Cast & Fall (34 page)

As
we glided across the backyard, he danced with such an unbelievable
grace that at one point, I could‘ve sworn we were above
ground—as he twirled, spun and held me in the sway of the
music. He was so good at it that I have completely forgotten that I
didn’t even know how to dance.

I
never wanted that night to end. I knew somehow that
he
was too good to be
true. I knew there was a darkness that was hovering over us,
something greater—but it wasn’t going to be that
night—that night belonged to him and I.

I
felt the cool, red ruby in my chest. I didn’t take it off all
night. I clutched the gem, feeling warmer now in my hands, as I
rolled over in bed thinking of the wonderful night before—the
absolutely perfect, magical moment of my everything. If it wasn’t
for the stone next to my heart, I would’ve doubted last night
really existed. But it was real. He was real. I felt my lips curve
into a soft smile as I remembered every single memory of him
.

I
touched the gem again and sighed, thinking how I was going to explain
to Tristan that I wouldn’t be able to keep the necklace. It was
simply too indulgent to own.

Suddenly,
I heard a buzz on my night stand. It was my cell phone. I was
slightly irritated by the disruption, but automatically stretched my
hand and grabbed my phone that was still plugged in my charger. My
heart raced into excitement when I realized, Tristan was on the other
line.

“
Hello,”
my voice was still half asleep, sounding coarse.

“
Katheryna…I
hope I didn’t wake you too early, but I wanted to see if you
would like a ride to school this morning?” School? I can’t
believe I have forgotten about that.
“
Yes…I
would love that. Thank you.” My excitement shot through the
roof.
Who
said being Cinderella ended at midnight!

“
Can
you give me half an hour?”

“
Okay.
I will be there at seven thirty.”

As
soon as I opened the door, his presence hit me, engulfing me in a
crashing wave of emotions that seem too real to ever be a dream.

“
Good
Morning. You look absolutely lovely today.”

“
Thanks.”
I smiled brightly and swallowed instinctively, a tendency I have when
I‘m nervous or excited. Both seem to bring out the same effect
on me.

“
You
look good, too.” Of course, he looked more than good, but words
seem to fail me when I think of him. He smiled, but didn’t seem
to acknowledge the truth to my comment.
“
Are
you ready?”

“
Yes…let
me get my bag.” Sprinting back to the couch, I grabbed my black
shoulder
bag
and locked the door behind us.”

Tristan
stopped in front of the main building of the school. He kissed me and
wished me a pleasant day as I crawled out hesitantly from his truck
into the crowded front.

When
lunch break came, Sue and Charlie had been too curious for me to
avoid the
Tristan
subject. I volunteered as much as I could without bringing up
unnecessary red flags, and was glad the questions had died down when
the final bell rang. Tristan was waiting for me across the street as
I stepped out of the front gate. I felt extremely tired because of
the previous night and my mind was exhausted from all the school
stuff. My body wanted very much to go home and sleep, but my mind was
battling
my physical exhaustion. The slight rocking motion of the truck wasn’t
helping
my cause either. I wanted to spend time with Tristan, but I’m
barely coherent to really enjoy my time with him. Tristan had told me
about the times he’d gone to see me every night at the hospital
and the days after I had gone home, except when I went to California.
There was so much more that he hasn’t told me and so much more
I wanted to know.

“
Katheryna,
you’re tired. Please let me take you home,” he pleaded
with a clear frustration in his voice.

“
No…I
don’t want to go home yet. I want to know more,” I
yawned, my words, muffled. All of a sudden, the truck circled and I
briefly went back into cohesion.

“
Where
are we going?…the restaurant is that way!” I protested.

“
I’m
taking you home. You’re very tired and I will not be
responsible for making you sick,” he said sternly. I couldn’t
argue. Tristan has a way of getting his
way
,
when the whole argument circled on the conditions of my health and
safety.

As
we slithered our way into the afternoon traffic, I gave in and felt
compelled to rest my head on his shoulders and he pulled me closer to
him. I inhaled deeply and I was about to drift unto unconsciousness
when—

Someone’s
following us! Tristan’s voice was panicked. I stared at him in
alertness and a struck of horror was plastered on his face.

“
What?…Who?
my mind suddenly twisted on the words and expression, as I stitched
the idea together. “I thought you said that we were safe…that
I was safe?” my words were too small. Tristan didn’t say
a word, instead accelerated on a speed I was much too scared to
really know.

“
Where
are we going?” My voice was faint.

“
We’re
going to my house.” His eyes were fixed ahead.

“
I’m
not letting you out of my sight…don’t be afraid…I
will never let anything happen to you,” his voice was firm. He
stomped the pedal to the metal. The needle veered all the way to the
right, to its maximum capacity, and the car flew.

For
a long moment, my brain was disconnected from my body; my stomach was
sloshing briskly, my thoughts were spinning, my heart was thumping
irregularly. I wasn’t sure if a stroke or heart attack was
coming next. I closed my eyes in a desperate attempt to settle my
panicked nerves. Then, a sudden feeling of calm washed over me—like
my emotions just shifted. All of a sudden I could see clearly out on
path without fear. It didn’t take long until we zoomed our way
and ended somewhere off the highway.

“
Why
are we stopping here?” I shouted, still feeling too clueless to
what was going on.
“
Stay
here,” he ordered.

“
No!
Please don’t go.”

“
Katheryna,
you’re staying here, I‘ll be back!” he growled. I
couldn’t argue. I obeyed
without
hesitation. I unsnapped my seat belt and sat stiffly but decided to
follow him with my eyes. There was a humming car coming from behind
that stopped a few feet from us. My breathing became ragged. I glued
my eyes on the vehicle as the
engine
roared down. Tristan yanked the
car
door open.

Finally,
I saw her—she was beautiful—fragile—and hurt. A
sudden rolling rip of terror swirled inside me. Tristan carried her
and laid her down on a nearby tree. I came out of the truck
cautiously. Sitting against the tree, her face looked pale, her
forehead drenched in a cold sweat. She shivered uncontrollably. The
glint in her eyes was coming to a close. Tristan looked at me without
objection. I took it as that it was okay to proceed. I came closer.

“
Is
she?…” my lips were suddenly frozen. I couldn’t
find the strength to say the
word
.

“
Yes.”
His voice was as deep as his expression. Tristan helped her sit up
when he had realized, she was wounded from her back. I helped unzip
the back of her dress. The deep wounded cut on her back, was about a
foot long on each side…as if she’d been stabbed in the
same location several times or something had been torn out. Hot, red
liquid saturated the raw, gaping gash of open flesh on her back. She
had become unconscious.

Tristan
backed away as he looked at me contemplating on his next move. He
paced back and forth, trying to figure out possibly the same thoughts
and questions that had been encircling in my mind—
who
was she? who was responsible for this? and most importantly, why?

As
I came closer, her eyes opened. “Are you okay?” I asked.
She seemed disoriented. Her head swiveled as her gray eyes focused on
me.

“
Where
am I? She looked confused.

“
I’m
Katheryna. We found you…you were following us…do you
remember anything?” she nodded slightly. “Who did
this?...and what happened?” She planted her hand on the side of
her head before she let out another groan. By then, Tristan had
leaned down and had ordered me to back up further.

“
Who
are you?…and what are you doing here?” Tristan’s
voice was furious rather than concerned. His eyes were hostile.

“
Tristan,
give her time,” I interjected. He ignored me.

“
Okay,
let’s start with your name?” The icy anger in his eyes
continued to harden in frigid intensity.

“
I…I’m
Gabriella…” She looked at Tristan with a clear reverent
fear in her eyes. I meant you no harm.” Tristan didn’t
respond, instead he suddenly got up, held my hand and led me back to
the car. I thought at first he was just making sure that I stayed in,
but then, he got in the driver’s side and turned the engine on.

“
Tristan!
We can’t just leave her here.”

“
Katheryna,
she’s immortal, she’ll be fine. I need to take you home
and deal with this.”

“
No!
I’m coming with you.”

“
What?…No!”
His shoulders stiffened and his voice sounded like he couldn‘t
believe I was even saying the words.
“
Look,
this is about me and I’m not just going to sit around and do
nothing.”

“
That’s
out of the question. You’re not going and that’s that.
We’re not having this discussion. I didn’t protect you
all this time, so that…”

“
Do
you really want to get yourself killed?” Tristan’s voice
was frantic with fury. But
then…
“I can’t afford to lose you. Could you understand that!”
The ache in his voice suddenly derailed me and I lost my will to my
irrational argument.

“
I’m
sorry…you’re right. It’s just that I’m tired
of being scared and
I
hate it every time
you
leave.”

“
I
know…I hate it too. But I simply can’t afford to take
chances.” There was a deep underlying torment and desolation
behind his words.

T
ime
passed by ever so slowly, like it had managed to prolong the agony of
the wait. The night lengthened. I wasn’t sure if I preferred
for the dreaded morning to come. I laid down in bed and brushed a few
strands of hair away from my forehead. I scanned my room, trying to
drown out all the voices, trying to focus on one thing to make myself
be bored enough to break away from the panic attack that had been
simmering inside my head.

The
cast of light from the moon and night light, created a harmonious
glow, just enough for me to finally fall asleep.

Waking
up, I saw a piece of paper on top of the pillow next to me. It was
from Tristan. A sudden sense of relief took over all of my senses. I
read the note quickly.

Dear
Katheryna,

I
am so sorry for everything. I would love more than anything to have
told you the truth. I am risking everything by choosing this path.
Meet me tonight at Amaranthine at six o’clock and I will
explain everything. Tell no one about this letter.

Tristan

I
read Tristan’s note over and over again, feeling the simmering
heat of warning hung at a close distance. The instant surge of worry
washed away my brief sense of security from his return. I couldn’t
settle the uncertainty in my thoughts. Tristan had told me that
keeping me in the dark was the condition for my safety. My mind
whirled, trying to decipher the information I have on hand. So, what
has changed? As I tried to connect the pieces in my head, a
conclusion stared me in the face—clear and taunting. This note
could only mean one thing. Tristan ran out of options—we ran
out of options.

The
Fall

T
housands
of light, gray and dark shadows within a thick smoke of a funnel of
heavy blanket of cloud emerged, assembling in front of the
Great
Light
.
No one dared to look at the light, it’s brightness was
blinding. Loud, swooshing sounds came out of the magnificent legion
of shadows as their wings beat gloriously, extending to great
heights. Their faces so beautiful and their marbled, perfectly formed
bodies draped in pure glory with metals embracing every contour, like
gods themselves.