Forever Mine

Part Thirteen

"What is she talking about? Matthew, what is going on?" Andria sits up from the backseat.
"Andria, put your seatbelt on." I command her.
"No! Tell me what's going on! I just abandoned my grandmother for you. I need some answers."
"Alex?" Marne puts a firm hand on her shoulder.
I'm surprised she's handling everything like she is. I would've pegged her to be the one to freak out.
"Yeah?" Andria looks back at her.
"Shut up and enjoy the ride." Marne looks back out the window.
Andria frowns at her before slowly putting her seatbelt on.
"Where are we going?" I ask Shy.
"Arizona."
"What?" Andria and I cry out.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist. It's not that far. It will take some hours at the most."
"I need some clothes."
"I don't think I mind." Shianne smirks.
"Well, I do." Andria snaps.
"You tend to favor the feisty ones, huh?" Shianne looks at Andria in the rearview mirror.
Andria folds her arm tightly against her chest.
"Can we just get through this car ride peacefully?" I sigh.
"I'm willing to play nice." Shianne smiles.
Andria makes a noise disagreement and glares out the window. Kill me now. I allow myself to get comfortable in my seat. All the fatigue from earlier has finally washed over me. I guess it was adrenaline pushing me those last few moments.
"Get some sleep, lover boy. I promise I will keep her safe." Shianne assures me.
I glance back at Andria one last time before allowing myself to nod off.
***
A loud scream makes me bolt upright. I look around me to find the car empty. Looking out the windows, I find we're parked in a warehouse of some sort and there is a rather large crowd surrounding the car. None of this puts me at ease. My eyes frantically search for the mixed colored eyes.
"Matthew!" I finally see her being held against her will.
I get out the car with a low growl. "Let her go."
"Calm down, Matt." Shianne takes cautious steps towards me.
"I said, let her go. I won't repeat myself."
The guys holding her give each other a nervous look. I take one step toward them.
"Matthew, she won't be harmed! They have to make sure she's away from you when they what they have to." Shy says firmly.
"Do what?" I spit.
"This." An elderly man walks up to me and holds his hand up at me.
I start to laugh with disbelief. "And what is that supposed to do, old man?"
"Give it a second. Sorry about this, love." Shianne folds her arms.
Suddenly a sharp pain tears my head apart. I cry out in pain.
"What are you doing?" I speak through clenched teeth.
"What we need to do in order to keep all of you safe."
I fall to the ground as I try to hold my splitting head together.
"Make him stop!" Andria yells.
"Ah!" I dig my nails into the palms of my hands.
The searing pain seems to last another lifetime before it's gone.
"It's finished."
I slump forward as I take shallow breaths. The metallic taste in my mouth lets me know that I bite the inside of my mouth trying to endure the pain.
"Matthew." Andria kneels beside me.
"Are you OK?"
"Yes, I'm...fine. Are you OK?" I place my hand on her cheek.
Damn you, Andria.
"I'm fine." She puts her hand over mine.
"Talk about Romeo and Juliet." Shianne scoffs. "Can we move alone now?" She looks at the old man.
He nods. "Please follow us."
He and Shianne walk through the crowd. I struggle to get back on my feet. Andria tries to help me by draping my arm around her shoulders so I can lean on her. We both know she can't hold my wait alone. Marne comes to my other side to help as well. My head is throbbing too badly for me to say anything to them. We move through the crowd trying to get to wherever Shianne and the man have gone. The whispers around us seem to mix together into a deafening sound. I wonder how many people are really in here with us.
"Not too far." A voice echoes.
We're walking in a secluded tunnel where only my pants seem to make any real evidence of possible sound.
"Marne." Andria whispers.
It's silent for a while before she replies. "Yes?"
"Are you OK?"
"I'm still hanging on." She answers before growing quiet again.
"Come on." Shianne waves us towards a door in the side of the tunnel.
We try to hurry our pace into the private room. Andria and Marne help me sit in a chair before they take their own seats next to me. Across from us in their own seats are the older man who tore apart my head and five other elders. Shianne stands by the closed door we came through.
"Mathew and friends, meet my friends in high places." Shy introduces.
We all sit in agonizing silence that seem to make my head hurt worse. I wince at the slight ghost of the pain I once endured.
"It shall ease in an hour or so." The man from earlier announces.
"What did you do to him?" Andria glares.
"I had to get rid of the hold Jezebel has on him. It was the only way she had to find him. It was deep so it hurt like hell, but it could've been worse." He explains.
I scoff. "I've dealt with Jez my whole eternity, I think I could endure that."
He smirks. "My name is Talic. These are my brothers: Andrew, Paul, Joseph, Roman, and Luca."
They all nod when their names are called.
"We are what Shianne calls the "friends in high places"." Talic rolls his eyes.
They look like they're from the brotherhood. I haven't seen them since Jez commanded me to burn down their hideout in 1769. They all wear the customary red robes, plain brown sandals, and yellow beaded necklaces. They all have long white beards giving away their years.
"What does the brotherhood want with me?" I ask feeling slightly better.
"I assume Shianne has told you about Jezebel's deception towards you." Paul speaks.
"She told me that I didn't need to kill people, yes."
Andria gasps from beside me. I will have to handle things with her now. There's no time to try to sugar coat anything right now. We're in the middle of a war.
"Yes, and Andria's grandmother has warned of your curse?"
"What curse?" Andria speaks up.
"You...you don't know?" Roman asks.
All the brothers look at her with awe.
"Obviously I don't know whatever you're talking about because I asked what curse."
I smile. That's my girl.
"Shianne, can you get the book?"
"Yes, Brother Joseph." She bows slightly before disappearing somewhere behind me and the girls.
"What's in the book that you can't just tell me?"
"Andria-"
"My name is Alexandria." She corrects him.
"No, your name is Andria. You're a reincarnate of the original Andria."
"What?"
Shianne comes back in with the book I thought was lost forever. The brothers notice me shift uneasily.
"We were able to save it. If you had succeeded in your destruction, you would've never known the truth." Talic flips the book open.
It begins to feel like the oxygen supply in the room begins to thin out.
"What is the book?" Andria slips her hand in mine and squeezes it.
I look at her with shock even though she doesn't look at me.
"It's Matthew's story." Paul looks at me.
She finally looks at me. I haven't looked anywhere else, but at her. Searching my eyes, she directs her question to them.
"What's so special about his story?"
"It's not just about him..."
"It's about the both of us." I finish.
She frowns. Her grip on my hand loosens, causing me to hold her hand in a desperate manner.
"What do you mean it's about 'us'?"
Talic sets the book in her lap. I look away in shame as I let her hand go.
"I lived in the B.C. era. I stopped living 2876 B.C."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been around a really long time." I look at her.
She frowns at me before looking back at my bible.
"I was just a boy then. I lived with my mother in Greece. We worked hard as pottery sellers. I was a trouble maker at times, but I was never in any real trouble until Jezebel breezed through town. She was something everyone wanted. My mother tried to warn me about her. She said she was the devil incarnate, but I never listened. I just thought my mom was just skeptical about a pretty face. When Jezebel chose me to spend all her time with, I vowed to prove to my mother her worth. Little did I know, that would only get my mother killed and have me damned to live for eternity."
Andria doesn't interject as I tell my story. No one does. It makes it easier and harder for me to tell it.
"During the time I lived, we didn't believe in witches or prophets or anything like that. We had gods and goddesses we would place our trust in. I though Jez was a gift from the gods. As time as went on, I realized that she was more than just a gift. Then I began to think she was a goddess in disguise. Never in my mind did I know she was actually what my mother said she was. While my mother was still alive, she tried to get me interested in other girls instead of Jez. No matter hard she tried or how many times she begged, I would always find myself sneaking off to her until I met Andria."
"Andria is who you all think I am?" Andria finally asks.
"We don't think. We know." I flip the book to the page that I know I'll have a sketch of the original Andria.
She brushes her fingers over it. "This is a joke, right? This is something you all did recently?" She smiles up at all of us.
No one's serious face cracks. Her smile fades as she looks down at the book.
"Andria was different from any other woman I ever met. What made her even more peculiar was her one blue eye and one grey eye. As I continued to get to know Andria, I grew less and less interested in Jezebel. It was the night before I was going to propose to Andria when Jez cursed me."
"Cursed you?"
"She turned me immortal. I was a servant for her every need and I was to live for as long as she pleased."
"What happened to Andria?" Andria whispers.
"Jezebel killed her." Shianne answers for me.
Andria flips another page in the book. "What happened then?"
"I travelled through time and to different places with Jezebel. It was fine at first. I had forgotten about Andria and the pain of her memory until I found the first incarnate of her. It was then that she had something I needed from her. Something that would bring me the power I craved." I feel my normal dark feelings swirl around me.
"But Jez lied to you." Roman speaks.
I look up at her. "Why would she lie to me? I can't have the Andria I fell in love with. I can only gain the power I need to be happy."
"The power Jez promised you, Matthew, will kill you." Shianne argues.
I abruptly stand up. "And I'm supposed to believe you? Yes, my life with Jez hasn't been the ideal, but she has been with me every step of the way no matter how badly I've treated her. She is all I have left!"
"No!" Andria stands up. "I may not know the girl you fell in love with more than a thousand years ago, but I'm here for you. Marne is here for you. These people wouldn't risk their lives for you if they weren't here for you."
"They want Jezebel gone. For all I know, they could be using me again." I snap.
"Well then, trust me. I haven't done anything to lose your trust."
"And you haven't done anything to earn it either." I growl.
"I think after we've been through, trust issues is on the bottom of the list."
"Matthew, I think you should read the whole story before you decide anything." Talic offers the book to me.
"And what makes you think I want to read it? For all I know, it could be an altered story to turn me against Jez."
"If you didn't trust us, why bring her?" He gestures to Andria. "You could've left her behind. Jezebel though she killed her when she killed Bianca. She wasn't in any present fear."
"Matthew." She puts her hand on my arm. "You're all I got in this place and I trust you because my grandmother trusted you. All I ask is for you to trust me in return."
"If I trust you or any of you, we'd be writing our own tickets to hell." I grip my hair.
Andria smiles mischievously. "Well, I guess we better get ready for a bumpy ride."