Multiple thoughts flashed through Wanda's mind at the same time. “Eric has the box. Eric was at school to defend her. Eric knows the rebels, he's not one of them, but he is part of them ...”
Wanda shook her head, knowing that she could not understand what was going on. She focused on what she actually wanted. “Look, I don't know who you are or where you're from ...”
He suddenly turned to look at her; his eyes were penetrating. She paused, wondering if he wanted to say something, but he only pulled the edges of his lips up in a cold manner.
“I only want the rebels to give me the Healing Méndez.”
“What?” Eric was bewildered. He also chuckled.
“I need it.... to heal my brother Jason,” Wanda said and began to wonder about how Eric got healed so fast after the wounds he got when he fought with the demon at her school.
“The Healing Méndez,” he repeated and then looked away like she wasn’t making any sense. He walked to a wall unit made of wooden planks fastened onto the wall of the shack they were in. He looked on one of the shelves and scrabbled about for some item that Wanda could care less about.
“Can you talk to me and stop acting like I'm not here,” Wanda grumbled. “I can see you must have used some supernatural thing to heal yourself. Could it be ... the Healing Méndez? Is that why you healed fast from the wounds incurred from the fight with the demon at my school?”
“What do you want me to do?” Eric turned to her. His gaze again penetrating and as direct as an eagle's eyes set on a target.
Wanda stopped, stood by the fireplace, just at the edge of the section with the dining table. “I just want the Healing Méndez. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“The Healing Méndez is at the Fortress!” Eric said firmly, with his eyes full of all the seriousness he could conjure.
“What!” Wanda backed up half a step in confusion. She controlled herself. “No, it is with the rebels. It is golden.”
Eric laughed, and the laughter only got Wanda aggravated. “Were you told about it, or did you see it.”
Wanda thought quickly. She grinned at him, knowing what he was referring to. She could see he knew more than she thought. He knew she had never laid her eyes on the Healing Méndez to honestly tell if it was golden or not. In annoyance, she kept quiet, but Eric smiled, knowing he had her in the right place.
“Okay,” she concurred. “I was told – But I need it to heal my brother. I know you've not met him, but ...”
“I know Jason very well,” he butted in. He had turned his face back to the shelf, searching it again.
“I need it!” She shouted suddenly in deep vexation. “And I am going to get it no matter the means.”
“Wow,” Eric turned in surprise. “You do get annoyed.”
“You better tell me what you know ...”
“You better tell me how you know my name?” Eric replied.
“Arhhh!” Wanda exclaimed frustratedly. She didn't know why he was asking her about that. “What does that have to do with my request for the Healing Méndez?”
“Answer me and I will give you more answers.”
She turned in vexation and tightened her jaws together in desperation. “Look, I only have ... forty-eight hours,” she said with the words coming out in confusion. She realised she didn't know what day it was or if she still had forty-eight hours or not.
“I only have a few minutes ...” Eric answered.
“Okay, Okay,” she butted in slowly and calmed down. “I got your name from a close friend.”
“Name?” he demanded quickly with his eyes straight on her. He neither looked annoyed or disturbed.
“Tutu,” she replied. He frowned gently, and she thought he was wondering what type of name that was. “Look, I'm not lying - she's my classmate at school, and I don't know where she got your name from.” Wanda gave a very brief response though Tutu had explained to her before how she got the name. He turned away, and she continued. “You have to answer mine now – I need the Healing Méndez.”
“I don't have it,” he answered. His hands were wide open to reveal he was telling the truth.
“Yes, not you, the rebels.”
“They don't have it, and they're not rebels – they are Vitrians.”
“They are?” She was alarmed. “They're trying to destroy the Vitrians. They killed my father and sent demons to Jason.”
“Isn't it easy, how we pass judgment by listening to only one side of a story,” Eric responded and was surprised at how convinced Wanda looked about the things she said. “Anyway,” he ignored and moved on. “Your so-called rebels don't have the Healing Méndez. They have something else, though, and by the way, the Healing Méndez is not golden.”
“How do you know? Did you see it, or were you told?” Wanda tried using the words he had used earlier on him. Eric laughed for a moment, then he settled after a minute and spoke. “Forget it.”
Wanda gaped in surprise. “Forget it, the rebels ... they have been consulting demons, using them to kill Vitrians, and you expect me to forget getting what can heal Jason and so many sick Vitrians.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eric raised his voice back at her. Wanda trembled at the loud voice, he realised he was scaring her, so he controlled himself and turned away. “You really need to know what is happening, Wanda. The demons were summoned by Alexis,” he spoke the name with venomous hatred in his voice. “How do you think the children died; the ones with likely traits of The Chosen or their parents who were killed after they left the Fortress ... or let me guess, you think the arrows they fired at you three days ago when you were on your way to the Fortress were meant to keep you alive....” Realising he had said too much and let his slight burst of anger overtake him, Eric stopped abruptly. He went totally silent and froze like a dead body.
“You know the stories,” Wanda could not hide her amazement. Thoughts began to flash in her memory the instant Eric mentioned their journey to the Fortress. Refusing to accept the thoughts in her mind, she took a step into the section of the dining area closer to the table as trepidation swept through her body. “Turn, I need to see your face,” she demanded, summoning courage.
“Sorry, I raised my voice.”
“Turn and talk to me,” Wanda insisted.
Eric turned, and instantly Wanda staggered back. She almost fell as fear engulfed her like a fly caught in the web of a spider that was never going to release it. Her breathing became heavy. She was now staring at those - those eyes again. His eyes had changed, and they were now cat-like iris that she had noticed while she was at school. They were real; she knew now it wasn't her eyes that were deceiving her.
“What are you?” She mumbled after a gasp, watching the eyes as she took a step back. She felt stupid for not remembering those eyes. What had she been thinking, Bathe had mentioned in the car anyone who can see demons and not a Vitrian must be a demon, a trick that demons could perform, the rebels must have been playing with her mind.
“Don't be ...” Eric took two quick steps and stretched to help her from falling.
“Get away from me,” Wanda shouted and fell on her back but didn't think about the pain. She immediately began to feel for her Praying Méndez.
“It's alright,” Eric said. He bent down and moved closer to Wanda. Wanda became awestruck, looking directly into his eyes. She searched hastily for her Méndez without taking her eyes off Eric. Her hand touched something in her pocket when she heard Eric speak.
“My eyes are like that when I am stressed or tense.” He tried to lighten the mood and stretched a hand to her. He almost touched her, but all Wanda could see were the eyes that looked different and cat-like.
Wanda's hands trembled in her pocket, and she pulled them out. The item wrapped in the silver scarf that Alexis had given her came out. In slow motion, she and Eric turned to the silver cloth and watched as the object rolled for a while, and then the material opened. A small stone rolled out of the fabric, and it glowed h
eavily in deep sky blue the instant it was revealed from the cover of the silver cloth. Wanda wondered what it was as she gazed at the item.
“Arhhh!” Eric cried out at the appearance of the stone and pushed his body back. He immediately pulled his hand up, blocking his eyes from the glowing blue stone. He got up and unable to control his step as his hands were over his face. He fell backwards and crashed into the table behind him. Like the table was weak wood, although it was made of thick timber, it crumbled easily on Eric's weight. Wanda watched in amazement as Eric tried to push himself back from the stone.
“Where did you get that from?” Eric asked in a harsh tone. His voice had begun to sound different.
For a second, Wanda was confused. She remembered what Alexis had said about the item and using it against any demon.
“Alexis gave it to me,” confidence began to build up in Wanda's voice, “a blessed tool used against any demon.”
“That is no blessed tool,” Eric cried, his voice totally different. He pulled his hands off his face for Wanda to see his facial structure changing. Shock gripped Wanda, and she quickly moved her body away further from the dining, knocking something off behind her as she pushed back with her hands and legs on the floor.
“Eric,” Wanda called in shock and a low tone.
The thing she was looking at, which was taking shape in front of her, was frightening. It felt like she was watching a movie with a shapeshifter changing gradually. “That is a stone carved in witchcraft ... from the depth of the Abyss itself,” Eric said.
Eric, with his hands, suddenly looking more prolonged than usual, dragged himself to the box that fell from the broken table. He forced the box open and brought out a Praying Méndez. He threw the Méndez to Wanda.
Wanda stretched and took the Méndez. “What am I to do with this?” She muttered in nervousness.
“Pray,” Eric said in a deeper voice that Wanda recognised but hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.
“For what?” she asked as fear embraced her voice. The words came out involuntarily rather than as an actual question. What she was staring at was unimaginable. She froze where she was as Eric changed, his torso becoming longer and his clothes tearing apart little by little.
“The stone would make me go wild,” he tried to explain. “Pray that I would not be able to hurt you?”
Wanda could see that he was changing shape more and more. The stone was indeed not binding or stopping him. The stone was ... it was actually aiding him to change, though she could see his body was fighting against the change as he grunted and made agonizing sounds.
Quickly Wanda pulled the silver cloth over the stone, and the glow went off. She took the Méndez and tried to pray, but she could only mumble a few words because she saw a shadow rise filling up the room. She turned towards Eric again to see her nightmare in front of her. The grayish-white creature stood up; its body bent from the waist up so that it could fit into the shack. Its eyes were now the cat-like eyes she'd seen before; they were reddened and ready for the kill.
“Run, run,” she heard a voice like her dad's echo in her thoughts. She got up in one push, ran past the sofa, and rushed towards the door where Eric came in from. She heard Eric crushing some items and the wall beside her as he ran after her, but she didn't look back. She knew he was big enough to catch up with her quickly.
She barely stepped out before she heard Eric smashing a section of the wall down. She looked back and saw the thing he had changed into. It was standing outside the shack. She looked around in haste and realised she had no clue about where she was. The shack was the only house in view; no other form of shelter existed. All she could see were trees to her left and right and the little open area the shack occupied. The old house stood alone in the entire area like a holiday home people went to when they went camping or away from civilization.
Without hesitation, she knew Eric was going to jump at her in one leap. She was right. He jumped, but she was smart enough to turn sideways and ran into the dense part of the woods. Eric landed furiously on the ground, skidded away a few metres and stood up on his huge feet. He ran after her into the woods, pushing the trees out of his way. His strength was inexplicable. He bent down and pushed large tree stems in his path off easily like they were little sticks.
Wanda turned again after running for about half a minute and realised the creature was directly behind her. It stretched to catch her, and at that point, she saw two massive trees growing side by side. She ran past the tiny space between them as the creature stretched. It barely got one of its fingers scrambling for Wanda as it touched her through the small space between the trees. The creature's hand got wedged between the two trees. Wanda pressed her body out of the weak grip of the big finger, which was as thick as her neck. She turned, and with all the strength in her, she stabbed the Méndez in the creature's palm. In deep anger, Wanda saw the enormous supernatural power of the thing as it roared. It hit one of the massive trees with a massive blow from its right hand. The entire tree shook vigorously, and then it pushed the tree out of its path. Wanda watched in disbelief as the big stem cracked, and with an earth-shaking sound, the tree fell to the ground.
Wanda lost her balance and fell the moment the tree hit the ground. Without any hesitation, she got up, turned, and ran a good ten metres trying to escape him. She slipped and found herself hanging by the edge. Her right hand was barely holding on to the stone that kept her from falling. The next level she could fall to was far, about twenty-five metres below and made of solid mountain rock. Looking down, she knew that attempting it was futile. Wanda was still thinking when the creature walked up to the edge where she was hanging, his eyes still burning fire red. He looked down at her, and for a moment, they both stared at one another. Wanda was sweating, her heart pounding hard on her chest, and her hair was damp from running. She began to feel her fingers slip. She tried to grip harder, but she couldn't. Her fingers were terribly hurting.
“Eric, Eric,” she shouted, with fear in her expression, hoping that Eric was still somewhere inside the creature, and he would come to her aid. She lost grip on the rock and was about to drop when the creature caught her hand. He pulled her back up to the top. She took in a deep breath kneeling by the edge and panting heavily. She looked up at the creature, it had moved backward about ten metres in a squatting position, and its eyes had changed back to blue human eyes.
“Thank you,” her lips quivered as her body continued to shiver intensely. She noticed movements in the woods and realised they were not alone. Figures dressed in black from head to toe suddenly encompassed them. She knew the rebels had arrived.
She saw that there were about a dozen of them. The man in front was holding a blanket. He placed the blanket around the creature as it changed finally back to Eric.
“It's okay – it's okay, son," the man said, holding on to Eric's face and making sure he was conscious and alright.
Like a log of wood, Wanda's body felt heavy as she looked at the man and Eric while several thoughts flashed through her mind. She realized Eric had been protecting her all the while, in school, during the road attack and the arrows. She recalled the arrows and shock gripped her as she realised the arrows were truly meant for her – her mum had suspected the same. If it were not for the creature that had jumped to protect her, the arrows would have shattered her body. And lastly, Eric had saved her from the fall over the cliff, when the rebels attacked.
She suddenly noticed a figure next to her, so she looked up. Beside her was the man who threw the blanket over Eric. He wore a smile on his face, looking down at her from his very tall height.
“My name is Xavier,” the man said with a faint smile on his face. It was apparent from his smile he was expecting Wanda to be surprised to hear his name. “I knew your father very well – A good friend that would always be remembered by many.”
Wanda was shocked, disturbed, and unsure of what she was hearing. She had heard the name before, and according to Alexis and Bathe, Xavier wa
s dead. “No,” she said, gently shaking her head in disbelief as her eyes wondered searching Xavier's face. “No, it's not possible!”
“I know,” Xavier agreed and smiled. “If you can give me some time, I would explain everything to you. You need to know the truth; you need to know who you truly are.”
THE END
Continue with Vitrian Secrets Series Book 2
(The Chosen Unveiled)
Prologue Book2
The world seemed to twirl in Xavier's eyes, he had suddenly been knocked off to the side by a large demon, and he wasn't able to see the demon clearly, while his friend, Marcus, continued the fight alone.
Xavier suddenly woke up to reality, hearing a loud scream. He remembered how he was knocked off and thought about it for a moment when the scream that had woken him up came up again; this time, it was louder and more horrific. He realised it was Celina squealing so loudly. He looked towards her to find the man who had come for her, dragging her outside by the entrance.
“Don't!” Celina shouted out, revealing there was something horrific going on, and then she included in a rush. “No – No,” she cried out the words with her left hand stretched out straight towards something on the other side of the room.
Xavier remembered he had left Marcus on the side of the room, where Celina was stretching towards. He looked in the direction of Celina's hand in a confused state, wondering why Celina would need to warn Marcus to stay back, but little did he know that a lot had happened while he was knocked unconscious. To his shock, he saw the shadow of a big figure where Marcus was supposed to be, but the wall between him and Marcus obstructed his vision. He didn't know what the creature was or even if Marcus was there.
Xavier tried to get up, but the pain was too much, and it obstructed his vision, so he couldn't understand or see what was happening on the other side of the room. He could feel his face was wet and bleeding, yet he managed to get up and then heard Celina outside the door, complaining and struggling.
The Healing Mendez (Vitrian Secrets, #1) Page 17
