“Girl, where are you?” she asked.
“I’m outside a shoe store, you?”
“I am ready. Meet me at my car, and we will head back.”
I wasn’t too far from her parked car. As I approached, she noticed my load of shopping bags.
“Accomplished much?” She gave me a hand with my bags.
“Everything,” I said with a big smile.
“Good. Let us go eat. It is the last time I get to eat at Fernando’s and Beatriz’s restaurant.”
Dion stopped by to pay his farewells to Madhu. We all ate lunch together. Fernando made Madhu her favorite meal broad slices of hake flavored with a Galician sauce called
ajada
. It was divine. We laughed, reminisced, and drank wine. It was the perfect ambiance. After we hugged several times, Madhu left to catch her plane later that evening. After the festivities, Dion followed me up to my room.
“Did a little shopping, did we?” He commented about the bags on my bed.
“Yes, I finally finished Christmas shopping. I can’t believe how beautiful Deia is decorated for the holiday. Back home it’s not decked out like it is here. There’s two or three nativity sets wherever you turn.” I sat on the floor in front of my bed taking out the tape, scissors, and wrapping paper.
“Yes, they do an exquisite job here. The nativities are taken seriously.”
“I can’t wait to experience Christmas in this little village.” Even though I never participated in the Christian aspect of Christmas, my family decorated with green garlands and partook in the gift exchange. Not sure how my parents really felt about the holiday, I had a suspicion that the gift exchange was to appease Nolan and me.
“Be prepared for weeks of celebrations and night long feasts.” He walked over to the statue of “
The men of the cave
” sitting on the windowsill.
“Nice statue.”
“Thanks. I picked it up in Palma. Would you like to help me? You could wrap your brother’s gifts.”
“You bought my brothers Christmas gifts!”
“Nothing much. Just a little something. I wanted to. Is that okay?” I began to doubt my decision.
“I suppose, sure. What could you possibly have gotten them?” His bewildered expression was cute.
I took out four boxes that each held a crystal glass Christmas tree ornament. Inside each ornament was an elaborate wooden carving.
“I got John the glass ball with the medieval jester inside, for Martin I bought the ball with the sword in the stone scene.”
Dion took the glass balls in his hands and stared at them. He smiled. Then I continued.
“For Antony I got the glass ball with the whale fluke sticking out of the water, and for Max I bought the one with the woman by the stream getting some water. She has a crescent moon on her forehead. I know his wife’s name meant moon. Do you think he’ll like it?”
Dion took Antony’s and Max’s glass balls in his hands. His grin faded. He stared at the gifts pensively.
“I love you Kasey,” he blurted out.
“What?” I wondered if this was a practical joke.
“You are the most genuine person. I…I utterly love everything about you. Your thoughtfulness and dedication to detail, your constant worrying, your openness. We are perfectly perpendicular to each other, my little gypsy.” He put the gifts down and kneeled by my side.
“Here…now…I’m supposed to tell you I love you according to John’s vision?” I asked shocked and not ready to reciprocate.
He chuckled, “Relax, you do not say it now. John’s vision was not like this. I wanted you to know what I thought.” He kissed my forehead. “I know your affection for me, no worries.”
At that moment Catalina knocked on the bathroom door and walked into my room with her typical pissed off expression. I never thought that I would welcome her presence as much as I did at that very moment. She sat down at the end of my bed wearing a blood red shirt with a black and white plaid skirt. I overheard a phone conversation between her and James earlier; they planned a date tonight.
“You were right.” She glanced down at her hands. “I spoke to a friend whose dad…ummm, how do you say…works with the dead?”
“You mean he’s the town’s mortician.” I gave her the words in English.
“Yes, he asked some questions for me. You were right about Elena.” She looked down, ashamed. “But dead wrong about James.” She finished nasty, then left the room. I looked at Dion, we both shrugged our shoulders about her. Somehow, she and James managed to avoid running into us or any of the Kleon brothers. They were keeping their romantic involvement secretive.
“So, if I get the same reaction from your brothers as I did from you when they open their gifts. I’d say they were hits,” I smiled at him.
He laughed, relieved.
“The winter solstice is three days away.” I brought up a touchy subject.
“Yes, yes it is.”
“Are Sam and James going to come to the house?” I asked.
“Probably,” he answered.
“I want to be there.” I finished wrapping one gift and grabbed another.
“No.” He sat on the bed.
“Dion, please be reasonable. I want to be there. Maybe I can help.”
“Absolutely not, how could you possibly help?” He asked.
“I don’t know, I can’t bear the thought that something horrible could happen and I won’t even know.”
He stood and pulled me up towards him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he imitated me. His smile was a painting I could stare at forever.
“It is going to be all right. When it is over, I shall come for you. I promise,” he said.
I moved my eyes away from his. “What if you…what if you don’t come.” I barely got the words out.
“I will. Of course I will.” He pressed his warm lips to my forehead.
“Plus, you have to go to the fire jumping. It is fun. You will enjoy it.”
“Fire jumping?” I questioned.
“It is a tradition here to jump over a small bon fire on the night of the winter solstice for a year of good health. It is a pagan ritual they still uphold.”
“Can’t I stay with you at your house?”
“No, you are going to go with the Castillo’s and the whole village down to the ruins for the celebration. I would prefer you in a very public place.”
I pouted and laid my head on his soft cotton tee. He rocked me. His big strong arms felt like a protective covering that nothing could get through. I looked up at him then raised myself on my toes. He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
We locked ourselves into a passionate waltz of lips. Then I placed my hand around his neck and began kissing him with small quick kisses down from his cheek all the way to the sides of his neck. He did the same to me. I moved my hand from his waist and gently caressed his firm butt. He smiled at my gesture and resumed his earlier position on my lips. He ran his fingers feather-like down my spine stopping at the eve of my lower back. His other hand touched my upper right thigh.
“How is your abrasion?” he whispered.
“It’s coming along,” I said, rubbing noses with him. “Would you like to see?”
He glanced down at his hand and my hip. Then he leaned in and continued to kiss me with intensity. I maneuvered his hand on my hip and slid it under my shorts onto the very same spot. He jerked it out and backed up.
“Kasey, if I were not…I cannot. I should get going.” He stumbled stepping back from me.
I nodded and exhaled. “I understand.”
He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands through his hair.
“I shall see you later tonight for dinner.”
“Yes, later.”
He kissed me and left.
Disappointed, I needed a cool down. A good run. Even though the crisp air outside started to have a nip, I put on my grey running pants with a white tank and sports bra. I was going to push it hard, so I knew I would get sweaty even if the temperature outside was in the forties. I grabbed my little black purse and placed my travel journal in it.
I figured I should take the opportunity to run to the ruins and jot down some notes about them. The late afternoon was perfect, the wind cool, and the salty air refreshing. I misjudged the distance. The ruins were further than expected. I needed the break after the long journey. Sitting on the cold ground with my journal in hand, I drew the formations that the rubble of stones made.
The sun, a few hours before descending, allowed the temperature to drop sequentially as it made it’s way toward the horizon. The still forest lent itself to a perfect tranquil afternoon. I broke my concentration from my drawing to look up at the position of the rubble, and there stood Sam and James. An eerie chill traveled through my body. They resembled wax statues with their eyes fixed on me. I stared back, closed my journal, and stood.
“Hello Kasey,” Sam started.
“I was just gathering my stuff and going,” I sputtered.
He puckered his lips. “Uhhh, do not leave on our account.”
I placed my journal into my black bag without ever taking my eyes off them. My heart pounded with harsh quick beats. I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t sure what to expect, Sam intimidated me. Had they followed me out here? But why?
“You know, Kasey, all you are doing, is allowing Dion to suffer for all time.” Sam said.
“You think you know, but you don’t know anything about us.”
“Are you telling me I do not know what a siren like you is doing to my brother? You think you know our world, woman?”
“I know about the immortals,” I said.
“You know! What do you know? You know nothing of our world. Be very careful, Kasey. Our world is not meant for humans.”
I was frightened out here without any one to help me. I didn’t know how to get away. They were men with great power, and I was merely a human. I closed my eyes and hoped that John and Martin would see this happening.
“I wish for you to leave my brothers be. I will pay you to go and never come back into their world.” Sam took a few steps forward.
“Why? What do I matter?”
“You have no idea what you will do to him once you are gone. Your love will be his destruction. Is that what you really want?” James asked.
“Kasey, I am offering them salvation from this dreadful existence. With you around, you have given Dion something to live for. He will never choose to end his life unless you were dead.” Sam lifted his eyebrows.
“Why are you so hell-bent on ending their lives?” I sounded a lot braver than I felt.“And if I don’t leave? Then what, Sam? Are you going to make sure I end up dead?” I said the words not thinking. Was I stupid? I just gave him an open invitation to kill me.
“Kasey, do not be ridiculous. However, I do believe you might need some persuasion. You have seen what James can do, now let me show you what I can do.” He crouched ready to sprint. Then his body fell lifeless to the ground. From it, a transparent cloud lifted like fog.
I took a step back.
The mist transformed into the shape of a ghost tiger, huge and vicious. The tiger charged with a furious growl.
I ran with a shriek. Every muscle in my body pushed as hard as it could. The sporadic Juniper trees made it a tricky obstacle course. I took quick glances back. The grunts and heaves from the ghost tiger sounded close in pursuit. I sped up, pumping even harder to get away. I took sharp turns and quick cuts to avoid the hard wrinkled trunks of the trees. All of a sudden, I became aware that the panting sounds stopped. Was he still behind me?
Not taking the chance I did not slow down. I took a hasty look backwards and saw nothing. I didn’t like this. Not knowing Sam’s whereabouts was worse than knowing he was behind me.
The impact to my cheek came unexpectedly. I felt the sting of a scrape the tree left on my cheek. I grabbed hold of the tree trunk to steady myself. I needed a moment to catch my breath. The only one panting was me. Then something poked my shin. It wasn’t a sharp sting, simply a prick of annoyance. A small stick about five inches poked my leg again then fell to the ground.
It was as if that stick relayed a message to all the other sticks. In a surreal way, around my legs, every small twig on the ground began floating up, swirling like a tornado with me in the center. Like a magician’s curtain, the sticks covered my whole body. One after another, the pricks came with constant, never-ending stabs like a swarm of bee stings.
My hands flapped I swatted away the brushwood. What I saw next, made me stop my panicked dance. James stood a few feet away, his face concentrated. His hand was up at chest level, and his fingers twitched.
“Stop this, please!”
The jabs stopped, and the sticks fell to the ground. His hand lowered.
“Take Sam’s warning, Kasey. Leave my brothers alone.”
“How could you do this to them? They don’t want to die.” I stepped back in case I needed to run again.
James’ fingers twitched again. He elevated my body a good five feet from the ground. Paralyzed, I had no control. He pushed his hand forward, and shoved my back into the tree.
“Leave tonight for America and do not return!” he demanded.
The pressure tightened on my chest. Feeling pressed like a sandwich it was hard to breathe.
The roar of the tiger bellowed through the forest. From twenty feet ahead, the animal raced toward us. I hit the ground. Not allowing James a second to show off another of his tricks, I lifted myself and ran. Somehow, the ghost tiger jumped ahead onto my path. It snarled. I turned to avoid running right into him. It seemed I’d never be able to out run the spirit tiger.
I came to a large tree trunk with some bushes surrounding its base. Slipping between the bushes, I stood still behind the tree. It was difficult to keep my wild breathing under control. I listened for any sounds of the tiger and heard soft foots steps on the other side of the tree. I crouched down into the bushes for more coverage in the prickly shrub. An icy breath blew onto my shoulder and grazed my cheek. A whisper seemed to come from the leaves.
“Kaaassseeyy,” it hissed. Something soft, cold, and smooth slithered across my shoulders. Fearful, I glanced down. A lucid serpent glided diagonally on my body.
I let out a pleading cry. “No, please.” I threw myself onto my back and scooted backwards on my hands and feet. A familiar growl echoed, and the snake transformed back into the tiger. Stumbling to my feet, I sprinted with the tiger right behind me. I ran forward, but took a quick glance backward. A paw lunged inches from me. A sharp sting ached across my back. Then there was no ground left for me to run on. Screaming, I descended off the cliff, toward the rocks.