Catalyst Read online

  “I will drench myself in your blood and wear it as honor to my mother,” I said, wiping the palm, coated in his blood, over my face.

  I opened my eyes and watched as he shuddered. I knew how deranged I must’ve looked, but I didn’t care. “The party’s just begun,” I said as I head-butt him.

  I splashed a bucket of ice-cold water on Jace’s knocked out body. He woke with a gagged shriek and shudder.

  “Wake up, sunshine!” I exclaimed as I threw the bucket in the corner.

  Jace’s eyes landed on me once again, and I winked at him as he was trembling from the cold. I snapped my fingers and automatically one of the guys on my team cranked up the a/c. After a minute or two, the cold blasted through the vents causing the room to grow colder.

  I turned my back on Jace as I went toward the small silver table that displayed every kind of knife I needed. My hands slowly grazed over them and my eyes shut, wanting the sensation of the blades to take over my entire body. My body didn’t even register the cold building in the room. I finally opened my eyes and grabbed a carving knife, one that was carved out from my sword. They all were, but this one was special to me. I twirled it in between my fingers as it danced to its own rhythm. I held it steady in my hand. I turned to face Jace and watched as his almost naked form began to tremble.

  “Are you cold?” I menacingly asked him. “Here, let me warm you up.”

  He watched me as I walked toward him and pulled out a remote control, pressing the button.

  On cue, my favorite song, Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics blasted in the cold room. I bobbed my head to the song and began to hum along as the first verse came through.

  He let out a whimper as his body began to feel the zip of electricity. I pressed it again and his body jolted this time. I stopped, not wanting him to pass out for this part just yet. I walked up and stood right in front of him. I made sure he saw the carving knife in my hand, gripping his attention. I didn’t say anything as I moved my hand, placing the tip of the knife on his collarbone. I began to outline his upper body with the tip of the knife without drawing too much blood. By the time I reached back to where I started, his upper body was painted by his blood. I smirked as I plunged the knife into his left shoulder unexpectedly. The stench of piss filled the room, but I couldn’t care less as I wiggled the knife there.

  I focused as I removed the knife from his shoulder and let his blood coat where I wanted to carve out his skin. My left palm landed right on his wound and he began to squirm. I shook my head, knowing it would hurt even more because he was moving so damn much. I twirled my knife and began to remove the skin slowly and efficiently.

  Jace’s screams seemed to expand over his gag as I continued to remove the skin slowly.

  I stopped and tilted my head to see what I had done so far. It was a sloppy job and I cut my eyes at Jace for causing this. I shook my head. He was an idiot through and through. He couldn’t even stay still for this moment when I was making his skin detach from the rest of his body with precision.

  “Ungrateful,” I grunted.

  I continued like this until his flesh was half off his body. I stopped and took a step back. I tucked the knife in my pocket. I clapped my hands and smiled.

  “Damn, Jacey…This is probably my best work yet. Almost a masterpiece.”

  At this point, the room was freezing, but there was warmth in my body. I was about to approach him, then the room grew warm once more. I sensed a presence and turned to my right, wondering who the hell was disturbing at this moment.

  I rolled my eyes as Patro stood there with another figure. The guy was tall, taller than me and muscular but not too muscular. He had sharp features and his jet-black hair cascaded down his back. I wondered why he didn’t look feminine with all that damn hair. I looked from him to Patro, wondering what the hell they wanted.

  When no one said anything, I barked, “What!”

  Neither of them seemed fazed by my outburst. Patro shook his head and then spoke.

  “You can’t kill him, Achilles.”

  I narrowed my eyes looking Patro up and down.

  “I will kill him.”

  “You can’t,” Patro spoke once more.

  That time, before I could say a word, the man with the jet-black hair started to walk toward me. I looked at how pristine and proper he looked with his black suit. It made him look like he spat out money. He didn’t say anything as his expensive dress shoes click-clacked on the cement ground. When he finally reached me, he observed the body. He whistled, nodding as he eyed Jace.

  “Fine work, but I need him before he dies. Jace belongs to me, and I’m here to collect.”

  I cocked my eyebrow, wondering who the hell this man was. Before I asked, he spoke.

  “I’m Hades. Nice to meet you.” He smirked as if it were some joke.

  I honestly didn’t give a damn who he was. The urge to kill was still there. I turned from him to face Jace. With a swift swipe, I cut off half of Jace’s penis and he threw his head back. The stench was a mixture of piss and excrement. Pathetic. Before I could even continue, Hades chuckled and spoke up.

  “I’ll be taking my leave,” Hades said and snapped his finger. Just like that, Jace and he vanished.

  I growled like some deranged animal. I don’t know what came over me as I turned and stalked over to Patro. I didn’t understand what had happened, and I didn’t care, as I let out such a guttural roar, ripping my shirt in the process. I was losing myself and I felt it. The moment I slipped, I saw Patro as my enemy. Patro put his hands up as a sign of surrender, but I didn’t care.

  “You let him take that damn coward like that? Did you know about this?” I bellowed.

  “No! Achilles, listen…That’s what I was trying to tell you. Jace/Cyril couldn’t be killed by you. He belongs to Hades.”

  I saw red.

  “Every! Time! Every. Damn. Time!” I couldn’t see straight.

  “He owns Jace. He didn’t achieve his end of the deal, so Hades is going to deal with him. He doesn’t like dealing with them dead before the deal has taken place.” As much as Patro tried to explain to me, I didn’t care. All I heard were excuses, not just from Patro, but the gods too, in every damn thing they did. Every damn time I wanted to show how much this person did wrong by me, they would do something reckless like take him from me. I looked at the person the gods sent down as my advisor and confidante as he stood there trying to remain neutral. He knew I was ready to pounce on him. Without so much as a second thought, I attacked him.

  ***

  I opened my eyes and looked around like a wild, crazed man until I saw Elani staring back at me. I tried to stand up to go to her, but something held me back. I looked down to see the shackles at my feet that hindered me from moving closer. I was going to kill Patro for putting these on me. I pulled on the shackles, and they seemed to move a bit more. I reached out to the glass window separating us. She just stared at me, not saying anything. She was in tears and it drove me mad to see that. I didn’t know why she was crying. I banged my fist on the glass window, wanting it to break under my strength, but it didn’t budge. The more I banged, the more she teared up. It was driving me nuts. I didn’t know which one of us was making the other react, yet neither of us relented.

  I knew I looked deranged as I knocked on the damn glass. I wanted her to come to me, and it felt like it would be impossible. I stopped in mid-air as she clutched her slightly bigger baby bump and teared up some more. She looked like she was in pain and, this time, I was not going to leave her alone. I started to punch the window, raining fists on my end. I needed to get to her.

  “Elani!” I screamed over and over. The glass started to break under my fist. If I hadn’t stopped screaming, I wouldn’t have heard her voice.

  “Baby…” Her soft, sweet voice traveled over to me, pulling me in. I quickly turned to face her.

  If she was afraid of me, she didn’t indicate it. Instead, she started to walk toward me looking at my fists. Was she afraid of me?
>
  Elani

  From the look in his eyes, Ales needed help. I would be there every step of the way to support him.

  “Baby…” I called out to him again.

  I needed him to know that I wasn’t gone, and neither was he. I looked at his fists, now bruised, and it pissed me off he was in this state.

  “Lani?” He called out to me as if he wasn’t sure if I was there.

  “I’m here,” I said to him and reached out to touch his hand to my cheek.

  I wanted him to know I wasn’t afraid of him. That day was never going to come not now, not ever. “I love you Ales. You know, that right?”

  Ales shut his eyes as if my words hurt him, and then he opened them again looking down at me. When he nodded, I let a breath out.

  “I know that, Lani.”

  “Are you okay?” I asked him.

  He shrugged.

  I shook my head. That wasn’t good enough for me.

  “No, baby, I need you to tell me you’re okay. I want to hear you say it to me.”

  “I don’t know, Lani. My head’s all sorts of messed up right now. I can’t seem to calm my anger down. There’s just so much rage here, and I don’t know where to put it. I can’t get rid of it.”

  I circled my arms around his waist and continued to look up at his eyes.

  “You don’t need to get rid of it. It is part of you, Ales. It will always be part of who you are. That is what makes you a great warrior. You would have never won as many battles if you didn’t have that rage inside of you.” I removed one hand from around his waist and pointed at his chest. “You are the great warrior, Achilles. No one will ever make you question that, even you, yourself. You are the strongest man and the most loving man I’ve ever encountered. So, what, you didn’t get to kill Cyril? He’s with Hades now, and that isn’t any better. If you ask me, I’m glad you didn’t kill him with your bare hands, because, then, you would never forget it. That rage you speak of has saved you in many instances in your life and you know it!”

  I hadn’t meant to yell at him, but my anger got the best of me. I wanted him to know he didn’t have to question his rage or get rid of it. It was what made him Achilles and Ales all into one.

  “You will never speak of your rage in that way, do you hear me?” I stabbed his chest with my forefinger. “Your rage has never hindered you from doing what was right or protecting those you love. Your rage was what got us a second chance at love. So, no… NO, Ales, I will not allow you to torture yourself like this. You cut it out right now. Am I understood?”

  I was so caught up in the moment I didn’t realize how he was looking at me. I don’t know when he snapped out of the trance he was in, but he did. Now, he was looking at me with pure adoration. He was smiling that 1000-watt smile of his, deepening his dimples and making his green eyes shine. I wanted to look away, but I refused myself that kind of distraction. After a moment, he started to chuckle. Then, his chuckle turned into a pure unadulterated laughter. I just looked at him with a bewildered expression; I wasn’t sure why he was laughing.

  “What?” I shouted at him.

  That seemed to make him laugh even more, and I rolled my eyes snatching my hands away from his body. I turned to walk away, and he captured me in his arms with them circling my baby bump. He stopped laughing, but I could tell he wanted to laugh even more. I refused to look at him. He kissed my shoulder, then my neck and then my cheek.

  “Thank you for that,” he said.

  “For what, Ales? All I caught from that was you thought it was funny.” I kissed my teeth.

  He kissed my cheek again.

  “No, baby. I laughed because someone as small as you was shouting at me and telling me all the right things. I’ve faced many men in battle, but I laughed because I realized I would never want to face you in battle. Never, ever,” he said.

  “It’s good you know better,” I said with a smile returning to my face.

  I turned to face him with worry in my eyes.

  “I know, love, I know…” He began. “I will go and get help. I promise. I want to be here for a long time for our daughter and the other kids that will follow too.”

  At this information, I threw my head back and laughed.

  “More kids?”

  “Yes,” he replied with seriousness displayed all over his face.

  “Hmm…” I teased. “It depends on how good you are to me.”

  “So, then, it’ll be a whole football team then?” he asked with excitement in his voice.

  “Hell no!” I yelled as his boisterous laugh filled the room.

  “You just wait, Elani…” he said, pulling me in for a kiss that reminded me of the first time his lips kissed mine.

  Still to this day, this man didn’t know what he did to me. He was the epitome of bliss, love, hope, happiness and so much more wrapped into one. No matter what, if I had to be reborn in any other lifetime, I would always want to be with him. He deserved my heart, my soul, and my body and vice versa. No one will ever make me feel the way I feel when I’m with him and he knows it… the cocky bastard.

  ***

  When we finally got home, I told Ales to discard his clothes and I ran up to the bathroom to draw him a bath. I loved Ales’ bear-claw tub he had in the center of the bathroom. I stood there waiting for the hot water to fill up the tub. I was placing some eucalyptus and other essentials in the water as I heard him coming toward the bathroom. He came in as I stirred the water with my hand.

  “Come, my liege, let me wash you,” I said to him.

  Ales smiled as he came closer and got in the tub. He hissed at the temperature of the water, but after a moment, he relaxed. I shut the water off and turned to leave.

  “I’ll be right back. Just relax, okay?” I reassured him as he gave me a strange look.

  He didn’t know what I was grabbing, but I brought him the letter his mother left him. When I stepped back in the bathroom, he didn’t say anything. He spotted the letter and the package that came with it. I stopped in front of the tub to face him. I wanted him to read it instead of torturing himself. I knew he was avoiding it. But, for him to move on, he had to read it and see what his mother had to say.

  “I won’t make you, Ales, but you need to read it,” I said as I placed the contents over by countertop.

  I walked back over to him and began to wash him clean. I didn’t mind the smeared, dried up blood. This wasn’t the first time I cleaned him, but this time it was different. I could feel it was different, and he was different. He was a changed man compared to the Achilles he used to be. I knew what troubled him; even he knew he was now different. I squirted some earth-scented body wash on the loofa, then I began to scrub his body. He didn’t say anything as I moved his body left and right then back and forth. He let me enjoy the moment. I finished with that task and moved to his hair.

  I squirted some shampoo in my hand, then I lathered it through his scalp. I applied it and slowly ran my fingers through his scalp, cleaning not only his body but his hair too. He didn’t say anything as he leaned back enjoying the scalp massage. We were in blissful silence and then he broke it by reciting something.

  “My son, I begged Zeus to grant me one more favor before I departed. You deserve to know some things I never really said when you were younger. I know you know who I am and where I am from, but I betrayed you by revealing, not just my own, but also your secrets. I regret that every day. Every moment I had to think about it while my soul was wandering all these centuries. I thought about how much I never told you how I loved you. I did everything for you because you were my one true love. You stole my heart when I first saw your little hands and feet. The way your green eyes sparkled while watching me. You showed me true admiration and love no one could ever take from me. I will never…” Ales paused, as if to draw in a breath, and I realized I had stopped massaging his scalp. As I continued to do so, he did too.

  “I was never the best mother, but I did the best I could with what I knew. I tried to protect
you from pain, but instead, I caused you pain. I wish we got another chance to truly experience being mother and son. I couldn’t wish for another son knowing how perfect you were. I see the love that you have for Alana or Elani… She is perfect for you, just as you are perfect for her. She truly loves you, probably more than I could have ever loved anyone. I want you to know your happiness is all I’ve ever wanted for you. I know the way I’m leaving seems like cowardice, and it is, yet I wasn’t given the choice once more. I am to be returned to the sea of my people. It may be far from you, but I will forever live in your heart. If ever you want to feel my presence, look out at the Aegean Sea. My essence will always recognize the only person I loved. I will forever love you, Achilles. Take the necklace made of your father’s ring and wear it proud, for you are the greatest warrior to ever live… Thetis.”

  I didn’t notice I was tearing up until Ales turned around and scooped me up, placing me in the bathtub. I looked at him, but no tears were in his eyes. It was as if he and his mother understood each other more than anyone else. I wrapped my arms around his neck, not caring about his shampooed hair.

  “Baby…” was all I could get out before sobbing loudly.

  He soothed me as if I was the one the letter was written for, but we both knew why I was crying. I cried for the both of us. I cried for the little boy who finally understood and knew his mother loved him more than any other person in this world. His mother wanted to be loved too, but she was only hurt in return.

  Ales kissed my cheek and waited until I settled down.

  “You’re crying a lot lately. I don’t like it,” he said.

  I chuckled at that.

  “It’s the hormones.” I shrugged as he pulled me out of the embrace.

  He looked at me for a moment, not saying much but just watching me.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said.