Blood of the Pure (Gaea) (40 page)

I scolded myself immediately and unloaded my frustration on the innocent potatoes, cutting them into fries. That was exactly what I couldn’t allow to happen! Me, measuring his thoughts and feelings as if they were my own, as if they belonged to any other Human Being. He was not Human! He probably couldn’t even feel any of that!

And so I dropped the subject and concentrated on what would soon be our lunch.

When the food was almost ready, I placed the clean dishes on the table and Lea did the rest, setting the table. By the time he was done, a delicious smell filled the air, and he raised his head taking a deep breath, complimenting me on how wonderful everything smelled.

“Stop that!” I scolded him, trying to slap a thieving hand, but he managed to be much faster that I could ever be, stealing a fry and blowing on it before sticking it in his mouth.

“Very good.”

“Yeah, right! No more stealing!” I ordered and he seemed disappointed that his compliment hadn’t done much in placating my anger. “And go get him. He’s in the living room, right?” I asked, although I’d much rather simply forget his presence. But Lea didn’t move an inch, looking at me with a serious expression. “So? He’s there, right?” I persisted, and he nodded, still stunned.

“Yeah, but ... you want me to get him?” he asked, sounding surprised, and I understood the reason for his hesitation.

“Well, he’ll end up showing up anyways. And he’s been staying outside all this time to let me work in peace, right? I’m not blind, you know? I know he is always trying, one way or the other, to make things easier for me,” I unwillingly admitted. “And I... since I can’t really escape any of this, I might as well try and do the same. Fighting against the ropes that bind me can only bring me more pain.” I took a deep breath, smiling at his serious expression. “So, if you don’t mind, go and call him. It’s the only way I have to repay the fact that he didn’t make me endure his presence up till now.”

Lea left, without a word, and I placed the still boiling pan of steaks with mushrooms on the table. I had just set down the fries when they came back.

His presence made my hands and knees tremble, and my heartbeat picked up, but I was still able to control myself enough to act with some measure of sincerity. I managed to look at him, for brief moments, and the slight smile that touched his perfect lips bothered me. He seemed to be in an unusually good mood.

Gabriel took his place on the other end of the table, as far as possible from mine, and Lea jumped to his chair, clearly happy with what awaited him. I served his plate, as he eagerly followed my every move, and almost expected him to clap when I finally placed it in front of him. He ate, complimenting me on everything and on the same thing more than once, every time he filled his mouth. His excited voice filled the air that in his absence would surely have been awkwardly silent.

I noticed, by the few peeks I dared throw Gabriel’s way, that he also ate with pleasure, seeming especially intrigued with the different textures of his fried egg. I smiled watching him pierce the yolk with his fork and almost laughed when he uselessly tried to stop it from spilling all over his plate.

In those things he was almost like Lea, I thought, with the difference that Lea always said exactly what he thought, while he was more silent and observant.

“Mari? Can we come with you this afternoon?” Lea asked with a broad smile, cleaning his plate with two fries, and I just couldn’t answer. His ‘we’ didn’t go unnoticed, quite the opposite. His question had undoubtedly included Gabriel. And although I didn’t wish to refuse Lea’s company, I wished I could avoid having to deal with the physical pain that having Gabriel around implied. However, and as much as it displeased me, I knew I couldn’t leave him behind. I’d already left him alone the whole morning. I didn’t want to risk repeating the feat in the afternoon.

“Sure we can.” Gabriel’s deep, soft tone gave me the usual shivers. “After all, Mari promised that she’d spend the weekend with us,” he added, staring at me, challenging me to say otherwise.

“This way you can help me,” I said, smiling at Lea, ignoring Gabriel’s provocation. “It’ll be much faster.” Lea jumped from his chair, clapping enthusiastically, partially erasing the bitter taste that filled my mouth. I couldn’t escape those binds, but being so pointedly reminded of their existence was never pleasant.

After we ate Lea help me with the dishes, anxious to finish them up so we could leave. I went upstairs to get my wallet and when I came back they were both waiting for me by the front door.

The cold wind outside made me pull up the collar of my coat and the gray, cloudy sky warned me that it might be a good idea to take an umbrella.

Lea waited to hold my hand, his sunglasses with little fish back on his face, and I couldn’t help shivering at the sight of his naked legs below his knee-length blue shorts. Lea, however, was so excited about our afternoon walk that he seemed unable to feel cold. Besides, I’d already noticed neither of them felt cold the same way I did.

Gabriel stood on the other side of the road, allowing me to take the lead, which I did without sparing him a single look, and then he fell in behind us, his silent footsteps making me wonder if he was actually there.

We went down Lewisham Street and then turned north. The supermarket was relatively close and we were there in less than fifteen minutes.

Lea stopped, like he’d stopped before the sight of the Westminster Cathedral, eyes wide open, his moth gawking, and he gasped in disbelief.

“This huge house ... it’s filled with things to eat?” he asked and I nodded, unable to stop myself from smiling as I looked down at him. “Oh, Tes ... co.” He read the huge red letters out loud. “Is it the name of the owner of this amazing place?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so. It’s only the name of the place. Places like this don’t belong to only one person,” I supposed and Lea nodded, still very much impressed.

“I see. I wonder, is it too expensive to buy one of these houses? I’d really like to have one.”

I laughed and pulled him towards the door. “For now, just be happy to buy some of the things inside the house,” I suggested as the doors opened automatically.

“Ah! Magic!” His sudden accusation startled me and he turned back urgently, pointing his small accusatory finger at the glass doors. “Master! Magic!” he insisted, his child-like voice sounding too high pitched, and I pulled him across the door, blushing when two women turned to look inquisitively at us.

“No, it’s not! Stop saying nonsense!” I scolded him and dared to look over my shoulder, fearing that my other demon might think alike, dreading what he might do against the innocent doors. But to my relief Gabriel looked unimpressed, and I stayed focused on keeping Lea’s hand firmly gripped in mine.

“Not magic?” he insisted, sounding disappointed, and I took a deep breath.

“Most Humans do not possess that kind of power,” Gabriel explained, “and those who do don’t use it in public, for fear of being persecuted and condemned if they did.” He practically whispered the words, but even with the distance between us, I could hear him perfectly clear, probably even better than if he’d been standing right beside me.

“Really?” Lea asked, looking up at me as if he felt sorry for me, and sighed when I didn’t deny it. “What a shame.”

I placed a coin in the mechanism to release a shopping cart and Lea’s attention was immediately turned towards this new toy, asking me to push it, running with the cart down the corridor.

“Slow down!” I shouted after him. “And be careful not to hit anyone!” I doubted he heard me.

Watching Lea run and laugh, while people went about their lives, almost made the incident from the day before seem like an imaginary nightmare. For my mind, eager to retain any measure of normality, the fear and tension of those moments had already begun to dilute. There, in my small, protected world, no strange dark creature would come out of the shadows to disturb the peace. At least that was what I wanted to believe.

Trying to divert Lea’s attention from his cart racing, I asked him to search for some things on my shopping list, and he happily skipped down the aisle.

“You know, you really didn’t have to come here. All you had to do was tell me what you needed.” Again, that voice. I took a box of cereal from the shelf and put it in my cart. I considered getting angry at his suggestion, but his tone hadn’t been smug or conceited. And I understood my actions puzzled him. After all, why go to those lengths when everything could be easily solved with a single thought or a wish?

“Things like this make part of my world,” I replied. “And, right now, you’re both living in it.” I spoke as if he were standing right beside me, and pushed the cart towards the crackers and cookies section. “The same way you dress and behave like one of us, things like going shopping are also included. Besides, I still want to go about my life like always.”

“I see, although I can’t really say I understand.”

Lea came back running, showing me what he’d brought me, and I thanked him, giving him a new task. He smiled happily and ran away once again, allowing me to turn my attention towards the various packets of cookies in front of me.

“The chocolate ones.” I heard his velvet voice and couldn’t help raising my head to look at him in surprise. He stood like a lean dark shadow, almost on the other end of the aisle, and slowly raised his pale hand to point the shelf right in front of me, his expression serious and decided.

“You want ... these ones?” I tried to make sure, not knowing what to think, and reached for a packet of chocolate cream cookies right above my head. His hand dropped with that same slowness and he simply nodded.

I placed the packet in the cart and reached for another, trying as hard as I could not to laugh. Just like Lea, who’d insisted I buy him a huge red lollipop as soon as he’d entered the supermarket, I mused.

I pushed the cart, turning my back on him so he wouldn’t notice my persistent smile, and stopped by the bread.

I was choosing a bag of buns, knowing Lea would love them, when I thought I heard his voice calling me urgently. My head shot up as I looked around, searching for him, and then, without a thought, my feet were running down the main corridor.

I found him two aisles down from where I’d left my cart, perched on one of the highest shelves, which he’d obviously climbed and from where he seemed unable to come down. I ran to him noticing he kept his eyes closed, tears of fear streaming down his cheeks; his sunglasses fallen to the ground.

“Lea! What are you doing up there?” I asked, trying to calm him down, rising to the tips of my toes to reach him, and held him by his waist, his small body trembling.

Maybe I pulled him down too soon, or maybe he just couldn’t let go of his hold on what he perceived to be his only safety. But suddenly a huge pile of cans was falling over us. Instinctively, I pulled him against my chest and crouched, hugging him protectively. I couldn’t really tell what happened next. Just that something pushed me down, and that all I could do was hold him tight, fearing I’d let go of him as I fell. The sound of dozens of cans crashing around us filled the air, and then silence, except for the sound of my uneven breath.

I could already guess what had happened before I even opened my eyes, and I knew that the pain in my chest had nothing to do with my fall. My vision blurred, but I could still easily identify his hand, planted on the floor right beside my head. His white skin was still burnt, vivid red marks breaking the perfect paleness of his skin. And I knew without a doubt that if that hand were to touch me, darkness and madness would befall me.

Shaking uncontrollably, I slowly turned my gaze upwards and, sure enough, there he was, his beautiful face right on top of mine, which only made me hold Lea even harder. He’d protected us with his own body and, for a split second, my vision became clearer. The black eyes that looked down on me were haunted and sad, and I was almost grateful when my vision became blurry again, sparing me that disturbing sight.

Worried voices surrounded us and I felt the small body I still held move. And then he was gone. It had all happened so fast and, at the same time, so excruciating slowly that I felt lost for a moment. Hands I didn’t know held me, helping me sit up, and strange words mixed with worried expressions that made me dizzy reached my ears. My gaze wandered over the fallen cans around me, and I was only able to return to myself when a small pair of hands held mine.

“Mari! Are you ok? Does it hurt anywhere?” I shook my head immediately recognizing his worried expression, and his childish face came even closer, his nose almost rubbing mine. “Are you sure? Then why are you crying?” he asked me softly and I took a hand to my face, confused.

“I’m crying?” I asked, surprised, but unable to deny it as I felt the dampness on my skin. “But I’m not sad and I’m not hurt ... really!” I added, trying to erase his sad expression, and I hurriedly dried my tears that were immediately replaced by new ones. This was plain stupid, I thought. Of all the times I wished I could cry, and had all the reasons in the world to do it, I’d never been able to shed a single tear! Now that there was no reason for tears, they just fell uninterruptedly!

“Miss, are you sure you’re OK?”

I raised my head and smiled at the nice man that still held me, although I couldn’t stop my tears from falling.

“I’m fine, thank you. Thank you very much,” I repeated, noticing his wife’s concerned expression. I fought to get back on my feet and took a deep breath. “And you, Lea, are you OK?” I asked as I picked up his sunglasses, and he nodded, holding his hands behind his back, looking embarrassed.