Day of Reckoning
I sat in my small prison with a hundred dreadful thoughts running through my mind. I hoped and prayed that Zak would not show up. Of course I didn’t want to be here, but my captor wanted me to be rescued. Although the order's interest in Zak was purely for his empathic abilities, I knew that Zak would not cooperate with them and I didn’t fancy him becoming a mindless drone.
But my biggest worry was for Keane. John wanted to kill him and even though I thought he was under-estimating the fighting skills of a five hundred year old being, it made me wonder what John was hiding up his sleeve. He had said I would be Keane's downfall ... those words did not bring me any comfort at all; actually they scared me to death.
All the member of the order had left. They had first arrived in several all-terrain vehicles, pulling small trailers for their equipment, but now all that was left was my cage, an ominous looking table with straps and a strange square hole in the middle of the table and John, who was impatiently pacing in front of my small cage. The order had also left a regular table with an assortment of tools that made me slightly nervous at the sight of them. I had seen enough action and thrilled movies to know what some of them were used for, and in the end someone always ended up missing some pieces of their body.
-"Why do you hate us so much?" I asked John, as he paced by my cage for the hundred time.
I wasn’t sure why I asked that. Maybe I was just trying to fill the silence, but I was truly baffled by all this hate he felt for the entire world. Was this man bullied as a child and had his lunch money stolen one too many times and something had just snapped inside of him? My question seemed to have taken him off-guard because he stopped his pacing and looked me like I had sprouted another head.
His brow knitted together.
-"I don’t hate you at all, in fact I envy you." His heavy breath came out in little puffs of white cloud through his thin lips.
-"How do you envy me?" I asked, unable to understand his strange reasoning.
-"You will bring forth a new world –"
I shook my head and interrupted him; I didn’t want to hear the new world speech another time.
-"No, I don’t mean me, I mean the world, what has the whole world done to you? All those innocent children that won’t have a future because of you, those mothers and fathers ... How can you be so callous that you want them all dead?"
-"They will not die in vain! They will be born again, into a new, better world!" He preached.
-"Just leave them alone!" I raised my voice, unable to contain the annoyance any longer. "They don’t want a new world, they want this one, I want this one." I gripped the bars to my cell and clutched them tightly.
-"I am afraid your journey is now over, Ana, but I will make sure no one will ever forget you." John approached my small cage. His disgusting hot breath was inches from my face but I refuse to let him intimidate me. But the look in his eyes ... it made me understand that there was no reasoning with this man, he was too far gone.
-"What do you mean, my journey is over?" I finally asked carefully.
-"Once you enter the shadow world, the Guardian must consume the blood of his descendant to travel through the portal to this world. But from your life a new world will be born."
I blanched and backed up, my back bumped into the cold metal bars. I had never expected this. For some reason I thought they needed me to do some sort of ritual, or chant some words, or whatever the hell people did to cast a spell. I felt my heart plummet. I thought I had the upper hand. That they needed my cooperation, but they didn’t. They just needed me alive for my blood.
I had been so foolish, and to add to that foolishness feeling, it would seem my time in the small prison had come to an end. John suddenly dug a key from his pocket and unlocked my cell door. He then reached for me and with bruising strength he grabbed my arm and pulled me hard.
I tried to fight him, but even though my captor was thirty years older than I and much more portly, he was strong. His strength was almost supernatural. He flung me hard towards the table with the straps and without much grace I fell right into it, smashing my face hard into the boards. I tasted the salty, metallic taste of blood in my mouth from banging my lip into my teeth, but I didn’t waste a moment. I quickly tried to scramble to my feet, and tried to run away, but John caught my arm again and without much effort he flipped me over. I found myself on my back and rather dazed. Moments later my feet and hands were being restrained.
John then dug a small box from his pocket which had a button on it. He pressed it and put the box back in his pocket.
I struggled against my restraint but it did little good. The leather straps around each of my wrists, which were tied above my head, were so tight that if I wiggled much more the leather would cut into my flesh. My ankles were also tied in a similar fashion. And to add to my sorrow, from the corner of my eye I saw Keane emerge from the woods.
He walked at a slow pace, his feet crushing the frost kissed ground. He approached with such confidence and menace; he would have put the greatest general of any war to shame. I felt my heart speed up at the sight of him. As he walked closer, he pulled out a long sword from his side and what looked like a gun in the other hand. His approach had not gone unnoticed either, John had also seen him. He quickly stood tall next to me and to my shock he was smiling.
As Keane got closer, it was like watching a hero in a movie. His slow, careful approach, as if he were a great hunter stalking its prey. The killer determined look in his face and the lethal stare he gave John should have made him fearful.
-"Let her go." Keane yelled, when he got in shouting distance. "And no one will get hurt."
I could see he had his gun aimed at John. But John didn’t seem too bothered by this. His lips still held a confident smile as he kept his own deathly stare on Keane.
-"I assume you are Keane, the warrior of the shadow world." John said confidently.
Keane had not stopped approaching and kept coming much closer to us. His face was angry, his normally pale white complexion was stained with several blotched of red on his cheeks and forehead. His face was hard and if I didn’t know he was coming to save me, I would have been terrified. He looked every bit the old warrior he was. I heard the gun being cocked.
-"This is your last chance. Let her go." His voice was strong and his British accent was much heavier.
-"I would think twice before you shoot me." John said with a confident smirk. "That table your lovely lady is strapped too is loaded with explosives and I'm the only one with the password to turn it off. If you kill me, she is dead."
Keane stopped a few feet from us. He paused for a moment at John's words. As he did so I didn’t miss the quick blur of movement which was running towards us. Zak was now running to us as well.
-"What do you want?" Keane asked, with a deadly edge to his voice.
-"I only have one demand." John smiled.
-"Which is?"
-"For you to surrender yourself to me." John said with seriousness.
-"Ana!" Zak ran up to the other side of John. "Let her go asshole, I got more guys in the woods, we got you severally outnumbered." Zak glared at John.
-"I thought I told you to wait!" Keane snapped at Zak but didn’t take his eyes off John.
-"He has her strapped to a fucking table! I wasn’t going to sit there and wait." Zak made a move to approach me but Keane quickly shouted at him to stop.
-"He put explosive on the table; he will blow us all up."
Zak gave me a worried look but didn’t move.
For the first time since Keane had arrived I saw his control falter. His eyes darted to me with worry then back to John. He was actually considering surrendering to this madman. Keane's crystal clear hazel eyes turned to me, and I saw the pain and uneasiness in his look. He didn’t know what to do. I turned to Zak whom looked just as frightened as I felt right now. He was a ghost hunter; this wasn’t the kind of thing he should have to deal with...
I couldn’t let any of this happen ... I was the key, it al came down to me. My breath slowed, and I swallowed thickly. The world around me seemed to slow down. I don’t know if it was because I had suddenly realized what really was at stake here. But I knew now. I understood.
I slowly closed my eyes at the bittersweet realization that this all came down to me. Keane wanted to save me, he would sacrifice himself for me, even though I doubted that John would let me go. The world needed Keane. It wasn’t just my life that was at stake, it was every single person on this world, every child that had a dream, every woman who had hope, and every man who dared to reach his goal.
I reopened my eyes, tears clouded my vision and I took in the scene before me. Keane, the mighty, strong warrior who had lost everything to these awful people. Zak who just wanted answers to what happened to us after we died ... Somehow had gotten caught up in this strange mess. I couldn’t let either of these men get hurt for me. I was the problem. I was the key, and if I was not here, no one could open the doorway for the guardian.
-"Tic-toc warrior ... I don’t have all day." John grew impatient.
But Keane didn’t take the bait.
-"I know you won’t blow her up, you need her to let out the guardian."
-"Actually no I don’t. I just need some blood. Once I press the detonation button, I have a series of needles ready to plunge into her back from below the table and take enough blood to give to the guardian. I even have a backup empath who is ready to take the blood to the guardian. So no, I don’t need her."
Keane seemed to be mulling this over in his head and moments later to my horror I saw him putting his sword to the ground.
-"Keane, don’t!" I shouted, speaking for the first time.
-"I cannot watch you die a second time." His gaze turned to mine and I saw unshed tears in his eyes.
-"He is going to kill me anyway way ..." I whispered, tears falling freely down my cheek.
Keane paused.
-"I can save the world ... but I could lose you." He said painfully.
-"Not if you don’t have a choice." I murmured.
And with that I started to violently struggle against my restraints. I didn’t know anything about explosives but I was sure that shaking and banging them around was not good for them. The table started to wobble from side to side as the leather straps cut deeply in my wrists.
-"Ana!" Zak screamed. "What the fuck are you doing? Stop!"
But I ignored him and kept my violent trashing around. This time it was John's turn to look worried.
-"What are you doing? Stop that!"
I wasn’t sure where the burst of courage from. Maybe from the spirits that lived here in this place, or I had finally found my true purpose, I found myself smiling at John. I knew I had him, and that all his careful planning had not anticipated this.
-"I'm doing what I was born to do. Save the world."
Zak was shouting at me to stop, as John put himself into action and tried to move towards me but as he started to run towards me, Keane let out a warrior's cry and with lightning speed he grabbed his sword from the ground and charged at John. With little effort Keane caught him in the back with his sword. John let out a sickly gurgle as he looked down at the long sword that had gone through his back and had come out of his chest. His eyes were so wide with shock I thought they would explode and he just crumpled to ground.
When John hit the ground, Zak quickly put himself into motion.
-"Ana stop!" He approached me but I still did not stop my struggling.
-"No." I gave Zak a pleading glance. "Please just get out of here."
-"You have to stop! You will die!"
For the first time I saw the pain and fear in Zak's face I was causing him, but I didn’t back down.
-"I can’t ... don’t you see, John is just one of many, they will keep coming for me. I have to end this."
As if agreeing with my statement a loud click was heard from underneath the table and another loud beep was heard. Keane ran to the base of the table where the small box of explosive was located.
-"She activated the countdown." He said somberly. "We have to get out of here." Zak nodded and both men set to work on my tight bindings. Ignoring my protest.
But as they loosen my leather ties I noticed some of the people emerging from the woods. It would seem that John's followers had not all left after all, and they had watched their leader being struck down.
-"Uhmm ... guys?" I stopped struggling.
-"Look Ana, you can play the martyr later! Right now we have to get you out of here." Zak snapped not looking up.
-"Well you might want to tell them that." I motioned with my head in the direction of five people who were walking quickly towards us.
Keane looked in the direction that I had motioned to and his face blanched. He quickly finished untying the bindings on my wrists and with speed he grabbed his gun and aimed it at one of the people approaching us. Zak got my feet done and to my surprise he dug a gun out of his jacket pocket.
-"Don’t get up, you'll trigger the countdown to go faster." Zak ordered me and he quickly joined Keane and aimed towards the people coming at us, but his stance was much less confident than Keane's. It was obvious that he had no experience holding a gun, let alone aiming it at people.
-"Stop!" Keane yelled. "I will shoot if you come any closer."
To my surprise everyone did stop. I let out a small sigh of relief for the first time today. Finally, something that will go right, I thought. But that feeling didn’t last because moments later, those same people who had stopped were now pulling out a gun of their own and aimed it at us.
-"Oh god ..." I whispered, feeling ill all over again.
But even before I could process everything that was happening, Keane fired, and all hell broke loose.
Everything around me stilled. It was as if the world had gone into slow motion and the sound had been muted. The only sound that I could hear was my heart beating frantically. My head pulsed with every rapid beat as I watched Keane's gun fire and hit its target with deadly accuracy. One of John's men let out a painful scream and seconds later he crumbled to the ground. As the man fell, it set off a chain reaction of events.
The four remaining men opened fire towards Keane and Zak. I screamed to warn them, but it did little good, because the bullets were already flying. The high-pitched sound of bullets flying by me screamed in my ears and incredibly I watched Keane avoid every single one with the most amazing agility I had ever witnessed. It was as if he had anticipated where each bullet would travel, he dodged down, went left, then right.
Not even a second later he was back in the upright position and fired his gun three times, hitting each target without much effort, but then it happened ... the last remaining man fired, but he was not aiming at Keane or at Zak, he was aiming at me. The man knew he was going to die, and in a desperate attempt of revenge he fired his gun at me. Keane fired at the same moment, striking down the man. I shut my eyes tightly, and I waited for the pain of the bullet to hit me.
But the pain never came. Instead I heard a harsh curse and a grunt. I opened my eyes and only a foot in front of me, Zak stood facing me. His face was pinched tightly together, his eyes were wide in disbelief and his hand clutched at his upper chest.
-"I told you ... I would protect you." He said hoarsely.
He pulled his hands away from his chest for a brief moment and I saw the giant stain in his black shirt. It looked like it was wet with water because of the shirt color but his hands were covered in blood. Zak had seen where the last man had aimed and he had quickly sprung into action, and took the bullet that was intended for me. Zak's breath hitched and he collapsed to his knees.
-"Zak!" I let out the most terrifying, blood curling scream.
Forgetting that I shouldn’t get up because of the explosive trigger I jumped to my feet and ran for Zak who had fallen face first into the ground. I tried to flip him over but was distracted by Keane's voice.
-"Ana, no!" Keane bellowed at me as he saw I had moved from the table.
I glanced up at Keane and saw the horrified look on his face as the click of the explosive trigger was heard with a loud echo.
-"I'm sorry ..." I whispered, unsure if I was apologizing to Zak for being shot or to Keane for essentially killing us all.
Seconds later, before I could even react, Keane had jumped and with a painful gasp I felt him collapse on top of me. My body fell over Zak's, who was now unconscious ... or dead, I wasn’t sure. Keane covered me with his body; he pushed my head painfully down into Zak's back. I felt his arms cradle the back of my head and his face pressed to my neck. His rapid, hot breath in my ear.
Then it happened ... the loud bang of the exploding table echoed through the air. I felt a sudden rush of heat and fire overtake us. Keane let out the most chilling, painful scream I had ever heard. Excruciating shrapnel embedded itself where my skin was exposed, and that’s when I knew I was going to die.
The heat and wind that suddenly engulfed us was more than I could bare and with a scream, I felt myself slipping away and everything went dark.
oOo
With a moan I stirred and slowly opened my eyes. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Ugh, my head was pounding and my whole body was throbbing ... What the hell happened?
The explosion.
I sat up with lightning speed, suddenly remembering that I had been in an explosion. On instincts, I looked down at myself, my hands patted down my chest feeling for any injuries but other than feeling slightly disoriented and having a throbbing headache, I felt fine. I let out a sigh of relief but my comfort was short-lived.
Zak!
I quickly looked around and found Zak laying a few feet from me; he was no longer under me like we had originally been before the blast. I scrambled to my feet and ran to Zak. He was now laying face up, his perfect face was relax and he seemed to have no injuries except for some dirt and soot streaks across his face, but his complexion was extremely pale. Wasting no time I got on my knees and lifted his shirt, silently praying that maybe I had imagine the whole thing, that Zak had not been shot.
But I knew even before I lifted his shirt that my wish would not be answered. The front of his shirt was soaked. As I cautiously rolled his shirt up with trembling hands the bullet hole was revealed as blood slowly oozed out of the hole.
-"Oh, god, Zak ..." My hand flew up and covered my mouth in shock and disgust.
I had no idea what I should do. The sight of all the blood made me slightly woozy and seeing part of his chest damaged was not what I was prepared to see. The bullet was still inside and I didn’t know if I should apply pressure, I didn’t want to push the bullet in further. I raised my head and frantically looked around. Aaron and Nick had to be close by right? And where was Keane?
-"Someone help!" I screamed, starting to feel the panic setting in.
I looked down at Zak's chest again and had to swallow hard a few times to get rid of the lump that had lodged itself there. My breath came in short quick bursts and my forehead was damp in a cold sweat. I found myself wiping away a few tears that were starting to fall when I noticed my hands were covered in blood. Zak's blood.
-"Oh god ... Someone. please help!" I screamed again.
I had to calm down, keep it together Ana. I repeated in my head. Panicking won’t help Zak. I closed my eyes and took a few breaths, but it did little good at calming me down, but I was able to think a bit more clearly.
I took my jacket off and covered Zak up; I had to keep him warm. Then I would go get help. But before I could do anything else I heard a moan and it did not come from Zak. I twisted my head to look behind me, and several feet away was Keane. I'm not sure how I missed him; he lay crumpled on the ground like a doll that had been thrown. His legs were both bent in a very abnormal position. My brain was already overwhelmed and barely functioning properly but I found myself somehow getting up and running over to Keane.
I ran blindly towards Keane and in my haste I tripped over my own feet and ungracefully sailed to the ground, falling hard on my hands and knees.
With a heart wrenching sob, my hands curled into the wet mossy grass. My hands were caked with deep scratches from my fall, mud and blood. I ignored the stinging pain and I just crawled on my hands and knees to Keane since we were only a couple of feet apart.
Even before I could see his face, tears blurred my vision. I wiped away the fat tears with my bloody, mud encrusted hands and with fear I cautiously settled my gaze on Keane's face. Like Zak, he was on his back. His legs were twisted sickly below him, and his face had several deep cuts in it.
He had taken the brunt of the explosion, all in the hopes of protecting me. His blazer laid opened, his usual neatly pressed vest was missing two buttons, his bow tie was loose and his pocket watch was missing from its chain, which dangled on the side of his chest. My hands shook so badly as I set them on his chest and slowly lowered myself to try to listen for a heartbeat. As my ear and cheek touch his scratchy tweed vest, I closed my eyes and concentrated on hearing any sort of thumping sound come from his chest.
But I heard nothing. No beating, no rasping, not even a faint thump.
-"No ..." I whispered, as I felt my shoulders collapse under my sudden heavy weight.
I buried my face into Keane's chest as uncontrollable wails and cries came out of me. My hands curled into his shirt and I tightened them into a ball. Keane could not be dead. I thought he couldn't die, he was immortal right? This was just how his body healed ... it had to be!
-"He's not dead."
The sudden polished voiced spoke from behind me. I gasped and with speed I turned around. A slightly familiar looking man stood a few feet away from me.
-"Get away from us!" I screamed, unsure if this man was good or bad.
My whole body still on its adrenaline rush, I tried to calculate my odds against this newest opponent. He stood between Zak and I, and I had to keep them safe, that’s when I remember the small Swiss army knife in my pocket. I fished it out and clutched it in my fist. It might not be much, but I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Keane or Zak.
-"I won’t harm you." The man said. He had an accent a lot like Keane. He held his hands up, showing he was unarmed.
-"Who are you?" I asked, not trusting him.
He wore typical clothing, jeans and t-shirt. He had dark blond hair, which was cropped short, but that was not what was remarkable about him. It was his eyes. They were the lightest blue I had ever seen and they held an edge to them, a certain wisdom that dared me to challenge him.
-"We've met before." He replied calmly.
-"I don’t ..." But I paused as his face flickered quickly to something unhuman like. It was very quick but what I saw, I will remember for the rest of my life ... and I knew exactly who he was.
-“The guardian.”
-"Nice to finally meet you, Anastasia." He grinned maliciously at me.
I stiffen and without thinking I quickly brought the small knife out and tried to flick it open but like magic it disappeared from my hands.
-"I told you, I don’t want to hurt you." The guardian said again.
I looked up and to my horror; he held the small Swiss knife in his hands. How...?
-"What do you want then?" I asked, amazed that my voice didn’t waver too much.
-"To help you."
-"Yeah right ... why don’t I believe that?" Good, I thought to myself, keep him talking. Find a plan to get out.
I glanced around and that is when I noticed I was not in the Hoia-Baciu forest anymore. I don’t know how we had come here, but the forest we were in now was all too familiar to me. The constant fog and eerie shadows, the inky aquamarine sky, and its feeling of dread ... I was in the spirit world. I felt my heart sink. I was right where John had wanted me, and there would be no one coming to our rescue.
-"Your friends will not die, at least not yet. I have suspended their spirits. They will neither die nor live. Not until you and I talk."
I glanced down at Zak then at Keane. Both were extremely pale and showed no signs of life at all which was very hard to look at so I quickly focused back on the guardian.
-"Why should I believe anything you are saying?"
-"Because you have no other choices right now."
He had a point ... But whatever it is he wanted from me ... I would have to proceed with extreme caution.
-"So what do you want from me?" Other than my blood, I thought.
The guardian's facial features were passive and unreadable.
-"I want you to choose."
-"Choose? Choose what?"
His hand waved at Zak.
-"Which man do you want to live?" He waved then at Keane. "Which man do you love more?"
-"What?" I cried outraged. "I am not picking that!"
-"Then I will let them both die. Choose one, and he shall live." How was I supposed to answer a question like that? I couldn’t let either one die! The guardian started a slow walk, circling around me. "Will you choose the man who you don’t remember from a past life, who has waited for you to return ... who has killed in your name, as revenge. Or will you pick the man who has loved you since he first set eyes on you, the man who has sworn to protect you, even though he knew deep down there was no saving you."
I closed my eyes and tried to tune the guardian out, but every word he spoke vibrated through me, made me die a little bit inside.
-"I can’t ..." I whispered.
-"Of course you can. But maybe I should bring up all their faults to help even the score." He slowly strolled next to Keane and looked down at the broken warrior. "The man who has killed hundreds of men and women ... without remorse or guilt. The man who would stab anyone in the back just to get to you." The guardian looked up at my with his unnerving stare. "He knew about the airplane attack before he even boarded the plane, he had hoped that it would get him closer to you, even if it cost all those innocent lives." The guardian crouched down near Keane's head and examined him carefully. "He has spied on you for years. Like some sick, peeping Tom. He has even planned to kill Zak when all this was over."
The guardian smiled as if that story was somehow amusing. He then stood back up and walked to Zak, he gazed down at him with a shake of his head.
-"And Zak ... Such a sad waste of empathic ability. He lives for the hunt of spirits. He gets a thrill from being possessed by them, he opens his mind up to demons and creatures of the night, all in hopes to get the answers he seeks. He would sacrifice it all just to get those answers ... He has lied to you, countless times. He has taken your father's journal, read it, and kept it from you. He has used women for his own pleasures, and disposed of them without a second though. He has even kept your own marriage a secret from you. He will do what he has to, manipulate whoever he must to get what he wants, to assure that he always comes out on top."
The guardian walked back to me and with a somber stare he stopped inches from me.
-"So which man will you pick? The liar or the killer?"
-"Why are you doing this?" My voice faltered as I tried to hold back the tears.
-"Because, even though you won’t admit it, I know where your true feelings lie, I know whom you really love, and I want you to say it out loud." He smirked.
That's when it hit me, this creature in front of me was not being cruel, and he was, in a way trying to look out for me. I know that sounded crazy, and maybe the air in the spirit world was making me not think clearly. But why else would he let me pick? If it was meant to torture me, there were more efficient ways of doing that and since my choice was so important to him, it was obvious that he had no plans on killing me.
-"And what happens after I pick?" I asked, my voice shook.
-"I will let the man go back, and live."
-"But Keane can't die. He is immortal."
The guardian looked back at Keane for a brief moment.
-"Immortal is a strange word. There are many ways a man could lose that immortality. A decapitation, beheading ... your warrior was an in explosion. What you see of him now is an illusion, what is truly left of him ..." He turned back towards me. "I do not think you could handle seeing what he truly looks like right now."
I crinkled my nose in distaste and tried hard to ignore what he had just said. I did not want to imagine Keane in any way worse off than what he already looked like.
-"What about me?" I asked, in a hurry to change the topic.
-"You will go with him."
I blinked surprised that I had been right.
-"Don’t you want to drink my blood so you can get out?"
-"Yes." I sucked in a breath at his honest reply. "But I find I am torn." He light blue gaze became far away. "My plan, for thousands of years was to escape my prison. To walk the mortal world and have the humans tremble in fear at the mention of my name." His voice grew louder and angrier as he spoke. "I want the revenge I am owed!"
-"Revenge that you are owed?" I asked cautiously.
-"I only wanted a simple life, I wanted to be able to live out my life with my wife, Amaya ... but the Gods didn’t approve that I loved a mortal woman, they saw it as below them."
-"I thought it was because you went around killing and torturing people?" I hoped my question didn’t make the guardian mad, but he showed little emotions at my blunt question.
-"I did ... but then I met Amaya ... and she saw the good in me. She did not judge me ..." He paused. "She was a lot like you." For the first time, a small smile curled on his lips. "I took her as my wife. I swore to her to never hurt another mortal again ... I just wanted ... I wanted peace. But it was taken from me! Amaya was taken from me. She was pregnant and when the villagers found out, they ran to the Gods and told them that a woman was pregnant with my child. They imprisoned me here, and hunted Amaya down, she somehow escaped and gave birth to our daughter, who spent her whole life running."
I furrowed my brow at the guardian's story. It was close to the story that I had heard from Keane, but could I really trust what this creature was telling me?
-"And now you want revenge ..."
-"Yes, I do! But I am torn ... The gods have once again tricked me."
-"How so?"
-"Because while my daughter lived, she could visit me, and she did so, when she could. She was a lot like Amaya, forgiving, loving, and courageous ... Even though I was in my slumber I knew she was here. I could see her in my mind’s eye ... and she was exactly as you are. You look exactly like my daughter did ... the gods made sure it would be impossible for me to escape my prison. To escape this place, I need the blood of a descendant of mine. You are mine, and yet if I kill you, it would be like killing my own daughter ..."
I was floored by this revelation. This guardian, a creature of unimaginable power, was struggling with one of the most human emotions ever. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man he had once been. If his story was true, he had tried to change, but the odds had been against him. The guardian reached out and grabbed my hand.
-"I want out. I want to kill every single human scum off the face of this planet ... but looking at you ... I see my wife, I see ... " He dropped my hand and closed his eyes. "I am giving you the choice to pick a man. To have the happiness that I was denied, the happiness that Amaya was denied, and the happiness that my daughter was denied."
-"And making me chose is your way of being nice?" I asked shocked.
-"Yes, because neither one of them is good enough for you."
I really wasn’t sure what to say. I was so confused and bewildered. My emotions really were on overload from everything that had happened and now I was here ... talking to the creature that I had been scared to death to face.
-"I have a question ..."
-"You may ask it."
-"If you were set free, right now ... would you still seek revenge, even after everything you have just revealed to me."
-"Yes, I would, without hesitation." The guardian stared at me with intent. "Do not let my sad story or my act of compassion fool you, I will still look for a way of getting out of this spirit world and I will get my revenge."
I nodded, I couldn’t argue with the fact that he was honest. But it also made me see even more clearly now what I had to do.
-"Then I have decided who you will save."
The guardian smiled in anticipation.
-"You will save both of them, and I will take the place of the one that should die."
It was the guardian's turn to look shocked.
-"That is not part of the bargain!" He cried outraged.
-"You said someone had to die and someone had to live and it was my choice. This is what I want."
-"You will die; I will not spare your life!"
-"I understand." I said with sincerity.
The guardian was quickly losing his cool composure and he started to pace in front of me.
-"You cannot! ... Why? Just tell me why?"
-"Because I love them both. Even though they both have done things that were not always the best choice ... I love them both and they both deserve to live. Zak has worked too hard and has too many questions that need answering for to just end it now, and he isn’t alone in his quest of getting answers. He has too many people who care for him ... And Keane is needed, to make sure you never escape."
-"You cannot go back on your choice." He warned, regarding with me with disbelief.
-"I know ... but just let me say ... goodbye." My breath hitched.
I didn’t wait for him to answer though. I quickly went to Keane and knelt by his still form. I brushed at his ruthless hair that tumbled down his forehead. I let my fingers linger on his cool flesh. He was so handsome. I could see why I had picked him in a previous life, or whatever it is I had before.
-"I guess since I keep popping back up every five hundred years, I might see you again." I whispered. "Try and keep things together while I'm gone. I'm sorry ... that I – I don’t feel the same way about you, like you do about me. I love you, Keane, but not like you should be loved." I held back the tears that wanted to fall and I bent down and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek.
Without a glance back I walked over to Zak and sat beside him. I took his hand into mine and gave it a squeeze. I simply stared at him for a long moment as I let the tears flow freely.
-"Zak ... You are going to hate me for doing this. I just hope that you can forgive me."
I leaned forward and kissed his cold lips. Some of my tears fell onto his face as I pressed my forehead to his.
-"Just promise me that you will have a full, happy life. I love you Zak ..." I hiccupped and kissed his lips again. "I love you."
I quickly got up and moved away from both men before I could change my mind. But this was the only choice. I could not pick, I did not want to pick. Tears made my vision cloudy as I openly cried. I cried for the man who loved me and would mourn me. I cried for the man who I loved and I never got the chance to tell him. I cried for the future I would never have.
But my reasoning from earlier still stood. I was still the key to letting the guardian out, and he had admitted that he would not hesitate to leave this place and kill everyone. I was not only making sure both men lived, I was saving the world.
-"I'm ready." I stood in front of the guardian, refusing to look back at Keane or Zak.
-"Very well." The guardian gazed at me with a hint of wonder and respect.
He raised his hands to the eerie aqua sky. He closed his eyes and a small ball of light appeared in his cupped hands over his head. He started to chant a series of foreign words and as he did so, the ball of light grew bigger and bigger. He suddenly stopped chanting and opened his eyes, which were now a bright white and without hesitation he threw the ball of light at my chest, and everything went black.
***************************************************************
A/N
I do hope you have a very happy and safe Holiday!
I know I will, thanks to all of you, you have given me confidence that my writing and stories are not so bad after all :) That is the BEST gift I could ever ask for!
On that note I'm unsure if there will be an update before the New Year. But do not fret, Zak and Keane will be back in 2014! (Will Ana? hmmmmm)
QUESTION FROM THE AUTHOR: So what do you think will happen? Is Ana dead?! Would the guardian actually grant her that wish? Or did he just kill off Zak or Keane? Love hearing from you all!
xXx
Love you guys! :)