Darkness The Diary of Samantha Owen (24 page)

“That isn´t true
!”

“Yes it is. I have memorized every part of you. Your hair, the shape of your shoulders, your arms, your chest, your lips; everything…” I said as I caressed every part of the body I named “… I would be able to recognize you in any part of the world.”

At that moment he kissed me firmly, as though he had desired to do so for a long time.

“The days seem like centuries
,” he whispered between kisses.

“The night we had last night, seemed like much farther
away than I would like,” I replied as I rubbed nose in his neck and his shoulder bone.

He started to kiss me again as he stroked my back. He slid down with care and he lay on top of me embracing me strongly.

“I love you,” he mumbled over my lips just before he gave me one last kiss.

“What is going on?” I asked not understanding why he was no longer kissing me.

“I am not going to make love to you with your mother two floors down,” he said as he tensed his shoulders.

“I just want to sleep by your side. I have told you to come because I cannot bear not s
eeing you. I needed you to hold me after everything that happened today.” I muttered into his chest.

He relaxed and lay down by my side letting me hug him.

“Has something else happened?” he asked almost alarmed.

I told him what had happened with my sister and Ian. He relaxed after hearing how I had fried his arm.”

“I am sorry that you have had to go through this. I didn´t even know she was here, with you.”

“Don´t worry
,” I kissed him, “you are here now.”

Eric told me about the plan that Phoenix had in mind and how Elizabeth was helping them, he understood why they hadn´t seen her that day.”

“You should rest,” he said as he caressed my chin.

“I don´t want to sleep.”

“You should.”

“I don´t want to wake up and not see you. I don´t want that to happen again
,” I sighed as I leant my head on his chest.

“It will just be tonight. I promise you. When everything is over, you will wake up by my side every day
, because I am not thinking in leaving you alone for one second.”

He kissed me on my forehead and my eyelids fell despite the resistance I tried to make. We slept the whole night embracing each other until a ray of sunlight woke me, letting me know that a new day had arrived.

After a long shower I went down to have breakfast. Francis who was in an excellent mood, as always, made buttered toast with jelly. I had never imagined that he would be such a good cook. He was quite the expert.

“Has she woken yet?” I asked.

“No, but now you will be able to see how much she has improved.”

We didn´t
speak anymore. With a full stomach I left the kitchen and arrived to the sofa where my mother was resting. She was every time younger. The wrinkles were almost unperceivable, her hair has recovered its color and the stains on her skin were very difficult to see.

“I don´t think she will take long in waking
,” Kenneth said to my back, making me jump.

“She is very beautiful
,” I answered him as I looked how her chest rose and fell with every breath.

“And you look very much like her. Although you don´t believe it, there is no denying that you are her daughter.”

“Who is my father Kenneth?” I said before thinking properly if he could answer or not. I looked at him waiting for an answer.

“I do not know.”

“But, you have to know. You were her Counsellor, her best friend. You have to know who my father is.”

“I only know a name.” he said as he looked at me with his brownish-grey eyes.

“And what is it?” I asked seeing that he did not speak.

“You mother will kill me if I tell you”

“No she won´t and you know it. I have the right to know who my father is.”

“His name is Patrick Owen. That is all I can tell you.” He declared sinking into the sofa beside my mother.

“So that means that my complete name is Samantha Owen?”

“Exactly
,” he answered.

“I think it wouldn´t do you any ill to rest, I can stay with her.”

“Don´t worry, I have passed worse nights, I can assure you. Now you should go, you have to train.”

“How can I leave my mother here?”

“Francis and I will take care of her. You will go with Gabriel to practice. There is not much time left.”

             
“When did you first see the battle?” I wanted to know, trying to understand how his prediction method worked.

             
“And is it good what you see?”

             
“Samantha, that I see it doesn´t mean that it will happen. The future can always be changed. Now go. Gabriel is waiting for you.”

I got up and looked at my mother another time before leaving. I really didn´t want to leave her alone, but the battle was very close.

The fresh morning air brushed against my face as I went out the door. It was a precious, sunny yet fresh day. I saw a peaceful Gabriel observing the trees, distracted. I felt that something was changing in him. His shoulders weren´t as tense as normal and the tone of sarcasm had disappeared from his words.

“Good morning
,” I said not sure that he would hear me.

“Good morning Samantha
,” he answered as I moved towards him.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, why do you ask?” he answered very sure.

“Because you seem different
,” I said without preambles.

He smiled distracted and started to walk.

“We can talk later about that if you want. Now we have to train,” he said without anger in his voice.

I nodded my head and followed him, happy that my question hadn´t annoyed him.

“Are we going to the prairie that we were yesterday?” I asked curiously as we walked.

“No, I am going to take you to a different place. It is beyond the prairie.”

“Why don´t we vanish?”

He veered his face so that I could see his huge smile before answering me.

“That is because, we sons of the night love to walk.”

I was astonished by his good mood, so I didn´t ask anything else so as not to spoil it.

We crossed the valley at a quick pace and went into the woods again. We walked on a small path that seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, so much that you could barely make it out. But Gabriel knew the way.”

A few minutes later we were crossing branches and leaves until we reaching a clearing and I saw not only a new prairie, smaller than the pr
evious one, but also a small lake with a precious waterfall about six meters high. We went down until arriving to the shores of the beautiful lake. There were stones by the edge; I followed them, bordering the lake until I arrived to a large stone wall that stopped my path making me life my sights until I could see the great waterfall that was falling only a few meters above me. That place was impressive. It was peaceful and relaxing. I turned round and saw small animals close to the lake drinking water; I heard the birds singing and I felt free. I was so enclosed within myself that I didn´t hear how Gabriel called me.

“Samantha!!” the cry was closer to me.

I looked confused by his tone of voice and moved towards him.

“What is going on?” I asked innocently.

“Didn´t you hear?”

“No, what did you say?”

He looked at me and started to explain again all that he had told me and I hadn´t heard.

“You have to be careful with this place. I have brought you he
re for a reason.” He paused trying to make sure that I was paying attention.

“Continue
,” I insisted.

“This is an enchanted place. It is able to absorb all your senses
leaving you with nothing, just as happened to you a moment ago. That is something that you cannot allow to happen. Without your senses you are defenseless and anyone could attack you. If you learn to control your senses here, then tomorrow you will have no problem.”

I almost couldn´t imagine such a beautiful place doing such things, but he was right, I had to concentrate.

“Alright, let´s get started,” I said firmly.

I followed him to where he had left our things. He took his sword from the stony ground and looked at me. I took out my daggers from my belt and
centered all my senses in them; their weight, their firmness, their balance. I had practiced many hours in the training hall, but here time was real and we had to make good use of it. This was going to be my last training.

He started to move towards me carefully. I moved to my left, away from the lake. All of a sudden he pounced on me with his sword, almost not giving me time to react. I dodged him, staying only a few centimeters from him.

“Concentrate,” he said with a hard expression. All trace of his good mood had vanished.

I started to make the daggers turn in my fingers like I so often had and attacked him. The noise of the metal against metal could be heard resounding through the trees in the place. I again leapt at him as he had taught me, aiming for his neck. Then, he trapped my hands with such strength that I let go of the daggers and fell to the floor. In two seconds his sword was on my neck.

“If you do that you will die,” he said with a cold voice.

“That is what you taught me
,” I answered almost mad.

He helped me up and told me to pick up the daggers.

“Again,” he said impatiently.

He attacked me again. At that moment I caught his sword within my daggers and
made a play with my wrists to steal it from his hands. The sword fell, leaving a defenseless Gabriel before me.  Barely being able to believe it he took two small swords with finer and longer blades than the last one from his belt. He joined them effortlessly at the middle, creating a spear. I looked at it stunned at what he had done but I didn´t have much time to watch. I took a step back before his spear cut me in two. I looked at him furiously and threw one of my daggers in his direction. The crash of metals was distinct when he expelled it from its trajectory. It sounded as though the metal had cut. I walked furiously to my dagger and when I turned I saw that Gabriel had a piece of metal in his hand.

“Your dagger has cut my spear
,” he said in disbelief.

“That is impossible
,” I muttered.

Gabriel lifted his spear so that I could see it better and I saw how a clean cut pierced one of its points.

“I am sorry,” I said not knowing what to do.

He looked at me confused and then laughed in my face.

“Don´t be sorry Samantha, you are a natural fighter. I congratulate you for what you have just done. You have centered your attention in me. You have got angry and have broken my spear. This is great!” he exclaimed.

“What?” I asked without understanding anything.

“Samantha, you don´t need any more training classes. Today you have beaten your teacher. You have done what I have said and you have defeated me. You are ready to fight.”

I couldn´t believe what I was hearing.

“But I thought that I had to train more, a normal person…”

“You are not normal…” he interrupted me,
… ”you were already a warrior.”

I was so surprised that I didn´t say anymore. I saw how he picked up his things and started walking to leave. I followed with clumsy steps until I caught up on him. He had already recovered his good humor, in the fight it was all a façade. It was the attitude that
was needed.

We left the great prairie again and I turned around to look at that lake that I loved so much. It was like a mirror.

“You have helped me a lot
,” Gabriel said improvised making my thoughts diffuse.

“Me? To do what?”

“Seeing your dedication at the time of learning, your efforts for wanting to improve and your stubbornness on not renouncing to Eric. You are a great person and you have inspired me to become better. I was never a bad person, until I met your sister. When I found you I wanted to find her inside of you at all cost. Because she had made me change and I didn´t like the way I was anymore.”

“Is that is why you were so happy before?”

“Yes, because I have changed. I have forgotten the sarcasm and the bad manners. Now I am me again. I am not a murderer.” He said this last thing without looking at me.

“A murderer?”

“I know that Eric doesn´t esteem me highly and when you tell him he will kill me but it doesn´t matter, because now I have the courage to tell you, thanks to you.”

At that moment I didn´t know what he was talking about but I thought it was better not to ask.

“And now I understand,” he continued, “that all she did was to protect me. And for that I love her so much, because I know that she truly loves me and what she did was so that I could be well.”