Pulse of Heroes (55 page)

Michelle felt no pain at all. She stretched
out in the hot bath that was big enough to be a small pool and
leaned her head back on the built in headrest. She was mesmerized
by the image of the beautiful angels above her and wished that it
was lighter outside so she could see the colored glass better.
Suddenly, as if by magic the stained glass came to life with a
bright light shining down on it from above, emphasizing the bright
reds and greens of the robes the angels wore and the orange and
yellow curls that framed their faces. The whole scene looked to be
made of colorful gems.

“It’s a sin to look at it in darkness,” Haden
said, pointing a remote control towards the ceiling. Michelle
turned around to see him, then immediately covered herself up with
her hands. Haden knelt down next to her and looked up at the
window, smiling. “You’ve got to admit that you don’t see something
like that everyday. I paid a lot of money to have it done just
right. Many years ago I used to have one just like it above my bed,
but I don’t really want angels looking down at me in bed,” he
laughed. Haden took the small washcloth that lay by Michelle’s
neck, dipped it in the water, and wrung the water out of it down
her face and neck. She closed her eyes. “It’s only lukewarm. You
must have been in here for a while,” he said, getting up. He
grabbed a towel off the rack and tossed it over to her. Michelle
instinctively raised her arms to catch it so it wouldn’t fall into
the water and Haden laughed. “Not too bad, for a little girl,” he
said, smirking at her exposed torso. Michelle felt mortified,
stupid, and angry. She immediately wrapped the towel up against her
chest and slowly rose up backwards onto the ledge of the tub.

“Why am I here? What do you want from me?”
Michelle’s voice sounded high and full of angst. Haden circled
around the tub and walked over to where she stood against the wall.
He moved her wet hair away from her face.

“You’re here because I want you to be here.
I’m sure you already realize that I have no need of you personally.
I guess you could say that I was curious to see what that buffoon
Atras, oh sorry, Elliot as he calls himself these days, was
attracted to.”

“Elliot is not a buffoon! You’re the one
that’s been after him?” Michelle questioned, slipping from
underneath Haden’s arm.

“Oh wait, that’s right. Elliot is an angel
walking upon the earth, and to be so lucky that he bestowed his
attention on you.”

“Am I a hostage? Am I here so you can get to
him?” Michelle felt so used and so insignificant. She thought that
Haden had actually seen something in her. Haden told her to look on
the bright side, because he found her attractive enough and
besides, earlier that day it had been her that had kissed him.

“You wanted to be here, so here you are. I
don’t remember dragging you by the hair while you kicked and
screamed. You came her because you’re attracted to me, and why
shouldn’t you be? You seem to find our kind irresistible.”

“You’re nothing like him,” Michelle yelled
out, although she had failed to convince herself.

“Listen, Elliot and I go way back. I’m sure
he never mentioned me. There are things between our type that are
beyond your understanding.”

“What if I want to go home?” Michelle’s voice
trailed off at the end of the sentence and Haden stepped over to
where she stood. He wiped her tears and told her that if Elliot was
indeed the loving, kind man she remembered him to be, he would be
on his way in a day or two and she would be free to leave. “Why do
you hate him so much?” she wanted to know. Haden smiled sweetly and
led her by her hand back into the bedroom.

There were fresh sheets on the bed. On the
side table something smelled delicious. Michelle found a tray
displaying some sort of a soup and small round buns. There was a
pat of butter in a cute gold dish and a small bowl that had some
sort of rosy-hued cooked fruit in it. “I had my housekeeper cook it
just for you. I hope you like my choice.” Michelle looked at Haden
and swallowed hard. She was hungry but had no appetite. Still
wrapped in her wet towel, she felt exposed and uneasy. She told him
that she didn’t want to be there and she didn’t want to eat; she
just wanted to go home already. Haden walked over to where she
stood by the side table and moved closer, forcing her to back off
till she bumped into the bed and had to sit down. Haden sat next to
her and told her that he didn’t want to force things because it
wasn’t his style. “I’m sure you already know that all I have to do
is touch you and you’ll be asleep in no time. You also know that
I’m much stronger than you. But have I used any of my powers to
bring you here? Hear me out, and you can decide how things will
be.”

Haden took Michelle’s limp hand in his and
said he had a story to tell her. Michelle felt infuriated. He told
her that many years ago he, Rion, Ando, and later Elliot had all
helped Vlad III of the order of Dracul fight against the Ottoman
Turks. “That’s poor Dracula, in case you didn’t know.” Michelle
pretended not to care, but Haden knew otherwise. He told her that
it was a matter of jokes between all of them whenever people spoke
of Dracula the Vampire, or Vlad the Impaler and other such
nonsense. “The poor man got such a horrible name thanks to that
Irish author who wrote that story based on some skittish Turkish
rumors.” He told her that the original rumors were actually about
them.

“When the Turks came upon one of us in battle
they might mortally wound us. But of course, we don’t die of such
wounds, and the next day that poor son-of-a-bitch would be fighting
the same guy he thought he had killed the night before. The stories
scared the hell out of the enemy, and Vlad decided to capitalize on
their fear. The drinking blood was just an act, and the impaling
was something he had learned from them as a young boy. He was once
a prisoner of those wretched Turks.” Haden’s voice became bitter,
“It was there that he learned about the vile ways in which they
executed their enemies - his people, my people, even some of my own
family. Did you know that they gouged his brother’s eyes out and
buried him alive? Vlad saw thousands of women taken as sex slaves;
they were raped in pubic to the cheers of the soldiers. His wife
committed suicide because she thought they were coming for her.
After that, even I will admit that Vlad was never the same. Her
death caused him so much grief that he became obsessed with
punishing the Turks and anyone who helped them with the exact same
cruelty that they inflicted on us. He argued that to win the war,
he had to be crueler than the cruel, and he was right.”

Michelle sat quietly transfixed by Haden’s
story, much as she had been by Elliot’s. Haden looked at her large
eyes and smiled, but then got serious again. He told her that one
day while riding through the Turks’ deserted camp he came upon a
mass grave. “It was horrifying. It was an enormous pit full of
decomposing bodies, women and children, beautiful children, and
babies too. The Turks killed them all in revenge because they knew
they were losing the battle. Anyway, I turned to leave when I
sensed that one of our kind was around. It was a faint Pulse, but I
felt it.” Michelle finally spoke, telling Haden that Elliot had
told her about that terrible incident. “Did he fail to mention who
dug him out from in-between all those bodies? Did he tell you who
nursed him back to life?” Haden’s voice became enraged and he began
walking around the room in agitation. “Did he tell you that he ran
off with that man’s woman? Such disrespect!”

“No, you must be mistaken.” Michelle couldn’t
believe it. “Elliot is not the kind of person who…”

“How long have you known Elliot, really?
You’re going to tell me you know him better than someone who’s
known him personally for 600 years! He left you, remember? Without
so much as a means for you to contact him. He’s cold. Cold and
calculating.”

“No! I will never believe you,” Michelle
yelled at Haden as loud as she could.

“Then be my guest. Let me show you Elliot
through my eyes. Things you would never see, not even in your worst
nightmares.” Haden began speaking in a strange language that was
completely foreign to her. At first she thought he was talking to
her, but he leaned his head backwards as if he was speaking to
someone on the ceiling. In a flash he was next to her and she could
see that his eyes had gone completely white. Michelle was
terrified. He told her to look into his eyes as he put his hands to
her temples. His voice was unrecognizable. Michelle fought him for
a microscopic second but he forcefully tilted her face to his. Her
eyes opened wide and her pupils dilated. She couldn’t see anything
anymore, everything went to a complete blank, then the images began
to come into focus as if they were playing on a screen somewhere
deep within her mind.

The first scene was of a large military
encampment with soldiers sleeping inside and outside of the tents.
Then three shadowy figures appeared from the side. Michelle
couldn’t tell who they were, but as they got closer she recognized
Devin, Elliot and Kahl. They wore metal breastplates with long blue
and white tunics and laced-up leather boots, and they were
whispering amongst themselves. Then the image changed as if someone
had switched a channel, and she saw Elliot swinging his sword. He
was attacking the soldiers she saw earlier. Some were still asleep
and he stabbed them where they lay, while others got up to protect
themselves. The dying men let out horrible shrieks while others
begged for their lives. But Elliot didn’t stop; he didn’t even look
at their faces. He just kept swinging his sword and their heads
flew off, releasing sprays of blood from their severed throats.
There was a mountain of dead bodies piling up behind him as he
threw each dead man over his back. His face and clothes were
drenched with the blood of his victims, while Devin and Kahl were
doing the exact same thing just a few feet away.

Michelle couldn’t take what she was seeing
and screamed at Haden to make it stop or else she would rip her
eyes out. The scene faded, but a new one took its place; this one
was nothing like the first. Michelle saw what looked like a
swimming pool and heard the echo of a woman’s laugh. Then a figure
came into focus and she saw a beautiful Indian woman wearing a
magnificent orange and yellow sari that was tied up above her
knees. She was wading in the aquamarine water, her face stunningly
painted and adorned by a large gold hoop that hung from one side of
her nose and was attached to a matching earring by a delicate gold
chain. She had some sort of a bottle in one hand and a towel in the
other. She laughed as she dipped the towel partway into the water.
She then began walking and Michelle couldn’t see her anymore. All
she could see was the blue water. In the distance, there was a
structure that looked like another small pool, only this one was
covered with a painted roof.

Closer now, Michelle saw Elliot seated on a
stone bench with his legs in the water. Another woman was pouring
water on his hair from a silver vase while he smiled, his eyes
closed. Then the first woman came into view. She was still holding
the towel and began washing Elliot’s chest with it while she
giggled. After a few seconds, the girl who was washing his hair
tilted his head backwards and began kissing him. He kissed her back
and pulled her down onto his lap, removing the veil she wore over
her head and shoulders. Michelle’s heart was at a standstill. She
wanted to throw up. She didn’t want to see anymore. But it was like
watching a car wreck; she couldn’t turn away. The woman in orange
stepped away from Elliot and slowly began unraveling layers of her
sari, letting the weightless fabric glide above the water until she
was completely nude. Elliot stepped up from behind her and wrapped
his arms around her waist, kissing her neck while she laughed that
same sweet laugh. Suddenly, a large wave swept away that image and
the pool was gone.

Michelle saw small children running around an
encampment of large rectangular tents. She recognized Elliot’s
voice, even though he spoke a different language. He was on
horseback, riding down the hill into the settlement followed by a
caravan of donkeys carrying baskets and sacks. He dismounted while
the children all ran up to him calling ‘Aba, Aba.’ Then a number of
women gathered around him and he kissed each one hello. It was
suddenly nighttime and Elliot was making love to one of the women
she saw earlier. Michelle felt her stomach turn again and her body
began trembling, but she couldn’t find her voice. She then saw
Elliot exiting the tent and entering another. There were children
sleeping in the front room but he stepped over them and passed into
a larger room. One of the other strikingly beautiful women that
Michelle saw earlier sat on strewn pillows and was examining a
piece of jewelry in a wooden box. Elliot sat behind her and clasped
the necklace around her neck just as he had done with the pearls he
gave Michelle. The woman turned to face him with a smile and he
pulled her on top of him kissing her passionately. Michelle heard
the sound of lovemaking but it turned to screams of agony.

Wearing chain mail vests and shirts with
different colored crosses and crests on them, Rion, Elliot and Ando
walked through a forest of crucified people. Some were impaled on
large wooden sticks, writhing in pain as the blood flowed from
their mortal wounds. Those who were still alive screamed in horror
and pain, reaching their arms out for mercy as the guys walked
beneath them without so much as looking up. Michelle noticed that
some of the tortured were no more than teenagers. And that was when
she felt her body convulse and she began heaving and gagging
violently. She held her stomach in pain and panted until her
breathing slowed to a running pace. With a loud thud, Haden fell to
his knees and gasped for air. Michelle watched the bright white of
his eyes slowly return to their normal blue. His muscles convulsed
for a few seconds, then he stood up slowly and pulled his hair off
his sweaty forehead. All Michelle could do was to look at him in
horror, her eyes wild with fear and shock.