Fallen (12 page)

I
took a step forward, my eyes locked on the snake’s head
,
in case it should move again,
and
Eran
held his hand out for me to take a closer look.

“See? No harm done.”

I leaned even further forward
. I knew what I’d seen. There must be puncture marks. Nearly two inches of fangs had disappeared
into
his
hand
,
b
ut Eran was right. His skin was smooth,
without
even a red blotch visible.

“Careful,” he said
,
moving his hand away from me
, the snake
’
s tail
twist
ing
in reaction
and
hit
ting
the ground with a
thump
.
“He might wake back up.”

“
It’s a
s
leep?” I asked in disbelief. “
That thing’s
asleep?”

“It’s not a thing
, Magdalene
,” he chastised. “It’s a serpent.
”

“
Well excuse me
…
,
”
I said
, abruptly
paus
ing.
T
he name he’d used
was like a trigger to
my mind.
“
What
did you
just
call me?”

He glanced up from the snake
to casually reply,
“Your name.”

“No, you said Magdalene.”

“Isn’t that your name?” He
looked
confused.

“Yes…but no…”

“Well, which is it?”

“Everyone calls me Maggie
,
so how did you know to call me by my full name?”

“Call it a
good
guess,” he replied
,
his head bowed
toward
the snake. Yet, I still
caught a glimpse of the knowing smile
to some private joke he harbored.
He began
to talk
again
and didn’t
bothe
r to fill me in. “
Even if you won’t admit to it, you’re
fortunate
I was here after all. This
particular
serpent is a
dangerous one.
It
’
s
called
a Fierce Snake. The venom from
a single
bite can kill a hundred men.”

I glanced back at
its
now lethargic
body
and shuddered.

He seemed not to notice and continued explaining, “Thankfully, it is
especially rare. In fact, it’s a long way from home. You’d more commonly find
him
in
Taipei
.”

“
Taipei
?” I repeated,
awestruck by my sudden realization
.

Hadn’t Sharar sai
d he’d just returned from
Taipei
?
I
tried to remember back to our conversation
,
but it had been so wrought with emotion I
couldn’t be sure
if he’d said
Taipei
or somewhere else in Asia Pacific.
At the realization that
there was no way to be sure,
I
decided to
disregard the thought
entirely
.

I watched
Eran
for a moment
and couldn’t help but declare,
“
I saw that snake bite you
.”

“
And yet there is
no evidence of it. Is there?” h
e asked. W
hen I didn’t answer he persisted. “
Magdalene
? Is there?”

I ignored him and his effort to get me to concede
,
by changing the subject. “You don’t seem afraid.”

Eran looked up at me
, amused
. “No,” he replied
,
and left it simply at that.

“Do you…d
o you know much about snakes?”

He ba
lked at me in mocking shock
.
“Are you starting a friendl
y conversation?
I didn’t think you had it in you.”

I sighed. “Do you?”

After a light chuckle, he decided to answer.
“
I’ve certainly had
my fair share of them. Serpents
have been used for centuries t
o attack enemies. I’ve also seen
them used in medicine, ceremonies…
t
hey’re an interesting species. Though
,
I would have to say
,
I’ve never had the pleasure of running across this particular one before.”

“Pleasure?” I scoffed.

“Let’s just say this
serpent
is more dangerous to you than it is to me.” He saw me open my mouth to argue and cut me off. “Before you contest, note that I am the one holding it.”

“Regardless-
,
”
I
started
my rebuttal,
to which he responded with an annoyed sigh
;
however,
I never got
the
chance to finish.

Someone was calling my name.

“Mags
! Over here!”

I followed Felix’s voice to where he sat in his
unavoidable
,
lime green car.

“Do you need a ride? We were worried. It’s getting late…
,
” h
e called out the passenger window
. With a pout, he added
, “
And I’m hungry!”

“Just a sec!” I called back.

“Besides
,
what are you doing out here all alone?”
h
e
asked, shrugging.

I turned back
toward
Eran
,
and sure enough,
he
was gone.
There was nothing.
Not even the snake was left behind.

“Come on, Mags
!” Felix called out again,
eagerly
shaking.

I scanned the area, doing a full sweep,
and I
ma
de
note of something that would stay with
me for several days afterwards.
There was no humanly way for someone to disappear that quickly from where I stood.

“COME ON!”
shouted Felix
.

I
shook my
head, perplexed. To Felix’s relief,
I didn’t protest.
I
got on my bike,
secured
my helmet, started the engine, and followed
him
back to the house.
After today’s unusual events, I
decided I
could use a good
old
-
fashioned
hamburger.

With just two weeks to go before the first day of school – which I’d dubbed The Penitentiary
,
to Felix and Rufus’s enjoyment – I spent the remaining days of my parole at The Square.
There
,
I was kept busy with customers,
but
my
thoughts
could not be quelled
and were
,
more often than not
,
focused
on Eran.

I hadn’t seen him since the night he’d saved me from the snake
,
but I
remembered
him clearly in my mind –
more specifically
his hand
,
where the snake had bitten him and where there had been no resulting wound
. That image kept creeping back
to me
becau
se it was unthinkable that he had remained unharmed
.

Then
,
there was the fact that he
could move at lightning speed
.
Here one second, gone the next.
He left no trail, no residual breeze,
and
no sound.

I had met more than my share of people with oddities on the road
,
but no one had been as inimitable as Eran. No one came close. His abilities were beyond anything I’d ever encountered before and – if I allowed my mind to register the thought that kept pestering me – they were not human
traits
. There was no one on earth
who
had impenetrable skin and moved as fast as he could.

I couldn’t make sense of him
;
maybe th
at
is
why he captivated me.
He harbored a secret, something
that gave him these abilities
;
a secret
he evidently did not want to share with me. But
,
his secret
wasn’t
the
only
thing
that kept me
spellbound
. The memory of him…the sound of his
alluring
accent…
the image of
his muscular, statuesque frame…
the way he peered
into
my eyes…
the
engaging
confidence in him
, all of these attributes both
thrilled me and irritated me at the same time. He was too perfect
,
and as much as I
didn’t
want to
admit
,
I
kne
w I c
ould never match him.

The u
nrelenting
images
and
stream of
thoughts
about
him
dominated
my mind
for the next two weeks. In fact, the only
time
I
was able to avoid
them
was
when I
listen
ed
to Felix and Rufus bicker about Felix’s fondness for tasteless,
foul
,
health
y
food
and
when Ezra broach
ed
the school subject.
I was actually thankful when she announced where I’d be attending.

Because she knew
how I felt about the issue,
Ezra
postponed any conversation about school until it was absolutely necessary.
That meant
it
was
the day before classes began when she handed me a map,
a
set of school books,
and a letter to hand
-
deliver
to the principal.

“Academy of the Immaculate Heart?” I didn’t bother to
stop
the groan that naturally followed.

“At least you won’t need to wear a uniform,” Ezra
said
,
trying to soften the blow. We were in the kitchen
,
where she
filled
up
her coffee mug even though it was nine
o’clock at night. “It’s the only
private high school
nearby that didn’t require
a uniform
. I thought you’
d appreciate
that
.”

“I do. You saved me from having to find a place to burn
it
.”

Rufus snickered from behind a forkful of mashed potatoes
until he noticed
Ezra
’s
glare.
He
then
quickly
dished out another
serving
of Shepherd’s Pie
,
attempting
to avoid her.

“Besides,
considering
the affectionate
nickname
you’ve
given
your new
school, I think you’ll find the principal’s name fit
s
right in with your line of thought.”

I scanned the
principal’s
note she’d handed me.

“Mr. Warden?” Despite myself, I laughed.

“He requires a meeting with all new students. Yours is set for
seven o’clock
tomorrow
morning
. Think you’ll be able to make it?”

“Do I have a choice?”
I retorted
,
but
she
didn’t
bother to answer.
“
I have a challenge understanding w
hy
anyone would
ever demand this of someone who obvious
ly
cannot stand str
ucture and authority.
”

“Ah, a self-aware young lady,” said Felix
, as he happily trotted
into
the kitchen
and
took
a seat at the table
.
He’d
already
eaten earlier, refusing Rufus’s menu choice.
“
Such a rare thing these days,
”
he added.

“Indeed,” replied Ezra
. She winked
and turned her attention back to me. When she spoke again, her voice was
soft
and
patient. “
I have something to…to mention that may make going to school a bit easier for you.”

“Okay…”

“
When I was a child…
,
” she paused
,
sigh
ing
deeply and refocus
ing
on
me. She
was
struggling to tell me something profound. That much was clear. “I lost my parents in a plane accident.
”

“You did?” I asked
. Suddenly
realizing how
meek and faint my
voice sounded
.

“We had a skilled crew. It was the weather that took down the plane.”

“
You
had a skilled crew?” I repeated
.
M
y question
emphasized
that her
choice of words sounded odd to me.

“
We owned the plane. My parents were wealthy,” she stated simply. “When the police arrived at the house, I was told to pack a bag, and I left the only home I had ever known.”

Stunned, I forgot about the plate of food in front of me
and
the books stacked beside me.
“Where did you go?”

“From one relative to another
, b
ut it wasn’t me they squabbled over
…i
t was the inheritance. I was
just
added baggage.”

I drew in a sharp breath, shocked.

“By my junior year in high school, I had no interest in family, far less
interest
in studying, and I fell in with…well, with the wrong kind of crowd. And then
,
I met your mother
!
”

“She was in the wrong crowd?”

Ezra laughed lightly. “No, not exactly. She was my tutor
;
a
nd trust me
,
I would never have met her if I hadn’t been forced
into
taking her studying lessons. It was either meet her twice a week or take summer school.”

“Not much of a choice there,” I pointed out.

“And that was a good thing. If it wasn’t for her, I’m not sure where I’d be now. As it turned out, your mother and I became good friends. I taught her about boys and she taught me Algebra. She was the only reason I went to college and why I value education
so much
.
I believe your mother would value your education
,
too.
”

I thought about
Ezra’s
office next to the kitchen. It was fully moved in now with books double-stacked along the newly installed bookshelves and countless diplomas lining the wall.