Blood of the Pure (Gaea)

by Sophia CarPerSanti

  “You’re pretending to be something you’re not,” he openly declared. “The truth is that you do have doubts, and that you’re scared.”

  “I trust you.”

  “Even so, you know I was watching over you yesterday, and I couldn’t stop what happened,” he reminded me with a bitter tone and I recalled his panicking expression when he’d leaned over me. His face had been smeared with blood, but since there were no traces of an injury anywhere, I’d completely forgotten about it.

  “Yesterday ... it was all too fast. Today it will be different,” I guaranteed.

  “I understand why you’re doing this. I guess you do too. But please don’t place yourself in any unnecessary danger. Loosing you, right now, would be a complete disaster. No one would be able to control the chaos that would engulf this city.”

  I didn’t answer, although I was quite aware that what he’d said was true. Last night I’d seen it firsthand and understood the delicate balance that was required of me. On one hand, I couldn’t be daring to the point of risking my safety. But, on the other hand, if I just cringed in fear, somewhere, it would prove that I wasn’t able to deal with this situation without falling apart.

  As soon as I saw the school gate at the end of the road my heart jumped anxiously. To my relief Michael was waiting by the entrance, waving at me with an especially bright smile. Not surprisingly, Alexander disappeared immediately within a soft rain of black feathers, reminding me of his deep and unjustified intolerance to Michael’s presence.

  Bewildered, I had to recognize that seeing Michael was enough to cut my anxiety in half, and I went to him with a feeling of relief. It took me a while to notice the small, blue motorcycle he was leaning against, and I immediately understood the reason behind his proud look and radiating happiness.

  “Wow!” I exclaimed, reflecting his happiness, and he stepped out of my way so that I could see it better.

  “You like it?”

  “Of course! It’s amazing!” I raved, although I didn’t know all that much about bikes, and Michael shrugged unable to stop smiling.

  “To tell you the truth, it’s not all that special. It’s secondhand and it already has a few years on it. But she runs well and, best of all, doesn’t consume much,” he declared and I nodded, touching its black leather seat.

  “It’s great! Was it Father Jorge?”

  “Yeah. It’s my birthday gift. I really didn’t expect anything like this. It’s the first time I have something really mine!”

  I felt as if my heart had just stopped. With all the things going on, I had completely forgotten what he’d told me the day before, and what we’d arranged for that afternoon.

  I made myself smile and blushed up to my ears.

  “I have nothing to give you,” I confessed, feeling guilty, and he placed a warm hand on my head smiling gently.

  “Having you here, with me, it’s all I can wish for,” he told me and immediately went on so that there wouldn’t be time for any kind of awkwardness. “When I called you yesterday and you didn’t pick up, I was really worried. But then I thought maybe you’d gone to sleep earlier. So, when I saw you coming up the street today, I was really happy. I had already decided that I’d go straight knocking on your door if you didn’t show up.”

  I felt embarrassed and the warmth of his hand was enough to make my heart beat faster.

  “I’m sorry. I was really tired yesterday,” I excused myself and he nodded.

  “What do you say if we take it for a ride after school?” he asked, his expression coming alight. “I want you to be the first to try it out.”

  I’d already agreed to spend the afternoon with him the previous day and, right there and then, I just couldn’t bring myself to disappoint him. I told myself that, with some luck, nothing would happen that day, and if a Deiwos did really attack, everything would be over quickly enough to allow me to be able to go back to my everyday life.

  “OK then,” I accepted and his delighted smile made me extremely happy. “And we have to get some cake! Celebrating birthdays without cake is absolutely forbidden! I’m sure Father Jorge will also like it,” I added, trying to persuade him faster, and Michael held my hand, kissing it on an impulse.

  “Thank you.” My cheeks caught on fire and I felt even more embarrassed knowing he could clearly see me blush like a ten-year-old.

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  As soon as I left Michael’s company, my levels of stress shot through the roof. I spent the whole morning in an extreme state of alert, jumping at any unexpected sound, looking for evil shadows in every corner, or crazy beautiful faces in the crowd. As it was, I could hardly concentrate on classes and my ears just couldn’t seem to focus on my classmates’ voices. And, as if not to disappoint my expectations, we were halfway through philosophy when something suddenly changed.

  I jumped to my feet, my heart hammering against my chest, and looked around as fear nestled in my stomach. Contrary to what I’d expected, her presence wasn’t subtle at all, echoing through the walls, filling the air all around me. The fury that marked it was simply terrifying and the world seemed to almost bend under it, shrinking as if it could break at any moment.

  “Miss Mellis? Is something wrong?”

  At the back of my head, I knew the teacher had just spoken to me and that I must look like a crazy person, standing just like that in the middle of class. My hands were shaking now and I left my seat running to the door.

  “Bathroom,” I said quietly without even pausing to wait for an answer and stumbled into the hall, closing the door behind me.

  The blast that echoed through the walls making the air vibrate stole my strength and I almost fell to my knees. I stopped for a minute, trying to regain control, and peered through the door’s small window, afraid of what I might find inside. But class was going on as if nothing had happened. Hadn’t anyone heard that deafening sound? The teacher was still talking and everyone was calmly sitting in their places.

  Another blast made me hold on to the wall and my eyes flew down the corridor. Even if no one else had noticed it, I was sure something really wrong was happening.

  I went for the stairs as fast as I could, clenching my teeth as I made my sore muscles obey me in such a strenuous run, holding on to anything my hands could reach, afraid I might fall. The murderous presence I had first felt was now mixed with others that I knew all too well, and my stomach twisted anxiously as I prayed that they’d be safe.

  I stopped when I reached the hallway that lead outside and leaned against the wall, trying to recover my breath. Pain was constant now, pounding throughout my entire body and each breath I took was like a living hell. My gaze fell immediately on the glass door at the end of the corridor and I shuddered, knowing what I’d find outside. Even so, my feet were already on the move as I dragged myself across the short distance that on any other day I would have covered in just a few seconds.

  Placing my hands on the cold glass, I looked outside and I could immediately see Alexander, his expression bleak, with Jonathan standing right beside him. His eyes were fixed and burning with a fierce glow and I couldn’t help gasp as I looked at the target of his undivided attention.

  Telane stood not two steps away and yet she kept her back to them, almost as if she didn’t know they were there, or if she thought them inconsequential. She was, as I recalled, more beautiful than humanly possible, her red copper hair tied up in a single ponytail, the soft waves cascading over her shoulders and down her delicate back that the white dress she wore left uncovered. Much shorter than her previous dress, this one seemed to only cover the minimum to be considered a piece of clothing, molding itself against her perfect body, around her round, firm chest and long lean tights. The skin of her bare arms and legs was as white and perfect as Gabriel’s was, and she stood barefoot just like before, as if summer had already come. Her expression, however, was one of pure anger and her golden gaze burnt mixed with a red, fierce glow.

  And then there was Gabriel,
standing like a shadow, right in front of her. At first I feared his expression, even after noticing he looked his usual indifferent self. Over the last few days I’d come to realize that he was rarely ever indifferent, and that that was just his way of keeping better control over his own strength. However, right then, he did seem calm, almost relaxed, his opened hands pending beside his body. And, at his feet, nestled a small dark bundle that I immediately recognized as Lea in his cat form, his black fur standing as he hissed threateningly at the beautiful woman in front of him.

  “Why are you here, tied up to an insignificant Human?”

  I forgot to breathe as her melodic voice filled the air, reaching me as if I too was standing right next to them.

  “That is none of your business.”

  “I need you outside! Winning this war!” she commanded, raising her voice, making the glass vibrate, but Gabriel’s expression remained calm and I noticed that not even his eyes had changed color, as he kept them black like he used to do when he wanted to pass for a Human.

  “I have nothing to do with this war,” he replied and she seemed to be even angrier at his lack of reaction.

  “What do you mean, you have nothing to do with it? What are you going to do? Stay here and wait for them to destroy you?”

  “One thing at a time. I’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

  Telane clenched her hands into two tight fists and her entire body shuddered.

  “No!” she screamed, making the world around us tremble, and I had to hold onto the wall beside me to keep myself from falling. “If it’s death you want, then I’ll give it to you freely!” she stated, her unrestrained anger filling the air, her eyes burning like molten lava, and Gabriel slightly lowered his gaze.

  “You’ll die before that,” he whispered, between a warning and a threat, but Telane was already beyond being able to even hear him.

  With a screeching scream that made me cover my ears, two huge black wings sprang from her white back. The blast was even bigger, almost as if someone was hitting the ground, the buildings, the air with a gigantic hammer. The glass from the door shattered into a million pieces and I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming, crouching against the wall and covering my head to protect my face from the sharp shiny rain. The air around me stirred, making me unable to breathe, and the biting, cold wind that pulled my hair and clothes made me remember the chaos that had filled my room when I’d freed Gabriel from his prison.

  I made myself raise my head to see what was happening, and saw that Alexander was standing protectively in front of Jonathan. The wind, however, didn’t seem to touch a single hair on the boy’s head, although Alexander was clearly having difficulties standing his ground.

  A new blast made me cringe and I noticed that, for a brief second, something glowed around the area where they were standing. A wince of pain crossed Alexander’s face, which seemed intently focused on something, and Jonathan clenched his hands, reminding me of the connection they shared.

  “What’s this! Change your form! Fight me face to face!” Telane’s furious voice demanded as she jumped forward like a wild animal, two short curve daggers held tight in her hands, and I watched as Gabriel took a step back, defending her attack with an incredibly fast but apparently simple movement. He had made his crescent moon spear appear and he swiftly placed it in Telane’s way, easily thwarting her attacks, although I could hardly see her at the speed she was moving. She seemed like a ghost, appearing and disappearing from thin air, her lean body precise and perfect as there was no wasted energy in any of her moves. But still Gabriel seemed to accompany her easily, following her graceful movements with his eyes and moving only in the last split of a second, but with enough time to tranquilly defend himself.

  “I don’t need to change my form to defeat you,” he said with that smug smile of his that really irked me, and Telane seemed to share my feelings exactly.

  Jumping back, which sent her flying a few feet, she gracefully landed on the green grass, pulling herself up, the daggers disappearing from her hands in two flickering flames. Hatred marked her perfect face as she stared at her opponent. And then she joined her hands together, in front of her chest, and the air shrieked leaving me deaf as a lightning bolt jumped from her pale fingers and tore the air at the speed of light, directed at Gabriel’s chest. At the last instant a small black shadow jumped, rolling over itself in midair and the lightning bolt crashed against an invisible wall that slightly glowed, making another blast.

  Telane’s gaze was pure fury when she looked down at the small cat as he nimbly landed on the ground, but before she could exert her vengeance Gabriel was on the move and at a speed that made me shudder. She was almost too late in defending his attack, the daggers back in her hands, and she had yet to recover when he suddenly appeared from her other side into another flash attack. The blasts were constant now, but I was too dumbfounded to react, squeezing my hands together, trying to keep my heart from jumping out of my mouth. That was the real him, I thought ... and I was afraid again.

  In a desperate jump for not being able to keep him away, Telane rose in the air, making use of her huge dark wings, and, with a cold, murderous smile, whispered something I couldn’t understand.

  “Telane! What are you doing!” Listening to Gabriel raise his voice above the constant roar of the wind made me gasp. He rarely raised his voice and he sounded furious now. Telane, however, didn’t even answer and then she was gone in a thin shower of small, bright red glitter. “Suileabhan!” The urgency in his voice filled the air and then the small cat was gone as well.

  The unexpected absence of that terrifying presence plunged the world into a sudden silence, and a sigh of relief left my lips even though I was still shaking. At least until I noticed that something wasn’t quite right.

  Gabriel hadn’t moved an inch, watching the ground with a dark expression, his long spear tightly held in one hand, and Alexander seemed equally distressed.

  “Sigweardiel, raise him up.” His voice, even though back to that velvet murmur, sounded tense and annoyed. Alexander, on the other hand, didn’t even argue and, before my incredulous eyes, I saw Jonathan float into midair, just standing there, about seven feet from the ground.

  The boy walked over an invisible floor and placed his hands on an invisible wall looking down with a worried expression, and I finally understood that an invisible barrier had been surrounding and protecting him all this time, keeping him safe.

  Still feeling dizzy it took me some time to gather that the ground was shaking, and, to my terror, circles of darkness spread all over the place. I immediately recognized that dark substance that seemed almost elastic, and knew that those circles were, in truth, gateways to another dimension.

  Gabriel pointed his spear to the closest hole, waiting, his body suddenly tense, and Alexander made his bright sword appear.

  And it was silent.

  The shrieking that filled the air moments later made me cover my ears again, unable to tell what I was seeing, or if I was seeing at all. Huge, dark forms jumped out of the circles in an absence of color or shape. They landed on the ground as if they were giant dogs, or lions, or anything that walked on four legs, and sped into a blur, jumping at Gabriel and Alexander. Their sharp shrieks almost made my heart stop, freezing the blood in my veins, and droplets of sweat slid down my face. I watched as they wielded their weapons, cutting the black creatures with apparent ease, but, although the defeated creatures did disappear, for every one that vanished into thin air, three others would instantly jump from the circles and take their places.

  Jonathan fell on his knees on the invisible floor where he stood, his body folding over itself as he clutched at his chest in pain and, for a moment, I could see Alexander, surrounded by numerous dark creatures, gasping for air, vicious, bloody cuts marking his entire body.

  My panicking gaze immediately searched for Gabriel, my heart hurting with every new beat, until I found him, although I could hardly see him, the creatures surr
ounding him showing me only a few fleeting glimpses of his pale skin. He was moving too fast again, appearing and disappearing from place to place and, every time he did, new creatures would shriek and disappear, falling on the ground in dark piles of dust. Still, anxiety was eating me from inside out, and I was so absorbed in trying to see him as much as possible, that I didn’t even notice the danger I was in before it was too late to escape it.

  The black shadow that rose in front of me was four times taller than me, even if I were standing. I couldn’t see much of the shapeless creature, except for a pair of bright red eyes and an enormous row of absurd white teeth, sharp as daggers. Powerless, the only thing I could do was scream and wait for the pain that would certainly follow.

  The screech that filled the air hurt my ears and the blast made me dizzy, as I fell forward, placing my hands in front of me just in time to avoid hitting the ground. Not knowing exactly how, I was still breathing, and the ferocious shadow was gone, a pile of dark dust covering the shattered glass where it had stood. And then a glow captured my gaze, and I had to blink twice to understand what I saw, as a circle of black flames stretched across the floor, consuming all the shadows in its path. The blast that made the walls vibrate was even stronger than before, and I saw Alexander stumble forward as the shadows around him were also consumed by the flames. His lips moved silently as he seemed to whisper something. Invisible walls all around the area glowed slightly, and I understood that there were more barriers besides the one around Jonathan, and that he was the one keeping them in place. As I watched, I saw his wounds close like magic, as if they’d never even existed, and Jonathan’s expression of pain, prisoner in that invisible cage, left a lump in my throat.

  “Mariane!”

  My name in his voice made me look away immediately as my eyes found him without even thinking. A single drop of blood dripped from his forehead, but his garnet silk shirt was torn in more places than I could tell, allowing me to see that his pale skin hadn’t been left unscathed. I watched as he raised one hand, calling me silently to his side, and yet I couldn’t help recoil in fear, his crimson gaze looking even more frightening than before. Because now I really knew what he was capable of. And it wasn’t as if I hadn’t known before, but seeing it in person changed everything.