Crystal and the Damned - Possession (10 page)

“I thought we weren’t speaking to each other anymore. You’re angry because I ruined your beach trip with Falada,” Glory reminded her, readjusting the covers over her chest.

“I guess almost dying excuses you,” Crystal said evasively.

She had no desire to discuss the Paladin with her friend. Glory was not the type of person to understand desperate love stories. Plus, she hated it when people mixed work and pleasure. Crystal was ashamed of having acted with as little common sense as some little enamored idiot.

Comfortably settled in her bed, Glory greedily swallowed the marshmallows that the young woman had smuggled her behind Miranda’s back. “How much you want to bet that Mimi would have confiscated them from you and gobbled them down herself ?” Crystal scoffed. Unsuccessfully. The Paladine was still too tired to react to her inside jokes. The wound made by the sword had given way to a puffy scar, but it was disappearing rapidly. The Damned healed quickly. All the same, Glory’s skin had a yellow tint to it and she had enormous dark rings under her
eyes. The young woman thought to herself that she had never seen her friend without makeup, and yet she was as beautiful as always. Incredibly beautiful. Crystal squeezed her hand affectionately.

“I love you, Glow... you’re a real role model to me. Even if you are the biggest bitch in the universe.” She smiled to tone down the depth of her declaration.

“I love you too, sweetie,” the Paladine whispered in a voice filled with emotion. “I’m sorry I insulted you on the island. About Falada, you have to....”

Crystal smoothed her hair.

“Forget it. My father and you needed him for work. In any case, it doesn’t matter, it’s not like we both want to bang him and are fighting over him or something.”

“That’s obvious,” Glory corroborated, swallowing wrong. Did Crystal suspect something ? Was she testing her ? Or was her naiveté simply really that pure ? The fashion doll regretted lying to her. She would have liked to tell her that she was Falada’s girlfriend. Tell her that they loved each other. But her instincts were to hold back.
Never admit your weaknesses. Never let your guard down, even in front of your best friend, even in front of someone you think of as a little sister. A sister she had chosen. And when she reaches my level, then what will happen ?
Glory heard herself thinking. To her great relief, she did not push this line of reasoning further. Falada had just entered her room.

“Hello, my beauties. I have news about the Dark Clan. The old subway tunnels are indeed their new hideout, but the passage you discovered into it is closed. They all withdrew after your attack and they’ve sealed off the entrance with a few tons of cement and a lot of spells. Helen is in the process of studying the history of the subways to find another way to get down into them, and Miranda is working away at her pendulum to locate the members of the Clan.”

“Perfect – I have to get my hands on them at all costs,” the suddenly feverish Glory came alive.

“Why are you getting so worked up ? I think the Order of Hell is just creating more and more problems for us. We’d be better off....”

The banging of the door interrupted the Paladin.

It was Cornelia’s turn to storm into the room. She stood in front of the trio, her fists on her hips. With her ripped jeans and her miniscule tank top with “Serial Killer” written on it in blood-red letters, she looked like a teenager in the middle of some crisis.

“Every man for himself, the new Paladine is about to arrive !”

“There’s going to be a new Paladine ?” an astonished Crystal burst out. “Thanks for keeping me in the loop....”

At a quarter to seven, the band was gathered in the white living room. They looked at each other without saying anything, bored. Crystal tried to improve the atmosphere.

“Maybe she’ll be nice ?”

Helen made a contemptuous gesture.

“Please.”

“Clearly, you’ve never seen a new Paladine,” Falada grumbled.

“Why ? What’s so special about new Paladines ?”

Glory stood up and took a few steps in the living room. Her turquoise eyes caught the light of the chandelier.

“New Paladines – they’re intolerable ! In general they’re ineffective chatterboxes who believe they are totally extraordinary.”

“Idiots,” Cornelia muttered.

“You know it’s not my style to be mean,” Miranda said, “but frankly, new Paladines are a real pain in the ass.”

A sullen silence fell over them. They had been united lately, and the arrival of a new person in their group was, more than anything else, going to bother them and disrupt their habits. None of them wanted to see some strange woman at the breakfast table or when they were relaxing. On top of that, Sybil’s death was too
recent, too present. No one wanted someone new come and replace their former companion.

At the funeral, Crystal had crossed paths with the troop of potential Paladines. It would be one of them who would replace Sybil. To herself, the young woman couldn’t help but agree with Glory : those girls seemed more like hysterical chatterboxes than powerful fighters.

A noise brought her out of her thoughts. In the living room, Falada, Crystal and the Paladines stood up : the new girl had just arrived.

She was tall and thin. A brunette with silky hair and clear brown eyes who seemed very intimidated. She moved into the middle of the room and stammered, rambling.

“Good evening, my name is B-B-Beatrice,” she stuttered. “I was chosen as a potential Paladine three years ago. I am honored to be among you. It’s such a privilege ! I could never have imagined that I was going to be a real Paladine !”

At the end of the room, Helen sniffed disdainfully. Glory, conscious of her responsibilities as mentor, made an effort and approached the new girl.

“Good evening, Beatrice. I’m....”

“I know who you are ! You’re a star, a living myth, a legend.... The White Death ! The most powerful and most intelligent Paladine of all times. The only one
that Prince Dimitri is afraid of. I have a photo of you in my suitcase !” the new girl exclaimed in rapture, her hands clasped to her breast.

Cornelia nearly choked on her bourbon, while Dollface gave a frozen smile.

“Listen, Beatrice, you’re one of us now, so it’s not worth... mythifying us.”

“I beg your pardon, I’m so sorry. I’m so nervous ! Defending the daughter of the All Powerful against the rebels with you is a dream come true !”

Miranda took a few steps toward the new girl.

“Have you had dinner ? We prepared a meal in your honor, nothing formal. Just to get to know each other better before you’re thrown in at the deep end.”

“Especially since the water is freezing,” Helen said sardonically.

“Someone planned a dinner ?” Falada said in irritation, disgusted. “What kind of nutjob would... I meant to say, who is the kind person who had that good idea ?”

“Take a guess. Mimi thinks she’s at the soup kitchen,” Glory growled between her teeth so that only the Paladin heard her.

Leaning against the wall, Cornelia made a face. With her usual finesse, she harangued Crystal.

“Come on, honey, let’s get out of here.”

Crystal nearly jumped for joy and followed the warrior, who was already dashing out of the living room.

“Don’t leave. I made a nice pot roast !” Miranda said, upset.

“Too bad,” Cornelia retorted. “See, since Sybil died, Crystal and I have been trying out anorexia to honor her memory,” she mocked openly, catching the young woman by the arm and dragging her into the hall. Crystal tittered and then doubled over, overcome by a laughing fit when her friend added :

“See you later, B-B-Beatrice,” the warrior woman shot at the new Paladine, who fell apart under the mocking.

Comfortably settled in at the Four Seasons, Cornelia and Crystal finished off their meal. A far cry from anorexia, they had eaten so much that the young woman felt her stomach swelling from the food overdose. She felt good, in a state of beatitude approaching somnolence.

“I think you traumatized Beatrice for life,” Crystal said with an amused smile. She clearly remembered the first impression Cornelia had made on her. The memory warmed her soul, and she was reminded of just how terrifying her friend could be. And yet, when you got to know her, she really did have a heart of gold. A straight and faithful friend, always ready to come when called. A rare friend.

“I tell you now I’m going to make her sweat, this dense little number,” promised the Paladine, stretching her legs out under the table. “You know, usually I scare people silly without doing it on purpose, but that Beatrice chick ; I don’t like her. There’s just something about her that bugs me.”

“It’s because she’s dumb. Like me in the beginning, right ?” Crystal argued.

“No way, honey. Believe me, in my job you’ve got to be able to figure people out fast. And you two are different. You, you had something right from the start. I didn’t let it show, but I saw it right away. You had and you still have something that few other people have : a personality.”

“Yeah,” sighed the young woman, massaging the back of her neck with a distracted hand. “Whatever, it’s not enough to make Falada fall for me.”

Cornelia raised her eyes to the sky.

“Oh goodness, it’s been a long time since we’ve talked about him. I have told you three hundred times and I thought I made myself perfectly clear when we took that motorcycle trip : let it go. The dude does not love you.”

“But we kissed,” Crystal argued. “And it was perfect, real Romeo and Juliet stuff. Fine, he’s been distant since then, but that’s because Glory came back wounded from your adventure in the old subway tunnels. I’m sure that he feels guilty because he failed in his duty by being with me. That being said, we kissed.
K-i-s-s- kissed
 ! He’ll cave eventually, I’m sure of it.”

Her friend rolled the last few crumbs of bread scattered on the table under her fingers.

“You’re dreaming. I know Falada really well. He’s my buddy. We took our potential Paladin and Paladine classes together. Graduated at the same time. He has
one hell of a reputation as a playa. He’s calmed down a lot in the past few years but, like I’ve already told you, if that dude wants a chick, he doesn’t beat around the bush. If he was in love with you, you’d already be going out. Don’t you have someone else ? I’m really sick and tired of talking about him.”

“Maybe there is someone,” Crystal confided, scrutinizing an imaginary point above Cornelia’s head.

She needed to talk about Dimitri, about the unhealthy effect he had on her. But it was so tricky. How could she confess to a Paladine that she was carrying on an ambiguous relationship with the Prince of the Underworld ? With their worst enemy ?

“This person is... it’s not someone good. A part of me detests him, but when I’m with him, I feel unique. I know that it’s bad to let myself be ensnared by him, but I can’t help myself. I try to resist and I swear, I send him away with all my strength ! And yet, no matter what I do, no matter what I want, I end up looking for him. I don’t want to see him, but I’m constantly waiting for him. I’m waiting for him – his presence, his scent. And it tortures me.”

The Paladine arched an eyebrow, fascinated.

“Well, hey, I’d like to meet this guy ! For a human he’s really making you crazy.”

“He’s not...” the young woman hesitated to confess. She was on the verge of telling Cornelia the truth. It didn’t matter what the consequences were, she trusted her friend. She was about to confess to her that Dimitri....

“You bitch !”

All of a sudden the two young women raised their heads. Above them a beautiful brunette stood in front of the table, eyeing them furiously from head to foot.

“How could you do this to me ?”

The Paladine leaped up and knocked over her bourbon, ignoring the customers who were looking at her, while Crystal stared, her eyes wide.

“Lou, sweetheart, it’s not what you think.”

The brunette stared at Crystal.

“Really ? I saw you putting the moves on this little whore !”

Crystal spit out half her champagne into her glass while her friend took the brunette’s hand.

“Don’t be ridiculous, sweetheart. She’s not a whore, she’s….”

“You shouldn’t have bothered getting me out of the brothel and taking care of me if you were just going to take off with the first skank you see.”

Desperate, Cornelia turned toward Crystal, who was trying to ignore the shocked looks of the other customers.

“Please tell her that you’re not a skank.”

“I’m not a skank,” Crystal confirmed, hiding behind her napkin.

The brunette proudly raised her chin.

“You see ? Your slut is playing along with you. That’s fine, I’m going. This ho is outta here !” she yelled to the crowd before leaving the restaurant.

The Paladine sat there speechless for a few seconds before picking up her handbag and hurriedly telling the young woman, “That’s my girlfriend, Louise. She’s fragile. I have to go after her.”

Standing in front of Prince Dimitri’s New York residence, Crystal was still hesitating. After having left the Four Seasons, she spent a long time asking herself whether she should go to this man whom she hated but who nonetheless exerted an irresistible attraction on her. It was, without a doubt, the right address. Unlike the other Damned Ones, she could locate the Prince of the Underworld. He had allowed her to do so months before and had never withdrawn that power.

A light wind had arisen in the cool night. Alone, facing with the dark and menacing presence of the mansion, Crystal moved toward the door. She knocked and someone opened it.

The young woman recoiled upon finding herself more or less nose to nose with a butler with his face totally burned.
The boogeyman.

“Uh, good evening,” she greeted him, trying to control her repulsion. “Actually… I think this is the wrong address. Bye.”

“Miss would like to see my master,” the butler stopped her. “Please, follow me,” he bowed subserviently.

Reluctantly, Crystal ended up walking into the building and allowing herself to be guided by the disfigured servant. Behind him, she crossed the enormous marble hall and climbed the stairs to the top floor. They did not encounter anyone, but she sensed the presence of other living beings behind the many doors ; in all the rooms whose oppressive secret she could not penetrate.
How many members of the Order of Hell were hiding in the nooks and crannies of the residence ? How many slaves ?