My Master

by Aleera Anaya Ceres

  Antonio didn’t think so.

  As soon as the line went dead Antonio had stood up from the bed. “Where are you going?” Ezzy had asked.

  “I’m going to find Isis.”

  Ezzy, flabbergasted, could only get dressed and follow him as he started to storm off.

  “Why?” she asked, bounding down the stairs after him.

  “Because she’s in trouble.” He reached the front door and paused, hand on the doorknob.

  “Well, I think you’re just trying to avoid the conversation that I want to have.”

  Antonio whipped around, his dark eyes blazing red in anger for a split second and then it was gone. Still, her reaction to it was instantaneous, bringing up horrible memories of Damien and her childhood, of the Rogues that had taken her parents.

  She stepped back, scared, and a moment later that fear faded away. She’d seen her reflection in Antonio’s eyes and she knew she had hurt him. What must she look like? Her face twisted into a mask of horror. Instant guilt washed over her.

  Antonio’s eyes filled with water his thoughts unintentionally projected into her. Monster, monster, his voice screamed.

  You’re not! She thought back at him. You are not a monster. His brain instantly clicked shut against her, that same force field around his most precious thoughts.

  “Antonio, please talk to me,” she pleaded.

  He shook his head back and forth. “I can’t.”

  A wave of nausea swept over Esmeralda. She clutched a hand to her stomach and one to her mouth. There it was again, that God awful feeling in her stomach. She ran away and made it in time to the bathroom, doubling over the toilet and vomiting. All she could think about was that pink little plus sign, underneath the sink.

  Feeling like crap, she curled up on the floor, placing her face against the cool floor tiles. Seconds later, she felt a nice heat radiating onto her body, the soft sparks of electricity tingling her skin. She sighed with pleasure.

  “Ezzy, we need to get you to a doctor.” Antonio stroked her hair back.

  “There’s no need,” she whispered, because she already knew what the problem was. The only matter was telling him about it.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  Esmeralda chuckled once before exhaustion overtook her once again. When she had woken up, she was safely tucked under Antonio’s arm, in their bed. He must have taken her there at some point.

  Her thoughts were briefly led astray to Isis and thinking back, she had to admit that there was something wrong about her attitude. She hadn’t acted normal—she had sounded nervous, distant, and it wasn’t the first time Ezzy had heard her like that. She recalled a conversation they had had a while back.

  ‘I love you.’ Right before they had hung up the phone. Ezzy hadn’t dwelled on it too much but now she could see the abnormality of it. Isis never told her she loved her first. Esmeralda would always be the one to start the affectionate statement and Isis would wave her off with the flick of a hand.

  “Yeah, yeah,” she would say. “I love you, too.” As if she was talking to an annoying little sister with affection.

  Ezzy chewed at her bottom lip. She had the urge to go to the Santiago mansion but knew it would be useless. Everyone was asleep; she’d go later tonight, she decided. For now she just wanted to go to sleep. She crawled back under the covers and snuggled up against Antonio. He stirred a little restlessly. She sent calming thoughts into his mind. Esmeralda wasn’t sure if it worked because she fell asleep only to dream…

  Antonio was on a rooftop again, watching the sunset just like he did every time he dreamt. This time, he didn’t wait to watch it. He turned and called out for his brother. “Damien, where are you?”

  And then he was there, in a gray suit and a red tie. Antonio knew this was just a dream but he couldn’t help but marvel at how real Damien looked.

  Damien dusted off invisible dust from his cuffs. “What do you want, brother?” he demanded, frowning. “Calling me here every night has become tedious and I grow bored fast.”

  That was the thing about his brother; whenever he talked he wanted to sound smarter, more superior than Antonio. “I just wanted to see you again, to talk to you before—” His voice caught.

  Damien’s lips curled up into a smile. “Before I die?”

  Antonio nodded.

  Damien laughed, the sound high. “Oh, brother,” he said, clearly amused. “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet. But then again, you never were the sharpest tool in the shed.” He chuckled. Antonio blinked. “Since I’m bored with these worthless games I’ll decide to tell you the truth. Look, this isn’t a dream—not entirely.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s a dream, yes, and it’s all happening in your mind, true, but I am me. A spirit, of sorts, and I am here because you call to me in your sleep.”

  “So, you’re real?” Antonio stepped forward to touch him.

  Damien glared. “No, you nitwit. I am a spirit that has been called into your mind every damn night and frankly, I grow tired of it and I want to go back instead of watching you cry over my mangled body.”

  “So that was all—what? A fabrication?” Finally, Antonio understood.

  “Yes, it was a fabrication. Quite a clever one, I might add. To torture my little brother by haunting his dreams.”

  He was bragging. Bragging! Here Antonio was, feeling guilty, and Damien had tortured him purposefully. Antonio clenched his fists in anger.

  Damien eyed the movement and gave him a simple, “Anything else you want to know before I slit my own throat again?”

  “How?” Antonio demanded.

  Damien raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

  “How do I call you in my dreams?”

  “Oh, simple, we were connected in some way. Brothers, twins, also, there’s the fact that you killed me. My blood is on your hands and because of that act I can appear before you, willingly or unwillingly. The best part of all of this is that I come here as myself and can torture you with it all I want.” He looked around, eyebrow still raised, a curious gleam in his eye. “By the way, where’s Esmeralda?”

  That did it for Antonio. He yelled and tried lunging for Damien but stopped when he heard her voice.

  “Antonio?”

  Esmeralda.

  She had materialized, just like Damien had. Her brows were furrowed in confusion as she looked from brother to brother. Damien smiled, showing his fangs. “Now,” he said. “Isn’t this a pleasant little reunion?”

  8

  Esmeralda’s face went from confused to disbelief to terrified. Antonio understood her terror. He vaguely wondered if spirits were capable of killing inside of dreams. He didn’t want to give him that opportunity; he moved lightning fast, pushing Esmeralda behind him, ready to protect her.

  Damien did not move. He merely gazed at the two of them with bitter amusement. “I was not planning on attacking. It would be an impossible waste of time. Spirits cannot make physical contact with you.”

  Of course, Antonio had no reason to believe him so he didn’t move. Damien shrugged.

  “It’d be nice if you could conjure up some chairs,” he suggested. Out of nowhere a normal brown chair materialized behind Damien. He smiled and sat down, crossing his legs and stared at them.

  “I don’t understand.” Esmeralda spoke in a whisper. With a simple thought from Antonio, steel manacles appeared, binding Damien’s wrists and ankles to the chair. Damien swore then glared at his brother.

  Antonio shrugged. “Just taking the necessary precautions.” Then he rounded on Esmeralda. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you get into my dream?”

  Esmeralda’s expression turned defiant. “Soul Mates experience shared dreams, Antonio. Or have you forgotten? I didn’t come here on purpose!”

  “Then leave!” he commanded.

  Esmeralda’s mouth gaped open a second before she tilted her chin up. “I am not going anywhere. You’re just going to have to get over it! And
why is Damien here?”

  “Yeah, it’s good to see you too, princess,” he muttered sarcastically.

  They ignored him. Antonio explained to Ezzy what Damien had told him.

  “Does that mean you can bring any spirit you want into your dreams?” She asked.

  “Only if you’re connected to them in some way, in a strong way,” Damien said.

  Esmeralda smiled and closed her eyes, imagining two people in her mind’s eye. One of them male, broad shouldered with dark skin, light brown hair and yellow eyes; then, a woman, with bright red hair and blue eyes. Antonio knew that’s who she was thinking of because he was thinking of them as well. And then, there they were.

  Ignacio and Katheryn.

  Esmeralda opened her eyes and began to cry. Antonio eyed them both. Ignacio, with his straight brown hair hanging just above his eyebrows, a smile on his face; Katheryn, shorter than Ignacio, had her red hair similar to Ezzy’s, thrown into a messy ponytail.

  “Ignacio?”

  The couple turned their gazes on Antonio. Katheryn’s smile disappeared as she approached him and punched him in the face. “You fucking asshole!” she yelled.

  Behind them, Damien laughed.

  Esmeralda stared, awe-struck at what she had just witnessed. Her mother had just punched Antonio in the face and was slinging profanities at him.

  “Mom?”

  Katheryn stopped and turned. “Hi, sweetie, I’ll be right with you.” Her voice was surprisingly sweet and gentle when she spoke to Esmeralda, a complete contrast with her current personality. Katheryn turned back around, pointing an accusing finger at Antonio. “…the most irresponsible, idiotic, stupid crybaby ever! Jesus Christ, if you could have heard yourself from our end. Seriously, Antonio, grow a pair!” By the time she was done with her speech, she was out of breath.

  Antonio was cradling his cheek in his palm, staring at Katheryn in disbelief. “Damien, I thought you said that spirits couldn’t touch us.”

  Damien’s lip tugged into a half smile. “Yeah, I lied.”

  Ignacio finally spoke, sounding overly calm about the situation. “Hey, Damien, how’s death treating you?” His voice held a tint of something in it. Sarcasm mixed with some sort of bitter hatred.

  Damien shrugged. “You know, same old, same old.”

  Ignacio snorted in disgust and turned back to Antonio. “Hey.”

  Antonio took a step back. “Are you going to hit me, too?”

  Katheryn tried lunging for Antonio again. “It’s what you deserve you little—” Ignacio held her back with one arm. She calmed instantly.

  “Maybe later,” Ignacio said, patting him on the back. Katheryn snorted then, after taking a few deep breaths, she went up to Ezzy and hugged her tight.

  “You’re so grown,” Katheryn whispered in her ear. Ezzy’s eyes formed tears again as she squeezed her mother back, afraid to let go, afraid that this would disappear beneath her fingers like smoke.

  Her mother pulled apart but kept her hands on Ezzy’s shoulders. Her big blue eyes had begun to water. She blinked them away and moving nothing but her eyes, she looked down at Ezzy’s stomach then back up at her face. Silent words were exchanged between them.

  Katheryn knew Esmeralda was pregnant. Is that why she had hit Antonio? Probably. She wondered if her dad knew.

  She looked over to where Ignacio and Antonio were standing just in time to see Ignacio raise his fist and crash it against Antonio’s cheek, drawing blood and sending him flying back. Esmeralda winced but didn’t rush to his aid.

  “Damn it, Antonio!” Ignacio screamed. “Why can’t you just act your age?” Without another word he turned around and hugged Ezzy tightly to his enormous chest. Ezzy wondered if she was imagining it or if he smelt like sunlight. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed.

  “Such a beautiful reunion,” Damien sneered.

  Ezzy could practically see the veins in her mom’s forehead pop out when she turned on Damien, slapping him hard across the face, leaving her handprint marked in red. “Don’t even talk to me, you low life bastard!”

  Ignacio went to pull Katheryn away from Damien.

  Ezzy was surprised; she didn’t know that her mom was such a fireball, or that her dad was this calm. In fact, she didn’t know much about her parents’ personalities. Sure, she had gotten the memory block off of her but only remembered that they were a loving family, only remembered from a child’s point of view, nothing specific. Antonio hadn’t bothered to offer up too much information about them, either.

  “Let’s just all calm down for a second, okay?” Esmeralda touched her mother’s bare arm. Katheryn shook her off.

  “You’re lucky you’re already dead, or else I’d kill you…” Katheryn sneered through her teeth.

  Damien shrugged, not at all fazed by Katheryn’s attitude towards him. “There are worse things than death,” he whispered then turned his head away from them, apparently finished with the conversation.

  Katheryn threw her hands up in exasperation. Ignacio wrapped an arm around her shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear. Esmeralda had barely caught what he had to say, straining her ear to hear. It sounded like, “Remember what we came here for.” Whatever it was that he said, it made Katheryn’s temper lower, and move as far away from Damien as possible.

  “There’s so much I want to ask you,” Esmeralda said, following after her mother and sitting on the ground across from her. Ignacio sat to the left of Katheryn, Antonio was still standing, cradling his cheek, staring at them in disbelief.

  Katheryn rolled her eyes and tossed her hair over her shoulders. “Well, sit down,” she commanded. Antonio obeyed cautiously, sitting next to Ezzy, but avoiding looking into her parents’ eyes.

  “Now, I know you probably have a lot of questions,” Katheryn began, next to her, Ezzy’s dad nodded. “But I’m afraid those questions will have to wait.”

  Ezzy felt a stab of disappointment. She had so many things on her mind, so much she wanted to ask. Like what they felt towards each other when they first met? Or how did Katheryn react when she found out that Ignacio was a vampire? Did they ever have any problems? There was so much she wanted to know…

  “We came here for a reason, and it wasn’t just for your entertainment.” She continued. “In the spirit world they tell us that everything has significance, a purpose of some sort that will eventually expand into something bigger.”

  Esmeralda looked at her with questioning eyes, wondering what brought this on, and what in the hell she was talking about. She waited patiently for more.

  “Yes, spirits can be called into dreams, but only if they’re sent. If spirits are shoved into the dreams of the living, it is for a reason, or so we’re told.”

  “So, you guys didn’t show up here because I thought you up and called out to you?” Esmeralda asked, disappointment beginning to wriggle itself into her again.

  “We heard you calling to us,” Ignacio said gently. “It was a whisper, a small tug, pulling us forward, not enough to bring us all of the way through—”

  “—but it was just enough,” Katheryn finished the sentence for him and continued talking, occasionally gesturing with her hands here and there, doing some weird flicking movements with her fingers, making Esmeralda wonder if she was like her mother at all when she spoke. “We spirits don’t have reign over ourselves. We do what we’re told, are sent where we need to go, doing tasks that are assigned to us by the Otherworld bosses.”

  “And it seems that the three of us…” Ignacio gestured to his wife then to Damien, who was still bound to the chair, looking uncomfortable. “Were chosen for the task of helping you.”

  “Help us with what?” Esmeralda had a nagging feeling in her brain, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she was nervous as to what they would say. Maybe they were assigned to help Antonio overcome his problems, or assigned to give her courage to tell him that she was pregnant with his child. It seemed a little extreme for such small matters, though, and she doub
ted that that was it.

  Katheryn and Ignacio shared a look that Ezzy couldn’t quite make out what it meant, when she cast a quick glance at Antonio and saw the confusion in his black eyes, she could tell that he didn’t know either.

  “Look,” Ignacio sighed, leaning forward. “As spirits, there are things that we are entitled to say and things that we are entitled to do. Unfortunately, we can’t give away too much information to you without exposing the Otherworld, so all of this is going to sound somewhat confusing.”

  Damien snorted, and chimed into their conversation. “You fools are not progressing in this conversation, to say the least. You both are used to detailed descriptions of every phenomenon that tends to occur in your small lives, I, however, am not, so allow me to explain it to them.”

  He turned his head to Esmeralda and Antonio and began to explain. “I’ll start from the beginning, so that we may all end up on the same page. What they’re saying is that, yes, there is something after death and that something is called the Otherworld, or the Spirit World. Obviously, it is a place where spirits reside, and that’s all we can say regarding that subject.

  “Spirits are usually assigned jobs, small tasks, here and there. They’re not silly little things that mortals do, such as ‘check the mail’ or ‘walk the dog.’ The Otherworld is more complex than that. We do worldly tasks, things that—if possible—could change the course of time and history.

  “Every task that a spirit is assigned has importance, as Katheryn said, everything has significance. We don’t just go into the dreams of the living at their beck and call, if we appear in their dreams, it is because the Otherworld wanted it to be that way. In a way, we’re guides, and we guide the living through a certain journey, or task, without directly helping them—that’s against the rules—and the three of us…” He gestured with his chin at Ezzy’s parents. “…were assigned to guide you through a task, or deed, if you will.”