Shadow's Dangers (32 page)

I swallowed hard. He hadn't said everything. He didn't explain my role in this story.

“What are you getting at?” I asked, my intonations letting him perceive the extent of my anxiety.

“There is a very ancient prophecy from my world. The pieces of its puzzle have been collected over the centuries. It was completed within the last twenty years. It's specific on some points while vague on others.”

He was silent for only a few moments, but it felt like time had stretched to an infinity. I thought I knew where he was going with his thoughts and I didn't like it. Not at all.

“It concerns the insurgents. It speaks of a person who will end the age-old conflict between our kind and prevent the insurgents from implementing their plan for humans and Earth,” he said in a cautious tone.

“How?” I blurted in a voice devoid of emotion, although I realized only too well that his next words would have a life-altering effect.

“By eradicating all insurgents.”

He probed my eyes with his for several seconds before adding, even if it were unnecessary at  this point...

“This person, the last hope for our race, mentioned in the prophecy, it’s you, Deliah.”

15

The Last Hope

“Say something.”

I had remained silent since he had told me that I was the last hope of
Enimae
and humans, too, if I didn't put an end to the war between the insurgents and other Enimae who wanted to continue to live as they had always done, in other words, in the shadow of humanity. It took me a while to find my tongue again.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don't know! Scream! Tell me to go to hell! That you never want to see me again! That this isn't possible! Say anything! Don't stay like that, apathetic and with an empty look, as you have for more than ten minutes!”

A nervous laugh escaped me in response to his tirade. I was the one who should have lost my mind at this stage and yet, it was he who was screaming at me. The world was upside down. There was nothing more true than this moment because the thought of hearing the one I loved saying I was the only chance for the future of his people was totally unrealistic.

“You just dropped a bomb on me. You say that I’m supposed to kill people, which I had never heard of until now, to end a war, which I also hadn't heard anything about until a moment ago.”

I stopped, pausing just long enough for all my feelings to go back to the surface. I literally exploded, then.

“Damn it, tell me, Garreth! How do you expect me to react after such a revelation, huh?”

My life has often looked like a nightmare, but the term had never been so appropriate before today. Everything Garreth had told me about his world had proved true so far but this, I couldn't believe. Not when he said to me that they were expecting me to kill countless people. They were not human and were anything but good given what Garreth revealed to me and from what I had been able to see, it changed nothing. It didn't justify their death. And even if I were justified, I couldn't do it, even though I would be the only person able to do this, which made no damn sense! In fact, I didn't want to think about, not even for one more second!

“I...”

“No!” I interrupted immediately with a dry tone, throwing my hands in the air. “Don't say anything! For now, I can't and don't want to hear anything more!”

Garreth was silent while I started pacing my room, feeling more and more nervous as the minutes went by and I wondered about the latest events.

I stopped abruptly when my eyes crossed those of Garreth. The compassion that I detected in his gaze made me lose it and I began to panic, realizing what it meant. He was convinced I was the person of that prophecy. He didn't doubt one second that I was able to kill people and put an end to his war. As ridiculous and grotesque as it seemed to me, he believed in it. It was horrible because Garreth was far from being crazy or silly, so if he thought I was that person...
No! It can't be! It can't be me!

“It can't be possible!” I cried while gesticulating, terror invading my whole voice. “No! I’m not even an
Enimae!
I’m just a human! How could I... It doesn't make any sense! Absolutely no sense!

While I couldn't stop talking, Garreth was watching me, his face betraying nothing of what he thought. I lost patience.

“You don't want to say anything?”

He didn't speak right away, just stared at me silently.

“There's no doubt, you are the person of the prophecy,” he finally told me in a calm voice--understandable since it wasn't he who had just learned that people expected him to commit a massacre! “This is the reason why your father cut off contact with us and moved with your sister and your mother, pregnant with you at the time when they came here. He had learned about the prophecy and didn't want anybody to put their hands on you because he knew what would happen if insurgents found you. You’re human, of course, but the
Kegramae,
our... our God doesn't do things randomly. You have been chosen precisely because you weren't one of us.”

I shook my head mechanically. I refused to believe it. There was no rational explanation to justify that I was chosen for such a thing! I was the last person in the world on which we could rely for murdering hundreds or thousands or even more, it was totally absurd!

“This is ridiculous! I can't be that person! I’m the last person on Earth cut out to kill! I’m human! I have no gift like you! In addition, even if I had a gift or otherwise, how can I overcome countless people? How can I put an end to a war that lasted for years? No, there is a mistake. You have the wrong person. I’m not...”

He took possession of my hands to stop me from moving.

“Lila,” he called me gently. “We still don't know how you’re gonna do it, but my people actively searched to discover the information. As I said, some parts of the prophecy are obscure. But one of the parts where there is no doubt, is the one designating the person concerned by the message and that is you, even if you can't imagine it right now. Believe me, if the
Kegramae
chose you, whatever he expected of you, it’s because he knew that you could accomplish this task. You are far from mundane, as you claim. You’re strong, you’re a survivor and there is absolutely nothing evil within you. I’m sure you’ll know better than anyone how to take the fate of our race in your hands. Of course, if I had my say, I would have made sure this burden be assigned to someone else. But no matter what happens, you can be sure Leighton and I will always stay by your side. We will protect you and help you as best as we can.”

His words should have reassured me. They didn't. They frightened me even more and the chaos in my mind grew even stronger. I couldn't believe that I had been chosen by their God, that I held such power in my hands, even though I didn't even know what it was exactly. Whatever it was, it might be something powerful to overcome umpteen living beings. It was scary to think that it was me who had it. Damn, even if it were like Garreth claimed, and I was supposed to be good, why did his people expect me to commit murders?

Not possible, not possible, not possible...
I mentally repeated it like a mantra while closing my eyes tightly. Maybe when I’d open my eyes again, I'd be sent back to the real world and I'd discover that this was only a trick of my stupid imagination.

I felt Garreth's arms around me suddenly. During a second, I considered pushing him away because it was his fault I was in such a state. But I couldn't resist when he began stroking my hair to calm me down. Abruptly, I returned his embrace, desperately clinging to him as if I might fall apart if I let go of him. I felt Garreth hold me against him as much to bring comfort to me than to ensure I wouldn't disappear. I had sworn to him that nothing would make me to run away. I realized how much I had been wrong to make such a promise to him without knowing what it was. Learning what he was? Not so difficult to digest. Knowing that strangers were after me to kill me since I was born? It scared the hell out of me, but I trusted Leighton and Garreth to protect me. But having the fate of many people in my hands and have to kill others? Not possible, even if Garreth and his people thought me capable of it and that was what was expected of me.

The vibration of Garreth's cell phone put an end to our embrace. He pulled away from me, looked at me with a mixture of doubt and anxiety before displaying his impassive mask that I’d begun to know very well. He took out his phone and took a look to see who was calling. His eyebrows furrowed and I knew it wasn't Leighton. He answered but said nothing. He listened to the speaker without a word and then replied something in the language of
Enimae.
Only his expression gave me an indication of what was happening. Rage and then shock passed on his face. His reaction had the benefit of making me forget the whole damn story of the prophecy. While resting on me, his eyes seemed not to see me, as if his mind was far away from here. What was happening?

“Deliah Elizabeth Morgan, come down immediately!”

For a few seconds, I thought stupidly that it was Tess. She used to address me with my full name when she was angry at me, even if it had rarely happened. I remembered abruptly she was no longer here and for a moment, it was as if she had just died again. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, forcing myself to lock the pain in a corner of my being. When I opened them, I saw Garreth, his gaze riveted on me, his hand clutching his phone. I hadn't even noticed that he had put an end to his communication. A multitude of emotions shone in his eyes--sadness, misunderstanding, suffering, anger, relief--and I didn't know why.

“Deliah! If you don't come here very quickly, I’ll come for you!” Annabelle warned me.

Annabelle and her perfect timing when it comes to ruining my life!
Hearing the creak of the old stairs, I decided to go, despite the fact that I was irritated she had chosen this moment to disturb me. I wanted to know what was going on with Garreth, but it would have to wait until I freed myself from my sister. I left my room.

“I won't be long,” I announced to Garreth.

He merely nodded, not looking at me. I closed the door behind me and took the direction of the stairs. No sooner had I taken a few steps down the corridor, when Annabelle arrived on the floor. Her face reflected feelings of irritation and anger. Well, she wasn't the only one to feel this way.

“No need to hide him. I saw his car in the driveway. A car ridiculously enormous and noticeable, by the way. Does your boyfriend have a weakness to compensate for?”

I ignored her last words. I didn't have time for our usual verbal fight.

“I had no intention of hiding him. I’m here in my home, I’ll soon be of age and I did nothing wrong.”

“I don't doubt that you, Saint Deliah, aren't doing anything wrong,” she replied, in a tone so sarcastic that I had to bite my tongue not to argue vehemently. “Nevertheless, I don't want him here,” she added with all the contempt she could muster.

“Too bad for you, because I don't intend to make him go.”

Her features hardened because of her growing irritation. She approached, pointing a finger at me.

“You act like that with me because you know nothing of the truth,” she told me resentfully in a low voice. “Everything that has happened to our family, it's because of that monster and his family. The death of our parents and that of your dear Tess, it's entirely their fault. They destroyed our lives.”

I stared at her, eyes round as saucers. Even if she was wrong to make them responsible for our misfortunes, how had she made the connection between them and the death of our parents? How did she know all this about the Wates? And why had she said that the death of Tess was their fault? It was a heart attack, not a murder!

“What are you talking about? They aren't responsible for the death of our parents. They even tried to save them. As for Tess, it's nobody’s fault and nobody could have prevented it.”

I slowly realized what I had just said. I had always felt guilty over the death of my grandmother and yet I had told my sister it was a simple twist of fate. I meditated on that for a moment. If I had been with her during her heart attack, could I have helped her? Probably not, even though I’d wanted to persuade myself otherwise until now. This discovery brought tears to my eyes and it was as if a huge weight suddenly disappeared from my consciousness.

“My poor Deliah, don't you see? This is all because of them. Maybe they didn't want it all to happen as it did, but it is because they found our family that the others knew where we were and were able to kill our parents. And even if you didn't think or you simply refuse to think about it, it’s probably because of them that your Tess died. After all, why would she have had a heart attack when she had no prior history of such things?”

I shook my head mechanically, as if to drive her words away from my thoughts. To no avail. As always, Annabelle had managed to poison my mind by distilling her venom and now, I was wondering about the veracity of her statements.

“Your monstrous boyfriend can stay in your room, but I don't want to cross him on the stairs, the living room or the kitchen. Oh and, some advice from sister to sister...in your place, I would ask him for explanations about all this, just to see his reaction. Trust me, you might be surprised...”

Without another word, she turned around and went downstairs. I stood there, arms dangling, hating myself because as always, Annabelle had won the match. I was doubting him now and I didn't know if I would have the courage to face Garreth about it. Not after everything I had learned and experienced in the past hours. I feared that new revelations--especially about this--would confuse my mind even more. Or worse, that I would do what I assured Garreth I would never do, run away.

“She's wrong,” Garreth whispered in a toneless voice, making me almost jump. “Your grandmother had a heart attack, none of my people were involved in it. Otherwise, believe me, I would have taken care of the person or persons responsible.”