Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy (34 page)

Gregory was waiting for the bus to Sliema. An old man was sitting at the bus stop, watching him. When the bus came, the old man sat down on a seat behind Gregory although the bus was completely empty. The tourist season was over, and Mellieha was a tourist resort on the coast, not very many people traveled during the day by bus to Sliema. During peak hours, it was different, as there were many locals, who were working in the city. Gregory felt observed and tried to ignore the old man. After they had completed a good part of the route, the man leaned closer to Gregory, and he heard him whisper, "There is a third amulet of Ourday, only when the tribal elders are in possession of it, you will be redeemed from the burden of the forces of nature." Gregory at first thought he had misheard. But, the old man repeated the phrases like a mantra, repeatedly until he turned and looked at the man. He looked, in fact, like a homeless. His clothes were old and stained, his skin furrowed, but his eyes were vivid and clear. They exuded confidence, "The third amulet, the Golden one, will bring freedom." Gregory looked at him incredulously. "Who are you and why are you telling me that?"
"Ask for Marcos in St. Patrick’s church on the second advent of this year," the bus stopped, and the man got out. Gregory left the bus too following him. But, he disappeared into an alley and Gregory lost him. Damn, he thought, another mystery. He walked back to the bus stop, waiting for the next bus. He had to go to Sicily now! This puzzle would have to wait. Maybe Keanu knew something about it. If he ever should see him again, he would ask him.

When he arrived in Sliema, he stacked up a few things, which he considered necessary. There' was this totally unexpected modern shopping center in Sliema, where one could find everything he was looking for. Luckily, money was currently not an issue because he had plugged Yaros credit card. He grinned sardonically, well, you had it if you took someone in your house that you didn’t know that well, except that, that someone should save a clan to which you unfortunately belonged to. Thoughtfully, he stared out at the bay, and the sight was the most stunning thing he had ever seen. The Carmelite church, a Roman Catholic Church was one of the most famous churches in Valletta, and you did not have necessarily to be a churchgoer to enjoy this breathtaking sight. There were many padlocks in the wiring of the Tigne Bridge, on which he was standing.

Keanu told him once that these were love padlocks. Lovers on the Bridge, symbolically to seal their eternal love, attached love padlocks. The idea had fascinated him from the start. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he took his phone out of the backpack and recorded a video message for Leyla. "Hey Leyla, I hope you don’t hate me too much," he ran his fingers with an uncertain gesture through his hair, "because I was an idiot, and if you hate me, then I totally get it, as actually I hate myself sometimes too,” he sighed and shook his head, what a mess, what kind of crap was that? He cleared his throat, "So, I just wanted to say that I love you and that I want to apologize for the stupid stuff, I told you last time," he grinned wryly into the stupid lens. Then he continued, "Behind me on the bridge you see quite a lot of love padlocks, and I would like the two of us, I mean when this is all over and, of course, given the fact that I survive, meet here. Oh, by the way, this is the Tigne Bridge in Sliema in Malta. Whatever happens, I want to meet you here on the 20th of December at 7:00 P.M. I think you can make it, because of Christmas break. Unfortunately, for now, I can’t come back to Canada. If I will be able to break the prophecy I mean the curse," he rolled his eyes, "I mean I have to do something else when it is all over, and I survive - I've recently got some information - and must first figure out how and what I will have to do. But my path will lead me to Canada again," he laughed and shrugged, out of pure necessity, "anyways, I hope to see you at the agreed time. Oh! I almost forgot: I miss you more than I ever thought possible."

He turned off the camera and sat down on the steps of the bridge. He was not sure whether he should send the message. Leyla would be very confused because she was probably already in Sicily with the Akandos and he sent her a message from Malta. He couldn’t do that. Otherwise, she would try to find him in Malta. He once again threw himself into a pose in front of the love padlocks, earning some estrange looks from passers-by, who considered him quite clear to be some weirdo. But he didn’t care. He recorded the whole thing again with an alternate note concluding that now he would make his way to Sicily, and it wouldn’t make sense to look for him in Malta. Now, that was better, he thought with satisfaction.

He sent the message and got on his way to the port of Sliema, from where a ferry to Valletta left every quarter of an hour. He had to leave as soon as possible from Valletta to Sicily, hoping that he could run out the Milan on his heels. His phone vibrated in his pocket quickly he took it out. He read the message and a smile lit up his face. Elated, he jogged to the ferry and caught it shortly before it left. "I’ll be there, whatever happens, nothing is going to hold me back (I suppose, you’ll take care to bring the padlock? Or maybe I’ll bring one myself, just in case you forget!)."

Despite the uncertainty of what would happen, Gregory could hardly get the smile off his face during the crossing. A warm, fuzzy feeling had taken hold of his body since he read Leyla's text. She would come, and he was not alone, he knew for sure.

Gabe was furious. Why had he involved Gary in the whole thing? Oh, yes Gabe remembered, Gary knew too much and therefore had him by the balls, which was why. He had no choice but to take that moron along. Now he behaved incredibly stupid, showing off. Pretending to be some, big shot, puffing out his chest like a rooster dredging to Angel, it was simply sickening. He was driving an old VW bus and looked in the rearview mirror on Gary’s exploded hairstyle. He looked as if he had put a finger into a wall socket, with his Afro look. No, Gabe mused sardonically, he looked like a dismantled version of Prince with his curly black hair.

He was not a racist and never had been against black people, but this wanna-be idiot, Gary made him simply furious. He would have to get rid of him eventually. Gary was laughing uproariously at one of his habituation needing jokes. Angel seemed to enjoy herself. Good for her, Gabe thought. Who needed this arrogant bitch anyway? He could have ten chicks on each finger. Stupid cow, Gary could humor her as much as he liked. He was finished with both of them. Gabe was dissatisfied, and sometimes he wondered if his entourage had enough guts to finish Gregory off. He wondered if they took that legend nonsense important enough and were ready to stop Gregory from reaching the crater. Scornfully he looked in the rearview mirror again. He didn’t need this lame bunch anyway. If he had to, he would handle Gregory all by himself.

"Hey," Greyson sat down next to him, "do you need a standby? Do you want me to drive for a while? It was a long journey, and we have not been sleeping much. The Jetlag is getting to all of us. It takes a while until we're at the mountaineering hut in Rifugio Sapienza." Surprised Gabe looked up. He wouldn’t have expected any help from Greyson. "No, it's okay, I'll get some sleep when we get there." Greyson nodded and remained seated next to him. He took a small bottle out of his jacket pocket. "What have you got there, Greyson?"
"It's a mixture my mother gave me." He laughed but it sounded nervous, "If something goes wrong, I mean if I would see no way out, she said I should take it." Gabe was suddenly more than interested, "What does it do?"

"It clouds the senses."
"What does that mean?"
"I’m afraid, I don’t really know." He shrugged and turned the vial back and forth between his fingers, "I won't use it, either way, because I don't like it when my senses are clouded. I like to see rather clearly, even if it is sometimes not all that pleasant." Gabe looked at him lurking. Did he try to trick him somehow? He didn’t get it, "then give it to me, if you don't need it."
"Why would you want it?"
"Who knows, maybe I could use it sometime." Greyson shrugged again and gave him the flask.

He got up giving Gabe a fraternal pat on the shoulder, "Well then, if you don't need me here, I am going to the rear again." Gabe nodded and decided to pour the liquid at the next available opportunity in Greyson's morning coffee. The dude was definitely up to something. Greyson sat down again to a seat in the back of the bus. He had to pull himself together, so he was not smiling. Gabe had taken the bait and probably thought that he intentionally left him the bottle to harm him. His Mom had given him the mixture to calm his nerves during the flight. In any case, that was what she said, more or less. So, if Gabe thought he had a silver bullet – some wonder weapon -, he was surely wrong. About an hour later, they arrived at the hut. Greyson stretched and got out with the others. In front of the hut, they encountered an elderly man and a young woman. A beautiful young woman, who had a certain resemblance with Angel. They all got into the hut and got a few bottles of water, and Greyson discovered a young man sitting on a chair. He was tied up.

Greyson narrowed his eyes. He knew this boy. It was Leyla's friend, what was his name again? His couldn’t remember his name. The beautiful young woman chatted with Gabe, he handed her an object, and then he pointed at him. She came smiling towards him, "Hi, I have heard that you master the Earth and brought a little refreshment for our friend here." She looked meaningfully to the tied up boy who had a gag in his mouth, and was making angry muffled sounds. Greyson looked into her fascinating gray-golden eyes, and he could hardly turn away his gaze. She was temptation in person, he felt like a hypnotized rabbit, standing in front of a rattlesnake with its mouth wide open. He licked his lips and tried to say something. He stuttered awkwardly, "I - d o - n - t- know how it works."

She put her long, elegant index finger, painted with purple nail polish on his lips. Her golden bracelet, which was decorated with golden leaves, tinkled melodically. Where had he seen this bracelet before? Her face came closer; he could feel her sweet breath smelling like honey. Her lips touched his. Greyson almost fainted. He had heard of sirens luring sailors to destruction, and this one felt just like that. The tied up boy moaned in his chair trying to free himself. Irritated Greyson’s glance turned away from the beautiful girl. Apparently he was trying to tell him something. He rolled his eyes as if he wanted to show him something he hadn’t noticed. The beautiful girl grabbed his chin and kissed him again on his lips, and then he felt a blow on his head and blacked out. Gabe hit Shane straight in his face, "See what you get, idiot for not acting normal. Can’t you remain calm in your bloody chair?" He turned to the girl, "well done! You must be Giada I guess."

Angel came running to them, sweeping him aside. She hugged her cousin fiercely. Then, she turned to Gabe, "What the hell is going on here? What have you done to Greyson?" Gabe’s look was condescending, "Greyson is a traitor, he was going to poison me." Giada lifted the blue flask against the light. Angel didn’t look convinced. "Greyson? I can’t imagine. He hasn’t got the guts to do something like that and besides I don’t think he would be stupid enough to do such a thing!”
"Is that so? Then let’s try the stuff on our friend here, what do you say?" Angel, Gabe, and Giada looked at Shane. Shane could feel a whole load of glee and malice coming toward him, 'Uh-oh,' he thought, why did everything have to go so wrong? He hoped though that the three of them knew what they were getting themselves into, if they killed him, Mila was going to skin them alive. He knew it was crazy given the circumstances he was in. He was thinking about what Mila would do to them, and a grin lit his up face. "What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Giada shook her head in disbelief. "He grins stupidly, even though he knows that he is probably not going to make the next hour and bite the dust or something. Oh, by the way, what effect is the stuff supposed to have?" Gabe shrugged, "I don't know exactly."
"So it could be that he suddenly gets some super powers."
"Theoretically, yes, but Greyson wanted to hurt me, so this is quite unlikely?" Angel sighed, "how do you know that he wanted to harm you?"
Gabe looked annoyed, "It was so obvious that he wanted to foist that bottle to me.

I just know it, okay?" She raised her hands, "Ok, ok, don’t freak out." Gabe was sometimes very uncool.

"Then we will give it to him and see what happens." Gabe strode toward the still smirking Shane, which was quite weird, considering the circumstances. Gabe's eyes narrowed to slits. He glared at Shane darkly, "You will stop laughing in no time, idiot." He snapped at Angel impatiently, "Are you waiting for Christmas? Come here and help me. I will squeeze his nose so that he is forced to open his mouth." Angel strolled over. Stopping in front of him, her eyes were cold as ice, "You are an arrogant asshole Gabe, and I am not going to be ordered around by you. Do your shit alone!" She raised her hand and showed him her middle finger, and then she turned and left him standing there. Shane laughed aloud, "Hey folks I am enjoying myself here. You ought to consider joining a theater group. You are talented; you know?"

In three steps, Gabe was with him, squeezing his nose rudely. Shane gasped for air. Gabe opened the flask with one hand and poured the content at the same time into Shane's mouth. Then he pushed his chin with the other hand so that he had no other choice than to swallow. He was still furious. Angel rebelled against his authority, which was a bad example for all other Vultures. Who did she think she was? Did she think that she was something special, just because they had something going on at times, but this didn’t give her by no means the right to contradict him? Maybe it was time to ditch the bitch so to speak, showing her who the boss was around here. Shane tried everything in his power to get rid of the liquid and not to swallow it, but he had no chance against Gabe. First, he was tied to a chair and second Gabe was mad as hell. He could feel Gabe's inner turmoil physically. Resigned he gave up swallowing hard.

Almost immediately, he felt his muscles relax, the whole world around him became foggy and blurry. Gabe's face appeared in front of him, and he waved his hand close to Shane's face. Wow, Shane thought, all these colors! That was how an LSD trip must have felt. God, he was floating, and Gabe's face was only a distorted grimace, which slowly dissolved. He heard his voice, sounding in slow motion. Shane closed his eyes, a blissful smile on his face. This had to be paradise. He drifted into a fantasy world in between fantasy and reality. Gabe nodded satisfied, “It looks like the stuff has literally knocked him out, he seems to be somewhere in the distance in another world,” he signaled to Giada to come over. He looked at her with a friendly smile on his face. He put on all of his considerable charms. Placing his arm around her shoulder he said, "Listen Giada, would you be so kind and watch our friend here for a moment? I’ll have to have a talk to your enraged cousin." He looked beguilingly at her with his moss green eyes.

Giada, who wasn’t impressed that quickly, fell on short term for his charms. In fact, there had been only one Male object so far being able to throw her completely off balance, and that had been Keanu, but she had to admit that Gabe was quite good at getting his way by charming someone too. Only on a short term, she already had psyched him out after five minutes. She nodded watching him walk over to Angel. She was talking to Greyson, who slowly came back to his senses again. Gabe strolled over to Angel like a predator going after his prey. But, that wasn’t her problem. She turned to the tied up guy. Somehow, she felt sorry for him. She was tired of doing what others told her and sometimes she felt like leaving everything behind just taking off to new horizons, leaving the battle of the Vultures behind. She wondered what had become of Keanu. She hoped with all of her heart that nothing serious had happened to him. No matter what her father said, Keanu was the greatest thing that ever happened to her in her life. He was caring, deep and she had meant something to him. Besides all that, he was gorgeous. The most handsome man, she had ever seen. His six-pack was made of steel. So overall, he was the absolute jackpot: - handsome, intelligent and lovable-.

But, her stupid patriarchal, father had, of course, tried to win him over for his mafia business. Decent and honest as Keanu was, he of course had categorically rejected and had been whipped almost to death followed by a drowning attempt, she had been able to thwart due to her good relations, in the very last moment. Keanu didn’t know about her trying to save him and even if he did, it wouldn’t have changed much as he hated her now as much as he once loved her. She sighed unhappy. She was so fed up with all the Mafia issues and mostly with her father behaving like some dictator, bossing her and everybody else around because of this legend. Maybe she really should clear off. Unfortunately, this was probably not the best option at present and honestly, she didn’t have the guts to do it yet. But, the time would come she knew for certain. If he ever was trying to trick her into marrying some guy she was gone for sure. Her father demanded absolute obedience, or it would be entirely possible, that her backside would be decorated with some ugly scars too eventually. She felt trapped, but she knew some people who could eventually be helpful when the time came. If she only knew where Keanu was, she would have followed him, even if he hated her. She felt incredibly down now, but to get in between the Milan and Vultures was not such a good idea after all. She got up to have a look at the tied up boy. He was hanging in his chair, his eyes open with a transfigured look, on his face. His mouth slightly open, but at least he seemed to be in no pain. Giada turned away. Nobody had to watch him, because he was apparently in la-la land.