Chapter
30: My Immortal
Van stood by the large window in Sara’s room looking out across the
endless darkened sky. His mind was a mess that evening, spinning in so many
directions it almost made him dizzy. He placed his hand on the glass, continuing
to look out into the darkness. The moon was merely a sliver over the horizon,
and it seemed as if the sun could easily burn it out of the sky if it rose.
Van’s gaze turned to Sara as she slept beneath a mound of blankets, her eyes
fluttering in a rapid motion indicating she was probably dreaming.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he continued to watch the goddess lying
before him. Ever since her arrival, Van had felt something come over him, a kind
of sixth sense, one that he had yet to figure out. It plagued his mind for hours
on end, like it was supposed to be there, but he hadn’t discovered until the
Witchblade and Sara Pezzini entered his life. Maybe she was right about him
being mixed up in its web. Maybe he was meant to be a part of the greater scheme
of things. Maybe he was destined to fall in love with Sara.
Whatever it was, Van couldn’t figure it out. It felt as bad as his fear
for Billie the day before. He wanted to know what the hell was going on and why
his mind was such a jumbled mess. As his curiosity got to the best of him, Van
climbed back into Sara’s bed and wrapped his body around her like a second
skin. He gently picked up her right hand and stared at the blood red jewel on
the ancient bracelet. It seemed to beckon him to touch it, to rub his thumb over
it.
Van was hesitant about touching the thing. He clearly remembered what had
happened the last time. He didn’t want to get sucked into another vision like
the one where Sara died in front of him. But he couldn’t stay away from the
stone. It pulsed a soft red light through the room, one that seemed innocent
enough. Abandoning his previous notion, Van finally let his fingers slip over it
and was quickly drawn into another world.
He was in a room resembling that of the Greek or Roman period, unable to
figure out which one and wishing that he had paid a little more attention to
this thing when had taken history in high school. It was almost like a scene
from “Gladiator” in Cesar’s palace, just slightly different. As he looked
around the room, Van could see several features that stuck out, like the miles
of linen that decorated the entire interior of the room from ceiling to floor,
including the four post bed he was laying in. The beautiful white fabric swayed
gently in the light breeze that flowed through the windows. Judging from the low
level of light filtering through, he realized it was nearly sunrise.
As Van turned his head, he found the bare body of a beautiful dark haired
woman lying beside him, staring up at his face with those beautiful green pools
of her eyes… Sara. She had a wide smile across her face that indicated they
shared one hell of a night together.
“Xerxes,” she whispered, her voice a soft melody to his ears. She
rolled over and placed herself on top of his lap, her long, dark chocolate hair
flowing over her body and gently brushing up against his. Van reached up and
cupped her face with his hands, bringing her lips up to his for a soft, delicate
kiss.
“My Artemisia,”
Van whispered back in a voice not his own. “My love, my goddess,” he
continued, the smile growing on her face. Van somehow knew that this was a very
real dream, and decided to let whoever it was showing it to him to continue.
After all, the woman that sat on top of him felt pretty good to the touch, not
to mention her beauty was that of the woman who lay beside him in the real
world.
She looked deep into his eyes and her expression quickly faded to sadness
and despair. “How can you continue to love me after you’ve been ordered not
to?” she questioned.
“The same way I continue to see you, in secret,” he replied, his voice
soft and soothing.
“But Xerxes, if we get caught, Marpesia will surly kill you,” Artemisia whispered with concern penetrating her gentle voice as she gazed into his
eyes.
“If she does, will you mourn me as you do now when I am gone with my
legions?” Xerxes asked, taking her hands and held them in his. The bracelet on
her wrist began to swirl soft shades of red throughout the room.
Artemisia
smiled. “Of course, my love,” she answered, leaning in to kiss him. “I
would mourn you as long as the moon still rose and the sun still broke through
the clouds.”
“And if Marpesia decided to kill you, I would mourn your death until my
dying day and through eternity, until we finally found each other again and
could be together without the threat of separation,” he said.
“I love you, Xerxes. I will always love you, in this lifetime and all
those that follow. You are my guardian, my anchor, and my life. You keep me sane
and protect me from the voices and the demons. Never leave me, or I would not be
able to survive.”
“I will never leave you, my Artemisia.” He
kissed her once more, and as they parted, she began to fade away.
Van awoke with a start, sitting up in bed and looking around the room to
see if he was still in that strange place. The surroundings were Sara’s room,
and she was still asleep beside him, her legs tangled with his beneath the soft
silk sheets. He sucked in a ragged breath and lay back down, this time keeping
his hands far away from the Witchblade. That little dream had to be about one of
the past lives they had spent together. But what was the point? To prove to him
that he and Sara belonged together? Van shook his head. There had to be more to
it. He decided not to dwell on it any longer and nestled his body against
Sara’s, tightly holding her as she continued to sleep.
Van couldn’t fall back asleep, though. His mind was still buzzing from
that dream. Could it have happened? Could he have been the famed Xerxes, Artemisia’s lover? What the hell happened between them anyway? The questions were too
tempting not to have answered. Going against everything he had previously told
himself not to do, Van placed his fingers upon the Witchblade again, this time
being sent into a completely different world.
It was dark this time, with very little light, save for the half moon
glowing in the sky. The earth was cold beneath Van’s feet as he walked down
the path to where he had heard several voices whispering. With every step he
took, the voices grew louder until the roar of the crowd was near deafening.
There must have been hundreds, no, thousands gathered out there in a horde
circling something in the center.
Two women, both wielding swords, were standing in the center of the
circle, their eyes aflame, their faces illuminated by the torches the men and
women carried with them. One wore her dark hair up in a pony tail, her fierce
blue eyes staring down at her opponent, a woman with slightly lighter hair and
fiery green eyes. They were constantly swinging at each other in attempts to
disable the other, but neither was advancing her position.
“Artemisia!”
Van heard the name being yelled from his own lips as he ran towards them. She
heard him, her eyes quickly glancing in his direction. That was when the other
woman chose to strike. She ran her sword straight through Artemisia’s
chest, sending her to her knees in pain and anguish. That’s when Van realized
that she wasn’t wearing the bracelet on her right hand and that the other
woman was the one holding the gauntlet that came with it.
“NO!” Van screamed as he burst through the crowd. The other woman
continued to hold her sword in Artemisia’s chest, twisting it
like a skewer. Artemisia cried in
agony, the pain shooting through her body as she grabbed the sword and tried to
keep it from continuing its assault upon her body.
“Xerxes, no,” Artemisia
choked as blood slipped down her lips. The other woman turned to him, her bright
blue eyes scorching his soul with hatred. “Leave, Xerxes! Marpesia will kill
you!”
“No!” Xerxes yelled, pulling a knife from his belt. Marpesia tried to
yank the sword out of Artemisia’s
chest, but to no avail. It continued to
stay there as if it knew its savior had come. Xerxes raised his knife over his
head and bore it down on Marpesia’s back and straight through her heart. She
fell to the ground, dead, the gauntlet morphing back into a bracelet on the
ground beside her.
“Xerxes,” Artemisia
whispered as he fell on his knees beside her, his hands cradling her head. Her
deep green eyes were fading, and fast. He was losing her.
“Artemisia…”
his voice trailed off.
“Xerxes, I love you,” she managed to whisper just before she closed
her eyes.
“NOOOOO!” Van screamed as he shot up out of bed, his entire body sweat
slicked and heaving for breath.
“Van! Van!” he heard Sara say as she sat up beside him and slip her
arms around his neck. “Calm down, baby. It was just a dream.” He looked over
at her, still heaving and surprised. She was alive and well.
“Sara,” Van nearly cried as he pulled her in for a tight hug.
“Baby, what was your dream about?” Sara asked softly as she pried
herself away from his death grip on her body.
“It happened… again,” Van gulped. “Except it was in a different
time and place and you were a different person and I didn’t know who I was
and…”
Sara put her fingers to his lips not allowing him to continue. “Shh…
It’s okay,” she said, trying to calm them both. Sara’s heart continued to
race as she looked deep into Van’s paled blue eyes. His fear stuck out like a
sore thumb. She raised her hand, gently stroking his face with it until his
breathing returned to normal.
Van buried his face in Sara’s thick golden hair and held onto her tightly. “Why the hell am I having these fucked up dreams?” he softly asked. “Do you think they might actually happen or they might have already happened?"
“I don’t know, but I think it’s about time that I called Gabriel and
talked to him. He could dig something up for me if I asked him to,” Sara said
as she pulled away from Van and grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand beside
her. After quickly punching in the numbers, she waited for the answer patiently.
“Hey, Chief,” Gabriel said when he picked up.
“Gabe, I need your help,” Sara replied, cutting all time for small
talk.
“Sure, no problem. What’s up? Witchblade being uncontrollable?” he
asked.
“I don’t know if it’s the Witchblade or something else, but Van has
been having some pretty strange dreams lately, all of which pertain to my death.
If it isn’t any trouble, could you start researching into that and call me
when you find something out?”
“Yeah, sure Chief.”
“Oh, and find out what lifetimes I’ve been separated from Ian and who
it was that I ended up with,” Sara added just before they hung up with each
other.
“Think Van might be someone from your past?” Gabriel replied.
“Yeah, I have a really good feeling that he is. He seems to be drawn to
the Witchblade, ya know? It’s got a power over him that I didn’t realize
until now. If you find anything out, please call me. I don’t care what time it
is or anything like that. I just want to know,” she nearly pleaded.
“Of course. I’d never withhold information from you, unless you’ve
pissed me off or something, but even then, I wouldn’t. Anyway, I’ll give you
a call when I find something. Bye, Pez,” he said, ready to hang up.
“Bye, Gabe,” Sara replied, turning off her phone once more. She looked
to her right, finding Van still sitting up and gazing at her with worried and
tired eyes. “Gabriel’s on it. Don’t worry. He’ll find something to
explain all this.”
“What if he doesn’t? What if it’s too late? What if…” Sara put
her fingers on his lips again and gently pushed his head beneath her chin. Van
complied, afraid that everything would go to hell if he continued his blabbing.
This whole situation was just too crazy for him to handle alone. He was more
than happy to have Sara around helping him.
“Go to sleep, babe,” she told him. Van closed his eyes, finally
feeling safe in her arms. Sara merely watched him as he slept, afraid that any
sudden movement or sound would wake him. She stayed in bed, his warmth mixing
with hers as they breathed together. It was one of those precious moments that
she grew to cherish since they happened every once in a while.
Sara sighed. This was the last time they’d probably be together in a
while, and all she wanted to was make it special. That was completely wrecked by
those stupid dreams. If only the Witchblade would behave itself for just a few
days…
Sara was quickly startled out of her thoughts when she heard her cell
phone begin to buzz on the table. She remembered she had set it on vibrate the
night before and was thankful that she had. Picking it up, Sara quietly
answered, “Pezzini, go.”
“Good morning, Sara. Did I wake you?” Ian replied softly, realizing
that she probably wasn’t alone.
“No, I’ve been up for a little while now. How was your night with
Billie?” Sara asked, continuing to keep her voice down.
“It went well, until she got aggressive,” he answered.
“Aggressive? Did Billie try to hurt you?” Sara was on the warpath now.
If Billie had even tried anything remotely close to hurting him, Sara would have
her head on a platter that afternoon.
“No, actually, she tried to sleep with me, but I told her I couldn’t
because I wanted to wait.” Ian conveniently left out the fact that he wasn’t
about to do it with someone he wasn’t in love with, yet.
“Oh, that’s so sweet!” Sara cooed. “I wish a guy would do that for
me once, but then again, I don’t think I could last that long if we didn’t
end up in the sack days after meeting each other.”
“Like Van?” Ian teased even though he felt a pang of jealousy come
over him. It wasn’t like before though, strong and barely suppressible, which
surprised him. Ever since meeting Billie, Sara and Van just seemed to be far
from his mind. It was odd, but it was happening, so Ian couldn’t deny it.
“Don’t even go there,” Sara replied. “Besides, it took a week
before we jumped each other’s bones, so technically, that’s the longest
I’ve ever had to wait.”
“Alright, I’ll give you that one, but the others did only take a
couple of days. Am I right?”
“Shut up, Ian. I’m gonna wake up Van if I have to keep scolding you.
But you’re right. Enough said. This conversation is over. I’m hanging up
now,” Sara warned, ready to turn off her phone in favor of sleeping.
“Wait!” Ian nearly yelled. “I called for a reason. I’m seeing
Billie again this evening. What should we do?”
Sara was lost in thought for a moment, wondering what kind of advise to
give her ex stalker. “I don’t know,
“Thank you, and sleep well, my Lady,” Ian said.
“Bye,
But there was a tomorrow, and it was fast approaching. Dawn was upon them,
it’s first few rays illuminating the sky to a deep purple hue. Sara gazed out
her window, sighing deeply. She knew what the day would bring. Van was no longer
allowed to come near her until this next case was finished. But that didn’t
mean they could sneak around the corner. Sara smiled at the thought, her fingers
ruffling through the thick mane of chestnut hair beneath her chin.
‘Thank God he doesn’t drool or snore,’ Sara thought with a snort. She buried her face in his hair and breathed in his wonderful scent. ‘God, I love you, Van. I love you so much.’ Sara closed her eyes and lay back on the headboard. It was about time that she went to sleep herself.