Toxin

There is a price for everything in this world — and some people pay it many times over. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The price of one life is another life. A success for a failure. A smile for a tear. A scoop of ice cream is two hundred and twenty forints.

Toxin

Alex finally sent Ábel off with me to let the kid go for a walk. I agreed, because at least I'd have someone to carry my stuff home with me.

We entered the discount store, and I followed the list the wolf had given me and picked up the ingredients for lunch. I walked over to the cash register and looked the old man in the eye.

I'm not saying I hated him, it's just that if it had turned out he couldn't swim and had accidentally fallen in the water, I would have laughed as I watched him die.

In compensation for having to endure the mental torture of spending more than the minimum amount of time in the same space as the old man, I'd dropped two lollipops on the counter.

The old man took the amount, and I paid it, indignantly. They are real thieves! Seven thousand five hundred — and he hadn't even miscalculated!

I started to leave, puffing, when another customer entered the shop. The hooded man's shoulder bumped into mine, but he walked on regardless.

"Hey!", I turned back.

"What's up, buddy?" frowned the heavily pigmented guy, "You need something?"

"Yes, my wallet," I replied.

The guy snorted, "I didn't steal anything."

"Then can you show me your left hand?" I asked.

The guy's hand in his pocket shook around my wallet.

"You want trouble, mate?" he growled.

I was just about to open my mouth to speak when Ábel grabbed the guy's hand and pulled it out of his pocket — along with my wallet.

"Hey, let go of me," the guy was about to yank his hand out and was probably going to run.

It was a futile attempt.

"Give me the wallet!" demanded Ábel.

The look in the boy's eyes became terrifyingly cold, and I began to seriously worry that he was going to kill the guy. The guy still wanted to fight and raised his hand to punch. The boy easily dodged the attack and then squeezed the thief's hand with such force that he immediately released the wallet. Moreover, the thief was even screaming a bit.

Ábel then punched him in the stomach, causing him to curl up and kneel before him. The next moment he could feel the boy's boot in his face.

"How dare you steal from my brother?" he said through clenched teeth.

His grimace reminded me strongly of a bandit's. When he raised his leg to kick, I decided it was time to stop.

"That's enough," I said, whereupon there was a sudden change in his demeanor, and he immediately stepped obediently to my side.

The man lay down on the paving slab with a deep sigh. The shop assistant was hiding behind the counter, peering over it and dialing the police.

"Let's go," I said, and so I did.

The boy followed in haste, but he gave the thief one more murderous look to let him know that the next time they met he would surely kill him.

With a single look, Ábel could convince anyone that a cute, fluffy lamb was a mass-murdering terrorist compared to him. Then at the other extreme, when someone so much as glanced at me the wrong way, he suddenly became a mass-murdering terrorist.

In short, he was a very complex person, so much so that I was sure he had multiple personalities.

I stopped, and he stopped too. I turned to him and tapped him on the forehead with one of the unopened lollipops. Even though it didn't hurt him, he groaned and rubbed his forehead with half-closed eyes.

"Did I do something wrong again?" he asked, puppy dog eyes wide.

"You could say that," I replied, "I could have handled the situation even if you hadn't caused a scene."

"But he tried to rob you," he said indignantly, "He had to pay!"

I sighed deeply. "Just don't look for trouble, okay? Promise?"

He nodded slowly.

"Clever boy," I smiled and handed him his lollipop.

Then unwrapped my own cherry-flavored piece. The cherry one is my favorite. Ábel fiddled with it for a while, then I took it from him and gave it back to him, after unwrapping it. He licked it uncertainly at first, then smiled.

"What is this?" he asked.

"A lollipop," I replied.

He hummed.

"Tell me, why did you become my bodyguard so arbitrarily?"

"Do you mind?" he set his eyes on the path we were walking on, "I really didn't mean to cause trouble again, I just..."

I sighed deeply. "That's not what I meant."

"I killed your family," I explained, "You should hate me."

Ábel was silent, and I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that it was going to stay that way.

"Our father... he didn't treat us... me... very well. My brother was excellent and perfect at everything, and I was too different from him. Our father often punished me for breaking the rules or his orders. Yet it was Cain I feared more — he punished me even when I did nothing. I think he just enjoyed hurting me."

It was the first time Ábel had spoken so much at once, and I became certain then that most of the scars on his body were not left by our father.

"Kain wasn't always like that," he added, "We grew up together until we were six. Until then we were almost inseparable. Then the difference between my brother and me began to show. We were separated, but we still kept in touch: we left each other drawing messages on a glass in the corridor. Then, after a year, I stopped receiving messages and he stopped answering me. A few months later, when we met again, he was never the same. I never found out what happened."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. There wasn't a drop of love in his eyes when he spoke of his brother — just pure hatred. I didn't want to know what he could have done to him.

"When you woke up, you scared me too. Then I just watched shaking as you killed my brother and hurt our father. But I felt respect along with fear. You did what I did not have the courage to do," he declared, "You avenged the human girl."

He began to rummage in his trouser pocket. My eyes widened in surprise when he pulled out a familiar necklace.

"I couldn't save the human girl, but I can still be useful to you," he said, then hid his treasure again.

My heart sank. I guessed why Jo had given the vampire boy the necklace. Maybe she wanted to trust me with caring for him.

After that, we walked quietly all the way home. Abel began to hum occasionally, and I became more and more sure that I had made the right decision in taking him in. He noticed that I was paying attention, so he looked at me questioningly. The end of the lollipop stuck out of his mouth in a clownish way, and he smiled quite warmly.

I felt my lips curl upwards and I ruffled his hair. Jo would surely be happy to see him now.

(...)

Alex and Rolo were left alone in the kitchen. Rolo was lazily caressing the grey abomination sitting on his lap. (Alex had begged the cursed cat back from Hajnal's house after the move. Hajnal had parted with her temporary pet with a heavy heart and a murmur of words under her breath.)

"What do you want?" asked Alex, tired of the silence.

The boy smelled of tension and doubt.

"I'd almost forgotten how good wolf's noise is..." Rolo remarked.

Alex shrugged. "Well?"

"Do you trust that bastard?" he asked the wolf.

The gremlin kid's voice sounded exceptionally obnoxious and harsh. But Alex was not surprised by the question.

"Who knows when he'll slit Shay's throat when he's asleep," the kid argued, "He's our enemy!"

The wolf shrugged. "I don't think he'd try anything like that."

Rolo's teeth gritted.

"I can't believe this! How can you be so simple-minded?!"

Alex was silent.

"How can you trust him?!"

"Just like I trusted you when we first met," the wolf stated calmly, "Besides, you should know that I can smell murderous intent from a mile."

"Maybe he's just hiding it well!" though Rolo surely knew himself that he was wrong, he could not be defeated.

Certainly not by Alex.

"Don't underestimate Shay," Alex added, "Even if things go bad, he can defend himself."

Rolo had nothing to say.

"But that's not really what's bothering you, is it?" the wolf interjected, "You're just jealous."

Some people have an exceptional ability to distinguish between the time to speak and the time to remain silent. Alex was certainly not one of those people.

Rolo looked at the wolf with a look of hatred in his eyes that would have made an ordinary man weep.

Then the door opened. I thought I had managed to get in before the two shifters had demolished the house.

Despite hearing the argument, I asked what had happened. Alex shook his head and went back to washing the dishes.

I told Ábel to put the stuff on the table and he readily complied with my request. When he approached, Alex froze for a moment and gave Ábel a furtive glance.

But at the time I hadn't given it much thought.

(...)

"Hey, Lutist," I called to the guy.

Riki just sighed deeply and started to counterattack. "Yes, Your Highness?"

I gave him a piercing look for the insult, but he didn't seem to be scared of me. Hm, I couldn't decide if he was being brave or extremely stupid. In any case, that was not the burning question at the moment.

"Where is Luna?"

After that, Rikardo led me towards the clearing where their ugly caravans were parked not far away. Of course, at some point, the gypsies got bored of the city bustle and retreated to a plot of land near the woods.

Rumour had it that they were starting a new business. When we got close, Riki held out his hand as a sign that he could accompany me so far. Of course, even in this extremely polite gesture, there was enough impertinence to make me purse my lips.

"There you are, Your Majesty," he added, graciously.

"I'll have your head for this," I growled, but Riki's grin only widened.

Then the lutist walked away humming. I rounded a few more trees and saw Luna. I didn't go near her for several minutes. I was simply amazed at the way she was gently picking mushrooms. Do all mages glide walk along the trees with such gratitude, dance so gently through the woods, and sing to the forest?

Finally, I stepped up to her.

"Hello, Shay," she greeted me, and the mischievous gleam in her eyes told me immediately that she knew I'd been around for a while.

Of course, it's not like she was trying to hide it from me.

"Hi," I said and took out a vial.

Luna's azure eyes widened in shock at the black liquid.

"Where did you get this?"

I shrugged. "I freed the boy."

Luna looked even more surprised. Whether she was surprised by what I said or by my feelings, I wasn't sure. Her lips curled up slightly and she took the offered poison.

"I'm sure you'll find it useful," I said.

And she nodded in response.

"I hear you're starting a new business," I diverted the subject.

"Yes," she said, "I plan to stay here, and just send teams of a few men to get the goods we need."

"Hm." I wondered, "I didn't think you'd ever settle down."

"Me neither," she said with a mischievous smile, "Anyway, it's a refreshing change to finally have a place to call home."

The shabby house was in need of a lot of renovation, and the gypsies for the time being lived in their caravans. Almost all their time was occupied by the house's restoration. Perhaps for the first time in decades, they were anchored somewhere, perhaps for the first time in decades they felt they could build a place to call home.

"I see," I said.

Of course, as Luna finished gathering the various mushrooms, she also made me stay for lunch. Without a word, the gypsies led me to the best place, right next to Luna.

This silly, lovely bunch of people behaved in a very unusual way towards me. They approached me with the utmost respect, offering me everything first, yet instead of rigid formalities, they tried to cheer me up with friendly chatter.

There was something very appealing about this noisy and always rowdy bunch that made me not resent them even when they made me stay longer than necessary. Perhaps because there was no deception in their jokes, in their words, or in their enthusiastic chatter: they were genuinely happy to be in my company, even if only for Luna.

(...)

Ábel asked Alex for a book, which he began to stare at with intense eyes. For a while he turned and leafed through it, puzzled, basically looking quite lost. I sighed and turned off the TV.

"You can't read, can you?" I asked but it was more like a statement.

He pulled his lips to a sad smile as he shook his head.

"A murderer doesn't need to be able to read."

That night I started teaching the kid to read — he couldn't stay that way!

So, when Rolo decided to go to sleep, I crossed to Ábel's room with a thinner book in my hand. The boy was surprised at first when I announced that we were going to read, then he got more excited than ever. I showed him the different letters and read out extracts from the book.

Why did I choose The Little Prince? Because it was the book my brother used to read to me as a child, so it was very close to my heart.

Ábel remarked that when I read, I seemed really happy, and asked if everyone was that happy when they read. I hit him lightly on the head.