Blood of the Pure (Gaea) (26 page)

I gathered all the bloodied things and took them to the kitchen. Then, with nothing else to do, I went back to him, sitting next to his unconscious body, standing watch, waiting for the worst. I wondered where Gabriel had gone. I was sure he’d been the one to hurt him, but his soft expression as he caressed the small cat’s fur was still present in my mind. Maybe he’d lost control. I was sure he hadn’t meant to kill him, or he’d done it without a doubt. Either way, right then he was the only one I knew who could help that child.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sound of a small bell woke me up and I instinctively pulled away, urgently looking for the threat’s origin. I froze in place when I saw him sitting up, surrounded by the blanket. The eyes that stared at me were Human in shape, but still silver in color, and the bandages around his naked torso were drenched in blood.

My heart jumped, making me react, although I still kept my distance.

“You shouldn’t be sitting!” I said urgently. “Your wound ...”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” he simply answered. His voice was a child’s voice, but his tone was far from childish.

“But,” I started, confused.

“I heal fast. At least faster than you Humans,” he added, contempt clear in his voice, and I was forcibly reminded that that child was nothing like me. “I still haven’t healed completely, though.” He pressed his bloodied bandages. “But tomorrow there won’t even be a mark.”

I swallowed hard. Although I was considerably frightened and knew he’d just tried to harm me, facing that child was nothing compared with the pure horror that took over me every time I was near Gabriel. Next to that child I could easily maintain control over my own body and thoughts.

“Your name is Lea?”

“Suileabhan,” he corrected me and I was sure that it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it.

“And you’re that ... black cat?”

“It’s my other shape,” he simply explained.

I took a moment to digest it. “So, from the beginning that cat was you?” He tilted his head to one side, his silver eyes locked on me, and seemed puzzled by my question. I sighed, understanding his silent answer, and took a sweaty hand to my face. The small cat I’d carried in my arms, the kitten that had slept in my bed, hadn’t been a cat at all. “What’s your true shape?”

“This is my primary shape. The shape my Master gave me.” He answered with unmistakable pride in his child-like voice.

“Master?”

“You call him Gabriel.”

My heart stopped for an instant. All that was needed was the simple mention of his name and the symptoms were immediately back.

“He knew who you were? Did you come with him?” I asked, trying to remain logical, and Lea shook his head.

“No. My Master evoked me once he was released. I waited a very long time for it to happen.” He answered with a small smile and I felt a heavy weight in my chest. It was clear that child adored him. How could he have done something like that?

“How long is a long time?”

“Hmm ...” he mused taking his index finger to his lips, as if he was making some mental calculation, and smiled as he reached an answer. “Eighty Human years? More or less, I guess.”

“Eighty years!” I retorted incredulously. “He was Sealed for eighty years?”

The boy lowered his gaze, looking sad, his skinny shoulders slanting down.

“A very long time, all alone in the darkness where there’s nothing. No sound, no cold, no heat. I thought ... I thought I’d never see him again,” he told me, his voice filled with pain, and I was speechless for a moment.

Darkness and nothing else? I couldn’t imagine it. I remembered him standing still under the pouring rain, his face turned upwards towards the sky. At that time I hadn’t understood what he meant when he said he was simply feeling. Eighty years of feeling nothing, seeing nothing, hearing nothing. I saw him as he slowly savored his food. If what that child said was true, those were things only Gabriel could probably truly appreciate. Usually, people only valued things that they’d lost. That’s what he’d told me.

I realized Lea was watching me attentively and I was once more reminded of what had happened.

“Why did you ...” I started and hesitated. “Why did you try to kill me?” He didn’t look surprised by my question, but his eyes glowed coldly, giving him a feral look. “I mean, why now? You had so many other opportunities. All the nights you slept in my bed, all the times I read to you.”

He lowered his gaze and frowned as if struggling with the idea.

“Because it’s enough,” he ended up concluding. “We’ve been here for far too long and this is not good for my Master. We have to return home!”

I tried to decipher his words, wondering where ‘home’ was, from that child’s point of view.

“Hmm, you mean that should I die, he’ll be free from our Contract and could leave here.” I summed it up and he nodded without raising his head. “I see.”

“But Master was angry with me and he’d never gotten this angry before,” he added with such a sorrowful expression that I couldn’t help feeling sad for him. Human or not, although his words were far from belonging to a child, his feelings matched perfectly with his physical appearance. He sobbed softly and tears streamed down his face.

I took a deep breath and crawled to him. I couldn’t just watch a child cry and do nothing. I placed a hand on his head, feeling how his tussled hair was soft, and carefully pulled him against my chest, fearing I might hurt him. I felt his body tense up, surprised by that sudden contact, and took a deep breath caressing his soft hair.

“Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be all right. I know he likes you very much,” I said, trying to comfort him. He snuggled against my chest the same way the small kitten used to do when I carried him in my arms.

“The truth is I didn’t really wanted to kill you,” he whispered bitterly and I somehow understood. How could anyone ask for forgiveness for trying to kill someone? Worse, how could anyone forgive the one who’d tried to kill him?

“I got it. You wanted to set him free, right?” He simply nodded and a sneeze shook his body, making him press his wound with a pained expression. I took a deep breath and gently pushed him away. “Well, nothing to do about that,” I concluded before his innocent expression. “I’m not going to kill you and I don’t think trying to kick you out of the house would do any good anyway. So, let’s start by getting you some clothes.” He looked surprised as his eyes followed my every move, and I stood up, stretching an inviting hand. “Think you can stand?”

Lea nodded, accepting my help, and stood up, still wobbling and half bending over himself. Freed from the blanket that had covered him, I couldn’t help notice that he really was like any other Human child, which lead me look away, embarrassed. Once more I noticed his bandages stained with blood and felt angry at Gabriel for hurting him like that. I helped him up the stairs, keeping up with his much slower and smaller steps, and we still had to stop twice to allow him to catch his breath before we reached my room.

“It’s not like I have boy clothes, much less anything that will fit you,” I told him as I searched my wardrobe filled with frilly, feminine outfits. “Much less now that he threw away my stuff.” I pulled out an old cotton sweater, hidden with my other pajamas, which had survived the closet purge. I helped him put it on, as it was hard for him to raise his arms. It fit too big for his small body. “Are you sure you don’t want me to check on your injury? At least let me change those bandages.”

“No need,” he answered and took a deep breath, still weakened from climbing the stairs and putting on that sweater. I smiled and started folding up his sleeves in order to free his small hands. The notion of someone smaller than me being in the house was kind of comforting. “Is this it? Aren’t you going to get mad at me? Or be afraid? Or try to run away?” I smiled briefly and started on his other sleeve.

“What’s the use of any of that? And as for being afraid, well, I know I should, but my mind seems to be having some difficulty complying with that. Probably because, compared with him, you’re not scary at all.”

“But I tried to kill you!” he clarified as if trying to call me back to reason.

“True. And now? Do you still want to kill me?” He seemed surprised with my question and lowered his gaze.

“No, I don’t want Master to get angry with me again,” he whispered and I took a deep breath. No one who’d look at him right then would think he was any different from any other child, sad after being severely reprimanded by someone he loved.

“Then everything’s fine,” I stated. “Can I keep calling you Lea? Your other name is kind of hard to pronounce.”

He stared at me with his huge silver eyes. “You’re really strange, for a Human.”

“You think? Maybe you’re right. Sometimes I even surprise myself. So?”

“Yes, you can call me Lea,” he conceded and I smiled happily.

“Then how about it, Lea? What would you like to have for lunch? I’m sorry I’ve only been feeding you cat food all this time. You must’ve been hungry.” I spoke the same way I usually talked to my schoolmates about their weekends, and Lea gave me a bright, childish smile.

“Oh, I like cat food. Besides, Master always shares the dinner you leave for him with me, or at least he used to,” he added with a much sadder expression. “Maybe, maybe he doesn’t want me anymore,” he whispered darkly. “Maybe it was better if I had died. I had decided to die.”

“Nonsense!” I immediately contested ruffling his hair. “If he wanted you dead, then you’d be dead. I’m sure you know this better than I do.” His expression became brighter, filled with hope. What was I doing? Trying to cheer up that, that... My expression became serious. “Lea, are you also a demon?” I asked, assuming that was Gabriel’s true nature.

“I’m a
Ruhim
,” he replied and I blinked.

”A ...
Ruhim
?” I repeated, hoping for an explanation. He nodded slowly.

“That which you Humans call demons we call
Deiwos
. It’s how we call our kind. But it’s still too vague and, amongst the
Deiwos
there are the
Shedim
, the
Mazzikin
, the
Se’irim
and the
Ruhim
. These are the main castes. We normally don’t identify ourselves as
Deiwos
and the word demon, as you use it, is far from being enough to define us,” he stated in an authoritative tone. It was as if suddenly our roles were reversed and I was the child.

“Then what distinguishes you from one another?” I asked, not wanting to lose this opportunity. At least with Lea I was able to have a normal conversation and, contrary to Gabriel, he didn’t seem to mind my questions.

“I suppose it’s basically our origins.
Shedim
are the higher and most pure caste, created as what they are, since the beginning of times. Nowadays, the original
Shedim
are all gone. Those who inherited that caste’s name are the ones considered the sins of sinners. In other words, those who are born
Deiwos
.
Mazzikin
are what you’d call fallen angels.
Se’irim
were once corrupted Humans. And
Ruhim
are the immaterial ones, born from the gathering of negative Human’s thoughts and wishes.”

“Ah,” I muttered under my breath, trying quickly to archive what I was hearing. He’d just confirmed the existence of angels, right? And some demons had once been angels? Others Human Beings? “So, if you’re a
Ruhim
and
Ruhim
are immaterial ...” I left it hanging and pride took over his childish face once more.

“Master gave me a body, and a shape, and a name. He created all that I am today. And because of that I can speak, and touch, and smell, and be. When you don’t have a body, no one recognizes your existence. We are but aren’t at the same time. The world doesn’t see you, only slightly senses your presence. It’s very sad, very lonely. I could hardly believe when Master chose me,” he added with a beautiful smile. How could a demon smile like that?

“And what about him?” I asked, lowering my voice as if he could be listening.

“My Master is a
Shedim
, a pure blood,” he stated proudly, straightening his back with a solemn expression. “Only a
Shedim
would have enough power to give a body to a
Ruhim
.”

“The sin of the sinners. Why?”

“Because the Law states that
Deiwos
aren’t allowed to breed. And that’s why there’s so few of them,” he noted with a sorrowful tone.

“Law?”

“The Law that rules over all of us. The
Lex Regis
. What you like to call Divine Law?”

“Divine Law,” I repeated. Were we talking about God now? “And does that ... God. Does he really exist?”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” he answered thoughtfully. “No one really knows. I think that only the
Shedim
know the answer to that question. But the Law is very real.” I took a deep breath in relief glad I didn’t have to deal with the question of the existence of God just yet, and focused my attention on that Law.