HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 11

It was 6:30 on the return train, and there wasn’t a soul in the last carriage except for a young couple who had spent a drunken night in the capital. My surprise gave way to embarrassment when the girl sat astride her companion. Eric smiled and turned away from the show. I followed suit, but as we stared at each other, a sudden freezing sensation wiped out our amusement.

My nerves suddenly tensed, and the worried look in Eric’s eyes wasn’t there to reassure me. My gaze drifted to the entrance to the carriage, where two men were staring at us fiercely hostile. One of the two was a very tall, well-built redhead, his long straight hair tied back in a ponytail, stretching his pale, high cheekbones a bit more. Dressed entirely in black, his strange posture and translucent blue eyes gave him both a frightening and fascinating appearance. There was a sense of destructive madness about him that came to me as clearly as if he had written sociopath on his forehead. His sidekick was much shorter and had the face of an ordinary man, chestnut brown with brown eyes, his belly bulging above a belt. His pleasant face, masked by frowning eyebrows, couldn’t suggest for a second that he would turn out to be the more dangerous of the two. Yet he took out his gun and aimed it at us.

Everything then happened at an astonishing speed. Eric suddenly disappeared from his seat and materialised between the two men. Taken by surprise, they hadn’t seen it coming when Eric grabbed them by the throat and, with incredible force, lifted them from the ground like simple puppets. The little brown-haired man dropped his semi-automatic. The redhead grimaced. His puzzled face gave way to a look of hatred towards his assailant, whose impressive abilities he now understood. I discovered them myself, speechless. Suddenly, Eric threw the smaller one across the carriage. The man passed out, his head hitting the wall hard. The two lovebirds screamed in terror. This diversion allowed the redhead to get rid of the hand around his neck and bring a violent punch to Eric’s stomach. He was thrown several metres back from the impact and got up at the speed of a feline, and then he threw himself again on the big redhead who blocked his attack with one arm. Eric screamed in pain as the man’s bony hands gripped his throat. I heard his horrifying cry, and a wave of fierce hatred invaded every fibre of my flesh. Nervous spasms shook my limbs, and my breathing became too rapid. Eric pulled himself together and landed the redhead an uppercut under the jaw, which rocked him back, but the tall man showed no pain and threw his arms outstretched at Eric, pushing him off his feet, breaking two metal support bars and tearing up several rows of seats. With startled eyes, I saw Eric get up painfully this time. The snarling redhead rushed at him, but Eric was faster and surprised him by dodging his angry fist. There followed a series of dodges and blows. The carriage was devastated; several windows had broken during the struggle and let the wind rush violently into the train. The couple had hidden behind one of the last rows of seats still intact, and I heard the squeals of the young woman who was scared to death. She screamed when Eric couldn’t avoid a new assault from the redhead and found himself on the ground at his feet. He got up and used his incredible speed to put himself behind his opponent, who grabbed Eric’s head with a backward movement of his arm, throwing him full length again through the carriage. This time Eric wasn’t moving.

My heart raced, my head burned like a torch, and the fury spread in me to the end of my nails. I rushed in the direction of my saviour when, out of nowhere, the tall redhead blocked me. He grabbed my throat and whispered in a twisted, terrifying voice inches from my ear.

“It’s up to you to keep him alive, Everliegh.”

But he didn’t have time to continue when he was catapulted several metres away. I fell violently to the ground. He staggered to his feet and returned to the carriage door he had come through. He stooped to retrieve the gun from under a jagged seat and glared at the small, dark-haired man who still lay unconscious. In dead silence, he raised his mad eyes and fired. I threw myself towards Eric but was too slow to escape a flurry of bullets.

Can I describe this scene while remaining consistent with reality? What happened was beyond my understanding. I only remembered my eyes veiled by a carmine red shadow, my arms spreading out, hands palms open, as if I wanted to offer my body to death, happy to welcome it. But inside, my whole soul cried out for life, so strong that I felt my energy channelling, building up a wall in the face of danger. I felt like I was on fire inside, with all my muscles tense to the limit. Gasping for air, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I wasn’t dead. I was still there, standing. There was only the deafening sound of the wind. Eric stood to my right with a troubled look at me.

“Eve,” he only whispered.

I then opened my eyes. A strange sight presented itself to me; all the bullets were suspended in the air. I should have been surprised or even terrified, but I found it almost normal. But, I almost forgot the man in front of me. I focused on him in horror when I saw his big predatory smile. A veil of hatred invaded my eyes, and my adversary leaned over his sidekick. With a quick movement, he placed him over his shoulder. I felt a sudden burst of anger, and while staring at him, I let that rage explode into a howl. The suspended bullets are then ejected swiftly through the carriage, destroying everything in their path. The windows shattered from the destructive impacts, but the only two people targeted suffered no scratches. Unable to contain a new surge of hatred, four rows of seats ripped off the floor and flung themselves in their direction. But the two men had already slipped out of one of the windows. It was over.

Eric tried to pull me out of my shock by grabbing me by the arms.

“Eve! We have to go!”

He immediately pulled the emergency lever, then followed an unbearable and shrill screeching. I nearly fell when the brakes kicked in but didn’t even realise it. I remained overwhelmed by what I had just experienced.

“Eve, do you hear me? We have to run!”

Run away? I didn’t want to move. I wanted to curl up in a corner and never move again. While Eric hugged me with both arms, his voice became even deeper.

“Eve! Look at me! Look at me!” he said, his tone imbued with deep concern.

I looked up. I had never seen him so tormented. But little by little, I plunged back into a state of shock and this irresistible urge to withdraw into myself.

“Eve! Please stay with me!”

Why did he come up with this crazy idea? I couldn’t leave since I couldn’t move.

Eric tightened his grip around my arms as the train finished its run. He never took his eyes off me and remained facing me, yet I no longer saw him. My hair whipped our faces, and the violence of the icy wind in the carriage chilled me. I was shaking from head to toe. Eric bit his lip, and his gaze became more intense, his hands imprisoning my arms, then pulled me violently to him and his mouth melted on mine. The warmth of his lips flooded me in an instant, awakening my frozen body with an insatiable fever. Despite the apocalyptic context playing around us, we kissed there as if nothing in this world existed. Under the violence of the last braking, I finally lost my balance and moved away from Eric and his mouth. He prevented my fall with his strong hands. Without my realising it, Eric lifted me.

“Hang on!”

Instinctively, I closed my eyes. The wind violently froze my back. My body tossed in all directions. I kept my head buried in his neck as he held me firmly. The fear was already gone when, after a few minutes, he stopped in an alley and gently put me down.