The Mortal Fringe (26 page)

Abigail is so nervous that she keeps
hitting the floor with the tip of her shoe and whenever she has the
chance she takes a glimpse at the living room's window.

"What is wrong with you?" I ask
finally.

"I will tell you what is wrong with me
you little pain in the ass!" She uses her pointing finger to scare
me even further. "You escaped!"

"Well, I obviously did not
succeed."

She gets even closer.

"You don't get it, do you? I had to
teleport to get here to find you. I may have been traced, they
might be on the move just now. Do you realize what you have
done?"

I remain silent for a couple of
seconds, to give her time to catch some air.

"Well, you could just have waited for
me to come back."

"I couldn't."

Everyone in the room is waiting for an
explanation after that comment.

"Elizabeth and I grew up like sisters,
Alex. I promised her I would look after you, that I would not lose
sight of you or else I would give up my soul."

I don't know what she means, but her
tearing eyes show her at her most vulnerable. I suddenly feel
something in me, something I thought I would never feel for her,
sadness.

"The most precious thing to a God is
the soul, young boy" Barbra tells me from the armchair. "That is a
commitment not many of them would do.”

"I only did it because Elizabeth is
the only family I consider to have left, and personally, I don't
care about her not becoming a God, but if she dies because you do
something stupid, I will not forgive you, ever."

I have a feeling of regret that I have
hardly felt before.

"I'm sorry" I say, finally.

It takes us a long time to start a new
conversation. Everyone looks at me, and I don't know what to think,
I just look back at them.

"I am sure you have some questions?"
Barbra tells me after a while.

"Yes, I would like to know if
Elizabeth ever came here."

"Indeed she did. That's how we know
you. "

"What did she want?" My trembling
voice gives away the buzzing in my stomach.

Barbra stands up and walks to a big
desk standing at the corner of the room. She takes what it seems to
be a copy of her book and hands it to me.

"How do you think I got to know all I
wrote about?"

I give her a suspicious
look.

"Exactly" she says "I am one of them"
she looks at James and smiles back. "Do you remember how nice I
looked back then dear?"

"Indeed I do."

"You should have said that I still
look good!" she murmurs something I can't hear. "Husbands…" She
says in the end.

I try to get her attention back by
clearing my throat.

"Yes, sorry. Well, she knew that no
mortal could know about all those things; the world of the Gods is
strictly hidden from the world of the living, and half the things
in the book are intentionally not accurate, precisely for that
reason."

"Alright…" I say slowly, trying to
understand the meaning of what she says as I say the
word.

"She wanted to know how I managed to
stay away from that, how I managed to get on living" She stops for
a moment. "With him."

"Madness, if you ask me" Abigail
breaks her silence.

"Why would you say such thing?" James
seems surprised to hear her opinion.

"Have you heard what's going on? It is
regency era, the underworld is on the move and it is impossible to
break the rules."

"Well it was not impossible for us
dear" It is impressive how Barbra keeps her smile and positivism
all the time, I have been around her for least than an hour, and I
already think that everything is possible. Perhaps the fact that
she is living proof of it helps me realize that it is indeed
possible. She gives me hope.

"Again, it is different times, and
Elizabeth is a Mears. Nothing like what you had."

"It might be, but the context is the
same" Barbra comes right at my side "she loves him far beyond her
nature. That is the only thing it matters."

I look at Abigail, she can't find an
answer to that, and neither can I.

"So how did you do that?"

"Well, young boy, it was a long time
ago and nothing similar had ever happened, not that we knew of. I
only was determined to be with James, no matter what. I did not
care about living forever, what was the use of an eternal life, if
living forever meant destroying the one thing I loved? So we found
a way to beat the system, their system. "

I stand still, not moving, not
breathing, I don't want to miss a bit of it.

"I stayed away from him, I had no
contact with him, at all. I felt the connection between us going
away, killing us both slowly and painfully. But after long months,
I stood up against my leader, I told her that hers was not my
world. I went away, to find James, and once our eyes met again I
knew we had succeeded. My condition as an Immortal was something I
left behind. I chose to live, to go on with him. We paired our
souls in our own way, not living forever, but longer than any other
mortal, together."

I feel my eyes watering again. She
tried to keep me close, forever. I said things that I now regret,
more than anything.

"But she failed" she states
firmly.

That's what Elizabeth said.

"She could not let you go, she was too
worried about you, for something that happened in your past and did
not let you go on with your life. She always kept an eye on you, no
matter how hard I tried to make her understand. "

"Then Mal came."

"Exactly, and she came back to you
too."

The lady warms me with her arms, I am
about to start shaking again, I have never felt so useless in my
life.

"Now she tried to do it again, but it
was too late, the night is close." She grabs my face with her
wrinkled hands. "Have this in mind, Alex. The true dangers in life
come from the people we hold dearest to our hearts, and not from
our enemies. Not because they betray us, but because we can't bare
the possibility of loved ones suffering, and we
interfere."

We both interfered, me and Elizabeth.
She saved me from Mal, twice, and now I have broken the promise to
remain safe to come here.

"What do we do now?" I ask with a
trembling voice.

"Go home, and hope for the best" James
tells me from behind.

"And if we ever see each other again,
we will stand at your side. None of us could turn our back to those
going through what we ourselves had to do."

"Well darling, not all of us are
Immortal, keep that in mind."

"Shut your mouth, dear" Barbra answers
smiling, but with her eyes fixed on mine, and I swear I can see a
glimpse of green light in them.

Barbra forces us to spend the night,
she knows we have to drive back a long way and this has been an
exhausting afternoon. We agree, not before calling back home and
making sure that everything is alright. I sleep in the couch and
let Abigail take the spare bed they have. I would not use a bed
tonight, I have something inside me that keeps me awake all night,
something I once called hope that now is more like a fear of hoping
too much.

I don't dream today, I have no time
for that.

When dawn wakes us, Barbra has
prepared an extraordinary breakfast to give us the strength we need
to complete our journey back.

"You do need all the vitamins you can
take in, you look far too thin."

I smile at her, and eat everything on
my plate. We are ever so grateful for what they have done for us,
at least I am- Judging by her expression, Abigail obviously would
have preferred for us not to meet.

After two more hours with them,
discussing what we have gone through, Abigail decides that it is
time to go back. So we stand up and walk towards the door. Once we
open it, I know that something is wrong.

The tall and pale figure standing in
front of me is a proof that something is really, really
wrong.

Tristan is here.

CHAPTER 38

He is standing right in front of the
car. I look at him not knowing what to do or say. Abigail remains
by my side and I have the feeling that she is going through the
exact same situation.

"Who might you be?" Barbra shouts from
the other end of the corridor.

Tristan takes a long time before
moving his feet towards us. He stops before going up the stairs and
then he answers with his polite, and calm voice.

"I have been sent to warn them,
lady."

"That does not quite answer my
question" she implies.

"His name is Tristan, he and I shared
leader, but that was a long time ago."

"You have not changed, Abigail"
Tristan looks at her, as if he wanted her to vanish.

"Neither have you."

We all remain there for a long minute,
then Barbra restarts the conversation once again, asking Tristan
why is he there.

"Elizabeth sends me. It appears that
our dearest Abigail went missing days after becoming a God, which
is highly unusual, but on top of that, she did so the same day that
our young fringe here did. I do not need to explain how curious
Constance found the situation. "

"And when they received news of
Abigail being here..."

"They are on the move. Elizabeth and
Jay travel along with Constance, almost as hostages, Constance
won't let the chance go away. Elizabeth sent me to warn you
both."

"You mean you are not going to help
them?" James shows up from Barbra's behind.

"And how might I? I have done exactly
what was asked of me."

"Well, you could perhaps stay with
them. We don't want the poor girl to kill the boy."

Tristan looks at me, I feel like if
this was the first time we had ever met. Probably he does that on
purpose, but it is getting weird.

"Indeed" he says.

"We got another romantic here" Abigail
does not want to proceed with the conversation and so she walks to
the car.

Tristan does not answer, but the look
in his eyes tells us all that Abigail is right.

"I won't leave, for now.”

Barbra and James hug me; I feel the
comfort of their company once more. They give me strength not to
surrender.

"Drive carefully. Don't use your
Goddish tricks. "

We get into the car, Abigail is
already at the wheel and the engine is roaring silently. She looks
at both of us as she starts the car. We go up Middle Street and
before I can notice we turn left, go past the city hall and leave
the city with less difficulties than when I first entered
it.

"You are obviously hiding something
from us" She keeps her eyes on the road, but the tone of her voice
is highly increasing.

"Indeed. Elizabeth is afraid that they
are not the only ones who sensed you."

I know what that means, there is no
need to use names. Abigail changes gears and we start going faster.
I am sure that nothing will happen, I don't need to be afraid for
going so fast inside a car. Of course not; cars are safe, and
especially when driven by a maniac who basically can't die.
Alright, I'm in trouble.

I'm alright, I'm alright. Nothing's
going to happen. Not today, this car is the safest place where I
could possibly be. I need to keep telling that to myself for a long
while before I can open my eyes again.

"What is our best move,
then?"

"Best move?" Tristan mutters with his
serious and lifeless voice. "You can't hide forever, you know that.
We know each other, there's no hiding."

I know what Tristan means, I've seen
it. Immortals can hide their true nature from those who are
unfamiliar with them, just like Jessica did with Jay, that's why
Mal never showed up around me when Jay or Elizabeth were near. They
have us trapped, me and Elizabeth.

"So what do we do" I ask trying to
hide all the fear trapped in me.

"We'll drive back, and we will think
of something. I am not breaking my promise."

The car moves so fast that I can't
focus on my thoughts. Tristan and Abigail talk about something that
I can't or don't want to hear, I am not sure which of the two it
is. I am just terrified once again for the possibility of my
imminent death, or Elizabeth's.

Now that I get to spend more time with
Tristan I look at him and I feel somewhat pity for the God. I know
what it is not to be alright, but he seems miserable all the time,
forgotten even, nothing but a pale memory of what the young
Immortal hidden inside him once was. I won't ask about it, it's
none of my business and the last thing I want is an awkward
situation with whom has been sent to help us undo our wrong,
somehow.