Sacred Bloodlines (12 page)

“I can’t,” Gabe said, unsure of what was holding him back.  “My hands are sweating.  My heart is racing.  I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s fear Gabe.”  Uri answered boldly.

“Oh I see, I’m afraid of you, is that it?”  Gabe asked sarcastically.

“I’m serious,” Uri firmly.  “You’ve seen my strength as a fighter.  It makes you doubt yourself.  I assure you the demons you will encounter will invoke much more fear than I do.”

Uri began to move in a circle, matching Gabe step for step.  He continued, “You must clear your mind.  Accept that you can’t change your opponents strengths, but you can watch  for his weaknesses.”

“How do I find their weakness?”  Gabe asked.

“Test them.”  Uri answered.

“What?”  Gabe questioned, becoming more and more frustrated.

“Think of it like this, you’re throwing stones at their fences until you find the weak spot.”  Uri explained.  Gabe pondered the answer as Uri gave a cry and swung the sword inward at Gabe’s legs.  Without a thought, Gabe lowered his blade to block and the steel clanged as they ricocheted off one another.  “Very Good.”  Uri congratulated.  “Again.”

The two took a step apart and continued to circle together as if both were predators and neither prey.  Gabe held his breath and pushed his fear aside.  He cocked his elbow out and with crouched legs came down on one knee, swinging at Uri’s torso.  Without pause, Uri blocked the swipe.  Within a split second they were engaged in a fast paced sword fight.  Each swipe equally matched by the other.  As Uri came at Gabe with quickness and strength, Gabe felt himself losing footing.

In a panic, Gabe tried to rectify his position.  Uri was too fast and too strong.  He searched for a weakness, but was at a loss.  After a few more clangs of their swords, Gabe was pressed against the stairs.  Gabe tried to use force to push Uri back, his last effort failing him.  Uri’s blade came in one last time and as the two swords locked against one another, Gabe fell to the ground, his own sword now pressed against his body.

“I surrender.”  Gabe cried out, wiped of strength.  Uri released his hold and extended a hand to help him rise.  Gabe rose shaking his head.  “Weakness.  I watched.  I couldn’t find one, what am I missing?”

After Gabe was on his feet, Uri turned to walk away.  He reached the middle of the room and with a big grin across his face turned back, replying, “Well, that’s because I’m the exception... I have no weakness.” The two laughed and began again.

Chapter Nine

Gabe collapsed onto his bed; every muscle ached from the day long torture his body had experienced.  He wondered how on earth these people tolerated the abuse he had just been put through.  He was experiencing pains in places he never knew existed.  Lying there he had resigned himself to never standing again when there was a knock on the door.

“Go away, Uri!” Gabe managed to yell.  The thought of more exertion making him want to crawl into a hole and cover himself.

“Gabe?” The voice behind the door was not Uri’s.  Gabe sat up so quickly it made him wince.  It was Sophie.  Gabe lifted his arm, sniffed, it was not pleasant.  He regretted not taking a shower that morning, but Uri had been right, it wouldn’t have mattered after that kind of workout.

“Umm.... Just a second,” Gabe called back pushing himself to his feet.  He frantically looked around for something to mask the odor.  Searching through the wardrobe he came across a bath Robe.  He quickly wrapped it around his body hoping the layers would create a shield for at least the moment.  Stumbling to the door Gabe took a second to compose himself, running his fingers through his greasy hair.

“Hey, Sophie,” Gabe said opening the door, trying to act cool and casual.  “What’s up?”  Gabe stepped out of his room and headed down the hall towards the boy’s shower room, Sophie following behind.

“Well,” Sophie began, “I just came to see how your first day went.”

“Great, I guess.  I’m just heading for a quick shower before dinner.”  Gabe hoped his pungent smell was not leaving a trail.

“Oh, alright,” Sophie replied, not really sure what else to say.  “I guess I will let you get to it then.”  Sophie turned to walk away but suddenly spun back around and called after him. 

“Gabe?” He turned and looked at her.  Quickly rethinking what she was going to say, she mumbled quietly, “Never-mind.”

Gabe sensed there was something Sophie was not sharing.  “Is there anything else Sophie?”  

“Umm…” Sophie began, “I just wanted to know if you were...” Sophie stopped again, contemplating her words.  Gabe could detect that she was unsure of herself.

“Yes?” Gabe asked, pressing on.

“I just wanted to know if you… would like me to save you a seat at dinner?”  Sophie asked looking down at the ground, embarrassed by her lack of confidence.  In fact she wanted to tell him about the prophecy and what his role in that prophecy would mean for him, but struggled to find the words.

“Yes, that would be great!”  Gabe enthusiastically responded, thrilled with the invitation.   He was sure Uri’s observation about him not being Sophie’s type must be mistaken.  He rushed into the shower room and realized the immense pain he had been in seemed insignificant now that he was going to be having dinner with Sophie.  As Gabe stood there, allowing the warm water to pulsate against his bruised and battered body, all he could think about was what other clothes the wardrobe in his room contained.  He wanted to make sure he looked nice for his first dinner date with Sophie.

When a clean Gabe made his way back to his room, he was pleasantly surprised to find tucked away in the back of his closet a pair of black slacks and a dark gray button up shirt.  Gabe stood in front of the mirror debating the key question ‘tucked or un-tucked?’  At last, he decided he looked much better with the shirt un-tucked.  With one last breath check and wiping his sweaty hands on his pant legs, he headed to the dining hall.  

Minutes later he walked into the grand room and began to search for Sophie.  The room was bustling, he hoped she’d found them a quiet and intimate spot amongst the madness.  

“Gabe!” Uri shouted waving his hands in the air.  Gabe smiled and continued searching the room.

“Gabe!” Uri shouted again, waving his arms even more wildly.  “We’re over here!”  Gabe hated to be rude, but the idea of having dinner with Sophie was too much to pass up.  Uri would just have to understand.  As Gabe looked over to directly acknowledge Uri he caught a glimpse of Sophie seated behind him, looking nervous and anxious about something.  They were surrounded by a rambunctious group.

“Hurry, Gabe, I want to introduce you to the gang,” Uri said.  Gabe walked over, he had clearly been confused by what Sophie intended by the invitation.  He felt his cheeks go hot with embarrassment as he glanced around at everyone’s extremely casual attire, mostly jeans and t-shirts.  Even though he was distracted by his embarrassment, he could tell something was bothering Sophie.  He wondered what it might be.

Gabe approached the table.  Sophie only glanced up for a moment, a weak attempt at a smile on her face.  “My, my,” Uri said with Gabe standing before him.  “Aren’t we a snappy dresser?”  A couple of boys at the table snickered at the joke.

Gabe had thought of an explanation right away so he easily flowed into his cover up story, “Nobody told me how you all dress for meals, so I thought I had better play it safe this evening.”  Gabe was extremely satisfied with his quick thinking.

  “Here, Gabe,” Uri said grabbing the arm of a tall and slender boy that sat nearby.  “This is Haim, as trustworthy as they come.  He has had my back more times than I care to count.”  Gabe reached out and shook his hand, noticing how large they were and how they nearly swallowed his.  Gabe also noticed Haim’s nose and thought there were a lot of things large on him.  Haim seemed like a simple type of person, nothing flashy about him.  He wore dark gray faded denim and his shirt was rather dusty.  Gabe could tell he was not one who fussed about his appearance.  The firm grasp of his handshake was very telling for Gabe as well. 
He is strong and confident,
Gabe thought.

“And here, this is Raimie.” Uri said, patting a very handsome boy on the back who sat on his opposite side.  He was muscular and had a strong jaw line.  Raimie’s chestnut hair looked as though he had taken considerable time to arrange the strands in a perfect pattern.  Gabe squinted his eyes.  He wasn’t sure if they were playing tricks on him, but he could swear Raimie was wearing eye liner.  “Raimie here can be the life of the party.  He can really get things booming.”  Uri added.

Everyone at the table moaned in disgust at Uri’s words.  Gabe looked around at everyone’s faces, searching for an explanation.

“What?  What’s wrong?”  Gabe asked, still confused.

“Raimie can control lightning and thunder.”  Sophie explained, quickly looking away.  “Uri, that was so not funny.”  

“Whatever,” Uri said waving off the disapproval, still clearly pleased with his humor.  Gabe noticed that clasped around Raimie’s arm was a little wisp of a girl.

“Down there on the end is Dina.”  Uri continued.  “She may not look like much, but some of her incantations would blow your mind.”  The girl glanced up at Gabe from beneath her thick, dark bangs and gave him a smile of greeting.

“Nice to meet all of you.”  Gabe said smiling and lifting his hand.

“They call us the Shadow Hunters.”  Uri added.

“You mean you call us that,” Haim chimed in and the group began to laugh.  Even Sophie chuckled a little.

“Hey, it’s catching on,” Uri insisted.  Gabe took a seat across from Sophie who was still clearly distracted.  It wasn’t long before the group was entertaining him with their stories.  As Gabe sat and listened to the group spinning tales of their triumphant victories over their demonic foes, he saw glimpses of the care free Sophie he loved being around so much.

As time went on, plate after plate of incredible food was brought to their table.  They all stuffed their bellies full of juicy pot roast, golden turkey legs, rosemary potatoes, sweet corn (still on the cob), a bread pudding that Gabe thought he would probably fight for, and so much more.  When they had all reached the point where they were pushing the plates away, Gabe was sad the evening had come to an end.  He enjoyed watching this group of friends laugh together and enjoy each other.  He had never been included in any such activities.  

Just before everyone was about to leave, Gabe heard bells ringing.  A hush fell over the room.  He saw Michael at the head of the gathering raising his glass and trying to get the attention of everyone.  Stepping behind a podium with a microphone mounted on it, Michael leaned forward and spoke.  “Attention. Attention, everyone.”  The straggling chatters hushed, everyone giving Michael their undivided attention.

“I am sure many of you already know we have a very important guest among us,” Michael said as he raised his hand and gestured in Gabe’s direction.  “I would like you all to join me in welcoming Gabe.”  The crowd erupted in cheers.  Gabe began to feel his stomach twist and turn.

Uri kicked Gabe under the table, “Stand up, stupid.”  Gabe was sure Uri had whispered the words in the most loving way.  Gabe stood and looked around at the room full of cheering people his age.  They were clapping and whistling.  Gabe didn’t know what to do.  He was not the type that liked a lot of attention.  Given a choice, he would have preferred to crawl under one of the tables rather than be the object of the large room’s affection.

When Gabe took his seat again, he realized Sophie had left during the introduction.  He looked all around to see if she was still nearby, but could not find her.  He was so focused on finding Sophie that he hadn’t heard anything else Michael had said.  Something was clearly bothering Sophie.  He had to know what it was.  If he had done something to upset her he wanted to know.

Gabe stood again.  Most of the eyes in the room turned to look at him.  He waved a hand briefly as if his exit had been planned and headed out to the east courtyard.  A couple people grabbed his arm on the way out giving him whispers of welcomes and well wishes.

Once he was outside he searched all around the courtyard.  Sophie was nowhere in sight.  He started across the wide open space when he heard a voice behind him.  

“Gabe?”  It was Sophie’s soft and sweet tone.  He turned and saw she was perched with one leg up against the stone wall of the feast hall.  “What are you doing out here?”  She asked.

“Looking for you,” Gabe said walking over to her.  “Why did you just take off like that?”

“I didn’t just take off,” Sophie protested.  Gabe gave her a look of disbelief from under his eyebrows.  “OK,” she gave in, “perhaps I did.  I have a lot on my mind.”

“Well, that’s obvious.”  Gabe said, resting his foot next to hers.  He wondered if he looked as awkward as he felt balancing on the wall.  “Care to share?”

Sophie pushed off from the wall and began to walk across the open courtyard, the moonlight shining down on her alabaster skin.  As the night’s light shimmered on her, Gabe thought she must be the most beautiful creature in the entire world.  

“It’s nothing.” she said, continuing to walk slowly.

Gabe rushed up to her side. “Sophie, I can tell it’s not nothing.  Look, I know you don’t know me very well, but if I did something the other night to…”

“That’s not it,” Sophie interrupted.  She looked over at Gabe and then quickly away again.  “I know something.  It’s something important that I think someone else should know, but I am not sure I should share it.”  Gabe wondered if her secret had anything to do with liking or not liking him.  He had to know, especially after Uri’s comment earlier.

“Well, I can’t tell you what to do, Sophie,” Gabe began, trying to find the words without seeming too eager.  “But in my experience, I have always found the truth to be very liberating.”  Gabe wanted to smack himself in the forehead for sounding so stupid.  He thought about how in his real life he always shut down, sharing nothing.  He felt like a fraud giving Sophie advice he knew he wouldn’t follow himself.

“Perhaps you’re right.”  Sophie said quietly.  “Gabe,” She continued looking up at him.  Her eyes grew large and he saw her lips quiver a little.  The anticipation rushed over him as he listened to her words.  “We should find somewhere private to talk.”  Sophie added.  Gabe’s heart felt like it was going to grow wings and take off from his chest.  This was it, he was right.  Sophie did like him.