The Passage

Dave returned a few minutes after Claudia's departure. It was so well-timed that I had the impression that he had been waiting for her to leave before coming.

'Did you have dinner?' I asked to which he nodded and he went up to have a shower. It was the sound that alerted me to what he was doing, as he seemed to be communicationg less and less with me. After switching off the lights, I went up to our room. It was strange that I thoughtof it as our room, and not just my room. I brushed my teeth and went on the bed where Dave was already lying. It felt as if we were a couple that had been married for several years and the fizz had worn off.

Dave turned off the lights, but I couldn't sleep at all despite tossing and turning.

He sighed and witched on the lights.

'Not sleepy?'

'No.' I turned and faced him, still lying on the bed. I reached out my hand and touched his cheek. He leaned his cheek more firmly in my hand before turning slightly and planting a kiss on my palm. I felt a pleasing fluttering in my heart.

'Tell me.' I didn't need to elaborate as I knew he could read into me so clearly.

'I went to meet an informer.' My eyebrows raised in surprise at that comment. 'He's a werewolf.'

'Then why would he be giving you information? Can you trust him?'

'As much as we can trust someone whom I've known for 50 years I guess. I saved his life once from a group of Vetalas. His father had killed one of theirs and they were out for vengeance.'

'Did you kill the Vetalas?'

'Yes. It was either them or me.'

I felt my stomach constrict at the mention of him killing to save the werewolf.

'It was not a question of him being a werewolf. He was innocent and I did what I thought to be fair.'

I moved closer to him to show that I was not judging him. I could feel that it had not been an easy task for him.

'So he owed you his life and is repaying you through information.'

'He's a friend.' I was surprised at first but then thought that my mother and father began their relationship through friendship itself. The division that was said to exist between the realm of vampires and that of werewolves was not so distinct.

'So what did he tell you?

'He merely confirmed what I already thought.'

I turned on my belly, leaning on my elbows and rested my face on my upturned palms. It provided me a better vantage point to read Dave's expressions.

'Energy mapping of the surrounding region has shown a surge in energy levels and I believe it has to do with the passageway. They are looking for the passage and a way to open it.' Through 'they' I understood that he was talking about Guy and his minions, but I was confused by what he meant by passage.

Dave lifted his hand and traced the shape of my eyebrows with his index finger one by one. I waited quietly knowing that he needed the ime to structure his thoughts. 'You haven't read Nani's book completely, have you?'

Indeed, ever since we returned to Earth, I'd barely had the time to even think about it, far from reading it. I rolled over and alighted from the bed. I had kept the book in the duffel bag and it was still there waiting patiently. I picked it up and leafed through it until I reached an extract which talked about the passageway. In the meanwhile Dave had leaned back his head on the pillow and his eyes were closed. But I knew that his other senses were all on alert and he knew exactly what I was doing.

****There are 3 passageways on Bhu, each guarded by a chosen guardian. Of these 3 have already been destroyed; the volcanic eruption and tsunami in the Mediterranean island of Stroggli in 1500 BC. wiped out the passageway; the passageway in Valdivia was destroyed in the 1960 earthquake. Only one passageway is left and its secret is closely guarded.

The passages were used by yogis and sages who after renouncing to their earthly bodies, and moving to Jan and Mahar loka, had to come back to Earth to accomplish some tasks. Instead of reincarnating, they used the passage and then went back when their tasks were accomplished. These passageways were usually guarded by an assigned vampire as they lived longer. The duties were then carried forward to the next generation.****

'Are you trying to suggest that the last passageway is in our town?'

He finally looked at me and the green of his eyes was brighter than ever. He sat and leaned against the headboard. He patted the space next to him and obediently I went and sat next to him. I also leaned back and looked at the way our legs were spread in front of us. I lifted my right ankle and shifted my leg on to Dave's and that connection made me feel just slightly better. I felt as if the situation was starting to get out of hand.

'Yes, it's here.'

'Was this why you had been looking at Granny's papers?'

He looked at me with admiration and holding my chin, he lifted my face and planted a kiss on the tip of my nose. 'I knew that there was a hardworking brain behind that beautiful face of yours.'

I frowned lightly as I did not know if I had to be happy that he calling me beautiful or flustered that it took him so much time to accept that I was not dumb. But I couldn't stop warmth from unfurling in my pelvic area.

'Yes, I was checking if Nani had mentioned the coordinates of the gate. But she was too careful to do so.'

Why did he not tell me that when I asked him earlier then? I could feel that there was something else that he was not telling me, through the siffness of his shoulders and the way he was avoiding my gaze. So I prompted him, 'And?'

'Nani was a guardian,' he stated finally.

I stared at him in shock. 'My Nani?'

'Yes.'

I then added two and two and I made the link. 'You said that this responsibility is transmitted across generations. So my mother was a Guardian too?'

'Yes.'

'But then after her death, there was no one guarding the passageway? So who's the next guardian? Maybe he can help us to undersand what Guy is up to.' I was filled with hope at the thought that the guardian might be able to help us unravel the secrets. With gleaming eyes, I turned to Dave and asked, 'So do you know that vampire?'

He reached out and started twisting a strand of my hair into a curl, which was quite sweet, until he pulled it hard. I looked at him in confusion and rubbed the sore spot where he had pulled the hair.

'Ash, don't you get it, you're the guardian.'