Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy (5 page)

Gregory strolled absent-minded around the entrance when the show was over. He had no idea what they expected of him or where he should go and decided to wait for the Signora. Gregory sat on a red wooden bench near the entrance waiting patiently. In his head, the performances passed through once more. It had been for sure one hell of an impressive partly even scary, show. Especially this warrior guy, the so-called magician, was still on his mind.

He paid no attention to his surroundings, staring out to the sea. He had to catch that clown because he urgently needed his phone back. It was probable that Leyla was worried sick by now. As he did not have the chance to contact her telling her that, he was fine. Suddenly someone was standing in front of him. He looked up straight into the dark eyes of the magician. He smiled pleasantly at him, revealing his magnificent white teeth. "Well, so did you like the show?" Gregory nodded in surprise that the announced shaman spoke with a strong British accent "impressive, you are British?" He asked puzzled. "Let's, say I spent a long time of my life in the United Kingdom," they shook hands.

"I'm Keanu." "Like the actor?" "Like the guy with the Indian roots, making money looking mysterious," he laughed, amused. "Come on. I will take you to Giacomo." Without waiting for his answer, he turned around and walked away. Gregory followed him, and he was curious about who this Giacomo might be. He knew almost as good as nothing about the man. His step-grandfather Bernard Johnson, who was at the same time Leyla's grandfather, which was in and of itself a curious coincidence, knew him from before. Bernard Johnson was a retired lawyer and had always had connections to Italy in the past. No one knew much about his friendship with the assumed Artist Giacomo. Gregory always thought Giacomo was a painter, but as it looked, he was more into the Circus business.

Keanu opened the door to one of the trailers, and Gregory followed him. The interior of the trailer was larger than one would have expected from the outside. In the back, an expensive looking desk in polished mahogany wood. Behind the desk, an elderly southern looking man was sitting. He wore his lush silver-grey hair combed tightly back. His face wrinkled and sunburned. His stern features were opaque the stare of his pale blue watery eyes that reminded Gregory instantly of Jason, was intense or else even a bit threatening. Gregory shuddered to the core. He suddenly felt as if he was playing a role in the movie "Godfather." As if he had said or done something wrong and was just in front of a firing squad. He felt small, ugly, and insignificant under his stare. This man radiated an authority that made him almost ridiculously salute unintentionally.

Once again it gave him the feeling that he had experienced this situation before. What the hell was happening today? How many Deja vus were still to come? The old man waved him over. "I hope you had a safe trip. Tell me son. Did you enjoy the show?" Gregory nodded politely. "Si, Signore, impressive, thanks for asking!" "I'm Giacomo Motta, and I don’t have much to do with the circus. I am more, in charge of law and order around here. Uncomfortable at times." He laughed, but his laughter made Gregory's blood run cold, a lurking evil, and menacing laugh. He had no idea what they expected of him and what Giacomo knew about him. He cleared his throat, "I am sure my grandfather told you about my situation. I would like to stay here for a while, but of course, I will make myself useful to earn my living while I stay. Certainly there must be plenty of work to do in a circus of this size, I guess."

Nervously he shrugged as Giacomo continued staring at him with undisguised interest and an expression that was hard to read. He fell silent for some time, and Gregory felt increasingly uncomfortable. The big Indian stood still in silence at the entrance. Gregory had the vague feeling that he was not blocking the entrance of the trailer accidentally. Did the two fear that he might run away? Nervous Gregory stroke his sweaty palms over his crumpled jeans. Suddenly he heard Giacomo’s stern voice next to his ear. He had not noticed him getting up from his chair, stepping beside him.

He was too lost in his thoughts. "I have been waiting a damn long time for this moment. At some point in my life, I didn’t think that I'd live to see this." He stood in front of Gregory, staring at him warily with his bright watery eyes beneath thick gray eyebrows. "It is you, Il Guerriero, il Nostro Salvatore … incredible.” He put both hands on Gregory's shoulders looking him in the eye. His look was magnetic. Gregory was not able to look away. Guerriero meant warrior "You got it all wrong, I'm no warrior. I'm nothing like that."

Giacomo inclined his head watching him closely, "Oh yes. We know exactly who and what you are. You are the savior." Gregory flinched, and looked frantically for a getaway path. He was trapped, and wanted to leave, but this shaman with the British accent and the big biceps was blocking the door. How could Gregory get past him? The old man he could handle, but the Indian under no circumstances.

Giacomo seemed to have noticed his panic. He walked slowly back to the desk and opened a drawer. Just great, Gregory thought, probably Giacomo was getting out his gun now. He mobilized all of his strength, concentrating on the water standing in a big carafe on the desk. It ascended in a spout coming to a halt remaining over Giacomo's head in the air. At the same time, he lit up the candle on the secretary, focusing, and shaping the flame into a fireball, which he controlled with his hands. He was not an inexperienced idiot, and would not let those two guys catch him that quickly. He would make sure that they didn't get the chance to torture or kill him. Menacing and ready to use the fireball and the water for his escape he stood there. When he heard a gurgling laugh from the door, he briefly lost concentration and the water-spout spilled over Giacomo's head. Now he saw that the old man was holding a soaking wet cigar in his hand, which he had probably taken out of the drawer. So, oops, no gun, Gregory mused. How embarrassing! It looked a bit ridiculous, as Giacomo stood there like a drowned rat. What should he do next, how could he escape? The Indians stood still there laughing, blocking the door.

Surprisingly Giacomo did not seem upset. A wry smile lit up his rather grim features. His wrinkled face looked for a moment a lot younger than before. "Dio mio, you don’t have to get excited and drown me with a carafe of water just to finish me off eventually with a fireball. Although I must admit, it was impressive. He laughed noisily, "my precious Havana has certainly had it, you owe me a cigar, boy, and believe me they are pricey.” He turned his back on Gregory stepping over to Keanu, who had opened another drawer and taken out a box of cigars. He handed Giacomo a new cigar and lit one for himself. The stench was atrocious. Gregory coughed, and his eyes began to burn like hell. These two lunatics whiffed their cigars pretending nothing had happened. But, damn, they knew who he was, he had to get out of here before he would die from suffocation. He quickly slipped out the door yanking it open. He took a deep breath and was about to flee hastily from the trailer.

He had not reckoned with the Signora, and she came straight towards him. Stiffly she stopped in front of him blocking his way. She looked at him sternly, like a hawk, with her black-rimmed eyes, a hawk that had just discovered a particularly tasty rabbit. She carried the book under her arm, which apparently was her constant companion. "Young man, where are you going in such a rush?" No way for Gregory to get passed her and he had to pause willy-nilly. The Signora shoved him back into the trailer like a renegade chicken into the hen-house.

He heard Giacomo's amused voice from the inside of the trailer. "Gregory, you must certainly remember my longtime muse and life partner Tiziana. I have information that she picked you up at the airport." He got up kissing Signora on both cheeks and cupped her waist in a possessive way. Oh, I understand, Gregory thought wryly. Giacomo was probably her Mr. Grey. "She is a bit brusque and intimidating at times, but she is charming, once you'll get used to her wicked ways," Giacomo grinned. Gregory had his doubts, and he would get used to this woman as little as he would get used to the other two lunatics in this trailer, which clearly meant not at all. Giacomo took the book out of her hands. "Oh dear, as I can see you are trying to find new ways of torturing me." Gregory shuddered because apparently, this Giacomo was an old pervert.

What, bothered him far more was Giacomo knew what and who he was. Probably he was next in line for torture, if he did not disappear immediately. But, where could he go? He had no clue. First thing, he had to do was, get out, as the Italian people said so laconically-subito. He reached out with both hands causing a strong gust of wind opening the door and helping him get out and escape. On the other hand, it caused a commotion inside the trailer.

Documents and cigars were flying through the air. Gregory took the opportunity to rush out the door in the general confusion. He ran as fast as he could toward the exit of the Circus grounds. Apparently, no one followed him. He saw a black Vespa in the parking lot and grabbed it right in front of the eyes of its owner. He got in the saddle and roared off. The owner of the motorbike, a young man who had just taken off his helmet did not seem particularly impressed. Apparently, theft was on every day's agenda around here. He just raised his arms, shaking his head and muttered, "Ma che stronzo," which meant, what an idiot. Gregory could not care any less. He did not look around and drove at full speed toward the small dusty town. The same town he had passed with the van this morning.

Giacomo was furious, "Damn it. Tiziana, Keanu be more careful. You scared him off, and all my beautiful cigars are lying scattered around the trailer, they are worth a fortune." The two of them looked impassively at him and did not move from the spot. "Are you deaf?" Giacomo's face red as a tomato out of sheer anger, "Keanu, what are you waiting for? Get him back. He is stronger than we expected and he is acting uncontrolled. He seems to have trained his skills with someone, and he knows how to use them. You have to bring him back. He must understand what needs to be done. With no further distraction, this time, we must succeed to break the curse. We don't have much time and a lot at stake, none of us lives forever, and especially you should know this Keanu. If my crazy brother-in-law or his clan finds out that he is here, it will be too late." Keanu and Tiziana both looked annoyed at him; "Why did you have to tell him that we know who he is, damn it?" The big Indian said disapprovingly; "I had everything under control, but you can’t keep your mouth shot, old man." It was apparent that he was pissed as he stormed out of the door without another further word. Giacomo sighed and sat back down at his desk. "Obviously, I've screwed it up again with my loose tongue."

Signora Tiziana closed the door and put her book down on the desk. "Caro mio, you are damn right about that, and I think you need a punishment for that. As it happens, I have a lot of interesting ideas about this matter." She patted the book meaningfully. Thanks to this. "Leave me alone with your dirty stuff, he said gruffly. She smiled. "Don’t worry Keanu will find him and take care of everything, as he always does. Oh, by the way, where have you been, our two little angels performed. They had their first performance today, and they were fantastic."

"I'm sorry Tiziana, but I had to devote myself to our accounting, which doesn’t look particularly rosy." "Oh, fiddlesticks, no excuse to miss such a thing!" She banged her fist on the table scowling at him. "I'll make it up Love, I promise. I will be at their next performance, I swear. First, Keanu has to bring back this stubborn boy. It would be a disaster if he would happen to meet the wrong people, as we both know there are plenty around here.

Ourday was standing over the open crater looking down into the glowing lava that looked like a red golden viscous ocean. Who would have guessed that his life ended in this red-hot lava? The last months of his life passed before his inner eye in vivid pictures. Much had happened the past few months and so much had changed. It seemed to Ourday that leaving his clan in some foolish attempt to be free had been a bad idea and he had a high price to pay for being such a fool. The opposite had happened, instead of being free he was going to die, and he would give anything to turn back time. With his disobedience, he not only doomed himself but also caused the downfall of his sisters. It was all like a bad dream.

Since hired by the Gambelotti, they were doomed, and the downfall was inevitable. Everything in his life seemed doomed. Except for Magdalena, he even thought of her at this moment, when death reached out for him. Inescapable with no way back, he thought of her soft arms wrapped around him, her golden hair, and her lovely nature. He would always love her beyond death to all eternity. She was the best thing that had happened to him in his young life. He had destroyed both of their lives, just as he destroyed the lives of his two sisters. What would become of the child that Magdalena was carrying under her heart? He would find a way to keep his protective hand over his loved ones from the afterlife.

The curse he uttered would break only for the Savior and the Savior would be a direct descendant of his family. Either he was going to destroy the progeny of the Gambelotti or lead them back to the right path. Before that, they would never be happy. Maybe rich and powerful, but also removed by death of yet non-existing illnesses and their thirst for power. One after another would suffer without understanding why it happened. Without true knowledge from the day of birth, doom was upon them. He thought of his two sisters. Chiana sacrificed by the mob and Alawa raped and pregnant with an unwanted child. He would follow Chiana in death and protect the descendants beyond death.

His earthly existence might find a sudden end, but his spirit remained pervasive until the Savior had completed his work. Only then, his soul would eventually find peace. Ourday looked down and saw the armed men with torches, who followed him in the dusk. They would no longer be able to hurt him. He spread his arms like wings, lifted his face to the sky, and plunged into the open crater in a seething sea of lava.