The Mortal Fringe (6 page)

I stand up and pick some of the books
on the table, these belong to the upper shelve in Ms. Adkins's
library. I get on the stairs carefully enough, I don't want to make
a fool of myself in front of Elizabeth. My balance has never been
particularly good, and this wooden stairs are not in great
shape.

"Hold on, I'll give you a hand with
that" I can't believe she is getting up to help me with
this.

Elizabeth holds the stairs and I
climb. The books are heavy and I am trying my best not to drop
them, but one of the thickest slip through my fingers and even
though I try to catch it, it only makes it worse. I make a harsh
move that makes me lose my balance. The stairs shake and Elizabeth
has no time to react. The wood gives in and the next thing I can
see is me getting closer and closer to Elizabeth. I fall on top of
her.

I am terribly embarrassed, I have
never seen anyone so cold and serious. She is motionless, with the
only hint of life coming from her eyes. I don't know what to say.
My head is on her chest and I am terribly ashamed. I can't think of
anything, I can't move, and when I try to, I feel it. It can't
be.

Nothing. No movement, no breathing, no
heartbeat. And yet she looks me in the eye, as if nothing had
happened.

Her green eyes.

Ms. Adkins is not the Immortal,
Elizabeth is.

CHAPTER 10

My blood freezes. I stand up and look
at her, absolutely terrified. My back is against the library and by
the moment Elizabeth looks at me I know that she understands what's
going on. I can't breathe, I look at her and the only thing I can
see are those green eyes that have been haunting me for months. It
seems impossible that this is happening, but the lone fact that she
says nothing about it makes it certain. She can't die. She lives
forever. She wants my soul.

I'm shaking and I can't move. I
understand now the feeling of true fear. She stands up slowly and
there is a quick smile on her face. I have read about the
Immortals, I know what they are.

"Listen" she sounds normal, like if
nothing had happened.

"Stay away from me!" I raise my hand
as a warning sign, I know it won't protect me but it's the only
thing I can do. Carefully, I move towards the door, my back still
pressed against the wall. And when I find the door, I walk
out.

I run as fast as I can and get into
the toilets, there's someone inside, thank God. I have an urgent
need to throw up. Right after I'm done, the toilet door opens, it's
Jay and by the look in his eyes, he is looking for me.

"Jay!" I don't know if I am surprised
or not, what I know is that never in my life I've been so glad to
see anyone. -I need to get out of here.

He puts his hands on my shoulders and
takes me outside. We leave the main building and needless to tell
him anything about what just happened, he takes me back to the
residence.

"You will be ok" he whispers, trying
to make me feel comfortable. I thank him for that. I still can't
believe what's happening.

There's nothing to say, and I can't
even hear what Jay is telling me, I am too focused on Elizabeth's
green eyes, killing me every time I fall asleep. I know we are
close to the residence when I notice the shop I walk by every day.
I let go of Jay and take a rest, I need to breathe and the need to
throw up keeps coming back. I hate this, I really do. I'm dizzy and
can't see clearly, everything is blurry, and the last thing I see
before going totally black are those green eyes taking my life
again.

When I wake up there is almost no
light in the room. I recognize the place, Jay has taken me inside
the residence; this is our room. All the memories of what happened
from the moment I left the University until now have disappeared. I
bring my hand to my forehead, I have a terrible fever. It must be
from the shock. Jay is sitting right in front of me, on his desk
chair. He offers me a glass of water, which I drink pressing the
crystal edge of the glass against my face, still trembling for what
happened. I try to stand up, but I can't do it, my legs would give
out the moment I got on my feet.

"Take it easy, lie down", he seems so
calm.

"I...you will not believe what
happened Jay, I need to get out of here, I don't know what's going
on", thank god I trust him well enough to tell him all this stuff,
if not, I'd die.

"I know what happened."

"You have no idea, I have never been
so terrified in my entire life", wait "what did you
say?"

Jay stands up and walks out of the
room, I feel dizzy again and the headache is coming back. I'm
having a terrible day. The door opens again, but this time it's not
Jay, Elizabeth walks in, and she seems to be worried.

I get on my feet and get hold of my
bed table lamp and point it to her.

"Don't get any closer" I keep moving
the lamp as if it was going to help me in some way.

Elizabeth stands still and looks at me
in a very gentle way.

"Alex, I'm not going to hurt
you."

"Yet" I say with my trembling
voice.

"Yet", she smiles. She gets closer to
me, takes the lamp from my hands and puts it back on the bed table.
She then sits on Jay’s chair, keeping the distance, as
requested.

I am not going to sit down, not yet.
If I could I would run away again, but Jay is keeping the door and
given the scenario, he would not let me go. I consider jumping off
the window but I am too dumb for it and I would probably kill
myself, which now doesn't look at all like a bad idea.

"You too?" My voice is not fully
recovered from what I'm feeling, but Jay knows well enough that I'm
talking to him. "You could just have left me there, you didn't need
to bring me here."

"I had to, you were in the middle of
the street, and no one is going to hurt you."

"You guys don't expect me to believe
that, do you?"

The fear I'm feeling is starting to
turn into fury. I don't know what it is but I'm sure this is the
first time I experience all these emotions.

"What do you want to know?" Elizabeth
seems so willing that I almost believe her.

I consider the question. What would be
the wisest thing to ask? I have never been in a situation like this
one, in which some Immortal person, whom I know is bond to take my
soul to become a God, asks me what is it I want to know.

"Nothing" I lie, trying to hide that I
am more terrified of knowing the answers than thinking about the
questions.

Elizabeth's green eyes are fixed on me
again. She puts her hands on her neck and smiles. She then looks at
Jay.

"Constance was right, he is
great."

Jay smiles. Again, I have no Idea of
what's going on, and right after she has said that, I have a
question for her.

"Did we just met because of this?" the
question is intended for Jay, but they both answer at the same
time.

"Yes. You see, when a Catalyst like
you appears, the leader of an Immortal tribe makes all the
arrangements needed for us to meet. Constance found you, and in a
matter of seconds we were all here waiting for you to show up.
"

I sit now, but not because I am
feeling better, quite the contrary. For two months I thought that I
had finally been able to get over my fear of meeting new people, I
thought that I had made a great friend whom I could trust, and
suddenly, it all was a lie.

"I am your friend though", Jay must
have noticed the look on my face. "That’s for sure."

I smile, I find this whole situation
repulsive and the only thing I want to do is punch him in the face.
As hard as I can.

"He's telling the truth Alex, he has
been delaying this moment until you found out yourself."

"And why delay it?"

"It's always better if you find out
about things, learning gives us perspective. If Jay had told you,
you would have run away."

What makes her think I'm staying here
after this?

"You would have not been able to take
it in on time. But now you know, and you have to trust us,
until..." she seems embarrassed to go on.

"Until you take my soul", How is that
an option? Stay with them? Not a chance.

"Exactly" her voice is
rough.

"Well, at least you have the decency
of being honest. But no, thank you, I'd rather not…” I can't even
think of the words.

Jay comes closer and sits right next
to Elizabeth, who looks back at him in a rather worrying
expression.

"You must trust us", she adds
"whenever a Catalyst meets an Immortal, everyone is on the move.
There are tribes that can't find their Catalysts on time, and they
might come for you, and trust me, they won't be as gentle as we are
being."

She could be lying to me, but for some
reason I think she isn't. I am not ready to give in though, the
fear is still inside me and I know it won't leave me. I can't
believe they are asking me to stay with them no matter what, only
to be the ones to make me disappear. I start breathing harshly
again. Then the question hits me.

"How long have you known about
me?"

"Us? Not much. Since the moment you
got into the plane" Jay is telling the truth, I know it. "Constance
has known about you since the day you decided that you would spend
the semester here."

That, if I am not wrong is more or
less the same time I have been having all those dreams. I instantly
know it is related, what else can it be? I bring both my hands to
my head and then I look back at them, I have another
question.

"Why can't I remember the
dream?"

"What dream?"

"The dream I've been having ever since
I decided to come here. Every single night I dream of my death, and
the only thing I can remember is that I die, and your eyes", the
look on Elizabeth's face impresses me, she is as surprised as
Jay.

I really don't want to go on with the
conversation, it’s making my dizzy again and I can't stand looking
at the two individuals in front of me. I take the jacket from my
desk and I leave. Neither of them move a finger to stop me, which I
appreciate. I walk down the corridor and take the stairs this time,
as long as I'm walking, I won't be thinking about today. I go to
the top floor, there's a terrace that usually is full of people,
but today is just for me. It's already night. Not only have I lost
the whole day, but the small part I remember of it makes for the
worst day of my entire life, or at least one of them.

I stand near the railing and I can see
people walking in the street, they have no idea of the world they
live in. In moments like this I must admit that ignorance is not
that bad. There's a group of students gathered right in front of
the residence, and that makes me feel alone again, as alone as I've
ever been.

How did this happen? How can all this
be possible? Yesterday, I had a stupid theory about my teacher
being some sort of freak that could live forever and now, not only
that is true, but my closest friend and the one person I could fall
for are members of her tribe, as they call it.

"I'm sorry, you know?" Elizabeth has
sneaked into the terrace, I have not heard her, which is not
surprising after all. "You are a nice guy, I'm sorry this happened
to you."

I turn around and start to walk
towards the entrance to the building, I can hear her behind me, but
I will not turn to her. I know far too much to pretend that
everything is alright.

"I'm sorry too" and I close the door
as hard as I can.

CHAPTER 11

The ringing of the phone wakes me up.
There's no one in the room but me, thanks for not being here Jay. I
take the phone, it's my mother. I don't want talk to anyone right
now but it has been a couple of days since I last talked to her and
I don't want her to worry.

"Alex darling! You will not believe
what just happened! Wait, I didn't wake you up honey, did
I?"

"You did mom, but it's ok. Go ahead,
what happened?"

"I just won tickets for the Super
Bowl! There was this radio thing going on and they asked the most
stupid question, no one got it right so I called and I
won!"

"But mom, you don't like football", I
say it as If I was joking, I am really glad to hear her so excited.
She sounds like in the old days.

"Well, but I will keep them! I have
never won a thing in my entire life!"

"You do that, yes. But keep them safe,
if you hit bankruptcy before February those might come in real
handy."

"I will never get your jokes darling.
Is everything alright over there?" That's when I consider answering
-yes, I only realized that I am the meal of some soon to be God. -
But it doesn't look like a good idea.

"Oh yes, everything's great. Listen, I
got to go, love you, take care and say hi to grandpa.
Bye."

I hung up, but keep the phone glued to
my hand, it makes me feel closer to her, to safety.