7 - Thread of Fate

It was way past 12:00 am. Security personnels were done roving. The only people on the top floor are Care and the man lurking in the dark. The tension rose as the night breeze blew. 

More than bringing a jacket, she cursed her stupidity for not bringing phone at least! 

In order to ensure safe distance, she retraced her steps meters away from the creep's position. He took a step forward enough for his face to be illuminated by light. His vicious smile, mischievous emerald eyes and height that towered over her unnerved her spunk. Everything about him screamed bad news! 

"Sweetheart, don't you remember your real savior?" he asked languidly. 

"Scratch the endearment. We aren't close, Mister! I'm not particularly trusting towards strangers so kindly leave me be or else I'll have you arrested." Care threatened. 

It was a deceitful statement to lower his guard. Her real intention was to escape if given the opening. She turned to run but then he moved at a speed of lightning. In a matter of seconds, he already stood in front of her sparing no appropriate space. She gasped. For the first time, she thought her soul would jump out of her body! 

"You don't get to trick a trickster." He remarked and grabbed her wrist.

She trembled expecting to experience his brute strength. So surprisingly his firm grip around her wrist was tender that she halted her struggle to break free. She watched him raise her hand in midair. Briefly, a symbol of a circle glowed gold on her palm, burning her skin a bit in the process. 

Vague memories become lucid.

 She recalls! 

Time ceased flowing yet the same guy standing before her continued to stride casually while everybody lost their motion. He crouched to her level and they made a pact about an absurd idea of a fated pair. Her body quivered, overwhelmed both by the revelations and resurfacing of the pain her body still remembers. 

Regardless how surreal, Care believes! If not, the chances are she meets death at the stage then later on turns as lead star of a phenomenal horror story. 

"Aww, I did shake hands with a devil." She mumbled. 

He lets her go, dramatically, backing away as if he was bitten by a snake. Gone was his menacing look: his face contorted into an offended expression yet comical to her eyes. 

"Whoa, hold up! I ain't a devil. I am Gallus, a Fae! And if you might ask, that symbol signifies our sacred agreement which neither of us has liberties of breaking. The round shape entails that we are bound to meet the conditions NO MATTER WHAT." He overemphasized. 

She moved farther to maintain an appropriate distance between them again. Truth is, she is partly uneasy towards him. However she also felt a sense of familiarity. 

"Sure." she curtly replied. 

"Sure?! Can your reaction be any duller?" he mocked.

She crossed her arms while glowering at him. Although, literally speaking, that was impossible given his height. To be fair, encountering a Fae dressed in punky fashion made her wonder and respect plummet lower than the stock market during the Great Depression in the 1930's. Plus, his hair is dyed blue. 

No wings... No pointy ears... No pixie dust! 

Her childhood fantasies are ruined by the so proclaimed fairy who seemed more like a trying hard band vocalist. 

"What do you want me to do, Mr. Fae? Scream? Pinch myself? Act hysterical? Cliché reactions are for normies. In other words, it's an insult to ask me to be one of the average people. I am Caress Aragon, the beauty you could only see once in a millennium! Cut me off some idiocy! I am special!" She scoffed. 

His face mirrored an expression of a man who attended a burial only to encounter the dead they mourned for were all smiles and perky the day after. 

"No, you're simply a creepy, lunatic mortal. I wasn't asking you to be common. I was saying act like a normal person! Are you for real, kiddo?" he retorted. 

She walked up to him. The image of wounded Eliseo flashed on her head... The dagger struck in his stomach... his blood on her hands while she bawled in front of everybody to see! She relived a terrifying nightmare casting Ramses as the killer, Eli as the victim and she as the root of it all. 

How bad could that be? 

The Gala was ruined. Aside from that, she has to put up with the traumatic experience and deal with humiliation and pity she abhorred the most. By merely contemplating these facts, her blood boiled and as if it was alive, it seeks vengeance!

Consumed by the stress of the aftermath she is yet to face, innocent Gallus slowly faded in her rational mind. In her eyes, he was changing form into a massive punching bag that needed the swing of her itching hand. She was determined to do it no matter what. 

The unsuspecting Gallus, on the other hand, was now smirking and unbothered. He thought the young girl was about to embrace him out of heartfelt gratitude. After all, she hid her sinister plan through a beguiling smile akin to one of the beautiful mermaids that tricked sailors in distant seas. She killed the act with her amber eyes sparkling like crystals and her perfect set of white teeth showing. 

It happened in a blink of an eye and not even Gallus could evade. She let her palm land heavily on his cheek causing his face to turn sideways. The slap echoed in the entire garden. His eyes almost popped, his jaw dropped at the same time. 

"That's my normal reaction, incompetent fairy godmother! If you rewinded the time farther like I didn’t have to come up to the stage. Viola! I am safe, Ram is restrained and Eli's life would not have been endangered. You granted my wish, yes, but not flawlessly so no thank you for you." she spat. 

He caressed his reddening cheek. 

"That stings! Pretty looks surely are deceiving but hey, once-in-a-millennium-beauty! You aren't the fairest on the land and definitely your beauty is not even that rare! Importantly, I saved you flawlessly." He ranted, pointing his index finger at her. 

She glared at him condescendingly while crossing her arms.

"Is that so?" she mocked. 

"What have I done? You were right when you said this is a deal with the devil because you are the devil! I should’ve known the moment I saw your demon eyes." He rebuts.

"Excuse me! How da---" she protested, however was rudely cut off. 

One snap of his fingers, she suddenly cannot speak. She opened her mouth once more but no sound was heard. Now the one looking smug is Gallus. 

"Immaculate silence, isn't it? You will not speak unless I am done. Your loverboy hurt and your assailant in jail? You only have yourself to blame. I did my end of the bargain. You knew evading was the right call. Shockingly, viola! You stood frozen. I was wrong for thinking the greedy woman feared death yet didn't dodge the attack." 

She rolled her eyes and gave him a bitch face. It irked him more. He cannot help but search for the helpless girl he showed compassion because all he could see today was a damn entitled queen! 

"Don't give me that knowing look, devil incarnate. Fairies are not omnipotent beings. I’m only capable of reverting back time to a minute at best. Changing many chunks of events is beyond my power which explains why you could make an alter move at a crucial moment that you wasted magnificently. Besides, saving another person is not part of the deal. You solely desired to live still beautiful. I granted it so now it's your turn." 

He snapped his fingers returning her ability to speak. She sighed in relief before going in full saucy mode. 

"As I recalled, you were asking for something. Are you bluntly saying you are gay?" She hinted. 

"I am not gay, sweetheart. Nonetheless, I dislike confiding my reasons to a meanie that you are," He stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "I am lending you the ancient nemesis of thread of fate."

Without asking permission first, he caught her hand and placed a rustic, sharp edged scissors atop her open palm. She immediately grunted in protest. The hollowed sensations she suspects the object emits numbed her fingertips as she carried it. 

"A scissor?! What the heck? Are you kidding!?" She almost burst out laughing. 

His expression remained stoic. Care was shortly taken aback. The atmosphere quickly felt heavy yet she refused to be swayed. 

"Let's proceed to universe top secrets lesson 101, sweetheart. Every blessed pair is connected with the red string of fate that pulls them towards each other. In mortal terms, one calls this string of coincidences destiny. Now, what to do to tear them apart?" 

"Sever the red string using the scissor?" 

"Magnifico! Once-in-a-millennium beauty possesses brains, too. Back on the agenda, do what you must." 

He stole her hand for the nth time. She was about to forcefully get it when unexplainable energy welled up her body to the brim. 

"The problem is the power I'm vesting to you has its constraints. You won't be able to see the red string that connects your wrist to your Fated unless you hold his hand. It takes thirty seconds for it to appear so before that, don't let go no matter what. No matter what! Understand? I'm just giving you thirty days. If you can’t comply, you won't die but be the ugliest to the point that no one can beat your title for an entire millennium." 

"You mean I will hold any guy's hand until I find my own man?" 

"Good, good! You're following. Good luck! Do your part or else you will be kissing goodbye to your once-in-a-millennium beauty which I don't really believe."

"What? This sounds like a joke to me!" she exclaimed, trying to stifle her chuckle. 

Gallus bent to the side of her head. Chilly gale rushed in as he whispered to her ear. The next minute he was gone and she was left alone breathless.