Crystal Central Presents
It was official. Valentine was having the worst day in the world so far. A day doesn't sound right, make it a month; better even, two months. The worst two months in the world.
Rays of winter sunshine lit up the world in all their golden morning glory;through the drawn white curtains they peeked into Val's room,making it brighter, like the white walls weren't enough;a shelf of books and trinkets opposite the bed stood on the immediate right of the door;three portraits of the moon, crows and a red feather arranged themselves on the wall above the tall headboard.
The bedsheets spread crumpled on the bed, covering Valentine's lower body who had her back on the headboard. She was awake;she had not had a wink of sleep the whole night infact. The conversation with Daglaus and Melanie last night had set off a storm within her. The craziness these last almost two months had been playing on her mind on repeat.
Since the New Year's Eve, her life had been getting crazier everyday- if crazy were enough of a description. First it was the feeling she kept getting whenever she was outside, like she was being watched. She never saw anyone or anything when she looked though. She even thought it was the masked men, they had found her, the only survivor of the massacre all those years ago. But nothing happened even after a while, and she continued living, albeit very uncomfortably, convincing herself it was all in her head. A flare-up of her trauma.
Then came the voices. Like intelligeable whispers in the wind that rang in her ears, which only enforced the idea that she was loosing her sanity.
It was only when she started seeing statues moving that a crazy idea came to her. An idea so crazy it made her sure she was loosing her marbles- All these things happening to her, they felt all too familiar to the tales told by Uncle Fate.
Nevertheless, the idea stuck. Like a dog on a bone.
Eyes in the shadows;whispers in the wind and a moving Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Moore statue were still manageable, if only barely.
But when the nightmares started, two weeks ago, Valentine got scared. Scared like she was eleven years ago when the ' men in masks' slaughtered her family: the shrill screams; cracks of gunshots and puddles of blood still haunted her mind.
This time however, she was not scared of the 'men in masks' but of herself.
In the nightmares she felt like a spectator, unable to do anything as she watched herself murder the Fenway twins.
She saw Daglaus as he lay in a pool of blood at the 'other Valentine's' feet but she couldnt do anything, neither speak nor move, only helplessly watch as her friend bled.
She saw the blood cascading down those long black claws, to the sharp tips and then drip to the pool of blood on the floor. She saw how the other Valentine stood there, as Dag's blood breached his limp body.
She could almost hear the sound of flesh ripping and blood splurting when the 'other Valentine' bit and impaled Melanie's neck with her claws. The look of betrayal in her blue eyes as her life left her stung at Valentine's heart.
She could never think of harming the twins, but the reccuring nightmares showed her a different side of her. It made her scared of herself. Afraid that she could kill this imperfect family of hers.
The crazy tales of Uncle Fate started looking like horror tales when she saw their similarity to her situation. Tales of Hercules killing his family;of the Ata-Prima 'Albert of the bow' killing his father thinking he was a deer in the forest.
With how mysterious Uncle Fate was and the many unexplained magical moments in their lives, his words carried their weight.
They all felt some truth in his convinced matter-of-fact voice;in his mysterious black eyes;in the vivid manner he spoke the tales, but no one was willing to bet on a magical world of gods and pantheons. None but Dag of course.
This was what scared her. If the tales were anything to go by, something supernatural was happening in her life, and the nightmares could come true, like for Hercules and Albert.
The twins had no idea the impact the story of Melanie's encounter with Aerth last night had on Valentine.
****
'Aerth knows something I don't, I bet Uncle Fate does as well.' these were her thoughts that ran in her head as she got off the bed. She was a tall girl at 6ft 4in in height .She wore a dark grey sweatpant and a white extra size t-shirt.
She looked around the room, she always found the white walls irritating, the same went for the translucent linen curtains- they should be opaque. She found darker colors more pleasing.
Nevertheless, she still opened the curtains. Down below she could see Western Avenue;Gulf gas station;spurr street beyond and North Harvard street a distance away.
Cars and pedestrians graced the winter morning. Boston looked alive, unlike at night.
After a walk to the bathroom, Valentine headed for the kitchen via the living room. Melanie slept like a bear and Dag was ailing so she was more often the first to wake up.
She served herself a full glass of pineapple juice and got down to preparing breakfast. Her favourite. pancakes and bacon with the gem of canada- mapple syrup.
Even as she prepared the meal, she found her mind wandering to last night's conversation.
'What am I missing here? Aerth Sinclair is calling me a monster. I get the red eyes but, claws that cut steel and teeth that Pierce flesh? Is he for real. That sounds like something made up by Uncle Fate. However, maybe he's not completely delusional considering what I see in my nightmares. Those bloody claws ;the teeth biting into Mel...
Can Aerth be telling the truth. Better, has Uncle Fate been telling the truth all this while. Do the Titans, Olympians, Giants and Primas really exist. Am I truly a monster? I can't believe I'm now even considering crazy Uncle's tales. This is a new low for me. Or maybe I really am going nuts.
'But, if by chance- even the slimmest one- that his tales are true, it would explain a lot. This is my last straw. I so don't to see a psychiatrist. I can't be going crazy right now; I have my family to avenge;I don't want to loose Dauglas and Melanie;and I'm being targeted by Aerth who thinks I'm some kind of monster.
'It will be a first for me to be this reckless by believing Uncle Fate but I'm desperate. My vengeance is constant;I can't loose another family either and it never ends well for those on Aerth's hit list. Only a miracle like in fate's tales can save me from my madness or whatever is wrong with me. My salvation. Supernatural speed of Hermes the Olympian or the strength of Atlas the Titan would be nice.
'Is this how Dauglas feels? This desperate? This powerless? To some extent I can understand why he believes Uncle Fate so much.
'I would be deceiving myself to say I never once believed Uncle Fate's tales. He feels mysterious enough already, almost magical, almost supernatural. His stories sound so real too.
'Also the magical moments in my life, how did I get to Boston harbour from Tokyo in one night without boarding a plane eleven years ago? How did he find me that night and know my name before we even spoke? How didn't anyone notice three kids living alone without parents? How does he appear when we need him? It's too convenient. Who even calls themselves Fate? Why does it feel like he knows the future or am I being deluded by his stupid name? Does he know the events in Tokyo that night? I'm starting to sound crazy again.
'Anyway, Aerth calling us to the harbour is clearly for nothing good. What does he take us for? Fools? He must have known Melanie would tell us everything that happened at Timber and Toast.
'That Sinclair feels as strange as Uncle Fate, like he knows everything and had everything under control.
'He has to know something if any of this supernatural stuff is true. Is he betting on my curiosity. If that's the case he is spot on.
'I can't entertain the thought that I may be a risk to the lives of the two people I really care about. If he knows something, I must go no matter how dangerous. After all Boston is like his playground. There is nowhere I can hide from him.'
The food was almost ready when Valentine managed to wrench her mind from her thoughts.
Fear of loosing her new family and powerlessness had led her to accept Aerth's invitation. Tonight she would meet Aerth at the harbour.