Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy (11 page)

Ana had not wished to appear at the Marques for lunch. She didn’t want to see Saul; the kiss had messed her up more than she would have ever thought possible. She couldn't think about anything else, even if she tried to. Right now, there was no need to get into an emotional chaos with an unattainable guy. Her condition was far from stable. She was still walking on thin ice after her illness and she apparently didn't need heartache to get her off track again. Besides, in five days she would fly back home and never see him again.

School started in two weeks, and she had to keep all of her senses together to keep up after being absent for several months. So she would immediately forget Saul, his soft brown eyes, his wonderful voice and the kiss. She tapped her forehead several times, "Get yourself together, stop being such a fan girl Ana, face reality for God's sake." "Are you talking to yourself?" Her mom stood in the doorway, holding her vibrating phone in her hand, "Gabe is calling. Do you want to talk to him?"
"No way, that guy annoys me. I’ll call him back later."

"Oh by the way," her mom said casually, "after lunch with the Marques family I’ll meet Chris. Would you like to meet Renée and spend the afternoon with her?" Ana shrugged, "Of course, why not, sounds like a good idea." She nodded, that actually was a brilliant idea. She would have agreed to almost anything, even to a date with the devil to get out of Saul's way. To avoid his velvet eyes that seemed to see to the bottom of her soul bringing to the surface her innermost longings. Stop, she stomped her foot to the floor furiously where did her pesky thoughts go off again? Her mom looked worried, "What's wrong Muffin. Did I say something wrong? You seem so tense.” Ana smiled wryly, "No everything is ok, don't worry." Her mom gave up, "We’ll leave at half past eleven, so please get ready."
"I am ready." She gave her mom a defiant look. After glancing at her, her Mom said casually; "No problem, I leave it up to you. If you want to come along dressed in this sloppy look …" she eyed disapproving her baggy outfit. "What the hell is wrong with my looks? I’m not dressing fancy. I wouldn't know why I should. I don’t want to impress anyone." Her mom frowned, "Don’t tell me that you are taking it serious when I tease you about my future - dream son in law -?" Ana didn't answer, "But you have to admit he is cute, and he is quite handsome.” Ana growled, "That's a Cocker Spaniel too and besides he is not my type!" She threw a pillow at her mother, who squeaked and took cover closing the door behind her.

Ana sighed and made a move to change clothes. She didn’t feel like dressing up. She felt rather dusky, and put on her black shorts with a white lace-trimmed top. She buckled the belt as tight as possible since otherwise the damn shorts were too baggy. With a belt, it looked ok, and not, overdressed, more casual. She tied her hair into a high ponytail. Some mascara and lip-gloss would do just fine. She decided not to put on any make-up. Finally, she didn't try to impress the guy. Or did she?
 

Mr. and Mrs. Marques welcomed them warmly. Saul and his younger sister Sophie were also standing in the hallway to welcome them. Sophie seemed to be very interested in her mom because she read the books. Saul on the other hand was quite reserved today compared to yesterday evening. Apparently – I’ll be forever in your debt if you sing with me - was long forgotten. Or maybe he was just embarrassed because he kissed her? Ana didn't know and to be honest, she didn't care either way. She wouldn’t see him ever again after today. So as the old saying goes, better an end with terror than a terror without an end.

The food was delicious. Mrs. Marques appeared to be a gifted cook. Sophie dominated the conversation and asked her mom thousands of questions about her books that she eagerly answered. Ana wiggled nervously around on her chair, she couldn’t wait to leave this place and meet Renée. Everything would be better than feeling this tension in the air between her and Mr. Superstar, but apparently no one else noticed. It was almost unbearable. Now and then, she caught herself looking in his direction and he seemed to experience the same unfortunate habit. She forced herself not to look at him, which was difficult because he was sitting across from her at the table. She really did her best to ignore him, counting every single flower leaf pattern on the classy tablecloth. Unfortunately, the calming effect missed this time around. Damn she just wanted to get out of here. mom seemed to be enjoying herself, but finally coffee and dessert were over, and Ana urged her mom that it was time to go and meet Renée. They were as good as gone, but then her mom got a call from Chris informing her, they would meet directly in his office and that Renée wasn't able to make it. Renée's mother had other plans for her this afternoon. 'What a crap,' Ana thought, 'what's next?' Ana was desperate and when Saul's mother suggested Saul and Sophie could spend the afternoon with her and some sightseeing, she almost howled aloud. Of course, her mom was thrilled with the idea because she had an appointment with Chris and they certainly didn’t want her tagging along. Damn it! “No problem, Mom, I'll be doing some sightseeing on my own." Mrs. Marques glanced at her two kids. "No way love, Saul and Sophie will take care of you."

Sophie shook her head; "I'm really sorry, but I can’t come with you, I am meeting Cecilia we have to work on a School project." Ana smiled at her, "Hey no sweat, I’ll get along just fine. Besides, I’ll meet with a friend at Judo training later on, I could do some shopping for a couple of hours." Saul seemed to be brooding about something, then suddenly he looked up straight into Ana's eyes, "I have plenty of time this afternoon, I can take you around town." Mrs. Marques clapped her hands, "Great, then that's settled." Ana swallowed hard, she didn't want to spend the whole afternoon with him alone, God knew what would happen. She was attracted to him, and that was damn dangerous. She had to put him off the idea of showing her around.

When she returned the dishes to the kitchen, she stood next to him, and hissed quite unfriendly, "You don’t have to take care of me, I can get around by myself and I don't need someone to watch over me. Besides, I am sure you have better things to do than babysit me." Saul didn’t seem to be the least bit interested in what she had to say. He pulled her out of earshot and said quietly but firmly, "This is absolute nonsense and you know it. I will accompany you gladly. It doesn’t bother me." Ana was furious, "But it bothers me. I want to be alone and I don't want company." Saul watched her amused. This damn girl made him angry for one thing and if he was honest he had plans for this afternoon, but then again she was so damn attractive, it tempted him to annoy her. He didn't know why he felt that way. Normally he wasn't the mean guy when it came to girls. Not at all, he was rather the nice guy and girls liked him more than he cared for. That was also a reason he didn't have a girlfriend. He was always on the run because they were all over him. Especially since his singing career had taken off lately. But Ana didn't seem to be interested in him at all and still there was a certain tension in the air since that kiss yesterday. Her mere presence irritated him and made him want to tease her. Something he had never experienced before.

Ana tried to get herself out of it pretending to have a headache, but incredibly and hard to believe, Mr. Wonderful brought her some painkiller and a glass of water. He was such a sweetheart Ana thought boiling inside. She would poison him if the opportunity arose. "Give me a chance. You are not getting rid of me that quick. If my Mom thinks I should spend the afternoon with you, that's the way it is going to be." “Are you always doing what your Mom says, then?” Ana would have liked to stomp her foot or even better slap him in his smug face. He smirked at her, observing her closely, "Exactly, that’s why I am her favorite son.”

“Maybe that’s because you are her only son,” she rolled her eyes, but probably there was no chance to get out the whole thing. Well, then again, what could happen in three hours? Not that much. At five she would meet Leyla, so she could certainly survive these three hours somehow. He was still observing her, "So what do you want to do?" Ana's eyes narrowed, wondering frantically how she could annoy him the most. She would make him feel sorry for wanting to spend the afternoon with her, "How about the zoo?" He seemed surprised, "you want to go to the zoo? No kidding?" "Why, is that a problem for you?"
"No, in half an hour we can be there, the connection is really good from here. I’m just amazed that you want to go to the zoo, that’s all."
"Well, then that's settled. I’m' off to the zoo, and you’ll probably still have a lot of things to do, like writing Autographs for silly screaming girls."
"No, that's ok, I told you I d' come with you and as a matter of fact I love the zoo. Let me just grab my shades and a hat."
"You wear a hat to go to the Zoo?" She shook her head, "Did they ever tell you that you were kind of weird?" He forced a smile grabbing a baseball cap, some sunglasses, and his skateboard.

Ana thanked his parents and said goodbye to his sister. Then she sullenly walked beside him to the Subway Station. A fine mess she had made out of getting as far away as possible from him. Ana thought to herself, she had wanted to be by no means alone with him. Now, look what had happened.

Ana and Leyla sat at the counter of BJJs and were drinking some mineral water. Ana seemed a bit absentminded today, almost on another planet. Leyla thought surprised. Usually she was quite chatty. Today Ana was silent, and she had not lost a word about the Awards, even though her Mom had won a prize. She seemed to be far away with her thoughts. Leyla was thinking about suggesting to go home when it burst out of Ana, "Leyla I know it sounds crazy, but I need your advice, and I want you to come with me to a party tonight."
"But you are aware that I am grounded, and I can only go out if working at the Crowd is involved," Leyla said slightly irritated. Then she remembered, that Ana had no clue about the Crowd story, "Please! You have to do me a favor, and I will be forever grateful," she looked at Leyla, her eyes huge and pleading, "I met this guy at the Awards, and I really like him, although nothing will come of it, no chance and I will leave next Tuesday anyway."

"What do you need me for then? Do you want me to hold him back by the collar if he gets too close to you? Just go easy on it, or don’t go at all." "No, I can’t do that. Just imagine that your boyfriend, I mean, the one who is gone, would be here again and would have invited you. You would certainly go, even if you knew that it was a shitty idea. Am I'm right?" Leyla smiled, "I guess so. God, girl, you've got a crush on him!"
"Maybe, I am not sure, but I'd like to go to this birthday party that one of his friends is throwing, and I don’t dare to go there alone. Honestly, I don’t trust myself, every time I see him I feel like swooping down on him. So I do need someone who makes sure that I behave decently." Leyla laughed, "I am afraid, that you are barking up the wrong tree, but what the hell, I am in quite a good mood because Gregory called me yesterday and my friends have arranged for this job as a waitress to fill up my empty bank account. So I think I could manage somehow to help you out."

"Thank you, you're certainly saving my day," Ana hugged her with a gleaming interest in her, "Hey great, so your guy has called. When is he coming back?"
"What can I say, it is not quite as simple, but he misses me, and I'm just happy that I heard of him." Ana thought briefly about Gabe’s request, what she should ask Leyla, but she was still too confused after meeting Saul that she couldn’t think straight for the moment. What did she have to ask Leyla again? It was about a place, but she couldn’t recall the place and the name of the Circus. Somewhere she must have written it down, but where? Oh, screw Gabe she thought, today was all about her. She wanted to enjoy this crazy sense of anticipation, even if it made no sense and she would be better off staying far away from Saul Marques. Because if she was honest, Leyla was right, she had a huge crush on him, and heartbreak was about to follow, this was a real good recipe for disaster.

She heard Leyla's voice from far away like through thick fog, "I yet have to discuss with my friends that they cover for me at the Crowd with my parents, so they’ll think that I am at work there. Hard to believe that I'll lie to them again." She shook her head. Ana took her hand, "I'll be forever in your debt." Ana’s phone started ringing, and she answered it, "Hi Mom, yes, I am still at the BJJ glad you called, Saul invited me to a party at his friend’s house, you don’t mind if I go there, do you?" She made a face, "Yes Mom, I admit that he's nice. I hope you're happy now," she listened for a while and suddenly threw both arms in the air, whispering, "Yes," then she said uninterested, "it’s ok for me if we stay a week longer. Finally, school starts only in two weeks again. I still have plenty of time to prepare myself. Bye Mom, and don’t wait for me, I don’t know when I’ll get back to the Hotel." She hung up and looked at Leyla beaming. “We’ll stay a week longer; my Mom has been invited to stay longer. Isn’t that great?"
"Uh, oh." Leyla frowned, "I think someone is falling for a certain Saul."

Keanu had gone out of Gregory’s way for some time after his misfires and Gregory, couldn’t have agreed more to it. He would show him what he was capable of. He would make him wonder why he had underestimated him that much. Signora Tiziana might be a little crazy, but at least she believed in him. He was disappointed that Keanu gave him up so quickly. Today he trained very hard, things went up in flames in the old quarry outside the city and were of course, extinguished again. He had deliberately raised winds and storms and dissolved them, more or less successfully again. He had been damn lucky, because a Dutch tourist got somehow lost in the quarry and almost caught him letting shoot flames in the air with his hands. Fortunately, he had been able to convince Nilsson, the young man, who was traveling around with his guitar, he probably saw things out of sheer heat that were not even there.

Gregory was sitting in front of the trailer, in which he lived with Antony and thought about the danger to be caught by the wrong people around here. Antony had bunked down briefly to get some sleep before the evening show. Gregory got a jacket from the trailer. Thank God today was a rather cool day. Passing by, he glanced at Antony's sleeping face. He still didn’t get used to the fact that Antony looked like Gabe. Every time he looked at him, he almost expected that suddenly Gabe’s nature would take possession of Antony and he would jump on him trying to kill him. He had to admit though that the resemblance might be striking but only at first glance. On closer observation, there were some differences. Antony was much smaller than Gabe and his hair was curly, once it grew longer. Besides, the mean feature was missing around his mouth, this fact made it entirely different from Gabe's face, even in his sleep. Valentina, however, was a real girlie. Enough to point out how different she was from Mila who would appear in combat boots on scene whenever possible. Upon closer inspection, also her eyes had a different color. Gregory had gotten used to them and was quite fond of them. They had become friends, and he was glad that he had met the two of them. Moreover, they were outstanding artists. He was amazed repeatedly when he watched them performing their acrobatic performance. Which was fantastic and they surely didn’t suffer of acrophobia, he thought with a grin.

Gregory had taken Antony's guitar outside. Nilsson the guy from earlier, had reminded him that he used to play well himself in the past. Although it was a while ago and he was a bit rusty, back in time he really had what it takes. He tried a few chords and sang to the Italian tune, which he knew from his childhood days. Suddenly Antony opened the trailer door while rubbing his sleepy eyes, and with hair rumpled, he yawned, "Dude, I didn’t know you played guitar and could sing reasonably. You really are full of surprises." He stretched making a sound, reminding Gregory of a dog, when somebody steps on its tail, then he unexpectedly grabbed the guitar nimble. He sat down on a chair and played an up tempo tune that Gregory remembered. They both joined in and sang loudly along.

The atmosphere was relaxed until a shadow fell over them. Keanu was standing there silent like a statue with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at Gregory disapprovingly, "Do you seriously think you can impress the Vultures with your singing? Are you going to sing them a tune to defeat them?" He looked mockingly at him and Gregory felt anger rise within, “That’s called fun, but you've probably never heard of this word." He held Keanu's cold stare. Antony ducked his head, taking his guitar he got up, "Guys there is too much hostility in the air around here. This is definitely not good for me. So I'd rather go before you two tear each other apart." He disappeared into the trailer closing the door gently behind him. Gregory and Keanu still stared at each other angrily. Keanu finally broke the silence, "So that’s what training to improve your concentration looks like?" his tone was arrogant.

Gregory didn’t feel like explaining anything to him. Apparently, Keanu’s mind was already made up concerning him, "Then I suggest that you’ll meet me tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock to convince yourself what kind of a sad wimp I am at the stone pit. I challenge you to fight me. Because if I'm not capable of dealing with you, then how can I fight off the Vultures, right?" Keanu stared at him, frowning, "Have you completely lost your mind?" his voice was grim but also somehow confused. He apparently hadn’t expected this kind of reaction. Antony stuck his head out the trailer door. Apparently he had overheard the conversation from the inside of the trailer. He looked appalled at Gregory, "Dude, have you lost it?" as neither Gregory nor Keanu answered, he added nervously. "nobody is as strong as Keanu. Nobody can defeat him." Gregory continued scowling in Keanu's direction without flinching, "Then it is time to change that, don’t you think so?" Antony swallowed hard.

Things were about to get out of control. Mamma Mia. Gregory and Keanu were opposing each other like two fighting cocks. Barely two feet apart and neither of them looking down or backing off. Gregory's blue eyes bored into Keanu's. It was hard to hold his gaze for Keanu, he had never looked in such eyes before, and something was different about his eyes. They were profound and dark as the ocean in a stormy night and they spoke of wisdom that didn’t fit a boy of his age in any way. It felt as if he was looking into the fathomless eyes of eternity, as if they were out of this world. Something had happened to the boy. Something that hadn’t been there a few days ago. He had found his strength. It was inexplicable, but he had to lower his eyes, as he couldn’t stand the gaze of his eyes any longer. All he had ever done wrong in his life flashed through his head under Gregory's gaze and it was a most unpleasant sensation.

He turned around to leave, "I'll see you tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. at the stone pit. Make sure that you are on time, I haven’t got all day to convince myself of your ineptitude," he looked over his shoulder, and Gregory glared at him in rage. Again Keanu had to look away quickly, and it was as if he glared right in to the sun without eye protection. What the hell was wrong, was it just him? His glance brushed Antony, who apparently didn’t notice anything about Gregory’s eyes. Well, maybe Antony was a saint and had never ever had any improper thoughts in his life. Which he doubted strongly, "You can drag along this clown here for your support," he pointed towards Antony, "he can scratch your remains out of the rocks when I'm done with you," he walked away, without giving Gregory a chance to answer, having a big grin on his face. Gregory was ready for the Vultures, he knew now and he was sure about it. How he had done it didn’t matter that much. It was a miracle that he had managed to get his strength all by himself. It was certainly not such a good idea to ask too many questions about why and how he had done it. This time around it would work. If Gregory had only half the effect on any Vulture, he had on him. Also, given the fact that most of them had Skeletons in the closet, hanging themselves on the nearest tree or jumping off the cliff, would be their thought after looking into his strange blue stare. It would definitely be interesting tomorrow at the stone pit. If he intended to survive the matter, it might be a good thing to prepare himself for the so-called duel. He smiled to himself entering the trailer.

Gregory's blood was boiling mad at the time and that meant that he was capable of pretty much anything. The ability of Antony to calm him down was a rather uncertain thing. Antony touched his forehead, "Dude, you want to challenge Keanu, doing some stupid duel? Porca Miseria, you really have lost it. Sei proprio pazzo. I will tell Nonna Tiziana about this insanity. You do realize that he is going to kill you." Gregory stared at him giving him an evil eye, "Like hell you will. If you’ll tell her only one single word, I’ll whack you," he accentuated his words with an imaginary hand movement as if he was cutting his throat. Antony was speechless, but not because of Gregory's angry words. He looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Dude what happened to your eyes? They lit up at once like 'Miccos' eyes, Valentina’s cat! Why do I suddenly feel terribly guilty that I have stepped on the cat's tail when I look in your strange gleaming eyes? I swear I didn’t do it on purpose and I'll apologize to Miccio," He reached to his forehead, "My God what the hell am I saying?" He looked back at Gregory, “Something is different about you. You are scaring me Dude!" Gregory tapped against his forehead, "What’s your problem, Man? There is nothing wrong with me, mind your own business, moron." "You're my business, damn it, dude. We are sharing the trailer and if you die tomorrow, my days will be counted too. I know about the silly duel. So if I don’t prevent you from doing it, Nonna Tiziana will never forgive me. You are important to our family, and as for your eyes, maybe you should look into a mirror to see what I mean.

Gregory shook his head and went into the inside of the trailer, where he positioned himself in front of the mirror looking at himself. He had no idea what Antony meant, well maybe his blue eyes were slightly brighter and his stare a bit more piercing than usual. But, it sure was an after effect of his anger towards Keanu. He still felt an infinite desire to strangle the guy. He stepped out of the door and saw that Antony was laying down in the hammock, his arms folded behind his head with closed eyes. He gave him a rough push so that he almost fell out of the hammock, "You are so full of shit, I look normal."

Antony sat up startled, "Man, I just dozed off and had this wonderful dream of a girl who looked like an angel," he rolled his eyes in ecstasy. “I hate angels," Gregory growled surly. "I know, but she was still heavenly. It doesn’t matter. Have you calmed down because of Keanu? He’ll get around. You really want to fight with him?" "Of course, he leaves me no choice, does he? He constantly picks on me accusing me of my disability. I'll show him once and for all, what I am able to do. He’ll be surprised and you my friend will come along with me to the stone pit as my backup." "Oh God, oh God, what do you want me to prepare a gun, or a sword?" Antony’s face was full of horror. "You know my family, when it comes to extraterrestrial abilities hasn’t got the Lion share, don’t you?"
"Don’t you dare constantly call those skills extraterrestrial man. That sucks and you don’t have to make ready any weapons. As you know, we deal differently with such stories among Akandos. We don’t need any weapons, the weapons are inside of us and I need you as my moral support." "Wow, great. I am really incredibly pleased and won't forget to be honored by your presence when you bite the dust, dude. Allow me not to start jumping for joy about it. I'm going to pick up a large portion of that mixture Nonna Tiziana made last time you had all those blisters, not that you're dying of burns and blisters, you are such a careless hero. The inscription on your gravestone could literally be, - Burned from Stupidity -, truly gloomy prospects, if you are asking me."

Gregory walked away calling back over his shoulder, "I've had enough of your pessimism. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 9:30 at the entrance. No back talk! I'm gonna take a shower now." Antony shrugged, "Yes sir," he saluted. Muttering to himself, 'probably makes sense to shower before biting the dust, then the coffin wont smell of rot that quickly, "I heard that, what side are you on anyway?” Gregory hissed. But, Antony didn’t seem to listen or care to answer him and as Gregory disappeared in one of the washrooms, he ran his fingers through his hair shaking his head, "Screw you too, pal." Then he couldn’t help but smile. Gregory was totally nuts, such a shame.