Kris's Story

by Trudie Collins

  “Of course it would,” she shouted at me, unable to contain her emotions. “It was a danger we did not need to face and would have avoided it, had we known.”

  Anger gripped me. “If you and your boyfriend plan on not confronting any of your fears or the dangers that stand between you and Death, then you might as well give up now and go home.” Without another word I stood up and walked away toward the forest and was soon swallowed up by the darkness. Once Rachel would no longer be able to see me, I vanished.

  I materialised in Death’s office and was surprised to see Ankou there. He did not look happy.

  “Did I come at a bad time?” I asked my uncle, who smiled at me.

  “No. I was just explaining to my son, yet again, why he needs to stop going to Earth just to chase women.”

  “You’ve forgotten what it is like to be young,” Ankou grumbled.

  “Would your father be interested in swapping children for a while?” Death asked me.

  I shook my head. “While I am sure he would be more than happy to give you Katana, I’m not so sure he would be willing to take on Ankou.”

  “I don’t blame him,” Death said in a resigned voice. “But I wasn’t referring to your sister.”

  “I know. So what has Ankou done this time?”

  “Nothing we need to talk about right now,” Ankou interrupted before Death could answer. “That conversation can wait until after Kris has told us what our visitors are like.”

  “Very annoying at the moment, but that is not what you really wanted to ask, is it?”

  “No,” Ankou said. “Is she pretty?”

  Death sighed and I could almost read his mind. ‘Why is my son’s mind only ever on one thing?’

  I thought for a moment before answering Ankou’s question. I should have said yes, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to keep Ankou and Rachel apart for as long as possible and telling my cousin how attractive Rachel is would be a good way to ensure that he introduced himself very soon.

  “She’s alright.” I kept my tone as neutral as I could manage.

  Ankou looked disappointed. Very disappointed. “Maybe she has a nice personality.”

  ‘Like that would make a difference to you,’ I thought to myself, but out loud I said, “Not really.” It was the first time I had ever lied to Ankou and I didn’t like how it made me feel.

  “Where are they?” Death asked and I was very glad to be changing the subject.

  “At the edge of the black forest, near the swamp.”

  “You took them through there?” Ankou asked in surprise. “You really don’t like them, do you?”

  “It’s the shortest route.” Nobody could disagree with that statement. I grinned at my uncle. “So, what exactly has Ankou done?”

  The three of us retired to the sitting room and Ankou told his story, trying to justify his actions while his father constantly contradicted all of his arguments. I relaxed and managed to forget Rob and Rachel for a while.

  A feeling of dread suddenly filled me and I sat up. “Something’s wrong. I have to go.” Without further explanation, I vanished.

  I went straight to the campsite, making sure I arrived in the shadows where nobody could see me. I saw Rachel by the fire, clutching her leg, and ran to her side.

  “What happened?”

  “Snake. Bite.” Rachel managed to gasp. She was in a lot of pain.

  I looked around, but could not see a snake. “Describe it.”

  “Long, thin, green and yellow,” Rob said. Rachel was in too much pain to talk.

  “What about its eyes?” Rob shrugged, indicating he had no idea. “Were they yellow or black?” I was desperate to hear the answer. It could mean the difference between Rachel living and dying.

  “Black,” she managed to say between clenched teeth. She was having trouble breathing and looked like she was going to pass out.

  “Is it poisonous?” Rob asked. He meant venomous and I had to bite back my sarcastic reply. Now was not the time. Instead I nodded my head. “Deadly.”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth I realised I had made a mistake. Rob acted instinctively, taking off his t-shirt and tying it around Rachel’s leg like a tourniquet. That was not a problem, in fact it was probably a good idea, but what he did next wasn’t. He lay on the ground, put his mouth against her wound and began to suck out the venom.

  “You shouldn’t be doing that,” I said as he turned his head away and spat out the contents of his mouth. The bright blue of the venom could easily be seen mixed with Rachel’s blood.

  “Seriously, stop now,” I continued as Rob repeated the process. “I can cure her.” I no longer cared what they thought I was; all I cared about was stopping Rachel dying.

  Rob ignored me and carried on sucking the venom out of her. I lost my temper. “Will you please get out of the way so I can save her.” I felt like physically moving Rob away from Rachel and I knew I could easily do it, but I also knew that would not be a good idea.

  Rob continued to ignore me, repeatedly drawing venom into his mouth and spitting it out until no more could be seen. He collapsed onto the ground, exhausted by his efforts and his worry for Rachel.

  I calmly undid his t-shirt from around Rachel’s leg and threw it at him.

  “You are a complete idiot. By now the venom you sucked out of Rachel has been absorbed through the cells in your mouth and into your bloodstream. It is happily being pumped round your entire body and will kill you in only a few hours if nothing is done to save you.”

  “Rachel would be dead by now if I hadn’t done anything,” Rob yelled back.

  “I could have healed her. You saw what I did to her face. Didn’t it occur to you that I could do something to help her?” I had no idea if Rob had worked out how Rachel’s face had healed so fast, but I couldn’t believe he was really that stupid. “Now I have two of you to cure and I’m not sure I have the strength to do it.”

  “Well if you hadn’t made us camp by a swamp full of deadly snakes Rachel would never have been bitten,” Rob snapped. He was not prepared to admit that his actions, though courageous, were a bit rash.

  “Sit there and shut up.” I pointed to the ground near the fire. “I’ll deal with you later.”

  I turned my back on him. “Why did I ever agree to this? These people are more trouble than they are worth,” I mumbled under my breath.

  I grabbed Rachel’s leg and placed my hand over the puncture marks. Blood was slowly trickling down and she was obviously still in a lot of pain. The change in her breathing indicated that the pain was diminishing as soon as my palm touched her. Warmth spread through her and colour began to return to her face. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the healing, and the soothing heat began to work its way up her leg. A few moments later I opened my eyes and looked at her.

  “All of the venom is gone. The wound is sealed and your leg will be as good as new by morning. Now to work on the pain in the ass.”

  The last sentence I said quietly enough for Rachel to hear, but not Rob. She grinned at me before glancing over at the man in question. Rob did not look well. He was lying on his side, groaning.

  “Is he going to be alright?” she asked. She sounded worried, but I wasn’t.

  “He’ll be fine, provided he does what I tell him and doesn’t do anything else stupid.” I pondered for a moment whether I had enough strength left to cure him the same way I had cured Rachel, then decided it didn’t matter; I was not even going to try. The other way would take a lot longer and would give me some alone time with Rachel. I felt a pang of guilt about putting my own desires ahead of the needs of Rob and Rachel, but managed to dispel it before it took hold of me.

  Ignoring the low moans coming from my patient, I took a cup from my backpack, filled it with water and placed it in the fire. I added ingredients from various containers then allowed the mixture to simmer. When it had turned a murky grey colour I picked the cup up.

  “Sit him up,” I said and Rachel sat behind Rob, who was no
ticeably trembling. She pulled him up so that he was half sitting, half leaning against her. As she held him in place I tipped his head back and poured the contents of the cup down his throat. He had the option of swallowing or choking. He chose the former.

  “He’s going to sleep for a while now. Lay him by the fire then get his blankets from his tent.”

  She did as she was told, placing a pillow gently under his head before covering him up. “He’s burning up,” she gasped, pulling back the hand she had placed on his forehead.

  “Good.” The look on her face told me she did not appreciate my comment and I sighed. “The only way to get the venom out of his system is for his body to burn it up. He is going to have a very high fever for a while. The potion I have given him will enable his body to become hotter internally than it naturally would, thus killing the venom quicker and more effectively.”

  She nodded, accepting my explanation. I decided not tell her how long it would take.

  “Why can’t you cure him the way you did me?” she asked.

  “Two reasons. The first is that only your leg was infected. Despite the blood, the bite had not actually punctured your veins so the venom had not entered your bloodstream, whereas, thanks to the thin and relatively permeable layer of skin in the mouth, it is coursing throughout his entire body.” While the first part was a lie, the second part of the statement was true, but it had very little bearing on my decision to use the potion.

  I rummaged through my bag again as I spoke, pretending to look for something, and pulled out a jar full of brown granules. “Coffee?” She nodded and I began to boil more water as I continued my explanation.

  “Secondly, though it may not have seemed like it, healing you took a lot of my energy and healing him will take a lot more. I am just too tired to even try.” This was an exaggeration rather than a lie, but I still felt wrong saying it.

  I looked at Rachel and I could see she was mulling over what I had just said, trying to find fault. She was worried about her friend and needed to feel that I had done the right thing. In the end she could find no argument against what I had told her, so all she could do was nod her head, in understanding, but I suspect not in agreement.

  “He’s sweating,” she said. “Is that a good sign?”

  “It is to be expected. You can keep wiping his brow with a cool damp cloth if you wish, but it is not necessary.” She needed something to do, to feel like she was helping Rob in some way, even if what she was doing was completely pointless.

  She held out her hand and I smiled as I extracted a clean cloth from my bag and a small bowl, which I filled with water before handing it to her.

  “So what is the story between you two?” I asked once we were both sitting beside the fire, drinking coffee. “You obviously care for each other.” I asked the question casually, as though I was just making small talk, but I was desperate to hear the answer.

  “We grew up together. I see him as my brother. My father was the CIO of a relatively small company, but one which was expanding quickly. As the company grew, so did his salary and we ended up moving into a brand new four bedroom house on a new estate on the outskirts of the city. A few weeks later, Robert and his family moved in next door.”

  She smiled as memories filled her mind. “My father was a wonderful man, but he had his faults. One of which was that he was a racist. The moment he saw that Robert and his family were ‘darkies’, as he put it, he vowed to have nothing to do with them. ‘They are not our sort of people’ he announced. Of course, I ignored him and introduced myself to Robert at the first opportunity that presented itself. I was an only child, as was Robert, and not many families had moved in yet, so it was natural that we would want to play together.”

  “What was his father like?”

  “He was a lovely man. Warm, kind, friendly. He was a paediatrician so was naturally good with children and made me welcome whenever I managed to sneak away from my father and go next door. My mother got on really well with his wife and they often met up for coffee and a good gossip, but not when my father was home, of course.”

  “Robert and I got on so well we spent every moment together that we could. But we were only ever friends. He had numerous girlfriends when we got older and he often would let them see us together if he wanted to dump one, making them believe that he was cheating on them with me. Of course, I put a stop to that as soon as I found out, but it took a few years, and a number of breakups, for me to realise what he was up to.”

  “Yet you stayed friends with him.” I could not understand why she would put up with Rob.

  “Of course. We understood each other. We could confide in each other and talk about anything and everything.”

  “Yet he still lied to you.”

  Rachel considered what I had said for a moment before responding. “No, he didn’t lie. He just didn’t tell me everything. There is a big difference.” I took a mental note of that in case I needed to repeat her words back to her later when she eventually finds out who I really am.

  “He used you.”

  “In a way, I suppose,” she reluctantly admitted. “But not in any way that mattered. Besides, after what he went through I would have forgiven him almost anything.”

  “What happened?”

  “We were in our second year in high school when his mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. He had to watch her become sicker and sicker. It took her six months to die.”

  She stared at the fire as a tear trickled down her cheek. I remained silent, regretting bringing up a topic that was obviously upsetting her.

  “My mother took care of her when she became too sick to look after herself,” Rachel continued. “She also became almost like a second mum to Robert, making sure he was fed, did his homework, had clean clothes etcetera. She ended up spending more time at his house than her own home. It caused huge arguments between my parents, as you can imagine. My father couldn’t stand her having anything to do with ‘those people next door’. One evening I overheard him yelling at my mother, asking why they couldn’t find ‘one of their own kind’ to help out. He told her her place was at home, waiting on him instead of some lowlife. I honestly thought they would end up getting divorced.”

  “It must have been tough on you.” Rachel shook her head.

  “I was fine. I just kept reminding myself that it was nothing compared to what Robert was going through. Are you now beginning to understand why we are so close?”

  I shook my head. “Not really.”

  Rachel shrugged. “I guess you need to live through something to really understand it. Anyway, it all came to a head one day when my mother had finally had enough and told my father that she was going to continue to look after Robert and his mother for as long as they needed her and if he didn’t like it then he knew where he could stick his opinions. It was the closest I had ever heard her come to swearing. She told him to learn to deal with it or move out. I was shocked, but not surprised.”

  “How did he react?”

  “He walked out. I have no idea where he went, but he came back a few hours later and never uttered another word against Robert’s family, though he would still ignore them whenever they said good morning.”

  I have no idea why she was speaking so freely about her past, but I was glad she was. Not only was I getting to know her a little better, but it also showed that she trusted me. I felt very comfortable with her, a lot more comfortable than I usually feel around people until I get to know them well.

  “Fathers can be difficult,” I said, thinking back to some of the problems I have had over the centuries with my own.

  “What did yours do?” she asked, but I refused to say. While I was more than happy to hear more about her, there was no way I was going to be talking about myself. We were getting on well and I didn’t want her running away from me screaming.

  She checked Rob’s temperature once more and found he was still hot and clammy.

  “His condition is unlikely to change before sunr
ise. You should think about getting some sleep.”

  She bathed Rob’s head again then headed to her tent. I stayed by the fire for a while, waiting until I was sure that she was asleep before returning to Death’s place. Ankou was nowhere to be seen when I arrived.

  “What happened?” Death asked.

  “Rachel was bitten by a snake.”

  “Did you get to her in time?” he asked, showing surprising concern for the young woman.

  I nodded. “Unfortunately Rob decided to play the hero and suck the venom out of her leg.”

  Death tried not to smile and failed. “Oh dear. What did you do?”

  “He wouldn’t listen to a word I was saying, so there was nothing I could do until he finished. I then took great pleasure in telling him exactly how stupid he is and I let him suffer while I fixed Rachel.”

  “I take it you healed him in the end.”

  I grimaced. “Not exactly. I used a potion instead. Right now he is burning up with fever and will be for a while yet.”

  Death frowned at me. “Was that really necessary?”

  “He pissed me off.”

  “Fair enough,” Death said. “After all, I did say you could do what you wanted to, as long as you stuck to the rules. If you want to delay their arrival at Len’s house, that is up to you. So what did Rachel have to say about your healing powers?”

  I relaxed back into my chair. “That’s the weird thing. She hasn’t mentioned it. Maybe she’s too concerned about Rob to have thought about it yet, or maybe she just thinks it’s a by-product of living down here. Who knows?”

  “And what will you say when she asks?”

  “I have absolutely no idea.”

  Fever

  Before returning to the campsite, I took a quick detour to visit Pestilence to let him know that the visitors would not be arriving as soon as expected. Len was not happy as he was greatly looking forward to meeting them, but there was nothing he could do about it so he just asked me to keep him informed. I promised I would, then vanished, materialising in my own tent. I got a few hours sleep before getting up once more.