Crystal and the Damned - Possession (11 page)

Reaching the top of the mansion, the butler opened one final door and stepped aside to let Crystal pass into the Dark Prince’s private apartments.

She swept the place with a circumspect glance. A black living room, and, connected to it, a room half camouflaged by an archway.

On a sofa the size of a single bed, Dimitri was calmly smoking a cigarette, an open bottle of Château Margaux on the low table next to him.

“You are aware that your butler looks like Frankenstein, only uglier,” Crystal criticized, with no further greeting.

The Prince leaned his head to the side.

“I’m happy too, kitten, that you’ve come to pay me a visit.”

She sighed heavily, sat down beside him, took his glass and emptied it in a single gulp under Dimitri’s half-flabbergasted, half-amused gaze.

“And see, what great manners. Don’t be shy, and definitely don’t let me pour you another glass,” he growled, making a vain attempt to grab the bottle that she had already picked up.

“I am sick and tired of being taken for the village idiot !” she said, letting off steam as she downed a second glass. “I know, right ? I called my mother this morning and she said that I should find a real job !
A real job....
I’m training so much I’ve got as many aches and pains as a grandmother slogging at for the Olympics. And besides that, I find out that Cornelia is a lesbian. You might have thought someone would keep me in the loop, but no ! And on top of that, she works the street, and she has the gall to call me names ! ‘This ho is outta here !’ ‘
This ho is outta here !’
I’m sure as hell never going to show my face at The Four Seasons again.”

“Cornelia works the street ? Cornelia, the Paladine ?”

“No way ! You don’t get it at all !” Crystal said impatiently. “Oh well, I don’t want to talk about it anyway,” she sulked, crossing her arms childishly.

Dimitri put his arm around her shoulders and drew her to himself. She remained rigid, her eyes obstinately fixed on the wall-to-wall carpet, but didn’t resist.

“What’s wrong, baby ? You’re annoyed today, huh ? My turtledove is in a bad mood....”

“Leave me alone,” she pushed him away to hide the delighted expression that threatened to light up her face.

When he didn’t release her, she said in a nearly inaudible voice :

“Sometimes, I’d like to feel what you feel. Just for an instant. To see through your eyes, and into your depths. Sometimes I would like to get to know you.”

“Well then, come,” the Prince of the Underworld decided, standing up. “Come. I’ll show you.”

He reached his hand out to her and Crystal slid hers into it. They stared at each other and for the space of a second that seemed to last for centuries, the young woman dared to lose herself in the green abyss of Dimitri’s eyes. She stood up in turn and followed him.

He drew her in front of the open window and moved behind her. So close that she felt the Prince’s breath on her neck. The rain beat down on the sidewalks of New York and the skies were loaded with heavy clouds. Her eyes half closed, Crystal trembled. With infinite slowness, Dimitri glided his powerful hands along her slender arms until their fingers intertwined. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, pierced with a purely sexual sensation. Her body responded to the contact with the Prince as violently as if she were in pain.

Aware that she was falling, Dimitri parted his lips like a predator seeking to control his impulses.

Down below in front of them, the street was dark and empty with the exception of two passers-by.

The Prince fixed his attention on one of the two men.

“Look at him,” he ordered the young woman in a hypnotic voice, so deep and so heavy that it could have raised the dead and commanded their legions. “Open your eyes and see.”

Under Dimitri’s control, Crystal felt the power grow around her and within her. The power of the underworld penetrated her through her hands, linked with the Prince’s. A spasm shook her, and in an unbearably fast flash, she saw the Shadows and their darkness, life and death, blood and lava. A silent scream rose within her while Dimitri’s strength took possession of her being. A whirlwind of black light roared in her soul, flames flared up in her eyes and suddenly this unbearable power exploded and shot out of her.

In the street, the passer-by that the Prince had chosen burst into flames and burned.
A human torch.
The other passer-by started to yell. Crystal felt her legs give way, incapable of holding her up any longer.

Dimitri supported her and closed the window before taking her back to the sofa. Panting, horrified, the young woman had the impression she was waking up from a trance. The Prince put a soothing hand to her head.

“Everything is all right, kitten. You have the resistance of the All Powerful bloodline within you ; you are perfectly capable of bearing black magic. Don’t worry ; I know what I’m doing.”

Her heart pounding in her chest, wondering if she was going to have a heart attack, Crystal shoved him away from her and got up, staggering.

“You know what you’re doing ?! I just killed an innocent man because of you ! I was wrong ; I don’t want to know you. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

Seated in front of her dressing table, Glory was preparing for the kind of conversation that would be better hidden from the others. The red velvet drapes were closed in her luxurious gold and amaranthine room. Settled in front of the mirror, dressed in a black silk peignoir, she looked like a rich courtesan of ancient times. Nervously she tapped the edge of the dressing table with the tips of her lacquered fingernails, then ran her hand over the table and up the mirror, lightly brushing it with her fingers.

The consistency of the glass changed ; a man appeared on the other side. The Paladine bowed her head respectfully.

“Master, I have news....”

Twenty minutes later she was about to finish her conversation when Falada entered the room. The Paladin froze as his lover stood up swiftly between him and the mirror, preventing him from seeing with whom she was speaking.

“Darling ? Who are you talking to ?”

“I...the All Powerful. But we’re done. He had to leave,” she mumbled, pointing at the surface of the glass, which had returned to normal.

Falada rubbed his chin, then wiped his sweaty hand on his charcoal grey slacks. Glory regained control of herself and looked him up and down coldly. As they stared at each other, not speaking, the Paladin shook his head in embarrassment and pushed the door of the room shut. He looked like a little boy caught misbehaving.

“We have to talk.”

Glory arched an eyebrow. No other feature of her face moved, but her turquoise eyes shone with metallic luminosity.

“You’re sleeping with Crystal,” she struck.

“What ? No, of course not,” Falada defended himself. “I’m not the kind of man who would cheat on the woman he loves. But we... I kissed her. I wanted you to know.”

His lover fixed him with a dangerously mesmerizing look. With measured steps, she crossed the space that separated her from her nightstand, opened the drawer, which emitted a soft hiss, pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter, and slowly closed it. Her back turned to the Paladin, she drew a few puffs.

“Do you love her ?”

Her tone was clear and composed, but Falada was not fooled. She was suffering. All his love for her came flooding back through him.

“I love
you
. You’re my companion, my lover, my partner ; you are my first and only love. Forgive me, please....”

Behind the slightly ajar door, Crystal’s eyes grew big. Too preoccupied with themselves, the Paladin and Glory had not noticed her. And the conversation she had just overheard tore at her insides. She had come to confess everything about Dimitri to her friends. The relationship could not continue any more ; he had too much of a hold over her. And what’s more, she felt as if she were betraying the people she loved.

Behind the door, Crystal bit down on her fist till it bled. She felt as if she were going crazy. Falada, her Falada, the one she loved more than anything, the one she trusted, was in love with someone else. He had been with someone else for months, maybe years. And that other woman was... Glory.
My best friend, my protector, my sister.

Unable to face the unbearable truth any longer, Crystal backed away from the door, choking back the tears sticking in her throat. She kept backing away ; she did not want to see, she did not want to know. She backed away....

And banged violently into Beatrice, the new Paladine.

“Ouch !” Crystal yelled, rubbing the back of her head. “Beatrice ? What are you doing here ? Are you spying ?”

“Oh, no… no, no !” the other sputtered, her face instantly flushing crimson. “I... I was looking for you. I was thinking – we don’t know each other very well and you are my future All Powerful, so maybe I could treat you to dinner... if you want to, of course.”

Crystal raised her hand to her forehead. The vertigo she felt made her feel as though she were about to pass out.

“Yes, yes… Beatrice. Well, I just have to... see you later,” she fobbed her off before rushing from the hall that led to Glory’s room.

Ditching the poor new girl there, Crystal rushed toward the meditation room. She had to talk to Miranda. She had to find help.

Still stunned, she threw open the door of the room.

The room was bathed in an orange-ish, sparkling light. The sorceress, as stiff as a board, floated a yard above the floor, stretched out flat.

When Crystal opened the door, Miranda let out a shout and collapsed to the ground.

“Ouch ! Seriously ? You think that’s funny ?! You can’t just walk in here without any warning ! I could have broken my back, for goodness sake !”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” the young woman apologized. “Mimi, something so awful just happened to me....”

“Didn’t do it on purpose ! Didn’t do it on purpose ! That’s what everyone says, every time ! Magic requires concentration and peace ! No one respects anything in this house. And to top it all off, you’re crushing my snack !” the sorceress scolded her.

Dazed, Crystal clumsily pulled her right foot out of a heavily frosted cinnabon.

“I’m sorry. I really need to talk.”

“Talk ?” Miranda shouted. “You think I have time for a little gossip ? I’m working on serious business here ! And we don’t have class until tomorrow, let me remind you. So out ! OUT ! OUT !”

“But....”

Before she could get another word out, Crystal found herself at the door. A little shaken, she stood there for a few minutes, not knowing what to do, then decided to go see Helen. After all, the historian was the brains of the outfit, and she was always calm and neutral. She would not give her any great comfort, but she would help her organize her thoughts clearly.

Her heart in shreds, Crystal again crossed the apartment, heading the opposite direction to the Paladine’s room. She nearly went in unannounced but prudently
changed her mind and knocked softly. There was no response. She waited, then knocked louder. Still nothing. She shrugged her shoulders and opened the door.

Helen stood in front of a standing mirror, the surface of which Crystal could not see because it was turned away. Helen let out a cry. Without giving the young woman time to react, the Paladine charged her and threw her into the hall, plastering her against the wall.

“Ouch !” Crystal said, banging her head again.

“How dare you ? Come in here without warning me ? I forbid you to do that ever again, you hear me ? I forbid you !” Helen shouted at the top of her voice, then returned to her room.

“But....”

Helen slammed the door violently, leaving the young woman stunned.

Totally worn out, Crystal turned and leaned against the wall with its rough patterns, unable to take in what had just happened, like a slap in the face.
Why wasn’t anyone there for her ?

At that moment, Cornelia passed through the hall, her hair terribly tangled in rollers and wearing a fluffy bathrobe.

“You, finally !”

Dragged into her friend’s room, Crystal sat on the bed, her head in her hands, staring at her friend with glazed eyes.

The room looked like it had been struck by the Third World War. Piles of clothes carpeted the floor and the bed. At first glance, Cornelia’s room rather resembled a teenager’s. Posters of Sid Vicious and Kate Moss were plastered on the walls, the bedspread was covered in military patterns, and glasses and McDonald’s leftovers lay around, threatening to rot. It was better to simply ignore the dizzying collection of weapons and the photos of her grandmother.

Very agitated, Cornelia was trying on what seemed to Crystal to be the thousandth outfit of the evening.

“So, Lou and I, we made up. I think I can say I definitely reassured her… I gave her an orgasm that was – incredible. She woke up the neighbors. Fortunately, I rented her a chic apartment ; rich people don’t dare bug their neighbors about a good fuck ! At least, that’s my theory. And this evening I’m taking her to the opera, La Traviata. Romantic, wouldn’t you say ? I’m playing Richard Gere to her Pretty Woman. Anyways, what do you think of this outfit ?”

“Corn, I need to talk to you about Falada. He....”

“Oh, no ! No Falada right now. We’ll talk about him later. This evening we’re talking about me and my girlfriend. Besides, I have to go ; she’ll be waiting.”

The Paladine dashed out, then stopped and came back to the young woman to plant a big kiss on her cheek.

“I adore you, my princess. Have a nice evening.”

An hour later Crystal walked alone in the street. She was cold, she was tired, and so unhappy. If only there had been one single person to console her. Just one. One single person to prevent her from drowning.

She saw that she had arrived at Prince Dimitri’s private mansion and closed her eyes.

She had come back to him. But in such a fog, where else could she go ? Who else could she turn to ? She had walked for such a long time, lost, scared, without a path. So Crystal came back to the Prince, because he alone waited at the end of her journey.

She opened her eyes and contemplated the house. The image of Dimitri forced itself on her, momentarily eclipsing the faces of Glory and Falada.
Dimitri.
She was no longer angry. She did not hate him anymore. Crystal just wanted to collapse against him. She just wanted him to cushion her fall. And if that led her to hell, tough shit. She really could not care less.

She knocked on the door to the mansion. The butler with a burned face, the one she had nicknamed Frankenstein, opened the door.

“Madam ?”

“Hello. Can I come in or are you waiting for the Apocalypse ?”

“But, Madam, the Prince is not here,” the servant politely refused her.

Crystal’s face sagged.

“Is he doing this on purpose, or what ? The one day I need him, and he’s not here ! What am I going to do ?” she lamented.

The butler shuffled a bit, then, after thinking it over, said :

“I do not have the right, but... just this once, you can wait inside.”

“Frankenstein” left Crystal in the two adjoining rooms that consisted of an enormous living room and a bedroom. Dimitri’s private apartments. She waited to look around until the servant had carefully closed the door.

She wandered around the living room like a ghost, wafting over everything, touching nothing.
Was it possible to live her life without believing in her and Falada ? What a liar and what a bastard. He had kissed her, he had made her hope, but he was with Glory.
Since the beginning, the Paladin and his cheap department store mannequin had been taking her for a ride. They didn’t give a shit about her. How could they do that to her ?

Without thinking, Crystal paced around the Prince’s living room, stopping in front of an imposing mirror on a stand set up in a corner.

Suddenly intrigued, she approached it. The edge of the mirror was sculpted in onyx. The young woman inspected it. This was no ordinary mirror, but rather the same kind the girls used.
It could almost be Helen’s. Maybe....

With the tips of her fingers, she stroked the surface ; the mirror turned cloudy, then foggy. Crystal pulled back, her heart pounding. An unrecognizable silhouette appeared.

“Dimitri, are you calling me ?”

That voice. Oh my God, she knew that voice.
A woman’s voice, familiar.

In the glass the silhouette did not form more clearly ; she seemed to understand that an outsider had replaced the Prince. The surface became distorted with an intense, dark green smoke.

“Reject !” the voice thundered.

Facing the mirror, Crystal felt herself pushed back violently by a stream of power. She flew backwards across the room and landed several yards away on the carpet. Her elbows rug burned, she shook herself, trying to get a grip on herself.

“Ouch !”

She looked at her legs. Her knees were scraped. She jumped up and stared at the mirror. It had become smooth again. No silhouette, no shape. Crystal exhaled, wiping off the drops of sweat pearling on her forehead.

“Come to Dimitri’s place for a warm welcome,” she said sarcastically and gloomily.

I recognize that voice, but it was too distorted because of the mirror ; if only I could have heard it for a little longer. Hell, you know what, I’ve had it up to my eyebrows with these tales of the Damned.

She was much too depressed for deep thought. She would think about it later. For this one night, she would give up trying to find the key to the enigma. For this one night, she would give up everything : her ideals, torturing herself with Falada and Glory’s betrayal. She had come to the Prince to stop thinking, to forget everything, to forget herself.

Almost against her will, Crystal returned to the bedroom. It was a small room with a majestic canopy bed enthroned in the middle. Around the bed, three Bengal tiger skins covered the thick carpet.

Ashamed of herself, the young woman sat down, testing the suppleness of the mattress. The evening had been horrible and she felt so lost. Right then, in the shelter of Dimitri’s room, she wanted just one thing : to nestle down into this so very soft and welcoming bed.
Where he lets himself go.
Dimitri was away, he could not see her capitulate. He would never know.

He would never know everything that she didn’t tell him and everything she did not admit. He would never know that he was her refuge and her temptation. He would never know that even when absent, he was present.

Making a violent effort to pull herself together, Crystal stood up and left the bedroom. She went into the living room, sat down on the sofa in the corner with the television, picked up the remote control and started to flip through the channels. She ended up stumbling across an old Friends rerun.

“Cool,” she said, sprawling out on the sofa before remembering with distress the conversation she had overheard a few hours earlier between Glory and Falada.

It was three o’clock in the morning when Dimitri opened the door to his private living room. His servant had warned him that Crystal was waiting for him. For an instant the Prince stood on the threshold, immobile, inhaling the young woman’s scent. Flowers and milk, a feminine and child-like aroma.
She had come back.