Текст книги "Immortal"

Автор книги: Tina Bright

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 7 страниц)

My sword easily pierced through his body. Cerberus stopped moving from the shock and blinked in surprise. A silly smile on my face made him frown. I pulled the sword up and cut his surprisingly soft body in half. Cerberus fell at my feet into a pile of ash. I defeated him not by the Force, but by cunning.

A moment later, his ability flew out of him and pierced my chest. The heat slowly spread through my body, and thick fiery lava filled my veins, burning me from inside. I felt terrible pain with every cell of my body, which struggled not to burn from the external fluid. I was paralyzed. I could not even breathe of pain. My legs buckled, and I collapsed to my knees. The flame within me grew more and more, lacking space and willing to break out. I felt the raging force was about to explode, and tear me into pieces. The skin burst from the high temperature, and the wounds did not bleed but exuded the fluid like Cerberus's one. My body was not adapted to such temperatures, and even the ability to heal did not help much. Wounds quickly healed and then reappeared. All the clothes turned into ashes, and now I was kneeling completely naked, but that was the least of my problems.

I rested my hands on the asphalt that almost instantly began to melt.

"I'm about to explode!" I heard my desperate cry, as if it belonged to someone else.

The moment before my words came true, I felt someone touching me. Eugene pressed his chest to my bursting back close to the ground, clamped my feet with his feet and hugged me. In the place where he touched me, the tearing force was weak and therefore sought a way out in other areas.

"It's too much! My body can't take it anymore!" I cried with fiery tears. Tears dropped on the asphalt and burned through it. Eugene’s embrace kept my body from exploding into tiny pieces by the powerful bomb inside.

"Listen to me, Darsy! Focus on my voice and do as I say. Don't try to adapt to this ability. You won't be able to as your body really can't take it. Remember, you have a Vessel, which like a black hole can absorb any ability and all the abilities of the Universe, and there will be enough place left. Let the Force absorb this. Let it out. Let it consume this. Otherwise, this will consume you. Come on, Darsy! I can't hold it back long!"

"I can't! I can't!" I said honestly. To do what Eugene suggested, I needed to concentrate, calm down, tune out and trust the Force inside me. But I could not as all the other emotions were paralyzed by the pain of millions of wounds appearing every second, by the feeling of being torn to pieces, melting my body.

"You can, Darsy! I thought you'd die fighting Cerberus, because he's a thousand times stronger than you and has lived for a thousand and a half years, but you defeated him! Come on, Darsy! Do your best!"

I focused on the darkness inside. I felt it from the very beginning like an engulfing abyss. I had been able to ignore it all this time, but now I was going down it. Eugene was not lying. It was a real black hole, where one could disappear. It absorbed everything – both good and bad. It was insatiable. Today I had something to feed it.

The pain was gradually relieving, and Cerberus's ability stopped torturing me. I had no fever and could breathe. Cool night wind was blowing at my bare and hot skin. Eugene opened his arms, but I long remained in the same pose shameless of being naked, breathing in the cool air and calming down. I got back to normal a few minutes later, as if nothing happened during the last two hours: neither bloody fight nor absorbing the ability. But the witness of all this was lying in front of me in an unnatural pose resembling a failed sculpture broken by the artist in anger, and left in the midst of a burning hangar.

I heard police sirens in the distance. Did it take them surprisingly long to get to the place, or did everything happen fast? After all, I felt like every second lasted an eternity when, in fact, very little time had passed.

"Get up! We need to get out of here fast!" Eugene said.

I looked at him frightened. A bunch of emotions and thoughts raced through my body and head. He picked up his fancy jacket, which he apparently took off to keep it from burning, and threw upon my shoulders. It still kept his smell and warmth.

To say I was ashamed would be an understatement. Now I had to get through half of the city like this: barefoot and butt naked wearing nothing but a leather jacket. Eugene looked no better than I did. His T-shirt almost burned up, and I saw his muscular torso almost all tattooed. His jacket disguised his shape, and even having the best man in the world at my disposal I could not but marveled Eugene's divine body. He might be an arrogant bastard, but now I could not keep my eyes off his well-developed broad chest, muscled arms, where every muscle was outlined, and rare veins whirling up at the slightest movement. His six pack was perfect – clear contours ending with a thin strip of hair as if forming the down arrow to indicate the movement direction. The front part of his jeans at the hips and lower leg was partially burned, and was hanging on a single thread, exposing the slender legs of an athlete. He was lucky to have the most important element of his look unaffected – his manhood was proudly covered by Calvin Klein underwear.

I snorted. It was not typical of the superior race – they despised our habits and rules of etiquette, while wearing clothes by our designers.

"Don't you think it's time to stop staring at me and get out of here?" Eugene said ironically. It was classic Eugene. And I was about to temper justice with mercy – even if it was nothing more but a physical attraction.

I got up, zipped the jacket, and we wandered away from the abandoned warehouse, which would never find its owner after all the mess Cerberus did.

Eugene opened the portal, and we jumped in it right before police cars showed up around the corner. Every next trip via the portal was easier and easier, and I could get used to it.

Soon we were near my house.

"You'll have to walk me to the front door, so I'll give you back the jacket."

"Leave it for tomorrow."

"No. If Jackson sees another man's jacket, he'll start asking questions. And I don't want my boyfriend to be erased!"

Eugene shrugged and trudged after me. He was so tired like he was the one fighting the ancient monster. My keys melted, and I had to use the extra ones that we hid behind the plat band. Having sneaked into the hallway, I took off the jacket and, putting my arm out of the doorway, returned it to Eugene.

"Do you understand that you're a threat for your close ones? Especially now, when you have the ability you can't control," Eugene asked quietly.

"I get it, but they are in much greater danger without me. I'll master this ability soon," I said from behind the door.

"You can burn down the house while sleeping! Think about this! See you tomorrow at the same time and place."

And he disappeared in the portal.

Jackson was still sleeping in the same pose in the bedroom. I went to the bathroom and switched on the ice-cold water. Flowing down me, it turned into the boiling water with steam. I stood there for half an hour, fighting my inner contradictions. In the end, I decided to sleep on it. If I could not control these abilities, I would rest into the Guardians' Abode and would think of the excuse later.

Chapter 6

«Darsy!» a loud child scream woke me up.

I was lost in space and time, but I felt some déjà vu even being asleep. It was another day in a row, when someone woke me up. Wouldn't be there any morning, when I would just awake from the alarm clock or when I slept enough?

Having blinked several times, I set my focus. When suddenly my little sister fall on me laughing loud and then my both brothers. They were like large ants swarming on an improvised bed, on which I have been sleeping only for a couple of hours before being woken up by a small army of children. How did they get here? I could not remember planning a family meeting.

"Children missed you a lot, so when you couldn't come to us we decided to visit you!" my mother said cheerfully, answering my unasked question.

"Great idea," I uttered in a hoarse voice. I was ashamed to admit, but I did not think so at the time.

"Get up, get up, get up!" children chanted and jumped on the mattress.

"Okay, little bandits! Let's see what's in the fridge, while Darsy gets ready!" Jackson helped me out. He always knew what I needed. And now I needed a couple of minutes to concentrate.

Children smooched me on the cheek in turn and whirled after Jackson, accompanied by mother. Pristine silence filled the room, and it had to be that way throughout the whole Sunday.

I buried my face in the mattress and groaned. It was only 9 a.m. Given the fact that I came home towards the morning, it was catastrophically early and my body strongly protested against such an intervention.

Stop! Children touched me and noticed nothing unusual. Yesterday in the shower, I thought I would lose any contact with people forever, turn into Cerberus with lava flowing all over when even ice-cold water boiled in contact with my skin. But everything was fine today. The Force had absorbed this ability, and I got back to normal. This thought amused me. Something snapped inside, and I started laughing loudly and compulsively. I was still a human, as Eugene said. Indeed, I was still myself regardless of fighting and supernatural nonsense.

Being in a good mood, I went to the kitchen to my noisy and cheerful family. Mary enthusiastically licked her fingers stained with chocolate, Peter and Cooper threw cereal at each other, making clear that Jackson and I will have some chores to do after their departure.

"Hi everyone!" I shouted happily, and the children rushed to hug me, almost knocking me down.

Mother sat in the corner smiling wearily. She did not get much help after I left. I missed my father, who could not come because of his illness, especially lacked his wise advice and soothing look. If people could be compared to countries, my father would definitely be Switzerland – such an old, wise and extremely calm country, which remained sane in conflicts and reconciled the parties, when the dust settled. It was amazing that being confined to a wheelchair he was not angry at the world. On the contrary, he was confident, strong and calm. The world became a bit better and more meaningful by his side. Only father could help me find many little things in silence, enjoy the splendor of peace and confidence.

The entire time I have known him, he never raised his voice to me, my Mom, little ones, even when he was in unbearable pain. He withstood all the ordeals and never took out his indignation on us. It seemed sometimes that nothing could upset him enough to make him lose his temper. I always loved him for his wisdom and kindness. I was sure that my mother was the happiest woman with such a man by her side. After all, he could be relied upon even being in a wheelchair.

"What are you going to do on your last free day before the start of the school year?" mother asked.

"How about going to the mall? Let's play on every slot-machines there, and then eat pizza till we're full," I said to the little ones.

"YES!!!!" children yelled and raced to get dressed in the hallway.

"And you should have some rest. We'll look after them," I told my mother. She stood up and hugged me.

"Thank you, dear!"

A few hours of uninterrupted sleep would do her good.

"I declare in good faith that this is the best Sunday in my life!" I barely uttered after the sixth slice of pizza. I was hungry like a beast. I had never eaten as much as today.

Children were so exhausted after the slot-machines that fell asleep, leaning on the dirty tables in the pizzeria. They looked like little angels. But for the rest of the time, these three were pure devils – always noisy and bringing a cataclysm of global scale.

"You're more relaxed today. Aren't you nervous anymore?"

"No, I'm 100% ready for the future. I had doubts yesterday, but not today. It's going to be an interesting year," even I myself could not determine exactly what I meant at this point – studying at Harvard or hunting demons.

I felt almost almighty today. I felt unprecedented energy in my body, as if I could literally move mountains. After all, I killed one of the most powerful and ancient demigods tonight. Now I possessed his abilities, and I could control them, but not otherwise. These abilities could help me finish my mission, and let me get back to my normal life. The only discomfort that still haunted me was the vision of souls.

I felt death again on the way downtown. This time it was painless and expected. Two elderly people died. They passed away peacefully in their sleep, as they’d always dreamed about. I saw them from the window of the car holding hands and rejoicing that they were together even after death. They did not care about the place, but about being together.

I smiled unwittingly. I wish I could love someone so much someday.

"Come to me!" Jackson embraced me and kissed the tip of my nose, bringing me back to reality. It was such a touching moment that I wanted to capture it in memory forever.

A light earthquake confused us both. Children woke up and rubbed their eyes sleepily.

"What's happening?"

Cups on the table were rattling, spoons were sliding to the edge.

"Earthquake?"

People around began to panic, which grew with every new push.

"Hurry up outside," Jackson grabbed the boys and ran to the exit, and I followed him, pulling Mary by the arm.

Children cried. Mary's hand shook, but she was keeping up with the pace.

Plaster was falling from the ceiling, metal supports were rattling indicating that they would soon bend or break from the pressure, and everyone inside would be buried under the debris. The ground was shaking so hard that I barely stood. I picked up Mary in my arms and rushed to catch up with Jackson, who I've lost out of my sight. Suddenly, part of the floor collapsed, and I lost the prop, but my ability did not let me fall. After flying a couple of inches into the pit, I used the Force and climbed backward like by the stairs. Mary was so scared that she buried her face in my shoulder, and did not see anything. She trembled with her whole body and screamed with every loud sound, clinging to me harder and harder.

Huge cracks on my way did not stop me, but sparks from torn wires were a much bigger problem. I saw the stairs ahead, but there was an abyss of thirty feet high and sixty feet long on the way. A leap would not help to cover this distance. Having looked around, I made sure no one was watching. I kicked off the floor and began to glide through the air, as if on the wet floor and reached the goal in a matter of seconds. It took us a couple of minutes to get outside.

Jackson was breaking through the rescuers line not far from the entrance. Having lost me out of his sight, he wanted to return to the collapsing building, but noticing me; he let out a sigh of relief and began to cry from happiness. We rushed to hug but suddenly everything froze. My chest was pierced by the infernal pain, again and again, bringing me to a frenzy. The souls of those who died under the mall wreckage appeared in front of me. They were confused, scared, and I could not say a word, because of the pain preceding their death.

All these people would not be able to get answers, but it was the least of their troubles. In the blink of an eye, black souls that had escaped from the river began to appear from cracks in the ground. There were so many of them that the sky turned black. Soaring up, they went down, snatched the souls of newly dead, and flew again laughing loudly.

"No!" I screamed, but they could not care less about me.

I could only throw fireballs, which appeared without much effort on my part. The fireballs could not harm the souls because they were incorporeal, and therefore my weapon flew through them.

I tried to grab souls by their hands to prevent snatching, but it did not work and I caught only air.

Once there were no souls left, black souls rushed onto me with wild cries. I set the protection of dark smoke but it did not stop them at all. My legs seemed to be rooted to the spot. I froze in anticipation of the collision.

At the last second, Eugene appeared from the portal, waving his sword from side to side.

"What should I do?" I shouted.

"Nothing! There's nothing you can do!"

Eugene repulsed the attacks of souls. They seemed to be afraid of the light of his sword. I was worried about those, who could attract the attention of these creatures. People stood still and were easy targets. Eugene alone could not save everyone from so many black souls. They transformed into their new shapes, which was a terrible but fascinating scene.

After a few moments, they stopped attacking and began to return to the crevice from which they emerged.

"Why did they leave?" I wondered.

"They took what they came for. In a few minutes, they'd take the new shape and become vulnerable, so they had to leave."

"Why do they need the souls of the dead?"

"They'll infect them. Only black souls can transform into demons, Nefarious and Murky Shadows. They're raising an army. The more souls they get, the bigger the army will have."

"I don't understand a single thing. I have so many questions…" my head was buzzing. The mall was not just shaking from the earthquake, but it was a planned attack with a specific purpose. These incorporeal creatures must be led by someone, or be highly intelligent to choose the biggest and most crowded mall in Boston.

"Listen, now is not the time. Let's talk tonight. Everything will be back to normal in a moment, and I need to get out of here. You can ask all your questions tonight, and now you should take care of all these people. We can't let anyone else die."

He disappeared into the portal and everything came to life. In the terrible hum and chaos, I heard a strange sound, I failed to determine. Jackson was talking nervously, and to stop him, I covered his mouth with my hand, and listened out again.

The sound was coming somewhere from under the debris. Someone was crying for help. Not being aware of my action, I rushed to the source of the sound.

"Darsy, where are you going?" Jackson shouted.

"Stay with children! I'll be back soon."

"No, Darsy!" but I already was not listening.

Driven by a strange feeling, I ducked under the fallen beam. There was little room inside, but I managed to crawl. Water was flowing from somewhere and rubble was crunching under my feet. Perhaps, one of the mall fountains was still functioning, creating a small waterfall. And this would be another problem – bare wires and water was not the best combination.

The sound was amplifying, and now I clearly understood that was the child cry. The dust was eating my eyes out, but I crawled to the sound until a small hand grabbed me.

"Help me!" the eight– or nine-year-old girl cried.

"I'm here for this. Please, don't move so nothing falls on you. What's your name?"

"Amanda," the girl groaned. She was scared and covered in blood, but I had no idea if it was hers.

"My name is Darsy! Tell me, Amanda, are you hurt?"

"No," it could be lie. People often did not feel pain in the state of shock.

"Amanda, are you stuck?"

"My leg is stuck!"

"Okay. Let me see. Just don't move. Deal?"

The girl nodded vigorously. Trying to get to the child's clamped leg, I asked some question to distract her.

"Who were you with?"

"With my Mom. We wanted to buy me new shoes."

I felt sorry for the girl because her mother was probably under the debris of the second floor. Although I did not rule out the possibility that the woman was simply thrown aside and managed to get out. Thus, now the woman was outside frightened to death and suffering of the grief for the missing daughter, or soon the child would learn that she became an orphan.

The leg was pressed by one of the sculptures placed around the perimeter of spacious halls. I tried to move it with my hands but failed, and the slightest movement made the girl scream in pain.

"Amanda, I can get you out, but you have to cover your eyes with your hands to protect them from dust. And do not open your eyes no matter what you hear. Okay?"

"Okay.

She obediently closed her eyes. I concentrated, lifted the statue and a part of the wall easily with the help of the matter, as if the piles of stones weighed nothing. I grabbed the girl with my other hand and lowered the debris, which fell to the ground and formed a cloud of dust.

"Hold on to me, but don't open your eyes till I say so."

Amanda wrapped her arms around my neck, and I crawled vigorously down the way, removing the falling rubble by the Force. We got outside within minutes, and a crying woman rushed to us. She took the girl in her arms, and they both began to cry.

"Thank you!" she looked at me.

"Take care of her!"

Meanwhile, Jackson was heading to me. He was furious.

"Are you out of your mind? Why the hell did you go there? What were you thinking? Are you Captain Marvel or something? Or are you that stupid?"

I heard Jackson talking like this for the first time in my life, especially to me. He had never been so angry. And as offensive, as it sounded, he was right. After all, it was impossible to explain to him that it was much safer for me than for the rescuer. Several people would die trying to get the girl out, or she would die before I even used my powers. But Jackson did not know that. He saw this as a pointless risk and a miracle that I was alive.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't stop, when I heard her cry!"

I hugged my boyfriend to stop him from saying things he would regret. And when I stepped back I saw my mother, who looked at me with her eyes full of tears. How did she manage to get here? As we approached, she hugged me until my bones crunched and said,

"Don't you ever make us worry like this again!"

Doctors wanted to examine me but I refused and escaped. Soon after our return home, my mother took the children away, saying almost nothing in the end. I was sure she would not bring them here anymore. It was a hell of a day.

My parents were never happy about the idea that I would move to live in a big city with an incredible number of dangers that I would not be able to handle alone. My Mom saw herself the proof of her fears. It was strange that she had not yet tried to persuade me to return to a country town, where not fresh fish from the local supermarket was the only danger. My younger brothers and sister would not soon be able to escape the protection of my parents. And all this was because of the ill-fated trip to the mall.

I wonder was it a coincidence that this happened in the place where I was, or my presence caused it.

While I was thinking it through, I was put to the bed and treated with a cup of melissa tea.

"I'm fine! Really! I'm not shocked or wounded! I was born under a lucky star."

"I would say you've been born in a life suit," Jackson tried to be funny.

When the tension eased, he felt remorse about his words at the mall.

"Hey!" I stroked his short hair. "It's okay! You don't have to apologize. I'd have scolded myself for something like that, too. I don't know what has happened to me. I can't even imagine what it was like for you at that moment. I'm sorry I did that."

"Baby, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you!"

Jackson laid his head on my stomach and hugged me. I was caressing his head, trying to calm him down.

"I'd like to take a nap. Will you wake me up by 10 p.m., so I can read a bed-time story for Mary?"

Jackson nodded, and I leaned back on the pillows, blissfully closing my eyes. This was quite a day before the beginning of the academic year.

I had nightmares for a long while. I saw people dying of injuries on their way to the hospital or during surgery. Or was it real?

At 11 p.m. I was waiting for Eugene at the set place, and he did not show up. By 12:30 p.m. I started to get nervous. What if I was in the wrong place?

I sat down straight on the pavement and wondered aloud,

"Eugene, where are you?" I heard a sigh, and when I closed my eyes, I saw him.

It was not some fantasy but a real image of Eugene. He was fighting with a few demons or something. There was nothing else around, but the red ground and dim light – no moon, no stars. The terrain looked like a catacomb or something. I had not studied Tartarus yet, but he might be there.

Eugene selflessly swung his sword, striking the enemy with his weapon, and the tattoo on his face glowed bright red. His expression was stern and focused, his eyes blazed with bright flames. When there was only one opponent left, he looked up, as if he knew I was watching.

"Wake up!" he just said, and I returned to reality.

It was just in time. Otherwise, I would have been eaten by two disgusting creatures just in a second. It would be more logical for me to feel fear, but the first emotion was disgust. These creatures had hands, legs, body, and head like humans but they were not humans and not even Nefarious ones. The grey color of their skin differed much from ours. Moreover, their entire body was covered with mucus. They had no eyes and nose on the face, but swollen vertical holes instead, and the mouth was like a bulldog mouth with sharp long teeth. Their hands were longer than humans, with terrible black claws.

The attackers had hair neither on the head nor on the body. But the most striking thing was the complete absence of the navel and genitals. They were not concerned about wearing clothes. I got the impression that these creatures crawled out of the sewerage. I could feel their terrible stench everywhere.

"Oh dear, they look scary!" I blurted, and then I threw a fireball at one of them.

It burned away in an instant without making a single sound. But I failed to hit the second one fast. He figured out my plans and disappeared from the fire line so quickly that I could not even notice this. Three fireballs missed the target, one of them set a garbage bin on fire. The second one nearly burned the car peacefully parked in the parking lot. It seemed unreasonable to fight these creatures under a lantern not far from the apartment house, but they gave me no other choice.

Three more fireballs were thrown in vain, and I was getting very angry.

"Hey, that wasn't the deal! You're making me dizzy!" I said to a silent monster.

I decided not to be on the bit and tried to calculate the trajectory along which the enemy was moving. Every time I tried to hit the target, he went a few feet to the left and stopped.

"Hm…"

I threw the next fireball, which served as the bait, from my left hand, and then threw the second one almost immediately hitting the monster when it stopped.

Having shaken my hands off, I smiled and said,

"That's it!"

I heard clapping behind me. Eugene stood, leaning on the lantern.

"I'm impressed. You learn fast. Yesterday you almost exploded from these abilities, and today you deftly kill vampires. By the way, it was them. That's how they look, not as you show them in the movies. It's not good that you've put on such a show."

"I was just waiting for you, and they attacked me. What was I supposed to do?"

Eugene shrugged.

"Well, shall we look for another adventure?"

"I didn't take their abilities. Why?"

"You did, but haven’t noticed. They're parasites and their abilities limited to speed and strength only. And they're not immortal, so you don't have to worry."

"Thank God!" I exhaled with relief.

Eugene raised an eyebrow at my last sentence.

"What?

"You know the truth. Why do you keep saying that?"

"That's a habit!" I shrugged. Besides, if I started praising many gods in public, I would be misunderstood.

"Okay, ask your questions!" Eugene sounded a bit doomed, but judging by the look on his face, he wanted to answer or just liked my questions.

"What was that? A few minutes ago. I know I saw you, but how?"

"This is called mental connection between the Guardian and his ward. I feel when you're in danger. I can see you any minute just as you can see me. It'll be this way as long as you're under my protection. At least that's how Tol explained it. I've never had wards but missions. But when you are next to the demigod, I can track your location. Try to use it less often, because each attempt takes a lot of effort and is not always successful. I barely understood how to figure out when you're in danger."

"Do you mean your tattoo? It was glowing…"

"It always lights up when the ward is in danger. I felt it but could not come to the rescue without finishing my job, especially since the danger was minimal."

"The place you were in, what was it?"

"I thought you'd be asking me different questions. Why are you interested in me?"

"As you just said, we're connected. I want to know why and how. And since we're in the same boat for the whole trip, I'd like to know more about my companion. You can consider this a human thing," I waved.

"It's the Tart Desert. To get in and out of Tartarus, one needs to go through this desert. Only Gods can go straight to Tartarus. And I was protecting the entrance from the newly transformed souls that somehow managed to do something no one had ever done before. Nobody could wander the desert with impunity. There are certain services that eliminate unauthorized access."

"But how could you be there? You're not a God!"

"Yes. But I can transport myself there. I have friends among Gods, who can do me a favor at a certain price, especially since it's in their interest to allow me to do my job. Believe me nobody cares about the rules when the existence of all Living is at stake."

"Okay, now tell the truth!"

"About what?"

"About what's going on. Initially, you said that only one hundred souls escaped because of Charon. This morning I saw that the number is much bigger."

"That's true. While the gate was unsealed, a much larger number of Dark Souls escaped but you have to return only one hundred souls. It's the number that will restore the balance."

"Why?"

"One hundred souls escaped because of Charon. All the rest escaped because of the Guardians, who were not able to seal the gate fast. We also pay a certain fee but the Balance doesn't depend on it. It's rather natural damage."