The Mortal Fringe (21 page)

That must be Elizabeth, I feel
something inside me. Something that for a moment has given me the
strength to blink and almost make a sound, and reclaim my
body.

"And you will be one step
closer…"

"Not a word!" Alma shouts with an
unforgiving tone, her true intentions are not to be shared in front
of me, or anyone I presume, because she is looking furious at
Jessica, like if she had almost ruined her plans.

The older woman walks towards me and
puts her fingers under my chin, then she smiles.

"What a handsome piece of meat" she
says sarcastically "you were way too much for that undeserving
creature."

Undeserving creature, Constance's
protégée… She is talking about Elizabeth like if she was a useless
being that could not even earn the distinction to be considered
human, or immortal. I can hear Alma's voice calling her a creature
over and over, as an everlasting echo ready to repeat itself
forever. The anger inside me grows to a limit that I have never
known before. I close my eyes, I am ready to stand up for her. I
can't go on pretending any longer.

We are bonded to one another, now I
feel it more than ever. Now I understand why she needs my soul to
become a Goddess, why she needs a willingly given soul. It's not
about dying, it never was. She has opened her heart to me, and I
failed to see that on time, but I do see it now. No, it's not about
dying, it's about living forever, together, as one. With the
perfection of a God, and the human fault.

"She is no creature" I manage to
articulate the words without much trembling, and although I know
that I am too scared, I do not give up. "You are."

I look at Jessica with the same fury
and repulsion that one looks at a murderer.

"And loving, too" Alma claims laughing
at me "Do you love her? Do you?" She is so close to me that I can
feel her breath on my face. "Did she ever tell you how the process
worked? How does a God take a human soul?"

She must have read the answer on my
face because she keeps smiling, knowing that she is the victor of
the argument.

"I'll show you" she moves her head to
Jessica and with a simple nod, the read headed beast leaves the
room. "You will see it with your own eyes."

Jessica comes back, and the only think
I clearly see before start shaking is the warming light of a yellow
dress. She is holding Ingrid's arm, and next to her there's the guy
from class. She makes them both enter the room, he first looks at
Alma, curious, then looks at me, while Ingrid's innocent eyes are
only willing to meet mine.

"What's all this crap? I thought you
said we were gonna have some fun" he says.

"Alex, what is this?" Ingrid's voice
is creaky, as mine used to be.

"Run" I try to say, with much effort.
"Now."

Alma laughs and with her risen hand,
the door slams and traps us in. She walks around him, and then
around Ingrid.

"I understand you know each other.
This is even better."

I try to free myself, but I can't. I
can't even take my sight away.

Alma pulls a knife out of nowhere and
smiles at me with sadistic greed. Ingrid looks at the silver blade
and her watery eyes shut, not wanting to see what comes next. Alma
moves her hand into my friend's chest, and I break
loose.

"That's how you claim a human soul"
She keeps pushing the knife in as she smiles with nothing but anger
on his face.

I scream to the top of my
lungs.

She bends over Ingrid's body, and her
face expression changes to a more passionate one. My friend's body
loses all her color and life in a matter of seconds. Jessica is
looking at the whole thing from the now closed door of the room
while holding Ingrid's companion.

The lifeless body falls to the ground,
and the woman opens her eyes once more. She grabs the knife and
points it at me.

I look at Ingrid, my friend, and no
matter how hard I try to move and run towards her, I can't. I'm
chained. The same experience all over again, not being able to
help, not being able to not feel guilty.

"Do you want to give it a try? Or
shall we wait? She will end up living a miserable life just like
ours, anyway. "

"
No I'm not
" The sound of Elizabeth's voice fills my
head as well as the room I'm trapped in.

She appears in front of me, facing
Alma directly, interposing herself between the knife and
me.

"Hello sister, long time no
see."

"Mal" Elizabeth is not at all
surprised.

I remember now, I remember Elizabeth
telling me about that woman, the one under the guidance of
Constance that failed to become a God, Malenie. She's been using
the name Alma to hide, as well as the creepy sunglasses that have
kept her deep green eyes a secret. That means that Jessica is not
her daughter either, she probably is a lost Immortal soul that she
grabbed to herself, with the only goal to use her to achieve her
glory.

"Stay away from him."

"Mommy's brave girl is angry, is she?"
Mal's ridiculous voice makes Elizabeth even more furious, and I
feel her same anger inside of me.

I look down, Ingrid's body looks so
small that it feels like if she had never existed.

Elizabeth raises both her arms and Mal
and Jessica are pushed back to the wall as dozens of objects and
furniture fall on them. The whole room is shaking, and my body is
still pressed against the wall, unable to move. I keep staring at
Elizabeth leading all the objects and anything that can help her to
keep Mal trapped. Elizabeth then turns and looks at me for the very
first time in a long while, and the fury in her has not
disappeared, not a bit. She looks at me filled with anger and
disappointment, and I know why. Me coming here today with Jessica,
exposing myself like this and going against her advice has killed
an innocent soul, nearly killed me, and therefore, her
too.

We look at each other, the tension of
what is going on is clearly noticeable on my face and as I try to
move away from the wall that has held me prisoner for what to me
has been an eternity, I feel her cold eyes on me.

From the other end of the room, Mal
stands up without any difficulties while Jessica is still lying
unconscious under the pile of objects Elizabeth just threw against
her. Mal rises her hand and everything stands to float around her,
and without a single hint of hesitation, she uses her rage against
us.

Before her power can reach us,
Elizabeth grabs my body and with just a quick look I know that she
is asking me to trust her once more.

"
Don't let go
"

We disappear but as I had never
experienced before. I don't feel away from anything, I don't even
feel alive. It's like my body has been torn to pieces and now I try
to get them back, unsuccessfully. A terrible shake in my head makes
me realize that I am still alive, and in one piece. My brain hurts
and I can't barely see. I could have never imagined that breathing
could be so painful.

I feel something beneath me again,
ground. Elizabeth walks away and leaves me standing
there.

"Where are we?”

She doesn't answer right away, she
waits for me to open my eyes, regardless of the pain that might
cause. When I do, I see her in front of me, and my heart starts
beating again.

"In my chamber" she answers "Mal won't
find us here."

"Your chamber?" I look around, and
everything reminds me of her, the strange colors and the
questionable decorative skills. "I thought only Gods had
one.”

"We all do. We need to keep our souls
safe" When she mentions her soul she points to a specific point
near the corner of the chamber. The bright light coming out of a
small white wooden recipient through a crystal wall warms my heart,
being that close to her soul takes all the pain away from
me.

There's a strange thing on the wall, a
sign made out of two «3» one lying on the other's back, and a
straight line in the middle of them. I wonder what that means;
being Elizabeth, it could be anything.

"What the hell where you thinking?"
She is right in front of me and her furious eyes make me feel like
a useless insect. "You could have died!" she screams.

Then something grows in me, something
I need to take out.

"Died? You disappear for weeks, and
leave me living next to that, that thing and now you tell me that I
could have died?" I have been holding too much anger during these
past weeks “You told me to trust you, remember? Hell, you even said
you were sorry that all this shit happened to me! What was that,
huh? Did you just try to make me feel better so that you could then
leave me and break me like you did?" I am shaking and I think I am
about to cry. "Answer me!"

"Do you have any idea of how this
feels?"

"Any idea? I am the one that will die,
and I can't do anything to avoid it, can I? So don't try for a
minute to make me feel bad about you. I tried to open up for you,
and you left me."

She moves her hand so quickly that I
can barely prepare myself for her punch. I fell to the ground with
a bleeding nose. I stay down for a while, thinking about
everything, this feels like a turning point, this is when I finally
know that everything is about to end, being lying on the ground,
covered with blood is not new to me. But it is real, for the first
time.

I stand up and I am surprised to see
her crying.

"Can you imagine yourself killing the
only two persons that you have ever loved?"

She disappears.

CHAPTER 31

Elizabeth's words resound in my head
as war machines. Every bit of my body feels bad for what just
happened, I know I should have not said all those things, but she
knew about it, I know she did, I could not hide what I had been
feeling all these days any further. However, her leaving right now,
after what happened at the pub makes me feel even worse, she came
back just to protect me, to help me, even though her own exposure.
And I yelled at her, thoughtlessly.

I can't take the image of Ingrid's
body falling lifeless to the ground out of my head, nor the smile
on Mal's face after taking the life of my friend.

I can't picture time in here; I have
no idea whether I've been here for an hour or for a year.
Everything looks as confusing as a mathematical equation.
Everywhere I look makes me wonder if I have been here before. For
some reason, all these things, these paintings, these objects seem
so familiar to me that I could even say they belong to me. But of
course they do not, this is all Elizabeth's, and perhaps the reason
for me feeling like this is because our bond is getting stronger
once more.

The chamber reminds me of Tristan's,
with all the commodities of the mortal side, and yet with the
elegance and hugeness one would expect from mythology. There is one
thing though, one thing that is not similar to anything I have ever
seen before, that's why this is Elizabeth's chamber, because she is
different from everyone. There's a garden past the crystal doors at
the end of the long room. But it is not a normal garden, for it
only contains dried roses.

Dead roses. I've dreamt of this place.
I've died here. I feel the need to get closer, as if something in
those lifeless plants was calling me.

Dead but yet beautifully disposed
roses. Only Elizabeth could do this in such a remarkable way. An
eternal garden of dark red and black. A garden guarding the one
thing that keeps Elizabeth alive. Her soul.

I can see the wooden box in the middle
of the small garden. I cross the crystal barrier carefully, and a
small rocky path appears within the roses. I walk it slowly,
admiring the absolute beauty of what surrounds me.

Her soul shines for me, and makes my
body weaken, all the fear I felt before she rescued me disappears,
but something in me breaks loose, and I can't contain myself
anymore. Like a small child, I fall on my knees trying to hold the
tears from my eyes, but I can't, I am not strong enough to repel my
feelings, something I was never able to do.

I can see Ingrid, I can see David.
Now, I can see everything again.

"Alex" Elizabeth's voice booms in my
head "come back."

I turn around and I see her in the
distance, so far away from here that I fear that I will never be
able to reach her again. But she keeps calling my name, so with the
little strength I have left I stand up, and walk towards her
through the rocky path, leaving her soul behind. As I move away
from the silver light I feel stronger, and better. But I still feel
broken inside, and she knows it.

"What happened to me?" I ask, still
holding my tears, still too proud of myself to break
down.

"My soul felt yours, and it was trying
to get you."

Perhaps it should have, I think to
myself, that way the suffering would end.

I finally give in, and I sit on the
floor, near the dried roses and I don't hold my tears anymore.
Elizabeth gets on her knees right by my side and looks at me,
straight into the eye.