Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy (30 page)

Yaros told Gregory about the emergency meeting. Ubana had called all the Milan to attend after the incident of the weather glowing that had been observed all over the island. Ubana called upon the Milan to meet urgently. Each one of them had the duty to follow the call, even if many among them reacted anything but enthusiastic, which was partly understandable, given that the Milan had suffered from bad reputation in the past. Jamiro had done his part with his crazy actions to guarantee them a real bad reputation for many years. Since several decades, they had gotten over it and were being respected on the Island. Almost all of them were very successful and wealthy. On the other hand, they had to follow the tribal call and were forced to believe in the legend and the Savior. It was their duty to help him bring the two amulets back to the volcano -The Etna- as it had been predicted in the legend.

But, they also knew that the Vultures wouldn’t spare any efforts to stop him. As the Sicilian Vultures were much more superstitious than the Milan ever had been they feared Ourdays’ prophesied Savior. He had announced before plunging into the crater of the Etna, more than the devil feared holy water. They thought the Savior would be their downfall. Bring them disempower and poverty. Deprive them of their possessions and high-ranking positions, taking away their powers. The latter was ridiculous since most of them had no powers at all. Sometimes Yaros felt as if their superstition made them lose their mind and he had never quite understood the panic about that Savior legend. But, what did he know? After all, they were a bunch of power hungry superstitious people that feared any change on the island. There were even rumors that in the last century a boy had been killed because they thought he was the Savior, even before the Milan had gotten wind of it. Gregory listened interested, "I have heard that the last savior has been betrayed by a girl."
"Really?" Yaros looked surprised, "I mean, how would you know?"
"Oh, I have my sources and it doesn’t matter. But, what bothers me most, is that they only want to get rid of me because I am jeopardizing their wealth. I mean, it’s not even their life that is at stake!

Somewhat incredible! As far as I know, they want to throw me into the Etna, so that Ourdays’ curse ends, at least for this century. They don’t even care about the rest of the prophecy, I mean the thing about nature striking back at them, if they get rid of me. It seems they don’t give a shit about that. Besides, the story about the amulets is completely new to me. What does one have to do with the other?" he looked at Yaros apparently confused, "I just don’t get it. Maybe I should just grab the two amulets and jump into that damns Etna with them so that everyone would be happy. The Vultures and the Milan. I can’t help the feeling that the Milan actually couldn’t care any less about me, whether I live or die, the main issue is for me to throw the amulets into the crater and after that anyone who feels like it can shoot me or push me in too. I am fucked either way." he tore at his hair in despair.

Yaros sat on the porch swing not knowing what to say. The kid was damn right, he was screwed whatever he did, he thought sympathetically. Veronica, the housekeeper who had arrived in the meantime, stuck her head through the porch door again seeing Gregory, who held his head and walked up and down. An angry torrent of words in the guttural, foreign language hammered down on Yaros. He raised his hands, "Veronica, I swear, I haven’t said or done anything to offend him." She went back into the house muttering under her breath, and it didn’t sound very friendly Gregory looked up, "What’s happening? Why is Veronica angry?"
"Oh she thinks I said some nasty stuff to you, as you were looking so desperate." Gregory rolled his eyes, "Which isn’t all that wrong after all if I may say that." Yaros shrugged, "Unfortunately, those were the simple facts, I told you, and I can’t change them, even if they are pretty bad. I also think you should be prepared, because the Milan are gathering and will arrive soon and they’ll expect some kind of speech from you, what your next steps will be," he snapped annoyed, "and that’s why you’ll need Keanu, to appease the mob. The guy is such a drama queen, he has to calm down, and show up at noon, not playing offended for what so ever. We need him now, without him, the whole thing will become a disaster." As if it wasn’t already a disaster, Gregory thought to himself. Yaros got up taking his car keys laying on the porch swing, "I'll find him and bring him back till the Milan arrive. I promise. You wait here," with that, he disappeared into the house."

It looked as if not even George Clooney was able to help him out of his awkward situation Gregory mused. He sat down on the very edge of the terrace at the cliffs. Letting his legs dangle over the edge, between the abyss. It would have been easy just to jump. He was tired off everyone wanting something from him, each of them pursuing merely their own interests. None of them really cared what happened to him after all. He was nothing but a means to an end. Only one small jump and his worries were gone forever and he was in Nirvana. Suddenly images passed in front of his eyes. He saw Aiden, Shane, Mila, and Leyla. Leyla, who fearlessly faced him when he lost his memory and nearly strangled her. Leyla, who encouraged him when he was desperate and helped him escape, even if that meant for her to get in trouble. He saw her large chocolate-brown Bambi eyes full of warm affection in front of him, her laugh, felt her hand in his. He sighed, no, he had been wrong, not everybody didn’t care about him, and there were people who had even risked their lives for him. He tried to think of something else, but he couldn’t. Aiden had been like a brother to him and Mila, the violent rough sister he never had. Involuntarily a smile brightened his sullen face. His friends, he missed them so much that it hurt him.

But, he would never see them again, as he wouldn’t allow that anything would happened to them. Therefore, it was best for all of them, if he put an end to this madness. The prophecy and the amulets would lose their importance if he were no longer there. The Milan would not break their pact and the Akandos’ didn’t have to expose themselves to any unnecessary risks. He closed his eyes. Everyone was better off without him, even Leyla. He opened his eyes staring into the depth. Shortly before he was able to put his plan into action letting himself fall, he was rudely pulled back on his arm. Gregory got startled out of his trance like state, getting back to reality. A boy who was about his age stared irritated at him from gray eyes, "Dude, for a moment it looked as if you wanted to kill yourself, the cliffs are dangerous, you shouldn’t lean over like this." Gregory stumbled to his feet, "You're right, that was probably the plan." The boy looked confused, "You mean kill yourself was your plan?" "Something like that."
"Great, my father didn’t tell me that he has some crazy dude visiting. Forget it man, you are not going to jump that cliff as long as I am around. Do you know what kind of a mess it is, if someone jumps down here?” Gregory shrugged looking at him already feeling kind of guilty, "I hadn’t thought about that." The boy gave him a reproachful glance, "This is so typical, a tourist with a death wish, those are the ones I like the best. I work as a paramedic, and I am one of the privileged guys to clean up the mess if one of you fruitcakes jumps off a cliff or gets hit by a car or what so ever. Real appetizing, yummy!" Gregory ducked his head while listening to his lecture.

Man, what kind of place was that? He couldn’t even kill himself, without being blamed, he thought, "Sorry I didn’t mean to annoy anyone." "Yes, that’s what they say if I arrive early enough to prevent them from doing something stupid, but if I am too late, they don’t say anything no more." He kept on observing him still disapprovingly, and then he looked around, "Where is my father?" Gregory shrugged, "I don’t know. I don’t even know your father?"
"Well, who could it possibly be in your opinion? Yaros Nirros of course." So, George Clooney had a son. Interesting Gregory thought, "He is looking for Keanu, but I believe that he will be back again soon. So then you belong to the Milan?"
"Me? Certainly not, I don’t want anything to do with that crazy bunch. Thank you very much." Gregory was confused, "But, how is that possible? Do you have a choice at all? Since, you belong to them whether you like it or not, your father is a Milan. At least as far as I know," slowly, he started to lose track of the plot. The boy gave him an amused look. "By the way, I am Milos and I don’t particularly care what the Milan think about me. My father might not have the ability to act freely, although he has done so forever secretly, but no one is going to tell me what to do." Gregory didn’t get it, "But, I thought -,"
"That we all are some sort of a big happy family? Hardly ever, my mother is Greek and the Greeks are at least as proud as the Milan clan, which means no one tells us what we have to do."

Gregory preferred not to make any more thoughtless remarks, this - would like - proud Greek, who had saved him from jumping off the cliff seemed to be somewhat quite revolutionary and aggressive towards the local Milan. Therefore, he just nodded sitting there with a cheesy smile on his face, which probably looked more like a grimace. Fortunately, Veronica appeared on scene. Milos threw his arms theatrically in the air, went over to the housekeeper and hugged her. Then the two chatted in English, although Gregory temporarily wasn’t sure about it. It sounded like a throat disorder, perhaps it was Maltese again, but it was slightly different this time. He understood only now and then a word. Exhausted, he let himself fall on the porch swing again. This day had started promising, and chances were high that he wouldn’t survive the evening, even if Milos had just stopped him from jumping off the cliff, except if George Clooney happened to have more offspring, each appearing beside him whenever the situation got tough. At least he no longer felt the urge to commit suicide, which was truly an improvement of the situation.

A Greek, he thought. The only thing lacking was that there appeared some old stories about the ancient Greeks. They had enough legends and stuff if he remembered well. He heard several cars drive up and several voices, this time clearly discussing in Maltese. He didn’t understand a word. In his pocket, his phone roared like a rutting stag. Damn, he needed a different ring tone. He took the phone out of his pocket. Outside the voices grew louder, but Gregory wanted to see first who sent him a message. This time it was Shane who sent a voice message, "Yo, Bro, think you have heard our Rap by now. Would be nice to get a sign of life from you, but hey, it is ok if you are giving us the silent treatment. Still I wanted to inform you that we will be in Nicolosi soon. We will wait for you, and we have booked some rooms in the Hotel Casa … something. How was it called again? Never mind, you'll find it, there are not many Hotels around. Oh, and Chayton Moonworthy, you might not remember him, but I guess he was your math teacher at Scarborough High will be coming with us. Sure you're wondering why; he is a thoroughbred Akando, ha, ha, ha. See Ya!" Gregory listened to the text several times. He didn’t remember any Moonworthy, or a math teacher who was an Akando.

Only thing missing now was that Queen Elizabeth showed up at this hotel along with Prince Charles both of them claiming to be purebred Akandos. He dropped the phone and rolled his eyes, and then he waited for things that might come. The voices had become an excited roar. Gregory didn’t move from the spot. Someone would probably eventually get on the porch. After about half, an hour he heard a car drive up, coming to a halt with screeching brakes. Then the voices swelled again at once but then fell silent completely. There was a sudden silence, which was as disturbing as the voices before. After a short time, Keanu was standing together with Yaros and Milos on the porch. Yaros gave Gregory to understand that he should follow them. Gregory got up and followed the three through the living room to the front door. They stepped out onto the landing in front of the house, then Yaros and Milos stepped aside. Keanu stayed beside Gregory. In front of the house, there were more than ten cars parked in a row. There were at least thirty or more people standing around. Many of them were young men and a few young women. But, there were also some older ones. Gregory gazed around and his gaze came to a halt at a turban looking damn familiar. He gasped when he realized that it was Donna Tiziana standing beside Giacomo next to a dark blue van.

Gabe was beside himself, and he was so angry he could have screamed. Carmine hadn’t returned yet. The damn cottage was barely a five minutes’ drive from the Country Club and strange enough, the Ferrari was parked outside, which meant that he had been here with Rhonda and then maybe left with her car. He didn’t know, and damn he didn’t care either. So much for - I will take the whole weekend off for you son. At 4 am, Gabe had enough. Armed with a toolbox and a flashlight he left the house. Previously he printed out the installation plan of the Ferrari type, his father owned. He studied it carefully, so he certainly wouldn’t make any mistakes. Gary had done some explanation, but he wanted to make sure once again that he had figured it out correctly. He went down on the ground positioning himself under the car with the flashlight between his teeth and severed the brake cable almost completely so that the cable was hanging by a string, exactly as Gary had told him. He had carefully calculated how many times the brakes would still work before the cable ripped apart.

According to his calculations, there was a perfect curve while driving along the lake. He would roll out of the moving car, and Carmine would tumble down the slope to the shore, and remain lying dazed in the car. But, if the car exploded and burst into flames his plan was fucked up because Carmine was supposed to lose his memory and not his life in this accident. If he failed, he could forget about going to Sicily. He didn’t want to cause too much of attention and drama and if Carmine died there would be drama and other consequences involved. On the other hand, even if he didn’t lose his memory, which he still hadn’t figured out how this could be possible, it wouldn’t be that bad. He just had to stay for some time out of the picture and being in a hospital was just what was perfect for his plans. So in the meantime he could go on with his travel plans and Carmine wouldn’t be able to stop him. Therefore, he had also tried to manipulate the fuel line. If all went well, so that the tank was almost empty at their departure, any explosion was quite unlikely.

He had to wait until the morning came. Otherwise, too much fuel would leak out, and they were not even able to leave. He had calculated everything precisely. He had to be careful to get his plan to succeed, and then no one was able to suspect him having to do anything with the accident. Around 5 o'clock in the morning, he dozed off on the sofa. The electricity was out. It was pitch-black and there was no electricity in the whole house. Maybe Carmine was lying out there somewhere in his drunken state. Gabe didn’t hope so, how would he explain the almost severed brake cable. Crap, he was suddenly wide-awake. He was sitting on pins and needles. Where was this idiot? Carmine Grande didn’t come home all night, and Gabe didn’t know what to do. Should he call him? Should he call the cops? No certainly not, his old man was truly old enough to take care of himself. Finally, at dawn Gabe fell asleep, just to be awakened shortly after again because there was a lot of noise. Carmine came whistling merrily clopping into the house. Gabe sat up startled his eyes bleary and disheveled. His father belched loudly plunking down on the sofa next to him, "How about a nice strong black coffee for your old father, son."

He grinned at him with bloodshot eyes. The smell of alcohol was mind-blowing and threw Gabe off balance. As he wasn’t in his best shape after this sleepless night, he got up reluctantly stretching. Outside it was bright and the morning sun was shining through the window. Gabe looked at his watch. Damn, it was after 10 am. He strolled into the kitchen. Coffee was perhaps not the worst idea. He needed a clear head. He switched on the coffee machine. God, he hated filter coffee, but it was the only choice around here. At least electricity was back on again. He would have killed for an Espresso. His thoughts brought the hint of a smile on his face. A glance over his shoulder at Carmine, who had fallen asleep and lay snoring on the sofa made his smile disappear immediately. Frowning, he grimaced, he could forget about him. Probably he was going to sleep it off all day, the way it looked. The fishing plan did fall literally into the water he mused. Good for him, that there was a plan B. He sipped his coffee burning his lips with the bland aqueous brew. Cursing, he put the cup on the kitchen counter. Damn, he had to go through Plan B again before Carmine had slept off his intoxication. He needed to think and could not let the smallest details out of consideration. In one week, he was going to fly to Catania with Angel and the Vultures of the Scarborough High. None of them knew that Carmine didn’t approve of the trip except Angel, and it had to stay that way. He had already organized a place for them to stay. No one was going to stand in his way. His plan had to be just perfect. Restless, he paced back and forth. Carmine's snoring was getting on his nerves. He had to focus dammit. He put on his boots and his jacket, although the weather was beautiful and the sky cloudless, but in autumn it got quite breezy on Lake Simcoe. He trudged out into the open and went to the shore of the lake. From time to time, he stopped, took a couple of colorful pebbles in his hand, and threw them into the water.

A while later, he was on his way back to the house wandering through the forest, which began behind the cottage. Lost in thought, he buried his hands in the pockets of his jacket when his hand suddenly groped something flat, smooth. He took the object out of his pocket. It was a small brown vial containing some liquid. He lifted it up to the light. The vial was still about half full. Suddenly he remembered where the bottle came from. The Summer Festival! Angel had added a certain something to that punch back then. He kept looking fascinated at the clear liquid. The mixture had caused everybody who drank it to lose all of their magical powers for the night, and it had made them feel dopey headed. He still remembered Sebastian and Alex, who had too much of the punch and then divulged secrets, they’d better kept to themselves as they both paid with their lives for their silly talks. He wondered what kind of an effect the stuff had if he mixed it into his dad’s eagerly awaited coffee or a glass of water with an effervescent aspirin tablet, against his hangover. He didn’t know, but he hoped it knocked him out properly. For a moment, he thought to call Angel and ask her about the effect in such big doses. But, he then rejected the idea immediately again.

The less Angel knew about it, the better it would be in the end. He would take the risk of Carmine losing his memory, his mind or both. It made him think of Gregory, who had lost his memory after drinking Mila's mixture unintentionally out of stupid jealousy. That had been quite a lucky accident and if the same happened to his dad, then so be it. The odds were in his favor, no doubt. Everything happened for a reason, they said. So, he hadn’t found that flask for no reason then, and the mixture was clearly meant to be used on his old man. The sun was high in the sky by now. This meant it was already noon, and he had to go back as quickly as possible because he didn’t know how much of the brake fluid and the gasoline had already leaked out. He hurried back to the house. Carmine was no longer laying on the sofa. Gabe looked around, hearing noises from the bathroom. It looked like his father tried to get rid of the dizziness and the hangover by taking a shower. Gabe walked to the bathroom door. He knocked, "Hey Dad, how about some coffee now? I mean the one you asked me about before you fell asleep?" The sound of rushing water stopped, and moments later the bathroom door opened. Carmine Grande got out, wrapped in a large white towel. He looked a lot better than before. He smiled wryly, "That would be nice of you my boy. I feel smashed and had a tough night. This Rhonda drinks a camel under the table. Anyway, she was in much better shape than me, I must admit. She was still holding up perfectly while I was crawling on the hotel room floor." Gabe went to the coffee machine, "You were in a hotel room? I thought she would have taken you to her house." Carmine Grande grimaced as if he had bitten into a lemon, "Forget it, she has some crazy lover who followed us for a while. He is some aggressive fruitcake. Can you believe that he tried to shoot me? That's why we had to take a hotel room?" He said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world and perfectly understandable. Gabe smirked, he didn’t care to lecture him, it was already too late for that and with some luck, Rodriguez would track him down and shoot him at the cottage. On the other hand, if things turned out wrong, he might even shoot him. Better, not take any chances. He was just interested in one thing; getting Carmine off the streets without causing too much of attention.

"Aren’t you afraid that the guy finds out where you are and follows you up here?" Carmine looked thoughtful, "You know what son? You are damn right. Might be best if we cancel our trip, if you don’t mind, we could leave as soon as possible and get back to the city" Gabe grinned giving himself a pat on the back, he had done a real good job so far. Amazingly, enough the old man seemed to be truly afraid of Rhonda’s violent lover. "Sure thing, I'll make you some coffee and will find an aspirin for your hangover, then we can leave" his father sighed gratefully. Then he looked searchingly at Gabe, "But, are you sure, that you aren’t pissed because we didn’t hang out or went fishing?" Gabe smiled disarmingly patting him on his shoulder, "Don’t get stressed out, we will hang out some other time when there are no pretty young women around to distract you." Carmine was rather baffled, to see Gabe so understanding and serious about it. "I'm glad to hear that. I was worried that you would take it the wrong way, that I dumped you for Rhonda last night. I'll make it up to you. You'll see." Gabe gave him an amused glance, "Sure you will."

If only he knew how soon he would make it up to him. He filled a glass with water putting an effervescent aspirin tablet in. Then he poured the remaining contents of the inconspicuous brown bottle into the glass and handed it along with the black coffee to his father. Carmine gulped both down at once. Grimacing he shuddered, "Such a hangover is a terrible thing, and I wonder every time why I ever have to drink alcohol if I feel that lousy the next day." He smiled sourly, "But, the next time around, I forget how I felt." Gabe didn’t answer, he couldn’t have cared any less about his dad having a hangover. He grabbed his stuff putting it into his shuffle bag, and then he brought the bag to the car. Carmine followed him. His head ached, and he was sweating like a pig. The blue sky swam before his eyes and he seriously wondered whether it was such a good idea to drive in this condition. He shook off the thought immediately. What was wrong with him, he was behaving like a senile, weak old man. But, he was neither old nor weak let alone senile. He was in the prime of life, and he was not going to let himself be thrown back because of a silly hangover after a night out drinking.

He had to show Gabe who was in charge, who was the boss around here. He got behind the wheel, trying to get a clear head, but somehow he didn’t succeed at all. He turned on the ignition letting the engine roar, with screeching tires, he drove off leaving, a cloud of dust behind. "Is everything okay Dad? Do you want me to drive?" Gabe seemed worried. "Of course, everything is ok, what do you mean?" he roared with laughter. But, the scenery blurred more and more around him. He hardly saw the road in front of him. What the hell was happening to him? His eyes watered, and he felt dizzy. Panic seized him when he saw a truck coming. Carmine rammed his foot on the brake, but the brakes gave away, and he stepped into the void. He heard Gabe gasping for air followed by a scream beside him, trying to turn the wheel around getting control of the car, and then everything happened very quickly. The Ferrari got off the road and raced down the steep scarp to the shore of the lake, with undiminished speed, despite Carmines desperate attempts to actuate the brake. The car overturned several times and came to a halt on its roof. It would only be a matter of seconds before the Ferrari exploded. Gabe came around, damn shit, he had been gone for seconds. His plan had clearly backfired. He wanted to jump out of the moving car and roll down the scarp, but the door had been blocked. Now he was hanging upside down in the passenger seat of the Ferrari, and it was only a matter of time until it would explode and burst into flames, he didn’t know how much fuel was left in the tank, as he hadn’t finished his job this morning. He had to do something, to avoid a possible explosion.

'Think, Gabe,' he thought desperately, and then he had a saving idea. He tried to turn slightly in his seat, which was a difficult task. He could see though that the car window was actually shattered. His luck! With numb fingers, he tried to make the opening caused by the shattered glass a bit larger. Blood ran down his numb fingers, but he hardly felt it, his life that was at stake. An adrenaline rush went through his body, and he managed to make the hole large enough to put his hand through it. He closed his eyes and concentrated, hoping that it would work. The sky darkened at a stroke and was suddenly overcast with dark clouds, heavy drops of rain fell on the dry ground. Followed by torrential rain, the rain was as cold, as if the water came from a glacier. The air cooled immediately, and Gabe's breath left ice crystals behind on the shattered windshield. The temperature had dropped considerably during seconds, and the overheated Ferrari cooled down in seconds. The risk of an explosion was averted.

Gabe exhaled, despite of his predicament, the Ferrari wouldn’t explode, which was saving their life on one hand, but would also on the other hand raise questions when the police launched their investigation. But, there was always a way out, he would find a solution if it was necessary, he always did. Like last year when he had run over Aiden's cheerleader with a car, even though it had been little Leyla he had aimed for, to express his anger towards Gregory. He couldn’t punish they guy in person for his betrayal because he disappeared and Gabe hadn’t believed that he was dead for a single moment. He just wanted to let off some steam. Well in hindsight, he had to admit that it was probably a little childish and dangerous. But, even if someone noted down the license plate he’d still gotten away with it. He had his connections and made the black Buick disappear. Gary had taken over and handled everything just fine what concerned the traceability of the car. There was always a way out, even this time he was going to find a way. Maybe he found a culprit. He thought of Rhonda and her jealous lover. All of these things went through his head while he was hanging upside down in the passenger seat of the wrecked car in the icy rain. He was still slightly dazed from the impact looking at Carmine who was hanging motionless beside him in his seat belt. He was either unconscious or dead. He couldn’t say. Then suddenly he heard a voice from far away.