The Mortal Fringe (17 page)

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it
was not my concern. Do accept my apologies."

I leave the room closing the door as
hard as I can. I walk towards the aisle and straight into the
dining room. There's some of the other students of the residence
having lunch, I look at them and with a shy nod I salute them. I
put some food on my tray, go to a lonely table at the corner of the
room and start eating without even looking at the food. Jay's
comment was so excluding that I don't want to be near him right
now. It's only after I have finished half of my food that I realize
that I brought the book with me. It's on the table and I suddenly
feel a great need to open it up and read it. It's like an instinct
thing, I know exactly where I have to open it: first section,
prologue. And there it is.

It is believed that mythology is a
collection of stories that people gathered up to explain all
natural phenomena that could affect their daily life. That is a
wrong conception of the origin of mythology which could not be
further away from its true origin. Gods, rulers of the world, began
to feel the need to populate their creation that was the earth they
looked at from up above. And so they did.

They mixed with the people that,
thousands of years after being brought to life, were using the land
of the Gods as their home. But they could not show their true
selves, for the people were different. Those living on earth were
not special, they had no powers and every day was a challenge. Life
was a path that leaded them to death, an unknown destiny to the
ones living above.

The lords amongst Gods, envious of
that they couldn't have, decided that they would use the mortal
souls to become more like them, to be able to experience the
transience of life.

When the mixing happened, the three
God lords vanished and casted their shadows away, keeping all their
powers and sovereignty hidden from the rest of Immortals, until the
moment when the shadows of the lords could be released, and so a
new era of Regency, of temporary sovereignty would begin amongst
Gods. When the life of mankind would be at its most weak, and that
who cannot die shall rule the earth once more.

"Never underestimate the power
of a prologue
" I have no idea if she's been sneaking around while I was
reading, hopefully she will understand the meaning of my
thought.

"Doing your ancient studies
essay?"

It's one of the boys sitting at the
back of the class, one of the many whom Constance used to embarrass
me.

"Yes."

"Well, it was due long ago" he looks
at me with a sadistic smile.

"Ms. Adkins gave me another due date,
with a suitable penalization for the delay" this is perhaps the
first time I speak to someone to whom I've never spoken before in
such a way. I'm tired of Constance's restless attempts to make my
feel expendable. If he is still under her spell, he does not
deserve a moment of my attention

He leaves me alone with my food and my
book. The dining room empties in a matter of minutes, but I'm not
moving. I keep going over and over the same page, making sure I've
understood every bit of information written on it.

When I want to stand up and go back to
the room I remember what Elizabeth said about Constance's possible
plans. If the shadows are the lost God lords, and Elizabeth were to
find them, she would become the ruler of my world, and The Atlas,
and of every immortal living on earth, at least for as long as the
regency lasted.

Back in the room I try to avoid
talking to Jay, he is reading something and making notes here and
there. If I didn't know him, I'd say he is doing some sort of
university project. I go to the bathroom to have some minutes with
myself and try to talk to Elizabeth again. It doesn't work. I feel
like the connection between us has disappeared. A part of me feels
lonely, while the other part feels relieved. Could it be that now
that I can't communicate with her, I am going to avoid my ill-fated
destiny? I look at myself in the mirror and the sight of those
green eyes draws me back to the reality, there's no going back.
It's been over a month and I still can manage to look at the mirror
and not feel terrified.

"
What are you playing at?"
my question is full
of anger and disappointment, I don't know why, but I feel betrayed.
"
You told me
to trust you, you told me to stay, that everything was going to be
alright as long as I stayed with you."

The week goes by, and I am still
alone, she hasn't come back for me. The feeling is that of when I
used to think just to myself and to no one else. Being back to
normal is not as rewarding as I expected, I miss her voice in my
head, even though I know where that would eventually lead me. She
has given me the strength to go on, and it is only now that she is
not here that I know it.

I would remain still in this very spot
as long as a lifetime would be, waiting for Elizabeth to answer,
but I can't feel anything related to her, she is not here. I keep
on trying to talk to her, thinking anything that could draw her
attention or at least give me a clue so I know she is alright. But
again, that doesn't happen.

After a long wait with no answer, I
respectfully say goodbye to her. But just for now. She has taught
me not to quit, to never give up; because that is what people do,
we stand for those we care most.

"I'll stick with you, no matter
what, until the end."

CHAPTER 24

She hasn't returned.

It's been two weeks and I haven't
had news from Elizabeth since the day we visited The Atlas. Jay
refuses to tell me anything about her and he is even starting to
push me back. He looks at me with that look, I don't feel welcomed
around him and every time I try to start a conversation he leaves
the room or just vanishes for a couple of hours.

I don't know how worried I should
be, for now I only know that the dreams are fading away and that
for the first time in months I've slept the night through without
waking up screaming or sweating with my body full of bruises or
unbearable pain.

I am leaving in less than two
weeks, and I would have liked a proper farewell. After all, what we
three have lived during these months is not something that people
experience regularly.

Regardless of what they might
think, I am not going to waste my last two weeks in Barcelona
wandering around as a lost soul trying to find Elizabeth or trying
to get Jay to talk to me. I've done my best; these notes are proof
of it. I am not a quitter; that I know. But I am not a living dead
person, not anymore.

Alex, still alive.

My exams are coming and I know I
should be spending my free time —which makes for my entire day
lately— studying, but I can't concentrate, the pages of notes I
have on my desk go blurry every time I put myself to it. The words
won't flow and everything I learn disappears within minutes. I need
some distraction, some fresh air, something that this tiny room has
not given me for over two weeks, even though I could say I've been
living alone in it. It's been five days since I last saw
Jay.

I open the window and take a look at
the street, there's people lying in the grass, I am thinking that I
could do the same, I feel like if I was in drugs, some drugs that
forced me to prove me capable of having other relationships, other
than the ones I just lost. Maybe I will regret doing it, but right
now, I can't think of a better plan, I will prove myself capable. I
owe that to myself, they owe that to myself.

Unable to think of anything else, I
call Ingrid, but she is not in town. That's when the chance
arrives, the chance to let myself know that I am better than this
lonely boy I've become.

I find a familiar face standing in the
corridor. Jessica's mother is right outside her daughter's room.
She is dresses in black as the last time, and the
thought-to-the-millimeter combination of accessorizes and style
hypnotizes me. She notices that I am standing on the middle of the
corridor and with a sweet smile she waves, she clearly remembers
knocking at my door.

"Merry Christmas" she says with a
gentle voice "I still hope to see you at the party."

"Thank you" I say trying not to look
at her "I…" yeah, why not.” I will go. That is if I find someone to
go with."

She raises her white and glamorous
sunglasses and stares at me with her dark eyes. She smiles again
and then she nods.

"I am quite sure you will, my boy. A
handsome man like you should not have a problem for that.
"

I blush. I nod and a moment after I am
crossing the main door. I am outside, surrounded by people seating
on the grass in groups, studying or simple hanging out, which is
more likely. Among them, I can see Jessica, she looks at me and
stands up quickly enough to catch me before I leave for a stroll.
After all, my idea to sit around so many unknown people proved to
be way too much for a start.

"Hey!" She joins me and walks right by
my side.

"Hello."

"Merry Christmas.”

"You are one week ahead of time, you
know that, right?" I try my best to make sure that she understands
that I'm joking.

"Yeah I know. Have any plans
yet?"

"No…Your mother just reminded me about
the party."

"My mother?" she asks
surprised

"Yes, she was right in front of your
room."

She looks back, staring at what I
think is her room window.

"I didn't see her get in! Probably I
was too much into studying" She looks back again. "Well, I'll guess
I'll be seeing you around in campus."

"Well, we are neighbors.”

"Not for long, mum is moving to
Barcelona because she has a great feeling about the bar, so there's
no reason for me to live here anymore."

"Oh, I see. Take care
then."

"Thanks" she leaves. When she is mere
meters away from me she turns and shouts. "I want to see you at the
Christmas party!"

I smile back at her, and when she is
finally gone I start walking, heading nowhere in particular. I am
surprised of how well that conversation went, for a moment I felt
like if she was my friend, or at least someone who could likely
become one in the future. I regret not having been more open to
people during my staying here, now it is just too late to make room
for new people, but it's never too late to question all the
mistakes that one has done. Perhaps if I could do it all over again
it would be different, perhaps I would not even consider coming
here. Whatever might have been, it makes no difference now, I can't
change what's been done and even if I could, I am not sure I
would.

It doesn't matter that I will be
leaving in two weeks, Barcelona will always have a place in my
heart. I will never forget its crowded streets and the beauty of
the old city. There are so many places in the world that teach you
things, but here, not only have I learned things, but I've grown as
a person, I know that, I can feel it, and when I leave, that will
be the one thing that I'll be taking away.

The long walk helps me clarify some
thoughts, to put some needed and urgent order in my head. It's been
almost two weeks since I last spoke with Elizabeth, it's time for
me to focus on other things. The reason I came here was to study,
not to go back home in a worse personal state than when I left.
This trip was intended to take me away from everything I had been
trying to keep far from me for a year, and it succeeded, I can't
ask for more.

Before I can enter the residence I see
a shadow near the stone stairs. I know who that is, her long red
hair is unquestionably unique. Jessica is sobbing right next to me
and I could sneak into the building and nothing would happen, she
has not seen me, but I can't do that, I bring myself to her and
hope that I will not exacerbate things.

"Are you ok?"

She notices me and tries to hide the
fact that she has been crying. She uses her jumper's sleeve to
clean her face and with a fake smile she stands up.

"Yeah, thank you…sorry, I can't
remember your name"

"Alex" I say, smiling. "Are you sure
you are ok?"

"I am" She is trembling and the words
are hardly audible.

"Let's go inside and eat something,
shall we?" I take her around my arms and lead the way into the
dining room, which fortunately is empty.

After a couple of minutes of dead and
uncomfortable silence she starts talking. Her mother is not being
really open minded about some personal affairs of hers that I feel
too shy to ask about, but what is troubling her the most is that
her date for the party won't be able to attend, so she has been
left alone. I take the following minutes considering the pros and
cons about the situation, and after a careful study of them I make
up my mind. I don't want any more «what ifs» in my life.

"I'll go with you" The words just come
out of my mouth fully formed, I guess that means that deep inside I
was going to use them, although probably not with
Jessica.