In the street, Crystal tripped over a cola can and sent it rolling away. An empty can rolling around aimlessly, like her. And Falada was not there. He had consoled her, he had done his job and then he had left her. After all, they had reconciled ; she should have been hopeful, but on this particular night everything looked black to her.
A flash. She again saw Sybil on her death bed, her flesh slashed. A lamb in the slaughterhouse. The Paladine must have died slowly. Crystal remembered Cornelia’s first lesson : slashing a wrist is nothing, you have to slice through the aorta, slitting the throat is most effective. And Sybil certainly knew that, she had wanted to feel herself die. The pain. The young woman sped up ; she didn’t feel anything. The Paladine had never been her friend, after all. So why run away ?
Tortured by an inexplicable feeling of failure, Crystal ended up stopping in front of one of the entrances to High Line Park. The gates were closed.
She bounded over the bars and landed on the other side, her heels clicking against the cement as she ran up the stairs. She wandered around, hoping to get as far away from the world as possible. To isolate herself.
She wondered around for awhile before finally sitting down on a bench. She looked at the copious plants around her, not really seeing them, and curled up as if she were cold. With her arms crossed, she stuck her legs under the bench and let her head fall to her knees, her forehead on her jeans.
Only then did Crystal melt into tears. A fit of sobs, of anguish, of suffering and of nerves that went on and on and on….
Prince Dimitri approached without taking the trouble to avoid making noise. Gravel crunched under his steps.
It was done. On his orders, the partisans of the Order of Hell had spotted Crystal. She had left home again without taking the slightest precaution. Too bad for her.
The bitch would see whether anyone was allowed to reject him. Him, The Prince of Darkness, the Devil in person, the invincible, terrifying Prince Dimitri.
He had followed her through the city and now her she was ; alone, imagining that she could just stroll around as she pleased. He would show her.
Dimitri walked straight up to her and stopped about three feet away. She finally saw him and wiped away the tears that bathed her face.
He stared at her. Disarmed at the pitiable state of his prey. She was crumpled in her big cashmere pullover, her eyes smudged with dark rings, circled in black from the makeup running down her face, her little hands reddened by the cold.
The Prince faltered. He should rape her and kill her. That’s what he came for. But….
He stared at this lost little girl and an unknown feeling took his breath away. A feeling that crept into his soul in spite of himself. This emotion shook him to the core. He was feeling something. His dead heart was finally feeling. He swallowed a breath of fresh air.
“So what now ?” Crystal threw at him, as if tossing a bone to a dog.
The Prince did not answer. He was shattered. Compassion, tenderness, a desire to protect. In that instant, he felt all these things for the young woman. All because the idiot was in a pullover that was too big for her and she was whimpering. Dimitri wondered whether he was going crazy.
“Sybil is dead,” she informed him, glacially. “She committed suicide because of what you did to her child.”
“It took her long enough,” he responded, relieved to return to what he was. “Those damn Paladines are incredibly resistant.” Then, seeing Crystal’s reaction, he added clumsily, trying to be nice, “Are you unhappy ?”
She looked at him fixedly, flabbergasted.
“No, I’m filled with the joy of living, isn’t it obvious ?”
Dimitri winced and cautiously, in order not to alarm her, took a seat on the bench. Crystal felt the rustling of his coat, the intensity of his presence, his pectoral muscles bulging beneath his black shirt. She lowered her eyelids.
“I do not wish for a confrontation tonight, Prince Dimitri. I’m exhausted from all the fighting.”
“Then stop being so cold with me ; talk to me like you would to any other man,” he requested. “Talk to me, tell me what you are, what you’re thinking. Talk to me as if we knew each other.”
“It might be wrong but I believe that would actually do me good. So many people surround me, so many people say they love me, and yet….”
She searched for words, gesturing pointlessly, incapable of expressing herself.
“None of them is deeply interested in you, none of them really looks at you,” the Prince completed in turn.
Crystal raised her face toward the sky to look at the stars. She furtively nodded her head. There was nothing more to say. Dimitri knew. He understood her. Even though this was her worst enemy, she felt relief and comfort knowing that he was close to her. She knew that she was corrupting the memory of Sybil by letting the Prince approach her. She knew that a few hours earlier she would not have been able to envision or even imagine such a situation. But Dimitri was so strong, and she felt so weakened.
So she didn’t push him away. They didn’t speak any more. They remained seated on the bench in the middle of the park. They remained that way, closer than if they were holding hands. And under the star-studded sky, they both allowed themselves to be absorbed by their drifting thoughts.
It was so strange, both of them. Mortal enemies brought together for an instant, in the immensity of the night. Together. Crystal found no explanation to justify that link. But she didn’t care because she finally felt soothed. Without realizing it, she shivered. Dimitri took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.
You’re cold, he had noted. I’m always cold, she wanted to answer him. But she had remained silent. She had remained silent so that he would never know what she had just felt. So that he would never know how he had just warmed her. So that he would never know….
Crystal stayed with the Prince of Darkness until daybreak.
8
Like the rain
The Mediterranean Sea, Island of the All Powerful
May her body be returned to the earth and her soul to the sky,
May her name be hallowed.
Mighty Paladine who brought us peace and kindness,
Among your own you were the joy and light….
Crystal lowered her eyes ; she was no longer listening to the High Priest pronounce the funeral oration for Sybil. Beside her, her father and the Empress, presiding over the ceremony, stood facing the glass coffin in which Sybil’s embalmed body rested.
From the other side of the coffin, the High Priest continued his eulogy, and to either side a throng of Damned whom the young woman did not know crowded around. Not far from her, the Paladines, the Paladins, and a handful of highranking dignitaries occupied a place of honor.
It was twilight. The funeral took place in a clearing, as was traditional. Taking place at the end of a pale and radiant day, the final homage to Sybil seemed even more beautiful and more melancholy.
Following the ceremony the body of the Paladine, forever imprisoned in her coffin, would be carried into the network of subterranean passages that ran under the whole island. There the palace Tombs were located, a sacred and forbidden place. Sybil’s final resting place.
Helen had explained to Crystal that few Damned could claim that honor. Resting in the palace Tombs was a privilege reserved for the elite of the cult.
Imperceptibly, the young woman shrugged her shoulders. How was that going to do Sybil any good now ? The Paladine would certainly have preferred to be buried in her hometown in southern California.
Crystal stared discreetly at her father, who, like the others, listened to the eulogy in respectful silence. She had spoken with him that morning, just after she arrived on the island accompanied by Falada and the four remaining Paladines. The All Powerful had tried once again to console her. The old asshole was totally out of his mind if he thought he could win her back with words. It was too late for them ; it was too late for Crystal to be able to forgive this sham of a father.
At least the Empress wasn’t acting out any part.
Dressed in white like all the Damned who attended the funeral, her stepmother looked like a queen out of legend. A translucent veil covered her face, hiding it. Crystal easily surmised that she must be profoundly affected by the Paladine’s death.
Not everyone gave such a good impression, she mused, casting a secret glance at Helen. The latter’s boredom was palpable and almost indecent. Sybil’s funeral seemed to be affecting her about as much as a stroll to the supermarket.
Crystal turned toward the others as if to ask them for help. An appeal to humanity.
Glory’s face was closed and Miranda was staring at Sybil’s body, plunged in her own thoughts. The young woman gave a slight start when her glance rested on Cornelia : the Paladine was crying…. Crystal closed her eyes. Never had she seen Cornelia cry. The sight heightened her own sadness. What a horrible world it was.
Night fell, and the High Priest stopped speaking. A hushed silence fell over the assembly.
Then, slowly, six women, priestesses veiled and masked in white, came and lifted the coffin, taking it underground, into the tombs of the palace.
The Damned waited until the funeral cortege was out of sight before dispersing and drifting in small groups toward the palace to the suite of the All Powerful and the Empress.
Miranda approached Crystal and hooked her arm. The young woman smiled at her bitterly. Behind them came Glory and Falada on either side of Cornelia, practically holding her up. Helen had remained behind in the clearing, probably trying to hide her indifference.
Events had moved quickly over the last few days. Sybil’s suicide had to be announced publicly, which had caused a wave of anguish in the cult. Naturally the partisans and admirers of the Order of Hell had taken advantage of it to strengthen their power a little more. Prince Dimitri, though, continued to keep a low profile. And Crystal had still not dared to admit to the others that she had seen him one-on-one. In fact, she had not spoken to anyone of their meetings. A vague feeling of guilt invaded her at the memory of the hours spent with Dimitri, those stolen hours in High Line Park. This was bad. Very bad. What kind of girl would feel comforted by the presence of a monster ? What kind of girl could feel….
Crystal clenched her teeth in order not to give in to the desire to beat up the next person she saw.
“I hope that rotten swine goes to hell,” she swore without restraint.
“Excuse me ?”
Crystal started. She had forgotten that Miranda was walking beside her, her head leaning on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying. I mean, I was… I was thinking it. But not…,” she stammered at the bewildered look from the sorceress. “I mean, I was ! But I wasn’t thinking about Sybil,” she explained.
Miranda raised her chin.
“You weren’t thinking about Sybil ?”
“Yes, of course I was,” Crystal awkwardly caught herself. “My thoughts were just wandering.”
As they continued to move toward the palace with the rest of the people who had come to attend the funeral, they crossed a group of women all dressed in sky blue togas. Crystal let herself be distracted.
“What is it with all these girls ?” she wondered, intrigued.
“Those are the potential Paladines-in-training on the island. One of them will soon be chosen to replace Sybil,” the sorceress explained, tense.
At that moment, Cornelia slid between the two young women.
“Well, here are the vultures,” she grumbled in a voice that was loud in spite of her tears.
The potential Paladines squeaked in fright and sped up.
“Corn, you are aware that you scare them, aren’t you ?” Crystal remarked, winking at Miranda in amusement.
The red-head brightened, seeing Cornelia sniff with disdain.
“So much the better if I give them the willies,” the warrior went her one better. “The sluts are just waiting for one of us to die to take our place.”
The young woman gazed pensively at her friend.
“Excuse me, but weren’t you once a potential Paladine as well ?”
“Yes, but I don’t see what that’s got to do with anything,” Cornelia growled.
After the funeral, Crystal and the others had had to attend the official dinner in honor of Sybil. A drag, if not to say downright deadly dull. Stuck at the table between the All Powerful and her stepmother, the young woman had wondered if boredom could bring on a coma. Stifling her yawns, she had used a migraine as an excuse to slip away.
Now, standing on the beach at the other end of the island, she watched the waves roll in and out. Facing the sea, Crystal crossed her arms. In the dark night the sea air, cool and biting, gave her goose bumps. Behind her the rocks rose up, a steep, gray mass, and in front of her, infinity.
“So, taking French leave, are we ?”
She didn’t turn around. She didn’t need to. She would have recognized that voice anywhere. The hot timbre, like liquid amber, the particular phrasing : resounding and soft at the same time.
“When I was a little girl,” Crystal said, “I believed that the ocean was infinite. I thought you could just drift, forever.”
Falada approached her, moving closer until her back was pressed against his body. He put his arms around her.
“When I was a kid, I played Robinson Crusoe on this part of the island. I spent entire days here. You see, little flower, I wasn’t nearly as deep as you.”
“It seems that boys are always a little behind,” she teased him, pressing her cheek against the Paladin’s. “What’s more, your IQ hasn’t gone up much with age !”
“Oh yeah ?” Falada laughed, pulling her against himself. “You think you’re more intelligent, do you ? You think that you would be able to resist a game of tag ?”
She wrinkled her nose mischievously.
“Wanna bet ?”
“If I catch you, I’ll throw you in the water,” the Paladin spat out, letting her go.
Crystal rushed forward. She ran on the beach, feet bare, the wind in her hair. The cold evening air turned her cheeks rosy, and happiness brightened her eyes. Falada took off his jacket, abandoning it on the sand. He threw himself into the pursuit of the young woman, happy to share this moment with her.
Thus began a wild chase. Like children. They ran until they were out of breath, the moon shining above them, the foam on the waves sparkling nearby. They ran, rediscovering their lost innocence. They ran near the tide line.
Crystal stopped suddenly in front of Falada and dropped to the lukewarm sand, her heart beating. Breathless, he collapsed beside her. She raised her neck to curl up on the Paladin’s arm.
“Thank you, you made me forget everything.”
“Don’t say that, little flower. I’m afraid I’ll forget everything, too.”
Crystal turned her face toward his and for a moment she believed that….
“Might I ask what you are doing ?”
The young woman and the Paladin sat up. Leaning over above them, Glory dominated them from her whole height. Her high-heeled shoes sank into the sand and the breeze attacked her perfectly smooth locks.
Like a schoolboy caught misbehaving, Falada clumsily got up and shook himself. Dollface raised a glacial and more than expressive eyebrow while the Paladin patted his crotch to get rid of the last grains of sand that had slid under his clothes.
“Why don’t you get a room ? Or maybe you’d prefer some slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am behind the rocks ?”
“Hey !” Crystal cried, shocked that Glory was talking about her so coarsely.
Falada, ignoring the young woman, approached the Paladine.
“It’s not what you think,” he stammered, “it was just an innocent game ; we were just blowing off steam.”
Crystal, stunned, moved back. Why was the Paladin so embarrassed ? Why was he completely ignoring her ? All it took was Glory to appear for him to start treating her like shit. And in that instant,
faced with the attitude of the man she loved, she really felt like shit.
Glory threw back her hair. Superior.
“The All Powerful is waiting for you ; he asked me to come looking for you. But if you want to release the pressure in your pants, I’m sure he’ll understand. So go ahead and screw his daughter – as for me, I’m leaving,” she spat at Falada and turned around and walked away.
Crystal, furious and offended, grasped her friend by the arm.
“Would you not talk about me that way ? I really don’t appreciate it. And anyway, what business is it of yours ?”
“A piece of advice, sweetie : let it go. You’re out of your league,” Dollface counter-attacked, roughly pulling herself free.
She set off on the path that led from the palace and the young woman and the Paladin looked at each other, paralyzed.
“What was that… why did she…,” Crystal sputtered, dumbfounded.
Without giving her time to finish, Falada grabbed her by the elbows, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and mumbled a sheepish I’m sorry. Leaving her standing there without further explanation, he ran off after Glory.
Crystal didn’t understand anything. Alone next to the sea she worried herself sick, trying obsessively to understand in what way her relationship with Falada could pose a problem to Glory. There was no logical reason. None at all. She just couldn’t take looking for one any longer. All that she knew was that the Paladin had dropped her yet again and that her best friend had insulted her. Crystal had given them her heart and her soul and, once again, she had been rejected.
She could no longer remain on this island, in the kingdom of the father she detested, among all these people who, no matter what she did, kept throwing her mediocrity back in her face. She had to get out of there, if only for a night, for an hour. She had to escape to forget that she would never be loved as much as she needed to be.
Crystal and the Damned - Possession Page 8