"Liz ..." he started to say.
I turned to John, turning my back on Liam.
"John ..." I said, and he nodded without a word.
He came closer. He grabbed my waist and I held his arms. He looked at me for a moment longer and moved closer. He lifted a hand, wiped away a tear that was now descending on my face and we disappeared. I just heard one last "Liz ..." from Liam and we were already in my room.
I can’t say I've ever felt anything like it. The nearest to describe would be a tingling, but in the whole body, and a second later it was over. I wonder what it must be like to be able to disappear from a place at any time. Surely it must be useful.
"Thank you," I said when we got to my room.
"You're welcome," John said, sitting down in the chair.
I sat up in bed, brooding. I closed my eyes as I realized what that meant. It took me so long to get Liam out of my head, and in just a second he was back in my life. And bringing all those nasty feelings with him. I didn’t know if I could bear to see him again.
John looked at me carefully. He seemed to be examining if I was going to start crying again.
"Don’t worry, I won’t cry anymore," I said, returning to reality.
I tried to smile to show him that I was fine, but my face didn’t respond. The shock of seeing Liam again had been greater than I had imagined.
"I wasn’t thinking you…" John tried to disguise himself.
“Yes, you were.”
"Sorry." He smiled shyly.
“It's all right. You've seen me cry twice. Which is unusual. I don’t usually cry.”
"I didn’t come into your life at a very normal time, did I?" John said smiling.
"That's true." I said, managing to smile again.
He was completely still, but moved his leg quickly, impatient with something.
"You want to tell me what happened?" He asked finally.
I thought for a moment. I didn’t want to relive all that, but at the moment I didn’t want to be alone either, so I started talking.
“I met him at Joe's. He used to go there almost every day. He just asked for some iced tea and kept reading. I noticed him right away. How could I not?”
John shifted in his chair, looking uncomfortable.
“One day he just got up from the table, went to the counter where I was and asked if I wanted to go out with him. He looked cool, so I said yes. Two months later, we were spending every second of each day together.”
"Almost nine months later, and one day, he didn’t show up or sent a text. I thought it was weird, so I called him, but nothing. I was worried, but convinced that something had happened and that he would show up soon saying that everything was fine. "
"I went to work the next day, and I still hadn’t heard from him. I spent the day worried, but doing everything not to think the worst. At the end of the day I went to get my purse from the back of the diner, and when I returned I had a note on the table he used to sit on. You know that feeling, that bad thing in your stomach that you feel when you realize something isn’t right? That's what I felt the moment I took the note off the table and saw my name written on it. He just wrote, 'I'm sorry. I can’t do this.' Not another word.”
"It was paralyzing. I was completely in love with him, and he just disappeared. Without an explanation or the courtesy of telling me in person. I was left only with my imagination. Trying to figure out the reason for all that, and I admit, it wasn’t fun."
“Liz, I'm so sorry. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that," John said.
Even as I spoke, memories popped into my head. Memories that I buried deep in my brain and didn’t bother me for a long time. I’d been wrong thinking that I could completely forget about a person.
"I guess that's why I cried today," I said, looking at John. "He was there apologizing for the first time for something that shattered me, when he could’ve avoided all that. I was in love with him, and I like to think it was reciprocal, and he couldn’t have tried just a little harder?”
John didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He looked at his hands, as if he couldn’t look me in the eyes, and moved his legs still.
"Is that why you like to be alone? Because he hurt you?” He asked after a while.
I paused to think and looked at John's face again. He had a constant expression of anger on his face. For the first time since Liam disappeared I realized that what happened has contributed a lot to who I was today. Basically, I didn’t want to accept that being left behind had left a permanent mark on me. I couldn’t let anyone in because I didn’t want to get hurt again.
"I kind of lost faith in people," I said. "And I didn’t have much to begin with. But being in love also makes you a little dumb, apparently. Why else would someone voluntarily put themselves in the position of being hurt?”
John looked at me and I saw an expression of agony on his face. I didn’t understand why.
“It's late.” He said and stood abruptly. "You should rest."
I got my pajamas in the closet and went to change in the bathroom. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I hurried back to the room and John was waiting for me.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said as soon as I entered. “I'm going now.”
He looked at me with a look that I couldn’t figure out. Deep down, I didn’t want him to go, but I didn’t say anything. I just agreed.
“Okay.”
He smiled and disappeared leaving behind the usual black cloud. I lay for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling, but soon realized that my brain wouldn’t let me rest. I went down to get some water, and Grandma was still sitting on the couch with a cup in her hand, watching. I filled a glass of water and went to sit next to her.
“What are you watching?” I asked as I sat down.
“Dear, God, Liz!” She said, knocking over the fries in her hand.
I opened a smile with the scary look on her face.
“Sorry, Grandma. I didn’t mean to scare you, I thought you heard me.”
"Where the hell did you come from?"
She looked around as if the room had a secret door that she’d never seen before.
"John left me in my room," I said.
“What happened?” Grandma asked, surely feeling something was wrong. She had a strange sense when it came to that.
"Nothing," I lied, but not well enough. I took a sip of the water so I wouldn’t have to answer, but she stared at me patiently until I put the glass down on the table.
"Am I going to have to call him and ask?"
"All right, Grandma. Wow!
I thought about how to say this. Grandma never liked Liam, which I always thought was something mandatory and natural for parents; not liking the boyfriends. Or maybe she suspected it wouldn’t end well. Anyway, I would have to tell the truth because she always found a way to find out.
"Liam was there," I said slowly. “He's a Pacenian, too.”
“What?!” Grandma almost screamed after a second of shock. “I don’t believe this. And that kid still had the nerve to talk to you after what he put you through? I hope I don’t see him, or he’ll see what an old human can do.”
"Grandma, I just want to forget all about it. That’s it.”
She nodded and returned her attention to the TV, but a few minutes later she spoke again, looking uneasy.
"Did he say anything?"
"That he found out who I was, but couldn’t tell me the truth, so he had to end everything. If that's how he calls a note with just a few written words.”
"If he didn’t do his best to stay with you, he's the one who doesn’t deserve you, my dear.”
"Thank you, Grandma," I said, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm going back to my room. Good night.”
I got up, put the glass in the sink, and headed for the stairs. When I stepped on the first step Grandma said:
"You know, John broke the rules when he told you everything." I stopped where I was and turned to look at her. She smiled
at me. "I'm sure he had a good reason."
I smiled back and went up to my room. I turned off the light, lay down, and thought about what Grandma said. John seemed particularly enraged to hear what Liam did. And he's really protective, but that's his job, isn’t it? And why is it that thinking about it made me feel that strange feeling in my stomach? I got it all out of my head and tried to sleep. It took a few minutes, but I did it.
I woke up at 10 a.m. I got up and went for a shower. As I brushed my teeth, thousands of thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone. Liam and John were the main ones. I had the feeling that even if I didn’t want to, Liam was back in my life. I dried my hair, put on jeans and a T-shirt, and went straight to the kitchen.
"Are not you going to work today?" Grandma asked, filling my cup of coffee.
"No. I called Joe yesterday and asked him to take another day off. The Pacenians were not to blame for my problem with Liam. I couldn’t even meet everyone. I didn’t even get to meet the Chosen Ones!”
"And what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to the hotel this afternoon," I said, taking a sip of the coffee. I was determined not to let Liam get back into my life and screw up everything. He’d already done that when he disappeared.
"Good luck then," Grandma said, beginning to write something on a notepad.
“What about you? What are you doing today?”
“Nothing important. I'm going to do some shopping now and I'll test some recipes in the afternoon. But have fun at the hotel.”
“I will. I'll see you when I get back from the hotel, but I don’t know what time it will be.”
She folded the paper and put it in her bag and looked back at me.
"Just don’t come home too late," she said, smiling. “I’m leaving. See you.”
Grandma kissed my forehead and went out with her bags. I sat on the bench in front of the counter looking into the void. When I finished my coffee, the idea ofdoing something to take to the hotel was annoyingly fixated in my mind. I didn’t want to go empty-handed and I was too nervous to do anything until then. After a few minutes thinking I decided to make a cake. I wasn’t great in the kitchen, but I knew how to work around it. Grandma made sure of that. I got the ingredients and started baking.
Three hours later the cake was ready and packed in a paper box. With my bike still broken, I had to walk.
I didn’t consider Heaven Valley either a big or small town, it was something in between. So, after walking for about half an hour at a quick pace, I stopped in front of the Safehouse Hotel. Just like before, there was no one in the doorway, so I went straight to the big front door. I hit as hard as I could.
A few minutes passed and no one opened the door. I thought that in a hotel of this size no one would hear the beat instantly, but soon I began to worry if I should’ve told John that I was coming. As soon as I raised my hand to knock again, he opened the door, looking surprised.
“Hi. What are you doing here?” He looked relaxed, barefoot, in faded jeans and a black T-shirt with a few features that highlighted his biceps. I spent more time than I should’ve staring at him.
"Sorry," I tried to disguise myself and looked him in the eye again. "I should have warned you I was coming."
“Of course not. You’re always welcome here. I just thought you were going to work today.”
He looked at my hands with raised eyebrows and smiled.
“And what is this?” He asked, clearly holding back a laugh.
"It's a chocolate and banana cake," I replied, frowning. “I brought it for you.”
"And did you bake it yourself?"
"Of course," I said. "One of the advantages of growing up with a grandmother who's always in the kitchen."
I gave the cake to John and he got out of the way for me to pass by, closing the door behind us. I looked around, absorbing the strange beauty of the place. It seemed incredibly beaten, but it was still beautiful.
"I was just going to the diner," John said as we entered.
"So, I guess I made it easier for you."
"I that case, thank you very much, miss," he said, smiling.
"I'm sorry again for showing up like this. I was just upset that I rushed out like that yesterday.”
"I'm sorry for that, but no one blamed you. And as I’ve already said; You're always welcome here, you don’t have to tell us you’re coming. It's your home too.”
"Thank you," I said, unable to hold a smile.
Inadvertently, I looked at the room where we were yesterday looking for Liam. When I didn’t see him, I began to examine every place in sight.
"He left a few minutes ago, so, you have nothing to worry about this time, "John said, wisely realizing what I was doing.
"I don’t mind," I said, blushing a little. "Now I just want to move on. Yesterday I was just taken by surprise, that's all. And I can’t be shaken every time I see him.”
John nodded — not seeming to believe me — and led me to the kitchen, in the opposite direction from the hall yesterday. As we passed through the door, to the left at the entrance of the hotel, there was a room with only a small table with a few chairs and cabinets. In the far-right corner of the room was a door, which, as I passed, opened into an enormous kitchen, which should have been typical of a hotel, I thought. We put the cake on the large counter in the center of the kitchen and went back to the entrance and entered the hall we were in yesterday.
It was practically empty, with only a few people sitting and talking. We went straight to a small group that was sitting in armchairs at the back of the room.
"Liz, you didn’t get to know everyone yesterday, or the Chosen Ones. Isys is one of them. She's sitting there, come on.”
The other two girls who were sitting with her I had met last night. They seemed to be a little younger than me. As we started to get closer, they looked in our direction.
“Girls, do you mind if I borrow Isys?” John asked with his charming smile on his face.
The girls giggled and whispered.
"Liz, this is Isys. She’s a Chosen One.”
She got up, smiling. She was taller than me and had a long blond hair with turquoise strands beginning at shoulder height. Her ivory skin was perfect and the honey-colored eyes stared at me curiously. The huge smile on her face showed her perfect lips and teeth. She could destroy any girl’s self-esteem.
"We finally met," she said, hugging me hard and taking me by surprise. "Sorry I didn’t show up yesterday. I was looking for leads with the others.”
“Did you find anything?” I asked, really interested.
“Unfortunately, not. This guy is smart.”
"And, where were you?"
She seemed to be defeated by the question and soon I regretted it. I thought about where they should be looking for clues and understood. I didn’t know how to behave in this new reality of people we knew being killed. I couldn’t get used to it. But I guess I shouldn’t.
"Where we found the last body," she replied with the same expression.
“I’m sorry. This can’t be easy. Must be hard to see this happen to your people. Our people — I soon corrected myself.”
John smiled.
"So, I heard you practically ran out of here yesterday," Isys asked, quickly returning to her happy expression. “What happened?”
“Isys!” John scolded her with a scowl.
"It's fine, John," I said. "It had nothing to do with you, I just wasn’t feeling well.”
I thought it was better to lie than to have to get into the matter. I didn’t want to think about Liam more than necessary.
"But did you get to know the place?" She said, not caring about John's scowl toward her. "Even though its old and worn, I still think it's beautiful. Your parents saved our lives when they got it for us. People would’ve died without knowing anything about this land if they hadn’t helped.”
I knew she probably didn’t remember them, or anything, probably just heard the stories, but it was good to hear that. That my paren
ts really helped these people.
"Show her what you can do. She likes to see these things," John said, smiling.
"All right," Isys said, looking excited.
She walked to the fireplace. She bent down and held out her hand swiftly. At first, I didn’t notice anything, but a second later, the fireplace was on fire. Isys walked back to where we were, smiling. John looked at me and laughed at my reaction, which I thought was the same as when I saw him disappear for the first time. I really have to learn to get used to these things.
“How does it work?” I asked before she even came close to us.
"I can create fire whenever I want. Now it's like breathing for me. I just need to think and it happens. Like this, look.”
She held out her hand and I stared at it. As she opened her palm, a ball of fire began to burn in the middle. I put my hand up to the flame by instinct and felt the heat burn my skin. I took my hand away quickly. I couldn’t stop looking. She closed it and opened it again and the flame was gone.
"It's incredible," I said, still staring at the now empty hand.
“It wasn’t when I started. Small fires all over the hotel, "Isys said, laughing.
"Can you control the fire, too?"
"No. I can only create it." She let out a sharp laugh. "I tried to do it once, and I was just disappointed when I didn’t work.”
We heard someone call Isys and turned around. A tall, muscular guy was coming toward us. His green eyes stood out in contrast to his black, shiny skin. They were so green he didn’t have to come close for me to notice them. He was smiling. He stopped where we were and gave John a hug, patting on his back.
"So ,what's going on here?" He asked, releasing John and turning to me.
"Zal, this is Liz," John said.
"Oh, it's nice to finally meet you," he said, pulling me into a hug. "Sorry I didn’t show up yesterday.”
"It's my pleasure," I said, smiling and looking discreetly at his muscular arms.
"John talked a lot about you.”
“Did he?”
"Certainly," he said, with a crooked smile on his face.
John nudged him with his elbow, and Zal laughed.
"Zal, Liz was watching Isys demonstrate her powers.”
The Chosen Ones: Red Smoke Page 5
