Chapter Six — Opel Heart

Aecker:

I awake with a feeling of dread weighing heavy on my chest. What time is it?

Opening my eyes, the mouth of the cave remains dark. The touch of the flickering flames still warm on my face, but I don’t see Opel nearby. Trying to stretch out, I feel restricted at various points of my body. My feet are loosely bound, my one arm is weighed down and something foreign covers my head.

They must have found us! I am about to punch whoever is responsible for this in the face, but when I reach over with my free hand, I grab a material I recognize, feeling the cold zipper immediately. It belongs to Opel. My stomach lurches. I wonder if she has been taken, and if this is someone’s idea of a joke. Perhaps the ST troop member I gunned down in the tunnels reappeared to take some sort of sick revenge. My paranoia and guilt is finally rearing its ugly head.

When I look down, I find a sleeping angel in my arms. The sight of her beautiful face gives my singing heart flight. Dark eyelashes touch her delicate, porcelain cheeks, and I wonder how and when we ended up in such an enchanting situation after racing through such a terrifying night.

I remember such vivid dreams, and constant nightmares of Noah coming after us. How tired I must have been not to have woken when her body met mine. I feel some kind of loss as the thought coils itself around my heart. More than anything, I want to remember the intimate moments with her. Mapping out the lines of her beautiful face, I etch each delicate detail into the back of my eyelids, so that every time I close my eyes I will always remember. I never want to forget her like this, with me―ever. It is something no one can take away from me. But in order for me to keep it that way we have to escape the caves before sunrise. In a loud whisper, I call out, “Opel.” Her name slips over my lips with riveting joy.

I call her again, but she still does not respond. She doesn’t even wake when I shake her. Her silence means something… she is not breathing. Putting my ear to her chest, there is no beat of her heart, not even faintly I feel for a pulse in her neck. Her skin is still warm, but that is the only sign announcing that I have a chance to save her.

The night suddenly seems to throw itself around me, dark and despairing. The planet tips off its axis and I am tumbling, screaming into the black pit that’s about to swallow me whole. I can see myself fall, but there is nothing I can do, not one single thing. I keep falling into my version of hell, and maybe without her that is where I will end up. A servant of Hell would be the only way I could survive without her. My chest aches, feeling like my ribs have suddenly clamped down on my lungs and crushed my bleeding heart.

“Opel, wake up!” I call again, louder this time. Her silence knocks the breath out of me. “Please, Opel. Open your eyes! I don’t understand what’s going on!” I find myself hovering over her, my fists raised above my head, ready to come down. I hit her once on the chest, right above her heart. I want to hit her so hard it jolts her back to life. The desperation is fierce, but I am afraid I might punch right through her fragile frame.

There’s a loud thump as my fist comes down again. Her body only moves slightly, and then falls back down—lifeless—the one sign of life disappearing without a trace. Taking both my hands, I push down, trying to force her lungs to pump again. Moving her head back I try to resuscitate her. My breath fills her lungs, but they only fall flat. Three more times I pound on her chest, give her the breath of life, screaming her name doesn’t work either. I fear I am about to lose my mind... kill someone.

I move away, simply stare at her body, and pray for a miracle. My head reels. I have no idea who I will become without her. Terrified, with no one to blame for the loss, anger quickly fills me with crimson thoughts. I can’t bring myself to believe she is gone. Just like that… gone. I won’t accept it. I can’t. I don’t want to imagine me burying her beauty beneath the earth. I―

Suddenly, Opel takes a huge gulp of air and shoots straight up, holding her chest as if she’s felt every blow she has taken from me. Her coughing is loud, and it sounds painful. Maybe I did break her.

“What the hell!” she yells at me, eyes red and watering as she struggles to take in air.

Her voice is like the Angel of Mercy snatching me from the clutches of Satan, delivering me straight into her divine arms. I hold her, try to push her into me, so she may never be lost to me again.

“Aecker, speak to me.” I hear her mumbled voice from the confines of my chest.

Releasing her, I hold her face in the palms of my hands and search her gaze. “I thought I lost you.”

She just looks back at me, her expression giving away nothing, until confusion is apparent. “What happened? Are you okay?”

We part unexpectedly. She looks me over, as if I am the one who just came back from the dead.

“Last night…” Abruptly, she draws in her knees to provide armor for her half-naked body.

Dressed only in her undergarments, I must take a deep breath to calm my racing heart. I have never seen such gorgeous skin, such a beautiful body.

“Oh.” I smile quickly, grab her jacket and hand it to her. “I think you misplaced this.” I can’t help myself. A brave smile spreads across my face. What a delightful twist of events.

Standing quickly, Opel snatches her pants from the floor. As she moves back, I find myself on my knees just staring up at her, as if a minion to a goddess, surrendering to her divine splendor. In the flickering fire, she is illuminated; white blond hair falling to her hips in waves of striking silver. I don’t really stare at her body, knowing not to embarrass her even more―my eyes glued to her sweet Opel face, gray eyes so deep I am in danger of never returning.

Like a second skin she slips into her jacket, zips it up to her neck and turns to smile. As she glides her slender legs into the pants, she stares back, a spark of something flickering behind dark, blue eyes as she accepts the attraction. Wants it, even.

“You don’t have to stare quite so much,” she banters.

When she turns her back, I gather my thoughts. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but a minute ago you were dead.” Saying the words leaves a heavy, dangerous ache inside me, as if some part of me has been unearthed.

When she turns to face me again the smile is gone, replaced with a wide look of absolute shock. She’s holding my shirt, but drops it and points behind me. “I don’t know how to tell you… ”

Just before I am about to turn, she stops me.

“Don’t move. It’s really close,” she whispers.

I hear the exhaled breath of a large creature behind me, and its sudden roar shakes the walls. The giant beast grunts and scuffles around behind me with warm, wet breath blowing down my back.

Crap, it’s close!

I keep my eyes on her, telling her to relax, that it might not hurt us unless it feels threatened. My words come too soon, because curled up right behind her on the rocks I see what the beast is after. The fur of an animal cub matches the rock almost exactly, with deep browns and black patches working as camouflage. The shadows play tricks on me. Only now that its mother has called out, it stirs, and I see there is not one but two baby beasts to be protected.

“It’s after its children. They’re behind you,” I say calmly.

“What is it?” she whispers back, slowly taking a step away.

The beast snarls immediately at the movement. Within the shadows, I can just make out the gigantic paws edged with long, sharp claws. The mother is so close I can feel the air shift at each swing of protest.

“Duck!” Opel yells.

I drop to the floor, missing the sudden deadly hook. When I roll onto my back, I stare up at a huge bear, one who’s ready to kill to protect its young. My eyes widen at the sight of drool, teeth, and rage in its beady little eyes. She comes right for me and I spin away as a huge paw crashes down in the dust beside me. I want to get to my feet but her paws have me locked in. One move and a razor sharp claw will be the last thing I see.

“Hey!” Opel shouts to the bear from across the room.

The bear stretches out, resting its full weight on its hind legs. Her head almost reaches the top of the cave. Gawking up at her, I realize she’s taking a moment to assess her next move. That’s when I see something in her eyes as she looks over at her cubs.

“Wait! She is scared,” I call to Opel.

“Is that a good thing?”

Slowly I stand, and with my hand behind my back, I motion for Opel to run toward me. She does, and at first the beast snarls, viciously swinging her arms and clawing at the air. She makes more noise than anything I’ve ever heard. Opel reaches me and the bear takes her opportunity, running toward her cubs that are now moaning for their mother.

“Run!” I scream.

We don’t have time to grab our things. The bear growls and sneers; a deep, awful rumbling that echoes throughout the tunnels. We hear her heading toward us, her grunts and pants loud and on our heels. Opel shrieks, grabbing onto my hand as we race forward in the dark. Finally, the tunnel becomes lighter. Sunbeams cut right through the shadows, revealing the cave’s narrow entrance. We run out, heading straight into the forest. Branches snap loudly as we tear a path through the thick brush.

We eventually stop when we reach the edge of a clearing. Opel sinks to her knees, taking in huge gulps of air. For a Tracker she is not that fit, which only adds to my suspicion that she is anything but.

“Your shirt,” she spits out, “I dropped it back in the cave.”

All I do is laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You.”

She giggles, coming at me swinging.

I grab her entire fist in my hand, swing her against my body and into a headlock. She squirms and wiggles and, of course, being the savage that I am, I can feel every inch of her body touching mine, urging me to change the battle into something far more romantic.

“Okay, you win,” she says, completely surrendering.

For my sake, I think she pretends. I know she’s stronger than this. All I can think of is kissing her off her feet. There is no other way to express what I feel for her other than to show her.

“The thing about being smaller than most…” she starts, squeezing out of my grip.

As I grab for her, she twists her body in such a way that there is nothing to grasp. Now she has my wrist pinned to my shoulder blade in an awkward spiral, my fingers going numb at the tips.

“And he smells good, too.” She takes a whiff.

“Did you just smell me?” I chuckle.

“Mmhmm,” she mocks.

When she releases, I find her directly in front of me, her gentle hands resting on my chest. She smiles, diamonds glittering in a stunning sky of ‘Opel’ blue eyes. I can’t come to terms with the fact that something so magnificent could be nothing more than a killer.

In the distance, I hear a branch snap and my eyes shoot up, automatically pushing her behind me.

“What is it?” she asks.

“Shhh.”

“You can’t hide her, Aecker. We’ve already seen her,” a voice calls out from the shadows just beyond the trees.

Looking down at the forest floor, I realize the thick carpet of wet, mossy leaves is what provided our predator a silent approach. Instantly, I catch sight of three black suits that taper in from each side of the clearing, guns pointed directly at us.

“What do you want?”

“I am the one to ask that question.” His voice is clipped and direct.

As he moves closer, I can see the red bands with the ST symbol on his left arm, a few stars dot his pocket. He is high up in the ST rank―obviously revered in that fanatical regime run from inside the city walls of The Gate.

“Let the girl go and no harm will come to you.”

“I am not giving you anything until you tell me what it is you want with her.”

“She belongs to someone else, son. Just let her go.”

“Excuse me!” Opel pokes her head out from behind me.

The man before us―dressed in dark colors, high-rise black boots and a black cap―signals something to the others. Without thinking, I duck the first and second dart coming at me from both sides, but somehow Opel gets in front of me and takes the third in her left shoulder. It’s set on high, so the impact knocks her from her feet. As I get to her, someone is suddenly pulling me back. I manage to get a punch in, but there are more hands, and receiving a hard blow to the gut lands me on my back. I’m rolled onto my stomach and my hands are quickly cuffed with old metal behind my back. I am pulled up to my feet, a gun resting between my shoulder blades.

“Opel! Are you okay, did he hurt you?”

“Let him go!” she shouts, punching one of the men in the face.

“That is no way to behave, young lady,” another voice calls out from the skirt of the forest.

I recognize him immediately―he is Surzain’s son, the leader of the new ST who overtook our first government after WWIII. The son of the man who had my father killed before taking over The Gate.

“Is this the kidnapper?” he asks, hair as dark as a moonless night, eyes as cold as steel.

His glare is sharply directed on me.

“The what?” I laugh.

“No.” Opel stands, a dubious look in her eyes.

As she moves forward, her knees suddenly give way. The dart’s poison takes effect, causing her disorientation, loss of sight and speech, eventually leading to unconsciousness. The men grab for her. At the same time I leap forward, only to get kicked in the chest and hit on the back of the neck, once again dropping to the floor.

“Untie my brother. This was not part of the deal.”

“Dyllian?” The shock leaves me sick to my core. My own brother?

A dark brown jeep suddenly tears through the woods and comes to a dusty halt beside me. I cough on the fumes and dirt being blown in my face, but I keep my angry eyes on Dyllian.

“Don’t give me that look,” Dyllian says as he emerges from the bushes.

“What look, Dyllian?” I grunt. “The one that says you just got us both killed?”

“Just listen! You were right, okay? And I am sorry. She is not a Tracker.”

“Untie me, already!”

“If he so much as lifts a finger in our direction, I will have him executed. You understand me, general?” Cyrus says to my brother.

“You can talk to me. I am right here, Cyrus,” I spit out.

Cyrus nods as the men untie me, their fingers cold and hard as they clumsily fumble for the lock. “My deal is with the general of the uprising forces, not with you,” he sneers.

“What is she to you, anyway?”

He completely ignores me.

The door of the jeep flings open and a tall, brown haired man jumps out. His hair is longer with a slight curl at his temples. He looks ill and pale, dark rings highlighting glossy eyes. I estimate him to be in his early twenties.

He walks to Opel who is now held by two men. She sways on her feet, doing her best to battle the effects of the sleeping dart. I want to go to her, but Dyllian pulls me back. One of the guards points his gun at me, his eyes are cold and calculating. The eyes of a killer.

Cyrus smiles. “Move, and he will shoot. It will be my pleasure to see you two finally go down.”

I snicker at his stupidity, or is he just gullible? “I know you are itching for a war, but it will be nothing you imagined it to be, Cyrus.”

As Cyrus moves closer, one of the guards hit my legs out from under me, pushing his gun to my head. Looking up, Cyrus shoves his face in mine, his breath reeking of spirits. “She’s engaged to that man, Aecker. His name is Erik Langdon. He is rich and handsome, and loves his sick little fiancée very much. He is to fund our next campaign if we bring them back together. She is of rich blood, you see. And he is a man… unlike you. You can give her nothing but death for your stupidity, boy.” He leans in even closer to whisper in my ear, “And just you wait and see what effect my news will have on him.”

“What news?”

“That you defiled his precious bride. He might just have you both killed for treason. More than that, you are flawed creatures, carrying a rotten disease like lust and love.” Cyrus looks over at the tall man while he strokes Opel’s face. “Erik is our newly elected president.” He turns back to face me. “And let me tell you something, Aecker. My father’s hold on this man is even greater than the last. Some rich, idiotic boy with dreams of changing the world. Oh, he is going to change it, all right.”

“What?” I spin around, disbelief turns my vision red, and then it flares to black.

A hand comes out, stopping me in mid-lunge, and I snap out of my trance. “I’m sorry.”

My brother pulls me from the edge of rage, as the color and heat blooms back into my face. Then, I follow Dyllian’s eyes. Erik is stroking Opel’s cheek. “Let go of her!”

“What did I say to you, boy?” Cyrus cocks his gun, and points it at my head.

“Wait!” Erik stops him. “Is this the boy who found her?”

I grunt as he walks over to me.

“Thank you,” he says, and holds out his hand for me to shake.

I am in utter shock over what is happening right before my eyes. I am about to lose her forever, and to a strange man with long, skinny fingers like a corpse that has just risen from its grave. His eyes are rimmed with thick, dark, brown lashes, and a devious smile is plastered over his sickly face.

When he then offers me money, I feel the snake of dark doubt crawl down my spine. I don’t shake his hand, or take his stupid payoff. Money holds no merit in our times. From behind, my brother pushes me, egging me on. But my eyes narrow on this man who holds my Opel and I study each and every crevice of his face. This way, I know exactly who to kill on my next visit to The Gate.

He wants to stare me down, but there is something suspiciously nervous about him. He looks away, contrite, his eyes searching the forest floor.

“Coward,” I say.

“Stop it,” my brother grunts from beside me.

“It is our pleasure, sir.” My brother salutes and takes the money he offers.

“What?”

One of the soldiers hands my brother a bag of ammunition and turns to assist the others in carrying Opel to the jeep.

My heart burns. “Wait! No―”

I’m cut off by a vicious blow to the chest. Cyrus holds me back. His guards stare, guns ready at their sides, as Erik glares at Opel, his face now totally washed of color… if that were possible.

He realizes I have feelings for her. Stupid! I should have controlled myself, but I can’t. It’s the one emotion I cannot control, because when I think of her all logic flies out the window. Like a storm inside me, she creates a beautiful chaos I cannot live without.

Opel lifts her head, asking for me, and then looks on her supposed fiancé. He gets close to her, slipping a ring on her finger. I can tell that the gesture is for my benefit. She looks at the ring, attempting to focus her uncooperative eyes.

He leans in closer, cupping her face. “It’s okay, honey. You are safe now.” He kisses her on the lips. “We will purge you of this man, this… flaw.”

Shooting me a sharp look, I can tell Erik blames me for infecting her with a weakness.

She pulls away. “Hey, I know you!” she says to him in a sing-song voice.

My heart plummets one hundred stories, burying itself ten feet underground. It is as if my body is slowly turning to stone, threatening to hold me to the hopeless spot. I turn my back. I can’t stand to watch her go―with him. To now belong to someone else, when she belongs with me.

“You may say your goodbyes.” Erik calls me closer.

“But, sir, they need to be eradicated. This kind of weakness will spread like wildfire. Before we know it, people will be acting of their own accord and The Gate will be like any other savage colony out there,” one of the guards said.

The field marshal stepped in. “We have to keep up our end of the bargain or we will never gain the respect of the outside world.”

“We don’t need respect!” Cyrus barks.

Erik puts his hand out to silence everyone, and slowly walks over to me.

I want to punch him in the face, desperate to break and tear skin with my hard knuckles. I have to say goodbye, but she must never think I’m leaving her. I hope she will remember me. I need her to. I know I will never forget about her as long as I am unlucky enough to live.

As I stalk over, I hear their field marshal say that we saved her life by turning her in, that she has some illness that harms her heart and must be cured. Now I know with a horrible sinking realization that, with me, Opel might just die. Perhaps they do know how to treat her. How else could what happened when her heart stopped in the cave be explained?

Unexpectedly, when I lean in to kiss her cheek she pulls me by my shirt and throws her arms around me. “Thank you, sir.” But before she releases me she slips in a slurred request. “Pleashhe, do not let them take me.”

I have a horrid taste in my mouth as her hands drop and they carry her away. I want to grab her right then, punch them all out and make a run for it. But I see the two extra guards in the jeep. After assessing the driver, the field marshal, Cyrus, and his three armed men, I know I won’t make it five steps with Opel in my arms. I am going to have to find some other way to rescue her.

Then, I will take her away. We will move to some other place, perhaps Africa. And under majestic skies, I will find a cure for Opel’s damaged heart.