Our house’s main door came crashing down on the floor, with a bang.
“Merry Christmas everybody!” Dredger walked in, followed by twenty from my old gang.
So much for my quick strategy. Damn!
Shiera held my hand tight.
“Only twenty? Hmm. And counting you and the legendary slayer here, we got twenty-two of you Blood Suckers right in front! Where are the remaining ones, Dredger? Waiting at home, praying for Daddy’s safe return?” Abbas made his presence echo in the room.
Abbas and Dredger faced each other, like two opposing Tyrannosaurs waiting for a first move.
“We are more than enough to rip you and your five clowns into twenty-two pieces,” Dredger told Abbas. Then he looked sideways – where I was, and said, “Marc, make sure she doesn’t interfere. Will deal with her later.”
Abbas leaned closer to Dredger’s face. “You say six? O Dredger… count again.” Abbas clapped and twenty more Heaven Flyers appeared out of thin air.
Shiera immediately rushed ahead and stood between Dredger and Abbas. “Look, we don’t need to blow things out of proportion. Let’s take a minute and talk things out before you all jump into massacring one another.”
I turned to my old gang. “No one touches her.”
Dredger burst out laughing. “You… You… Hear that, guys? Marc is going to protect… HER!” The gang joined his laughter. Together they sounded like a roaring thunder.
I got the joke. A Blood Sucker fighting to defend a Heaven Flyer – that was bound to be funny for both the sides. Strangely, all the wings were quite.
“Dredger, you’re mistaken. She’s not like any of them. She’s different. I stay with her. I know her. Trust me. She’s different,” I said.
“Of course, she’s definitely different, you idiot. But you haven’t figured out the fun part yet, have you? Any guesses?” Dredger said.
I had never seen Dredger so cheerful before. Boy! He was getting a strong kick out of a silly irony.
Then I noticed Shiera. She was standing with her head hung low. Now that was really… odd.
Suddenly, one of the Heaven Flyers sprang at Dredger. And instantly someone from the opposite side hurled towards that Heaven Flyer, and slammed him on the floor. There, the fight broke out even before any orders were given.
Two Heaven Flyers rushed towards me. But Shiera pounced at them, and banged them to the nearby wall. One female, from Dredger’s side, went for Shiera. I grabbed her by the neck and held hard with all my might.
Our house started to fall apart. People were busy punching, kicking, and stabbing each other’s opponents.
Then a few Heaven Flyers vanished from sight, and, in the next instant, unexpectedly appeared behind Blood Suckers, clutching their throats. The Blood Suckers flipped and snapped like crocodiles, broke their attackers’ balance and pinned them down. Heaven Flyers did have the advantage of turning invisible, but the problem was it required strong concentration, making it difficult for them to remain invisible and fight rigorously at the same time.
Abbas and Dredger were locked into a ‘mano-e-mano’ scuffle. Shiera was fighting with her kind and I with mine. In the absence of high-powered strength, I was completely dependent on techniques, which was fine to a certain extent. But with these guys, strength mattered. I had to think fast. I wasn’t capable of standing the fight for long. But everyone’s actions were so swift and lethal, that I couldn’t pause to think, or even blink.
With every blow, thrown or received, I’d keep checking Shiera’s situation. She was battling her way to reach me. It was becoming more and more obvious that this was going to be the end of us.
Just then, Abbas noticed that his side was becoming weak. I might not have managed to cause much harm to my clan, but Shiera was doing enough to damage hers.
“STOP!” Abbas shouted.
His guys halted, but the others didn’t.
“Dredger. Stop them. This is not worth it.” Abbas spoke to Dredger.
“Why? We are winning,” Dredger said.
“For how long? Right now, with her fighting us, you might have the edge. But she isn’t fighting Heaven Flyers, she’s fighting Marc’s attackers. Soon that’s going to be your people. These two lovers don’t care for any of us. You and I can settle our difference later, for now we need to focus on them.”
Dredger immediately signaled his side to halt, too. They halted by throwing one last blow.
“So what do you propose?” Dredger asked Abbas.
“Thinking,” Abbas said. “I had something in mind earlier but now watching them – your legendary warrior’s vanity and her arrogance – I want to reward them more generously.”
“You should’ve listened to me the last time,” Dredger told Abbas. “If she couldn’t be faithful to us, what made you think she’d be any different with you?”
What? What the hell is he talking about? I looked at Shiera, who was staring at me with watery eyes.
“Hard to admit, but you were right, Dredger. Anyway, that Blood Sucker is still of some use to you, while she’s proven to be completely useless even to herself. So let’s reveal the truth to him, then he’ll take care of her for us. And after that, he’ll obviously return to you. We’ll call it a good day’s work, bid farewell to each other, and I’ll have his head some other day,” Abbas said.
“Excellent! Works perfectly for me,” Dredger told Abbas. And then he stomped towards Shiera. “So, Natása, the game is simple now. If you two fight us, you both get killed. The only other option: You tell Marc the truth. He kills you; we forgive him and take him back. See what happens when you betray your own?”
Natása?
“Hey, I guess it’s high time someone talks to me. Shiera!” I had enough of those fill-in-the-blank discussions.
I was definitely interested in knowing what they were talking about, but this was not the right moment to chase questions. This was the right moment to escape. After a good fight, nobody seemed alert. And with the whole discussion between Dredger and Abbas, everyone was expecting some kind of strong drama. A perfect window of opportunity. Shiera was barely ten feet away. All she had to do was smartly and tactfully reach me.
“Please let me do it my way,” Shiera told Abbas and Dredger.
“Good! Just keep walking straight, sweetheart”.
If someone were to gauge the situation and start thinking the way I was, the window of opportunity would be slammed shut. Luckily, no one interrupted her, and she made it to me. “I love you. I love you a lot and I’m sorry for everything.” She repeated that once more and cried in my arms.
I was dead silent. She appeared extremely upset. With all eyes focused on us, it was highly difficult for me to give her any signal or clue.
She kissed me, took my hands and placed my palms on the sides of her head. I knew she was about to do one of her mind-tapping things. Maybe this time transfer something from her mind to mine. Not the right time! How do I convey to her to use the other power? I kept thinking. And then it hit me.
“Wait. Before you do anything, I want you to kiss me once more, just the way you kissed me at the beach. That long, passionate kiss which had made me feel like a bad-kisser compared to you. Please, just once, kiss me exactly that way, and later do whatever you want to do,” I said, counting on her memory to recall the right details of that kiss.
She took a deep breath and kissed me. And in a blink of an eye, we were gone. I bet a lot of jaws must have dropped at that moment!
9. IN THE BEGINNING.
Along with my house, my whole world was falling apart. Marc deserved his revenge but the decision to leave him wasn’t easy. I didn’t care for my life – I cared for him, and I was about to shatter his heart into pieces with the truth. The days I’d spent with him were the best days of my life. And in return, I was going to leave him in pain. I wanted to handle the whole thing in a different way. But Dredger and Abbas left me no option.
Last time, I had made Marc relive the most painful times of h
is life. And now, it was my turn to relive my past choices and mistakes.
I kissed him, took his hands and placed the palms at the sides of my head. I was about to…
“Wait. Before you do anything, I want you to kiss me once more, just the way you kissed me at the beach. That long, passionate kiss which had made me feel like a bad-kisser compared to you. Please, just once, kiss me exactly that way, and later do whatever you want to do,” Marc said.
I was stunned, because I knew exactly what he meant. How fast could he think?! Made sense. I had to confess the brutal truth to him, but that didn’t mean I had to let the two clans take advantage of the situation.
So I kissed him the way he had asked to. And we were now on an island.
Marc hugged me tight. “I’m so glad we came out safe.”
“I’m glad you are safe,” I said. “But what if they catch us again?”
“Hmm. That’s a tricky question. Well, maybe next time we won’t be able to escape. But until then we can continue to live happily. I’m far more comfortable with a short-and-sweet life with you, rather than roam as a haunted soul for eternity,” he said.
“Wise thought. Fine. I’m game for the short-and-sweet life. But I still have to confess to you the truth. And after that you might not even want to see my face,” I said.
“If there’s such a truth, then promise me - you’ll never ever reveal it to me. I don’t know how dreadful that truth is, but I could strongly feel fear in my stomach, when back there you three were talking about it. And trust me – I am intrigued. But I don’t want anything to come between us, not even me.” He paused for a moment and took me in his arms. “You know, I think somewhere deep down I’ve already deduced what it is, but maybe I don’t want to consciously accept it. So whatever that truth is and whatever century or era it belongs to, let’s just forget all about it.”
This guy was unbelievable!
We started our life again, never staying at one place for long. Maybe, that’s what destiny wanted from us, to keep moving around all the time from one place to another, or perhaps that’s the cost we immortals are bound to pay for love. But he’s never complained, and neither have I.
I often tried to check with Marc if he wanted to know truth. But Marc was happy with Shiera, he cared a damn about anything else.
As for me, once in a while the past does come haunting me in my nightmares, I can’t do anything about it. In those nightmares, I relive my past; witnessing every moment as if it’s happening right now. Here’s how my nightmares look:
It’s a late evening in the winter of 1907. I’m busy plucking apples, standing amidst a huge orchard. Not much light around, just a faint generosity scattered by the moon from the cloudy sky. Yet I move freely from tree to tree, filling a nearby basket. I’m hungry, need feeding. I fetch my Sanguiser and start pricking the collected apples, one by one. Once the whole basket is done, I sit down to peacefully relish my meal. But it’s not the right time to sit peacefully, I have an unexpected visitor.
The KILL alarm rushes through veins. I jump up to locate the Heaven Flyer who has triggered the alarm. I scan the whole place, carefully examining the surrounding trees.
“Natása.” Someone calls my name, in a calm and soothing voice.
I keep darting my eyes all over, to track the source of that female voice.
“Natása, you don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m here only to talk. I mean no harm and I’m completely alone – just like you are,” the voice says.
“Really? Then why don’t you show yourself and let me be the judge!” I scoff, trying to hide my rising fear.
“So be it!” Anahita, one of the supreme Heaven Flyers, appears in front of me, dressed in a blue, silk-chiffon gown. The crystal and silver embellishments, on her dress, add to the glow of her face. But her true beauty dazzles from the huge, white wings fluttering on her back. Her presence illuminates the small patch of land where we both are.
I take another good look all around, to check for any signs of ambush.
Anahita patiently waits for me to settle my fear and suspicions.
“Why are you here, Anahita?” I ask.
“As I said, I want to talk to you,” she says.
“I thought our eternal deal is to kill one another at the very first sight,” I say.
“And, yet, we both are here, just standing,” she smiles with the warmth of an elderly, caring woman.
“What sort of a game are you trying to play with me?” I’m not used to Heaven Flyers talking without a tone full of contempt.
“All right, I need you to see something. I’m going to place my hands over your head for a minute. It won’t bring you any harm. I give my word,” she says, without taking a single step forward.
“And why would I allow that?” I’m intrigued and confused.
“Will you just listen to me for once, young lady? Please.” She clasps her hands.
“Young lady?”
“No matter, how many years you count to yourself, you are way younger to me. You have your reasonable fears, I have mine. But that doesn’t mean we can’t share a single thread of trust,” she says.
I take my own sweet time think to about it. She patiently waits, without uttering another word.
I make a seemingly-foolish decision and walk to her. She holds my head and says, “I’m going to give you a vision of a possible future which could be yours. I want you to take a glimpse of it and cherish the experience, before I tell you the purpose of my visit.”
I’m reluctant, yet I allow her to do what she wants do. I blink and the place around me changes. It’s no longer a nighttime, instead there’s a bright and colorful morning. I panic. Years of fear of sunlight kicks in hard. I want to run and hide, but I’m unable to move. I have no control over my body or whichever body I’m in. Slowly the fear of sunlight begins to settle and I become a part of the wonderful morning.
There is sunlight, bright sky, and flowers around. I look at the color of the flowers. They seem so gorgeous in daylight. Then I see small children playfully running all over the place. They giggle, make faces and even tease one another. The smile on their faces turns out to be contagious and it easily spreads on my cheeks, lips and eyes.
I smile.
Nearby, there are few women chatting among themselves, and there a few couples, sitting, holding hands. Then, someone holds me from behind, wrapping his manly arms around my shoulders, and kisses my neck. I stand confused and uneasy. He continues to kiss and caress my neck with his lips. Somehow, I start liking it and slowly I lose myself in his warm embrace. Now he begins to kiss my cheeks and nibbles my ear. I throw my head back. And suddenly I realize I’ve gained the control back over my body. I hasten to turn and see his face. But the moment I turn, I find myself back in the orchard.
Anahita pats my head and takes a step back. I feel alive in a way I had never felt before.
“What was this?” I ask Anahita, breathing hard.
“During the last battle, I saw you help that woman escape with her kids. Poor humans, they are so wrongly caught between us. And in that fight, when my kin were more concerned about eradicating their enemies rather than protecting the humans around, I saw you save human lives by risking yourself. Both the sides have fought for so long that they have started to enjoy it. It’s hard to bring a change. But seeing you, I realized there is hope,” Anahita says.
“I’m confused,” I tell her.
Anahita points to the Sanguiser pricked on one of the apples in my basket. “That night, I intentionally left the Sanguiser next to you, pretending that I had accidentally dropped something very valuable. We had offered the Sanguiser as a solution to your ancestors but they threw it back in our faces. I knew that once you’d hold it, you’d come to understand its power. Also, the Sanguiser helped me to keep an eye on its possessor. From the day you picked it, I’ve known your complete whereabouts. I’ve seen you use the Sanguiser, and I know you haven’t tasted a single drop of blood since you got it. You are the first
to fulfill its purpose of creation.”
“I still don’t understand what do you want from me?” My eyes turn moist, learning the fact that there’s someone who actually bothers about me.
“Natása, you can have all those wonderful gifts of life, which I just made you see,” Anahita says, holding my hand.
“You can turn me human again?” I ask.
“I’m sorry, child. No one has the power to do that. But I can grace you into becoming one of my own. I will convince Abbas. I know him. He will pardon you. We’ll perform our rituals, get rid of all the immoral blood inside you, and you will have a new life. And you will not be obligated to accompany us in any battles,” she says.
“Even before I get to the difficult part of convincing Dredger to do what you just said, let me just ask you one simple question. What exactly do you need in return? By any chance, if you expect my help to ambush my entire clan, then you’ve gravely misunderstood me, Anahita.” I free my hand from hers.
“No, dear. I’m not here to handle war strategies. I have seen enough. Both our clans can’t see the obvious truth. We belong to another age and it’s our time to become extinct. Look at the numbers we have reduced ourselves to. And both sides aren’t going to stop until they wipe each other out. Humans seem weak to us, but they are nature’s next option. They’ll make mistakes, learn and go ahead. Or nature will come up with another option. I just don’t want to burden them with any additional misery, which they don’t deserve. Now, you and I both know that we two are the last ones left, on both the sides, who can extend the war by adding more soldiers of misfortune. So all I ask is that, given the effort Dredger is taking to finish me, whenever my time comes, you will abandon your clan. This sick game of conversions has to end and we can do it together. I have already stopped working ‘graces’ from my end. As for you, you have to make your own choice.”
My heart melts listening to Anahita. “Convincing Dredger won’t be easy. But if anything dreadful happens to you, I will do whatever I can.”
In less than a month, Anahita’s fears come true. Dredger manages to get to her, and he puts an end to the noblest Heaven Flyer I have known.
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