Her father had been instrumental in preventing her from slipping into a deep, depressive state, from being completely encompassed by gloom. He did not shy away from her grieving as other fathers might have. True to his personality, he tackled his daughter’s first heartbreak head-on. She never would have expected him to be so honest and open with her regarding matters of the heart.
Melissa’s mind swirled around the painful memory of the days and weeks after Gabriel left. She succumbed to the familiar pain only briefly before a voice distracted her from her brooding.
“Hello! Earth to Melissa!” Alexandra exclaimed from her seat beside her.
“What?” Melissa replied testily.
“Mr. Hotness just gave us our project and you haven’t moved. Did you even hear him?”
“Yes,” Melissa lied.
“Yeah right! I know when you’re lying,” Alexandra accused. “I know it’s hard to concentrate. This guy is so hot I can barely focus on what he’s saying. I wish he’d just shut up and take his shirt off. Right?”
Melissa did not respond.
“You do have eyes don’t you, Melissa?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You do realize we have, like, the hottest teacher on the planet, right?”
“He’s okay I guess.”
“Just okay? Are you kidding me?” Alexandra asked incredulously. “The guy is off-the-charts gorgeous!”
“Whatever, Alex. If you say so.”
“Are you ever going to join the living. I mean my God, it’s been like five months. When are you going to just get over Gabriel,” Alexandra asked.
“I don’t know,” Melissa answered honestly. “Maybe never.”
“Well, you’d better get your shit together. Spring break is coming up and I don’t want to spend it with some sorry-ass girl all moping over a guy.”
“Don’t worry, Alex. I’ll be fine,” Melissa asserted.
Though Melissa told her friend she would be fine in a matter of days, she knew it was a lie. She could not be certain she would be fine in weeks, months, maybe even years. She would not be fine until Gabriel returned.
For five months, Gabriel James had been communicating with her sporadically, sending her cryptic text messages and e-mails. They had spoken on the phone only a handful of times, but hearing his voice managed to buoy her spirits enough to get her through the seemingly interminable weeks of non-correspondence she was beginning to resent. The rational part of her brain understood that Gabriel’s absence was warranted, necessary even, but her heart begged to differ.
Though she took comfort in knowing that he was safe, she was not comforted in the least being kept in the dark regarding his whereabouts. She did not have the slightest clue of his location. All of the unanswered questions festered at times, gave way to doubt. Once a seed of doubt had been planted in her mind, invariably, a field of insecurity would grow.
The insecurity overwhelmed her at times. It had been far worse in the beginning, during the first days after Gabriel left. Shortened days were spent at school where the entire student body wondered where three of their four most beloved athletes had gone. Melissa had shared what she’d seen in the woods; that she believed they were dead. But their bodies were never found and doubt abounded. Furthermore, the doubt of her classmates was confounded because Eric Sala, the only other person present in the woods that remained in Harbingers Falls currently, had not corroborated her account. His presence, along with his silence, was a source of confusion for Melissa. She wondered if his reticence was out of fear, fear that his attack on her, though thwarted by Gabriel hurling an aluminum baseball bat at him as he was about to strike her, would result in charges brought against him. Regardless, everyone maintained his or her own opinions and speculated about various potential scenarios regarding what happened to Kevin, Chis and John. They did not know the truth. But Melissa did.
Melissa knew they had been murdered in the woods behind Harbingers High School, that Eugene, Dr. Franklin Terzini’s earliest and most lethal creation, was responsible for their deaths. Her knowledge was an unimaginable burden more weighted than any she could fathom. As classmates guessed about the circumstances surrounding the trio’s disappearance, their whereabouts and fate, Melissa silently agonized over the information she possessed. She knew the full story, had heard their tortured screams as they suffered at Eugene’s hands.
Their screams still echoed in her memory, kept her awake some nights. Her friends did not know the full extent of what had happened in the woods five months earlier. She had told them as much as she could; shared with them more than she had shared with the rest of her classmates and the police, but withheld details that were too haunting to speak of, to relive. Daniella and Alexandra did not know what life was like for her, how she not only bore the burden of Gabriel’s absence, but the unspeakable truths and the memories that accompanied those truths served to trouble her in multiple ways as well. She could not bring herself to tell them everything; they worried so much already. Her friends loved her and wanted her to be happy again.
“Enough is enough, Melissa,” Alexandra said and returned her thoughts to their conversation. “You have to accept that he might not be coming back.”
Her words stung. Melissa had no retort. She did not know for sure whether Gabriel would ever return. All she had was a promise he made to her five months earlier before he climbed out of her window to the roof of the garage and disappeared into the night.
Melissa looked to Alexandra and shrugged in defeat and struggled to steady her voice. “You’re right,” she replied. “What can I say? You’re right.”
“Shit! Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Alexandra panicked. “I’m just sick of seeing you so sad all the time. You’re better than you were, don’t get me wrong, but not right by a longshot.”
“Girls, I believe you were given an assignment,” Mr. Clancy reminded them.
Alexandra and Melissa immediately busied themselves rummaging through their supplies. Alexandra bent down and pretended to look through her backpack for a phantom article.
As she bowed forward, she whispered to Melissa, “I can think of an assignment I’d like him to give me” and then winked and smiled mischievously.
Melissa began to laugh softly at first, then more heartily. Suddenly, she could not control herself. She laughed hysterically until tears spilled from her eyes.
“Is something funny, Miss Martin?” Mr. Clancy asked.
Melissa could not answer. She could not catch her breath. She had not laughed in what felt like an eternity.
Classmates turned in their seats to gawk at her but she did not care. The laughter felt too good.
“Perhaps you need to excuse yourself, Miss Martin,” Mr. Clancy concluded in frustration.
Melissa sucked her cheeks in and tried to compose herself. She tipped her chin up in defiance of the fit of giggles that threatened once again.
“I’m fine. Really,” Melissa managed then turned to look at Alexandra who stared at her wide-eyed.
She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly before focusing on her assignment.
Once adequately collected and confident a recurrence of laughter was at bay, she worked diligently and continued until the electronic pealing of a bell signified the end of her advanced placement art class.
As she gathered her belongings, Alexandra spoke.
“Geez, I know I’m funny but what the hell?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe I had some kind of breakdown or something,” Melissa speculated.
“Maybe,” Alexandra agreed.
“I just couldn’t stop laughing. I don’t know why.”
“Well whatever the reason, it was good to hear you laugh again, that’s for sure. I was beginning to forget what it sounded like,” Alexandra quipped. “By the way, you snort a little when you laugh.”
“Thanks, Alex,” Melissa said and rolled her eyes.
“I’m just saying, it’s not attractive to make
pig sounds when you laugh,” Alexandra joked.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Melissa responded with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Alexandra laughed.
“Seriously, though. It was good to hear you laugh,” she said earnestly.
“Even if I snort?” Melissa smiled.
“Come on! Don’t be an idiot. I’m being serious here.”
“I know, I know. I just don’t want to get into a heavy conversation, that’s all.”
“No complaints here! I would much rather talk about Mr. Clancy’s ass.”
“Oh brother! I gotta go, Alex,” Melissa said.
“All right, we’ll pick up this conversation later, you can bet on that.”
“Oh, I’m sure we will,” Melissa said and offered a tortured smile.
“See you later.”
“You bet!”
Melissa strode away from Alexandra and headed toward her third period English class. Mr. Adams implemented the exact opposite teaching style of Mr. Clancy. The boring nature of his lectures was a guarantee that her mind would begin to wander. And when her mind strayed, it invariably found its way to thoughts of Gabriel.
Of late, her thoughts flirted with “what ifs.” She wondered what her life would have been like had she never met Gabriel. What if she met him but never allowed him to get close to her? What if he chose to stay rather than leave? The last “what if” was the most painful to pose; it was the only one that had ever been an option.
No matter how many times she entertained such notions, she always chastised herself immediately after. Gabriel was everything to her. He had his reasons for leaving, even if the most selfish part of her refused to comprehend them.
Regardless of whether every part of her understood his absence, the fact still remained that she was in Harbingers Falls and Gabriel was elsewhere on the planet in a secret location. Melissa knew the time had come for her to make a concerted effort to stop thinking about him and accept that which she could not change, that which she had no control over. She needed to move on. She hoped he would return. But with each day, week and month that passed a return seemed less likely.
Acceptance struck her like a blow, winded her briefly, before Melissa clutched her books tightly to her chest and moved resolutely to her English class.
Chapter 3
A staff landed, hard, against Gabriel’s temple and interrupted his tormented thoughts. The blow sent him tumbling to the ground. He immediately scrambled to his feet, refocused and intended to answer the hit with a counterattack.
“Ha! I got you!” Yoshi celebrated. “And landed you on your, well, ass, as they say in America.”
His training partner, Yoshi, was a dexterous and skilled fighter. Though small in stature, Yoshi was renowned in his village as one of its elite martial artists. Their numbers were few, but Yoshi was counted among them. He had earned the respect of his peers. Gabriel had learned a lot from his diminutive instructor.
“Don’t get too excited. My ass never touched the ground. Yours, however, will be dropped in about two seconds!” Gabriel warned.
“Talk, talk, talk!” Yoshi taunted as he lunged forward with his weapon. “Why don’t you shut up and focus?”
“What makes you think I wasn’t focused?” Gabriel replied as he sidestepped the jab.
“Lately, the only time I can drop you is when you’re distracted,” Yoshi conceded verbally but continued his onslaught.
“So you admit I’m the better fighter!”
“Yeah right! You wish!”
“I don’t know. That’s some tough talk for the number-three man in the county.”
Incensed, Yoshi attacked wielding his weapon ferociously, unrelentingly. Gabriel was impressed as always. Their armaments clashed again and again, neither man willing to surrender to fatigue after hours of training in frosty conditions. Yoshi, accustomed to the volatility of the climate, was expertly trained in the ancient art of Kalarippayattu and wielded an otta, a curved, wooden stick, lethally if need be. Gabriel knew that his friend exercised restraint when they sparred, that if he so chose, their match could turn deadly. Save for his instructors, Yoshi had never been bested in a sparring match; until Gabriel arrived.
Five months earlier, Gabriel had arrived in Motuo County, a small community in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. After researching the area, he found that it was one of the few places in Asia still untouched by the modern world, that Motuo was one of the remotest areas on the planet and therefore perfectly suited for the purpose of his disappearance.
After a grueling trek through frozen portions of the Himalayans that included crossing a six hundred and fifty-five-foot-long suspension bridge, Gabriel reached Motuo located in the Nyingchi area of southeastern Tibet, on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River and found it to be all that it was renowned for.
During his first moments in Motuo, he had found himself submerged in clouds and mist, surrounded by imposing peaks and steep ravines superimposed against a paradisiac backdrop. Before long, however, birds had begun to sing in the forest. Sunshine had pored through the fog and woods and created rainbows. The golden light had sliced through the condensation and revealed azaleas and vanilla orchids along with large white lilies that blossomed in vast fields.
When Gabriel had arrived, he had been fully convinced that Motuo County was a mirage, a figment of his exhausted imagination. His conviction had transformed, however, when a man appeared from the veils of vapor. Clad in a felt hat, trousers, sheepskin robe and leather boots, the man had loomed in the mist a threatening presence. Gabriel had hesitated at first when it appeared as though the man had disappeared. Then, without warning, the man had reappeared, as if he had been a manifestation of the fog, and attacked him. He had wielded a short, wooden weapon and struck Gabriel several times. It wasn’t until Gabriel had been in a prone position, that Yoshi had addressed him. Gabriel had realized in that moment that he had neither experienced a mirage nor stumbled into an unexplored paradise. He had, instead, met the first villager of Motuo County.
Yoshi struck him again, interrupted his recollection of their first run-in. He attempted to strike Gabriel a third time. He could not allow his sparring partner the moral victory of hitting him again.
As Yoshi thrust his otta forward, Gabriel twisted and dodged the blow. He then lunged forward, extended his arm to his side then swept his weapon at Yoshi’s feet. Though his weapon did not achieve what he’d intended it to, it did catch one of Yoshi’s feet and offset his balance. He stumbled backward, nearly fell but quickly recovered and was distracted from further engagement by a sound in the distance.
The faint tolling of a gong resonated through the trees, shivered off leaves and brush. They both immediately recognized the sound and its purpose and lowered their weapons; their training session had come to a conclusion. Neither Yoshi nor Gabriel ever lowered his weapon otherwise.
They began gathering their apparatus and moved from the small clearing to its edge and began their trek across the frozen landscape. Where vanilla orchids once bloomed in abundance and had infused the air with their sugary-sweet aroma and had reminded him of Melissa, dried and tangled vines now stood. He had been thankful for the dramatic change of season, of plant-life. Passing through fields of fragrant flowers that bore the same scent as the girl he loved but was forced to leave had been more challenging than he’d imagined. It had been unbearable. He preferred to avoid things that reminded him of her; Thinking of her, of his time spent in Harbingers Falls, was imprudent. Geography, weather and open investigations conspired and prevented him from being with her. Remembrances merely reinforced his worry, his frustration. He needed to protect her from what he believed to be the inevitable return of Terzini but he could not. He tried to drown out the frustrated voice inside of him that screamed for his return to America, to Melissa, by focusing on the sound of his boots crunching on frozen soil. Watching his feet offered little in the way of reprieve.
Ahead of him, Yoshi travelled, seemingly free of th
e burden of worry. He envied his friend briefly, was snapped from envious thoughts as a slender frozen branch whipped him in his face. Gabriel cried out.
“What the hell! Ouch!” he spat.
Yoshi spun around and laughed. “Oh man, that must have hurt! Guess we’ve got to work on those reflexes, huh, Gabriel?” He turned back around and continued toward the village, laughing most of the way.
Yoshi had a robust sense of humor. Born and raised in Mutuo County, he had experienced hardship and the wrath of highly unpredictable weather conditions, yet still managed to find humor in whatever situation he was in, even if it meant laughing at someone else’s expense. He also considered himself an expert on American culture and surprised Gabriel by being fluent in English. Yoshi traveled to a distant village when weather conditions permitted and submerged himself in countless books about America in the local library. There, he had utilized instructional cassette tapes accompanied by workbooks and mastered the English language, determined to someday visit the United States. When Gabriel had arrived speaking English and with intentions of returning to America, Yoshi was fascinated. They became friends almost instantly; Yoshi had welcomed him to their community as soon as he had been sure Gabriel did not intend to harm them.
Trust had been established between Gabriel and Yoshi rapidly. Yoshi’s family took him in much as they would a family member. He became a relative of sorts to Yoshi, lived with him, trained with him and worked the family farm with him. He had been adopted into a group of veritable strangers and offered food, shelter and friendship. Gabriel had never experienced friendship with another; he hadn’t been afforded the time to do so in Harbingers Falls. He had also never experienced what it was like to be part of a family unit. He had read about families and was well-versed in the various roles each member played, but had never been a part of one. He had welcomed the warmth and hospitality of Yoshi’s family and cherished his function within their group. Yoshi became his brother and for that reason, he had confided in him the secret of his origins, had admitted his reason for arriving in Motuo County. Gabriel had told him about Terzini and Eugene and about Melissa.
Planet Urth Boxed Set Page 100
