Pulse of Heroes (72 page)

After a short and heartfelt speech, Michelle
placed her flowers on Francesca Bianchetti’s casket and said her
goodbye. But when the casket was lowered into the earth and
everybody threw in their last farewell flowers, Michelle felt her
stomach churn. She wanted to remain there alone, just for a few
minutes. Samantha asked if she wanted her to stay with her, but
Michelle refused and just thanked her for showing up. Everyone
including Michelle’s parents slowly made their way out of the small
cemetery towards the parking lot. Rion was the last to leave, and
before he did he asked her if she thought it was wise to stay there
all alone.

“I’m sure. And besides, I’m not alone. You’re
here, Elliot is here. I’m sure of it.” Rion looked at her in
surprise, but then again Xander was there, why wouldn’t Elliot show
up too? Anybody could come to that conclusion. As he started
walking away she asked him if he wanted his handkerchief back, or
if she should wash it first. “It’s only tears,” she said, unfolding
it to show him. “I didn’t blow my nose in it, I swear.”

“Why don’t you keep it. I have plenty more,”
he told her, looking at the wet rag.

“Ok, uncle,” she teased.

“Don’t call me that,” Rion said, only partly
amused, and began walking down towards the parking lot.

“Why not?” she called after him, wondering if
she had hurt his feelings. Rion didn’t answer her right away,
although just as she thought that he probably hadn’t heard her, he
called back to her that it made him feel old.

Once Rion had left, Michelle crouched down
and looked at the open grave and the flower-strewn casket. So that
was where everyone ended. From dust to dust, finally made sense.
But not everyone; not everyone returned to the earth from which
they came. Some stayed on to watch sunset after sunset. Michelle
wondered which was better. She talked to Francesca as if she were
still alive. She told her about everything that had happened to her
in Europe and then she apologized profusely for not being there on
her actual birthday. Her tears flowed as if a levy had been broken,
and she herself wondered how many tears a human body could create
per day. Michelle realized that Francesca was the only person she
had ever really spoken to about her relationship with Elliot. And
now her confidant was gone. She cried for herself and she cried for
Francesca. She even found herself crying for Vilna and her mean
father Haden. And then she cried about Elliot and asked Francesca
what she should do, as if the dead woman could give her some
magical answer.

Michelle sat alone at the gravesite for a
good twenty minutes before her mother got out of the car and began
making her way back to the cemetery to fetch her daughter. She
figured that Michelle had been there alone for long enough, and
that the best thing for her would be to come home and be with her
family. But as she headed down the stone walkway she saw another
figure walking towards the cemetery and wondered if perhaps Rion,
whom she liked well enough, had returned to consol Michelle. They
had obviously developed some sort of a friendship. She marveled
that she had never even heard of him until the introduction at the
airport, and yet Michelle seemed very open and comfortable with
him. He was a bit too mature for her daughter, she thought, and
decided to catch up with him. Except that when she looked back up
the path he was nowhere to be found. Michelle’s mother looked all
around, and even behind her back down the way she had just come,
but there was not a soul in sight.

Elliot stood quietly behind Michelle because
he still hadn’t worked out exactly what he was going to say to her.
But Michelle turned around to face him without an ounce of
surprise. She had just finished saying his name and wondered if he
had heard her. Elliot immediately grabbed her hand and helped her
to her feet.

“She’s not here anymore, is she?” she asked,
staring at the mound of freshly dug dirt that stood on the ledge of
the grave.

“No. Would you stay around an old shell that
couldn’t house you anymore?” he asked.

“She was very pretty when she was young. It’s
not fair what time does to our bodies, is it?” Michelle said,
turning to look at his face so he would know that there was more
than one question carried in her words. Elliot knew exactly what
she meant, and sadly he had no answer. He just wanted to take her
away, anywhere. Michelle’s mother’s voice was heard from down the
hill. She called for Michelle and climbed up until she saw her
daughter standing next to someone. “Mom, I’m fine,” Michelle called
back, hoping that she wouldn’t come any closer. Her mother squinted
in the sun’s rays and tried to make out the figure standing next to
her daughter.

“Michelle, come with me?” Elliot said
quietly, looking at her mother. Michelle looked at Elliot, then
back down the hill.

“Where?” she asked.

“Anywhere.”

“Mom!” Michelle called out, and her mother
stopped in her tracks. “I’m fine. I’m going to go with Elliot. For
a drive or something.” Michelle’s mother became very confused
because she hadn’t seen Elliot in church or during the funeral. How
could she have missed him? And what had become of Rion?

“Are you sure, baby?” her mom asked, already
knowing the answer. “Don’t be too late.” From where she stood,
Elliot was towering over Michelle like a protective giant, and
their long shadows on the grass only emphasized that image. She
turned to go. Michelle was going to be fine.

Elliot picked up the shovel that stood to the
side of the mound and filled it halfway with fresh dirt. He handed
it to Michelle and told her to go ahead and dump it into the grave.
She looked at him confused, and he told her it was an old
custom.

“I can’t,” she said while Elliot recited a
short prayer in another language. He then explained to her that
when a mourner hasn’t thrown fresh earth on top of a casket it
means that they refuse to let the deceased go. He gently held the
shovel with Michelle and told her that she had to let go. Francesca
wasn’t in the grave anymore, and her body had to return to the
earth from where it was raised. Slowly and gently he turned the
shovel while Michelle held on to it. Michelle was scared half to
death when she heard the sound of the dirt falling onto the lid of
the casket, but Elliot held on to her tightly. After a few seconds,
she realized that something had changed. Her chest was less tight
and she could breath in deeper. Elliot reminded her that death was
not a punishment, but just a part of the natural order of things.
His words soothed Michelle’s pain.

Michelle inserted the key into the old lock
and jiggled it the same way that Francesca used to. Earlier, in the
church parking lot, a man had approached her saying that he was the
Executor of Francesca’s estate, and given her a key to Francesca’s
home. He told her that she could stop by the house and take a few
of Francesca’s things as keepsakes, so long as she didn’t take
anything that had a sticker on it. Francesca had left everything to
the church, and the truth was that all Michelle was interested in
were her photo albums.

Now, Elliot stood behind her and wondered if
he should mention anything about Hadeno’s men having been there.
But what was the point? They were dead and Francesca was gone.
Michelle’s fingers were shaky, so Elliot took the key from her
because she was getting upset again. He turned the key and the door
opened with ease.

Michelle stood at the threshold, afraid to
walk in. They didn’t belong there without Francesca. Elliot took
her hand and slowly ushered her into the house. The little cottage
looked like it always had. Nothing was changed, save for
Francesca’s absence. Michelle walked around the house from room to
room as if she was looking for something, but Elliot knew that that
something was not there to be found. Michelle’s footsteps became
more frantic, and Elliot met her in the hallway and physically
stood in her way.

“Michelle, she’s not here. You can’t do this
to yourself.” He should know, considering how many times he had
acted in the exact same way after losing a wife or child. It was
torture for him to see Michelle go through the same thing.

“This feels wrong. I can smell her like she’s
here but I can’t find her,” Michelle said at him rather than to
him. He gently led Michelle to the couch and told her that she just
needed to breathe and let her mind catch up with her emotions.

As she sat, Michelle spotted the old photo
album that she had been looking for and jumped back up to fetch it.
She flipped through the pages, looking at the familiar images when
a single photo fell out of the album and landed face down on the
rug.

“That’s strange,” Michelle said, mostly to
herself, noticing that the picture was newer with a glossy sheen.
She picked it up and turned it over only to have her mouth fall
open. Elliot, who was standing by the mantle, turned to look at her
because he heard Michelle’s heartbeat begin to flutter irregularly
and she was panting. He had been on guard with her since Romania,
keeping himself completely tuned into any changes that might signal
that she wasn’t doing well.

“What’s wrong?” He ran over to her and
noticed that her face had gone pale. She let go of the photo and
Elliot followed it with his eyes until it landed on the floor. Only
this time it was facing right side up. It was a picture of him and
Michelle both looking back in surprise; it was the one that was
taken right before they left in the car for the Prom. “I almost
forgot about this,” he said, shaking his head, but Michelle was
still as white as a ghost.

“I didn’t give this to her,” she said, first
quietly, and then repeated herself louder.

“Michelle, you need to calm down. It’s not a
big deal. I know I told you I don’t like to have my picture taken,
but…”

“No!” she yelled, “you’re not getting this!
We never printed out the photos! My mom lost the camera on the
plane on the way to Zurich. This photo was still in it. She had to
buy a new camera in Budapest!” Elliot studied the image, trying to
grasp what Michelle was saying.

“So, you’re telling me that neither you nor
your mom had this photo printed? And that the last time your mother
had the camera was on the plane to Europe?” Michelle nodded. Elliot
got up and began pacing around the room, still holding the photo in
his hand.

“Son of a bitch!” He yelled out so loud that
Michelle jumped an inch off the couch.

“What?” she cried.

“This is how they found you, and me. Look at
it again,” he said, handing the photo back to Michelle. He yelled
again in anger and cursed in some other language.

“I don’t understand what I am supposed to be
looking at. It’s just you and me.” Elliot pointed to the street
sign in the upper left corner of the photo. It read ‘Argos Vela
Way’.

“It’s better than a freakin’ map, don’t you
get it? By some crazy chance Hadeno’s men must have found the
camera. They probably took the same plane out of Zurich right after
you and your family got off it!” Michelle stared at Elliot in
disbelief. “They know what I look like, Michelle. I’ve been walking
around with this same face for 5000 years! Can you understand now
why I don’t like pictures? And look at me, standing there like a
deer in the headlights. All they had to do was find out who sat in
their seats before they did. That’s how they found you, they had
your name.” Michelle still couldn’t believe the chances of that
happening.

“But all that information is private. The
airlines don’t have the right to give it out,” Michelle tried to
reason.

“Michelle, please. You know what we’re
capable of. I can sit here and practically get you to tell me what
you wore on your first day of school if I wanted.” Michelle looked
at Elliot, confused because he had told her that he couldn’t read
minds.

“I can’t. I can’t tell what you’re thinking
right now, but I can reach memories that are locked deep inside the
brain. What do you think hypnosis is? I can do that with one hand
tied behind my back. It’s no big deal. But that’s not the point.
They had your family’s name and they had a street, all they had to
do was get on a computer to search out the rest.” Elliot asked when
she had first met Hadeno, and Michelle told him that she had met
Vilna first, at the hotel in Budapest.

“I bet the name of the hotel was on your
family’s itinerary. All that information is in your file. All they
had to do was get to some poor airline employee to get everything.
Oh Michelle. I am so sorry, but they had you in their sights as
soon as you landed in Hungary. I wish I could kill that bastard all
over again!” Elliot raised his fists in anger and his eyes began
growing brighter.

“Then why didn’t he hypnotize me to ask me
where you were?” Michelle asked, afraid of the answer. Elliot told
her that she couldn’t be sure he didn’t. That was when Michelle
told him about the powder she found in her drinking glass.

“Yeah, that would help him get into your
brain. We can do it on our own, but if you’re already relaxed it’s
that much easier. You didn’t know where I was, and that’s probably
what kept you alive.”

“I thought that Vilna really liked me, for
me,” Michelle said quietly, hurt that everything had been a lie.
Elliot couldn’t understand why Michelle cared about what people
thought of her. Especially Hadeno, who he wished he could fillet
piece by piece for what he had done.

”I’m sure they liked you,” Elliot said,
stroking her hair, although his thoughts returned to Hadeno having
his way with her. Elliot got up and went to the kitchen, returning
with a bottle of Francesca’s homemade Limoncello and two small
glasses. He asked her if she thought Francesca would mind, and
Michelle smiled and shook her head. She had helped Francesca make
that batch herself.