DARK FAÏZ Book 2: Nothing will ever be the same again

by Sandra L. Kiss

  "Yes, I'll leave you. I need to talk to Charles and Lily. They, too, are waiting for explanations."

  I watched him go, but just before he walked through the door, I decided to call to him.

  "Will, David found something new. We have to get together to talk about it. Can you organize the meeting?"

  I knew things would go faster if I let William take care of it. He was one of the few who could still approach Faïz. Since the death of his sister, no one in his family had been able to contact him. Me, even less. There was no doubt that in his eyes I was responsible for her death. Deep down, I didn't blame him for hating me.

  "You can count on me, I'll take care of it," declared William sincerely. "Call me if you need anything, day or night."

  I thanked him for his kindness with a slight smile, the first in what seemed like forever. He looked at me for a few seconds with a look that spoke volumes, as if I had just put a little burst of light in his miserable day, then he left.

  A warm breath caressed my face, which forced me to open my eyes. Amazement overcame me when I discovered that I was sitting in the heart of a dream landscape, enough to erase the anxiety of any human being on Earth. I stood up without difficulty. The grains of sand, trapped in my thick hair, flew away at the first breeze. In front of me rose dunes as far as the eye could see, the sun making them gold and ochre colored. This landscape in altitude gave me, during the first seconds, slight vertigo. The fine sand under my bare feet didn't burn me, despite a zenith sun. I also didn't feel the desert heat on my skin. It was while turning that I saw a little further on a silhouette standing on a dune. Surely a hallucination, I thought immediately. I decided to approach it, secretly wishing deep inside me to find during these few minutes of illusions my mother's arms. The sand cracked under my feet, breaking with the wind, the heavy silence of the moment. The figure still didn't move. It was there, motionless, waiting for me to get closer. My heart quickened, as did my walk. Finally, I ran the last few meters, almost missing it in the hot sand. When the figure turned around, I froze and immediately put a hand to my heart to prevent it from tearing away from my chest.

  "Victoria," I whispered with difficulty.

  "Are you okay?" She became instantly worried at seeing my expression. "it looks like you just saw a ghost."

  Her smile, so radiant during her life, immediately brought tears to my eyes. Only she could manage to make fun of such a solemn situation with so much hindsight.

  "Victoria," I stammered once more with a trembling voice. "Vic, I didn't save you."

  The end of my sentence broke, as it was so painful.

  "No one could have done it, Zoe. No one," whispered Victoria, taking me in her arms.

  I wanted to transform this precious moment into an eternity without waking up.

  "Your funeral was so sad."

  "I admit it wasn't quite what I expected."

  "What would you have wanted?"

  "A little more…rock 'n' roll ceremony."

  I shook my head, not surprised by her remark.

  "I want to stay here with you."

  Victoria stepped back.

  "Don't be silly. You will live for your loved ones, for my memory, for…Faïz."

  "He hates me, Vic, and it's understandable," I answered, my throat tightened by the sobs that threatened to spill again.

  "You know that's wrong. He hates himself more than anything at the moment. You need each other to…"

  Victoria stopped abruptly. The expression on her face then became indescribable. Fear? Worry? No! It was distress that reigned in her eyes.

  "What's going on?"

  "Oh, no," she whispered, panicking, looking around.

  "Vic? Talk to me!"

  "He found us."

  I stared at her, completely taken aback, not understanding what disaster she was referring to. It was then that the hot desert wind rose and the sky got covered with large dark clouds that announced the beginnings of a chaotic storm.

  "Wake up, Zoe! Now!"

  "No, wait, we're not done."

  "The Maestro is coming! He found a breach. You have to wake up."

  "But I can't. Are you in danger?" I insisted.

  "No, it's you, it's all of you. The Banshees must be released—"

  Victoria's words flew away with violent gusts. The storm was coming from far away. I no longer heard a single word that she was yelling at me.

  "The Banshees? What? What do you mean by that?" I cried in my turn.

  "The stone, Zoe!"

  "Why are you talking to me about the emerald?"

  "No, no. Not that one, the other one!"

  Victoria looked behind her then turned back to me again. It was then that she pushed me with all her might from the top of the immense dune, now covered with ashes. My body fell at that instant, into an endless nothingness.

  Loud voices from below woke me up. My face sweating, unable to get this dream out of my head, I took several minutes to understand that the morning was already there. Should I tell the group, or just William? He might take me for a fool and surely blame my terrible vision on the aftermath of the funeral. In my bed, I always fixed on the ceiling, at the level of the moldings, which formed in the center a rosette. Victoria, I said in a whisper before I decided to get up, my heart still not healed.

  Lily's threatening finger was pointing towards Ray when I appeared in the living room. Not knowing what was going on, I preferred to stay at the entrance to analyze and understand the situation.

  "You weren't allowed!" Lily said, her jaw clenched, her face distorted with anger.

  "I will never regret what we did," Ray replied as calmly as possible.

  Sitting next to Charles, William seemed to be watching the scene, but on closer inspection, his gaze was blank, expressionless. He was shot. It wasn't hard to guess that he hadn't slept in days. Faïz must have been in the same state. At that thought, I missed a breath and the pain in my chest returned as violently as a boomerang.

  "That's not justice, Ray…son."

  Lily was begging him. She put a delicate hand on his chest. Ray seemed immediately affected by this gesture and his shell cracked.

  "Ogres is dead. No court on Earth could have done justice to Victoria. He will be judged, Lily, like all of us here. This is the most important thing."

  I understood why Ray, William, and Faïz were absent at the funeral. This revelation froze my blood. I then felt William's eyes fall on me, but it was impossible for me to look at him, disillusioned by what they had done.

  "Zoe?" asked Charles, surprised to see me. "Come and have something to eat before you go."

  He tried to use a tone as detached as possible.

  "Thanks, but I'm not really hungry. Where should we go?" I managed to ask, despite a growing lump in the throat.

  Lily came near me while William got up to meet me.

  "Faïz is waiting for you," said Lily, full of resentment against her son. "You all seem to have to talk to each other."

  "David, Asarys, and Alexia will join us," added William.

  "All right," I agreed. "I'll get my jacket from my room."

  "We'll be waiting for you in the car," Ray said, walking past me to reach the front door.

  The three of us got out of Ray's SUV. The two friends hadn't exchanged a word during the whole trip, barely a glance. Everyone seemed to be immersed in their own thoughts, and these were surely going in the wrong direction from what I had heard that morning in the living room. When we rushed inside the building, my pulse quickened and concern won me over. Indeed, I hadn't seen Faïz since the drama, nor exchanged a word with him. Only his mother had been authorized to contact him for the preparation of the funeral. I dreaded when I would cross the threshold of his loft. Snuggled in the corner of the elevator, my breath echoed in my ears until the doors opened onto a large living room. My eyes immediately found my three friends, sitting on the huge sofa in the living room. The place was lit despite the still gloomy weather, but without rain. Lexy and Asar
ys got up immediately when they saw me and came without waiting to meet me.

  "Are you okay?" Lexy hastened to ask me, taking me gently in her arms.

  "Who… But who contacted you?"

  I was relieved to find the girls and David. They were my pillars in this ordeal.

  "It was Will, last night," David answered behind them. "I have urgent information to share with you."

  "Very well, we're listening!"

  The sound of that voice froze me on the spot. My three friends stepped aside to let Faïz pass. He came to plant himself not even a meter in front of me. His hands went to his pockets, waiting for us to tell him what to do next. When his eyes met mine, like a black anchor, they gave me all the anger he had in him. Nothing could have prepared me for that. I looked down. What else could I do? Apart from agreeing to live with this heavy burden until the end of my days.

  "Okay, come over here," David said, clapping his hands to end this moment of killing.

  My friend moved to the large rectangular table where his computer was placed. We all stood around him, with the exception of Faïz who preferred to stay back, leaning against one of the walls not far from us, looking towards the large windows. He was exhausted, too. He was here, but not here. His mind had just wandered across the large window and I knew all too well where he had gone.

  "Zoe? Are you with us?"

  William's voice forced me to turn my head towards David, who seemed to be waiting for me before starting his presentation.

  "Yes, we can start," I said, glancing uneasily at William.

  He didn't hide his annoyance at my interest in Faïz. Damn it, but what's his problem? I worry about him, that's it! I pretended not to notice his annoyed pout.

  "The coded part, studied and translated by the algorithm that I have established, tells us that what we are looking for is not on American territory, but on another continent."

  "Wait," interrupted Faïz, raising his hand into the void, "The Maestro's tomb isn't here? Have we had it all wrong from the start?"

  "Actually," David continued, "the Callis was not talking about an exact location. What it was explaining, however, was how to weaken The Maestro in order to push him to his last entrenchments before sending him back to his burial."

  "So, what exactly are we looking for? And where?" Asarys got impatient.

  "Eros!"

  "Lord, no. Tell me I'm dreaming," said Faïz softly, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed.

  "Okay, okay, two minutes please," Lexy said, shaking her head. "Eros? What the heck is that?"

  "Eros is an island off the coast of Japan that doesn't exist on Earth maps," explained William.

  "On Google Maps, there is no such place!" Lexy said, putting her cell phone in her pocket.

  "He just told you it's nonexistent!" cried Asarys, who was already browsing the internet on her phone.

  "What will we find there?" asked William.

  "A stone," replied David. "More precisely, a ruby."

  "What is this madness?" Lexy asked. "A ruby? A stone that we can find here, at home, in any upscale California villa?"

  "THE ruby," David said, "the one that belonged to Kushisake-Onna."

  "Kushicake, shit, who's that again?" asked Asarys.

  "Kushisake, another legend. Let me continue. It's said that this woman held, and still holds, a ruby that can free the Banshees from their spell. If we find this stone, the Sylphids will then find their celestial powers and lead the fight by our side."

  David decided to pause and crossed his arms, looking worried. The rest was nothing good.

  "Okay," said Asarys, "so we're going to Eros, we find Kushisake, and we ask her for the ruby? It's that simple?"

  "Yes, Asarys is right. She must be waiting for us," Lexy said.

  Faïz's slight sneer immediately made us turn to him.

  "Actually, no!" he said in a neutral voice as he went to sit at the other end of the table. "Kushisake will be difficult to convince, because it turns out that she is dead. However, it's said that her supernatural being continues to haunt the island. This woman is evil and loves darkness. Like The Maestro, she is a vector of evil. If the souls of the Banshees are trapped in the ruby, it's because she feeds on them."

  A vague concern invaded Faïz. His head turned to David.

  "What should we do with this stone, then?"

  "The ruby must be placed in the tomb where the remains of the traveler rest. It's his Achilles heel. Indeed, this stone is dangerous for him. It has the property of weakening the powers of Athanasius, who is always looking for a body in which to incarnate."

  "Wait, can we just slow down?" exclaimed Asarys, raising her hands to heaven. "So, then…what is plan B?"

  "There isn't one!" replied Faïz dryly. "The Callis is right, there is only one evil legend to defeat another, and Kushisake is the ally we need to carry out this war against Athanasius. She comes from another time, a little over a century or so ago, when the samurai were still dancing with their concubines. Kushi was a gem, capable of bringing any man to his knees. A samurai finally agreed to her and she fell madly in love with him. Only her jealous lover couldn't stand her vain beauty. In yet another violent argument between them, the man grabbed his sword and disfigured her, slitting her mouth on each side up to her ears."

  The three of us were hanging onto Faïz's words when he paused. This story was terrible and none of us dared to break the silence for a few seconds. Suddenly, Victoria's words came to mind. So that's what she was trying to tell me. I would have liked to confide in my friends, but it was impossible. I couldn't share this strange meeting that occurred in my dream, and even less to Faïz.

  "Her legend begins just after her death. Locals can come across her in the recesses of the island, which is, most of the time, plunged in thick fog. She walks around with a mask, placed on the bottom of her face, and asks a random person, far from the eyes, if she is pretty. Before the person responds, Kushi takes off her mask and the fate of the stranger depends on their response."

  "Life or death?" Lexy asked, fearful of hearing the answer.

  "Yes," replied Faïz. "Unfortunately, it's impossible to weaken her in her avenging quest. Her worshipers revere her and nourish this spirit by offering her the soul of Sylphids, who then becomes a Banshee. In a ruby, as red as the blood that she has shed so much, they have captured for decades these nymphs by traveling the globe. To be able to get rid of this demon, the authorities of Eros do their best to eradicate this brotherhood in the service of evil, but the guru is a powerful and evil man, protected by the members of his community and also by the occult forces. They invoke Kushisake in dark ceremonies."

  I understood better the whole complexity of the problem. So many questions came to my mind and I didn't know where to start.

  "Well! Maybe the mission isn't that complicated," said Lexy, shrugging. "These crazies necessarily have a flaw."

  Her words collided with a wall of silence. We were all perplexed.

  "With a good organization," added Lexy, "we can manage to convince Kushisake to give us the stone. We liberate the Banshees and the planet is safe and sound."

  "We?" asked Faïz, surprised, for the first time looking at each of us.

  "Yes," David hesitated. "I think we all have a role to play and it would be too risky to send just one or two people. We can all help. Right?"

  My friend questioned our little group with a look to find support. Then Faïz couldn’t help emitting a cheeky sneer.

  "I think you've done enough already! Keep your help. I don't want it," he said while glaring at me.

  My heart sank. This attack took my breath away. His tone and words hurt me cruelly. Immutable pain in my chest immediately reappeared.

  "Faïz!" William intervened in a burst of anger. "We aren't here for that! David is right, we all have to go to Eros."

  "I'm not going anywhere with the Goofy gang!" cried Faïz, pointing to my three friends.

  "Goofy?" whispered Lexy, tapping her mouth with h
er fingertips while fixing the air with a stern look. "Goofy," she repeated. "Wouldn't that be Mickey's dog?"

  She turned to Asarys for a possible confirmation from her, but she seemed to hesitate in front of this enigma.

  "No, you're confused," said David. "Mickey's dog is Pluto. He's yellow with ears—"

  "Shit! Are you serious right now?" exclaimed Faïz, now in black rage. "Is this a joke? They will kill us all!"

  I closed my eyes and pursed my lips. Admittedly, I was used to Faïz's bad temper, but I didn't want my three friends to be frightened by him, knowing that we would all be spending more time together in the future.

  "Don't take it out on them!" I said. "They're just trying to help. David spent an enormous amount of time on the Callis writings."

  "Zoe is right," William agreed, advancing towards Faïz. "Each of us can be useful, as David pointed out."

  Faïz shook his head to deny this and ended up turning to Ray, who was standing back from the group.

  "I agree with Zoe and Will," Ray said with his arms crossed. "We will all go together to Eros. From now on, we will have to deal with it."

  "All right," capitulated Faïz with a sigh. "We will leave tomorrow!"

  Loud voices were heard across the living room following this announcement. A hubbub of protests escaped from both sides of the room. Ray and William came closer to Faïz while Asarys and Lexy each took me by the arm, preventing me from hearing the conversation between them.

  "High school, our families… Come on, Zoe it wouldn’t be reasonable!" exclaimed Asarys.

  "We can't leave everything like that overnight," added Lexy, frowning.

  My friends weren’t wrong. I remained silent, waiting for Faïz or William to announce their decision to us. After several interminable minutes, the three men walked towards us and it was finally Ray who spoke while staring at Asarys.

  "Four weeks. This gives us time to plan out this mission. David?"

  Ray looked at my friend.

  "Could you continue researching further in the meantime? We need to know as much as possible about Eros and Kushisake."

  "Of course, you can count on me," assured David, visibly involved in his mission.