Blood of the Pure (Gaea) (5 page)

Sure, over time, I’d begun to understand things differently and my childhood ideas eventually lost their meaning. But my early rebellion against the main Catholic concepts, among which my academic education had taken place, had helped me develop a rather skeptic vision and a rational critical thought towards all things religiously and spiritually related. And so, although I’d never expressed such thoughts, and, like the good girl I was, had always fulfilled my part at school as required, the truth was my spiritual beliefs remained in an indefinite state.

Still, I had no courage to say any of that to the nice old lady who had kindly offered me shelter form the rain. And so I walked up to the left shelf and let my eyes wander uninterested over the various statues, whishing it would stop raining soon before I felt obliged to buy something from her. In truth I’d never been to a store like that, nor had I noticed its existence prior to that day, although I was sure I’d passed in front of it many times before.

“Ah, in your destiny, there’s going to be a big change.” Her voice put an end to my aimless wandering and I turned back to look at her. Her white hands held a deck of cards. Some had already been placed on the counter and her eyes were fixed on them attentively. I recognized the illustrations on the cards immediately, from a movie I’d seen. Those were tarot cards.

“Um, you don’t have to do that. I don’t really believe in that kind of thing,” I uttered, anticipating she would want to charge me for the reading. She raised her head, smiling kindly.

“Don’t worry, child. It’s only a game to help spend time,” she said lightly and went back to the cards.

I sighed, seeing I couldn’t dissuade her and, trying to repay her kindness, walked up to the counter.

“Your life was supposed to follow a certain path,” she asserted, looking rather pleased to have my attention. “However, Human Beings have these things. It’s not that they’re errors or mistakes. Let’s just call them unforeseen events.” I kept quiet, not knowing what to say, not even understanding what she meant, and her hands pulled out another card. “Hmm ... I see you have a special loved one in your life.” She went on and my heart jumped painfully. Still I made myself look firm and unaffected. That was far from impressive, I thought critically. After all, what girl my age didn’t have one or two love interests? “Unfortunately, your love is not corresponded,” she added and I felt that sharp dagger stabbing my heart even deeper. Even so, I mused, and as hard as it was for me to admit it, that was also quite easy to guess. One would only have to take a look at me, at my completely uninteresting and plain image to figure that out. “This is something very painful for you. And it is this suffering that creates the distortion that pulls you away from your initial and predestined path.” She continued, now with a sympathetic tone. She peered at me over her glasses with a worried expression and I wished with all my heart that my face would remain neutral. The woman sighed and turned another card. “Ah! Just as I thought!” she confirmed with new light dancing in the depths of her eyes, almost as if she’d been expecting what she now supposedly saw. “Right now the path before you is divided in two. One is straight, easy to follow but dark. The other is devious, promising as much pain as happiness, but filled with light. On this dark path your true love will never come to pass,” she said, looking at another card and turning over the last one. “On the path of light, your life will be filled with new things, and among these things your love will be corresponded, the true love that you are destined to live.”

By the time she became silent I was already completely immersed in her story, the same way I got when reading a fantasy book about some distant heroine. And, of course, I wanted to know more.

“Two paths?” I asked leading her on, and she raised her head smiling kindly.

“Yes, child. Human Beings always have the right to choose their way,” she explained. “In our lives there are small, almost insignificant choices, like the clothes we decide to wear, or what to eat for lunch. But there are also the big choices. And those have the ability and strength to change one’s life completely, in a single second. And not only that person’s life, but also the lives of those around us.”

“Choices like a marriage, or a divorce,” I exemplified and she nodded approvingly.

“Yes. And the choice standing before you, right now, is something with that potency ... Maybe even more.” I smiled softly, unable to dislike her, and brought myself back to reality. She wasn’t telling me just some fantastic story. She was talking about me. And something like that was simply impossible.

“Well, I’m sorry but I really don’t think so. My life is rather simple and monotonous. And since I’m still a student, I’m guaranteed with at least two more years of this same exact routine,” I argued. She smiled again, this time with a condescending look; one of those that tells us that we, young people, still have a lot to learn. Turning around, she went to the bookshelf behind her and came back with a heavy-looking book.

“Here you go,” she declared, placing the large volume on the counter. Although smaller than standard size, it was bigger than most of my books, and certainly thicker. On the brown leather cover one could read in shiny silver letters,
Magic Spells and Enchantments.

I smiled wryly, not knowing how to refuse it. Things like that made even less sense than the spiritual philosophies of the Catholic Church. Besides, it looked like a rather old secondhand book. And I feared it would be some antiquity, which meant I would probably be unable to pay for it.

“In this book you’ll find all you need to make your choice,” she pronounced. “The one that will take you down one path or the other.” I took a step back, avoiding even touching it.

“You know ... it’s like I told you.” I began trying to sound as nice as possible. “It’s not really my thing. Besides, I don’t have that much money on me.”

“It’s a gift!” the woman stated, invalidating my best argument. “To tell you the truth, it’s not even for sale. You see, this book was once mine,” she said, caressing the leather cover with a nostalgic expression. “It served me well during this life. I brought it here, together with many others, in hopes of finding them new owners. They’re not something I can simply put a price on. To me, they’re priceless.” She stated her remarks firmly and I couldn’t help feel touched by the woman’s love for her books, independently of their strange titles.

“That’s more the reason. If it’s so important to you, how can I simply accept it? For starters, why did you decide to give it away?” I asked with genuine curiosity. For me it was simply unthinkable giving my precious books away just like that, to some stranger.

“Because, child, books are like Human Beings. They have their missions, and these books’ missions next to me have already been fulfilled. The same way I’ll leave this world once my mission in this life has been completed, to return to it once again for a new mission, these books also need to be reborn next to those who need them. And, this book in particular, has a task to fulfill with you.” I looked at the book on the counter and took a deep breath. I didn’t really want to keep it, but she cut short my thoughts. “Please take care of it,” she insisted. “It was a good friend for me.” With a sigh I picked the book up and held it against my chest.

“Thank you. And I promise I’ll take good care of it,” I assured her. The joy in her lightly wrinkled face made me feel pleased with myself. Making others happy always made me feel that way, and I promised myself I’d really take care of that lady’s treasure, although I would probably never read it. “Oh, and how much do I owe you for the reading?” I asked, wishing I could somehow repay her kindness and time. She placed her pale hand over my arm, stopping me from reaching inside my bag for my wallet.

“You owe me nothing, child. The reading is part of my mission,” she replied with her persisting smile as I rumbled through my brain for a way to object. “Ah, look. The rain has stopped,” she pointed out, looking over my shoulder towards the windows, and I followed her gaze.

“Yes, at least for now.”

“You should go, then. Before it starts again”

I looked at her, aware of her strategy to end the subject, and I still couldn’t feel right taking something without giving something else in return. However, the honesty in her eyes left me without arguments and I knew I would probably never convince her otherwise, and that I would only end up offending her goodwill.

“I thank you, once more, for your time. It was a really pleasant talk. And I don’t know how to thank you for your gift.” I looked for the right words and she nodded, pleased with my honest acceptance.

“You’re quite welcome, child. I wish you luck and, above all, courage!” I smiled, for she had said the same thing as Steph, and I walked towards the door.

“Thank you once more. And have a nice day.”

“Be at peace, child, be at peace,” she answered as I opened the door. The small bell rang once again to announce my departure, and the cold wind made me shiver.

I hugged the heavy volume under my coat to protect it from the weather and walked back to Trafalgar Square. There was no time to go to other bookshops any longer. But still, not knowing exactly why or how, I had just acquired a new book.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As expected, the house was empty when I returned home by the end of the afternoon. I went to the kitchen and started on the steaks my mom had seasoned for our dinner. While the rice cooked I took a quick shower and put on my old bears pajamas, something I had since I was twelve and that still fit me perfectly. I dried my hair so it wouldn’t turn out even more disheveled than it already naturally was, and went down once more to grill the meat. I ate too aware of the time and the homework I still had to do, and saved Rachel’s dinner in the oven.

Before going up to my room, I passed by the living room to grab my things, which I then dropped on my desk before practically fainting on my bed.

We’d walked the whole afternoon and my feet throbbed. Besides, it had been a long day and I felt really tiered.

Classes, the thing with Michael, the strange woman and her even stranger reading, the heavy book I had been forced to carry around all afternoon, the stores we had visited and that, by the end of the day, had been packed with people, the constant dressing and undressing. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I wondered if I still had enough energy to study.

My eyes found the old book, under the bag with the only jersey I’d ended up buying. I’d promised to take good care of it, which meant finding it a place in one of my overcrowded bookshelves. With a sigh, I stood up once more and picked it up, feeling how soft its leather cover was and ended up sitting on my bed with it resting on my legs. The title engraved on the leather shone lightly and I couldn’t help notice that, even though its letters had looked silvery in the store, now they were more of a metallic red. The title,
Magic Spells and Enchantments
, made me smile.

It sounded like a one of those children’s book, filled with fairy tales, and I opened it carefully to take a closer look. As expected from such an old volume, the pages were yellowish and some of the corners had crumbled from old age. All pages had a silver frame and the letters inside were similar to the ones in the cover, almost as if they’d been handwritten. To my surprise, as I flipped through it, I noticed that unlike a tales’ book or even a romance, its structure reminded me more of a cook book filled with recipes carefully organized by chapters. I looked for the index, which was also divided in three sections, and read it out loud.

“Magic Spells - of Friendship, of Love, of Communication, to Heal, of Prosperity, of Protection, of Purification, of Spiritual Evolution, to Bless, to Cast Away, to Cause Pain, to Be Successful, to Cause Failure, to Bind, Spells and Curses. Enchantments - of Animals, of Elementals, of Spirits, of Minerals, of Objects, of People, of Plants. Magic Circles of Protection, Seals and Talismans …”

I could almost laugh or I knew I should probably be laughing, but since I was alone, there was no need for me to act like I was supposed to, and so I simply caressed the shiny letters. It really sounded like something out of some fantasy movie. How could someone in the twenty-first century believe in things like that?

But still my eyes stopped over a page number written in roman characters and my hands flipped through the yellow pages once again. On the top of the page, in letters that ended in delicate swirls, was written - ‘Love Spells.’

Smiling in what I knew would be a perfect expression of amusement, I went through the next pages reading the titles of the magic recipes that filled the chapter.

‘To attract a rich husband (or wife),’ ‘To make sure of fidelity,’ ‘To attract a new love,’ ‘To avoid jealousy,’ ‘To have a satisfying sexual life,’ ‘To protect lovers,’ ‘To conquer a predestined love …’

My eyes stopped on that page, refusing to read more than the title. What the old woman had told me replayed on my mind. She had also spoken of a predestined love.

I shook my head, criticizing myself for half taking something as nonsensical as that seriously and, using curiosity as an excuse, read through the recipe.

To my surprise, it wasn’t all that hard. I’d expected the recipes in that thick book to be virtually impossible to comply with, meaning its results were impossible to verify. The process included some rhymes to say out loud, a candle that had to be lit, a drop of blood to shed and, of course, a bunch of steps that needed to be followed.