Chapter 24 – Cesare Mercurio
This morning she was there, waiting for me. I found Iryssa in front of my laboratory, and my heart rejoiced at the view of her beauty, at the softness of her smile.
“I received your note, and here I am”, she said with touching candor
“Thank you Iryssa, thank you!”, I exclaimed with transport and reached towards her, but she pulled back, and I sensed a disharmonic note in the melody between us.
I thought for the whole night about what I had seen in the park and swore that at some point in time and space I will take revenge, a horrendous and inhumane revenge! I will show Iryssa the real nature of the scoundrel and I will teach her to hate him, so that the revengeful strike will come from her hand, not mine! Oh reader, do not believe that I lack courage, not at all! I want the blow to be inflicted by Iryssa because there is no other way to make the revenge perfect and fully meaningful. She will suffer, yes, but Iryssa must see her delusion. Deep knowledge never comes without pain.
I smiled bitterly, and for a moment she was startled by my expression.
Then she spoke.
“Do you remember the necklace you gave me?”, she asked, holding up the pendant she still wore on her neck
“I never forget”, I replied, love and cruelty blend into one
Iryssa’s face darkened, before she managed to recompose herself and smile.
“Now I have a necklace for you”, she said, producing a little black box from her purse
This gest was so unexpected I arched my brows, wondering if perhaps I hadn’t grossly misread the events.
“Yes, a necklace”, she repeated, seeing my surprise
“It is not meant to be worn during the day. Don’t open the box before the evening comes! Then, when the sun falls, place it on your neck and think about me”, Iryssa instructed me
My surprise increased, this behaviour seemed so atypical of my Iryssa. But was she really mine? Did I truly know her?
“Why such peculiar instructions?”, I asked
“Because…this is an amulet”, she began
“An amulet? You are a scientist, Iryssa, not a charlatan, how can you believe in amulets? And what is the alleged action of this amulet, if I may ask?”, I objected
“It isn’t truly an amulet, although I called it so”, Iryssa corrected herself, “it is a necklace I loved as soon as I saw it and I want you to have it, but it seems more suited for a woman than a man. This is why you should not wear it during the day…I want you to wear it at night, and think about me. It is an infantine wish, I know…”, she said, without completing her sentence
I smiled with tenderness.
“Oh Iryssa…”, I sighted, cursing my previous distrustful thoughts
“I shall leave now, my uncle is waiting in the shop”, Iryssa said before I could embrace her
She smiled as she walked away, but I sensed sadness in her smile. It was all so strange, and I could not decipher her moods.
“Can we meet tomorrow?”, I asked, as Iryssa was already at a distance
“Of course”, she replied, turning my way for the briefest moment
During the rest of the day I could hardly prevent myself from constantly recollecting our brief morning encounter and the scenes I had assisted to the previous day. Nonetheless I strived to find some inner peace amid my ampoules and chemicals, spending an intense day in the laboratory.
I reached my abode when the sun had already set, grasping the small box in my hand. The rooms were dark and I lit a flickering candle to shed some warmness around me. I sat at my desk and opened the box. There was a necklace with a strange pendant on it, it had a rhomboidal shape and seemed empty inside. I wondered which feelings it inspired in Iryssa when she saw it, as I turned it between my fingers with alternating waves of unconditional love and skepticism. Then I wore it. If I were an ignorant man I might very well trust the object to be an amulet, because after donning it for nothing but few instants my heart began to beat at an odd pace, and my muscles twitched with strange pulsations. I don’t feel like my usual self. But reader, how can I after the turmoil of the last days? I shall drink a warm glass of milk and lay awhile to gain some strength, offering my beaten body and mind a pause from the battles they have been fighting.