With shaking hands he slopped the mixture onto her chest, over her heart. As his hands passed over her red stone pendant, he felt the electric shock again. He pulled away from it. Sweat beaded his forehead. He continued with the task at hand, resolving to deal with the necklace later. He slashed his palm again and allowed the blood to drop on the mixture he already rubbed known her chest. Wiping his hands on his slacks, he rose to hold her head by the temples.
Rick closed his eyes and reached inside himself. He reached deeper and deeper into the expanse of his consciousness until he found the spark of life which kept his wretched heart beating. He coaxed it apart. The light of life essence that animated him split off in two, and he drew a small shard out. From deep within him, past his energies, past his thoughts, it emerged like a firefly from his chest. It hung in the air weightless and shimmering. Ever so gently, he guided the spark, like a frightened gold fish, toward the mixture coating Clair’s alabaster skin directed to the slop on her chest. When it found the welcoming home of his blood upon her flesh, it melted into her, emanating a white glow and then disappearing along with every trace of the mixture. As it sunk into her skin, she took a sharp breath. Her eyes opened suddenly. It did not last for seconds because it closed almost immediately.
“It’s working,” He said with a smile. She moved a finger. He chuckled with relief. Though he knew magic always had its loop hole he hoped that this particular act of Necromancy was not going to go wrong.
Rick lay a blanket over her and affixed an oxygen mask to her face. Not that she needed it, but breathing trouble was a plausible excuse for his ripping at her clothing and a good disguise to convince his guards about he said earlier. He packed up his tools and called Todd through the intercom.
“You sent for me sir.”
“Yes, I want you to assign one of your men to stay guard in front of this room. Ms Fisher might wake up anytime and I want her to be well-taken care of.” Todd nodded in response and went to do as he was told.
Rick went back and settled in next to her, waiting for her to wake. He knew it would not be so easy for him to leave her side. What he’d just done was beyond stupid. Necromantics were what got him here in the first place. Now he’d exposed yet another soul to this strange, unpredictable magic. The same magic that had taken from him the only woman he’d ever loved. It seemed even after a thousand years he still believed dark power was forgivable when used to save a life. He hadn’t saved a life though, he had dragged it kicking and screaming back from the void, and forcefully transplanted it anew into its physical prison.
Rick’s hands shook as the realization of what he’d just done began to sink in. He walked with unsteady legs and fell into a nearby chair. He bent his head into his palms and stared unseeingly at the ground.
It had been centuries since he’d given in and tapped into the dark powers of life and death. He sat staring at the woman he’d just performed a ritual on. He brushed the strand of hair on her face to the side. Moments from the ritual swam in front of his vision, ripping open her blouse, his own blood dripping all over her chest.
And then the shattering aftermath. The shame slammed into him like a train.
Since the day he’d become immortal, the most painful day that led to his thousand years of existence, he had used only the innocent magic of healing, a few light spells when needed, and the odd bit of mind control to keep his nature secret. He’d sworn that day, the day she disappeared and his own soul had been wrenched from his body, that he would never touch the evil and seductive powers of necromancy again.
Everything changed when he saw Clair Fisher walking towards his plane in a private hanger.
He wasn’t sure what it was about her but he would bet everything left of his soulless being that his foreign and strange feelings towards her had everything to do with that red stone on her neck. And he was a few steps from confirming his suspicions.
The deed was done. Now he wait.
**** ***** ****
PART 2
The inception.
A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily, one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back to or from which to look ahead.
~Graham Greene
Let’s go back to where it all started. To the time when sunshine and laughter was the order of the day, to the time when they knew any better. To the beginning.
****
The wooden window clanged against its frame as the wind howled and raged outside.
“Hurry up, Beeta, we’re going to be late!” Aelfric shouted, grunting his frustration.
“But Itzel isn’t feeling too well, I have to stay and look after her until ma gets back.” Beeta was Aelfric’s five years old younger sister. Aelfric and Beeta lived with their mother Aurelia in a village called Winton, north of Wivern’s Rest citadel.
“Well, in that case, I have no other option but to leave you and go. The festival has long started and I wager they are well into the second phase by now.” Aelfric fetched his worn hat from where it hung on the wall.
“Please brother, Don’t leave me to take care of Itzel all by myself. I don’t want to be alone.”
“But Beeta, you know…”
“I know the festival has started and you probably want to go and watch the great Cassius who you want to be like when you grow up perform. But I also remember you told me I’m the best sister in the whole wide world and that you would do anything for me. Please do this one thing for me.” Beeta blurted out in haste.
“Beeta, you know how much I have prepared for this festival and anticipated it too. I have to go.” Aelfric made for the door.
“But I want you to stay with me brother,” Beeta whined, pouting her lips ever so cutely. Aelfric stopped in his tracks and looked at her.
“No, please, Beeta. Not that face. You know you always get me with that face.” He ran his hands through his hair and sighed.
“So… is it working? Are you going to stay with me?” Beeta blinked her eyes sheepishly.
“Oh, Beeta. You know cassius is going to be performing today.” Aelfric sighed.
“I know, brother but you can go watch him another day. Would you please say you will stay? Pleeeasee” Beeta pleaded. She waited a whole five seconds
“Alright, but only on one condition.”
“What?”
“You promise never to tell Ma about that red sheet I brought in last week.”
“Alright deal. I promise. But I still don’t understand why you even bothered with that tattered piece of material. I’m sure it’s a rag that somebody must have thrown away.”
“Don’t you get it, Beeta,” Aelfric sat down on a nearby wooden chair which creaked in protest. “All aficionados, amateur or not, possess one just like that. Maybe not as dirty or raggedy but a red piece of fabric nonetheless. It is one of the most important arsenals a matador possesses. The one thing that shows that you are a Matador.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with bullfighting. It seems very violent to me. What’s the use of killing an innocent animal just for entertainment. Why can’t you be a healer or a scribe like Marcus’s father? I think I’m going to be a healer when I grow up.” Beeta sighed and smiled dreamily.
“What do you know, Beeta? You’re still very young.”
“You’re only eight years older than me wise old man.” she stuck her tongue at him.
“Eight years is enough to learn how the world works, little one.” Beeta rolled her eyes. “Make a face if you like, but it’s true. First in my thirteen years of living, I have learned that ladies don’t become healers. They are either cooks, housekeepers, maids, or they sew or things like that.”
“Well then, I’ll make it a dream to become the first female healer. In fact, I’ll be the first healer to emerge from Winton. Imagine me in my healer’s robe, with my portable laboratory and jar of herbs. Oh, Aelfric, can you imagine it? How wonderful it will be.”
“No, I cannot. Being a healer can be so dull not to mention tiring. On the other hand, I can entirely imagine being a matador. Just imagine me in my exhibition attire, sitting high and proud on my horse. Waving my hand to the huge mass of the audience as the cheer me on. Then I’ll advance and towards the gigantic bull and weaken it’s neck muscles. In the second round, I’ll stick the huge darts between the bulls shoulders to weaken it then I’ll….”
“Aelfric…”
“What?” He had gotten so carried away in his description that he didn’t know when he stood up from his chair, his two hands raised in demonstration. He quickly brought them down to his side. Aelfric turned his head to where his sister was squatted beside a straw bed. She looked smaller than her actual size in that position. She was gaping at him in utter confusion. A little girl about Beeta’s age lay on the sack bed with
closed eyes. She was visibly shivering. Beeta turned her attention back to her and used the back of her hand to wipe sweat off the little girl’s forehead.
“Aelfric, Itzel’s body, is getting hotter and she’s beginning to sweat. What are we going to do? Her ma is not around either.” Tears were beginning to form in her big blue eyes.
Aelfric looked at where her sister’s friend lay. Itzel’s mother was a small retail food trader like their ma and usually dropped off Itzel at their house whenever she left for work. Aelfric ran his hands through his hair loss for what to do. Itzel turned restlessly on the hay sack bed moaning.
What would Ma do if she was around? Probably try to find a way to cool the fever down. Boom! I have got it.
“Don’t fret Beeta. I’ll fetch a wet cloth.” Aelfric zoomed off and within minutes came back with a napkin and a bowl of cold water. He wet the napkin and used it to clean the sick girl’s face. The girl grimaced at his touch.
“Brother, is my friend going to die?” By now, the tears were rolling down her cheeks unbidden.
“Of course not! Why would you even think that! Hush now, ok? By the time I’m done cleaning her with this napkin, her temperature will considerably be cooler. That should suffice until our Ma’s come back.”
“I think you’ll make a very good healer. I can see it in your face that you love to make people feel better.” Beeta said, looking admiringly at her brother. Her face was wet from crying. The sick girl groaned and Beeta fixed her attention back on her.
Aelfric grimaced. He knew better than to protest in a situation as delicate as the one he was currently in. So he kept mute and focused on the task at hand.
“This is one of the reasons why I want to be a healer. If I was a healer, I would help Itzel get better. There wouldn’t be another sick child in the village if I was a healer. I’ll cure all of them.” Beeta said passionately.
Aelfric could not help but smile. He could see the fire blazing in the eye that was identical with his. Aelfric was proud of her for being so strong and intelligent and kind-hearted. Aelfric couldn’t say the same for himself.
I can’t believe I want to live poor sick Itzel all alone with my little sister while I go and watch a bullfight spectacle. Oh Aelfric, you’re despicable! He shook his head slightly in disgust at his behavior.
“Do you remember that fat boy that lives down the street? I don’t remember his name,” Beeta’s voice cut through his thoughts.
“Uh? Yes. What about him?”
“Oh, I remember. His name is Ruphias. I overhead Itzel’s ma and ma talking about him. They said he died from a fever. Do you know what a fever is?”
“Well, fever is a situation where a person’s normal body temperature is higher than normal.”
“Like what is happening to Itzel?”
“Uhm, yes. But fever might not necessarily be due to a disease or an outbreak.”
“But that was what killed Ruphias and it is exactly what is happening to Itzel.”
Aelfric sighed. “Beeta…”
There was a rattling sound at the door. They both turned their heads in its direction. Beeta got up from where she was squatted and ran towards the door. “Ma? Ma is that you?”
A moment later, the door burst open to reveal a middle-age woman. She looked to be about five feet six inches. She had the most beautiful blonde hair although a scarf partially concealed it, and from first glance there was no dispute where Aelfric and Beeta had both gotten their blue eyes from. She was wearing a drab dress with a white apron tied around her waist. Air rushed in from the open door behind her, mildly swaying her clothes and hair.
“Ma” Beeta shouted in excitement and ran to her mother. The woman bent lower with open arms as she embraced her little daughter and ruffled her hair. Beeta giggled.
“Hope you were a good girl while I was away, hmm?”
“Yes ma, I was looking after Itzel. Aelfric, help me.” Beeta’s mood dampened when she remembered her friend’s illness. She looked like she was about to cry again.
“Itzel? What… What is wrong with her? She was wonderful when her mother and I left in the morning.” Aurelia asked her daughter, her confusion obvious in her face.
“I’m not sure Ma. We were playing in the sand with our friends, and after a while, Itzel said she felt tired and wanted to lay down a bit, and since their house was locked, she came into ours and lay on my bed. I stayed out a little longer playing with the other kids. When I came in, she was shivering, and her skin felt very hot. She hasn’t fully awakened since then, just momentarily opening her eyes and constantly moaning.” By this time, Beeta was already crying.
“Ma, I think she has caught the fever that’s been going around.” This was the first time Aelfric has spoken since his mother came back. She looked up from where she was squatted with crying Beeta on her laps at him. A scowl was forming on her face.
“Shush, Aelfric, you can’t say such things and especially not in front of your sister!” Aurelia reprimanded him.
“Whyever not, Ma. It is a reasonable assumption and you know it.”
“Reasonable or not, I will not hear another word about this matter from you. Am I clear?””Yes mother,” Aelfric said meekly, bowing his head.
Aurelia rose from her ground position, raising her sobbing daughter with her. “Hush now, my little sunshine. Is no harm going to come to your friend, ok? I’ll make her some tea, and she’ll be up and about in no time. Dry your tears, my dear.” She used the back of her hand to wipe Beeta’s tears. Beeta nodded.
“Aelfric, put some water on the stove for me.” Aelfric went to the cookhouse to do as he was told. Aurelia took Beeta’s hand, and they went to where Itzel lay. Aurelia touched her forehead slightly with her palms. She was still shivering and her body still hot.
“Ma? When is Itzel’s Ma coming back?” Beeta asked, looking up at her mother.
“She will be home anytime now, my love. We finished selling at the same time, but she stayed back to tidy up a few things before coming home. Don’t you worry, love, it will be alright.”
“Ok, ma.” Beeta put her head on her mother’s chest.