible. I was in my nightdress and barefoot, but I couldn’t care less.
When I reached the last step, I bumped into Liam.
"Liz, what are you..." he began, but he looked at me from top to bottom.
Suddenly I realized that I didn’t know where the portal was. That was the priority at the moment. I struggled to look normal.
"Liam, do you know where the portal is?" I asked, at times practically bursting into tears again.
“The portal? Why?”
"Just curious," I said, smiling.
“Well, it’s in the woods. In fact, "he said, sounding pensive," if you step out of the back of your house into the woods and go straight, you'll eventually find the glade. "
"Glade?" I asked, not believing that I discovered this only when it was too late.
"Yes. But why do you want to know, Liz? Seriously?”
"It’s nothing, Liam. Thanks.”
I tried to go upstairs, but he didn’t cooperate. He grabbed my arm as I climbed a step.
"I know you," he said, and I jerked my arm out of his hand. “What are you up to?”
I didn’t have time for this. Grandma had no time. I could feel another panic attack coming.
"Liam, I'm so sorry," I said.
"For wha…” he began, being interrupted by a punch.
I tried not to hit him too hard, but in the situation I was in, I had no guarantees. I held his unconscious body and led us into the kitchen before anyone showed up. I locked him in a closet and disappeared.
I imagined the porch where I had spent so much time in and appeared there. Predictably, the light above the door was off. The house was pitch black, both inside and out. At the moment it seemed a representation of my situation.
I walked around the house and headed toward the forest. I ran across the lawn and entered the uneven ground of the forest. I walked as fast as I could, but it wasn’t much. The trees and branches slowed me down, hitting me on the face, arms and legs.
My hands were still shaking. In fact, my whole body trembled. I was afraid. I didn’t want to be, but I was. It made me feel weak. But in no way I was afraid to keep walking. The fear was what was going to happen there. I didn’t want to lose Grandma. A few feet in front of me I saw movement through a small opening. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I continued walking and passed the last tree, entering the glade.
I couldn’t move. My eyes were so fixed on that terrifying sight that my legs refused to function. I didn’tbelieve that was really happening. I forced my feet to take another step, and so, one step at a time, I stopped in front of Emma,who held what I thought was the Cadere Dagger in Grandma's throat.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
She looked exactly as I remembered. Her round face and charcoal-black hair had not changed. Her blue eyes were looking at me with a look of curiosity. But somehow, she didn’t look the same. She had a vicious look on her. This wasn’t my Emma.
Grandma's face was wet with tears falling and resting on the gag still in her mouth.
"Let her go," I said, trying to sound menacing, but my voice broke.
The inconvenient fear insisted on staying with me. She let out a loud laugh, making Grandma jump, and said nothing else. She stared at me as I figured out what to do to get Grandma out of here. I tried to read her mind, but it was inaudible. It was like a radio with all the stations connected at the same time. She was too agitated for her mind to make sense. And I was too scared to do anything efficiently.
"So, you're the hunter?" I finally asked the question that, deep down, I already knew the answer.
"Is that what they're calling me?" She said with a wicked grin on her face. “I liked it. But shouldn’t she be ‘huntress’?”
“We thought you were…”
“A man?” She said, her eyebrows slightly raised. "Of course, you did. So, can’t women kill people? That's very sexist, don’t you think?”
Slowly, I took a step forward, thinking that somehow, I could take the Dagger out of Grandma's throat. Emma quickly shook her head, making a noise with her tongue to show disapproval. She pulled the Dagger closer to Grandma's neck and I saw a drop of blood fall slowly.
"Please, Liz, don’t do anything or I'm going to have to kill Grandma," Emma said in a natural tone, as if talking about the weather. “Is that what you want?”
That fear turned into anger at every smile and movement she gave. My fist was so tight that I could feel my nails pierce into the palm of my hand. I took a step back.
"Good," she said. "Now give me your phone. I don’t want you trying to call anyone.”
I felt my nightgown just to remember I hadn’t brought it. When I fell on the floor at the sight of the message, the cell phone did, too. I looked at her wide-eyed.
“I can’t believe this!” She shouted. "Is someone coming after you?"
"No," I said quietly.
“I can’t hear you!” She shouted again.
“No!” I answered louder. “Everyone’s asleep.”
She smiled again and sighed.
“Good. We wouldn’t want a bloodbath here, would we?”
I felt like I was going to vomit. I breathed slowly. How could a person I've known my whole life be doing this? Last week we were talking about movies and now she's threatening the life of the most important person to me. The word "psycho" reappeared in my mind with every wicked smile she gave.
“What do you want?” I said, this time managing to keep my voice steady.
“What do you mean, what do I want? I want to go home. And I want you to come with me.”
"Yes. Do it, please," I said, thinking I could persuade her to stop this. "I'm sure Carol and Mark are worried about you, Emma.”
“Oh no. Not that home. And, also, they've been dead for some time.”
"You..." I paused a moment before I could continue. I felt the bitter taste of bile in my mouth. "Did you kill your parents?"
"Of course, I did! They were just holding me back! A sleeping pill, a knife in their hands, and it’s done. Why would I feel anything but disgust for them?”
My stomach seemed to be being crushed. My hope diminished by the minute. If she could do this to her own parents, who would say what she wouldn’t do it to me and Grandma?
"And they were not my real parents, either, so there’s that," she said casually, as if that justified everything. "And I was talking about Pacem. I want you to come back to Pacem with me.”
Emma smiled as Grandma tried in vain to let go of her arms.
I didn’t understand anything. How could she be a Pacenian? How did she know about all this? How did she have the Dagger? I figured my best strategy was to stall her. I would count on our friendship, which from what I saw, in her distorted mind was still the same.
&nb
sp; “What do you mean? “I asked.
"Well, turns out, I’m not who I thought I was. Surprise!”
She laughed to herself.
"Some time ago, I was fiddling around my dad's office while he was gone. So, I decided to open his safe, curious about what he might have of value in that house. Unsurprisingly of his tiny human brain, I was able to figure out the password in a few minutes. I saw some documents and a small amount of money, but a letter on an old paper caught my attention...”
"Emma,please," I interrupted, quickly arousing her fury. “Grandma needs to rest. She looks exhausted.”
I knew it was a risk, but staying there watching her suffer only made my body shake even more.
"First, don’t interrupt me again," she began, smiling. "And second, no. I don’t know what you're capable of, having stayed at that hotel for so long, so she's my insurance until you understand why I did all this. When I finish my story you will understand, Liz.”
At least I got something in my favor. She didn’t know about my powers.
“Continuing, I opened the letter and saw something quite interesting, and at the time, that didn’t make sense.”
"For you, the people who are reading this letter, I leave my greatest treasure. I wish I could be there with her to see her grow up to become the special, bright person I already know she is, but that possibility is looking smaller by the second. I can’t leave Pacem while the Orcus destroy our villages and everyone who gets in their way. I must do what is best for my daughter and leave her with someone who can give a future and be with her to see it happen. Take good care of my little girl. I hope someday she can forgive me. I love you, Emmelyn. With love, your mother."
Emma knew every word. She would recite the letter as if she had spent hours studying it. The idea that Emma was really a Pacenian just didn't get it into my head. And the question "why is she doing this" still surrounded my thoughts, especially now that she claimed to be one of us. But something told me the story didn’t end here.
"At first, I didn’t know what to do," she continued. "These people had lied to me all my life. Of course, I couldn’t trust them. You know how much I hate lying, Liz. But soon I saw that they were the only ones who could explain what that meant. That night I confronted them as soon as they got home. First, they tried to deny everything, but they couldn’t keep up the farce.”
The Chosen Ones: Red Smoke Page 26