"You wouldn't take me here" I answer, defensively.
"And for a reason!"
I hear a noise at the other end of the big hall.
"Let him in dear, I am dying with curiosity here."
Abigail looks at me, still mad.
"Yes, you are famous here too."
I walk behind Abigail as she leads me through the house. We go past a beautifully wooden made kitchen and go straight into a beautiful and exquisite living room. There is a woman sitting on a black armchair and a man standing behind her, smoking. They both look to be around sixty years old.
"Hello Alexander, ever so pleased to finally meeting you" the woman says as she stands up to greet me in her house. She is wearing colorful clothing, and her hair is as messy as Abigail's. Her eyes though, are plain blue.
"You know me?"
"Of course we do" the man behind the armchair says "My name is James, young man, Barbra's husband."
"For now" Barbra adds to James's introduction of himself "He did not do the washing up last night." She is obviously joking, but her tone was so severe that I do not realize about the joke until I see them holding hands.
Abigail is so nervous that she keeps hitting the floor with the tip of her shoe and whenever she has the chance she takes a glimpse at the living room's window.
"What is wrong with you?" I ask finally.
"I will tell you what is wrong with me you little pain in the ass!" She uses her pointing finger to scare me even further. "You escaped!"
"Well, I obviously did not succeed."
She gets even closer.
"You don't get it, do you? I had to teleport to get here to find you. I may have been traced, they might be on the move just now. Do you realize what you have done?"
I remain silent for a couple of seconds, to give her time to catch some air.
"Well, you could just have waited for me to come back."
"I couldn't."
Everyone in the room is waiting for an explanation after that comment.
"Elizabeth and I grew up like sisters, Alex. I promised her I would look after you, that I would not lose sight of you or else I would give up my soul."
I don't know what she means, but her tearing eyes show her at her most vulnerable. I suddenly feel something in me, something I thought I would never feel for her, sadness.
"The most precious thing to a God is the soul, young boy" Barbra tells me from the armchair. "That is a commitment not many of them would do.”
"I only did it because Elizabeth is the only family I consider to have left, and personally, I don't care about her not becoming a God, but if she dies because you do something stupid, I will not forgive you, ever."
I have a feeling of regret that I have hardly felt before.
"I'm sorry" I say, finally.
It takes us a long time to start a new conversation. Everyone looks at me, and I don't know what to think, I just look back at them.
"I am sure you have some questions?" Barbra tells me after a while.
"Yes, I would like to know if Elizabeth ever came here."
"Indeed she did. That's how we know you. "
"What did she want?" My trembling voice gives away the buzzing in my stomach.
Barbra stands up and walks to a big desk standing at the corner of the room. She takes what it seems to be a copy of her book and hands it to me.
"How do you think I got to know all I wrote about?"
I give her a suspicious look.
"Exactly" she says "I am one of them" she looks at James and smiles back. "Do you remember how nice I looked back then dear?"
"Indeed I do."
"You should have said that I still look good!" she murmurs something I can't hear. "Husbands…" She says in the end.
I try to get her attention back by clearing my throat.
"Yes, sorry. Well, she knew that no mortal could know about all those things; the world of the Gods is strictly hidden from the world of the living, and half the things in the book are intentionally not accurate, precisely for that reason."
"Alright…" I say slowly, trying to understand the meaning of what she says as I say the word.
"She wanted to know how I managed to stay away from that, how I managed to get on living" She stops for a moment. "With him."
"Madness, if you ask me" Abigail breaks her silence.
"Why would you say such thing?" James seems surprised to hear her opinion.
"Have you heard what's going on? It is regency era, the underworld is on the move and it is impossible to break the rules."
"Well it was not impossible for us dear" It is impressive how Barbra keeps her smile and positivism all the time, I have been around her for least than an hour, and I already think that everything is possible. Perhaps the fact that she is living proof of it helps me realize that it is indeed possible. She gives me hope.
"Again, it is different times, and Elizabeth is a Mears. Nothing like what you had."
"It might be, but the context is the same" Barbra comes right at my side "she loves him far beyond her nature. That is the only thing it matters."
I look at Abigail, she can't find an answer to that, and neither can I.
"So how did you do that?"
"Well, young boy, it was a long time ago and nothing similar had ever happened, not that we knew of. I only was determined to be with James, no matter what. I did not care about living forever, what was the use of an eternal life, if living forever meant destroying the one thing I loved? So we found a way to beat the system, their system. "
I stand still, not moving, not breathing, I don't want to miss a bit of it.
"I stayed away from him, I had no contact with him, at all. I felt the connection between us going away, killing us both slowly and painfully. But after long months, I stood up against my leader, I told her that hers was not my world. I went away, to find James, and once our eyes met again I knew we had succeeded. My condition as an Immortal was something I left behind. I chose to live, to go on with him. We paired our souls in our own way, not living forever, but longer than any other mortal, together."
I feel my eyes watering again. She tried to keep me close, forever. I said things that I now regret, more than anything.
"But she failed" she states firmly.
That's what Elizabeth said.
"She could not let you go, she was too worried about you, for something that happened in your past and did not let you go on with your life. She always kept an eye on you, no matter how hard I tried to make her understand. "
"Then Mal came."
"Exactly, and she came back to you too."
The lady warms me with her arms, I am about to start shaking again, I have never felt so useless in my life.
"Now she tried to do it again, but it was too late, the night is close." She grabs my face with her wrinkled hands. "Have this in mind, Alex. The true dangers in life come from the people we hold dearest to our hearts, and not from our enemies. Not because they betray us, but because we can't bare the possibility of loved ones suffering, and we interfere."
We both interfered, me and Elizabeth. She saved me from Mal, twice, and now I have broken the promise to remain safe to come here.
"What do we do now?" I ask with a trembling voice.
"Go home, and hope for the best" James tells me from behind.
"And if we ever see each other again, we will stand at your side. None of us could turn our back to those going through what we ourselves had to do."
"Well darling, not all of us are Immortal, keep that in mind."
"Shut your mouth, dear" Barbra answers smiling, but with her eyes fixed on mine, and I swear I can see a glimpse of green light in them.
Barbra forces us to spend the night, she knows we have to drive back a long way and this has been an exhausting afternoon. We agree, not before calling back home and making sure that everything is alright. I sleep in the couch and let Abigail take the spare bed they have. I would not use a bed tonight, I have somethin
g inside me that keeps me awake all night, something I once called hope that now is more like a fear of hoping too much.
I don't dream today, I have no time for that.
When dawn wakes us, Barbra has prepared an extraordinary breakfast to give us the strength we need to complete our journey back.
"You do need all the vitamins you can take in, you look far too thin."
I smile at her, and eat everything on my plate. We are ever so grateful for what they have done for us, at least I am- Judging by her expression, Abigail obviously would have preferred for us not to meet.
After two more hours with them, discussing what we have gone through, Abigail decides that it is time to go back. So we stand up and walk towards the door. Once we open it, I know that something is wrong.
The tall and pale figure standing in front of me is a proof that something is really, really wrong.
Tristan is here.
CHAPTER 38
He is standing right in front of the car. I look at him not knowing what to do or say. Abigail remains by my side and I have the feeling that she is going through the exact same situation.
"Who might you be?" Barbra shouts from the other end of the corridor.
Tristan takes a long time before moving his feet towards us. He stops before going up the stairs and then he answers with his polite, and calm voice.
"I have been sent to warn them, lady."
"That does not quite answer my question" she implies.
"His name is Tristan, he and I shared leader, but that was a long time ago."
"You have not changed, Abigail" Tristan looks at her, as if he wanted her to vanish.
"Neither have you."
We all remain there for a long minute, then Barbra restarts the conversation once again, asking Tristan why is he there.
"Elizabeth sends me. It appears that our dearest Abigail went missing days after becoming a God, which is highly unusual, but on top of that, she did so the same day that our young fringe here did. I do not need to explain how curious Constance found the situation. "
"And when they received news of Abigail being here..."
"They are on the move. Elizabeth and Jay travel along with Constance, almost as hostages, Constance won't let the chance go away. Elizabeth sent me to warn you both."
"You mean you are not going to help them?" James shows up from Barbra's behind.
"And how might I? I have done exactly what was asked of me."
"Well, you could perhaps stay with them. We don't want the poor girl to kill the boy."
Tristan looks at me, I feel like if this was the first time we had ever met. Probably he does that on purpose, but it is getting weird.
"Indeed" he says.
"We got another romantic here" Abigail does not want to proceed with the conversation and so she walks to the car.
Tristan does not answer, but the look in his eyes tells us all that Abigail is right.
"I won't leave, for now.”
Barbra and James hug me; I feel the comfort of their company once more. They give me strength not to surrender.
"Drive carefully. Don't use your Goddish tricks. "
We get into the car, Abigail is already at the wheel and the engine is roaring silently. She looks at both of us as she starts the car. We go up Middle Street and before I can notice we turn left, go past the city hall and leave the city with less difficulties than when I first entered it.
"You are obviously hiding something from us" She keeps her eyes on the road, but the tone of her voice is highly increasing.
"Indeed. Elizabeth is afraid that they are not the only ones who sensed you."
I know what that means, there is no need to use names. Abigail changes gears and we start going faster. I am sure that nothing will happen, I don't need to be afraid for going so fast inside a car. Of course not; cars are safe, and especially when driven by a maniac who basically can't die. Alright, I'm in trouble.
I'm alright, I'm alright. Nothing's going to happen. Not today, this car is the safest place where I could possibly be. I need to keep telling that to myself for a long while before I can open my eyes again.
"What is our best move, then?"
"Best move?" Tristan mutters with his serious and lifeless voice. "You can't hide forever, you know that. We know each other, there's no hiding."
I know what Tristan means, I've seen it. Immortals can hide their true nature from those who are unfamiliar with them, just like Jessica did with Jay, that's why Mal never showed up around me when Jay or Elizabeth were near. They have us trapped, me and Elizabeth.
"So what do we do" I ask trying to hide all the fear trapped in me.
"We'll drive back, and we will think of something. I am not breaking my promise."
The car moves so fast that I can't focus on my thoughts. Tristan and Abigail talk about something that I can't or don't want to hear, I am not sure which of the two it is. I am just terrified once again for the possibility of my imminent death, or Elizabeth's.
Now that I get to spend more time with Tristan I look at him and I feel somewhat pity for the God. I know what it is not to be alright, but he seems miserable all the time, forgotten even, nothing but a pale memory of what the young Immortal hidden inside him once was. I won't ask about it, it's none of my business and the last thing I want is an awkward situation with whom has been sent to help us undo our wrong, somehow.
"You know what I just can't get?" Abigail shouts out after a long silence. "Why would the old woman write that book? I mean, it's just stupid isn't it? It's not even telling the truth!" She laughs as she mentions it. But her broken voice tells me that she just wanted to break such an awkward silence.
However, why indeed would Barbra write the book? Perhaps it was a way of warning the world that something else was out there, something that we could never come to imagine. Maybe, just maybe, she has been of great help to many other Mortal Fringes, just like she has been to me and Elizabeth.
The hours go by and the car is getting more and quieter. The three of us are thinking of ways of postponing the inevitable, unsuccessfully. I know that Abigail blames me for this whole thing, not just for being back in the States with me, but for the whole situation. I am sure that if it had been her choice I would probably be chained to a tree, awaiting for the moment that Elizabeth had to become a God, more or less like Constance would. Thankfully, she is closer to Elizabeth than to Constance. However, on the other hand, I do see desperation on Tristan's eyes. I am not sure it is for me, as I guess it has to do with Elizabeth, but he is really trying to come up with something. It comes from his heart, no matter how cold he is, he wants to help, why else would he have stayed with us?
"We will need people" he says finally, with his fingers touching his forehead. "That's how we avoid them."
They both start a new conversation that it is far too complicated for me, it's not about logistics, but tradition instead, their own tradition as Gods. In the end, I pick up what I consider to be important, which is the same thing Barbra told me when I walked into her house. The world of the Gods is highly forbidden for those who are foreign to it. If we can stick around people, we should be fine. Gods would never put themselves on a vantage point.
Night is falling upon us when we reach my house door. Abigail has parked the car a couple of blocks away just in case, it feels like we are in a gangster film. I am about to open the door when I remember that only two of us left, and now we are three.
"What do we tell her about Tristan?"
"He is a distant relative of mine that you wanted her to meet."
"Why would I…"
"Shut up and open the door" she cuts me.
I open the front door and the creaking gives us away. My mom is right in front of us in less than a minute, smiling but with a hint of anger in her face.
"Did you guys have fun?" she asks, and I know that she is not being nice, the irony in her voice is something only I could notice.
"It was terrible, the weather was c
ompletely atrocious. We should not have gone at all, after all. Isn't that right, dear?"
"Of course" I blush, “But at least we got your cousin out of there."
"Louise I would like you to meet Tristan, he is my uncle's son, we are just now going to find him a place to stay.”
"Don't be ridiculous, there's a spare bed on the basement.”
"Alex, your mom is just the best, I will steal her from you" she says.
I smile, my mom expects me to say something but instead I just grab her hand and walk with her to the living room. With my free hand, I point to the stairs and I can see Abigail and Tristan going up to my room.
"I am terribly sorry for leaving so unnoticed."
"Don't ever do that to me again Alexander Stills, never has “she hugged me “I was dying with anxiety. What if something had happened to you? I"
"I'm sorry, mom. I really am."
"I can't lose another son," she cries. "I'm glad you are home. My little boy"
She always called me that, her little boy.
I kiss her goodnight and go up to my room. Abigail and Tristan are talking and they suddenly stop doing it the moment I walk in. Quite obviously, they were talking about me, but I don't force them to tell me about it. I just lie on my bed and try to think about anything that I could use to help us. Anything at all.
My mother's words are still on my head. I hate myself for what could happen if Constance finds us. I keep my eyes closed, trying to retain the image of her face telling me that she can't lose me; that, I hope, will give me all the strength in the world to never give up.
With the buzzing of Abigail's and Tristan's talking, I fall asleep. I don't think I will dream today, not after knowing that they might be after us right now, because I just realized what that means.
When I wake up in the morning, I will only have a day left to live.
CHAPTER 39
I can't eat today, it's like the food can't go passed my mouth. The nerves are driving me mad and even though I am trying to do my best to hide it, I can't say it works the way I'd like. Abigail and Tristan are sitting in front of me, they both look as frustrated as I do. It is a silent meal.
The Mortal Fringe Page 18