DARK FAÏZ Book 3: Dawn never keeps its promises

by Sandra L. Kiss

  "Where is he? Where's Ray?"

  "On the island of Sefiros, locked up, but well treated. He'll be released as soon as you leave with the Maestro's soul."

  He turned to me desperately looking for my gaze, but I didn't have the strength to look him straight in the eye.

  "Zoe, remember that night you called me for help, one night, after your shift at the campus cafeteria. Why do you think you didn't get attacked? They were there, lurking in the shadows, ready to protect you. Why was William so distant with them when he met them? Why was our departure for Eros delayed? We had to fabricate visas for them, a past, a life! In the cave on that island, who saved you from drowning?"

  "It's me! I saved myself."

  "Just remember. What happened?"

  I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, "I was unconscious. I found myself with Kushisake in a kind of desert of ashes and... just as she was about to take me away with her, hands came to pull me out of this world to bring me back to reality."

  "These hands, Zoe. You've seen them."

  I shook my head, pushing away the memories that were beginning to besiege me. I was there again, in front of Kushisake. Her face froze my blood. I looked down and it all came back to me in that moment. Asarys's hands curled around my waist to save me from the darkness.

  "On the big mountain," Lexy remembered. "You fainted when you and Ray were attacked."

  Asarys nodded and stood up slowly. I stuck my face against the metal curtain and the girls did the same.

  "I can't leave you," I crumbled.

  "Tell Ray I love him and..."

  "No, don't say goodbye to me, please!"

  "Zoe, you'll have to forgive. Don't let hate win. We'll always be here, close to you."

  "Think about Georgia," said Lexy, her eyes shining. "Make sure she doesn't forget about us and, above all, don't put us in your white box, on the shelf. We want to live on through you and your memories."

  I put a hand to my mouth to muffle my crying. It was as if a hot blade was piercing me. The flow of tears that was pouring couldn't stop. The girls looked at each other for a moment before taking a look at Faïz. He raised his eyes above my shoulder and nodded to the group of men waiting at the entrance.

  "Take care of her," whispered Asarys as she walked away from the curtain with Lexy.

  Faïz's arms closed again on me.

  "Don't touch me!" I shouted, holding the heavy gate with my fingertips.

  He lifted my body off the ground without difficulty. I kicked and screamed with all my strength. My rage, grief and anger had no limits. I struggled with rage, but Faïz was way stronger than me. Goareb firmly grabbed my ankles to help his partner get me out of there.

  "LET GO OF ME! LEAVE ME!"

  3:23 p.m. (local time Cartagena): Outside the cave, a flight of birds disturbed the heavy silence that reigned in this area of the mangrove. A few seconds later, cries of victory broke out on the rowboat. The American agents began their hugs while congratulating each other.

  Barthey, sitting in the back of the boat, lowered his head without being able to savor this bitter victory. A victory tainted by too many deaths. The emotion overwhelmed him, he then let himself go to shed a tear.

  1:23 p.m. (local time Los Angeles): Inside the FBI building, in one of the offices, David collapsed. He let out a cry of fury and pain. With his hands clasped, he asked for forgiveness. His words were muffled by sobs. He could hear the applause and whistling of his future colleagues in the corridors. The young man pounded his fists on the floor with rage before getting up and throwing everything he could find on the wall to release the overflow of rage he had contained for so long.

  11:23 p.m. (local time Sefiros): Ray, lying on his bed, looked up at the ceiling and tapped into his last resources to not fall asleep. Suddenly, he felt something leave him. Through the bars of his open window, a breeze had crept in. The wind caressed his face like the lips of a woman coming to kiss him. He rose abruptly and searched for his breath. The young man ran to his window and noticed that the starry sky was different that night. The features of his face became distorted, ravaged by grief. A gaping wound in his heart had just opened. Powerless, he let out a long, blood-curdling scream. The bleeding was painful. The ground slipped from under his feet and carried him to the deepest darkness.

  1:23 p.m. (local time Los Angeles): Charles took a worried look at Lily playing ball on the beach with Georgia, down of the Malibu house. The woman stopped and asked her granddaughter to build her a sandcastle. Her lips were shaking so much that she had to pinch them. She staggered over to her husband. Charles held his head in his hands, this time unable to comfort his wife. Lily groaned silently in her husband's neck. A vice seemed to compress her chest.

  Elijah, standing on the terrace, watched the scene, saddened by the news. He realized that he had become more attached to these two young women than he thought. He raised his head to the sky and felt that they had left in peace. It was time for him, too, to go away and join the other Anhels. But first, he decided to write a farewell letter to Zoe.

  3:55 p.m. (local time Cartagena): Barthey saw the small group of soldiers and Leviathans reappear at the entrance to the cave. He got up slowly. His heart was pounding. He began to hope that things had turned out differently. Yes, maybe he would see Lexy and Asarys come out of the cave with the others? Maybe...? His hope was shattered when he saw Faïz holding, with Goareb's help, a Zoe who was struggling like a possessed woman. Cries of despair were coming from her. The inspector then called one of the officers, "Prepare the haloperidol injection," he ordered with a heavy heart, "she's going to need it."

  17

  I didn't bother turning around when I heard the front door open. My hands continued to fold my clothes before putting them in the suitcase. When the sound of his footsteps stopped behind me, I blocked my breathing to avoid smelling his unique fragrance.

  "What time is your flight?" asked Faïz insecurely.

  "In the evening!"

  "My father has informed me that you're putting your house up for sale. You love this place..."

  "I loved it." My tone was hard, cynical, and I didn’t bother looking at him.

  Faïz brutally closed my suitcase, which startled me, and came and stood on the other side of the table, opposite to me. I immediately turned my face and closed my eyelids, refusing to face him, "You're being unfair, Zoe. Don't blame me for their disappearance. They were meant to go back."

  "You used me!"

  "We already had this conversation when we came back to L.A. several days ago."

  "That's why I'm leaving. We've already told each other everything."

  Now I stared at him sternly and coldly. He put his hands on the table and leaned towards me. I supported, without blinking, his gaze.

  "If it wasn't for Georgia, would you have asked me to take their place? Would you have sacrificed yourself to save them?"

  In front of my silence, myriads of emotions ran across his face. I turned my eyes away from his features, destabilized by his great fragility.

  "That's what I thought," he said, broken. "I, alone, I don't matter enough to you to fight for your life and us."

  My behavior was causing him to suffer martyrdom, I was aware of that. Only, my hatred for the whole world was far too great. The only person I was willing to see was Ray, but he too had disappeared. He preferred to grieve far away from here, and I understood that. This morning I had placed at the bottom of his front door the souvenir that Asarys had bought for him in Cartagena and which was still well wrapped in its paper, as she had wished. I might never see that gift that was so dear to her heart and which had been mocked by Lexy for a whole day.

  I reopened my suitcase and continued to put my things inside.

  "If I stay, I'll end up hating you. Is that what you want?" I faked my calm, "I need some distance, I need time."

  Faïz, distraught, ran a hand through his hair and approached me, "No, that's why I'm letting you go, but don't forget to come bac
k."

  Moved, I raised my head towards him and plunged my eyes into his and let myself be drawn by his irises as black and deep as the night.

  "I wish I could promise you that, but you should know that at the first light of dawn, the words of the day before unfortunately remain only words. The dawn has this unfortunate tendency to never keep its promises."

  "If you love me, you'll keep it," he murmured.

  Faïz came up to me and pressed his lips on my forehead. His pain pierced me. He took a deep breath and took the necklace with the pearls of Eros out of his pocket. The heart-shaped medallion had been replaced by a jewel as dark and beautiful as the previous one. Although my two friends were no longer part of this world, I felt their disapproving looks on me. I knew they would have wanted me to forgive, but I couldn't.

  As I was leaving, I grabbed the box where I kept the pictures. I noticed, to my surprise, that the padlock on it had disappeared. My fingers began to move, hesitating to open it. After a few seconds of reflection, I finally decided to take a look inside it and discovered a letter on top of the pile of photos. When I took it, a picture slipped on the floor. I crouched down to pick it up. A violent discharge paralyzed me and my tears began to run down my cheeks again. My heart, on the other hand, became a little more crushed. In the photo, taken at Victoria's birthday party, you could see William, Victoria, Ray, David, Asarys, Lexy, Faïz and me. I put the letter I hadn't read back in the box and cowered on the floor, shouting out my grief. Lily's words, spoken on the evening of that event, echoed in my head:

  "Do you mind? I'm taking a souvenir photo."

  A month

  Two months

  Three months

  Four months later in Paris.

  Shortly before sunrise, the birds could be heard singing in the still cool hours of this late summer morning, while a symphony of colors took place in the sky. Outside the house I watched the last stars turn off. This sight soothed me a little more each morning. Waking up had become less complicated in recent weeks. The suffering deep inside me had subsided, but my anger was still intact. I spent long hours thinking, staring into the void, rewriting the story, trying to find another scenario to change the ending.

  I squeezed my coffee cup tightly to warm my hands. The garden, which surrounded my father's house, was separated from his other neighbors by a small fence and a few trees. I was happy that he had settled here, far from the Parisian suburbs.

  I looked towards the house and saw him coming towards me with a shy smile on his lips. His layered haircut, ending halfway between his ear and his neck, went perfectly with his always neat, clean, impeccable look. He grabbed a chair and sat down beside me.

  "It's still early, Zoe."

  "I like this time of the day when it's not too hot yet. I had forgotten how difficult summer in Paris can be."

  While I was talking to him, I looked at his face. Small wrinkles had grown over the years in the corner of his eyes, on his sun-tanned skin.

  "Are you going back on a mission soon?" I asked with some apprehension in my voice.

  "That's the plan, daughter. I know you're worried and that's why I don't want you to stay in France. You need to be around people. Lily, Charles, and the one who can't be named are waiting for you and Georgia."

  "It's not like my daughter is cut off from her family. She video calls them every night."

  A broad smile appeared on his square jaw. His white teeth formed a striking contrast to the color of his skin, "It's her birthday in a few days. Ask yourself, Zoe. What would be the best present you could give her for her sixth birthday?"

  I turned my eyes away from him, "I'm afraid I'm not ready for this.”

  "That's why I'm going with you!"

  My head suddenly turned towards my father. I looked at him for fear I had misunderstood. He then took out of the back pocket of his trousers, three plane tickets.

  "I know losing your friends in that car accident was terrible for you. I'm not going to let you go through this alone. Not this time," he said, taking me by the shoulders. "You're going to get on with your life."

  "The deal is good to me," I said, huddling in his arms.

  "You need your job back, too. Working from home with your colleague Jul can't be a long-term solution. You love this job, too."

  After a few seconds of hugging, my father moved away from me, looking serious.

  "I opened your box of photos," he confessed, embarrassed, putting his hands in front of him as if to defend himself. "I assure you that I came across it by accident. There's this letter inside it that you haven't opened yet. I think it's the right time to do it."

  Before I had time to answer anything, my father handed it to me. A sharp pain suddenly oppressed my chest. The wound which was barely closed in my chest threatened to reopen again. I hesitantly picked up the paper, which was still intact.

  "I'll make Georgia's breakfast. If you need me, I'll be inside."

  Before leaving, my father said, "Nothing is more alive than a memory. These are the words of Frederico García Lorca. Nothing really dies."

  Zoe,

  I didn't say goodbye, and I'm sorry. You know how much I'm bad at these things. Don't be mad at me. I took the time before I left to break my heart in half to give you a half. I'm leaving a big part of me on Earth and believe me, it's harder than I thought it would be. I have changed my view of human beings that I used to find selfish and devoid of all feelings. That was the reason why I had abandoned my people. And then I met you... and the others.

  The sky is so pale now that I know you, and next to you the sun is a dying shadow. You have touched my heart with your true goodness. I have never loved as much as I have in these last few years and I have never been so afraid that one day I would have to leave you. I count on you to remind Georgia every day of how much I love her. The day she was born, when I held her in my arms for the first time, that day, she saved my soul. I'm glad to know that the dragon man will never again come to haunt her sweet dreams.

  Zoe, I have a favor to ask you. When you say my name again, give it all the light and gaiety it deserves. It's synonymous with happiness, don't give it sadness. You should know that tears burn our wings, it's one of the reasons why the Anhels don't show themselves in the eyes of your kind.

  Asarys, Lexy, and I are going back to our people. We take this immense adventure lived with you here below, to tell it in our worlds. It will travel through the centuries to become, over time, a true legend. And I, Elijah, will be the angel who once walked alongside the giants.

  With all my love, Eli.

  FAÏZ

  James was leading the meeting. Faïz stood and contemplated the panorama of New York City. He had difficulty concentrating on today's topic, and with good reason. It was Georgia's birthday. The thought of missing one more birthday made him very sad.

  "After this crisis, we must rethink our industrial policy," a member of the group intervened.

  Faïz turned to his interlocutors and, with a nod, asked Andy to continue. The young man, disinterested, then looked away to look at the view again. He was waiting for his daughter's phone call, hoping she would be happy with his gift. Maybe Zoe would even agree to talk to him on this special day? It's been such a long time. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, forcing himself to come back to this meeting he found boring, like everything else.

  "The protocol also applies to other microorganisms," Andy explained to his colleagues.

  "Does it meet the current standard?" asked Faïz who decided to finally come and sit at the table.

  Andy straightened up and cleared his throat. The sudden presence of his boss made him nervous. Just as he was about to answer, Gladysse appeared in the room, obviously embarrassed to interrupt the meeting.

  "Mr. Mattew, uh... I'm sorry. It's for you."

  "Is it the phone?" the hopeful young man asked.

  "No, it's not..."

  "I'm a little busy right now. Take the message and don't bother me again!"

 
He was counting on having a conversation with his assistant when this interview with the group was over, to avoid any further incidents of this kind in the future. There was no way he would tolerate such behavior.

  "Sir," Gladysse insisted in a trembling voice, trying to disregard the black eyes that shot her on the spot, "It's your daughter, she's here."

  A torrent of emotions followed one another on Faïz's face. He stood up suddenly, breathless, passing his two hands through his hair. His heart seemed ready to explode so much that his heartbeat accelerated in intensity.

  "Is Georgia here? In the building?"

  "Yes, in the corridor, sir."

  "Cancel the meeting, cancel everything!" cried the young man who was already rushing out.

  The world seemed to stop when he saw her in her pretty blue dress, talking to the employees who all seemed charmed by the little girl with long curly hair. Faïz could barely contain his emotion. The icy glow, present in his eyes for months, disappeared immediately. He watched Georgia for a little while until his pulse returned to normal, then he squatted down before calling out to her. When she saw him, she sprinted towards him and threw herself into his arms. With his head buried in her hair, Faïz held her tightly against him for fear that she might slip away from him again.

  "Look, I made a drawing for you," she whispered in his ear, "I told you I'd draw you when I knew your secret. Promises are important."

  She handed him a sheet of paper with a house and three characters with their names written above them: Daddy, Mommy, Georgia. He understood that Zoe had told her everything, as she had promised. The explosion of feelings in his chest at that moment was almost painful.

  "Hi," said a soft, shy voice hardly louder than a whisper from behind.