by Auriane Bell
Vivian shook his head to stay awake. Curing Engelin’s cut with the hour glass had taken its toll on him. Aware that it could prove fatal to give in to his exhaustion, and hoping that it would help him to endure, he had lowered himself to the floor.
It had taken a long time for Engelin’s tears to ebb away and after repeating the hateful prayer for a while she had finally fallen asleep, mulcting him of a chance to get answers to all his questions.
Vivian continuously rocked back and forth, trying to ignore his pounding headache and focusing on the movement to lower the chance of falling into a doze. Sitting on the ground he had started to grow cold and he was glad for the warmth Engelin’s shawl and her small body granted him.
Then his eyes closed.
Vivian flinched.
Certainly it had only been for a moment but he had to try to find something to keep his thoughts occupied.
Desperate to stay awake he let his gaze wander from the knife on the floor to Magdala’s statue.
Both had been stained by the child’s blood.
Blood…
Vivian’s mind was clouded by a thick mist, not allowing one thought to find another and causing them to helplessly roam his head like men lost on the moor.
In this state, in which he knew he was close to losing his consciousness, the marks on Magdala’s perfect face looked like traces of dark-red tears.
Vivian squinted.
Were they still trailing down her cheek? He had to comfort her.
“Magdala…” he gasped.
“Vivian?” Engelin muttered silently. He had disrupted the child’s sleep due to his delusional imagination.
“Shhhh,” he said in a soft voice, annoyed about his own incompetence. “It’s alright, I’ve treated your wound.”
“Vivian!” Engelin was suddenly wide awake. “The knife… I didn’t…”
“Hush-hush,” he tried to calm her. Giving comfort was certainly something that needed more energy than he had left.
“No, you don’t understand…there is something I have to tell you about Änlin… about…” The girl stopped in mid-sentence. Her energetic behaviour was difficult to handle and certainly adding to the pain in his head.
“Can you ask them to gather here?”
“Who, child?”
He temporarily closed his eyes to be able to cope with the splitting headache.
“Änlin, Adrijan, your wife… and the elderly servant.”
Vivian’s pain-induced frown deepened.
“Perhaps you should let me take you to your room so I… so that you can get some sleep. We can talk about this later in the day.”
If she agreed on doing so he would leave someone to guard the entrance to the rooms she shared with Änlin. He didn’t know exactly whether it was her the danger was coming from, or her mother, who had probably ordered her to attack him, but either way today’s incidents couldn’t be ignored.
Engelin got up and stepped back.
After a moment of eternity he realised that she had done it to examine him.
Her actions unnerved him and made him estimate the chances of defending himself if she were to fetch the knife and proceed with her plan. In the end, all his efforts amounted to, was a hectic shifting of focus from the knife to her and back.
“I’m not going to attack you,” she said firmly, having guessed his thoughts.
Vivian wished she had been as easy to read for him as he in his current state was for her.
“Give me the hour glass,” she demanded.
“What?”
“Give it to me,” she repeated and reached out her hand.
Vivian’s head was spinning.
What intentions could Engelin have?
Why was his mind this clouded, his sight so blurry?
Vivian groaned.
Before he could come to a decision, Engelin jumped forward and snatched away the hour glass he had not long ago so carelessly removed from the safe.
Mairin’s head was resting on his shoulder as Adrijan caressed her, his fingers following a meandering path from behind her ear, over her neck and down her back. Resting with him on the swing felt a lot different now that they were hardly wearing any clothes and she was glad that he had been thoughtful enough to cover her with the blanket.
Her own hand was travelling over Adrijan’s chest, touching him lightly, now and then evading a scar when she thought it wasn’t too obvious. She wasn’t disgusted by them, yet even if it was silly, she was still afraid of hurting Adrijan or making him feel uncomfortable.
Despite Mairin’s efforts to conceal it, he noticed her peculiar behaviour, took her hand and guided the palm over his body, softly pressing it against the skin.
Against her will she tensed and Adrijan immediately stopped navigating her hand.
“Nothing is going to happen,” he said in a low voice.
Being found out didn’t help with easing her tension.
“I just want to be with you. If you dislike this or prefer doing something else we can stop at once – you only have to tell me,” he continued.
Mairin shyly nodded.
“We can play cards instead,” he suggested jokingly and feigned that he was trying to get up to fetch a deck.
“No, I-“ Mairin fell silent, realising a moment too late that it had been only an attempt to cheer her up. Adrijan warmly smiled at her.
“Thanks,” she whispered and snuggled against him, reassured that he had no unpleasant or scary expectations. Hearing his voice as well as the words he had chosen had calmed her but also planted an idea in her head.
“Adrijan?”
“Mhm?”
“Would you… would you sing to me?”
“Sing to you?” Adrijan sounded surprised and she was less certain that it had been a good idea to ask.
“Mh,” she confirmed nervously.
“Ah…”
Was he trying to think of reason to turn her down? If Adrijan had found one, he had decided not to tell her. Instead he cleared his throat.
“Alright,” he agreed and this time it was he who was embarrassed. “You’ll have to sit up a bit though,” he advised her and she obediently moved away with her ear from his chest, leaning her temple against his shoulder. Adrijan turned to her and kissed the top of her head.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready!”
Adrijan quietly sang to her the song he had chosen for the bet in the ‘Sanctuary’ and Mairin listened to it with her eyes closed and a satisfied smile on her lips.
“Well?”
Engelin was squatting in front of him, bearing less resemblance to a young distinguished girl than to a member of the Japanese yakuza. She was tired but looked absolutely self-complacent as she yawned heartily.
“Good morning, princess!” she greeted him after she had closed her uncovered mouth.
Engelin waved the hourglass before his eyes.
Vivian grumbled and snatched it away from her. His headache was gone and so was his fatigue. In fact he felt annoyingly invigorated after the girl had administered the right dose of life energy. At the moment though, he would have given a lot to have an excuse for not tormenting himself about what had happened. The whole situation reminded him too much of the days when he had to get up early to attend various business meetings with destroying agendas, of the moments when he had experienced the stimulating effects of a cold shower and his morning coffee, that robbed him of an excuse to go back to bed.
“Will you gather them now, please?” the girl had become half-serious again.
“Sure,” he muttered and got up from the ground.
Engelin giggled, pulled the shawl off his shoulders and made the fabric twirl through the air. He watched her playfulness with raised eyebrows and wondered how she could be so cheerful after what had happened. It was almost eerie, perhaps more frightening than discovering the knife.
“I will go get Adrijan and Mairin. Call Alfred and tell him who else you want to come.”
He handed her Adrijan’s mobile phone. “And don’t even try to tell me that you can’t operate this strange device,” he added.
“You are leaving me here on my own?” she asked reproachfully.
“Absolutely. And I’m taking the knife with me.”
“Hmmm.”
Vivian picked it up and when he stepped into the elevator, Engelin was still playing with her scarf.
“Ahem.”
Adrijan woke with a start and turned his head to face the noise.
“I hope you had a pleasant night, brother.”
The source of interference was standing in the door with one arm akimbo, casually leaning against the frame.
“Hush, don’t disturb her sleep.”
Adrijan’s warning was sharp yet nearly inaudible and he vehemently gestured Vivian to go back inside.
The master of Mondstein castle shook his head to decline and beckoned him instead.
Mairin was silently murmuring in Adrijan’s arms, half-awake from their whisper and the sudden movement of her human pillow. Very carefully he slipped away from her and put her body down on the sway. He was still hoping to let her sleep as he moved aside but Mairin’s eyes had already opened and she gazed at him drowsily.
“I’ll be right back, Mairin,” he explained soft-spoken.
Vivian followed him into the bedroom and casually lowered himself on the mattress. He seemed to be in a difficult mood and his hands were constantly playing with an item Adrijan couldn’t make out.
“I know there are some things we have to talk about,” Vivian finally said and Adrijan was glad that he was speaking in a low voice. “It wasn’t my plan to interrupt the two of you this soon.” Vivian was looking him over, stopping at the height of his underwear. “Too soon, it seems,” he added, “but after the occurrence of a series of a few less pleasant events I had to experience while you were having fun, I have to ask you to come to the ‘Sanctuary’ at once after making yourself presentable.”
Adrijan stared at his brother, ignoring his quip and impatiently waiting for him to get to the point.
“Engelin asked us to gather there.”
“Engelin, the child, asked? And who do you mean by ‘us’?”
“The three of us, Engelin, Änlin and Alfred – And yes, brother, Engelin requested it. I’m bright enough not to confuse her name with her mother’s.”
Adrijan frowned and yet as unmotivated as he was to follow his brother’s request he would not deny to oblige him.
“I’ve brought two sets of clothes for you and Mairin and included a weapon for you.”
Vivian gestured at the clothes that were spread out behind him on the bed with a nod of his head. Adrijan was alarmed when he noticed a knife on the nightstand. Hidden by his brother’s stature it had been out of his sight.
“You don’t honestly expect me to use this against a woman and her child, do you?”
Vivian seemed confused until he realised what he was talking about.
“The knife? No, that was Engelin’s weapon of choice. I have brought this here,” he explained, pointing at a Taser that had remained unnoticed between the clothes.
“Engelin…?”
“No more questions for now, brother. Engelin promised to enlighten us in the ‘Sanctuary’. One more thing though: I don’t know how dangerous this will be so I want you to hold on to this.”
Vivian tossed the item he now recognised as the hour glass at him and he deftly caught it.
Adrijan nodded with the resolve to do what had to be done.
“I’ll go wake Mairin then.”
“That won’t be necessary,” her worried voice sounded from behind him.
There she stood, wrapped into the duvet, gazing at them with big eyes. Vivian’s unpleasant invitation had wiped away every trace of sleep that had been lingering on her face only moments ago.
Standing in front of Magdala’s statue, Mairin was inevitably reminded of her first visit to the ‘Sanctuary’. She was tempted to retreat into the elevator but Adrijan’s warmth kept her from trying to run away. He was standing right behind her, sharing her bizarre view of the three versions of the same woman. There was the child, the mother and – well, an angel turned to stone.
“We should take a photo,” Vivian suggested, earning a few reprimanding looks that tried to convey that it wasn’t the right time for a joke like this. Despite his humorous attempt to lighten up the mood, Mairin reckoned that he was the last person to enjoy the irony of the moment.
“Thank you for coming,” Änlin von Kirchberg greeted them. “Alfred? Would you come here, please?”
The butler soon appeared between the statues, slowly following Änlin’s request that Mairin thought had sounded more like an order, rather conveyed by her demeanour than by her choice of words or her loud voice. Wasn’t it right to be frightened by this beautiful and self-confident woman?
“I’m here, Madam,” Alfred announced firmly. Mairin noticed that he had tucked a fairly big piece of folded linen under his arm, perhaps a table cloth or a bed sheet.
“I’ve finished setting up the table for breakfast, Madam.”
“Thank you, Alfred.”
Mairin was wondering why the elderly servant had agreed on taking orders from her.
“Now, before we proceed to the table, let us reveal the purpose of our presence here.”
“That was easier than I thought,” Adrijan mumbled behind her. Vivian chuckled quietly.
Änlin’s face darkened and forced both of them into an awkward silence.
“To do so, we need the hour glass that is in your possession, Vivian,” she continued.
“How about starting with an explanation?” he suggested without trying to hide the hostility in his voice.
“We’ve been scanned for weapons before entering. Don’t you think it’s time to trust us scary women just a little?”
The master of Mondstein castle threw a glance at Adrijan. Standing in front of him, Mairin couldn’t see his response but she could hear his sigh as he stepped past her to simply deliver the item to Änlin.
Unbelievingly she wanted to stop him but the longer she thought about it the less she could find a reason for doing so. After all it was a child and slender woman, standing against all of who were gathered here. Adrijan alone was certainly ample to ensure everyone’s safety.
“I don’t want it,” Änlin said. “Give it to Engelin.”
Everyone else seemed to be as confused about this as Mairin was but with Vivian’s consent Adrijan handed the life-giver to the girl.
“Don’t assume you can force her into submitting energy to you,” the master of Mondstein castle warned her. “I will not allow it, not even if you’re snow white’s step-mother.”
Änlin von Kirchberg laughed as if his words hadn’t been directed against her.
“Oh, very clever. I’ve always thought that your qualities were limited to your looks, Vivian.”
Vivian shrugged. “Who are you going to use it on?” The question was directed towards Engelin who gazed at them understandingly like a grown up.
“I will use it on Alfred – with your permission of course.”
“I’m not sure-“
“You have used it on him before,” Änlin interrupted him.
“Alfred too?” Mairin asked surprised.
“I haven’t given him much,” Vivian replied grumpily. “Perhaps a decade over the years.”
He sighed.
“Well, if Alfred wants to do it I won’t hinder you. Let me warn you though: Do not give up too much of your life-energy. Just before, you transferred the right dose to take away my fatigue. I cannot tell if this was out of luck or skill, but please be aware that the use of this instrument could prove fatal.”
Vivian shook his head. Perhaps he was considering Engelin’s age when he repeated the gist of what he had said.
“If you transfer too much, you will die.”
Engelin nodded. “I know,” she said calmly.
Mairin was
searching for the mischievous child within the precocious girl in front of her. Why did she seem so different now? Was it another one of her acts?
“Alfred?”
The girl’s voice invited the servant to join mother and daughter. He handed Änlin the white linen cloth and stepped back to let the two of them proceed. Engelin undressed behind the improvised curtain and Mairin couldn’t help but wonder just how much of life energy the girl was planning to transfer.
Adrijan tensed behind her, most likely ready to jump between them if Änlin should command the girl to give up her life for her mother.
“Well then…” Engelin said, wrapped into the linen fabric. “You can come here now, Alfred.”
“Very well, Miss.”
He positioned himself between Engelin and them and the only way Mairin could see that the transfer had begun was the blue light that had started to spread on Alfred’s skin. She recognised it as the same luminescence that had accompanied the death of Mrs Crouse two eternities ago.
Adrijan observed the process with mixed feelings. Alfred was blocking his view just as much as Änlin. The girl had vanished behind them and he was vigilantly watching that the energy wasn’t relayed to the wrong person.
Part of him was looking forward to seeing Alfred’s much younger version again. The other part screamed at the thought that a child as young as Engelin was giving up her life energy this very moment. Whatever the point was they wanted to prove, he and Vivian would make certain that the girl was going to regain her youth.
At least the fact that Alfred was the receiver was comforting, considering that he as a trusted person was closely overlooking the whole process and that it would take a much larger amount of energy to turn him into an infant, making it therefore more difficult to accomplish without anyone intervening beforehand.
Despite the graveness of the situation he was sidetracked by his longing to touch Mairin. She was standing in front of him, as lovely and irresistible as ever. The night they had spent together still felt as unreal as the first moon-landing.
