Blood of the Pure (Gaea)

by Sophia CarPerSanti

  “Izrail!” Alexander’s voice called out, urgently, and Gabriel placed a hand on my neck to make sure I looked up at him.

  “Release her,” he commanded and I just shook my head, stubbornly, trying to bear the agonizing pain in silence. “Release her, Mariane! Sigweardiel can contain her now! Or are you going to tell me you want to die here?” Somewhere inside me his dry, apparently unfeeling words shocked me. I’d never thought about dying! But dying wouldn’t be all that bad, right? At least I’d die in his arms, and I would die being helpful, that should be acceptable in terms of a brief and insignificant life like mine. But then, if I died, when I died, she would get free! And I couldn’t allow that. I would never let him fight her again! I would never let her steal him from me like that again! Make him look at me with those unseeing eyes! There was only one solution. Before I died, I would destroy her, I decided. “Mariane!” His voice broke through my thoughts once again and his face leaned over mine, his dripping wet hair falling over my neck. His hand twitched in pain as he touched my face and was burnt by my tears, but the pain in his eyes was so much darker that my mind was suddenly completely blank. “You cannot leave me. I won’t allow it,” he whispered and his voice shook because, in the end, he knew the truth; that if I died there was nothing else he could do and that I’d be forever out of his reach.

  And yet his pain was, apparently, more than I could bear, and that unfeeling part of me recoiled and returned to the still waters from where she’d emerged, allowing my more Human, compassionate self to regain control of my own thoughts and decisions, making his pain even harder to bear.

  Without even thinking about it, the white lights shot through the air once again, crashing against me, disappearing under my skin, even though I couldn’t feel a single thing. And then I was whole again, and was shivering again, and was cold, and tired, and my Human, normal self again. His arms were around me in one second, holding me carefully against his cold, wet body, and I took a deep breath.

  “Everything’s fine. I’m fine,” I managed to mutter even though my mind was muddled about a lot of things, and he let go of me just enough so he could look at me, his expression hard and severe.

  “No, it’s not! Everything is not fine at all!” he contested angrily, but then sighed. “But you’re freezing and soaking wet, and you need to rest, so we’ll talk afterwards,” he decided in a softer, gentler tone, and I looked around me, trying to place myself.

  Alexander was still standing under the pouring rain, eyes closed as if he’d fallen asleep in that position. And Lea and Jonathan were both looking at me with apprehensive expressions. But there was no sign of Telane.

  “Where is she?” I asked, my voice tearing at my soared vocal cords, and he placed a nervous kiss on my temple, as if he needed to do it to make sure I was really there, alive, between his arms.

  “You don’t have to worry about her. Sigweardiel has her locked up in another dimension.”

  “What are you going to do with her?” I asked, fearing his answer, and the endless horrifying images I’d seen in his thoughts came back to my mind.

  “Don’t worry about her!” he insisted, frowning, reminding me of how he used to refuse to answer my questions, always telling me it was nothing I should concern myself with, and I opened my mouth to contest. “Mariane! Will you, for once, just do what I tell you?” He cut me off before I could argue, and a warm hand held my arm gently and pulled me up. I was shocked at how easily he let go of me, and the dizziness that made the world flash and turn around me left me nauseated. Someone scooped me up from the ground and I whined under my breath, now really feeling sick. His cold hand on my forehead startled me.

  “I won’t take long, I promise,” he told me gently and I clenched my teeth when his violet eyes suddenly disappeared, and the world around me dissolved into dark spirals that threatened to swallow me.

  I only felt a little bit better when I was finally placed on a clearly unmoving surface that granted me some measure of safety, and still I had to take a deep breath, to keep my stomach in its place.

  “Mari? Are you OK?”

  “Lea,” I mumbled when I finally recognized him and his worried expression opened up to a bright smile. Even though he was the big Lea now, his smile hadn’t changed, I mused, my mind still foggy.

  “We’re home,” he informed me and I looked around just to make sure. He was right. I was back in my room, sitting on my bed. “You should get out of those wet clothes,” he suggested and then I was wide awake, and all that had just happened came back to me, flooding my tired mind.

  “What about Gabriel?” I asked urgently and he smiled again, trying to appease me.

  “Master is fine. He’ll be back in a second. Just trust him a little bit.” he added and my temples ached painfully. “Want me to help you?” I shook my head. “OK, then. Just get out of those clothes. I’ll go and draw you a bath. You need to warm yourself or you’ll get sick. Ok?” The idea of sinking my freezing body in a pool of hot water sounded perfect.

  “Thank you,” I replied in my broken voice and he smiled, much happier.

  “I’ll be right back.” He turned to leave and I heard his small bell ringing as he went down the stairs, that clear sound making feel more relaxed.

  It took me sometime until I was able to move. My freezing body wouldn’t stop shaking and I was sure that moving would be very painful. Even so I got up, wincing and swallowing my cries of pain, and took off my wet sweater that fell heavily on the floor. My skin was even colder than Gabriel’s, the drops falling from my wet hair and sliding down my back an absolute torture.

  The sound of something heavy falling on the floor startled me, leaving me immediately alert as my gaze flew to the half-closed door. For a moment I could hardly breathe, but then the sound of footsteps on the stairs made me sigh in relief — until it came to me! Unless he was running, Lea was like Gabriel, his footsteps were completely silent. And, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t hear the tinkling sound of his bell. My heart jumped in panic, and I took a step back, trying to think about what to do; if I could possibly survive if I jumped out the window, since I really didn’t have anywhere else to hide, and the steps stopped right outside my door.

  My hand flew to the pair of scissors stuck in one of my metal cups on my desk, and I held it firmly in my hand. If my unwanted guest was a Human, a question by now all too common for me, I’d stick the damn scissors straight through his eye. As I was, in that moment, after all I’d been through, no Human could ever scare me!

  The door opened slowly, as I readied myself for my bloody attack and then, everything was blank, and I couldn’t help stare at him in complete disbelief.

  “Michael?” I muttered, blinking, wondering if I’d somehow fallen asleep without even noticing it.

  Michael also seemed taken aback, as if he hadn’t expect to see me there, though we were in my room. His blond hair fell around his face dripping wet, as were his clothes. The black leather jacket he wore and his motorcycle boots were leaving a small pool on the floor where he stood. And then, he suddenly seemed to awake, and strode into my room, going straight to my wardrobe.

  “Put this on!” he told me dryly, throwing a flannel shirt at me that I almost couldn’t catch, and I was suddenly very much aware that I’d been standing there, staring at him in disbelief, in my bra.

  I obeyed, awkwardly, turning my back on him to button up my shirt but, before I could even finish, his hand was already around my wrist, and he was dragging me out the door.

  “Hey! Michael! Wait!!” I complained, stumbling as my aching legs failed, but he ignored me and pulled me down the stairs.

  I stumbled again, and would have fallen if he hadn’t pulled me up as if I were a child learning to walk, the iron strength of his fingers around my wrist hurting me as we got to the ground floor.

  “Stop!!” I commanded, angry at his silent arrogance, and tried to free my hand. “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice cracking, but the look he gave me silenced my protes
ts at once.

  His green eyes were glowing as if they were precious stones touched by the sun and something in him was suddenly very frightening.

  “Don’t argue with me, Mariane! And do as I tell you!” he simply replied and, although he hadn’t raised his tone and almost sounded calm, his voice echoed inside me, giving me the creeps. I couldn’t resist him when he pulled me again, helplessly stumbling forward, but as we went by the living room door, I saw a body lying on the floor that made my heart jump in agony.

  “Lea!” I called desperately but Michael didn’t slow down, forcing me to keep following his steps. “No! Let go of me! Let go!” I demanded, now roaring as I fought his hand with all my strength, and he turned, wrapping a hand around my waist and easily scooping me from the ground,

  I screamed, and hit him, and kicked him, and screamed again until my already hoarse throat almost couldn’t scream anymore, but nothing made him free me, or stop dragging me outside where the rain mercilessly drenched us again.

  I wanted to cry but had no tears. I wanted to get free from his hold but hadn’t enough strength. My wishes all echoed empty inside of me. Because my Soul felt nothing for Lea, she didn’t care one little bit about what Michael might want with me, nothing would be able to move her except for Gabriel, and Gabriel wasn’t there.

  Michael dropped me on the seat of his bike, holding me firmly, bearing indifferently all my constant aggressions. But still, no matter how hard he held me, there was no way I was just going to sit there quietly, and there was no way he could start that bike with me thrashing around like that. He sighed deeply and wrapped a hand around my neck, pulling me back against his chest, squeezing just enough to stop me from breathing.

  “Sit still, or I swear I’ll put you to sleep,” he threatened in a whisper as cold as the rain and the shock that washed over me at that warning left me stunned for a second, time enough for him to send his bike roaring down the street.

  I could hardly breathe at the speed he was going, the ice cold rain feeling like stones thrown against me, making me raise my arms to protect my face, and I was sure he was going to kill us both, the wheels of his motorbike squealing against the wet pavement. The curves left me sick to my stomach, making me feel dizzy again, and I would have fallen from the seat more than once, if not for the arm wrapped around my waist, holding me in place against his warm body.

  When he finally stopped, the first thing I did was bend to the side and throw up, but there was nothing in my stomach. His hand grabbed me again, dragging me mercilessly, and I fell on my knees, breathing heavily, my ice cold hair sticking to my face, making me feel really sick. He, however, pulled me up again, forcing me to walk even though every muscle in my body hurt. I know I stumbled up some stairs and finally his hand let go of me, and I fell on a ground as cold as the rain that had wet me, and yet a blessed motionless surface. The slamming of a heavy door filled the air, startling me, and his footsteps walked by me, making me feel relieved that he was walking away.

  I fought to quickly sort my thoughts, feeling too confused and tired, pain muddling my brain. I noticed that it wasn’t raining anymore, although it was so cold that I couldn’t stop shivering. With a stab of pain, I remembered Lea’s body lying on the floor by the living room door and clenched my hands, looking for strength to raise my head.

  I saw him standing a few steps away, his back turned to me as he faced an altar illuminated by a heavy chandelier. I felt lost and looked around me, and noticed that we were in a church, obviously empty at that time of night.

  I took a deep breath, holding on to one of the wooden benches, and forced my shaky legs to obey me and support my weight as they should. The world around me spun dangerously as I stood, and I held on to the bench until the dizziness subsided.

  “Michael!” I called out to him once I was back to myself, and my hoarse voice echoed eerily.

  I saw him shudder, before he turned back to me, and facing his pained and guilty expression broke my anger and determination.

  “Don’t worry, Mari. Everything’s going to be all right,” he said, coming towards me, and the memory of the unbreakable prison that were his arms made me take a step back. He stopped, giving up on the idea of coming any closer, and his pained expression became even bitterer. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

  “Why did you bring me here?” I demanded and only then noticed that it wasn’t the first time we were in that place.

  He seemed to hear my thoughts and smiled lightly as he looked around.

  “Remember when we first came here?” I didn’t answer and he took a deep, melancholic breath. “You told me you were looking for an angel because yours had fallen asleep, and you thought I could never fulfill that task.” I trembled when he looked at me with that same intensity from before. “I brought you here to protect you!” he declared and his voice echoed like a thunder all around us.

  “Protect?” I repeated, not knowing if I should feel confused or frightened. “Protect me from what?” I asked in a whisper, trying to call him back to reason, but apparently my words only fired his anger even more.

  “Protect you from what! Protect you from what?!” he shouted, his voice a threatening crescendo, and he was on me before I could even think of escaping, as I stumbled and almost fell back if he hadn’t held my arm.

  He pulled me against his warm body and I screamed in panic, pushing him away with all my strength, unable to get free again. He grabbed hold of my shirt and pulled it hard, breaking the sewing threads that kept the buttons in place, and pulling it down my arm, undressing me roughly. I cringed instinctively and he grabbed me again, shaking me, making me dizzy and nauseated.

  “You’re still asking what? Look at this! Look!” he ordered, his voice like a thunder again, and I obeyed, trembling. My eyes fell upon the dark marks left under my skin, the bruises I had ignored as if they’d never existed, the same that Gabriel’s cold hands had given me. “On your arms. On your chest. On your back. Where else did he touch you?”

  The shock lit a smoldering anger inside me.

  “Let go of me!” I demanded dryly and he seemed perplexed by my sudden apparent firmness.

  “Mariane! He’ll end up destroying you!” he insisted, resisting through all my attempts to get free, and I faced him severely. “Can’t you see? I only want what’s best for you. I only want to protect you. And although I understand that, up till now, you had to deal with all this on your own, you no longer need to. You no longer need to stay with him!”

  “Michael!” I shouted, hurting my sore throat. I couldn’t even hear those words. What did he know of what I needed? My anger turned against him again and I fought to get free from his unmoving hands. “Let go!” I shouted and a thunder crackled all around us, as if ricocheting on the walls, making the ground under my feet shake.

  Cold wind broke my anger and I only noticed that there wasn’t anything holding me anymore when I stumbled forward. I held on to the bench once more to stop myself from falling, and made sure I was still breathing before raising my head.

  Alexander was standing right in front of me, his presence so cold and fierce that it made me shudder. But he wasn’t the only one. And, as I looked back, I saw Gabriel leaning against the now wide opened, tall wooden door, his arms folded over his chest, like an authentic inanimate block of ice.

  Jonathan walked forward with hesitant steps, dripping water all over the place, and stopped beside me. However, he didn’t even look at me, his anxious eyes locked on Alexander’s straight back, his tension leaving me apprehensive.

  The sound of laughter filled the air around us, startling me. And only then I noticed that Michael was lying on the floor at the base of the altar, as if he’d been thrown across the air by an invisible force, to somewhere far away from me. I was immediately worried that he might be hurt, and then noticed he was the one laughing, and, in complete disbelief, saw him stand up effortlessly.

  His green eyes glowed coldly, as if burning in a green cold fire, and I took a sharp b
reath since I had never imagined his gentle face would be able of an expression like that, my heart beating too fast, making my chest hurt.

  “How dare you come in here?” I heard his voice, clear and strong, the implicit threat dripping out of his every single word, and I knew immediately he wasn’t talking to me anymore.

  “Because it would seem you have a serious hearing problem. It’s the second time she tells you to let go and that you’re not quite able to listen,” Alexander replied in that same restrained tone, but contempt was thick in his voice.

  “This matter does not concern you!” Michael stated severely and I felt Jonathan’s anxiety grow by the minute, contaminating me.

  “That it’s not for the likes of you to decide,” Alexander replied and Michael smiled, but that same expression that had always brought me comfort and warmth could only make shiver, leaving me certain that that could not be real — that could not be the Michael I knew.

  “Oh, really? Who should decide then?” he asked ironically and his voice lowered to a deeper menacing tone. “You’re interfering where you shouldn’t! Because you’re nothing but a dog at the beck and call of that thing, over there!” My heart almost stopped knowing he was referring to Gabriel. I waited in fear for his fury, or to simply watch as he appeared at Michael’s side and shredded him to pieces, right there and then.

  Alexander seemed to share my thoughts and his bright sword appeared out of thin air in his right hand.

  “You think what you like! That thing over there won’t have to lift a single finger to put you down!” he growled in a dark threat, and Michael laughed again, insanely, as I begged in my thoughts that he would just run away while he could!

  “And what can a fallen one like you do against me?” Michael demanded and everything inside me fell into a deep silence. “You’re nothing but a traitor!”

  “You may even be right. But at least I didn’t abandon anyone!” Alexander replied with pure loathing and Michael smiled coldly again.