Salt of The Earth: The Fall of Barcelona

by Vlada Asta

  However, Robert believed that part of the rumors could be true – about Sebastian allowing himself the behavior not suitable for a church warrior. But was it truly his fault? Her face and body were beautiful, and she wasn’t any different from a human in the way she spoke or acted. Her eyes and fangs gave her origin away, but didn’t turn her into a monster. Sebastian could fall for her without any magic or mind-control involved.

  Robert missed that feeling. Only the memories of it gave him strength to continue fighting for his life instead of ending it all with a single poison injection. Though he had been facing those thoughts more than once! A quiet painless death seemed more attractive than such a worthless life.

  But as long as he had some hope left, he was ready to hold onto it. And his hope was represented by Aeterni now.

  “Perhaps the police will volunteer to watch her,” his assistant suggested. “They’re also discussing the option of creating a special committee for doing this. They’ll gather a group that will follow her around…”

  “Committees, groups, police – any of this will be a mistake!” Robert interrupted in annoyance. “She won’t stand such abuse of her freedom! She’ll slip away only to show them she can do it. And she won’t come back! We can’t let that happen. Tell Cardinal she’s going to live in my house.”

  “Are you sure about this, Lord Laas?”

  “Absolutely.”

  His assistant became noticeably pale, but he didn’t dare to argue. He wasn’t thrilled by the idea of living in the same house with the “monster”!

  But Robert liked that decision. The more he thought about it, the better he understood that he chose the right thing. Aeterni would get the respect she deserved, and he would be able to talk to her about rebuilding his body.

  “Send a car for her,” he instructed. “I’ll write a private letter to Cardinal Jeremiah.”

  “As you wish, Lord Laas.”

  The assistant bowed to him and walked away. It was possible that he would resign because of it. How naïve! If only he knew he had already lived in one building with Hente – for many years! That was the power of ignorance in its purest. Robert didn’t care whether this assistant would go or stay; he didn’t even remember the man’s name. All those employees were the same to him.

  He moved to his computer and typed the letter.

  “Your Eminence, I’ve been informed about the trouble you are having with our guest, Aeterni. I value the stability inside the Church greatly, so I’m ready to take care of her accommodation. She will become my guest today. I have plenty of men guarding me, so I don’t need any groups or committees sent here. If there are any problems with the city police, tell them to contact me directly. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Yours sincerely, Robert Laas.”

  He was one of the few people who knew the Cardinal’s personal contacts – and he was the only one who didn’t have to ask the Church for anything. He simply informed them about what he was going to do, and they had to accept it. Robert wasn’t happy about having to use that privilege, but he didn’t regret it. He was thinking about the result, not formalities.

  A minute later he received the answer from the Cardinal.

  “Lord Laas, your will was blessed by God Almighty. Your decision is as wise as ever. No other person in this city can become a better companion for Aeterni and a better warranty of safety for the city. I will take care of the official part and I support your act with all my soul. Your friend Cardinal Jeremiah.”

  Someone else might’ve taken the Cardinal’s words for mere politeness or even hidden irritation, but not Robert. He felt that the Cardinal was truly glad this option came around. The old man was smart, he knew how important the Hente was for Barcelona!

  Everything seemed settled and Robert was waiting for his guest to arrive. However, his peaceful solitude didn’t last long. The doors to his office flew open, and Alberta burst inside, pushing his assistants out of her way.

  His wife hadn’t stirred any emotions in him for years. Just like any other human being… or the rest of the world. The feelings still available to him were limited by his own mind.

  Poets and philosophers could babble all they want about the connection between heart and soul. Robert had a sad chance to make sure none of this romantic nonsense was real. His reproductive and endocrine systems ruined, his hormones replaced with medications, his food now coming only through special tubes – with all that he forgot what love and passion were, and he could no longer feel like a man.

  In the past he could at least enjoy the memories of his wife. Not anymore though. The pregnancy wasn’t too becoming to her: her body lost its perfect shape, her skin became unhealthy, her movements were filled with some strange hysteria and her eyes were angry and wild most of the time. This Alberta was a parody of the one who used to bring fire to his heart and fuel him with endless energy.

  The fact she was carrying another man’s child made him feel even worse. Robert had no idea why he was still pretending to believe in the artificial pregnancy. He knew Alberta and that doctor of hers were sleeping together every single night. But Robert had more important things to do, he didn’t want to waste his time on scandals.

  And now she was in his office, a fury of a woman, forgetting she had to pretend to be sweet and gentle.

  “Is that true?” she asked after barely crossing the threshold. “Tell me it’s not true!”

  “I can’t confirm or deny it until I know what you’re talking about.”

  “You invited a monster into our house!”

  “I invited Aeterni to live in my house. Is that what you mean?”

  “Are you out of your mind?! She’s a Hente! She’s dangerous!”

  “I don’t feel like explaining anything to you. She will come to this house tonight.”

  Alberta froze on the spot, looking at him in utter disbelief. She wasn’t used to that! Robert barely spoke to her, he spent all of his time in the lab and he let her govern most of the official processes connected to the Laas family. That somehow made her believe her husband was completely broken and under her control. That was naïve, but she wasn’t enough of a social huntress to know him well.

  She wasn’t stupid either, and she figured she wouldn’t get anything through screaming. That made Alberta change her strategy.

  “But it’s not about me!” she declared, looking at him teary-eyed. “If things were the way there were, say, a year ago, I wouldn’t say anything. It’s different now, I’m worried about my baby, Aeterni may be dangerous!”

  “I doubt it.”

  “You don’t know for sure! If there’s a one in a million chance she’ll attack the baby, I won’t calm down!”

  “And what does it have to do with me?” Robert chuckled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “This baby has a father, and it’s the father’s responsibility to make sure both you and the fetus are safe.”

  His wife was staring at him dumbly; she couldn’t believe her ears. Robert felt sad and bitter to realize what the main relationship of his life had turned into.

  “But you said I could…” she whispered. “You said you weren’t against it! That you’d accept this baby into the family!”

  “Yes. I was ready to write that child down as my own, to make it an official heir to the Laas family, though I knew my relatives would be against it. Because there wouldn’t be a drop of the Laas blood in that baby! And you know that I hate arguing with my family… But I was ready to do it for you! I felt guilty, I knew you could miss something important because of me. In exchange for these favors I asked you of one thing only: to make this baby a result of artificial insemination, with no biological father involved. All these years I remained calm about my wife sleeping with other men, I didn’t think you were cheating. And you know why? I knew I couldn’t offer anything of that nature to you, and I had no right to judge you. But things were different with that baby. If I was to call it my heir, it wasn’t supposed to be connected to any other m
an. And what did you do?”

  At least she had the decency not to claim he was wrong. Alberta had only just started to realize how much he truly knew about her. It was a great blow to her, but she was dealing with it stoically.

  “I know I was wrong,” she cast her eyes to the floor. “I surrendered to my emotions… But it’s so hard, that thing that happened to you…”

  “You don’t say!” Robert replied sarcastically. “I’m sorry it was hard for you!”

  “You shouldn’t be ironic about it, it’s not only your pain. It’s the pain of everyone who loves you.”

  “And that pain made you jump into another man’s bed to conceive a baby with him?”

  “It was a mistake…”

  “A long-term mistake, considering you brought that man into my home!”

  It was the final strike that left Alberta completely speechless. Even with all the knowledge he had already demonstrated, she was hoping to keep her most important secret. But now her games were over. Instead of a damaged, miserable moving corpse, she was facing the Robert she used to know again.

  “Are you going to divorce me?” she asked barely above a whisper.

  “I will. Come to think of it, I should’ve done it a long time ago. I didn’t want to do it now, but I can’t go on pretending. If I can find a cure, I still won’t be able to live with you and share my bed with you. But you have a new family now, so don’t worry.”

  “Don’t…”

  “We are not going to argue about this,” Robert told her strictly. “Right now I’m determined to leave you with a little financial reward after that divorce. But if you get on my nerves, you’ll be thrown out of this house with the possessions you had when you came here – which is nothing.”

  “I understand,” Alberta moved her hand over her eyes, wiping the non-existent tears away. “But… can this divorce at least wait till the baby is born?”

  “As you wish. But Aeterni is going to come here tonight. I don’t care where you’ll be at this moment.”

  “I’ll leave the house immediately. I’ll keep silent about everything. But… I really need your help. For all the years we’ve been happy together, Robert…”

  “There weren’t many of those years. But you’ll get my help. Now leave me alone, I need some peace and quiet.”

  She obeyed him; the rage that flared in her when she came to his office was gone. Robert wasn’t sorry for her, and he didn’t care whether his assistants heard their talk or not.

  His life would never be the same, and it was just another piece of his past melting away. Alberta was left behind, and he had to think about the future.

  ***

  Something important was gone, and Ulmanas was scared this loss was permanent. They’d been a family for so many years… He, Sebastian and Gabriella. Even when they were sent to different orphanages, because the Church wouldn’t let teenagers of opposite sex stay close, they’d find a way to stay in touch. It seemed that after everything they had gone through, they’d remain together forever.

  And now it was gone. All of it. Ulmanas didn’t know what happened, he had learned about it through rumors, and those rumors were very different. The only two people who knew the truth refused to talk to him!

  “Have you lied about him or not?” Ulmanas kept asking Gabriella.

  “I saved his soul!”

  “Doesn’t look like it…”

  “Just stay away from me! You won’t understand!”

  The situation with Sebastian wasn’t any better. He was part of the squads all the time, because that was his order, and he was following the instructions perfectly. But apart from that, he didn’t talk to anyone.

  “I’ve heard that she seduced you,” Ulmanas said when he finally met his friend.

  “I don’t care what you’ve heard.”

  “If it’s truly so, you need help. And you should make peace with Gabby, we’re family!”

  “It’s so weird… Everyone seems to know what I should do. And nobody wants to know if I need it.”

  As the result, his two best friends – his only friends! – turned into two locked dungeons, each of them keeping their secrets dutifully. And with all that mess, nothing changed on the big scale!

  Aeterni was still staying in the city, under Laas’s supervision. She was hunting Hente. She declared yesterday that all the predators within the city limit were gone, not a single spy left. And the city adored her once again!

  Which meant that the scandal only influenced a handful of lives. Ulmanas was trying to make himself believe he should support Gabriella in this situation. Sebastian developed an unhealthy attraction to that creature, it must be stopped! But… back with Aeterni Sebastian looked much happier than he was now.

  “Drowning in your thoughts again?” Brother Rafael asked in annoyance. “Cut it out, we have a mission here!”

  Aeterni’s announcement didn’t mean that all patrols would be cancelled. First of all, humans could also be a threat to each other, and besides, there were still some Hente on the peninsula that could come here. There weren’t any cases of mass breakages through the border, but a beast or two would crawl here every day, everyone knew that.

  However, the atmosphere became different. Aeterni’s help gave them the much-desired feeling of security; they really needed it.

  “Two more streets, and we’re done,” Ulmanas stated.

  “Yep, and we’ll finish it faster if you stop your daydreaming! Or morning dreaming, to be precise.”

  Dawn was breaking slowly and almost timidly above the city roofs. Clear sky was painted in pink rays of the sun, and the night was taking the remains of dread away with it. Ulmanas liked being on this shift – from midnight till morning. He felt like it was just a walk around the city with nothing to worry about.

  Their squad broke into pairs, and each pair had its own route to check. They had to walk along those streets and see if anyone needed their help or if there was anything suspicious out there.

  Sebastian denied to go on such missions, and he was appointed to the squads that hunted Hente outside Barcelona. Ulmanas saw nothing wrong with protecting the citizens without really doing anything for it.

  He didn’t have any bad feeling that morning. He was just enjoying the end of the shift, and he wasn’t the one who noticed the suspicious detail.

  “Look!” Brother Rafael pointed forward. “There’s a door open there, or I’m just seeing things…”

  This neighborhood was rather wealthy, the people who lived here were not part of the elite, but they were a confident middle class type. They didn’t leave their doors open for the night and didn’t wake up this early. However, now the door was truly open.

  And the gray steps in front of it were already covered in a web of red streams.

  “Something happened inside,” Ulmanas was the first to draw his sword out. “Call the others.”

  “I can’t leave you alone here! Two warriors must study the place of the attack, that’s the rule!”

  Rafael was a freshman. He finished the Seminary only six months ago and he had never seen a real Hente. So the prospect of facing them here, when he was least prepared for it, influenced him greatly.

  But that couldn’t serve as an excuse for him. He was a warrior, and he had to act like one!

  “Use your walkie-talkie,” Ulmanas gave him a look of reproach. “I’ll go first, you follow me.”

  “Okay…”

  He wasn’t the best partner for this, and Ulmanas wanted to wait for the others, but he just couldn’t. What if someone was still alive inside that house? That was unlikely, though. The blood on the doorsteps was already going dry.

  The hall met them with pure chaos. The furniture was thrown aside or broken, the walls and the ceiling were painted in long scarlet lines of blood. That wasn’t a robbery… It looked like a Slayers’ attack, when they would grasp their victims with their jaws and throw them from side to side. But how could they do it so quietly that the neighbors hadn’t heard anythin
g? If only…

  Could the same thing have happened in the neighbors’ houses too?!

  “God…” Rafael whispered. “Who could’ve done such a thing?”

  “As if you don’t know.”

  “But… That Hente woman said she killed them all!”

  “She could be wrong. Or another predator got into the city.”

  Ulmanas tried to sound confident, even though he knew everything he was saying was very unlikely. This house was too far from the border and too close to the sea. Why would Hente come here of all places? It wasn’t their typical behavior!

  But if Aeterni made a mistake and missed some of the spies, why would they do this? They had never acted this way! They were hiding – not breaking into houses or attacking people on the streets. Could her hunt push them into taking more desperate measures?

  Then Aeterni was in big trouble.

  While Rafael hastily explained to the others what they had found, Ulmanas walked further inside – and stopped by the door to the living room.

  He saw the first human body there. And it wasn’t anything like the Hente victims he had observed before.

  Normally the predators ripped their prey apart and ate it completely. But here, in a huge puddle of blood, Ulmanas found a skeleton. The bones remained completely unharmed, not a single crack left on them! But everything else was gone – skin, muscles, internal organs… The owner of the house was killed and gnawed here, in the place he considered the safest in the city.

  The rest of the squad arrived soon. They searched through the house; they were shocked and silent, avoiding the fear only through constant action. Ulmanas wasn’t part of this. He remained on the threshold of the living room, unable to tear his eyes off the bloody skeleton.

  From the talks between the other warriors he heard that they found four victims in the house – three grown-ups and a child of around ten years old. All of them were killed in this monstrous manner – gnawed to the bones. But their neighbors were alive and unharmed, they hadn’t heard anything. The predator killed these people so fast they didn’t have a chance to call for help, and the rest happened when they were already dead.