Heart Two Heart (7 page)

I tried to open my eyes but my lids felt like
they had been glued shut. I tried to move my body but it felt like
I was encased in stone. I could hear and smell but nothing else. I
heard the Vaettir laugh briefly then she said

"It is done. You will feel no more since you
are encased in stone. I have stolen you face and will very happily
live the life you wanted so badly to get out of. As a Sjövættir I
have been hunted mercilessly. With your strength and body, I will
have the advantage against the humans. Our bargain has been
fulfilled. You are now a statue free of pain and suffering. Best
wishes for the next several thousand years."

I heard her laughing in my voice. She even
smelled like me as I watched her move towards the door of the
house. I heard the door slam shut behind her and then the room was
filled with silence. Amada trapped me in a stone statue and stole
my flesh and blood. I was trapped, sealed in stone and unable to
move. I felt my heart scream in agony at the realization that we
could be kept here for all eternity. Never again feeling our
eternal heart.

I felt defeated and disappointed as I checked
out of my hotel room in Vegas. Nothing went the way I'd hoped. The
funeral for Chief Óscar’s son was later this afternoon. Seraphina
and I were attending then heading back to Arizona with my mum and
pop.

It was clear Taini was no longer anywhere
near here and I just wanted to go home and regroup. Seraphina took
all of this really well. I always knew she was an amazing and
wonderful woman. Her behavior over the past few days has proven
that even more. She sat next to me as we climbed into the taxi and
headed out to the tribe territory for the funeral. I saw tears
shimmer in her eyes. I pulled her close and kissed her forehead and
said

"Easy Seraphina baby, I know you have a soft
spot for children. We did everything we could to save the little
guy. Let's say goodbye and go home. I want to forget about
everything that happened here."

She nodded and looked up at me. Before I
realised what she was doing I felt her lips press against mine. Her
warmth reminded me of home, security and fresh baked cookies. I
couldn't stop myself from wanting to kiss her back. My heart has
been aching for days and the moment I felt Seraphina's lips on mine
I felt just a tiny bit better.

I knew however it was cruel to allow myself
or Seraphina to move forward with this. I knew Seraphina had an
eternal heart out there somewhere, and as long as I allowed her to
have feelings for me she wasn't going to look for him. I gently
pulled her away from me and said

"I love you Seraphina, you will always be my
first love. But I have an eternal heart and somewhere out there you
have an eternal heart too. Even though my eternal heart rejected
me, I owe it to you to let you find your eternal heart and
unconditional love.”

Saying the words out loud brought the pain
slamming back into me. I reached into my pocket and again felt the
paper Taini left for me. Words of pain, written in her own hand. I
didn't need to read the words again. I’d already memorized
them.

My dear eternal heart Ulric,

I’d dreamt of meeting and loving you for many
years before you were even born. Your life was started with pain
because of me and my selfish behavior.

I’d spent so many years making the entire
skinwalker race pay for the mistake of a few skinwalkers during the
war that died many years ago. I’d been shocked when I realised you
were my eternal heart and that you were a skinwalker.

Something in me snapped and I was unable to
think clearly. I tore you from your mother’s womb and fed you my
blood. That of course started the process of comingling our life
essence. As such, my side of the promise had been created.
Eventually like they always do my sins caught up to me and the
skinwalkers tried to tear me limb from limb.

I should have died but Waylon and Pau nursed
a tiny piece of my heart until they were able to resuscitate my
body. My first conscious thought was of you. I wasn't able to move
for several years and yet every moment I spent thinking of you.

When I was finally able to move about I went
in search of you. I found you in high school. I listened to your
friends and learned you hated me and what I’d done. My heart cried
at the thought of not having you. My heart was driving me crazy.
Being so close to you and being unable to commingle my essence with
yours was making me insane.

I’d just about decided to take you by force
if necessary when you mother broke through and helped me to see my
own selfishness. She pointed out that I would never be free to love
you. That my sins would follow me for all the days of my life. That
in the end I would be the reason you died.

I walked away knowing that the pain I
suffered kept you alive and well. That means more to me than any
anguish that my heart can force on. When I saw you in the
restaurant the other day all I could of was how much of an amazing
man you had grown up to be. I am so proud to be your eternal heart.
Even though we will never have the opportunity to be together,
please know that I love you more than I have ever loved anything in
my life.

It is because of that love that I have gone
to Haiti and am having my heart removed. I have always been too
much of a coward to end this existence. I have enlisted the help of
a very powerful voodoo priestess. She is going to separate my body
from my heart.

You will know if she is successful because
for just a moment you will feel my heart touch yours and say
goodbye. Pau told me that you'd gone to Vegas to marry your
childhood sweetheart. Marry her and have lots of babies and be
happy. Do this for me so that my heart can find the peace in the
next life that I was unable to have in this one.

Forever yours Taini

Days turned into weeks that turned into
months and my eternal heart’s heart never reached out to say
goodbye. I was depressed and mourning her loss. If not for
Seraphina constantly reminding me to eat and care for myself I
would have begun to waste away. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, and I
certainly can’t work since I am barely functioning. I know that I
need to heal and move on but my heart just isn’t ready yet.

I looked over at my night stand and glanced
at her letter again. She lied in that letter. She told me she loved
me but she lied. If she had truly loved me she would never have
separated her heart from her body. She would have fought for me and
our love. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt a tear slip down my
cheek. I found myself reliving those awful day yet again.

I was sitting in my bedroom at my mother’s
house. I had Taini’s letter in my hand and was rubbing my thumb
over the paper trying to think of what I should do next.
Intellectually, I understood her concerns but the emotional side of
me just wanted my eternal heart, I didn’t care what it took or who
was after her. Hell I was perfectly fine with living our lives on
the run as long as I had a chance to be with her.

That’s when I felt it. Something inside of me
shifted and I was on full alert. I felt my eternal heart call out
to me across a great distance. I knew in that moment that I’d
hesitated too long and the choice was being taken away from me. My
own heart screamed in terror. We were losing our eternal heart and
didn’t have a clue on how to try to stop it.

I felt her heart brush up against mine and
though Taini had said she and would want to tell me goodbye instead
it felt as if she was begging me to help her. She looked at me with
sad, pained eyes and before we could even touch or speak she
disappeared. I felt my heart shatter. There’s no way to explain the
pain the exploded through me. It was as if my entire world ceased
to exist. For a few moments I was completely unable to breath. I
felt like my heart seized and my world went black.

When I woke up, Seraphina was administering
CPR. She said that I actually had a massive heart attack. It was a
miracle that I was alive. By all rights I should have died. Even
with my chupacabra mutation genes, my body was struggling to repair
itself. Honestly I am still having heart trouble. In fact, when I
think of Taini I can feel my blood pressure shoot through the roof,
chances are I am going to have lots more heart attacks and
eventually I know I can and will die of a broken heart.

A few weeks after Taini separated her body
from her heart, I received a phone call from Óscar the Las Vegas
chief. He told me that they had leads on Taini and had her trapped
in the mountains in California. He asked if I wanted to join the
hunting party that was hell bent on sending the camazotz to hell.
I’d never told him the truth about Taini and I quickly agreed to
join him.

For some stupid reason, I thought that it
would be better if I saw Taini’s heartless body. I think part of me
actually believed that I could bring her back and still have her as
my eternal heart. I learned quickly that it took more than her body
for my heart to feel peace.

I arrived in California in the middle of the
afternoon. It was drizzling and I’d a hard time finding a cab and
eventually decided to rent a car. I used the GPS to take me to the
nearest tribe house. Óscar and his second in command met me at the
car. They were quick to introduce me to the chief whose territory
was now in. Emil said he was pleased to have me join the hunt for
the camazotz.

It was clear they understood since I was a
nagual, I was both stronger and faster than all of them. They even
pointed out that with me at their side there odds of success were
so much higher. I smiled and faked like I was going along with the
program. Then I said

“Why not let me scout for her on my own.
Let’s not risk anyone needlessly. Point me in the direction and I
will do my best to make sure that by nightfall you never need to
worry about the camazotz again.”

They agreed immediately and the tribe
supplied me with all the necessities and pointed me in the
direction they had last scene Taini. It took me less than an hour
to find her. Now, I wish I’d never gone. It was, yet it wasn’t
Taini. It was her body, her hair, her face, even her smell. But the
one thing I wanted the most was gone. I felt my heart flare to life
as it reached out to find its eternal heart. Then like a candle in
the wind it blinked out of existence.

My eternal heart was gone. The women that
stood in front of me was nothing more than a truly heartless evil
being. She spat at me and growled when I approached her. I tried to
tell her that I wouldn’t harm her but she attacked before I could
get the words out. I kept her from injuring me and I tried to tell
her who I was. I begged her to help me find her heart and get it
back. She laughed and told me I was fool. She said in a cruel voice
meant to hurt me

“You are an idiot! I am happier than I’ve
ever been in my life. Getting rid of my heart was the best thing
I’ve ever done. Now, I have no pain, no sadness and no conscience.
Why in god’s name would I ever want my heart back? That thing
caused me nothing but pain and worse it actually desired a
skinwalker. A foul vial disgusting skinwalker. I would rather cut
my own heart out and feed it to pigeons before I allowed myself to
ever consider being with a skinwalker.

Go home little boy and make nice with your
skinwalker fox. Forget me and stay out of my way or next time we
occupy the same space I will take the liberty of removing your head
from your shoulders. Do I make myself clear?”

Her words had slammed into me like a freight
train. I felt the air evaporate from my lungs and I felt my heart
shrivel in pain. I knew my eternal heart had moved on and it was
time for me to try as well. I flew home to Arizona without even
telling Óscar goodbye. I didn’t want to know if their hunt had been
successful as far as I was concerned Taini had already died.

I looked into Ulric’s bedroom and could tell
that he was crying yet again. I sighed and walked back into the
living room. I looked over at his pop and said

“You said he can’t die from losing his
eternal heart. Why is he still so sick? When will he get better?
Please tell me what I can do to help?”

His pop gave me a sad look then said in a
calm voice

“Seraphina, I know you love him and you want
him to be all better but these things take time. In the life of a
chupacabra a few months is nothing. He could grieve her for years
even hundreds of years if that’s what his heart needs. I promise he
will be fine but it is possible it won’t happen in your
lifetime.

Maybe you should finally take the time to go
and find your eternal heart. Seraphina you are a beautiful girl and
Kealoha and I love you and want the best for you. The truth is, if
you were Ulric’s eternal heart he would have known it by now. We’ve
heard tales of nagual having two eternal hearts, but if Ulric has
two, you are not one of them.”

I sputtered and wanted to scream at him that
he was wrong. I am his eternal heart and I know it. I don’t know
why he can’t see it. That’s when I realised what I needed to do. I
could make him see the truth if I tricked him into commingling his
essence with me. Once his essence felt mine, he would know the
truth and he could stop grieving for her and start loving me. All I
needed was a spell. Perhaps something that made him desire me
enough to make love. Then, while he was distracted I could trick
him into sharing blood with me.I smiled at his pop Emilio and said
in a calm voice

“Thank you for your concern. I’m not ready to
move on right now any more than Ulric is. Perhaps in a few weeks.
I’m going home for the night. I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh and make
sure he eats something tonight. It’s been a few days.”