Pulse of Heroes

by A. Jacob Sweeny

  “When we’re physically close to someone we sense more than just their temperature or heart rate. We sense their hormone levels. Humans do too, but nothing compared to us. You see, every time you and Elliot messed around he knew exactly how much you wanted him or not, so if you tried to act shy and pull away from him, he knew you were playing games.” Michelle thought about the many times she had wished Elliot’s hands were all over her, and how badly she wanted to feel his weight on top of hers. How embarrassing! Why did he act so innocent with her? It was all a lie. Michelle became distraught at this latest revelation, and Haden told her that he could sense her cortisol level rising as fast as her blood pressure. “You are stressed and your sugar levels are going up. I have upset you again. I didn’t mean to, I was only being honest as always. I bet that if you let me hold you and kiss you right now you’ll feel better.” Michelle was too embarrassed to admit that he was right. She wanted him to take her in his arms and kiss her while she felt his warm touch. “Ask me,” he taunted her. “Go ahead, just say the words, will you please kiss me,” he whispered to her with his breath on her face. But Michelle could tell that he just wanted her to beg for him. She had only begged once in her life, and that was when she pleaded with Elliot not to leave her. Haden took Michelle’s hand and his eyes began glowing brighter. She immediately felt the familiar rush of warm sensations spreading throughout her body. Elliot used to do that to her and she loved it. But now she was fighting it with all her might. “Say it, Michelle. Just ask me real nice. You are a very strong girl, I admit that.” Michelle was so dizzy that she had to close her eyes.

  “You’re not being fair. I don’t want to say it,” she slurred. Haden held Michelle by her waist and she couldn’t take it anymore. “Just do it already. Kiss me,” she blurted out in anger and defeat. But Haden didn’t kiss her, and instead jumped off the bed leaving Michelle an emotional mess.

  “Now you know your place. I’ve had enough of your little girl games. We’ll finish this business later, you and I, but I’ve got more important things to deal with right now.” Haden quickly got dressed and slipped out the door while Michelle thought of every name in the book to call him.

  Elliot’s eyes were bloodshot. He hadn’t closed them in three days, not even to let them rest. And his facial expression hadn’t changed much either. There was a constant humming in his ears and a feeling in his stomach that was something between excitement and nausea. He might have felt all those things and more, but his absolute focus championed over them. No one was going to say anything to him because there was nothing to say. Each of them had lived through many loses and no amount of sympathy or encouragement was going to help the situation. Truth was that their type didn’t need to sleep the way humans do, and under these circumstances sleep just wasn’t an option. Elliot spent hours thinking about what it was that Hadeno wanted from him. Why was it such a big deal that Elliot bring him the tablet himself? Maybe Hadeno didn’t think anybody else knew where it was, or if Elliot sent it with someone else there would be no guaranteeing its authenticity. Why Michelle? Why did Hadeno have to result to kidnapping an innocent girl who knew nothing about such things? Elliot tried not to think about Michelle’s state of mind; he only hoped that she was unharmed. When Devin called Rion from Paris while they were in-between flights, Rion told him that Michelle was not helping the situation and that was all he was going to say. When Devin relayed that information to Elliot he was at a complete loss. What was she thinking? Elliot tried to put himself in Michelle’s shoes. It had been three weeks since he had last seen her, and not a day had gone by that he didn’t wonder how she was doing. But there had been so much to do, and it wasn’t until they received the photo that they had figured out that Hadeno was behind everything, including the murders of their friends.

  When the black Range Rover pulled into the small driveway Mikoto thought that Haneul had returned without the mattresses, but when he stepped out of the house he saw Devin in the driver’s seat with Elliot next to him. “You look like crap,” Mikoto said to Elliot, patting him on the back.

  “Yeah, nice seeing you too, Mikoto,” Elliot replied, smiling for the first time in weeks. Ando and Mikoto were introduced just as Haneul pulled up in the other Range Rover, and they all headed into the house, each carrying several heavy bags and suitcases. The first thing they did was clear off the large dining room table and carefully lay out all the weapons they had gathered. Ando had his hammer axe and his Hrotti sword, and Devin lay out his fist held dagger, a throwing star with several blades, and a short sword. Elliot had only his personal bone-handled dagger and he felt quite inadequate without his sword. Rion was to bring him a replacement sword and his short spring spear. Haneul brought out his Baekje dragon ring pommel sword, although he favored his Buyeo dagger with its elaborate carved stone handle because he excelled in close body combat.

  Mikoto walked around the table smiling. “Not bad for a bunch of old guys.” He then reached into his own bag, and pulled out what looked like a beautiful hand held fan. Elliot leaned over to get a closer look, while Devin joked that he was jealous that Mikoto didn’t bring one for him too.

  “What is this? Are you planning to fan the guy to death?” Ando added, laughing. Only Elliot didn’t laugh. Mikoto handed him the fan and Elliot spread its leaves open to reveal a beautiful scene depicting a young Japanese woman in royal garb sitting beneath a blossoming tree and feeding two swans in a pond; one black and the other white. But the fan wasn’t made out of rice paper or bamboo; it was made out of thin sheets of metal and when Elliot ran his fingers along the edge they bled immediately.

  “I wouldn’t do that too deep my friend,” Mikoto said, taking the fan back and collapsing it closed. “It’s made out of the same alloy as the others.” Elliot’s eyes grew wide and bright as he licked the blood off his fingers.

  When Ando saw Rion’s smirking face enter through the front door he asked what had gotten into him? Rion replied that it was good to be the king.

  “For a day or two, maybe three tops. After that, I say it’s a nightmare,” was Ando’s reply.

  Everyone was inside the house besides Elliot who hadn’t spoken to Rion since he had slammed the phone down on him, as Rion’s demeanor had unnerved him. While everyone got settled inside, Rion went outside to speak to Elliot alone, and when he saw his condition he realized that Elliot was seriously hurting. Elliot thanked him for going to look for Michelle at the festival, and for lending him his sword. He told him that he needed to know what was going on with Michelle, and asked him not to spare him any details because he could handle anything as long as she was unharmed. Rion sat down and put his legs up on the stone table. He cracked open a Romanian beer and took a deep gulp.

  “Michelle is fine. I don’t think he’s harming her per se, but she was definitely drugged when I saw her.” Elliot felt his hands clenching into fists and he knew his eyes were glowing.

  “What else?” he asked, trying to maintain a calm voice. Rion took another sip.

  “Hadeno is still the same ass I remember him to be, and unfortunately for you, Michelle seems to be pretty smitten with him.” Elliot took in a deep breath and felt the back of his teeth grinding against one another. Rion continued to tell Elliot that he obviously didn’t know what goes on in any woman’s mind, but Michelle was acting as if she thought the whole thing was some sort of a game.

  “The problem is that Hadeno is not playing, and he is very well aware of Michelle’s state of mind. I wouldn’t put it past him to have already taken advantage of the situation, to put it mildly. Although she would be a willing victim, if that makes any sense.” Elliot nodded and asked if Michelle knew that he was on his way, but Rion told him he didn’t think she had believed him.

  “Why would she?” Elliot asked bitterly. “It was wrong of me to leave her like that.” Rion wasn’t going to say anything. He had already told Elliot what he thought, and it didn’t need repeating.

  “She’s trying to get back at you that she’s wit
h another one of our kind. She’s smart enough to know that you wouldn’t feel threatened by a high school boy, so now she’s with the dark prince Casanova himself. And from looking at you right now, I would say the little girl is succeeding.” Rion finished the rest of his beer in a long gulp, smashed the can against the stone table, and walked back into the house. Elliot’s anger was peaking again, and not knowing what else to do, he started attacking the stone table, punching it over and over again until he realized that the rest of the guys were all outside staring at him.

  “I’m heading over there! I can’t just sit here, waiting for what? If Hadeno wants me then I’ll come to him, but he’ll regret the day that his bitch mother gave birth to him!”

  Rion protested, “If he sees any of us there, he threatened to hurt her.”

  “That son of a…” Elliot began, but Ando cut him off saying, “He most likely just wants you to rush there in urgency. If he does hurt her, what else would he have to bargain with? He wants the tablet right?”

  “What if she doesn’t want to come with you?” Mikoto asked. “If Rion is right and she likes him, she might turn on us instead.”

  “She’ll come with me. I’ll convince her. She loves me, that I am sure of.”

  “Lets hope you’re right,” Rion said.

  “She is a good girl,” Haneul agreed, and so did Devin. Elliot was enthused by his friends’ support; now all they needed to do was come up with a plan.

  It was bright outside, and Michelle reached for another glass of water. She noticed some sediment in the bottom of the glass and dipped her finger in it; gritty, yellowish white powder. When she poured the water out of the vase she saw the same sediment there as well. Haden was drugging her! No wonder she was sleeping so much and couldn’t remember everything. She needed to get out of there. She washed her face in cold water, hoping that that would help with the grogginess. As she returned to the bedroom she caught an image of herself in the mirror. She looked awful, and the dress she was wearing - she guessed Haden must have put it on her while she was passed out - was much too long for her and dragged on the floor. She bunched up the corner of the skirt and tied it in a knot to shorten it. She had no idea where her clothes were, but at least she found her shoes and put them on. She put her ear up against the door to see if she could hear anything from outside, but after waiting a few seconds and hearing only silence she turned the door handle and shoved. The door didn’t swing open. She had pretty much expected that, but didn’t realize that the idea of being locked in would cause her such panic. That bastard had bolted it from the outside. What if no one besides him knew that she was there? Michelle began banging on the door and calling for anyone to let her out. She probably did that for ten minutes straight, but gave up because her fists were bruised. Michelle’s breathing was shallow and irregular. Was she having an anxiety attack? Her head was spinning from the lack of oxygen so she tried to calm herself down and told herself to think logically about the situation. Haden was obviously a jerk, but he wasn’t going to leave her there to starve to death. For God’s sake, he had kissed her only a few hours ago and brought her food to eat. Michelle walked over to the window and realized that it was covered with black iron bars. She tried her luck in the bathroom, but the windows there were all the same. The only one that didn’t seem to have any bars was the giant round stained glass window above the bathtub. But that window was at least 20 feet above the floor. There was no way on earth she could ever reach such a height.

  Defeated, Michelle walked back out to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what her next move should be. Her aunt was surely expecting her to arrive back home soon. If she didn’t, her parents would be calling the police when they got back from Austria. But where would they search? And what if they did find her? They would also find out that she spent the night not with Marika, but with a guy instead. They would never believe her that she didn’t actually do anything; they would look down on her. Michelle wished she could just close her eyes and rewind time, maybe to before she decided to climb over that stupid wall at Hekademos. “Oh Elliot,” she said with a sigh, wishing that he would appear out of thin air. He would make everything all right. How she longed to see his beautiful eyes. A tear rolled down Michelle’s cheek. After what she did with Haden, Elliot would never want her back. She wouldn’t want herself back either. Elliot would be disgusted by her cheap behavior. She was no longer the same girl he met; she could feel it. When Michelle thought about the wonderful times she had spent with Elliot, those memories seemed like they were light years away. That girl was a different Michelle; she was happy and calm, and always went with what her heart told her. Now, she didn’t even know who she was.

  Chapter 17

  Elliot sat on the couch across from the large table nervously opening and retracting his spring-loaded short spear for what seemed like hours. His mind wandered to when Yael, a young woman he was very much sweet on, had given it back to him after killing Sisera. Yael was already married, although sometimes he would still come visit her. But nothing had ever developed of their feelings for one another because Elliot was not the type to disrespect another man by taking his wife. Back then, the Israelites were at war with their brothers the Canaanites, constantly fighting over land. Yael had become scared since the fighting had moved closer to her home, and because she was alone much of the time and had no means of protection, Elliot left the short spear with her just as he and Kahl went to join Deborah’s ranks; she was an amazing woman who led her people better than any man had up until then.

  Elliot wondered if Michelle had the same resolve as Yael. She was twenty years old when she brought victory to her people by her simple act of courage. Could Michelle have done the same? He feared not. Michelle was somewhere laid out in the lion’s den, and she had no idea that she was sleeping with the enemy.

  The sound of the cell phone roused Elliot from his far-away thoughts. It was Xander, calling from California. After a brief exchange, Elliot hung up the phone and stood by the table in silence. His breathing began to speed up and his eyes changed hues, alerting Rion.

  “Who was that?” Rion asked. Everyone was waiting on Elliot to speak.

  “Francesca is dead,” Elliot said, looking at Rion. Rion’s face showed no emotion but Elliot knew he was distraught because he did his long double blink, something that Elliot picked up on every time Rion was sad.

  “How?” Rion asked after a moment of silence.

  “We were just there less than 48 hours ago, and you told me she seemed fine,” Devin added, looking at Elliot in confusion.

  Elliot told them that Mr. Meyer found her when he went to deliver her groceries. She was lying on the floor, still in her nightgown. The coroner said that she seemed to have died of a mild heart attack which was not uncommon for someone her age, but after talking to Mr. Meyers himself, Xander thought it strange that Francesca’s wedding photo album was laid out open on the floor right next to her body. What’s more, one of the photos was missing. Xander knew about the photograph of Elliot at the wedding, and although he didn’t see which photo was missing from the album, he had a strong suspicion that that was the one. He assumed that Hadeno’s men must have found out about Francesca through somebody in town. Maybe Hadeno had not trusted Rion’s words about Elliot being on his way.

  Elliot felt horrible and his jaw tightened. An innocent, lovely woman was now dead because of him. “This has to stop!” Elliot yelled, pounding his fists against the table. The waiting was driving him crazy. What if Michelle was next? Elliot agreed with everyone that he shouldn’t drive out to Alba Iulia until dusk. Problem was that it was summertime and the sun didn’t set until around 9:00 PM. He still had four hours to go. Devin walked to where Elliot stood and put an arm around his friend. “We must have led them to her,” Elliot said in a sad beaten voice. “We’re a curse on people.”

  Michelle heard a quiet knock on the bedroom door, then heard someone trying to open it. She couldn’t have been more grateful to get th
e hell out of there. But after a few tries from the outside the door still didn’t budge. Michelle asked thorough the crack who it was and Vilna answered in a whisper. “It’s locked from the outside and I don’t have a key. But don’t be scared. I’ll find a way to get it from him.”

  Michelle didn’t know if she should believe anything that Vilna said anymore. She’d had a lot of time to think about the situation and she couldn’t help but conclude that Vilna was guilty for her imprisonment.

  “You lied to me and I trusted you. And now I’m stuck here, thanks to you,” Michelle said to her in a quiet but angry voice.

  Vilna didn’t answer right away and Michelle thought that she had left. But then Vilna told her that she didn’t mean for any of this to happen. “It was true. In the beginning I made friends with you because my brother asked me to. But after that I really like you, and he promised me that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. He swore to me on my mother’s grave.”

  Michelle found Vilna’s words empty. “And him locking me in here like this is not hurting me? He didn’t do this by mistake, did he now?”

  “I’m sorry, Michelle. No. But once Elliot comes he’ll let you go. He told me he wouldn’t touch you…”

  “Ha!” Michelle said, but then realized that it wasn’t as if she had completely resisted Haden's advances, so she didn’t say anything else. Vilna’s voice cracked a bit and she coughed. “Are you ok?” Michelle asked her.

  “Yes… I just cried so much and screamed. My voice is going. My brother said he didn’t kill Adi, but he can send his friends to do it. He sometimes does very bad things. And I hate him a lot.”