| |
After we had bid goodbye to Claire, I set my course for the longer route around the globe. I'd run through Eastern Europe, China, and the Pacific while Melissa would cross the Atlantic Ocean again. I hoped, since people still had more freedom in Europe, it would be easier to find someone who had an accident and would die soon. My veins were thirsty for fresh and vital adrenaline. Therefore, I only briefly checked on my family this time. My mom looked skinnier than I remembered her but then again, she had lost weight ever since I disappeared from their lives. A bit like she wanted to disappear as well. Her once so youthful and kind face had some deep creases, which probably could be attributed to me as well. I gulped, trying to push away the feeling of guilt. They had managed without me for two years now and would be just fine without me a little while longer. Until I finished my mission. I also noticed a good change though. The way my dad lay his arm around my mom’s waist when they left the house. I remembered such gestures from when I was a small child but as my sister and I grew older, the only picture I have stored in my memory is him behind his computer. Perhaps, my parents got closer again and then they’d be okay if the Orbiters and the VCP let them be. Isa, my sister turned into a really pretty woman. I used to be the boring mousy type. Intelligent but nothing special to look at. However, she had inherited my mother’s beauty. Full lips, that she painted in a soft red which drew attention to her porcelain face and long blond hair in a ponytail. I wished I could talk to her now, where I wasn’t only the older sister, she adored, but I could keep up with the beauty of my mother’s side of the family. Yet, my body had more urgent needs and I left Switzerland behind me.
Although people in central Europe weren’t all locked into fenced shelter areas, I couldn’t find anyone hiking through nature on their own. Nobody was driving a car either except for the Virus Control Patrol. For the humans, this had the positive consequence that the accident rate dropped instantly. However, it didn't help me find a potential road death any time soon. It was odd to have all those paved streets empty, now.
For a while, I enjoyed being the only one running along miles of empty highways in Russia. It came pretty close to the feeling I had when I was still human and went swimming my laps and I was the only one at the pool. There was something special about diving into a completely flat and calm surface of water and then cutting through it until the surface would be marked by a path of my movements. On the road, I didn’t leave a mark though. Soon, I worried what I’d do if nobody would have an accident. In my first week as a Siren, I could have easily killed a human to get to their heart. However, after two years of self-control, the sense of how brutal it was to kill someone was stronger than my desire for a heart. I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore and hence had to look for someone who would die without any help of mine.
I could feel the sweat that was starting to build in my armpits and it wasn’t because I was running. Normally, I could run and eventually, usually within half an hour or an hour of going anywhere, I’d run into a fatal accident. However, now I had already crossed a quarter of the world without any luck. I concentrated even more on finding an excited heartbeat. Unfortunately, nobody had brought themselves into a stupid situation by accident.
Finally, somewhere in the east of Kazakhstan, I heard four heartbeats that differentiated themselves from the others. There were three quicker ones and one weak one. Probably it wouldn’t be any good, since I couldn’t attack this person while others were around. Yet, I wondered what four people were doing out in the rocky desert. I was running on a mixture of sand and gravel now and further in the distance there were beautiful orange rock formations.
I slowed down and hid behind a small hill, from where I could watch the group of four. It was a man and a woman. The man was carrying a young boy on his shoulders. The little kid was slumped across his father’s head and would have fallen off with every step if the father hadn’t held on to him. His cheeks were red from dehydration or a fever. He was the weak one. The mother was walking alongside her husband, pulling an older boy along behind her. Nobody would notice if these four people would go missing. However, even though they momentarily seemed like a feast to me, I knew I couldn’t purposely kill anyone – and surely not a child. The three other heartbeats were beating fast and sometimes arrhythmic from the exhausting walk on the uneven terrain. How had they even got here?
They had a heated conversation in a language I couldn’t understand. The obvious thing was that they needed help. The woman was now crying and yelling at her husband, and at the same time, he was talking back relentlessly. Then, the woman stopped walking and pulled something out from under her jacket. It was a big, light brown, torn cloth. She spread it in the wind while her husband was shaking his head as far as it was possible with the little boy on his shoulders. The cloth was a big bag with a darker inside but still torn and therefore I wondered what she wanted to use it for. What happened in the next moment would still go beyond my imagination if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The woman threw the bag in the air, lifted her hands and chanted some words. The bag blew itself into a triangular shape, the torn parts patched themselves up by magic and then the whole cloth spun around itself a few times. It did all that flying on its own in the air. Afterward, it set itself on the ground, looking like a nice, two-person safari tent. I rubbed my eyes thinking the desert had played a trick on me, but the tent was still there, complete and ready to use.
The woman dropped to her knees, with her head hung low and the boy whose hand she’d been holding previously started crying. The man looked around the area, not discovering me behind the hill and then opened the tent bringing the younger child inside. He returned, also bringing the woman and the other boy into the two-person tent. They managed without any trouble although space must be very limited, and he zipped it up behind him. Now it was quiet again and I only heard the desert wind. This struck me as odd since I should be able to hear the crying boy through the thin tent fabric. Curiosity got the better of me. I approached the tent and said hello a couple of times. Nothing happened, and I said it again a bit louder. Then, the zipper was ripped open and the man burst out running at me as if stung by a bee, with a long meat knife in his hands.
“Stop.” I held up my hands, but he continued in his attack, feverishly yelling something and would drive the blade into my body in an instant. “I’m a friend,” I shouted but he didn’t stop. Before he could stab me, I jumped to the side in Siren speed, leaving him a bit confused.
Since they obviously used some kind of magic, I assumed he would recognize a fellow magical creature. “I’m a Siren. You understand?” I quickly moved from place to place to demonstrate him and he slowly put his knife down.
“Ah, a Siren,” he said with a heavy accent. “I thought you were the VCP. They will be here soon enough. They always are.”
The older boy stuck his head out of the tent and the father went up to ruffle his hair.
“What happened to you and why are you out here?” I approached them again.
“We wanted to get away from the city as the anti-magic controls got too difficult. We wanted to get across to those mountains”, he pointed to the orange rocks far away, “but then a storm came and destroyed our bunker. After that, we didn’t have water or anything to eat anymore.” He let go of an exhausted sigh.
“Yeah, I came by coincidence. Your younger son didn’t look so good.”
“He needed water.” The man had a tortured look on his face. “Do you want to come in for a tea?” he asked, his face a little more relaxed. I couldn’t believe he thought of inviting in a stranger in such a situation. He noticed my hesitation.
“It’s a custom of our culture to drink tea with a person you meet. I’m Arslan and my son is Nurlan.”
“I’m Nathalie. Thank you, Arslan, that’s very kind of you but I don’t need water. I thought more that perhaps I could help you somehow.”
“It’s okay now. We have running water in there and the food stock should last for about another two weeks.” Then he snorted, checking the horizon again to spot more threats.
I caught up with him. “You have running water and all that food in this tent?” I said incredulously.
“Yeah”, he smiled, and his eyes briefly lit up. “You want to see?”
“Um, sure.” Slightly confused, I stuck my head in after him, expecting to crawl into a very crowded tent. However, behind the entrance, there was no sign of the family. I only saw a dark, empty tent and the upper body of Arslan. His head was at the same height as mine and I was on my knees. Only then I realized there was a solid stone stairway leading downward. I climbed onto the stairway and followed him downstairs where Arslan hurried to his wife to calm her down. I had stepped into a room about the size of the living room of the house at Cape Cod. It was furnished with a king-sized bed, a crib and a smaller bed. There was a kitchen counter with a stove, a sink, and a fridge. To the side of the beds, there was a door which was closed. Otherwise, the walls were bare rock but on parts of them, they had hung a few carpets to make it feel warmer.
“What is this?” My jaw dropped open.
“Welcome to our bunker, which is now fixed and ready to use again.” The woman said weakly, propped against a few pillows, her child in her arms which was sucking on a bottle filled with milk.
“That’s amazing.” I looked at the furniture again. It was hard to imagine that the tent and the desert were above us.
“So, you can live in here?” I asked.
“Could, until it was broken because of the storm.” Arslan put on a kettle.
“What is back there?” I pointed to the door.
“A biodegradable toilet.”
“So smart.” Was all I could say in my amazement.
“But now it doesn’t matter.” Arslan took a deep breath. “My wife lost her magical abilities because she used magic despite the ban. We are wizards and the ministers prohibited the use of magic as long as the VPC is on the lookout to kill us.” He explained upon seeing my questioning look. “Because somehow, the VPC detects changes in the force fields and therefore see where magic is being used. They will be here in a few hours, searching for us. So, let’s have some fresh mint tea.” He put four glasses onto the counter.
“You mean, the VCP will find you out here?” My eyes widened.
He nodded and stroke through his short black beard with his fingers. “They have their methods.”
The woman started wailing so that the baby began crying as well. “Shamil would have died.” She moaned and kissed her baby at the same time.
“How far do you need to get away that they can’t find you?” I asked looking from one to the other.
“We wouldn’t make it. Getting forward was hard enough.” Arslan responded.
“How far?” I insisted.
“The mountains would be good.” His chest deflated.
“You mean the rock wall at the horizon?”
He nodded.
“I can carry you there one by one. I can run fast.” I looked at the two boys. The older one, Nurlan, was cuddled up with a stuffed rabbit. They would be easy. I didn’t know about the parents. The mother didn’t look like a light-weight but perhaps with a piggyback ride, it would work.
“Could you do that?” The woman wiped away the tears.
“Ayna, we can’t ask her to do that. It would be dangerous for her as well.” Arslan stepped between me and his wife but kept his eyes on me in which I detected a shimmer of hope.
“I can at least try.” I offered, realizing this would mean for me that I’d have to forget about my adrenaline thirst a little while longer. They were in a bigger need right now. “We supernaturals have to stick together,” I added to underline my motivation.
Ayna let go of a loud sigh of relief, “Thank you.” She whispered.
With hope, power returned to Arslan’s body. “Then, we must hurry. It’s not in our tradition to rush tea but this is an exceptional situation.” He added some cold water into the cups and then handed each of us a glass. Drink up.”
I smiled. “Thank you but Sirens neither drink nor eat. And you must stay hydrated after such a long walk. Have mine as well.”
They gulped down their cups and the father ushered his son to drink. Then, he stored the cups back in the sink. “Let’s check out the situation upstairs.” He said.
We climbed out of the tent again and indeed a cloud of dust was visible at the other end of the horizon. In the otherwise quiet desert, you could hear the rumbling of trucks. Arslan’s heartbeat quickened and I felt my own nervousness rising. The children and I would make it, but would I be able to carry the parents?
“They are coming,” Arslan said quietly and hurried downstairs, leaving me standing alone in the desert, next to a two-person safari tent. Two minutes later, the parents were back with the children on their hips. When everyone was out of the tent, Arslan closed it and then twisted the top so he could fold the whole tent to the ground in a circle. The air had deflated, and he rolled it up with ease. The rocky desert floor became visible where he lifted the tent until the tent was a package the size of a folded-up camping blanket. No hole was visible in the ground.
“Oh man, why does magic have to be secret? This is so cool.” I shook my head, but they were all looking at me expectantly except for the youngest one who had fallen asleep against his mom’s neck.
“Okay. Perhaps I should try you first.” I looked at the mother whose face took on a pained expression. She peeled the boy away from her and handed him to her husband.
“You need to jump on my back.” I took a breath and turned around.
“Sorry,” she said and put her arms around my neck and chest, strangling me as soon as she moved her weight away from the ground onto my hips. I almost stumbled backward. I didn’t know if I could even take a step like that, but I forced myself to walk while pulling up her legs as much as possible. The fact that they had been walking all they and sweated quite a bit didn’t make the situation more pleasurable either. I took a few slow steps and then sped up. Faster than any human but nowhere near my usual speed. After perhaps half a mile I had to stop and set her down. My arms felt like rubber and my back ached. “I’m sorry, it’s much harder than I thought. I’ve never run with anyone.”
She stared to the ground and then at me. “Please, at least get the children to safety.” Her voice was full of despair.
“Let’s try again.” I shook my arms and turned around. We progressed double the way this time until I almost stumbled and fell, getting her to jump off quickly and landing on her knees. She threw a glance to the back. The dust cloud was approaching. The car or cars were getting closer to where her family was waiting.
“Thank you.” Ayna breathed. “Let me walk now. Get the children there and my husband and I will walk. Please. It will be easier without carrying them and perhaps we all have a chance like this.”
I bit my lower lip. We at least had to try. They had no other choice. “Okay. I could bring the children and the tent to the mountains and leave them in the bunker in case they or I can open it as well.”
“Yes, you need to shake it in the air.” She nodded vigorously.
“And then I can come back and look for you and bring water from time to time.” It would take them at least ten hours to walk there. We could only hope this would be faster than the eyes of the VPC in their trucks. Because if not, what would I do with the kids? I swallowed. “Walk in as much of a straight line as possible.”
“Alright. Thank you.” Ayna grabbed both my hands with hers and I felt the pressure of gratitude. Then, she took off on her own without losing more time.
I turned around and ran back to where I came from. I would have been scared out of my wits without any protection in this desert with the eerie wind. But what other choice did Ayna have? I saw Arslan and the two boys ahead of me, appearing as if someone had forgotten to pick them up in their brown, knitted coats with hoods. I stopped in front of them. Arslan drew his head back in shock and Nurlan hid behind the leg of his dad.
“Sorry, I’m not used to slow approaches around people who know about magic.” I frowned. “We didn’t make it all the way. Perhaps three kilometers.” I frowned. “Ayna told me to bring the children there and you’d walk.
“Okay.” He clenched his jaw.
“I’ll first take the tent and Nurlan. Then I’ll return and get the younger boy. Afterward, I’ll bring you to your wife.” I spoke with as much certainty as I could come up with. “We’ll wait for you. I will babysit your children until you get there as well.”
The man said something to Nurlan who was too scared to even cry. He simply looked at me with his big dark eyes.
“Here is the tent.” Arslan handed me the bundle and then pulled Nurlan forward on his hand so I could take him. I lifted him onto my hips. He was heavy, too, but it would be possible to run normally. “Have you ever been on a rollercoaster?” I looked at him and smiled, no idea if he understood English. “Because that’s what this will feel like.” Then, I looked at Arslan. “I will go as straight as possible. Perhaps you can do the same and already start to walk.”
He pressed Shamil a little tighter against himself and nodded. I ran and except for the little boy’s black eyes growing wider and wider, he didn’t make a sound or a movement. We passed his mom who was trying to keep a steady pace. I ran on and on across small dunes and flat, gravel passages until we reached the cliff about ten minutes later. The orange color of the rocks was even stronger up close and with the sunlight. It was like a huge painting of orange and white rocks.
“Wow, this would be a nice sight-seeing spot if it weren’t under those circumstances,” I said to the boy and set him to the ground. He clutched his brown hoodie.
I unfolded the tent until it was a bag again. “Do you think I can do this?” I looked at Nurlan who was too scared to blink. I shook the tent a couple of times. Not much happened and I frowned. I almost missed that Nurlan made a shaking movement with his hands and I shook the fabric some more until it became rounder and pumped itself up with air. Now it was easy as the bag quickly transformed itself into the small dome tent from before. “Let’s go see if your rabbit is still there.” I opened the zipper and then carried Nurlan downstairs. “Amazing. All is still here.” I glanced at the tea glasses which sat on the counter. I put the boy onto the big bed. “Stay here, okay?” I pointed to the bed but to my dismay, he still didn’t respond in any way but simply fixated his brown eyes on my face. However, even if he didn’t speak English, I hoped he would be smart enough to stay inside the safety of the tent. I got him his rabbit. “I’ll get Shamil now. Wait.” I pointed to the room again and then hurried back upstairs, closing the zipper.
Another ten minutes later I was next to Arslan and Shamil who had covered some ground as well.
“Has it worked with the tent?” Arslan pierced me with concern in his eyes.
“Yes, don’t worry, Nurlan is safe. But it would be best if we get you there as quickly as possible as well.” I glanced into the distance, but the cars had currently disappeared behind a hill.
Arslan nodded and handed me the sleeping bundle who then opened his eyes and made agonized grimaces. He was the first baby I had held since the birth of my cousin about eight years ago. Shamil screamed as if I was about to kill him as soon as he was in my arms. Despite the ear-piercing noise I ran to get him to his brother. The whole journey he wouldn’t stop screaming his lungs out for one second. I wondered how he could have so much energy and air after having looked dead only half an hour ago. By the time I arrived at the tent I was almost glad my Siren body was infertile, and I could never have such a small monster. I brought him down into the bunker as well, laying him in the middle of the bed, putting a few pillows around him so he wouldn’t roll out. Then I changed my mind and put the blanket onto the ground with him on top, also giving him the bottle of milk from before. Nurlan sat on the smaller bed tightly hugging his rabbit, looking as if he was close to tears as well.
“Watch your little brother. I’ll get your dad now.” I said, sure he wouldn’t understand me anyway. I looked for a bottle or something to put in water to bring to them but the best thing I could find was the kettle. I filled it with water and went back outside, returning to the mom. She was going slower now, and tears were streaming down her face.
“It’s alright the boys are in the tent at the mountains now,” I said softly.
A sob escaped her. “Good.”
“Here, take a drink.” I handed her the kettle and she drank from the spout.
“I’ll try to bring your husband here now and then you can walk together. It will take about eight hours and you have to walk into the night but it’s possible.”
She wiped her face again and then grabbed my hands. “Thank you so much. I don’t know why you are doing this but thank you.”
I gently pressed her hands, touched by the graveness she uttered the words with. “It’s alright. I couldn’t just leave you in the desert. I’ll come back with your husband now, okay?”
She took a breath and nodded.
I left the kettle with her and ran the remaining mile. Arslan had caught up to her a little since he was half jogging. Now he didn’t flinch anymore when I showed up out of nowhere.
He looked at me with his thick, black brows narrowed close together.
“I can bring you to your wife now and from there it’s about an eight-hour walk. Can you manage that?”
“Yes, of course.” He laughed out of relief.
“Then, you should now climb onto my back as well.” He was much slimmer than his wife, but you can’t underestimate how heavy the muscles of a man weigh. He felt almost as heavy as she and I had to focus on my goal to even be able to move. With one short break for me to regain strength, we reached Ayna and she handed him the kettle to drink.
“You really don’t need any?” Arslan wanted to give me the kettle before drinking himself.
“No, I’m good.” I shook my head. What I need is your blood. I bit my lip. “I’ll try to come back in about two hours. Do you have a light I could bring you? It will be hard to find you once it gets dark.”
His gaze sank to the ground. “We can never repay you for what you are doing for us. You surely have to be somewhere as well.”
I gritted my teeth, thinking about the adrenaline I needed so badly. I’d feel much calmer if I knew I’d find a donor in the next town. However, I still had time left before my physical state would become critical. Therefore, I tried not to let them know about my impatience because what would they do without me? Plus, some good karma couldn’t hurt, especially since I needed a way to get through to Dr. Palmer’s controller. “No need for that. I’m just glad to help you get to your sons as soon as possible. So, do you have a torch or a lantern anywhere?”
“Yes, there should be two flashlights in one of the cupboards in the kitchen.” He handed me the kettle and I left the two of them by themselves, returning to the kids. They had stopped crying and the smaller one had fallen into an exhausted sleep, his heart beating very quickly. Nurlan was sucking his thumb, watching his brother from the bed.
“You can sleep as well,” I told him. “Your parents are on their way. Mommy, daddy, walking.” I added when he didn’t reply in any way and tried to help with body language. The boy finally found his courage and said something in a language I didn’t understand.
“This could be a long night. You hungry?” I pointed to a pan. What did small kids eat? Again, I remembered how hungry I was myself. Hungry for a heart. The two quick heartbeats in the room suddenly were very annoying and even gave me a slight headache. I gave Nurlan a carrot from the fridge and then went outside to sit in front of the tent, where I couldn’t hear their heartbeats. My limbs tingled, and I had a ringing in my ears. I was exhausted from all the running and emotional strains without having gotten new energy yet myself. I closed my eyes and pinched the top of my nose to stop myself from starting to cry as well. I couldn’t go back to Alex like that. I needed new energy first or his heart might be too much for me. I needed adrenaline to keep a clear mind and be able to focus on not giving in to my desires. Plus, the longer I’d wait, the weaker I’d get. What if I wouldn’t even be able to run back to Cape Cod? The Pacific was another big ocean to cross. My thoughts wandered back to the two innocent children in the tent and how easy it would be to kill them. I shook my head to push those thoughts away. I would find someone who had no chance of surviving. This family here had a chance and now I’d wait until they were reunited.
Later I brought Arslan and Ayna the flashlight and more water. Although the desert was so vast, they managed to walk on a straight course and it was easy to spot them. It would also be easy for the cars to find them if they looked further. How did PaNacea know so much about force fields anyway and could track magical activities? That was another question for which I wanted to have an answer before approaching the mysterious coffee drinking woman.
“Better turn off your flashlight and only turn it back on in another two hours for about ten minutes. I’ll find you in that window.” I said.
Arslan turned off the flashlight and pulled his arms back into his sleeves – too tired to talk. It was freezing cold as well but at least their walk helped them produce body heat. Whereas I was exposed to the wind while running without warming up one bit.
I checked on the boys again and Nurlan had eventually fallen asleep as well. Then it was waiting for the parents to get to the tent. I sat down in the dark at the top of the stairs as I couldn’t bear looking at the sleeping boys, lying there so innocently with such delicious heartbeats. Somehow this made me think of vacation trips my parents took with Isa and I when we were little. If my parents weren’t in the same hotel room as us, Isa would always climb into my bed before my parents turned the lights off. She snuggled up next to me as if I was her big stuffed animal. Not having the familiarity of our own bedroom, we at least had the safety of each other’s company. I wished I had her warm shoulder to lean on now. Even back then it hadn’t been sure to me whether it was her or me who needed this feeling of safety more.
The cold of the stairs started creeping into my body. I nervously tapped my feet on the ground. I needed to get going.
When I heard the parents’ heartbeats within one mile, I let them know that they were still on the right path and would be there soon. Once they arrived at the tent, both parents stumbled down the stairs, wanting to throw their arms around their boys rather sooner than later. They hugged their boys tightly, waking them both up. Nurlan finally started sobbing and Ayna picked up Shamil to carry him over to her other son and her husband and hug them at the same time. I felt a bit out of place.
“So”, I cleared my throat. “I will leave now. I hope you will be okay. We need the magical world to grow stronger and not weaker.”
Arslan peeled himself out of the embrace and then surprisingly threw his arms around me as well. “Thank you, dear Nathalie. We deeply owe you. I hope we can repay you in the future.” His eyes shone with gratefulness out of his wrinkly face.
I smiled weakly. “I hope I never need your offer.” I needed a heart now and not far away in the future and they couldn’t help me with that. I felt bad for even thinking about this, but I had wasted time. Too much time during which I was away from Alex and with so many other people still suffering. “I must go on now.”
“May your journey be blessed, Nathalie,” Ayna said, holding on to Shamil as if her life depended on it. For now, it didn’t anymore.
For the last time, I climbed up the stairs and out of the tent. Alex would want to live in one of those if we had one. But first I needed to keep myself alive. So, on I ran. Only, how much further would I need to look? How much further could I manage to go? I felt lonelier than ever. I knew Alex couldn’t be here with me but still, I longed for the strength of a guy to help me get through this situation. It would have been so much easier with him. I ground my teeth and pushed forward, always listening for that one heartbeat that pumped out of rhythm. The shot that would get my batteries reloaded and my spirits back up. The thought that I still had miles to go before I sleep, crossed my mind which was odd because I didn’t need sleep. Except, perhaps if I was running out of life energy which meant it was high time to find a heart. Feeling my own life threatened was enough motivation to keep going and so I ran, and I listened.