“Well, Luxt ...” Johana began, feeling him out, as he didn’t seem at all talkative. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?”
“There is nothing of interest to say,” he answered a little dryly, and his gaze never separated from the flames. They seemed to attract him magically.
“Well, you’re with the rebels,” Johana tried to press for more information. “How did you join them?”
Without moving a single millimeter Luxt rolled his eyes at her. His eyes were like daggers and made it clear that his past was his and he wasn’t willing to share it.
“Leave him alone, Johana,” Meryl rebuked her. Since Meryl had awakened in this new world, one of the clearest things Meryl understood was that many people didn’t want to talk about their past. “The important thing is he is on our side.”
“Don’t get confused,” Luxt cut her off and stood up. “I don’t care about wars, humans or vampires. I’m just acting for my own self-interest.”
“But you still do the right thing,” Meryl smiled. In his eyes, she could see the same gleam of pain that she saw in Caleb’s eyes. The memory saddened her. “I think I’m going to go to sleep for a while. I’m tired.”
Luxt took them to the tent they had prepared for them. It was just as modest as the rest of the tents. There were only a couple of blankets, two cots with enough bedding not to feel the stones on the rocky ground, and a bucket of fresh water. Meryl lay down while Johana left to explore a little. The moment the tension in her body disappeared a terrible muscular pain ran from head to toe. With the effort meryl had exerted in escaping and all the tension she had been carrying, it felt like a thousand needles that had been tormenting her fell away.
The musty smell of moisture caught Meryl’s attention instantly. In her sleep, there was only deep darkness. Until the storm broke out and strong lightning flashed for a fraction of a second. Meryl felt almost like the time she seemed to travel lost in the memories of the past, it was so real. She even felt nervous sweat slip down her temple uncomfortably. And she trembled when she heard the screams and crying. Meryl was frightened by a voice that her mind recognized with disproportionate pain. Lightning struck and a scene appeared for a couple of seconds that seemed like hours. Meryl saw Caleb, a young Caleb prostate, bound, bloody, and forced ...
What the hell is this?
Automatically, Meryl panicked and darted into the void of darkness to rescue him, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t touch anything. And to remain there, seeing fragments every time the light illuminated the poor and filthy room, unable to stop his suffering and tears. It was going to kill her. She began to scream hysterically. She didn’t want to see it. It was so horrifying and her heart hurt so much that her mind felt like it was going to break. Someone as strong as Caleb couldn’t go through that. It had to be a nightmare triggered by all the stress. By what Epsilon said he would do. But he was still there, one vision after another. Meryl had to endure the vision unable to nothing but cry and scream. She saw the person she loved suffer as few people would have ever suffered.
Meryl fell to her knees. She realized that she could only be a mere spectator. Just like she saw an important part of the past, but it was so unfair. Caleb was just a child, and it hurt her as much as if a strong poison ran through every vein of her body.
“Meryl! Meryl!” Johana shook Meryl. She received several blows from her friend. She was in a fit of panic as she slept. “Dear God! Somebody help me! Please!”
Rebecca and Luxt came to her aid and among the three of them. They managed to hold the sleeping Meryl. With her eyes closed and sleeping Meryl cried like a child. Thick tears slid out without a sign of stopping. She only felt pure despair.
“Meryl,” Johana called out. “You’re okay. You’re safe,” Johana whispered, hugging her friend.
“Caleb,” Meryl yelled without realizing that she was awake. “Caleb! I have to save him! Release me!” Meryl shouted suddenly, not remembering that it was a dream.
“Calm down. We are in Omega Zone!” Johana shook her again, and suddenly Meryl stayed still. She watched them all as if they were ghosts.
A few seconds of tight silence passed in which neither of the four blinked. Meryl moved her lips without any sound coming out of them, and at that moment her mind was processing at full speed what she had experienced.
“I’ve ... Caleb was suffering ...” Her eyes were red with pain. “He was a boy, so small, those men. Oh my God!”
“Leave,” Luxt said to Rebecca and Johana. “Leave me alone with her.”
“No.”
“She will be all right.” Luxt looked into Johana’s eyes, and something in him reassured her.
“Come on. Let him take care of it.”
Not quite trusting them, Johana let Rebecca drag her out of the tent, leaving a confused Meryl there.
“What you’ve seen ...” Luxt began, grabbing Meryl’s shoulders to get her attention. “Was it a tower? A dark, round room with a smell of rot and dampness,” Luxt’s words added to Meryl’s confusion. She nodded. “Did you drink Caleb’s blood?” Meryl nodded once again. “Then what you’ve seen is part of his past. It’s something we call the ‘melodies of the blood.’Our memories and experiences are etched beyond the mind and sometimes when we drink someone’s blood we are able to see bits of their past. Normally they are random images. Did you see everything?”
Meryl’s cry was an affirmative and clear answer. “They were …”
“I know, but we can’t change the past. Just forget what you’ve seen.”
“How?” Meryl was shocked.
“He will not like that you have seen it.” Luxt was so serious that Meryl felt a certain dread, and suddenly she realized something.
“You described it perfectly. How do you know of that place?” Luxt tried to leave, but Meryl’s hand grabbed hold of the fabric of his shirt. “I asked you how you know! I know you’ve been there!”
A terrible horror rose from the depths of Meryl’s heart at the mere thought that he had been one of those perverts who had abused Caleb. An overwhelming rage enveloped her and took her to the edge of madness, because if he was one of them. Meryl would do anything to make him pay.
“I was there, but I was not one of them,” Luxt growled furiously as he gripped her wrist to let him go. “Caleb came one day to kill them all, he saved me.”
“What?” Surprised, Meryl loosened the hold of his hand. “But that was a long time ago. The clothes they wore ...”
“Yes, and you shouldn’t say anything else about this. Forget about all this, because bringing it up will only cause Caleb pain. I have helped save your life but it was only because he saved mine.”
“I’m sorry,” Meryl apologized.
“I accept your apology as sincere. I’ll leave you alone, reconsider.”
When he left Meryl collapsed onto the improvised bed. She stared at the tent canvas for some long minutes and it seemed to calm her down. Meryl never imagined the suffering that Caleb had gone through. That he tried to push people away and used a standoffish demeanor to do so made so much sense. It made her sad.
Melody N⁰ 7
Goodbye
The days passed so slowly that Johana and Meryl seemed to have twice as many hours. There were hardly any things to do. Johana and Meryl used the weeks after their arrival to attend meetings to learn more about Omega Zone. They had previously only known about Omega because of rumors, gossip of former travelers, and refugees. Each story that Meryl heard, whatever it was, plunged her deep into unbearable pain, and even though she knew it was not her fault, her mind said otherwise.
♫♫♫
When it had been just over a month and a half since their arrival at the rebel camp. The revolution filled the dark place. The depths of the earth vibrated with shouts, warning bells and haste. The emissary
that had just arrived with supplies from the surface ran through the camp shouting and upsetting the people who managed to hear his words. Meryl and Johana had exited their tent before the chaos that surrounded them had started. They were curious to know the news and didn’t waste time in meeting the council.
“Is it true?” Rebecca asked when the emissary arrived, he was trying to catch his breath after the kilometer he had just run in seconds.
“The ... the news came sooner ... that I,” he murmured, gasping for breath.
Meryl watched him nervously. She sweated as her mind slipped into dark thoughts. She could see the excitement in the emissary’s eyes.
“The city is in complete chaos.”
“Why?” Johana asked this time.
“Boats. Airplanes. I never thought I would see one, but it flew over the city making everyone shout. It made a noise like a beast.”
“Planes?” Meryl murmured almost to herself, surprised.
“I went to the harbor when I heard them shouting. It was filled with gigantic ships. Epsilon’s men barely resisted for a couple of minutes.”
“He’s arrived,” Meryl almost stuttered. “It’s Caleb.”
“Yes, my friend.” Johana smiled, feeling a wonderful emotion that filled her with energy. “It’s time things turned around. We will crush Epsilon.”
Time stood still for Meryl. At last, she would see Caleb again.
“Send someone. We need to contact them as soon as possible,” Rebecca said.
“We’ll go,” Meryl offered, a little desperate.
“Not you,” the leader of the rebels refused.
Though angry Meryl didn’t reply. Rebecca’s gaze had warned her not to open her mouth again. In that moment in the underground Meryl felt like a prisoner. She didn’t have any kind of freedom.
“Come on,” Johana whispered, taking her from there.
“What?”
“Let’s get out of here. We will be more useful than them.”
“Okay.”
Johana had been scouting the depths of the sewer tunnels and city caves for weeks. She had managed to find a couple of exits to the surface.
They hadn’t exited the manhole when the scent of something burning grazed their noses. Their heads popped out and they drew in a breath of fresh air and closed their eyes slightly at the discomfort of the outside brightness. It had been weeks since they had come out of the bowels of the earth.
“Dear God,” Johana whispered.
They were less than a kilometer away from the city. From the high point where they stood, the columns of black smoke were perfectly visible, rising until finally merging with the dark clouds that covered the world. With their sharp ears, they were able to hear screams and loud rumbles that concerned them.
“The truth is I didn’t think that things were this bad,” Meryl said with concern.
“Come on. Let’s go look for our guys as soon as possible. We’re in danger. We have to be very careful, Meryl.”
“Yes.”
They began to descend the rocky slope with great difficulty. The terrain was steep and unstable. At the same time that they were lost among the famished trees that lacked water. A figure of which they hadn’t noticed followed them closely.
Before entering the city they already realized the seriousness of the situation. The chaos was simply indescribable. Just as when they first escaped Epsilon the people fought each other instead of uniting against their common enemy. While Epsilon’s men destroyed them one by one.
“I don’t know how the hell we’re going to get to the harbor,” Johana complained, biting her lower lip in frustration. “If we have to cross the city. I doubt we’ll get there in one piece.”
“Shall we walk around?”
“We’ll be late,” Johana said worriedly.
“What if we go from building to building?” Meryl said. “We can also use the sewers and basements.”
“That’s a great idea. We have to move carefully,” Johana warned as she bent down to pick up a pipe so rusty that with a scratch it would surely infect them with tetanus.
They waited for a few seconds, darted into a street, and raced to the first great building they found. They had to dodge a group of five men who were probably fighting for some stupid nonsense. Little by little and hour after hour, they kept going even as exhaustion began to make an appearance. The girls continued to go from building to building without stopping to rest. The closer they were to downtown, the worse the situation became.
“Damn it, at this rate we’ll still be here when it get’s dark.”
“We can’t do anything more Johana,” Meryl sighed, exhausted. “You’ve seen how things are. We need to travel like this.”
“We’re not going to get anything done at this rate. Let’s rest before we’re so tired we can’t take a step.”
They walked inside a building. It was in ruins, but its base remained firm and solid. The parking lot was now converted into a graveyard of cars. It was filled with old, shabby vehicles that they would use as a means of protection.
“This is a big one. We can stretch our legs,” Meryl said, carefully opening the door of a high end Land Rover, which in the past had been a dazzling white.
They entered through the back. The leather was worn and blackened, but they did not even stop to look. With a friendly hug, they clung to each other and lay down on the seat. Which fortunately remained fluffy and comfortable. They only lasted a few seconds when their eyes began to close. After hours of running from one place to another and the tension in their muscles caused by the fear of being discovered. They were completely exhausted.
♫♫♫
“It’s been a week and we’ve found nothing,” Jeoff said in frustration.
“The problem is the people’s fear. They don’t want to talk about anything that has to do with Epsilon. Anyway, the fuss and rumors about ships and planes indicate that Caleb has already arrived.”
“He was probably pressed for time after our escape.”
“Well, I think we’re going to have serious problems when he finds us,” Alexander said. “So if we want to stay alive when that happens. We’d better take him Meryl that way he’ll forget that we disobeyed his order.”
“Actually,” Jeoff began with a wicked smile. “He never forbade me to come.”
“Well. Anyone else can save themselves, huh?” Alexander joked, getting up. “You’re really terrifying.”
They left the place they had been using for shelter for the last few days and plunged into the chaos of the city without any fear. Obviously, humans were no match for them and left them alone when they realized that they were not attacking anyone. They simply walked by and their only purpose was to find Meryl.
♫♫♫
Pushing her head through the shattered door that had once let the cars in Meryl stared in horror at the crossroads in front of her, ten yards away. People were crowded, screaming desperately, and surrounded by a horde of smiling vampires. But that wasn’t what had caused their present state. Instead, it was the rumble that caused many to look where it came from. Close to the people stood a mass of iron, its green color had lost its intensity, but continued to fulfill its purpose.
“What the hell is that, Meryl?” Johana did not understand anything. She had never seen such a monster.
“It’s a tank. A military tank,” Meryl answered, with difficulty. She knew full well that Epsilon had made sure the dreadful thing continued to work.
“How are we going to fight that? It’s terrifying,” Johana admitted, stunned.
“Without another tank, forget it.” Meryl rubbed her eyes thoughtfully, she was tired and in a way, desolate. “The biggest problem is not the tank. It’s knowing if they have ammunitions.
Her voice was forgotten when a loud noise seemed to shatter the space. The tank had just fired, a
nd her greatest fear was confirmed. Epsilon had guns. Although Meryl didn’t know what kind. It was knowledge that escaped her understanding since she knew nothing of armaments. George had always had a passion for war. He loved documentaries, movies, and anything else that had to do with war. Not in a bad sense. He was always interested in the fact that someone was able to create such machines, and he always defended their creation if they were used to protect the defenseless. However, now he used them to destroy the innocent. The innocent who were thrown up in the air in pieces in front of them.
Meryl felt nauseous as she felt deep feelings trying to get out of her. Maybe, it was her soul wanting to escape far from there, and remain in wonderful obscurity.
“God!” Johana couldn’t express what she had just seen. On the ground, some human limbs were burning. “It’s one of those weapons you told me about when we first met?” Meryl nodded. “You were right. It’s moving,” Johana yelled out in a panic.
“Run!” Meryl grabbed a stunned Johana. Meryl braced herself and entered with the mission of crossing the interior of the building and exiting on the other side. Their bad luck led the tank in their direction, and if they stayed there. They would be discovered with the only result being that they would be torn apart.
Almost breathless, they didn’t stop for a second. They didn’t look back for fear that the gigantic tank was behind them. With the intent not only of ramming them but of running over their fragile bodies, shattering them.
“There!”
Taking command, Meryl grabbed her friend’s hand with all her strength to guide her to a
collapsing building that was once a small factory of simple utensils. Now it was empty and their footsteps echoed covering their ragged breaths.
“We have ... to stop ...” Meryl said, choking for air.
“No one is following us and it’s getting dark,” Johana added, dropping to the floor.
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