Men of the Cave (Symbol of Hope Series) (8 page)

 I met his eyes they furrowed.

“Thank you Max,” I said.

He nodded then went upstairs, Antony followed. I offered Kasey the glass of water. She took it but still looked quite nervous. I placed my hand on her head and lightly rubbed her forehead with my thumb. She inched back at my approaching hand, and tensed her body from my touch. She removed my hand from her forehead.

“Try to relax no one is going to hurt you. I promise.”

Kasey swallowed and her eyes glistened. She did not believe me.

“Here, please take some fruit.”

She nodded but her hand trembled as she reached for an orange slice.

“Wh…what happened and how did I get here?” she whispered.

“You fainted after I showed you…well…my ability. I carried you here. Are you alright?”

“No!” She ate the orange and took a sip of water.

“Do you have any questions?” I asked.

“Questions! Of course I have questions! I just watched you run on water! I don’t know what to think.”

Her cheeks turned bright red. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she allowed it.

“Please try to calm down. I will tell you anything you wish to know.”

“What are you exactly?” She swung her legs down from the couch.

“An immortal.”

“All immortals have special powers?”

“Yes.”

“How many are there?” I saw the distress in her eyes.

“Many, but we do not have an exact number. There is no census for us. We tend to keep to ourselves.”

She rubbed her eyes and let out a big sigh.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

 “You’re extraordinary,” she blurted.

 “Oh, really!” I smiled.

“No I didn’t mean it like that…I mean …well,” she blushed and half smiled, “What I meant was this is extraordinary, it’s unbelievable. You are like humans with super powers.”

“Oh,” I exaggerated an expression of disappointment.

“I think I should get home. I can’t imagine what I’m going to tell the Castillo’s,” she said and grabbed a strawberry off the plate.

“Do not worry. Max spoke with them. They know you are here resting. We said you had a family issue that upset you and over worked your body.”

“Still, I have to work tonight.” She took a piece of tangerine.

“Of course. Whenever you are ready to go, I will be happy to take you.”

She appeared calmer.

“Would you like a tour of the house?” I asked to test whether she could support herself on her feet.

Her eyes squinted, “I suppose I could.”

I stood and reached my hand out. She failed to make eye contact with it, but took my offer. Carefully she stood.

I waited, “Are you light headed?”

“No… no I’m good.” She stepped forward.

“I think the twins are in the game room.”

I took her through our pristine kitchen that opened up to a room with no windows. Our game room consisted of a big flat screen TV with five black leather recliners. John and Martin stood in sword fighting positions playing Samurai Warrior on the game system.

“Kasey this is where John and Martin spend most of their time, normally.”

The boys paused their game.

“You mean not out in a field sword fighting?” she asked.

They laughed, “You were not supposed to see that. That is the other thing we like to do.” John said.

Uncertain, she stumbled on her words, “Wh…which one was murdered?”

“Murdered!” John repeated, amused. “Sounds violent.”

“It was him.” Martin pointed to John, “And I do not think the term murder applies.”

“Martin usually loses.” I chimed in.

“You will have to catch our re-match. It was my off day,” John sulked.

“I have a question,” Kasey began.

“Ask away,” I said.

“Why did he pretend to be dead?”

“When we get stabbed through the heart by a blade our bodies are immobilized.  Our spirits stay trapped in our bodies until the sword is out. Only when the blade pierces through our hearts do we lay dormant otherwise the blade does not affect us. Our bodies instantly heal back to normal,” Martin answered.

“That is how I knew. I was dormant but still aware within my body. I saw you approach me and could do nothing. Martin left me there to get some water…”

“Hey, you did the same thing to me last week. At least I didn’t wait ten minutes to pull it out.” Martin shoved his brother’s shoulder.

John continued ignoring him, “As soon as he returned and pulled the sword from my chest we came to find you.” John shook his head.

“It is our only weakness, we cannot die or get hurt, but we can be trapped until we are freed.” I let her know.

“Do you feel any pain?” Kasey wondered.

“Yes, we feel the pain, but only briefly,” I answered.

“Not that you would really know,” John grumbled.

“What does he mean?” she asked.

“Dion is the best. It is difficult to defeat him in a duel, due to his speed,” Martin spoke well of me.

“Interesting,” she smirked. “How old were you guys when you died?”

“John and Martin are forever fifteen, I am twenty, Antony is twenty three, and Max is twenty-five.” I answered.

“What about the other two brothers?”

I let out a big sigh, “Sam is twenty one and James is seventeen.”

“Don’t people notice that you don’t age?”

“Good Lord, she is going to be a billion questions for the next few weeks. Good luck Dion.” John plopped into his recliner.

“I’m sorry, I have so many,” she said.

“It is quite all right, I expected as much.” I gestured for us to exit the room.

“If you have any more you want to ask me Kasey, catch me some other time and I shall fill you in.” Martin offered. The boys resumed their game.

She followed me out.

“Would you like to go upstairs?” I did not want to take her home, yet. She walked by the coffee table and grabbed the plate of fruit, “Sure.”

“Would you like anything else? I could find something in the kitchen?”

“Nope this is fine.” She followed me upstairs.

Our second floor consisted of a t-shaped hallway with six bedrooms equal in size. We started to pass the first two rooms.

“What room is this?” Kasey asked as she entered the battle area.

“This is our weapons room.” I answered following her. “We have all types of swords, daggers, arrows, and shields in here from various time periods. Most are authentic.”

“No kidding,” she muttered under her breath. “Do you all battle like gladiators?”

“Yes, it was the ‘in’ thing to do when we were living. We enjoy sparing. It helps to know you cannot hurt your opponent.”

“You don’t consider yourself to be alive now?” This confused her.

“To live is to die. We are incapable of dying therefore we are not truly alive either.”

“Interesting, what do you like to fight with?”

“I like dagger fighting. You have to be quick with sharp movements. This one, the mid first century Roman Pugio Dagger is my preference.”

Taking the fourteen-inch long dagger off the wall, I slide it out of its iron-plated sheath. Then I swung it in fancy circles and laid it out in front of her so that she could hold it. Kasey took the sword with gentle hands. She treated it as if she were going to break it.

“It’s light,” she said.

“It weighs two pounds.”

“Tell me about it,” she asked.

“The blade is an hour glass shaped metal with a sharp tip. There are engraved lines that run from the tip to the edge of the grip handle. The handle is metal coated with gold. The t-shaped handle has a ball at the end inlaid with rubies and emeralds. In the middle of the part you grip you can see a lion engraved into the gold.”

“It’s beautiful.” She admired the intricate details on the handle.

“It is the dagger that killed Julius Caesar,” I mentioned coolly.

“Uh…you mean this type of dagger is the kind that killed him, right?”

“No, I mean that is actually one of the blades that went through his body.”

The complete petrified look on Kasey’s face alarmed me.

“Take it! Take it!” she squealed.

I took it quickly and placed it back in its sheath.

“Are you mad? Why isn’t that in a museum? I can’t believe you have this. You mean this actually killed Julius Caesar?”

“Yes, we take pleasure in collecting rare and valuable items. Since we are time travelers, we tend to have an advantage over human archeologists. We have relics all around the world in our different houses. That is how we are wealthy. We barter and sell antiques.”

“How many houses do you have?” she asked, astonished.

“Twenty-seven.”

“Oh my God! How did you get the dagger that killed Julius Caesar? Wasn’t that before your time?”

She impressed me by her knowledge of history. “We met once a descendant of Caesar who hid the dagger amongst their belongings. This person discovered our truth and since we could live forever they sold it to us for a hefty price, so that we could preserve it.”

“This is incredible. I would love to see the artifacts you have.”

“Perhaps one day we will go and see all of my twenty-seven houses,” I flirted. She blushed and turned from me.

“Come on let us go see Max.”

She stepped out the door. As I turned off the lights, I heard her gasped from the hallway. Immediately, I stepped out to her. She stood like an ancient Greek statue.

“Dion!” She screeched in a whispered voice.

Layna, Antony’s black panther strutted down the hallway.

“Oh, that is Layna. She is Antony’s friend. She has made herself at home with us.”

Layna stopped in front of us and looked at Kasey.

“Layna this is Kasey, she is a friend of mine.”

Kasey looked at me as if I were mad. Layna shook her head.

Antony came around the corner. “She says your mad Dion if you think the human is going to pet her like a pussy cat.”

Kasey looked at Antony astounded.

“Really. She is capable of that type of higher level thinking?”

Layna let out a puff of air, and then walked down the stairs. Antony snickered.

“What did she say?” Kasey asked.

“Oh, brother,” Antony replied with a smile.

“Kasey, Layna is not a pet. She is literally a friend. Animals are similar to humans,” I said.

“Layna is one of the most gifted feline minds I have ever met. She and I got along instantly. I met her in South America, and she was utterly bored with her mundane jungle life. I offered her to come with us and she has been a friend of the family ever since. We could not get rid of her even if we tried.” Antony explained then followed Layna downstairs.

“That’s unbelievable.” Kasey shook her head.

“You will find that most things in the immortal world are.” I showed her the way to Max’s room. He was at his desk. As a good mannered gentlemen would, he put down his medical book and stood to greet us.

“How are you feeling Kasey?” Max asked.

“I’m all right thank you.”

“Would you mind if I see for myself?” He asked and took a step closer to Kasey.

She stiffened and glared at me as if I had betrayed her.

“I’m fine, really.”

“All I will do is wave my hand in front of you, to make sure. I do not need to touch you I promise.” He showed her his hand palm out.

She nodded but her shoulders lifted and her hands made fists. Max’s hand glowed as he waved it over her body like a scanner. Kasey’s jaw dropped, her eyes fixed on his hand.

“Your vitals are back to normal. You should not run on an empty stomach. It is not a good idea. If you are careless again you could faint once more,” he said and stopped his exam.

“Yeah… cause that’s what made me faint.” She replied with sarcasm.

Max did not like her response he folded his arms across his chest. There was an apparent awkwardness between them.

“This should have never happened,” he said.

“You don’t have to worry. It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone,” Kasey retorted.

“I know you will not. People would think you are mad. No one would believe you,” Max said monotone.

“Well…um…” Kasey looked at me for help.

“Kasey needs to get back. Thank you again Max. I will stay with her until dinner. What time would you like to meet up tonight?” I asked.

He narrowed his eyes. “Do you think it is wise? I thought we could go to Palma tonight to eat.” He always tried to keep me from her.

Kasey gave me a strange look. “Um, you chaps can go. I think I am going to stick around town.
Valete
.”

We walked out of the room.

“What’s
valete
?” Kasey asked.

“Latin for good bye.”

“Is Max angry that I know your secret?” she asked.

“Yes. It is an unspeakable law that humans are not to know of our existence. Sometimes accidents happen.” I sneered at her.

Kasey stopped in the middle of the hallway. She looked around. “Where’s your room?”

 “Do you not have to get back promptly?” I did not want her to see my room.

She eyed me warily. “Nope, I think I have time to see your room.”

“Ah… some other day.”

“Why?”

Something told me, she was not going to let me get out of this.

“I am not the tidiest person.”

“It’s okay; I’m not going to look at the mess. I don’t care,” she urged.

“You cannot miss it. It is the door across from Max’s,” I said hesitant.

She headed for the mahogany door and walked in.

“Holy shit!”

I lowered my head and followed her in.

“Yes, I know, it is a mess.”

She chuckled, “You are such an oddity. Why are their piles of cloths everywhere?”

She walked around the room.

“It is how I organize my clothes. See this pile is my clean colored cloths. That one is my dirty light colored cloths. These are the ones that need to go to a dry cleaner…”

“Why don’t you put them away?”

“I hate putting cloths away. I do a lot of ironing because of it. But who is going to change a two thousand year old habit.” I plopped onto my bed.

“The room is decorated with an Astronomical theme. Do you like Astronomy?” she asked.

“Yes, I love the stars. We have a big telescope on the roof. I shall take you up there sometime.”