Eternal

I could tell instantly that my question had annoyed him and the sudden surge of guilt shook me, I definitely did not enjoy the feeling and wondered what I could do to rectify the situation I had caused by my sudden urge to speak without thinking beforehand.

“How can you hold such prejudices over something that you have no real comprehension of, you trust Kat, yet she is one of those creatures you speak so little of. Not every creature that is associated with that place is abhorrently evil like not every human is innocent and kind. But forgetting that, no the prophecy I have been told of is not of happiness and light and I can only hope it is not about you.” He said this with such a defeated air that I couldn’t stop myself from throwing my arms around him and uttering my apologies, I knew from his face I had taken him by surprise and quickly tried to rein in my emotions before they got the better of me.

“Will you please tell me what they told you and I promise I won’t make any judgement regarding someone that

I’ve never met again.”

“I will drop all the prophecy related riddles and repeat it as simply as it was told to me, but remember it may not have been repeated correctly after all the time that has passed since it was first revealed, it may have even been translated poorly. Nevertheless it is said that a being who possesses the hair of pure ebony, who is less than human but at the same time more so than others, will befall a wicked fate. That when they come of the age of eighteen, they will be thrusted into the darkest oblivion and the lock that has held the gods captive will be broken. They will either side with Hades, damning themselves for all of eternity or go against him where their end is even less certain, for the gods are cruel and un-merciless and will destroy the person at the first opportunity that presents itself.

Apparently, the lock will already show cracks on its façade which will prove their existence, but no one has ventured up there since Constantine’s death, so it is unknown whether or not that has happened yet.”

I sat there unsure of what I should say to that, I think I may have gone into a state of shock. The phrase of being less human spoke to me seeing as it was revealed that my father was not human himself. But that wouldn’t necessarily mean those words were about me, would it?

“Do you think it refers to me Marcus, am I already damned at the sweet age of Seventeen?”

“I don’t know Unya, I wish I held all the answers but I am in the dark about all of this as well but I promise that I will help you to uncover all the secrets that surround you. Look I know I am changing the subject but has something happened, you seem more alive somehow.”

“So what, are you implying I am usually more corpse like, thanks buddy, that means so much to me,” I exclaimed, feeling slightly insulted by his words.

“That isn’t what I meant; it’s just I’ve never seen you act the way that you are today. You are usually a lot more aloof, barely showing any hint of emotion and when you do it always seems a little forced. But today, somehow, it doesn’t seem that way.”

“I don’t know what to say Marcus, I guess I have just been through so much recently that it is hard to know how to react, the one thing I am certain of though is my friendship with you. That is the one thing I hope I never lose.”

He asked me then what I thought I may be losing, which I simply replied “my freedom.”

The rest of our time passed by quietly until it was time for me to leave, I hesitated though knowing I had to ask the question that had been plaguing my mind since I had left Mihaela’s. If he refused my request, I knew it would not bother me emotionally, as my feelings had already disintegrated, I’d returned to my former state.

“Marcus, are you able to communicate with the spirit world?” I asked it in such a rush, knowing I had to get the words out before I left, he seemed a little confused by my question but did not leave me waiting too long.

“Personally no, it is not within my ability, although I do know of an incantation that can send another person to their plane, but it is not for the faint hearted or without its risks. And I fear by the glint in your eyes that you are going to request I send you there but unfortunately I will have to shoot you down before you even get the chance.”

I took a step back at his simple decline of my yet unspoken request but knew I could not leave here until I had found a way to change his mind.

“Marcus please, I have to speak to my mother, not for any emotional reason, but to find out exactly who or what my father is. I need to know why I am so different and why she even had me in the first place when she had solemnly declared she would never have a child for as long as she lived. So, what changed? What happened to change her mind so suddenly, when it is now clear to me that she honestly did not want me. She made my life a living hell and left me in an even worse state when she opened up her veins for the skies to bare.”

“Jesus Unya, look if I was to help you get there, which I am not promising to do, but if I was, then you would need an anchor to this world. Without one you may never find your way back and you would be lost to this world entirely, and that is a risk I am not willing to take, even if you are,” he stated it so simply that it took a moment to sink in.

“My friend Addy, she is basically my sister, if anyone could bring me back it would be her.”

“If she is human then it would be too dangerous for her, her humanity makes her weak when it comes to the kind of power we would be invoking. The whole process could drain her dry and leave her nothing more than an empty shell. The connection should be strong enough, but I could not guarantee her survival, you would need someone else there to counteract the effects, someone that would be able to lend their power and strength to you. You find such a person and I will help you.”

Z

Marcus had quickly sent me on my way after that and it dawned on me I had to finally reveal what I truly was to the only person I could not afford to lose, so with that in mind I set off to Addy’s.

When I arrived, she flung her arms around me and then punched me in the arm for neglecting her so much recently.

“What the hell have you been doing, if I didn’t know better, I would think that you had replaced me with a better friend. But who else other than me, would put up with your shit?”

She said all this with a smile on her face, but I could tell that a part of her meant the words she said.

“Addy, there is not a single person in this world, I value more than you. It’s just after everything that happened with Jackie I fell in with a different crowd, there not bad people or anything. They just go about things in a different way and they’ve bought a few things about myself to light. I wanted to tell you sooner but a part of me worried you wouldn’t be able to accept the new me and I would lose your friendship.”

“You should lose it just for saying that, did I turn my back on you after you finally confided in me about your big secret, of course not. And although I was a little freaked out about your overnight recovery after Jackie had given you that shiner, I still didn’t turn my back on you, so how could you even humour such an idea.”

Even though I was yet again unable to feel the guilt after earlier I now knew exactly how I should be feeling, and I hated it. I never meant to insult her, but really, what else did I think would happen. She had been nothing but a great friend to me, and all I had done to return the favour was neglect and deceive her. But I swore to myself right there and then that I would no longer keep her in the dark, no matter how scary it may be or the consequence, I was going to start treating her the way I always should have.

So with that in mind we went out into her garden and I proceeded to pull out a cigarette, I ignored her judgement over my chosen vice and made sure she was watching when I suddenly snapped my fingers and produced a flame at the very tip, just like I had done in front of Lawson and Kat.