by Mani, A.
I decided to go back to my life in the valley. There was nothing for me in the city. Who would have thought? After all of these years, I got one little reminder of my past and immediately broke down to pieces. I could not see his eyes but he could see mine and to be honest, I had never felt more exposed in my entire life. On that split second, I felt as if I handed my heart to him and he just ignored it and kept on going.
As I was marching the streets, I could hear the crowd cheering and screaming but there was only one voice that was louder than any hustle that occurred: my own.
Was that me walking down the street all by herself? Was that me, Almas, the Sun stealer, the woman that had never left without a fight? I stared at my reflection on a nearby glass window and noticed I was just a pale version of that woman and that it was time for me to add some colors to it.
“The beast, is it true you are going to win the up coming elections and become our next governor?” the reporter yelled his question.
“Well, you know me for a while now. Would I lie to you?” Dark beast smiled and made everybody laugh in agreement.
I had never witnessed such an intense press conference.
“How are you going to handle the ID stealing we have been suffering from for the past two years?” another reporter asked with concern.
“My team and I have been working on a special program that will eliminate these crimes once and for all!” he stated and made the crowd applaud.
“Do you know who is behind it?” the reporter kept asking and made him uncomfortable.
“Unfortunately, I can not discuss this issue broadly with you”.
His response caused a commotion and Dark beast avoided eye contact with the crowd and started looking at his papers.
“Mr. Beast, how are you going to handle the demons of your past?” a question was thrown into the air.
“And… who is asking that?” Dark beast searched through the crowd uneasily.
“A. ‘Sun Stealer’ magazine”, I answered and gazed into his eyes. This time he was not wearing shades and I could dive freely into my beast’s eyes, hoping to remember the right path to his heart. The heart that was once mine.
“Well, A. I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there. We all have our demons and I remember my mother always used to say that sometimes we need to fight them yet, sometimes we just need to embrace them”, he answered after a long pause and I had a feeling he mentioned his witch of a mother just to spite me.
“No more questions please”, the host asked and The beast’s team got up and tried to pull him out but he did not move. His eyes kept searching through the hustle. He was looking for me but I was gone. Again.
“Not so fast!” a documenter turned to me.
“You are A. the reporter, right? The beast is asking to see you!” he stated and accompanied me to his office.
I couldn’t even resist him. His head was covered with a dark helmet as all documenters. That helmet used to document everything by recording. If somebody dared to resist a documenter, he would pass his materials to the network guards or the cyber police and these materials would end up appearing all over net, so I cooperated with him.
I entered into a big office with a panoramic view of the eighty-four floor. I never understood why humanity was so eager to build these monstrous skyscrapers. We were so determine to reach the sky with our wonder of architecture, we forgot about the biggest wonder of all- the sun. Now we were raising a pale generation that literally could not see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Dark beast was facing the huge window and waited for the documenter to leave the room.
“My beautiful stealer, you have not changed a bit”, he turned to me with a big smile.
I could feel he was not happy to see me.
“I was just about to say the same thing about you”, I faked my smile.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
“Well, you asked to see me, didn’t you?” I answered.
“You know what I mean Almas. Why now?” he asked seriously.
“I am not sure”, I whispered, “I saw you on TV… Dark beast…”
“My name is The beast!” he raised his voice, “nobody makes an issue out of colors these days”, he said.
“No… how can they? They are too busy pretending they don’t make an issue out of it”, I mumbled to myself.
“What do you want, Almas?” he yelled at me.
“I would like to understand what you are doing! How the hell are you going to explain the world, the governor of California lives forever?” I approached him.
“This is none of your business!” he answered.
“None of my business? If they find out about you, we will all go down. You put all of us at risk!” I replied with anger.
“No worries, Almas. I am going to fake my death. Isn’t that what were doing all along?” he smiled at me and laid a book on the broad desk standing between us.
“The Prince by Machiavelli! Have you read it? Every leader in the world had read it!” he stated with pride.
“Maybe that’s the problem!” I answered with sarcasm.
Dark beast wore his serious face once again. It reminded me the first time we had met at the wild zone. The evil leader was back.
“Do you ever think about him?” I asked quietly.
“I am not interested in rehashing the past Almas!” he said firmly.
His eyes seemed dead and empty.
“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have come here. I see you have built yourself a productive new life…”
I referred to the group of young girls that was waiting for him outside. They were so beautiful and fresh. The level of beauty one could achieve these days with technology was outstanding and they all looked like perfect dolls, which just came out of the store.
“I will not bother you again, goodbye”, I said with a shivering voice and turned away.
“They are not you”, he suddenly said.
“Lucky them”, I answered and kept on walking but he managed to reach me. He grabbed me and pinned me to the wall with his strong arms. I couldn’t reach the floor with my feet. We were facing each other as he was breathing me in.
“Do you know what it’s like to yearn for someone for so long? Do you know what it’s like to walk alone in this world with a huge hole in the heart? With no capacity to feel? There is not enough alcohol in the world to take away this pain!”
Every word that came out of his mouth was a burn on my skin. I knew his pain too well. Nobody could know it better than me.
“If you only knew about the rivers of alcohol that streamed through my veins over the years just so I could hallucinate you; that it was you who were kissing my lips. That those were your beautiful eyes looking at me. That it was your smile in the fresh morning. That it was your warm body next to mine. But it wasn’t. All the girls in the world could not blur your memory and make it less painful for me!” he whispered in my ear.
I wanted to hold him but I couldn’t. He kept holding my arms so tight against the wall as if he wanted to punish me for the pain he was carrying all these years. And even though I was in pain, I didn’t care. I missed his breath, his touch, his smell. I wanted to kiss his lips and never let go.
His huge, muscular body pressed against mine. He kept on breathing me deeply and mumbling as he moved up and down my body.
“This smell… this smell…” I could feel his tears over my neck and shoulder and couldn’t stop myself from crying. Tigers never cry but when they finally do, they drift everyone with them into a river of an ancient pain. If only he would loose his grip and let me hold him with my arms. I would take care of him forever and never let go again.
“Sorry, I thought you were alone”, the office door opened.
“Almas?” I heard a familiar voice.
“Almas! Is that you?” he cried with joy.
It was my dear friend Kujo. The little boy I met on the edge of Didam Valley, my sweet childhood memory, my safe place.
/> Dark beast finally let go of me and turned away. He didn’t wish Kujo would see him this way.
Despite the intense moment Dark beast and I had shared, I couldn’t stop smiling towards Kujo. What a sweet interruption. What a welcomed guest from the past.
“Kujo, you are here too? How are you my friend? How are Daria and Adam?” I asked with joy.
Kujo stopped smiling once I had mentioned my sister and my nephew names. He paused and exchanged worried glances with Dark beast.
“What is it Kujo? What happened to my sister? Would someone please answer me?” I cried.
Kujo sat down and started talking quietly in a slow pace. I sat down in front of him.
“Daria is not herself. She is not the woman you remember. I tried to save her but she chose her way of living”.
“What way?” I asked.
“Nineteen eighty- four”, he finally said.
I heard about this club. It was a closed club for the rich and the infamous of Los Angeles. The microcosms of hell, where power, money and pleasure had joined together.
“Are you saying my sister is a prostitute?” my voice trembled.
“She is a dancer”, he tried to sweeten the truth.
“Kujo, how could you let that happen? Why aren’t you with her?” I cried.
“I have tried, Almas! Believe me I have!” he raised his voice.
“She was there for you when you needed her. I don’t understand, why are you here with Dark beast?” I yelled at him.
“He is my lawyer!” Dark beast interrupted our conversation, “and tell me this Almas, where do you get the audacity to come over here after all these years and judge us?”
I couldn’t bear Dark beast’s anger. I couldn’t tolerate the way he was looking at me, as if we were strangers. So I left. But he was right, I had no right to judge anybody but I was sure not planning to sit in place without a deed. My sister needed me and I was about to do everything in my power to help her.
“Can I help you?” the guard turned to me.
Luckily, I had my hat and my shades with me so there would be no clear evidence to my arrival.
“Forgive me, I am a little late. I am here for the job interview. I believe they are already waiting for me inside”, I stated and hoped this cover story would help me enter this preserved site.
The guard examined me from head to toe and finally allowed me to enter inside.
I walked through a dark, narrow hall that led me to the main room. In the middle of the room was a giant bar with silver poles on it. The bar was empty and I was eager to find someone that would help me find my sister.
I saw smoke coming out of one of the round sofas that were in the room and figured, somebody was smoking and I better hurry and try to talk to him before the management would uncover me and kick me out of this club.
“Excuse me”, I whispered while approaching the sofa from behind, “Can you please help me?”
“Help you? With what?” an old female voice answered me.
I came closer to her and couldn’t believe my eyes. The woman’s face was covered with smeared makeup and she was staring at the empty wall in front of her. She was wearing black brassiere with matching panties and her exposed skin was covered with symbols. Symbols I knew so well.
“Daria? My sweet sister, is that you?” I whispered with tears.
Daria finally turned her face and tried to recognize me through the darkness.
“Almas? What are you doing here?” she smiled at me.
“I came to see you”, I held her hand.
“How did you find me?” she wondered.
“Kujo”, I answered.
“I see…” she mumbled and turned her face back to the empty wall.
There was something weird about Daria. Even though we were not supposed to age as immortals, my sister looked older than I had remembered her. Her eyes were dead and I could notice she was addicted to drugs.
“Daria, this is not the place for you! Let me help you!” I begged her.
“Why? There are a lot of dancers around here and this is what we do best, right Almas? Nobody can dance like us…” I could feel she was hopeless but I was not about to give up on her.
“Daria, you are a gifted dancer but hell is the last place I would choose as a stage for you”, I held her face with my palms, “You don’t need to sell your body. I can help you. I can get you out of here!”
“Get me out of here? Are you out of your mind? Almas, I have more supporters than Dark beast and Kujo will ever have!” she laughed.
“Supporters? What are you talking about Daria? I am trying to save your life and you are bringing me numbers? Since when you care about this nonsense?” I raised my voice.
“Since I have nothing to live for!” she yelled at me, “Do you even know what it’s like to have your son repulsed by your sight? He wants nothing to do with me and honestly, I can’t blame him for that. Who would want a drugged prostitute as a mother? He is now a part of the Provokers gang. And Kujo, he is now this big lawyer working for the next governor of California and I am just a dirty secret he has to hide”, she explained with tears and anger.
“Well, well… who do we have here?” I heard a familiar voice from behind.
I turned around and froze. Not only my sister was working in hell, she was working for the devil himself.
“Eve? What are you doing here?” I was about to jump on her with rage.
“She runs this place”, Daria stopped me.
“Really? Why am I not surprised?” I asked with sarcasm.
“I heard you came for a job interview. I couldn’t be happier Almas. I would kill to have a dancer like you. I remember your moves very well”, she teased me.
“In your dreams!” I raged.
“Eve, would you be kind enough to leave me and my sister alone for a few minutes?” Daria asked her politely.
Eve turned around without a word.
“How did you get here, Daria?” I wondered, “Out of all the places in the world?”
“Leo, Almas.” Daria whispered after a long pause, “I wanted to find out about Leo. You accused Dark beast of giving Leo to the Nomadic Tribes in exchange for eternal life. I had to find out about the truth. I hoped to bring us all together again. Eve asked me to dance in her club and promised significant information in return. That night, I danced as I have never danced before. I got the love of the crowd and after a few nights I became a member of an exclusive club and pretty quick, I found my self addicted. Needless to say, there was no information about Leo. Eve was lying from the start just to get me working for her. She kept asking me about you and I think deep down, that was her final goal, to have you as her dancer in her club”.
“Daria, my dear sister. You did this for me! You lost everything because of me!” I cried.
“Almas, you can not lose what was not yours to begin with”, she hugged me.
“Daria, did she tell you how they did this to us? Or more important, why?” I was curious.
“I never asked her about that. I didn’t care. What will the knowing contribute to me except the unbearable pain?”
I disagreed with my sister. The reason to their actions could lead us to Leo. I would do anything in my power to find out what had happened to my son.
“Did you see Dark beast?” Daria asked me.
“I wish I didn’t”, I mumbled.
“Almas, I know you wouldn’t believe me if I tell you but that man loves you more than anything in this world”, she gently patted my long hair.
“Daria, I have met with him and all I felt was rage and contempt”.
“Can you blame him?” she asked me, “You accused him of a terrible crime. You broke his heart”.
“I lost my son, Daria!” I raised my voice, “He was sitting on the ground, crying like a baby, telling me he was weak, what else could I think?”
Daria looked into my eyes for a long moment and finally opened up:
“After you disappeared, Dark beast came back to
the wild zone. I have never seen him so skinny and weak. His entire body was wounded. We all greeted him and wondered about his journey and about Leo but all he cared about was you. He searched through the wild ones and kept asking ‘Almas, where is she? Where is my beautiful stealer?’ but we had no answer for him. We didn’t know where to find you and once he understood you were gone and that you didn’t wait for him, he broke down. Kujo and I tried to encourage him but that was the last straw. The next morning he was gone for good.”
“Daria, I have carried this guilt with me the entire time. I was wrong but I don’t know how to fix this”, I rested my head on her knees.
“Give him time. And stay away from Kujo, he seems to be very jealous when it comes to Kujo and you, god knows why…” she laughed.
“What is it with these two? No matter what happens, they always end up together… like two lost lovers!” I made Daria roll.
“Have you seen Sag?” she asked me.
“Sag is here?” I was caught by surprise, “It seems like California turned into the wild zone. What is he doing here?”
“He is a darbuka drummer in a touring band. They are performing at our club tomorrow night and the entire next week”.
“Sag… nobody can play like him. I must meet with him”, I thought aloud.
“So come! I am sure Eve would love to have you here, Almas”, she winked at me.
“Daria, I will get you out of this place. I swear to you. I will bring you and your family back together again!” I held her palms close to my heart.
“My little sister, you have not changed at all…” she whispered and closed her eyes.
I could tell she was exhausted and decided to allow her to rest. I gently kissed her forehead and left.
I marched my way from the bus station to the house and heard loud music coming out of it. I entered and found little Miss Diamond standing in the middle of our parlor. She was singing to our old residents who couldn’t wipe their smiles off their faces. Diamond had an amazing voice and she sure enjoyed the attention.
