Creatura (10 page)

“Were you a warrior too?” I could imagine him on a horse, but not with a weapon.

“Yes, I too had to join in battle at certain intervals in my life. But those times are gone and, thankfully, I do not have to do so anymore.”

“So you
killed
people?” I was shocked.

“That’s what war is about isn’t it? I’m not proud of it, Isis. The uprisings were inevitable and so was my summoning to defend our creed. War is never easy, but one must stand along the sides of his brothers to protect each other’s lives. Those were very trying times.”

“I understand,” I said staring at my feet. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard him admit to. I just couldn’t imagine him slaying anyone. He, who was a proper young man—a gentleman, a deity, and yet still just a boy.

“What about your dad? You don’t mention him much.” I noted.

“My father is,” he hesitated, “ . . . a well respected individual both here on Earth and Caelum. He is accredited with being the first engineer. Invention and technology are his magnum opus. He is the one responsible for gifting the caveman with the first wheel, if you can believe that.”

I laughed along with David not knowing if he was serious. At this point, I believed everything he said.

“Wait a minute,” I suddenly had a thought. “Just how old is your father?”

“Ancient. We’ve lost count, actually. He’s as old as time itself, but not as old as Deus.”

He noticed my mouth drop open, in disbelief. With a curved lip, he continued.

“On another note, my father is also an entrepreneur, a warrior, and a politician. He is of the first generation of deities, the Primitus.”

David gazed out the passenger’s side window to view the front door of my house. He must have been worried that Claire was aware that we had not yet stepped out of the vehicle.

“Isis, do you remember how I told you I was going to tell you why I was here?’

“Yes and you did: To figure me out.” I straightened out my dress skirt. “And I’ve kept my end of the bargain; I haven’t returned to Somnium.”

“Right.” He bit his lip. “There is one other thing that drove me here besides that,” he said, scrutinizing me. “The reason for the bickering between my mother and brothers and me.”

“To be honest, I’ve been questioning the disputes silently, as a matter of fact.”

“Yes, well, I am going to have to hold that reason back from you for now because I fear it may affect your judgment of me. Rest assured it’s nothing of which I am ashamed. I would just rather keep it to myself.” His eyes shifted to the house again.

“That only makes me think that you haven’t been completely honest with me, like you promised. If you don’t plan on telling me, why bring it up? It makes me doubt you.”

“My intention was not to place distrust in your hands, but to have you clutch the sincerity that I have to committed. I have told you once and I will repeat it: I will never lie to you. I want you to know me for who I am and not what I am. I want to brush away any ill thoughts and bias opinions you may have. I want a fresh start for our friendship, as if we had met by mere casualty on the street and not under these circumstances. With this being said, do you believe it is possible that we may initiate a new beginning?”

I stared at him for a long time. Why did he have to be such a complicated person? Mysteries and me did not mesh well; I was an eager beaver. I needed to
know
things, not figure them out like a labyrinth.

The last drop of sunlight was almost gone as David patiently listened for my delayed response.

“Okay,” I said, unsure of what his point to starting off from fresh would be.

“It’s improper for us to be inside the car this long outside of your house. Let me walk you to your door.” David grabbed the key from the ignition and circled the car. He took my hand and held it all the way to the porch.

I just didn’t understand this boy at all. Why was he holding my hand when he had placed such crucial emphasis on their laws? The worst part of the matter is that I let him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” I gazed at our hands still joined.

“You shall,” he said, closing the gap between us.

“Wait!” I stopped him before his lips touched mine, my hand flat against his chest. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Plotting a new beginning.” His nose touched the tip of mine.

“David,” I shook my head, pulling my face away from his, “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

He stepped back and grazed his lips on my wrist. “Thank you for a lovely afternoon.” His face reflected a hint of dismay as he momentarily fixed his eyes on the floor and sighed.

My dress swayed softly in the breeze as I gawked at him, wondering what could be if we weren’t from different worlds.

David gave me his back and began to walk. He turned for a moment and blew a kiss in the air. “Good night, my lovely.” His brawny silhouette continued its stride. He slid into his car and drove away slowly.

I staggered into the kitchen and sighed a little too loud—loud enough for my mother to hear. One corner of Claire’s lip rose as she diced some tomatoes.

“I’ll bet anything that sigh is worth one thought.” She slid the tomatoes off the cutting board and into a skillet. “And I bet I know that thought’s name.”

I smiled.

As usual, she was right. But I’d never admit to it. I leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her chopping away.

“Need some help?” I offered.

“Fix us some salad, would ya, hun?”

“Uh, Mom… I’m not hungry at all.” I patted my stomach. “Nyx prepared this ginormous spread of pastries, canapés and some other stuff. It was deee-licious.” I closed my eyes and waved my head as if I were savoring something magnificent.

“Better than my cooking?” I noted jealousy in her tone.

“Uh…” I hesitated, “not better, just different.” I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Honestly, my mom’s cooking was good, but Nyx’s surpassed greatness.

“Hmm,” she didn’t sound convinced.

I selected some vegetables from the fridge and started making a salad for Claire. My mind wandered off to David and his brothers as I carefully sliced and diced. They’d be enrolling tomorrow. Boy, were the girls at school in for a treat.

“By the way, Dr. Jameson called. Wanted to know how you were. I forgot to mention to him you were having daydreams about some good looking kid you picked up at the library.” Even though she was joking, her face remained serious.

I laughed. “Would you stop with that already? I know you’re struggling to hold back the questions. What do you want to know?”

“Is his mother younger or older than me?”

“About the same.”

“Is she pretty?”

“Yes.”

“What about his father?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t met him yet.”

“Why not?”

“He’s never there.”

“Well, where is he?”

“Mom, I don’t know. I don’t ask David such personal questions.” Actually I did, but I wasn’t about to dig myself into a hole with her non-ending interrogations. Plus, I didn’t know how to answer that last question. I couldn’t exactly tell her about Caelum. Making up lies wasn’t one of my biggest talents.

Monday, I woke up half an hour earlier than usual. I looked out my window to find a vagrant dog sniffing through trashcans. The sun wasn’t out yet, but the street lamps provided enough illumination for me to see the stillness of the waking day ahead.

Today, for obvious reasons I chose to deny, I felt like dolling myself up. I selected a fitted black top and blue jeans that would be accessorized by a pair of wedge heels and bronze colored jewelry. I felt the bronze accessories might have made the outfit a little too dressy for school, but decided to wear them anyway.

I sprayed on my favorite perfume and spread on the scented body lotion. I loved walking by and having people notice my scent—nice and clean smelling, like jasmine and gardenia.

I looked myself over once more in the mirror behind my door. I looked pretty good, if I did say so myself. With my book bag over my shoulder and my phone in my hand I left my room with a conceited grin. A girl’s got to be vain.

Coffee was already brewed, courtesy of my mother who had left about ten minutes earlier. I grabbed a pastry bar from the pantry and waited for it to pop out of the toaster. It was take-along breakfast today.

Before walking out the door, I got a text from Andy:

“Walking?”

“Yup.” I answered.

I had walked three houses down from mine when his black sports car pulled up along the curb. He rolled the window down on the passenger side.

“May I drive you to school today?” David’s sly smile made me nervous. He looked like he was planning something sinister.

“Can I say no?” I pouted and wrinkled my nose jokingly.

“I would prefer you said ‘yes’,” he insisted.

I tugged on the door handle. Big surprise—it was locked. He stepped out of the vehicle to open the passenger door. He positioned his body directly in front of me, coming extremely close. I moved my body back until he had me pinned to the car.

“Are you frightened of me now?” His lips were centimeters away from mine.

“Yes,” I confessed like an idiot, holding my breath.

David sniggered. He lightly kissed my cheeks and reached for my waist. He moved me aside and opened the car door. My face burned in a scarlet hue.

I stepped in the Maserati. As soon as he had shut the door I reached for the visor mirror to inspect my face. Sure enough, I was as red as an apple. I swayed my hand back and forth quickly, fanning my face to bring down the heat that radiated from it. David stepped in the car within seconds.

“That was uncalled for,” I reproached. “Your mother would disapprove.”

His grin grew wide, never glancing at me. “My mother isn’t here, is she?”

“You really shouldn’t play around like that, David. It’s not nice.” I scowled at him.

“Why would you think I was playing?”

“Because of your laws, your family… your life?” I counted with my fingers as I gave him each of the three reasons.

He turned to view me. I could see he was lacking a debate for the first time.

“Well?” I insisted.

He sighed, “I would rather we change the topic of conversation, if you don’t mind.”

I crossed my arms, grimacing as we passed the main intersection on Ocean Boulevard and Arroyo Street. I was worried.

What had brought about this sudden change in him? Nyx had probably told him I thought he was exceptionally handsome. Who wouldn’t think that? He wasn’t oblivious to the fact that I was nervous around him, and he was using it to his advantage. Surely he couldn’t be serious about pursuing me. Or could he?

The school parking lot was half empty. David picked a parking space one car away from Bill’s red mustang. His brothers’ Land Rover was parked in the front aisle right across from the walkway into the school.

“Wait.” I grabbed David’s arm before he stepped out of the car.

“If anyone asks, I met you at the library.”

“Right.” He turned to get out of the car again.

“Wait.” I stopped him for a second time.

“Where am I supposed to tell my friends you’re from?”

“Why don’t you leave the talking to me?” He winked and stepped out of the vehicle.

Low whispers and stares from the kids sitting on the brick benches followed David and me as we walked up to the school entrance. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the girls agape as David strode by. Too bad I didn’t have any tissues on me to hand them so they could wipe off their drool.

David’s posture grew tense as we walked down the hallway. He must have been nervous to start school, I assumed. We turned the corner within visibility of the cafeteria where I saw Andy and Bill waiting for me. We waved at each other.

“Hey, Isis!” Simon, one of the football players, greeted me as we passed each other in the hall.

“Hi, Simon. See ya later.” I waved.

David grasped my hand and stopped walking. I tried to let myself loose, but his grip was far too tight.

“David, you’re hurting me,” I pleaded. He loosened his grip but did not release his hold.

“Who… was… that?” His jaw was tight and his eyes were infuriated.

“He’s a guy in my class. Let me go.” I was partially whining.

“Do you fancy him?” His mouth was a flat line.

“That’s none of your business,” I said, trying to pry his fingers from my hand. He took hold of that hand too. Giving up on the custody battle for my limbs, I looked up at him questionably. Why was he acting this way?

“David?” Eryx’s voice startled me.

David’s nose flared as he set one of my hands free.

“Hello, brother,” David acted as if nothing were happening. “Have you gotten your matriculating process in order?”

“Yes,” Eryx nodded. “Galen is awaiting a schedule as we speak.”