Marker of Hope (5 page)

“Come in,” he said, turning away from me.

The house looked stripped, emptied of
furniture, with the exception of two armchairs and a coffee table,
which remained in the study where David led me. As I walked in
behind him, I studied the back of his head, his carefully brushed
black hair. The way his shirt stuck to his firm, wide shoulders as
he moved. When he came to a stop, he turned in my direction, but
his eyes veered off to the side and not at me. He motioned for me
to sit. He took a seat, as well.

“I didn’t know you were in town,” I said.

“I had to meet with two potential buyers,”
David said, finally, meeting my eyes. “For the estate.” He turned
his sight away from mine and glared at the den’s empty shelves as
if they’d betrayed him, too. “I don’t have further use for it.”

His words made me ache. Selling the estate
meant he was letting go of all attachments, of anything associated
to this town and to me. David was leaving for good. And never
coming back.

“I see,” I said. “Well, I’m sure you have
things to do, and I don’t want to take up more of your time. So
I’ll tell you why I wanted to speak to you—in person. I…” I cleared
my throat. It took me a minute to figure out how to say it. In the
end, I simply blurted it out. “I’m pregnant.”

He blinked at me, an impassive look on his
face. His body was as still as the statues of Greek gods I’d seen
in the museums in Athens. Was he breathing? What was he thinking?
Why wasn’t he saying anything? The silence was too much for me to
bear.

“You did hear me?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, his hand gripping the arm of
the chair he was sitting in. “But I don’t know where Eros is.”

The aching anxiety I felt in my stomach
suddenly transformed into numb confusion. “What do you mean?” I
asked.

He gave me the side-eye when he said, “I mean
I haven’t spoken to him since I last saw him—in Athens.”

“Uh…” I scratched the side of my head. “And
you’re telling me this, why?”

“Because you said you were pregnant,” he
said, his words dripping with bitterness.

I flinched at his tone, but quickly composed
myself. “Yeah, so what does he have to do with this?” I asked.
“You’re not making any sense. Are you drunk or something?”

“I’m the one not making sense?” He let out a
huff. “Isis, just tell me what is it, exactly, you’re here
for.”

“I just told you.” Exasperated, I stood up
from my seat.

“And I heard you loud and clear.” He rose
briskly from his chair, sending it flying back. “My congratulations
to Eros. He won, okay?” David’s hands formed fists at his sides.
“What more do you want from me?”

“What?” I raised my brows. “You think…” I
shook my head. “Oh, you’ve misunderstood everything. I’ve never had
that sort of relationship with anyone but you…”

Like arrows, David’s eyes darted a dozen
wordless questions in my direction.

“David,” I said. “The baby I’m carrying is
yours.”

His lips slightly parted.

“If you want to believe it or not, it’s up to
you,” I said, glancing at my hands. I looked up at him through my
lashes. “I just thought you should know.”

His eyes flicked about, landing on every
object in the room, except me.

“After what’s happened between us, I’m not
expecting you to be in our lives. I’m not here to demand anything
of you, either,” I told him. “It may not be easy, but one way or
another, I’ll manage.”

He rubbed his face with his hands as he paced
the length of the room. He stopped at the chimney and held the
mantel as if he were using it to steady himself. Then he turned and
looked at me.

“I’m engaged.”

CHAPTER 6

Slowly, I lowered myself to the chair I’d
been sitting in earlier. I felt like I’d been punched in the chest
a dozen times, each time harder than the one before. I crackled
like glass, shattering into tiny fragments that would never be
assembled as they once were, bits of me lost forever to this moment
in time. My lungs failed me. I was spiraling into a black hole, and
my head was spinning. Had I not sat down when I did, I might’ve
collapsed.

“I…I’m happy for you.” I tried my best to
sound sincere. “I wish you the best.” I stood up. “I should
probably leave,” I said, my voice broken. “I haven’t told my mom,
and I don’t think I should wait any longer. I…I…” I didn’t know
what else to tell him. I couldn’t bear to look at him knowing he
belonged to someone else. “Good bye.”

The floor felt unsteady under my feet as I
fled across the room into the foyer and out the front door. I
didn’t realize I was running until I reached the car, winded and
shaking. I searched my pockets for the car keys, desperate to get
away from this house, from this moment, as fast as I could. At
last, I found the keys in my back pocket, and I unlocked the car. I
slid into the driver’s seat, broken sobs escaping me as I turned
the key. I shifted the car into gear and turned onto the vegetated
path, leading out to the exit. I couldn’t see through the curtain
of tears and diluted mascara in my eyes.

As I drove, I twisted the rearview mirror to
glance at myself. My face was a mess. I wiped the streams of black
water from my cheeks with the hem of my shirt. I readjusted the
mirror and caught a glimpse of a blurry object approaching in the
distance. I blinked, tried to focus, and then made out the
silhouette of a person—a person running behind my car. I slammed on
the brake.

I twisted my neck to look out the back window
and blinked again. My eyes fixed on the person moving at warp
speed. I squinted to focus better.

“David?” I said aloud.
No. Demon.

I dug my foot into the gas pedal so far down
it reached the floor. The car tires screeched and the car flew
forward. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the Turpis—the
demon—fast on my tail. When I focused on the narrow road in front
of me, I saw two Turpis blocking my way. I tried to dodge them, but
not accustomed to driving at high speed, I lost control of the
wheel. The car slid off the path and landed in a ditch where the
engine stammered and died. The air bags ejected. I dug my fingers
into the inflated bag in front of me, and it exploded. A cloud of
white powder burst out of the bag and landed on me. I coughed.

I heard the back door open, and my nose honed
in on the smell of sulfur and ammonia. Demons smelled worse now
with my refined senses. I opened the passenger door and stumbled
out. I was ready to run; only, three charred-skinned demons were
blocking my way, surrounding me. I took a step back.

The demons sniffed at me from where they
stood, a few feet away. All of a sudden, their heads cocked, and
then they turned glanced at each other, as if confused. The one on
the left stepped forward. It reached for me, and I took a step
back, trapping myself between it and the car. It lowered its head
to my face, its red serpent eyes studying me. Its voice was deep
and made a gurgling sound.

“Yooourrrr, frruuuit…will not be borrrrn.” It
snapped its yellow teeth. I jerked my head back and slammed it
against the car.

As it reached for my throat, something
strange came over me—survival and fear and rage all condensed into
one. Before I knew what I was doing, my fist flashed forward and
impacted with the side of the demon’s head. It lost balance and
toppled back. My sudden action caught the other Turpis by surprise.
In the seconds they took to gauge the scene, I tore past them in
the direction of the woods. I could hear their heavy, clawed feet
racing behind me. My lungs began to burn and ache as I pushed and
forced out every ounce of energy I had in my body to gain speed.
The muscles in my legs began to warm. Soon after, they were on
fire. I was running in slow motion, though I knew the adrenaline
pumping through me was racing at the speed of light, and I along
with it. After what seemed like eternities of breaking branches and
leaves and struggling to inhale air, I saw the white plantation
house.

I glanced back at the demons. They were
gaining on me faster than I was on the house. I felt myself
hyperventilating, my legs loosening under me. The house was in
clear view, but my body couldn’t take anymore. At the edge of the
clearing, where the lake began, I ran over the large rocks
surrounding it. One of my ankles twisted as my foot landed between
two uneven stones. I slipped and fell face down into the lake’s
murky green water. I lost my orientation for a second—a second in
the demons’ advantage. I jumped up and took off, running along the
lake’s shallow edge. The rotten-egg stench closed in on me, which
meant the Turpis weren’t far behind. I pedaled harder, but it felt
like I was running against the wind and invisible forces that
wouldn’t let me advance. My throat burned, dry from the wheezing
I’d only now become aware of. I coughed. Coughed some more. My eyes
watered, and the bout of coughing worsened. I couldn’t see where I
was running. My feet were drenched, and water was splashing around
me. I wiped my eyes, still moving along the edge of the lake, but
with much less speed. The house’s lawn was meters away.

I reached the edge of the lakeside at last.
No sooner had my foot touched dry ground, than I felt a harsh jerk
on my hair. The next thing I knew, the world turned upside down as
I soared through the air. My back hit a tree stump, and I bounced
to the ground. Something hard hit my face and my entire head
vibrated. I threw myself against the brown scorched body of the
Turpis attacking me and pushed him to the ground. Despite the
sweltering pain in my throat, I let out a deafening scream, scaring
birds out of the forest trees. I grabbed the demon by its horns and
slammed its head against a rock. It let out a thunderous growl and
yanked me off, throwing me clear across the way. I landed in the
clearing, but this time, I didn’t lose my bearings. I dashed for
the house, screaming David’s name as loud as my tired lungs allowed
me.

I saw a curtain on the ground floor pulled
aside. A few seconds later, the front door opened. David jumped off
the porch and ran in my direction.

My feet dragged, unstable from exertion.
Seeing David close the wide space between his house and me was what
willed me to keep me going. I knew with him, I might have a chance
against the hellish creatures.

Seeing David approach, I noted something
sparkling in his hand. His brows were creased and his face hard,
the ferocious expression of an experienced warrior in the
battlefield.

At last, I reached him. I paused, holding out
my hand to him. He didn’t stop. He ran past me, lunging forward
into combat with the three Turpis.

David drew his right hand back, a gold dagger
held tight in his fist. He sliced the air with the blade, burrowing
it into one of the Turpis’ eyes. Its screams resembled a swine’s
final squeals in a slaughterhouse. David withdrew the blade and dug
it into the demon’s forehead. It fell to the ground, jerking, black
liquid and dark bugs escaping form the wound. As David turned his
attention to the other two Turpis, I saw the ground crack open, and
the dead demon’s body turn into a dark powder that sifted into the
earth.

The remaining two demons went at David at the
same time. One of them struck him in the stomach, and David fell to
his knees. But he quickly recuperated from the blow and flung
himself against the creature, which dug its claws into David’s
face. David writhed beneath its grasp. The other Turpis glanced at
me. I tensed. My sight bounced from the Turpis coming at me, to
David who was fighting the other demon. I didn’t know what to do.
Run away or help David?

I gathered my strength and my courage, and I
ran—ran hard and fast toward the dagger clasped in David’s hand.
The demon targeting me intercepted my route to the dagger. I faked
to the left, and then kicked it in its carbonized demon balls. The
demon fell to the ground, buying me enough time to reach David, who
continued struggling with the other demon. David stabbed the Turpis
on the side of its head with the dagger.

I reached for the weapon, but the Turpis
jerked, and I caught its horn instead. I pulled on it with all my
might, trying to hoist the creature off David. I heard a crack,
and, all of a sudden, I was holding the demon’s horn. Distracted, I
didn’t see the other demon approaching from behind. Its claw dug
into my arm and yanked me back, pinning me to the ground. The
Turpis bared its sharp yellow teeth at me, its snake tongue
rattling.

I screamed and slammed the demon horn in my
hand against its companion’s jaw. I heard David calling my name.
Then, with a loud snap, the demon’s head twisted and went limp. Its
body dropped to the side, quivering like a fish out of water. Using
the pointed side of the horn, I stabbed the Turpis in the head over
and over again as I screamed, horrified, distraught screams;
screams that even scared me.

The horn disintegrated in my hand into black
powder, leaving me without a weapon. I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Alarmed, I whirled around, ready to strike.

I expected to find another demon, but it was
David who stood there. His blue eyes were wide, his hair
disheveled, his face covered in dirt. Red claw marks marred his
perfect cheek and forehead. Any part of him not covered in soil and
blood was coated in black demon goo.

Inside my head, the world grew quiet. It
seemed almost unrealistic that life could be this peaceful when I’d
just lived an infinity in the company of hell’s spawn. I could hear
no sound. David’s lips moved, but no words reached my ears. I
inhaled, exhaled, inhaled.

David’s voice faded in and out. “Are you all
right? Isis…”

I nodded and lowered myself to the ground.
Hugging my stomach, I sucked in tattered breaths. It felt so good
to breathe. To let my body relax. My eyes closed.

I felt David’s hands on my face. His thumbs
wiped away the moisture on my cheeks. Was I crying? I opened my
eyes, and he helped me to my feet. We stared at each other, neither
of us speaking. Which was a good thing, because in that instant, I
didn’t care for talking. I was perfectly fine with the silence.
With looking at him again, even though he wasn’t mine. I crumbled
inside all over again.