Chapter 10
Over the next few weeks it was pretty much the same. Erol and I were pretty cold towards each other and every time he even touched me, it was either an attempt to hurt me or he was just being a prick. Every night was the same thing. He'd come in, we'd have a small argument, and he would either smack me around or rape me, or both, depending on his mood. Luckily, though, it wasn't as bad as our wedding night, which I'm still recovering from.
I knew that tonight would be no different. Erol would come in after drinking with his Guard buddies, beat the hell out of me and end it all by screwing me out of my mind. Well, it could be worse, I guess… Speaking of which, he's later than he normally is. Oh well, just more time to prepare for my evening beating.
Sighing, I got up and walked into the bathroom to take another look at my bruises from the previous ass-kicking's Erol dealt to me. Most of them were almost healed or healing, and I wasn't swelled up anymore. I lifted my hair up and looked at my neck, which was pretty much back to normal as well. I dropped my hair back down, except my stupid wedding ring got caught in it. A little annoyed, I tried to free my ring from my hair, only to have it slip off my finger and fall on the floor. Ok, now this is starting to annoy me. I gritted my teeth together and bent down to retrieve it. Only, when I stood back up, the first thing I saw was someone else's reflection in the mirror. I jumped back, startled, and then recognized it as my darling husband.
"Erol… You scared the shit out of me," I said, panting. He only smirked at me.
"Sorry, darling. Didn't mean to scare you." I slipped my ring back on.
"Why don't I believe you?" He ignored me.
"I got you something," he said, moving behind me. I stared at the countertop until I felt him place something around my neck. I looked up and saw an ocean blue, tear-shaped jewel that was wrapped around a smaller green jewel outlined in silver now resting against my chest. I reached up and gingerly touched it. "Like it?" Erol asked.
"It's beautiful," I answered and looked over my shoulder at him, "Thank you."
"Rebel or not, it suits you." He went back to the bedroom, and after a few seconds, I followed.
"I was actually hoping you would wear it tomorrow." I watched curiously and he removed his armor.
"What's tomorrow?" I asked. He looked at me.
"You don't know?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be asking."
"The Class One Race is tomorrow. I want you to come." I smiled and laughed to myself.
"Of course I'll go. I wouldn't want to miss the chance to see my loving husband race and completely destroy everyone else on the track." Actually, I knew what was going to happen. Dad had told me all about this race, and the real reason I wanted to go was to see him kill himself. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going out." He looked at me as I fished under the bed for my security pass I'd received from Praxis the day after the wedding.
"At this time of night?"
"Yes. I haven't seen the outside of the palace since last week, and besides, there's things I need to do." I retrieved my pass and got up.
"Dressed like that?" He gestured towards my red dress. I shrugged.
"Got anything better?" He scoffed.
"Fine. Go on." I hesitated, but I left anyway. That was… surprisingly easy.
The palace was pretty quiet, and I didn't have a problem slipping out. Once outside, I stopped the feel the cool night breeze against my skin and continued on my way. No one really noticed me, but occasionally one of the KG's would recognize me and wave or something. One of them even offered me a ride in his Hellcat, which I refused. I wasn't really going anywhere in particular. I was just wandering around.
I was in the industrial section of the city now and I slowly made my way down a long, narrow ally. I was a little more than halfway down when I heard something, or someone, hit the ground softly behind me. I stopped for a moment, wondering if it was friend or foe, but I just came to the conclusion that it was better to get the hell out of this ally and back where there were people. I resumed walking at a very fast pace, but unfortunately, I didn't get very far before someone in a long black coat dropped down right in front of me. they had a hood on, so I couldn't see their face, but I do know that this was starting the freak me out.
I thought I could get away, so I turned a ran only a few steps when I noticed a second one was in my path, and they had a gun pointed at me… oh boy… Before I could react, the one I'd just turned away from grabbed my arms and pointed a gun to my head.
"We don't want to have to hurt you, Jakie, so listen closely," the one holding me said firmly. It was a male voice.
"You're in serious danger here, Jakie," the one in front of me began. This time it was a female. "You've badly corrupted the timeline here. It can be fixed, but you need to leave now, before it's too late."
"I can't leave!" I argued, "My father will die! I can't leave until I find the Eco Stone!"
"Is that the only reason you're staying?" the man behind me asked.
"You're wasting you time, if you're looking for it here. What you heard about Baron Praxis being the only one who ever found it was a myth. Praxis never found it. He never even looked for it. Erol only told you he could get it for you so you'd marry him." I was speechless. Not only did I feel stupid for letting myself go out on a wild goose chase, but I also felt… betrayed… in a way.
"But… Seem…"
"Seem told you what she did so you wouldn't lose hope of finding it," the man told me.
"You remember that trinket that Erol gave you just before you left several years back?" the woman asked me. Of course I remember.
"Yes."
"It was part of key to finding the real location of the Eco Stone. When he first came across it, he figured it was important… so he kept it away from Praxis until he figured out what it was for," she explained.
"Then why'd he give it to me?"
"You have the ability to channel eco, just as Jak does. So you can touch it without it harming you. Erol, on the other hand, can't. He wanted you to find it so he could take it from you."
"With it, he'd be almost immortal," the man added. That made perfect sense to me. Since the Eco Stone can heal anything, he'd never die.
"So you better find the other half of it, then get your ass back to your own time before… well, before it's too late for you." The man let go of me and I stumbled backwards. I had my eyes closed for a moment, but when I opened them, the two strangers were gone…
Kiri: There! now things are getting interesting! this is where I'm starting to tie Eternity and this one together, by the way... heheh...