Pulse of Heroes (25 page)

Michelle’s mouth dropped open. She looked at
him in complete shock and whatever color she had regained in her
face faded. She couldn’t find her tongue. Was he messing with her?
Kidding? Elliot gave Michelle a tired smile. “Its true.”

“The glass I sent you… that small vase I saw
at the school…”

“They’re both mine. I made them sometime
around 20 B.C., about two thousand years ago. That’s why they look
like that. The glass and the trace molecules have been oxidizing.
That’s what causes all those different colors and specs of
opalescence on the surfaces. It’s a patina; they used to be pure
blue.” Michelle wanted to know how her mom had ended up with the
disk, but Elliot told her that it was a long story, and besides he
thought that Michelle should be in bed resting because eventually
the pain would return and she wouldn’t want to be awake when that
happened.

“Then why don’t you just come back and do
that healing thing to me again?” She couldn’t believe that she had
just asked him to come see her again, and she looked away to
conceal her awkwardness.

When Elliot left Michelle’s house he felt
emotionally drained. He hadn’t told her everything, because he
could tell that she was getting information overload. And
everything he told her clashed with her logic. But yet he was
living proof of the illogical. He didn’t fit in into any scientific
model or the Darwinist theory of evolution. He had thought about
having his genetic print investigated, as it was only recently that
an American scientist had decoded the human genome. But what could
a geneticist tell him, really? That he was different. He already
knew that. He didn’t want to put himself in a position where he
might be looked upon as an abnormality of science and nature. He
had no intention of turning himself into a lab rat to be poked and
prodded under the world’s microscope. He had been in the spotlight
enough, and had no desire to go back.

Michelle, on the other hand, took a warm bath
and let her bruised body rest from all movements. Floating in the
still water, she thought about everything that had happened and
everything that Elliot told her. She had heard all that he said and
she had seen him do things that no one else could explain, but she
just couldn’t grasp all that information without asking more
questions. Was she supposed to accept the idea that she had
befriended a supernatural being that lived in a strange school with
the rest of the superheroes about a mile from her home? And on top
of that, she was falling for him, hard.

At first it was his looks that she
understood; he was perfect. But after the kindness he showed her,
it was his warmth that attracted her, and now with all that he had
confided in her, it was obvious that there was so much more to him
and she wanted to know every little corner that made up who he was.
And there was something else. Elliot spoke to her about things like
she was a complete adult, as if she should have known about red
blood cells needing extra oxygen for healing. In the few hours she
spent with him she had learned so many things, and her curious mind
wanted to learn more. She could listen to him talk all day
long.

The bath water eventually got cold and
Michelle’s fingers looked like small white prunes. It was time to
dry off. Once safely tucked away in her bed with Crumb purring by
her side, she smiled to herself in happiness. Elliot was going to
return and see her, and she couldn’t wait. She thought about what
Francesca had told her; if the man comes to see the woman that
means he likes her. Could her prayers have been answered?

Elliot showed up at Michelle’s house the next
day at 4 o’clock, just as he had said. He was there right on the
dot this time, and that gesture alone made Michelle feel blessed.
He checked Michelle’s bruised forehead and told her that it was
healing nicely. That made her feel cared for and she wanted to wrap
her arms around him. They decided to walk through the woods rather
than on the main street because Michelle insisted that she didn’t
want to draw too much attention.

When they reached the school’s walls, Elliot
suggested that they could walk around to the gates but Michelle
didn’t like that idea. She wanted Elliot to stop pretending to be
who he wasn’t. Did he forget all that he had told her so quickly?
She didn’t need him to try and protect her from him or what he
was.

“Maybe you can walk up the wall like you did
before. Wouldn’t it be quicker than walking around to the front
gates?” Michelle inquired.

“Yeah, right,” Elliot said, still not fully
comfortable with the fact that Michelle knew that he was not like
everyone else. But he also had to smile to himself and remind
himself that the things he could do naturally were miraculous to
others. To Michelle, it looked like Elliot just took two steps and
was already standing on top of the wall. But he explained to her
that that was just what her eyes were able to detect. He actually
ran towards the wall and leaped upwards, using the inertia to
propel him. He explained that without momentum he wouldn’t have
been able to do it, but Michelle didn’t care about the mechanics of
things; she just stood below looking up at him and smiling in
adulation. Michelle’s smile was so infectious that Elliot couldn’t
help but smile back as he reached down to grab her hands and pull
her up. As they walked across the school grounds, Michelle noticed
that all the parking slots were empty. Elliot told her that all the
guys had left for the day, and Michelle was excited by the prospect
of spending her time with Elliot alone.

Once inside, Elliot asked her if she wanted
to anything to drink, but Michelle wasn’t thirsty for a drink, she
was thirsty for knowledge. Elliot said he was going to show her
things and she couldn’t wait. While they were still in the kitchen
Michelle heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see
Xander. Michelle was startled; she thought there were alone and
there was the school regent! She feared that Elliot would get in
some sort of trouble for having her there.

“No need to worry,” Xander said to Michelle
with a small nod. Elliot walked over to Xander and told Michelle
that she was going to see and hear many things that would most
likely confuse her, and he wanted to start with Xander.

“Michelle, I would like to formally introduce
Xander to you, as my grandson,” Elliot said. Michelle gave out a
small nervous laugh and began to look back and forth between the
two of them. Xander stepped forward and told Michelle that he could
assure her that everything Elliot said was true. Michelle tried her
best to digest the information, and thought about the black and
white photo from Francesca’s wedding album. Was that Elliot in the
photo? Was he really much much older than he looked. She asked
Elliot about the photograph, and he admitted to her that she was
right. That was him in the photo, although he had completely
forgotten that he had attended that wedding, and he had no idea
that he was in one of the pictures.

“I try to avoid getting photographed as much
as possible,” he disclosed. Without delay, Michelle’s mind
considered that if Xander was Elliot’s grandson, then Elliot surely
had children, and if he had children he probably had a wife. That
thought turned Michelle’s stomach in jealousy, she didn’t want to
know that Elliot had loved anyone before. But she also realized
that there in front of her stood someone more complex than she ever
could have imagined. Elliot was no longer just a boy wonder; he was
a person with a past and with memories and genuine pain. He needed
her, she thought. He needed someone.

“Elliot, shall we go downstairs?” Xander
asked him. And Elliot nodded and walked out of the kitchen, leaving
Xander and Michelle alone. Michelle looked at Xander confused, and
he told her that they’d follow Elliot in a minute. Xander walked
over to the countertop and opened the cabinet door underneath to
take out a bottle of wine from the small wine cooler. He poured
himself a glass of dark, syrupy, almost-purple liquid, and asked
Michelle if she would like one also. Michelle declined. Xander took
a sip from his glass, savoring the wine in his mouth for a long
second before swallowing it down. Xander then told her that both
his parents and grandmother were dead. His father, Elliot’s only
child, had died during WWII, and his mother had passed a few years
after that, which everyone attributed to a broken heart.

“My grandfather... I mean Elliot…” he
corrected himself after seeing that Michelle was not comfortable
hearing that word describe the person she knew, “…rarely talks
about our family. I’ve grown used to that ever since he told me the
truth about who he was.” Michelle felt sad for Elliot. She also
felt remorseful, realizing that she was selfish to feel disgusted
over Elliot having a wife and a family in the past.

Xander took another sip and continued.
“Elliot will always look young. He has looked the same way for
thousands of years. But his looks can be deceiving. He has suffered
more loss and heartache than any one of us could ever get close to
imagining.” Michelle looked at Xander peculiarly when he said the
word ‘us’, and he picked up on her puzzlement. “I am just like you.
Human. Dust to dust. Elliot will have to deal with my death as his
last remaining heir. I myself chose not to marry or have a family
of my own as a way of showing gratitude for the kindness Elliot
showed me since my parents passed away, and still continue to do. I
am fine with that decision, as my life has been full and
adventurous. If I had my own family, Elliot would have to go
through the loss of losing me and my children, and then their
children, and so on. He might be immortal, but his heart is as
human as our own, if not more so. He has suffered enough. And I
know that he has only told me but a small fraction of that.”

Xander took another sip from his glass and
smiled at Michelle kindly. He told her that life with Elliot had
been marvelous and poignant at the same time, and that he thought
she might begin to understand why the reluctance to get involved
with others on the outside. All the guys at the school carried the
memories of many different lives around with them. He also told her
that for Elliot to choose to bring her around and to reveal who he
was to her was not a light decision to make. “Once we are hurt we
are always careful about the second time around, but what if we
have been hurt over and over again? What if the people that we
loved were taken from us one by one? I believe that Elliot is
trying his best right now, but as personal advice to you, I would
recommend that you exercise caution when dealing with him and that
you listen to what he says and really think about what he is trying
to tell you.”

Xander asked Michelle to follow him and they
walked out of the kitchen towards the door to the downstairs
restroom. Only now there was a second door next to the restroom
that was definitely not there before; that Michelle was sure of.
Xander pulled it open and proceeded to descend a long flight of
stairs motioning for Michelle to follow him.

At the bottom of the stairs there were thick
double glass doors, and Xander entered a code into a small numeric
keypad above the handles. The glass doors hissed when they slid
open and Xander stepped into a small cubicle with Michelle still
following behind. The glass doors shut behind them, and another set
slid open in front of them.

Elliot stood leaning against a massive table,
waiting for Michelle. He looked different, Michelle thought, not
older, but more tired, and she avoided looking into his eyes.
Somehow it felt wrong to know so many personal things about Elliot
without him telling them to her, and yet he chose not to. Elliot
studied Michelle’s face. He wasn’t scared or worried that she’d
reject him because he was long over such insecurities. He was more
concerned that she would get scared. When people got frightened
they tended to share those emotions with others in order to get the
needed emotional support. He didn’t want Michelle to go talking to
others about him or the school. He wasn’t in a bad mood, but there
was nothing light or buoyant about what had been revealed to her.
In all actuality it was a huge undertaking, one that would force
him to remember and expose ancient wounds that never truly healed.
So much of what he carried was raw and susceptible to more damage
every time he revisited those rooms full of memories locked away
inside him. He had learned how to turn off his emotions, and it had
become as easy as switching off a light switch. It was more
comfortable that way, and a lot more peaceful. Although he had told
Michelle many things the night before, none of them concerned his
personal experiences; there were no emotions attached to them. They
were but tiny fractions of his life, and even those facts were
thrown out like stones against a wall. He hadn’t felt much the
night before when he had revealed himself to her, at least not
until she held him by the shirt. Then something happened and he
didn’t even know how, but the way she looked at him pierced through
his very thick wall and he actually felt something.

It was later on, after he had returned home
from Michelle’s house that Elliot had admitted to Xander that he
had become a bit more involved with the girl than he had previously
let on. Xander was his blood, yet in an inevitable reversal of
roles had become more like his father than his grandchild. Elliot
might have experienced hundreds of lives compared to Xander’s one,
but all that accumulated knowledge still differed from the
knowledge that Xander held. Xander was his connection to what
humans felt. Elliot could never truly understand the feeling of
time running out, and the sense of urgency that that created in the
human psyche, no matter how hard he tried. Xander was there to help
him put things in human perspective, and it was Xander who
suggested that at this point it was only fair to reveal the truth
to Michelle. He was astounded that Elliot had followed her to Fort
Bragg to begin with, even if he did know that a large storm was
brewing.