Dear Citlali (ONC2024)

Chapter 11. Dovi

After another day of inventory, and more in-depth reading of some of the material, I felt a little claustrophobic. I wished I could walk in the forest to clear my mind.

I passed my head through the sitting room's door. "I need to blow off some steam," I said to Citlali and Kai. They lifted their head with concern on their faces. "I'm fine. It's just, I need a break. I go hiking when I'm like that. But I guess I have to find another way here."

Kai smiled. "I may know a perfect place. Not for hiking. It's not at all outdoorsy. But if you want to spend some energy, it's the best."

I frowned. "What kind of place is that?"

She smiled. "You'll see."

I decided to trust her and asked Citlali if she wanted to come with us. She declined, saying that she needed a break too, and that she wanted to go back to her hotel for a moment.

Kai and I took the subway, and we walked until she stopped in front of a metal door with no sign and no handle on a brick building in Hell's Kitchen. She put her hand on the door and it opened. "Humans cannot enter," she explained.

I frowned again and followed her through a corridor leading to a gym. A supernaturals-only gym, for what I could observe. I looked at Kai, my eyes wide in surprise, and she threw me a self-satisfied smile.

"It's the best hidden secret in New York," she said. "Well, maybe not the best, but one of them. I love this place. Diego is great."

"Diego?" I asked.

"He's the owner. The gym used to belong to his mentor, Noah, but the poor guy passed away a few years ago and Diego took over. He's an immortal, but the place is open to other supernaturals."

The gym was small but nice. It looked authentic, and I felt immediately at ease. There were only two clients there. Immortals, I assumed. They waved at us to say hello and went back to their workout.

"The machines are enchanted. They can adapt to your strength. Pretty cool, right?" Kai said.

I was quite stunned. I had never thought such a place could exist. But now I was there, I could certainly see the appeal. Just a place for an everyday routine, far away from the complexities of the supernatural world.

"It's cool, indeed."

A person, who I assumed was Diego, came out of the office to greet us. "Kai, good to see you. How are you?"

"Well, tricky question." She ran her hand in her hair and then waved. "Let's just say I need to drown my sorrow into physical exhaustion."

"Okay. Well, you're in the right place to do that. And who's your friend?"

"Oh right, sorry. This is Dovi. They're a vampire, as you can see, but they're nice. As far as I know."

I chuckled and shook Diego's hand. "I'm glad to meet you. The gym is great."

"Thank you. This place means a lot to me." Sadness crossed his face for a second before he smiled again. "Enjoy your session! And if you need anything, I'll be in my office."

The training did relax me and I felt better. I sat on a bench to let my heart rate slow down and Kai joined me.

"Ameyal told me she had met a young immortal she had befriended," I said. "It was... ten years ago, I think. In Philadelphia. It was you?"

She snorted. "Befriended. Yeah no. That's not what happened. We slept together the night we met."

I waited for Kai to continue. She sighed and wiped her face with a towel. "A young immortal. I didn't think I was young at the time. I was 38. But then I died, and everything changed. It's funny, right? Ameyal was the first immortal I met. I had died just a few months before. I was... lost is a euphemism. But well, I saw this gorgeous lady, and she was mysterious but she had all the answers I needed. And so, yeah, she befriended me. Is it really what she said?"

"I don't remember the exact term she used. But I know she had been deeply moved by you."

Kai froze and locked her eyes on mine. "I'm not so sure about that."

She didn't want to share more, and I didn't push it. We trained again for a while before calling it. When I walked to my hotel, the night had fallen. Instead of going back to my room, I passed the entrance and walked a bit more in the cold streets of my neighborhood, thinking about all the secrets behind the ocean of buildings in New York, all the stories never told.