No. 24 – About being lovefool
In fact, she was the first being, which was very special for him. At her side, he knew he was at the right place. It was like a beginning of a new life or achieving a new level that you did not know exists. Of course, he knew there was such a feeling, but to know about it and to feel it, made a huge difference. You know about many things, but still you do not feel everything. It is as if you tried to describe how it is to be replete when you have a starving person around. Julian did not eat and every description of taste made no sense to him. He was not able to imagine whether something was delicious, spicy, too salty, tasty or juicy. It was like with colours: whether you can see red, white, orange, blue and all their possible shades or not. In the area of food, he was a victim of food daltonism. In the area of love, he was presently making first steps. He was seeing more than just himself and her. The range of feelings, which she has brought to his life already, dazzled him. He could not understand it and maybe that was the point: you cannot understand love; you have to feel it. He stood in front of her and looked at her in silence. People repeated over centuries that you have to follow your heart and to do what you know is right. Julian felt she was his destiny and he trusted it.
And for all my fans, here you get the first 7 chapters from my new book, 2nd part of Lovefool, called “Lovefool’s I(m)mortal”
#1 PROLOGUE
-Yes, Mia. I am the one you were looking for and yes, I possess all these powers you assume I have. Then again, I already talked with Sebastian and I followed you many times before.
The being looked like a male person in his early 40ies. He was very handsome, but not like artificial, shiny, happy people from the Barbie and Ken world. He had something in his statue that caught her whole attention. He had some friendly wrinkles on his forehead and a look of eternity in his eyes. His movements were fluent and calm. He didn’t hesitate and observed Mia very cautiously. His posture was lightly tense and his arms laid along his body. His right hand trembled.
-I even didn’t manage to ask you any question… – Mia wondered shortly, but she wasn’t scared anymore. She has found what she had been looking for. She wanted to scream aloud that she finally found him. Her voice stayed captured in her throat in the moment as he looked at her with a little smile. She was excited in her silent way of being.
-No, you didn’t find me. You didn’t find me at all. – He corrected her statement mildly and politely. He looked shortly above her as if there would be another soul lost in this piece of darkness that ruled over the space. His eyes were smiling, but there was something serious in his look, too. – I decided to talk to you and here I am. You already convinced me to give you a hint, so, here I am.
The strange being spoke and Mia wondered even more. He was good-looking, enjoyable and quiet. He was a pure calmness and gentleness. His eyes got a special shadow, when he looked at Mia. He was visibly pleased to talk to her. She wondered about it, but hadn’t much time to analyse it. He looked at her in his strange, but extraordinary way and said:
-Yes, you are indeed special, Mia. In addition, I am sometimes simply too fast. I already heard your questions, because I saw this whole scene with a couple of moments of advance. I know what you asked me, even before I heard it from you right now. Please apologize my zeal, but it is something new to me to talk with anyone. I can’t give you many advices. You have to go your way and completely on your own. You don’t need to be held on a hand all over the time.
He spoke unhurriedly, naturally and nice. His tone was more than just polite. It was very friendly, attentive and he won Mia’s sympathy already. Even if he didn’t intend to help her much, she already got the most important impulse that she needed: her hopes could stand up like a phoenix from ashes and everything could make sense again. Her raising enthusiasm was written on her face and her eyes started to sparkle like they did it in the happiest times she had.
-I saw how much you suffered, Mia. – His voice was deeply sad, even mournful. His eyes were almost black now and already the thought caused his visible pain. There was a wild river of speechless fright running around the corner of his still friendly smile. – I know that you could suffer less and I know that you could suffer more. It was all on you.
He took a short break and if he were a human, he would have taken a deep breath like from the Earth to Neptune. His eyes stayed unsettled and frozen in terror. He looked at her wrist and then he kept looking in her eyes.
-I know you have a long way behind you, but you have even a longer way ahead. – Apparently, he already saw what she had to go through in her future and it wasn’t the easiest and most comfortable fate. – Don’t hesitate. Go your way. Remember, Mia, that scars are important. Every scar reminds you where you have been already and which power you already found in yourself. Remember as well that your past just partially determines where you land, it is your decision where you are going and you are on the right way.
His voice was soft, somehow full of emotions, but she wasn’t able to define his attitude towards her. There were too many hidden impulses inside of him and Mia couldn’t perceive all that in a slow motion. She observed him with her human eyes and she knew that she was losing many suggestions.
-This is the one and only advice I am allowed to give you for now. If you will be successful, maybe we will see us once more. If it will be so, it will be your decision, not mine.
This time he spoke to her like a very good friend who was going to hang up the phone. Then, he disappeared as surprisingly as he shown off. He left her alone again. She was mixed up like strawberries that have been shaken in a mixer for ten minutes. She was no strawberry shake, but a shake of hopes, fears and memories. There was a rising spark of hope that showed up against the snowcap of insecurity and fright. This was all she had needed for a moment.
#2 A MORNING WILL COME
This journey was long and short at the same time. Mia apparently didn’t care where they were going. It was so ‘whatever’! She just wanted to know the plan how to save Julian. She assumed that there was a plan. She had to believe it. She had to keep her sparkling hopes alive.
However, she was confused. Thousands of questions has been attacking her all the time. Was it still possible? She remembered him looking dead on the meadow and not having enough time to say any goodbye word. He was so frightening dead there, on a meadow, somewhere in Russia. He followed her, what was a miracle on its own, but he paid the highest price…
What was going on with Julian? Why his family didn’t kill her and why his family told Sebastian some secrets? How many secrets did they tell him and how much did they already know about her? After all, human beings weren’t allowed to be a part of the world of Julian’s family. It was a part of agreement that Julian’s family made with the humanity long time ago.
Mia’s head was full of questions and her heart was full of hopes. Her situation was everything but not clear. She didn’t know what role she should play and Julian’s family members didn’t show any further interest on her. She had a feeling they just took her with them, because they had to do it for their hidden reasons. Mia wanted to know what they intended. The whole time they brushed her aside. After a polite appearance in front of Sebastian, they let her fall on the deepest level of ignorance.
After she came into Sebastian’s apartment, they took a cab and drove to the airport without any stops. She had no time to take anything with her. She had just her colourful bag, some Euros and her iPod. Additionally, the bag was the only colourful thing she had. The colours were not vividly, but they were cheerful: blue, brown, and a little something of red. The bag with a coloured check was plain but interesting. It was girlish. In another way, she was not as girlish as other girls. She did not have much make-up, if she even had it. She had no colourful nails and patterns on her shirts. In addition, she was not as free as any other person in her age was. However, she had two things, which every girl should have: she was classy and fabulous.
Sebastian didn’t oppose when he had to leave his apartment without luggage. He hadn’t enough powers. He seemed to be completely out of energy. After his uncontrolled and exaggerated movements the day before, he was quite powerless and lost. Somehow, he didn’t understand the whole story at all. Somehow, he still made the impression that he was living a dream and looked for the moment when he would finally wake up.
On the plane, Sebastian was sleeping. Mia stood up from her seat next to him and went to ‘them’. Three beings were sitting some meters behind Mia and Sebastian. The girl wondered when they managed to dress up with normal clothes. In white tunics and suits, they weren’t looking like average people and obviously this was clear to them. Therefore, they changed their clothes. Leonard, the oldest one of these three representatives of Julian’s family, wore a short-armed, grey shirt with collar and dark pants. He looked like an experienced family guy. Lucius pretended to read a book with the highest interest. His blue shirt suited perfectly to his stature. He looked quite sporty, but not too much muscled. He could have been a model from the cover of Men’s Health, if he wouldn’t have this shy look in his eyes. He tried to limit his contacts with humans as far as it was possible. Xenia, the only female representative of them, had a cheerful and colourful dress and high-heels. Almost every guy looked after her. She wasn’t the most beautiful girl in the world, but she focussed many interested looks on her.
Mia moved slowly and stopped in front of the three beings. Leonard sat calmly on his seat and looked at Mia unhurriedly.
-We have to talk. – She announced quietly, but determined.
He looked at her with some uncertainty in his eyes. Her left hand was hidden in a white bandage under a long-arm shirt and surely, it was very painful for Mia to walk. Leonard saw every of her movements in the slow motion. He was able to see every detail of her, every grimace on her face, every sorrow in her eyes and the chaos in her face. He was able to see how sick she really was. He saw her health condition through her minimal, almost invisible shell. Still, he was simply not able to read her thoughts. That was frustrating to him.
Mia noticed his lack of good will to talk with her, but she knew that he had to force himself to go through it. If Mia would deny the further trip, Sebastian would do the same and this was her only argument to treat her seriously. Sebastian was a good friend of her and he was closer to Mia than he was towards three new, quite powerful and influential beings. Sebastian loved Mia and he would do anything for her. Julian’s fate was on the second place to him. Mia didn’t know this hierarchy in Sebastian’s heart, but Leonard did, and therefore, Leonard had to take under consideration a serious discussion with Mia.
-We will talk. – He started slowly, uncertain, with eyes almost wide shut. He seemed to be bored or even annoyed. – But not here, not now. When we arrive, we will talk. Without Sebastian. Just the two of us…
Mia didn’t plan to argue now. She didn’t nod, she just turned back and went unhurriedly away. She took her seat and closed her eyes. Nobody was able to go into her state of mind and read her thoughts for sure.
Last days were strange. Last days were full of extreme emotions and ended up so surprisingly for everyone involved in this situation that nobody was sure what to do next. Nothing was the way it was up to now. Julian appeared surprisingly and tried to save Mia and Sebastian, but he didn’t manage it. Now, he was somewhere in the world and he was apparently in a coma. This was the version of Leonard. It sounded very convincing. Was such a being as Julian is in coma or was it just a description of Julian’s state for humans like Mia and Sebastian? Which possibilities did they have to help Julian? Were they able to save him anyway? Why was Sebastian so important for Leonard and the rest of Julian’s family? The answer to this question was the key to know why Mia and Sebastian were still alive. Julian warned Mia that humans that know the secret of his family would be punished, even with the greatest punishment of all: death.
Mia wasn’t scared of going to die. She was somehow prepared for it. All her life, she was escaping from death. This was the conclusion of the last meeting with Jonas. Jonas, actually Philotheos, was one of ‘them’, too. He was a rebel, who lived on his own and didn’t accept solutions of any agreement between ‘them’ and humans. There were no rules for Jonas. He did what he wanted to do. He was the inglorious, black ship in his family. He was the bad guy and he should be punished. Now, he was maybe dead and gone or maybe alive. Mia wasn’t sure. Leonard didn’t tell her anything about current situation. She had to rely on her own point of view and information she collected herself after explosion of Jonas’s house and on the river side Wisla River in Poland. Everything she knew about ‘them’, she got from Julian and Jonas. There were two things Leonard told her: Julian needed their help and he was still alive. It was the greatest news and she had to help beings she didn’t like to save her love.
All you need is love. All you need is certainty. All you need is hope. However, everything begins with hope. Therefore, Mia was hoping for a better tomorrow, for success of their mission, for getting some information.
#3 TRIPPING
They arrived to another airport, and then they had to change planes suddenly. Everything passed quite fast and without any problems. Mia didn’t wonder about anything. Somehow, the security personal didn’t want to ask them all about lack of luggage or final destination goal. There were no small talks and no revisions. After a while and without spending time in a waiting room, they were flying again. The plane didn’t look great. Mia wasn’t impressed. Her first flight that she made on a board of the private jet of Jonas was impressive. It had the most exclusive equipment, showed the luxury and conformism of its owner. A simple Boeing was simply not on the same level. The seats were soft, but not cosy, the space was limited and there were stewardesses, who came by every now and then and asked politely what they could do more for the beloved passengers. Mia was nerved and this whole surrounding was just taking her mind apart. She wanted to freeze the moment and finally talk with Leonard. She waited impatiently for the final arrival and the promised talk.
Sebastian seemed to be very tired and he slept all the time. His entire yesterday was tensed. He was spreading energy here and there. He was everywhere, he was too fast for his normal behaviour and it surprised him very much. He wasn’t able to control his energy and he made a strange impression. He was worse than a junkie after a drug cocktail. Then, during the afternoon, he unexpectedly lost all his powers. After they got into the first plane, he felt asleep. Mia covered him with a blanket and sat almost the whole time at his side holding his hand. Somehow, she needed any point of reference to the reality, too. This whole situation was so unreal that she had to feel her surroundings, even if it caused pain. She appreciated her friend to be near to her. Sebastian’s hand was very warm and held her fingers strongly.
Mia was calm and pretended to be asleep as well. Her whole body was one big painful wound. After last meeting with Jonas, she was slugged so many times and so hard that it was not possible to get better very soon. It was unimportant at this moment. She pretended that everything was OK and she played her role as she did it already for years. This time it was harder to look unbroken and healthy, but she tried to do her best. She tried to ignore her pain as Leonard ignored her. Anyway, just the three Julian’s family members knew that she was very weak and she supposed to stay in a hospital for some days. Her stomach was beaten and she had some internal bleedings. She needed a medical care, she needed an operation and time to relax. Her damaged wrist was the smallest problem, but it was a visible sign for everyone that she was completely not OK.
Leonard kept looking at her every now and again and he already familiarized with her almost transparent shell. Humans had mostly a white shell and it meant they were in general healthy. The less the shell was visible the worse was the medical condition of a person. Mia’s shell was almost invisible. It was a wonder that she was moving forward and that she found enough power to pretend that she’s OK. Leonard didn’t like her, but he respected her. He tried to imagine how much internal strength was needed to act this way. She was definitely a fighter. She stood up like a phoenix from ashes and possessed enough strength to deal with this situation. She did it with calmness and coolness. She was absolutely not like average people, but at the same time, she apparently loved a being that wasn’t even a human. What was scarier for Leonard: the fact that Julian loved her or his demand to treat her well.
Julian sent his short SOS a couple of moments before Leonard came to the place, where the fight was going to happen. However, the battle took place for real. Leonard saw just blue and black rays fighting with each other and overwhelming every being and everything in their surroundings. It wasn’t possible to localise anyone of them: nor Julian, nor Jonas. The lights were already everywhere. Then he saw a female human caught between rays. Then another human appeared on a small veranda. It was Sebastian. He was the one, who should be protected by Julian. Sebastian was a part of the bigger plan and should bring Julian’s family nearer to the one, who possess the power over the time. Leonard saw that Sebastian was OK, although he was beaten a couple of times. He looked worse than he felt himself in the reality.
Then, there was an explosion and the girl was gone. There were no lights, there was no Mia, there was just a field of destruction. Leonard looked after Julian, but he already got message from Lucius that Julian was found. Then, he saw Mia laying unconsciously on the ground between stones and wooden parts. She was the one that should be protected as well. It was a very last wish of Julian. Therefore, Leonard took her out of this mess.
Lucius laid the body of Julian on the grass. Leonard followed and laid Mia next to Julian. it looked like a human funeral in a war field. However, Mia indeed slowly opened her eyes after a while and unhurriedly, but trembling stood up. She looked horrible. She was full of blood and she barely moved forwards. She looked surprised and chaotic. She looked around a couple of times like a disoriented person. Finally, she noticed Julian and was as deeply sad as the fall of the Salto Angel. This state of mind, she kept in her eyes up to now. It wasn’t chaotic anymore, but immense sad and surprised. This was the impression of Leonard.
There were some features of Mia that Leonard didn’t understand. He was not able to read her mind. He could come into every human mind, except of Mia. The only thought he could receive was the one that Mia wanted him to receive. She wanted to help them. He was the one, who requested after help from her side. He made her an illusion of being necessary for a success of their plan. Indeed, he wanted her to come, because he needed Sebastian. A promise to Julian did matter, but it wasn’t the significant argument. Leonard was polite to her, because he intended to achieve his goal. After he got what he wanted, he showed her his disagreeable and almost antagonistic attitude.
Leonard wasn’t able to get more information about her. Everything he knew about Mia was saved in Sebastian’s mind and in some shortly notes of Julian. Up to now, there was no logical connection between Mia and Jonas, either. The theatre directed by of Jonas somewhere in Russia was full of riddles and there were few chances to get answers without paying a price. He had to give some information in return, if he wanted to get some from Mia.
What was she going to ask him? What did she know already? Would she tell him the whole truth or will she keep some secrets for her? She apparently lied to Jonas, she had a history that was combined with Jonas and she was able to keep quite. These weren’t the best requirements for an honest talk. It was rather a dangerous mixture of features that scared Leonard. Additionally, sapphire and black rays of Julian and Jonas touched her. She didn’t show any signs of overreacting like Sebastian did. He reacted in a normal way when people get too many energy from extraordinary beings. It didn’t happen often, but it was already proven in specific cases. Sebastian absorbed external energies and it took some time until he lost them. Now, he was powerless, although his human shell was shining very white. It was a sign that he was doing fine. There was a saying that people use less than 5% of their brainpowers and Leonard knew that they don’t use the ability to absorb energy from the surrounding in less than 5%, too. Sebastian felt the way it is to be fuelled for 50, maybe 60% and compared to this state, his current situation seemed to be almost a disaster. He had to get familiar to his 5% again. It should take less than 2, 3 days.
Mia got some energy, too, but she was apparently immune to lights. It looked rather that her body ignored it or pretended it never happened. If one member of his family would have protected her, she could be hidden like behind a shield. However, there was nobody else from Leonard’s family and Julian couldn’t be at the same time fight with Jonas and concentrate on protecting her. it was strange. Her wrist was still damaged and her stomach was one big wound. In opposite, Sebastian was healed by all energies he absorbed and he had just some dried blood drops on his face. This difference in contact with energy was another strange fact, but Leonard had either much experience with sharing energy with humans nor consequences of such actions. He observed it for the first time personally.
Lucius and Xenia, the other two members of Julian’s family, had the same sorrows as Leonard. They didn’t trust Mia and apparently, Mia didn’t trust them. It wasn’t a good basement for a common action.
#4 POKERFACE
Finally, they came into an apartment. It was already in the middle of the night, but the city was still alive. They were apparently somewhere in New York. At least, they landed lately on the JFK airport that has been at the forefront of aviation since its first commercial flight in 1948. Mia didn’t recognize Jamaica Bay in the southeastern section of Queens County and she didn’t know that she was just 15 miles away from midtown Manhattan. She just got the JFK International Airport announces everywhere and she was already sure, where she was. It was definitely a part of the New York City.
Sebastian was still sleepy and powerless. Mia held his hand, guided him at first to a taxicab. The Taxiways were totally 25 miles long. Fortunately, they hadn’t walk so much. Sebastian wouldn’t manage it on his own. Mia was happy that the high-intensity security didn’t fish them out of the passenger mass. She reminded a picture of a wild, untamed grizzly bear catching salmon and she felt sweat flowing over her backs. She held Sebastian’s hand even stronger, but he didn’t seem to perceive the difference.
She followed Leonard. Another two beings were already gone. She carried about Sebastian and accompanied him into a hall of an apartment that was caught in a highly-lightened skyscraper somewhere in a the city that never sleeps. The way up to here didn’t take long or Mia totally lost her sense of time. She perceived the strength of the artificially glowing colours of neon lights that moved and blinked their colourful eyes made of noble gases captured in gas discharge lamp. There were billions of ions set free in limited spaces of Nixie tubes and causing the wonderful photoionization effect. Mercury and argon played with neon and it all looked so unbelievable in motion. They were dancing and singing the Empire State of Mind unchained melody. The Penning mixture tried to catch Mia’s attention. It didn’t work. Mia had more important sorrows. She looked around and noticed that the apartment had many rooms. Leonard turned the lights on in every room, before Mia asked him to do it. He stepped in and showed with his finger at the single doors:
-Here is bathroom, here is a dinner room, here is second dinner room and here, you will stay over the night. We didn’t manage to furnish this apartment so quickly. We weren’t prepared for such circumstances.
Mia looked over his shoulder into mentioned rooms and guided Sebastian into the bedroom, where a big bed stood in the middle of the room. It was covered by a shift of foil. It looked like it was just bought and delivered. There was no other furniture in this room. There weren’t any tables, wardrobes, chairs or anything that was a part of every average apartment, where people lived. The rooms were fulfilled with bright, artificial atmosphere. Even a spaceship landing on a moon would give more warmth and feeling home than this place. Naked walls screamed for a cosy touch of furniture and naked windows were ashamed of looking cold and unfriendly.
Leonard took off the foils and disappeared. He came back in a couple of seconds and laid some blankets on the bed. He tried to keep the human speed while acting, but it wasn’t easy. He wasn’t familiar to be around people and to be as slow as he had to be right now. He didn’t like to be visible to everyone and was not sure what to do with all human stuffs. He stood some steps behind Mia and waited for her reactions. She was a human and should be more savvy about it.
Mia helped Sebastian to lay down on the bed and took off his shoes and jacket. He was very heavy and hard to move. She felt the burning warmth of his body and the nice smell of his skin. His forehead was wet from sweat drops and his hair was glued to his head. He looked tired and almost didn’t open his eyes. Although he had fever, he trembled strongly. Xenia reassured Mia that it could be a reaction of his body for finding the right energy balance. His shell looked great as Xenia said and Mia wasn’t convinced about it completely. She wasn’t able to see his shell and had to trust Xenia at least at that point. It was hard to understand why Sebastian looked so bad, if he was doing fine. In the meanwhile, she turned him on a side and laid a rolled blanket under his head. She covered him with another blanket. He sighted relieved.
-You know, we don’t have much experience with humans. – Xenia tried to be friendly.
Mia shook her head shortly. It wasn’t time for nice conversations. If Sebastian was healthy, he shouldn’t look this way. If there was anything that Mia had to know about his health condition, it was the right time to inform her.
-He is fine. – Xenia confirmed once more. She saw doubts in Mia’s eyes, because the girl even didn’t try to hide the question marks for herself. If it was about other beings, Mia seemed not to hide her emotions as well as in her own case.
Mia looked at Xenia shortly and smiled politely. She still didn’t say a word.
Leonard was silently thinking over how Mia managed to act this way. She was hurt immensely and actually, everybody should care about her. Apparently, she got the fact that no one of Julian’s family intended to help her, if it wasn’t necessary. She could act as if she would be a princess. She could play a fool or a prima donna, but she stayed distanced and polite.
Mia turned to Leonard and asked calmly:
-Is now a good time to talk?
Somehow, he wanted to keep his promise given to Julian and Leonard had to take under consideration a bad health condition of Mia.
-I guess you should sleep off.
-I won’t fall asleep before we clear the situation.
Leonard didn’t persist and used the moment for him. The promise gave to Julian wasn’t cleared with details and Leonard had enough space to use some advantages for him. When she was tired and sick, she was simply disadvantaged. It was a good occasion to get from her as much as it was possible and to give her the minimum in return. She wouldn’t get it anyway. Moreover, she was weak and there was a real possibility that she could die. He had to use every moment of her consciousness that he had to get traces.
-When you’re sure about it… – he started with a polite, almost artificial smile like he’d be a guy from a vac’s advert.
Mia looked shortly at Sebastian. He was sleeping very deeply and barely moved. She was sure about her decision. She had to clear the situation as soon as it was possible.
Leonard showed her the way to a big dinner room. There were just two chairs made from old wood. The smell of wood was almost gone with the wind, because the furniture was really old. Both chairs were hidden under foil and Leonard took it off to offer Mia to sit down. There were a wonderful, big, standing lamp and a large window without curtains. Through the window, Mia could see the street below and the city lights that were breaking hurriedly into this room. It was dark outside and just the artificial brightness ruled over the world. The flood of colours and neon lights was overwhelming Mia and suggested to come closer and closer to this nightlife.
Mia came nearer to the window and looked lower to the street. Some cars were passing by and long, wide stripes of the road laid under her feet without any motion. It was 10th maybe 11th floor. It was quite high and Mia reflected how it would be to jump out of this window. This idea scared her. Where did she get it, anyway?
She didn’t turn to Leonard. She leant at the cold wall and relished the brutal nudity of it. She didn’t feel her body anymore. She was concentrated on Leonard’s eyes in the glass reflecting his visible body. She noticed how unpleasant it was for him. His posture was still welcoming and polite, almost politically correct, but his eyes were cold and emotionless. He had to go through things he had to go through and he wished to be somewhere else now.
Mia waited patiently for the next move of Leonard. Apparently, he waited for her. She turned to him, didn’t say a word and she stayed calmly. They looked at each other and finally, he started to talk:
-At first, I would like to thank you for your good will and quick decision about helping us. It is surely our common interest to cooperate and to exchange information. Just in the case, when we will know as much as possible, we will be better prepared for acting against my evil brother and we will be able to save the good brother.
Mia thought that he could possibly made a shorter introduction or even leave it. She knew for which reasons she was here. She didn’t know the plan and if he intended to speak out a monologue, she could go to sleep and he could wake her up, when he finished these ‘bla-bla-bla-things’. She stayed calm and without any movement.
Leonard was still heralding political correct sentences and Mia felt that a storm was already visible on the horizon of her heart. She was tired, she was hurt and she had to listen to some unimportant statements. She tried to stay cool. Maybe it was the tactic of Leonard? Maybe he wanted her to get emotional enough to lose control over her mind and to talk with him without paying attention of what she was saying or what information he gave her.
-In this way, we are very pleased to have you here and we thank you once more for your cooperation. – ended Leonard.
Mia didn’t answer. She wanted to hear a question that stayed unspoken in Leonard’s mouth. He noticed that she won’t say a word and finally, he raised his question:
-What was between you and Julian?
This change was fascinating. This question was sharp as a knife and precise like a Swiss clock. It was so different from a useless introduction. Leonard was testing her reactions and he wasn’t happy with the results he got.
-What did he say to you about it? He had to inform you about troubles we were in, other way you wouldn’t manage to show in Russia and you wouldn’t be so charming to me.
Leonard was shocked. He didn’t expect it. He had to be partially honest, if he wanted to get some honest information from her:
-Julian sent me a message that he is going to fight against one of our brothers that you know under the name Jonas. Julian informed me that the chosen one, who was under our protection, was involved in a bad situation and that there is a girl that is personally important to him. He requested to protect you.
Mia trembled shortly. Julian didn’t meet his family personally, he send them a message. Was it enough for him to think about them or how did he communicate with them? Was it all what Julian reported to his family? Did Julian chose one specific family member or did he intend to contact Leonard, Xenia and Lucius or even the whole family?
A wave of questions overwhelmed Mia and she continued to catch all these thoughts, because Leonard stayed calm for a while. She trembled once more and looked out of the window. Her head turned as fast as it was possible for a human. She didn’t intend to look back at Leonard and as he got it, he repeated his question:
-What was between you and Julian from your point of view?
What was connecting her with Julian? Should she say Leonard that it was love? Did he expect such an answer? If Julian described her as ‘a personally important person’, should she then confirm this description or should she tell her real version?
-Julian was very important to me, too.
Leonard wasn’t satisfied. Mia felt it although she didn’t turn around to see his reaction. This room was the same way empty as the imaginative power of emotions by Leonard. It wasn’t about getting a suggestion. It was about understanding the power of a feeling. He just got the point of Mia: she wouldn’t say him the whole truth, she didn’t trust him. He didn’t trust her either, so the bills were paid equally.
-Where is Julian now? – Mia asked then.
-He’s at home. Our family takes care about him.
-So he is still alive?
-You can see it this way. He is out of his powers. He exists at the minimum and can’t recover. We can’t help him the way we used to help our family members. He is at home, because he is safe there.
She got this information already in Warsaw. Furthermore, if they could help Julian already, then she wouldn’t be in New York right now. It was hard to keep the focus. Sometimes, she had a feeling that she would fall down every second, because she was so weak. Still, she tried to take a deep breath and collect her thoughts. She remembered herself where she was and what she was talking about. Now, she had a dilemma. Should she ask now where Julian’s home was or should she leave this question unspoken? She didn’t intend to admit that she knew where it was. It was in Greece, Mount Olympus and some hidden meadows and gorges that Julian described her. She, as a human being, wouldn’t be able to get there and to see what was visible for his family.
-Oh, at home. And where is it? – She continued after a moment.
Leonard saw her uncertainty and couldn’t deduce much from it. He didn’t get that she was feeling weaker in some moments, because her condition’s level was already at the minimum. It was frustrating to him not to be able to read her mind. He couldn’t estimate how far she was guessing and asking things for real and how far it was just a part of her game.
-It’s hard to describe. No man will find this place. It’s hidden and closed for humans.
Apparently, she was satisfied with this answer. She nodded and got shortly deep into some thoughts. Maybe she was putting another question together or maybe she was just acting this way to bring him on a wrong track. Leonard wasn’t sure.
-What should we do to help Julian?
She was directly and definitely not as weak as he assumed earlier.
-We don’t know for sure. Sebastian is the key and he is able to help solving the situation. – Leonard answered shortly.
Mia was concerning about it. How should Sebastian help them? He was just a human being and they had such powers! Weren’t they really able to act without his help or were they just pretending? Other way, if Sebastian wouldn’t be a key to this riddle, Mia and Sebastian wouldn’t be necessary and maybe they would be already terminated?
-What do you know about us? – asked finally Leonard. It was visible that this was his greatest sorrow.
Mia remembered how Jonas asked her the same thing with the same curiosity and almost desperation. In fact, she felt the same despite to humans in Leonard’s voice as she already heard in Jonas’s tone. They were so not amused, because they were forced to deal with human beings.
-I know that you’re not a human. I know that you are much faster and much stronger than anything I know in the world. I know that you can read minds and that you can kill Sebastian and me faster than we will even able to notice.
She gave him exactly the same answer that Jonas got from her. Leonard smiled politely, but his scorn for Mia visibly grew up.
-I guess – continued Mia – that you know it already. If you can read minds, then you got it already from Sebastian’s memories. If you ask yourself, whether I know more about you, I can answer it very shortly: I don’t. I don’t know how much it is. Apparently, it’s not all. Jonas was not amused by hearing it. He expected more. Seemingly, you expected more, too. I have to disappoint you: it is everything I know.
Mia was lying, and she was very convincing. From Sebastian’s memories, Leonard knew already that she was highly probable telling the truth. Jonas slugged her after this answer, because he wanted to get more information and he had to let his disappointment let upon the girl. Leonard didn’t look like he would be aggressive towards Mia, but he wasn’t happy about the current state, either. Moreover, she wasn’t sure whether Leonard took it for a good sign or whether he doubted in her words. She didn’t intend to tell him the whole truth, because she didn’t trust him. She smiled shyly and minimally, rather politely and innocent. She thought about Julian and asked her last question:
-How can I help you?
Leonard looked at her watchfully and answered first after a while:
-Dear Mia, you can’t. You are here to keep Sebastian happy and we don’t need any further action from you. You already caused the trouble we got into. Please, understand that now we have to do our best to save Julian and the best way for you to help us it simply to take care for Sebastian.
This was the only new and certain information that she got this evening. Seemingly, she should get the one. She should be like a pet or like a nurse. She was the unnecessary ballast and as long as Sebastian was hanging on her, she was going to be a part of this community. She was sure that every occasion to lose her on a way was good enough for Leonard to use it. This was it. She was just a cause of this mess. If Julian wouldn’t be distracted by her actions, Jonas wouldn’t take Sebastian as a prisoner and then, Jonas wouldn’t be able to hurt Julian. At this point, she agreed with Leonard. It was all her fault. Her internal tears didn’t stop falling down. She was alone in her fight with herself, didn’t make a tone and didn’t look forward, because she was convinced that if she’d stay, she’d fall down again. She wanted to give up and be taken away from all beings on earth.
She was still smiling the same way she did it before he answered her question.
The rules were already clear to her. ‘They’ didn’t care about her. She hadn’t as much information for them as they were expecting to get and this whole talk was just confirming the status quo that was known already in Warsaw. Two planes, one taxicab and the time in a lift later, she discovered that there was indeed nothing to discover.
She turned back from the window and went into the bedroom. She laid down near to Sebastian and closed her eyes. She wasn’t able to fall asleep. She heard some rumours in another corner of this apartment and thought whether Xenia and Lucius were present during this whole conversation. They could be invisible or they could be connected mentally with Leonard. It was so ‘whatever’ again…
Mia had a huge internal problem and bounded hands. She wasn’t allowed to mix this situation. She wasn’t the chosen one. She was the screwed one.
#5 SHATTERED
Days were so similar to each other that Mia didn’t know whether it was Monday or Thursday or even Sunday. She didn’t leave the apartment. She stood up every day before Sebastian woke up and prepared a breakfast for him. In the time when water was warming up to boil, she dressed her up and then she made a pot of tea. Then, Xenia appeared and made a new white dressing on the hurt wrist of Mia. The girl kept silence and a polite smile on her lips. She always thanked Xenia for her surgical precision. In the meanwhile, she wondered shortly every time that her wound wasn’t healing. It was still painful and Mia was happy about it. Her authentic pain became the only existent point of touch in her reality. The wrist looked still pretty bad and the scars opened themselves every day. Therefore, Xenia had to disinfect her wrist and lay a new shift of bandage around it.
After two deep breaths, Mia went to the bedroom and woke up Sebastian. It was always 8 o’clock AM. The sun was happily shining on the sky and Sebastian was smiling at her. She always smiled back and then, she went back to the kitchen. She waited until Sebastian came in, ate his meal and then he always hugged her, kissed her hair and left the apartment with Lucius. Leonard didn’t show up these days. Xenia stepped by and asked what Mia intended to cook for lunch and what needed for dinner. Mia asked always whether she could help anyway, but Xenia shook her head with refusal and sadness in her eyes. Mia took it with grace and didn’t show her frustration. Then, Mia wrote down things on blue pop-ups and afterwards, she was left all alone in this apartment.
After she wrote down her wishes related to the equipment of the apartment, there were water boiler, chairs and even bed sheet available. Xenia learnt for which reasons the fridge is and which cosmetics are needed in bathroom. It seemed to be very fascinating to Xenia get to know which things are needed for human beings and what kind of meals they eat.
Mia went then into bathroom, took a shower and dressed up some sporty clothes that Xenia bought her on the day after they arrived to New York. Mia was a little ashamed that someone else bought her clothes, but she couldn’t oppose. She was too weak to lead a fight for such unimportant thing like clothes. She was fighting internally with herself for every breath she took and every step she made. Lucius ignored her and Xenia tried to keep a distance.
Afterwards, Mia went to a large window in the biggest room and looked on the wide street under her feet. She was like Skipper the Penguin, who said once: ‘Hoover Dam! We’re still in New York! Abort! Dive! Dive! Dive!’. She couldn’t move away from here. she would even laugh about such allegory, if she wouldn’t be so madly sad, depressive and desperate.
Julian’s family didn’t care about further equipment of this apartment. Important was that kitchen was completely prepared for making meals and there was a bed in the common bedroom of Mia and Sebastian. This bed was so huge that they had enough space even if they were changing their positions while they were sleeping. Even so, Sebastian mostly laid near to Mia and she didn’t change her position often. She didn’t sleep well these nights and she tried not to move, because her body was still wounded and caused pain with every motion. She concentrated on this pain. Some people cut their hands, arms or look for any reason to be hurt. Mia didn’t have to deal this way. She was already injured as badly as it was possible. She had not only visible hurt places. They were just a peak of the iceberg. The deepest and more tragic injuries were hidden in her heart and soul.
Xenia bought some clothes that suited perfectly to Mia’s size, but it wasn’t the girl’s style. Mia could wear now pretty dresses, but she decided every time for her blue jeans, a long-armed shirt, sporty pants, and a sporty top. She always went barefoot through the apartment.
Towards noon, Xenia came back and brought things that were needed to make lunch. Mia prepared everything under the ward of Xenia and finally, they didn’t wait for Sebastian for long. He came shortly back and ate the meal with her. Then, he was away again and Mia was once again standing at the window and watched the street. Sebastian seemed to be happy to go out to his trainings whatever it supposed to be. Mia was falling down internally every day faster and stronger. Every time she was looking on the cars under her feet, she wanted to open this damn window and simply jump out. She wanted to cry and she wasn’t able to. She was standing in a rain of fears and blames. It was not only her opinion that she was the reason for all the bad time in their lives. They all were right: she was the cause and it was all her fault. This blame was heavy ballast that Mia had to take everywhere. It was even more noticeable to her than the wounds of her body. She didn’t feel the bleeding in her stomach, she didn’t notice the pain in her chest, and she didn’t realize completely the ache in her wrist. What she perceived was a continuous insult she heard in her head and the guilt that ruled in her mind. This state of soul kept her frozen at the window and she heard some whispers to jump out of this apartment. Then, she heard some voices that told her not to think such stupid things. She was caught in the growing sadness, deepest mourning and unusual cold, extremely cold hands of bad thoughts kept her as a prisoner for a long time.
She saw pictures from the past, moments of happiness and joy spent with Julian and Sebastian and it all looked to be so far, far away from the present time. It seemed like a fairy tale she read once. She heard some smiles echoing in her head and saw blue ray of Julian spread over a meadow. She saw Jonas with his scary, unfriendly face expression and his hands breaking into her and make her burning her like hell. It was a horrible memory. She felt this bad, negative fire still in her body, but she couldn’t define any specific place that was hurting her. She had the impression that Jonas’s energy was already circulating in her whole body and reached every part of her body. It was like having lava in her veins. Smouldering poison penetrated her every cell…
Apparently, nobody noticed her internal state of soul. The only cause why she didn’t lose her polite expression was the uncertainty whether she was under observation of Julian’s family. She didn’t want to give them any reason to smile and despite a poor unfortunate human soul. She wasn’t sure whether they would do it anyway.
Towards evening, Sebastian came back and sometimes, he was accompanied by Lucius or Leonard. Already on the first evening, Sebastian said that he can’t talk with her what he was doing all day long. He called it training and apparently, it was interesting and funny.
A smile stayed on her face for the whole time, whether there was any being around her or not. It was a glued smile, but it looked convincing enough. Internally, Mia suffered. She has been crying a river every moment since her position was cleared. She played a role that Leonard attributed to her. She didn’t oppose, because she hadn’t any clue what she should do instead and she was conscious about her guilt. Unfortunately, she hadn’t any other plan, any money to go out and leave them all behind.
Her only hope was a thought that Sebastian has been making planed progresses in helping strategy and that Julian would be saved one day. She had to support Sebastian as much as she could not only as her friend, but as the rescuer of the future.
As she laid in the bed evenings, Sebastian put her near to him and hugged her. She didn’t oppose, either. At first, it was so whatever! Sebastian looked at her and told her how happy he was having her on his site. She didn’t feel his touch or rather it was unimportant to her. Then, it was helping her to keep her smile on her face. It was like a medicine to feel someone’s hug, to feel someone’s touch, to feel something good in this horrible reality. She felt so alone and so lost that this moment was a short time of relax. It was one of few seconds or minutes that she didn’t think about the past and the future. She was caught in the moment and had a free mind. It was her short absolution.
She was tired of waiting for any opportunity to act and for blaming herself for the current troubles of involved beings. She was frustrated of being less than a housewife; she was maximally a house-keeper. It was her punishment. Therefore, she took it with grace.
This way, some weeks passed by and nothing changed. Mia was tensed up to maximum. She didn’t feel well. She had still some pain in her stomach, but her shell looked minimally better. It was sometimes hard for her to walk straight, because of her leg, and because of her wrist, she was disadvantaged in the kitchen. Her head exploded every second a day and she had often fever. Nobody noticed it.
During these weeks, no one asked her whether she was feeling fine; there were no small talks, no large talks or any exchange of information with her. Sebastian had some new friends and wasn’t allowed to talk with her about his special training hours.
Mia was falling into a black whole of depression. A growing bog took every day a part of her under the swamping surface. Her fairy tale with Julian seemed to be so far, far away and so unreal that she sometimes almost doubted that it happened to her. Her human pain and signals from her body became stronger and they were the only proofs confirming her story. The rest became unreal, too. She was living halfway prison life between a day and a night.
Every day started with the same rejection by Leonard, with the same questions in her head and every day ended up with the same lack of new opportunities and actions. Her guilt was a death weight and she had to take it with grace. It was pushing her to the ground and no forces could help her to find an antidote. Mia was going under Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Every day was a lost battle with her enthusiasm to be able to help Julian.
Leonard observed her watchfully, even if she didn’t get it, because he was mostly in his invisible form. As she was standing at the window, she was thinking over and sometimes, she smiled shyly to herself. She stayed sad and this mournful mood was always present in her eyes. She was almost dashed off.
Leonard analysed when she will give up. It was his goal: he wanted her to leave this place, but he didn’t intend to ask her for it. It should have been her decision. Sebastian was already convinced about Leonard’s plan and they didn’t need Mia. She had to go crazy and leave this story forever. Julian would surely forgive her. He would find a common soul between ‘their’ girls. Loving a human being should not be a destiny of Julian.
Moreover, she was dying. Her shell was still transparent and she hadn’t enough energy to recover her health condition. She was lean and weak like a bag of bones. Her collarbone was very good to see, even under a sporty and loose top. Her fingers looked even longer than they used to be, the same was with her legs. Her face became thinner. It looked like her skin was glued to her bones.
Xenia was sorrowed about it and asked whether they should help in any way, but Leonard and Lucius were sure that it wasn’t needed. If it was Mia’s fate to die, then it was so. They pointed out the agreement with the humanity and denied any action that required their involvement.
Xenia reminded them on Julian and his request to treat Mia well. Leonard answered then always:
-She gets something to eat, she gets a shelter, we can’t do more for her. We shouldn’t overreact. She is safe and we don’t force her enormously. That’s good enough.
Xenia hadn’t enough power to argue about it. Leonard was older and more experienced. He had the commando. She didn’t like this situation, she hadn’t any clue how to solve it better. She didn’t trust Mia, either, but she felt that Mia had to get a chance to be threatened in a better way. How this ‘better’ should look like stayed undefined.
Mia apparently knew something more than she confirmed to Leonard, but it was impossible to get it out of her with violence. In addition, for building bridges, it was already too late. Moreover, Xenia was a little bit scared by Mia. At first, she didn’t understand what Julian could see in this girl and why no one was able to read her mind. Was it possible for Julian? Was it possible for Jonas after he almost took off her life? What was connecting Mia with Jonas and why? What did Jonas tell her as they were alone? This girl was a great riddle and there were simply too many questions and considerations about her.
One was for sure, Mia didn’t deserve it. She had to come back to her life, spread her wings and fly away.
#6 CAN’T COME DOWN
It was no particular day. Mia woke up and instead going to the kitchen and preparing a breakfast, she dressed up her jeans and one of her tops. Then, she left the apartment. She was gone. No one of Julian’s family intended following her.
Leonard was finally internally happy and waited for Sebastian to wake up and to notice this situation. He saw the problems of Sebastian and was convinced that Sebastian wouldn’t go after the girl. Xenia was shocked and stood like a stone in the middle of a bright kitchen. She wasn’t allowed to act in any way. Lucius didn’t intend to deal with the situation, but he was uncomfortable with the situation. He was unsettled and went quickly from one corner of the dinner room to another. Nobody knew for sure which consequences it would bring and what Mia was planning. Did she aim to come back?
A great excitement was in the air and the time passed very slowly, even if no one of them manipulated it. Indeed, they wanted to hasten the time progression to see finally, what was going to happen.
Sebastian woke up finally and from the beginning, he was wondering why Mia didn’t appear. He came surprised into the kitchen and looked at Xenia. She was scared and stood without any motion between the fridge and the small table on the opposite wall. It looked like she would be frozen on her way out of prison. The boy wondered what was going on there, but he didn’t ask anything. His good mood started to disappear. He went into another room and saw Lucius, who stopped running and looked at Sebastian with one big question mark on his face. At the same moment, Leonard came into the room and said without emotions:
-Mia is gone. We have to go to training. You will eat lunch in the city.
Sebastian stayed frozen.
-What?!
-You have to eat your meals in the city. We can’t cook. – repeated Leonard.
Sebastian became furious. Cooking and kitchen’s stuff were the smallest problem. It wasn’t about meals. It was about Mia!
-Mia is gone?! How come?! What did you do to her?! Where did she go?
The boy was like a hurt, wild lion: he was spinning around as he would wait for an attack from every site. He roared the same questions with every breath he took. He demanded excuses, he raised simple questions and no one had answers for him.
Xenia went some steps out of the kitchen and her fear was even bigger. She expected nothing good, but she didn’t look for such fury from his side. She read his thoughts and his rage was more than huge. It was indescribable. His internal anger was larger than he showed to them. She never agreed with Leonard about letting Mia go voluntary, but she wasn’t the boss here. Now, she regretted her weak defence for Mia. They hadn’t any clue where the girl might have been gone and for how long. They couldn’t read her thoughts and without her, Sebastian was totally not amused and willing to help them. Julian was indeed his friend and needed help, but without Mia, no action was possible.
Sebastian wanted to vanish them all. How did they let it happen? He shouted steadily the same questions with the same madness in his voice:
-Did no one ask her where is she going?! Maybe she comes back soon? What did you do to her?!?!
He didn’t stop to twist around and it took hours until he finally sat down on a floor and limited his movements to shaking his head with regrets. He was tired of being furious. He wasn’t the boy, who he normally was. He already lost his best male friend Julian and now, he lost his best female friend, too. Without her, he was no more than a lost soul on a way to nowhere. Mia was his lighthouse that showed him some constant points in the day and gave hope and strength to act just by her presence.
Sebastian was crushed down. It was the last thing he was expecting. He didn’t talk much with her, because he didn’t know how to confront her with the topic Jonas and even less about anything that was connected with Julian.
Sebastian felt for a long time that he is standing on a trembling, almost earth-quaking ground. He remembered how he got home and was caught by a strong person. Then, he lost the consciousness. The aggressor was too powerful and had a moment of totally surprise on own side.
The next moment that Sebastian had in his memories was short flash from a house. He didn’t remember many details of the house: wooden floor, wooden walls. He hadn’t any clue, where they were. He saw Mia and three persons that he didn’t know. Nobody talked. Mia was taken away. She looked tired and wasn’t amused because of this situation. She had power in her eyes, but her body was weak. A longer break followed… The next thing he remembered was as he was brought into a room with walls from stones and without windows. It was hard to say how late it was. At first, he had bounded eyes and heard just Mia’s voice and another male person that didn’t introduce himself. Sebastian wasn’t sure when he got that this person was Jonas. He asked himself who Jonas might have been, but he couldn’t remember any specific being. Apparently, Mia knew this guy. Then, he got some slugs and it hurt. What was more important: Mia was in danger. This strange guy talked with her or rather presented a hymn of praise for himself. Sebastian’s impression was that Jonas was talking to him as Sebastian would be Julian. At that moment, Sebastian thought that Jonas was crazy. Jonas has been mistaking him for Julian. Later, he understood why Jonas behaved this way.
One of the most hurting moments was as Mia was hanging over the floor held by Jonas. She was full of blood, almost unconscious. She was a fighter, but even a greatest warrior has limited powers. It was horrible what Jonas did to her. It was much more brutal than a video scene on National Geographic, when lions attack a gazelle. It hadn’t any beauty and sense. It was just a needless cruelty and unnecessary presentation of impossible power. Sebastian wished that he could push away their aggressor and save her. He was already thrown away by a black light that came out of this strange Jonas. It burned like hell and hurt him very much. It was more dangerous than simply slugs or other injuries. It was burning like hell and he had the impression, he was searing like a witch from Salem. Sebastian wasn’t ready to fight for Mia. It would be a lost battle. He should have had more courage. He shouldn’t look for losses that he would collect. He was a coward.
Then, things went so fast and rapid that Sebastian focussed on Mia, who was lying in his arms and was dying. She was the only constant in this moment. Surprisingly, Julian showed shortly and ordered them to leave this place. Sebastian tried to carry Mia away from this hell, but he didn’t know the house good enough to come as fast as possible. He stumbled and lost her, before he could put her out of blue and black rays of light that fulfilled the space around him. Explosion and everything what was connected with it, was unimportant. He just thought about Mia and Julian. He couldn’t understand what was going on and he thought he had nightmares.
He didn’t remember much what happened later. He was convinced that it was just a very scary, horrible nightmare. It was unbelievable; it was so unreal and known just from science fiction movies. It couldn’t be true, because it didn’t fit into the existing world. There were some crazy people explaining strange things from the X-files, but Sebastian was not a believer like Fox Mulder. He was a rational, well-educated human being and he stopped believing in the Santa’s existence as he was 6 years old. From then on, he never suspected any paranormal activities. He was confronted with death of his sister and parents; he never searched for any other reasons than the scientific one. He never thought about life after death or such stuff. He was so very surprised that he couldn’t get it even as he saw Mia with her bandaged wrist at the table in his own apartment. First, as he felt so many powers in his veins and pretended to be the Superman, he knew that it was somehow true.
The rest of the story was short and exhausting. He had too much energy and he didn’t know what to do with it. He felt like he would drunk a whole Atlantic of coffee and he was exploding like fireworks on the New Year’s Eve. It was a genius feeling. He wished this state of art would keep for more than just a few days, but it didn’t work. After some hours, he was so extremely powerless that he wasn’t even able to move alone. In such condition, he came into a plane to nowhere and he didn’t get much from their journey. As he was conscious again, he was lying on a bed near to Mia. They were in an empty, quite spacey room, and Mia laid tensed like she would be an iron string. He came closer to her and noticed that she was still sleeping. He took some curls off her forehead and looked at her. She looked amazing although she was tired and weak. Her skin was almost white and her veins were good to see. She moved her hurt hand and Sebastian looked at her wrist. It was hidden under a white dressing.
She was his best friend and someone, who he would fight for every time. She was his sunshine and the significant part of his world. She was his air to breath, she was his ground to walk, she was the white and black of a night and every colour of his day. Indeed, he was at first quite mad that she didn’t tell him the truth about Julian, so he felt betrayed. In the new world order, she was still the only person he knew. He trusted her and his anger calmed down as he noticed how much she took care of him.
The first day in New York was spacey. He didn’t realize at first, where they were. It had to be a very early morning and the sun was unhurriedly coming up. Some of sunrays came into the room, because there were no curtains in the window. This room, where they were, was quite strange; there was just a huge bed and nothing more.
Sebastian looked around and noticed some skyscrapers looking into the room from another side of the street. Some skyscrapers stood proudly in the background. It had to be a metropolis, if it had so many skyscrapers. He didn’t dare to move, because he didn’t want Mia to wake up. She was dreaming something, her face changed minimally. Her lips were open and she breathed slowly. She was definitely unsettled.
He remembered how she was looking at Julian’s body, how she bowed over him. Sebastian thought whether they were almost lovers. It couldn’t be possible. Julian was always so distanced towards girls and didn’t intend to start any deeper relationship with anyone. It was well-known fact and it shouldn’t change. Maybe Mia felt in love for him like many other girls already did. Anyway, where should they meet each other? What if they became a couple…No, it was impossible. Julian knew that Sebastian loved her first and it wasn’t a friendly gesture to take away best friend’s girlfriend or almost girlfriend. Furthermore, she decided to stay by Sebastian for these days, when her family was away. She didn’t choose Julian. It was a visible sign for her intentions.
The way she looked at Julian was still bothering Sebastian. He remembered just some parts of the occurrences with Jonas. He couldn’t remind himself on a specific scene or sentence confirming any relationship between Mia and Julian. Anyway, he had a premonition that he missed something, that he forgot something. He was afraid to ask her directly what happened, because he didn’t want to destroy what was going on between them now. They slept in the same bed, even if they almost didn’t touch each other. They ate meals together, she carried over him and prepared meals for him. He was her very special friend. She was his special girl. They had a common task to fulfil: to save Julian.
Now, she was gone.
He went into the bedroom and missed her presence already. Her colourful bag – the only colourful thing she had – was gone. Her jacket wasn’t there. Her jeans weren’t there. She was absolutely gone.
-Why didn’t you follow her? Why didn’t you ask her where she was going to? – Sebastian was mad. He spoke quietly, because he was out of powers. After many hours of yelling, his voice wasn’t as qualitatively high as it supposed to be.
Xenia was still standing in the kitchen and didn’t move. Her frozen body was present, but her mind was miles away from here. Lucius continued to walk here and there like a lion in his small and very limited ZOO cage. Leonard wasn’t smiling, but watched Sebastian with the highest attention.
Finally, Sebastian dressed his clothes and ran out. He was in the hallway of a skyscraper and didn’t wait for a lift. Instead, he took stairs and went down very fast. He jumped. He hesitated. He lost his breath on the way. He had to pass 13 floors and first then, he was just some steps away from the main entrance of this building. He went out and was dazzled by the sun. The city rumours were loud and people, who were passing him by, made him twisted nerved. He looked around as if he would hope for seeing Mia somewhere here. He turned left and started to go in this direction. He hadn’t any plan where to go and he marched just forward. He had to stop on every crossing and waited like others for the green light. The masses of people were incredible. Everywhere, you could see fashionable, colourful men and women, people from business class and tramps. Every now and then, he saw a street sales cart with hot dogs or Chinese food. A human river from all nations, races and classes flew between skyscraper and smaller buildings, next to lonely trees and desolated parks. This river caused many rumours well known for every bigger city: a combination of hundreds of hooters, thousands of screams and millions of words.
In the last days, he saw this site of the city with other eyes. He wasn’t annoyed, rather positively surprised. He had his meetings with Lucius, sometimes with Leonard, and he had a feeling that they were acting for the right reasons.
Now, Sebastian didn’t admire a natural beauty of a big city. He felt lost here. If he had Mia at his side, his troubles would go away just like that. She always managed to give him a pocket full of sunshine and hopes, a feeling of walking over the rainbow. He was aching for Mia and he looked desperately after her. Hours passed by, the human river was growing stronger or became smaller, and he was still going here and there and searched for her. It would be easier for him to find a needle in a haystack than to find Mia in New York.
#7 EMPIRE STATE OF MIND
It was already a late evening. Sebastian wasn’t freezing although he hadn’t any jacket. It was warm enough. Summer in the city was hot and smelled after asphalt and cars. Sebastian sat down on a bench in one of many parks here and thought over. He was tired and exhausted of walking all day long. He was hungry and mad. He hadn’t any clue where Mia could be and he didn’t know where he was now, either. It wasn’t any hard task to get lost in the city that never sleeps, but it wasn’t his concern. He wished having special skills like Lucius or Leonard. If he would be as fast as they were, he would find Mia up to now. He would look everywhere; he would check every corner and every street.
He assumed that she stayed in the city, because she had nowhere else to go. She hadn’t much money and she took just her few things. Maybe, she intended to come back? It was still a riddle why she even left the apartment. It wasn’t maybe their home and it wasn’t personally enough. There were barely furniture and no curtains in the windows, but they were there together. What was she thinking about? Did she want to leave them all or just a specific one of their extraordinary group?
Accompanied by many questions, Sebastian stood up and went some steps further. He looked around and there were just trees. This park was huge. He saw water near to the alley he was walking. There was a castle within the park! He bended off in this direction and some minutes later, he was standing near to the old, stone castle with Victorian structure and two balconies. Sebastian saw modern skyscrapers in the background of magical and romantic monument. It was a surprise.
Some people stood on the view platform and stunned about panoramic view in almost every direction of New York from this place. Sebastian watched these tourists in motion. He noticed that there was a person that didn’t move and was just standing there. Maybe that was the reason why his mind’s perception fished out this person from the mass of humans. Or maybe he saw her, because he was looking for her so faithfully?
He was visibly relieved.
It was Mia. Finally!
She was standing there and observed him watchfully. Her face didn’t betray any sign of happiness or sadness. She was too far away for him to see what was going on in her eyes. He came closer to her and his steps were vivid and full of joy. He almost broke her ribs as he hugged her spontaneously. He was holding her in his arms for a long time and didn’t dare to say any word. Somehow, she was a dream to him. It was so impossible and incredible to find her here, at the point where his last burning hopes intended to meet his first stalking doubts and scary visions.
He hold her and felt her beating heart on his chest and her weak breath on his neck. He breathed in the decent smell of her hair and sensed her delicate fingers that touched his back. He pulled her even more to his body and didn’t think about his power. He almost crushed her. As he brought it to his mind, he relaxed his hug a little bit. He was quite ashamed that he didn’t take it under consideration from the very beginning. She was so weak that he could easily cause much pain to her.
-Are you OK? – asked Sebastian finally and stepped a little back to see whether she was really fine. She had this strange habit not to say the whole true about her condition.
-Yes, everything is all right. – She answered slowly. She looked him in the eyes and saw how relieved he was. His madness went away and was replaced by one of the greatest enthusiasm waves in his life. He was visibly touched to see her. His hug became tougher again.
-What were you thinking?! – He screamed in the next moment so loud that some tourists turned heads to them with disrespect. Then, he repeated his question more silently, but with the same sorrow and intonation. He reminded himself about long hours without her and he had to clear it now.
Mia wasn’t scared by his reaction, although he was looking almost aggressive and some people grasped to their cell phones. Mia smiled at him a little and his angriness melted like vanilla ice cream laid down on a bench during midsummer night’s dream. He let her standing alone in front of him and watched her carefully.
-I had to. I simply had to go out and make my mind free.
She was cute; she was innocent and simply disarming. His grizzly bear reaction was domesticated by her calmness.
-And did it help you? – Sebastian asked with less aggression in his voice.
Mia waited some seconds, before she said anything:
-I think it really did.
He hugged her once more and he felt her fingers on his back again.
-Mia, I missed you so much! You can’t just walk away without saying any word.
She sighed a little and he let her standing alone.
-Are you really OK?
-Yes, I think. – She was unsure. Her eyes went from here to there; she didn’t look at him, but somewhere over the invisible rainbow.
-What is going on with you?
He laid his hand on her head and announced:
-Mia, you have fever. You’re sick.
-No, no. It’s unimportant.
-It is indeed important. I guess I neglected you a little bit. I am deeply sorry. It won’t happen again.
-Sebastian, it’s OK.
-No, it’s not OK. – He was very serious. She was quite messy inside and it wasn’t Mia that he knew. What Mia did he know anyway? As he saw her for the first time, she was full of energy, strong, confident and mysterious. Mia that was standing in front of him was an insecure girl, who looked for any plan, but it didn’t work out. She was still mysterious and seductive, but she was so weak. He had to give her strength back to her, he wanted to see her power in the eyes and stature again. He wanted her to find herself again. He had to help her.
At first now, he noticed that she lost much of weight and she became less than a pack of bones covered by skin. Her eyes were sad and had an undefined tone of melancholy.
-Mia, you have to take care about yourself. You have to think more about you and start to be more egoistic.
Sebastian hugged her once more and she lost herself in his arm. She needed some warmth and care.
-I guess I know what you need, Mia. – His hug became tighter. – I think you should start running again. I know that you’re not in your best form, but we will run everyday a short lap, OK?
It was a good idea. She needed some action, she needed to feel wind on her face, she missed the heaven above and the earth underneath her feet.
-You can’t go alone through a new city. It’s too dangerous. I will escort you, OK? We will go running tomorrow. Now, we will go back to Leonard, OK?
She didn’t answer. Sebastian kept holding her tight in his arms and they stood on the wonderful, romantic Belvedere Castle that became perhaps the most magical monument in the world. He thought that they had to talk, but he didn’t intend to hesitate her in any way. He had some questions and she was the only one, who could answer them. She was still his mysterious girl.
Sebastian looked around and thought where they should go. Up to now, he was escorted by Leonard or Lucius and he didn’t know the city. They lived in one of many skyscrapers, but in which one? Normally, he hadn’t any problems with spatial orientation, but he was really lost right now.
Mia noticed his doubts.
-Just think about one of ‘them’, and they will show up. – She advised.
-Mia, it won’t help. They can’t read my thoughts. – He laughed sadly. Didn’t she know it?
Mia doubted and it was written on her face.
-Just do it. You’re a transmission’s tool. Don’t be mad, but it is a fact. If you have no power to walk ‘home’ by feet, just call them.
She called him indeed a transmission’s tool. He couldn’t believe it and smiled with doubts. Lucius said, they can’t read his mind. He was the chosen one. At the same time, Mia knew much about ‘them’, too. Her certainty about own statement was crushing. She knew what she was talking. Somehow, he trusted her more than them.
-I prefer to walk with you, but I have no idea where we are now. – He finally admitted without any pride in his voice. He was deeply ashamed about this fact. Without her, he was lost.
-I know the way. – She laid her hand under his arm and guided him like a guide dog.
I wish you all very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :-)
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