Of Gaea Read online

  “Since, freedom is so elusive, perhaps you’d like to share with your fellow prison mates and jailor, three of the poor metals that we are studying this week.”

  Ari sighed and internally cringed. She didn’t want the attention. She just wanted to be left alone. Apparently that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. “Aluminum, Tin, and Lead.”

  The teacher nodded. “Very good. I would appreciate it if you at least faced the blackboard, instead of the windows.”

  Ari nodded and turned away from Sasha. This was going to be a very long day indeed.

  “We’ve done all we can, considering. She’s alive, isn’t she? We’ll figure the rest out when she wakes up.”

  Startled out of dark thoughts, Ari looked over at Sasha. School was done and they did what they always did after. They were camped at Ari’s house. Sometimes they used Sasha’s but most of the time, it was Ari’s. Nasya almost never accompanied them after school. She would always claim she had to study when invited to walk home with them.

  Ari lay on her bed and studied the constellations on her ceiling as Sasha lay comfortably on the floor doing homework. Sasha, Nasya and Kleisthenes had painted the stars for her. During her first few days home from the hospital Sasha did everything he could for her. And Nasya did what he couldn’t. Between the three of them they did everything possible to make sure Ari was comfortable.

  She would be dead without them. There was no doubt about it. She wouldn’t have bothered to learn to use the wheelchair or the many methods of physical therapy. She would have simply closed her eyes and drifted away. But she had Sasha, and he was worth living for even in the pale state of living that she had now.

  Ari glanced harder at Sasha; she would have sworn she had heard him speak, but he was so engrossed in his textbook, she knew that wasn’t possible. It hadn’t really sounded like him, but since he was the only one in the room it had been logical – at first – to assume he spoke.

  She didn’t know if she had made it up to make herself feel better or if certain pieces from her accident were slowly coming back. She did have a white wall of nothingness that should have been four days of memory. Why only that piece, though? What was so important about that statement?

  For the first few weeks after the accident, Sasha slept on Ari’s floor on a camping mat he had brought from home. It was where he was currently lying as he never took it home. His shirt was riding up on his back a bit exposing the beautifully smooth olive skin just above the waist band of his pants. His shoes had been kicked off long ago and were sitting next to the patio door.

  As if reading her mind, Sasha looked up from his Calculus book. “You’re thinking awfully loud.”

  “What am I thinking?” Ari’s smile was instant. It was hard not to smile at him. His presence alone was enough to lift her spirits most of the time.

  “How to prevent what happened this morning from happening again.” His eyes twinkled when he said it. He had a way of making even the most painful confrontations seem like nothing more than silliness spouted off by a child.

  It had been silliness spouted off by a child. But the words had been deliberately cruel. Even with Sasha’s support it still stung. As apathetic as she was, she still felt some things.

  Ari shook her head. “There’s no way to change Damia. She’s a bitch and she’ll always be that way.”

  “Very true,” Sasha turned on his side to face her. “But if you believed that wholeheartedly, her words wouldn’t bother you so much.”

  “What bothers me is she doesn’t care that she crippled me. She doesn’t care that she has no feeling anymore. She just… doesn’t care. What kind of person lives like that?” Ari let the bitterness spew knowing Sasha would understand. He always did.

  “You just said the magic words, Ariadne. She doesn’t care. I imagine that’s not a restricted sentiment. She probably moves through life as numb as your legs are. The only time she has any real feeling is probably when she ridicules others to make herself feel greater than what she is.” Sasha tilted his head and considered her face. “That’s not really what’s bothering you, though.”

  “I’m lost, Sasha. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m tired of just going through motions that don’t work.” Ari exhaled slowly as her voice cracked forcing the tears back. She returned to tracing the constellations. “I can’t take another failed therapy.” It was said so quietly, so dejectedly she wasn’t sure if he heard it; she barely heard it. There was only so much let down anyone’s heart could take. Hope was becoming an elusive illusion with each passing day in the wheelchair.

  “Perhaps you’re trying the wrong methods.” Sasha shrugged indifferently. “Maybe it’s time to start thinking outside the box.” He rolled back over to his Calculus book. It hurt him to turn away from her, when she needed him so badly, but he needed her to find the path on her own. If she did, he wasn’t breaking his promise in supporting her ideas.

  A swift knock rapped the closed door before it opened revealing Ari’s mother. She stood in the doorway a moment and studied the scene. She was dressed in a crisp, pale suit which took Ari a little by surprise until she spoke.

  “Are you coming down to services tonight?” Her voice was soft and gentle. She was a great person but her obsession with church made Ari uncomfortable sometimes.

  When Ari was a child she went with her mother to services and always felt unwelcome. The air in the church felt heavy like a thick wet blanket had been smothering her. She hadn’t been back since the beginning of high school.

  It happened at home sometimes as well, usually when her mother was on the losing end of an argument. Ari never studied it or questioned why. She assumed it was her guilt or disbelief that made it so and left it at that.

  Ari studied the suit and simple pearls, instead of meeting her mother’s eyes. “Not today.”

  Her mother’s lips pursed in disapproval but smoothed out an instant later. “How do you expect to heal if you don’t ask for God’s help?”

  “Mom, I can’t get in and out of your church. It’s not handicap accessible.” Ari reminded once more.

  It felt like deliberate forgetfulness at times; no matter how many times her mother was reminded, she forgot by the next time services occurred. It was a perfect example of selective memory. Ari had to remind her five times a week, every week since the accident.

  Her face contorted in thought for a moment. “Oh, well, Sasha could carry you in. He does everything else for you. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. It’s great you have him for a friend.” She smiled down at him.

  Sasha looked at Ari. “If you want to go, I don’t mind.”

  “No. It’s okay.” Ari shook her head. “Sasha isn’t Christian. I’m not going to impose on him like that. It’s rude.”

  Her mother sighed sadly. “Baby, I know this is hard, but sitting in here doing nothing isn’t helping you any. Just think about it, okay? I’ll be home in time to make dinner. Sasha, are you staying for the meal?”

  “If it pleases you, Ms. Ghita.” Sasha gave her his innocent smile.

  Ghita smiled back. “You’re always welcome at our table.” She closed the door gently and they listened to her footsteps recede down the hall.

  “She’s only doing what she thinks is right.” Sasha spoke more to his text book than to Ari, but she still felt his scolding tone.

  “She was rude. She volunteered you without even asking.” Ari carefully pushed herself up to a sitting position. She could feel him watching but he hadn’t moved. “Besides,” Ari continued once comfortable again, “honestly I’m not sure I believe in her religion either.”

  “Maybe you should try asking your mom’s God for healing.” Sasha suggested. “What could it hurt?”

  “I would have a better chance of finding a Wiccan to heal me.” It was a petulant retort and they both knew it, but he made no comment to her abuse.

  Sasha shrugged again and went back to his homework. He smiled to the Calculus book. Ari was so close. He had no doubt where her t
rain of thought was going to lead her. He knew her too well.

  A slight guilty feeling had Ari open her mouth to apologize. Sasha didn’t deserve the abuse. He had done nothing wrong.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He spoke without looking at her and the guilty feeling in her gut grew.

  “I’m sorry.” Ari spoke quietly but Sasha didn’t hear or chose not to acknowledge it.

  Ari studied him as he studied the book. Something about his easy dismissal had her dissecting the conversation. Sasha had a roundabout way of suggesting she look in other directions but this time she couldn’t see it. Was he actually suggesting that she try a miracle healer or a witch?

  Thunk. Creak. Thunk.

  The repetitiveness of drawing and releasing arrows helped clear her mind. Not to think too much, swirled around to be able to think, and that was the problem. There were too many thoughts to grab onto just one.

  Sasha’s backyard hadn’t changed in the thirteen years she’d visited his house. The archery dais was connected to the back deck. There was a sparring type ring to the left of the dais and a weapon shed at the end of the dais. She had spent as much time in that ring as she had on the dais. Back then, she enjoyed them both, now… well… she didn’t dwell on it.

  Other than that, it looked like a normal backyard complete with pool, picket fence, and fancy shrubbery. Kleisthenes was meticulous about his shrubbery, and they were cut in the shape of Greek statues.

  She heard the back door squeak as it swung open and the soft click as it was closed. Footsteps crossed the porch and stepped down to the shooting dais. Since he didn’t initially speak she didn’t stop the repetitive draw and release.

  When Ari ran out of arrows and had to recall the dummy to yank them out, he spoke. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She looked up at Kleisthenes. Sasha’s dad looked much like Sasha but in larger than life proportions. He was taller than Sasha’s six feet by at least six inches; beefy with muscles but they didn’t look gross or overdone like body builders. They just looked right. His hair was slightly longer and without the ombre fade. His eyes were darker, not the ice of Sasha’s but more of a deep ocean. She loved the kindness in his face. Trusted it.

  “I’m not sure there’s anything to talk about really.” Ari watched him yank the arrows out of the dummy. “Where are Sasha and Nasya?”

  “Sasha is on the phone with family. He’ll be a while. Nasya is where she always is, with her books. She is a scholar through and through.” He handed her the arrows. “You’re pulling slightly to the right. You’ve missed the exact kill hits by an inch or so.” He smiled and reset the target. “That tells me you can still kill a man, but you’re distracted about it.”

  “I don’t like being in this chair.” Ari twirled an arrow around her fingers nervously. There was no reason for the nerves. She was as close to Kleisthenes as she was to Sasha and Nasya. They had always been there when she needed someone. “I feel crippled. I can’t use my recurve; I have to use this compound, and it feels off.”

  “The recurve isn’t going anywhere. We keep it clean and ready for you.” He gave her a critical stare. “And you’re not crippled, you’re hurt. You’ll find a way to get better. I’ve never met anyone as stubborn as you so you’re bound to find a way.”

  “I really don’t know what to do anymore.” Ari slowly strung another arrow. “There’s nothing left to try.”

  “Sure there is.” Kleisthenes laughed as the bow twanged. “You’re telling me you’ve talked to every kind of healer there is on this earth? I doubt it. The problem is you need to find the right one. When you do; you’ll have what you want.”

  “All the doctors say nearly the same thing.” The complaint rented the air even as another arrow struck the target. “I’m tired of the false hope.”

  “I didn’t say doctor, did I?” Kleisthenes leaned against the railing and studied the target. “I said healer. There’s a big difference between the two. Or at least in my book there is.”

  “What’s the difference?” She sighted another arrow and let it fly.

  “Look it up online. You’ll see the difference.” He ruffled her hair as she released the arrow. It went wide of what she had aimed for, but still hit a kill spot.

  “Intentional target change?” He was curious.

  Ari shrugged. “Not sure. Unconscious?”

  He looked thoughtful a moment. “Perhaps. You want me to walk you home? It’s getting dark.”

  “We live in a less than two thousand person community. Do you really think someone is going to come out of the dark with a knife and stick me in a few hundred feet?” she joked, but his face was not amused.

  “I’ll walk you home.” He took the bow from her and stepped aside so she could roll the wheelchair passed. “It’s getting late. We best be off.”

  “This is getting ridiculous.” Nasya plopped into a chair in the living room.

  Sasha didn’t look up from his book or make a comment. Restless Nasya was too hard to deal with on top of a hopeless Ari. He only had so much energy in a day.

  “There’s not much more we can do. Sasha has given her hints and I have as well.” Kleisthenes didn’t turn from the stove. He continued sautéing the vegetables in precise even movements.

  “It’s Ghita that’s the problem,” Nasya sighed unhappily. “You sent her online?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hm.” Nasya stood suddenly. “We all know the miracle healer that will pop up if she does a Google search.”

  Sasha shrugged. “So? Do you really think he’d see her?”

  “If Ghita interferes, yes. He would and all would be lost.” Nasya paced half a length. “I think it’s time I take a more active part. I’m tired of waiting, and Ghita cannot control what she refuses to see.”

  “What are you planning?” Sasha asked suspiciously. “I won’t allow you to do anything that could bring harm to Ari. She’s already been hurt enough. I don’t think she can handle anymore at this time.”

  “Relax. I am after simple conversation only. You have my word.” Nasya walked away and vanished into the air.

  “I hate it when she does that,” Sasha muttered frustrated. “I wonder sometimes if she really does have Ari’s best interest in mind or just her own.”

  “No one knows the consequences better than Nasya.” Kleisthenes commented. “Come set the table. Trust the Goddess, Sasha. Gaea has a purpose for all that she does, or allows to happen.”

  “I wish she’d clue me in.” Sasha muttered but obediently set aside his book to set the table.

  Ari didn’t say anything to Sasha or Nasya the next day about her conversation with Kleisthenes. Though she knew Kleisthenes would have told them at least part of it. There were no real secrets in his house. She got the impression Sasha and Nasya were a lot closer to Kleisthenes than she was to Ghita. They probably had conversations she could only dream of having with Ghita.

  She wanted to tell Sasha what she did last night after Kleisthenes walked her home. She wanted to give him all the information she had found so he could ponder through it with her, but at the same time Ari didn’t want to see criticism or disappointment from him. And to even think of discussing it with the ever logical Nasya gave her chills. So for the time being she kept it to herself.

  Ari almost revealed everything at lunch when Sasha gave her a puzzled look as she excused herself to the bathroom. She never used the bathroom at school. It was an obvious indication that she was up to something, though he never asked. Ari thought he would. If he had, she probably would have told him. Him, she trusted absolutely; it was her plan that she doubted.

  She managed to keep her plans to herself until the walk home. Ghita couldn’t pick her up every day, and though Kleisthenes offered, she still liked the activity even if she wasn’t actually walking.

  It was Nasya’s Chemistry Club day, so she wasn’t with them. Though, if she hadn’t had an after school activity, she still would have excused herself. Probably to study or come up wit
h some new nerdy thing to do. Ari really didn’t understand her, but she was a sweet enough girl if a bit addled.

  Ari stared at the intersection up the block. Instead of crossing over it, she’d have to go left to keep her appointment. She glanced up at Sasha but he was companionably silent.

  It was one of his attributes she loved most. He never cluttered silence with useless chatter. He was comfortable enough in her presence to be silent and she was comfortable enough to be the same. They didn’t need words between them.

  She lost her nerve and instead of telling Sasha she made the left and continued down the block. Ari half expected Sasha to study her back quizzically then walk the rest of the way home alone. Even though that expectation was a farfetched action for Sasha.

  She was only a few feet down the block when Sasha appeared by her side again. Relief came first. Then she felt slightly giddy, slightly guilty, and slightly sick. The sick feeling was likely a result from the combination of the other two emotions. He still remained silent.

  Three blocks down Ari stopped to rest her arms and check the directions she had written down from the internet the previous evening. Sasha stood patiently next to her as she checked her notebook.

  “Isn’t that the notebook I bought you for Yule a few years back? The one you said was too pretty to write in?” He startled her with the random question.

  She nodded slowly. She had been so sure he would ask about where they were going not about the notebook she had written in. It made guilt the strongest of her emotions. “I’ve been writing down everything the doctors have said since the accident; all the tests we’ve tried, all the therapies, the drugs. It felt important enough to write in here. I thought if I wrote it all down, then the book would have to contain my cure in it somewhere.”

  “It’s a good idea. I’ll get you another one. That one looks kind of full.” He stroked her hair gently a moment. “If we’ve got a distance to go, I’d rather you let me push you. I know you can do it yourself, but I also know it tires you out.”