“I’ve never done anything like this,” I muttered to myself as I stood up to take a closer look. Now I could easily understand that the chaotic presence I’d felt was actually emanating from him and not some other Dewios. Gabriel was suffering.
I stopped beside him and the room wobbled again. So much blood ... I couldn’t see anything besides all that blood.
Lea went back to his side, his cheeks still glowing from all the tears he’d shed, and gently pulled away a long strand of his hair that had stuck to his distorted face. From time to time, strange and unintelligent words would leave Gabriel’s lips and his forehead was moist with small droplets of sweat.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that he’d never looked as real as he did now. In that moment, all I could see was him, not the mythic magical creature, but just another living being, different from me but definitely alive.
Lea’s restrained sobs brought me back to reality and I kneeled on the floor beside the couch, rolling up my sleeves.
“Don’t cry, Lea. Think you can help me?” I asked and he nodded urgently. His eyes had lost its silvery color and were almost black. And something inside me told me it was best to keep him busy. “Think you can get me what I need? Even from far away?”
“I can see in your mind if you think about the place where those things are. After that, I can bring them here if you want,” he explained, his voice drowning in anguish, and I nodded immediately, forming the images in my mind.
The next thing I knew there were two bottles of distilled water, a role of sterilized gauze, a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a bag of cotton pads right beside me.
I actually hadn’t the slightest idea what I was doing. My mind still felt half numb, part of me doubting that what I saw now was really true. After all, not a few minutes ago, my world had been filled with shadows and misty scenarios. Certainly things couldn’t change that abruptly in such a small amount of time.
Still unsure, I decided to forget all my doubts and focus on the task at hand. I could easily see by the quantity of blood he’d already lost that his injury wasn’t something that could be cared for at home, much less by someone as inexperienced as me. It was far from being some small scratch that needed some disinfecting and a patching up. And yet, I had to do something.
I started by getting rid of his blood-drenched shirt. As soon as the thought of a pair of scissors crossed my mind, it appeared next to the gauze. I didn’t question it, not even allowing myself the time to be impressed, and, picking it up, started carefully cutting his clothes, uncovering more of his bloodied skin. I grabbed one of the water bottles and slowly poured it over his naked chest. Crimson water washed over him, soaking the couch and dripping on the floor, slowly making clear just how serious his injury was. I didn’t even have to complete the process to know exactly where the cut started and how far it crossed over his chest. I, myself, had felt its burning pain time and time again. But still, dreaming about it and seeing it in real life were two completely different things. And I couldn’t help noticing the zone where I’d kissed him, sealing our Contract, had also been cut, and nothing was left from his mark besides that deep, raw gash on his white skin.
As soon as I stopped pouring water, the blood covered everything again, and I felt despair take over when I had to wash him again.
“This wound, it’s too deep ... I don’t know what to do,” I muttered, carefully drying his skin, and Lea looked at me in a panic.
“Why? You did it to me!” he demanded.
“It’s not that simple, Lea. Even with you I didn’t know what I was doing. I thought for sure you had to get stitches. And it wasn’t me who saved your life, but your ability to heal faster than anything I’d ever seen. Doesn’t he have the same ability as you?”
“He should have, faster even, but it’s not working!” he sobbed.
“We have to stop the bleeding,” I said and Lea made a surgical needle and thread appear out of nowhere. “No! No way! I can’t do that!” I refused immediately. I could hardly look at that terrible gash and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
“Mari!”
“I’d probably only make things worse! Maybe we can take him to a hospital and ...”
Gabriel’s restlessness interrupted me and Lea held his face between his small hands, delicately unsticking a few more strands of hair from his deadly pale face. My eyes were lost in his painful expression, in the way his discolored lips trembled. Who was I kidding? How could I take him to a hospital? His agitation made his wound bleed even more. What if he really died? What if he really disappeared forever? Not now, my other voice countered immediately. Not now that he’d just returned! How could I watch him leave again?
“I’ll do my best, Lea. I’m really sorry.”
He didn’t answer and I caught hold of the rubbing alcohol, opening it. I didn’t know what else to do, if what I was doing was right or wrong. If that terrible gash needed disinfecting, or even if his body could suffer from an infection. I ordered myself to stop questioning my every single action and do what I, myself, had just decided — do my best! There was nothing else I could do.
As soon as I spilled a drop of alcohol over his skin, a scream of pain left his lips, ringing in my ears, leaving me deaf. I hit against something that stole the breath out of my chest and pain shot through my ribs. I fought to breathe again and had to press my right side to do it, coughing violently. I could hear Lea’s voice coming from far away and tried to reassure him, afraid he might start crying again. When I finally opened my eyes, I couldn’t help feeling perplexed since I had no memory of how I’d gotten where I now sat, against the wall right across the couch, as if I’d been thrown against it by a massive strength.
“Mari! Are you all right?!” he asked once again, his voice tense with fear and despair as he held Gabriel’s tussling body down, trying to stop him from moving too much, which only made him bleed even more.
It was hard to move away from the wall, my ribs cringing in pain every time I moved, but still I managed to crawl on my knees and return to my place beside him.
He seemed calmer now, but his white skin was covered in blood again.
“Lea,” I tried and coughed again, which sent waves of pain through my chest, making me press my right side to take a deep breath. “Can you put him to sleep?”
“Put Master to sleep?” he repeated, almost afraid, and I nodded. “Master does not allow me to use my powers on him.”
“Do it!” I simply commanded. “If you don’t he’ll end up killing me before I can even finish.”
Lea sighed and placed both his hands over his forehead, closing his eyes to concentrate. His young face distorted into a grimace of pain, like he was fighting against some invisible foe, and his skin was covered with small, shiny droplets of sweat. Even so, Gabriel’s agitation started to dwindle until he seemed to finally have fallen asleep, his perfect face released from that frightening expression of pain. Lea fell back, sitting on the floor, his breath heavy and labored.
“This was really hard. Master has a mind very well protected,” he complained in between gasps, and I cleaned his wound once again so that I’d be able to, at least, see what I was doing. The lack of reaction from his now unmoving body told me that even if it had been difficult, it had worked, and he was deep asleep. Threading the needle was the hardest, my hands shaking nonstop, as I prayed he’d remain a sleep for a long time.
My stomach cringed the instant I gave the first stitch, but I made myself go on, trying to eliminate from my mind the idea that I was stitching someone else’s body, focusing only on uniting his pale, now purplish skin over that bright red gash. I allowed my mind to lose itself in that rhythm and erased all other thoughts, certain that they’d only make me even more nervous.
When I finally finished, I too was sweating as tension made my body stiffen to the point my muscles had started to ache. I managed to grab the bag of gauze and covered his long, dark suture with the soft white pads. I held them in place using the rolls of bandages Lea
had provided for me, wrapping them as best as I could around his torso while trying to keep him as still as possible. At least the bleeding had stopped, I thought, my hands still shaking. But now that he was just lying there, motionless, his face so pale that his skin almost seemed transparent, it was even harder to believe he was alive.
Lea produced a small cloth and drenched it in water to delicately clean his face and neck, his pained expression as he did it making me even sadder.
I felt exhausted now that I’d done all that I could and the adrenaline was starting to wash away from my system. I didn’t even bother with cleaning or putting anything back to its place. I just sat there, beside him, watching intently the small, ever so slow movements of his naked chest that guaranteed me that he was still breathing and, without even noticing it, ended up falling asleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Izrail!!” I had the impression that that wasn’t the first time I heard someone call that name and the chaos to which my consciousness returned left me dizzy.
Lea was shouting ferociously and, although he kept his childish appearance, the strength emanating from him was truly frightening. I blinked again, trying to make my muddled thoughts clear enough to understand what was going on, and was finally able to identify the target of his fury.
“I need him to wake up! Now!” the same thundering voice that woke me demanded and I grabbed hold of the couch to help me stand up.
“Alexander,” I mumbled and his disconcerting expression of despair turned to me.
“Don’t make me repeat myself, I will not allow you to step one inch closer to him!” Lea was saying, his voice sounding more like a roar, the air around him becoming heavy with murderous intent, and I stumbled to his side, wishing everyone could calm down.
“What happened?” I asked and Alexander’s red gaze turned towards Lea again, hatred distorting his beautiful face.
“I need him to wake up! And I need him to wake Jonathan up! And that’s what’s going to happen! Even if it’s the last thing I do!” he replied, equally ferociously, and Lea flexed his legs, leaning forward ever so slightly, almost as if he was ready to jump at him any time.
“It will be the last thing you do!” Lea confirmed, his voice now cold and hard, so similar to Gabriel’s that it sent a shiver down my spine.
“He can’t help you!” I urgently added, stepping in between the two of them, facing Alexander. “But I can. Tell me what happened. Where is he?”
His blood-red stare didn’t seem to recognize me, frighteningly cold, and then his hand was around my wrist, squeezing it with too much strength while he dragged me towards the kitchen.
Pain shot through my ribs as I stumbled forward and down the corridor, making me gasp and cringe my teeth to muffle a scream.
“Let go of her! You’re hurting her!” Lea demanded, following us, but the hand holding mine didn’t obey.
“Help him!” Alexander rudely ordered, throwing me forward as if I were an inanimate object, and I almost hit the table where a young boy was lying.
“Leave her be!” Lea was growling once again, and I pressed my right side to stand up straight.
“I’m OK,” I murmured, hopping he could hear me, and tried to draw a deep breath, which made me cringe in pain. Alexander’s face was a frightening mask of fury. “Alexander ...”
“He’s Human like you! Make him better!” he demanded and, as irrational as his demand was, I nodded, not wanting to oppose him.
I turned to Jonathan, massaging my hurt wrist in order to restore blood circulation to my fingers, and watched him closely. Unlike Gabriel he didn’t seem to be hurt, not physically anyway. But, as soon as I touched his forehead, I knew immediately something was very wrong.
”He’s burning up!” I observed urgently. “We have to lower his temperature. I’m going to fill the bathtub with water. Take off his clothes and bring him upstairs!” I commanded and Alexander nodded immediately, obeying without a question.
I rushed out of the kitchen, but had to slow down as I climbed up the stairs. Every breath I took was extremely painful.
I closed the drain and turned the water on, not too cold, but not hot either.
A few minutes later Alexander was at the door. The fury that just moments ago had me terrified was gone from his face as he looked at Jonathan with a pained expression. I stepped out of his way and he slowly placed him in the water. My eyes were inevitably lost on that naked body, too thin for his height. However, what caught my attention, were the numerous red lines crisscrossing over his skin, covering his chest, arms and legs with disordered patterns. Some of those lines, the more faded ones, were cut by thin pale scars. There were so many scars!, I noticed feeling sick, even more scars than red lines, some of them looking very old, almost faded, but not quite, indicating he’d withstood years and years of torture.
Alexander gave me an angry look, as if I’d just seen something I wasn’t supposed to, and I hurriedly averted my gaze.
“Leave him there until his temperature drops. Then take him out and dry him. You can take him to the room down the hall,” I said, indicating Rachel’s room. “I’ll be outside. Call me.” I left, closing the door.
I went back downstairs, leaning hard against the handrail, and took a peek into the living room. With a sigh of relief, I noticed Gabriel was still asleep and that Lea had returned to his side, attentively keeping watch over him.
His face was still too pale, black circles surrounding his eyes, his long hair pasty and sticky from all the blood, and still he was beautiful, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, too perfect by any Human standards.
The pain I’d been unable to feel since he left caught me by surprise, as the invisible threads around my heart kept squeezing it, cutting deeper and deeper, leaving me breathless. He was really there, I told myself, still not quite believing it. Maybe I’d end up waking up in my bed, like every other night, all that I’d dreamed up till then erased from my mind. Maybe this alert-me, this feeling-me, was the me from the dream, and everything would be gone once I opened my eyes. But even worse, even more frightening, was if it was all real! If he was really there, lying on my couch. And if he didn’t wake up again ...
I went back to the kitchen, thinking that Alexander would be calling me soon. I filled a basin with cool water and grabbed a soft, clean towel. I also grabbed of a box of painkillers my mom always kept around in one of the cupboards, too lazy to go upstairs to get a pill every time she had a headache from working all through the night. I filled a glass of water, returning upstairs, climbing the stairs as slowly as I could, my ribs complaining from the effort of carrying all that weight.
Alexander had already moved Jonathan to Rachel’s room, laying him down on the huge bed, carefully covering his marred body. Jonathan seemed peaceful now, and I placed the basin and the glass on the bedside table to touch his forehead once again. Alexander’s intent, almost threatening gaze followed my every move, seeming ready to strike me down at any moment, the minute I did something wrong.
“Better,” I noted. “Although still too high. I don’t know what caused this or what’s wrong with him exactly, but if it’s as you said, and he’s Human like me ...” I left it hanging and produced the pill’s box I’d tucked in my pants, giving it to him. “This is what we take when we have a fever. Don’t know if it will work. You can’t give him more than two. So give him one now and, if his fever doesn’t go down, give him another one in about half an hour,” I explained as he turned the box in his hands, analyzing it carefully. “Also, use this to help lower his temperature.” I pulled the towel I’d perched on my shoulder and dipped it into the basin. “Just wet it, then twist it and keep it on his forehead.” I showed him how to do it and, as soon as the cool towel touched Jonathan’s burning skin, his expression became even more relaxed, almost relieved. “When it starts getting warmer, just wet it again.” He nodded, now completely focused on absorbing my every single word, and I pressed my right side to stand up straight once
again. “I’m going downstairs to check on Gabriel. Be back in a minute. If anything happens, just call me, OK?”
He nodded again, his trembling fingers softly brushing against Jonathan’s face, his pained expression making me turn away. I silently walked to the door, somehow feeling I was intruding now, and opened it carefully so it wouldn’t creak.
“Mari.” His voice stopped me halfway and I looked back over my shoulder. His curved back and desolated expression made me think of someone who’d been mortally injured. “Thank you, and I’m sorry. Before ... I wasn’t really thinking straight. I never meant to hurt you.”
“It’s fine,” I told him, stretching my lips into what I hoped was a convincing smile. “Just let him rest. And call me if you need me.” I left the room, closing the door behind me, leaning against it for a second, almost too tired to keep standing. Still, I took a deep breath and went for the stairs thinking I’d now return to Lea’s side.
Three steps were all I could manage before the world around me started swirling. Afraid I’d end up falling, I sat down at the top of the stairs, laying my head on my knees, waiting for the dizziness to fade.
My mind was completely blank, too numb for any kind of coherent thought, and yet a revolution of emotions filled my chest, things I’d even forgotten I could feel. What would become of me once the numbness cleared away and I’d have to face all those raging feelings?
The image of all that blood wouldn’t leave my mind, as if imprinted in fire on the inside of my eyelids. As hard as I tried to avoid it, I couldn’t stop seeing the pain so vividly expressed on his face, or hearing the rough sound of his delirious voice, or remembering the electric touch of his skin every time my hand unintentionally brushed against him.
If only I could lessen his pain.
I ended up falling asleep, but even in my dreams all I could see was a red sea that wouldn’t stop spreading, covering the floor, threatening to engulf me completely. His screams echoed in the air around me, filled with pain and despair, making me look around, searching for him, the urgency making my heart beat faster. I just couldn’t allow it to go on, couldn’t allow him to keep suffering like that. Unbeknown to myself his pain was my pain as well and I just couldn’t bear another second of that torture. My searching gaze fell upon a child sitting amid that red sea, and I knew instinctively that it was him.
Blood of the Pure (Gaea) Page 47