Longing

She misses him. Since coming back from New-York, Melissa has been longing for Julian, more so than ever – and she’s been longing for him forever. She’s no longer sure of his thoughts, of how he sees her, of his feelings towards her. In Brooklyn, she must have appeared to him as part of the gigantic plot that he now knows involves the Pentagon and the Coven, and probably others. She read the terror in his eyes: she saw him gripping Sarah’s hands as they both understood the implications of what the general was saying. Had she lost him? 

Rejection

She ought to call Sarah, cool and loving Sarah, but she dares not. What would happen to her if Sarah rejected her? For Melissa knows that Sarah’s her friend, more than just a friend, for as long as she does not see Melissa as part of the threat. Being a threat to Julian would turn Sarah into a formidable enemy: then her longing would follow her to hell.

And Melissa knows that, for the Coven, Sarah’s role is essential: she is the key to Julian, and Julian is the path to their own future. On that, Melissa knows the truth. She was chosen because of Julian, because of her ancient friendship with Julian. Gabrielle seized the opportunity, and so Melissa survived.

The Coven

Gabrielle and Helga are now in deep consultation with the collective. The Coven is preparing the Berlin conference, one thread among millions, in a whirl of deliberations and mathematical computations that even Melissa could not follow.

Helga… How strange that she – she’s no “she” of course, but a conglomerate of particles that long left their living anima, always asexual, far behind – tried her charm on Julian, after all that Melissa had explained. 

“They” have their own blind corners, things they don’t appear to really understand. They have their weaknesses; otherwise they would not need that association with the Great Power, and the Great Power to Be, along with perhaps other darker powers that Melissa does not know about. They need the path to conquer this world, Melissa’s world, and for now, the path is one individual in the entire universe: her college sweetheart, Julian. 

Futures

Melissa relaxes a little. She sees several futures. In one of them, Sarah, Julian and she overcome the fear, and clear the way for the Coven to exit from their lives without pain. But there are others, other futures. She knows, and she shudders a little. She thinks of Tosca, of the mock execution at dawn, which turns out to be real. She thinks of Berlin…

Melissa brushes the sinister vision away. At heart, she is a positive person; she is not afraid of demons. But Julian may be. He always was, even at school; he had that irrational fear of the hidden fiends, of ancient secrets, of bewitched objects… 

Oh… how protective she felt towards him then, Julian, her young street fighter, he with the clinched fists… Her longing holds her heart like in a vice.

Melissa’s in a dream, she’s moved back in time, to the small town where they both lived, where it all started. She stands in front of the gate, she’s waiting for him. She sees him, joking with other boys, and he sees her. He waves to his friends and walks toward her, that triumphant smile on the thin lips – a young god… He always knew how to kiss her, and of course, she wanted more…

Intimacy

The phone rings and pulls Melissa out of her dream. It’s Sarah. They chat politely, then Sarah says, “My husband is away for a few days and said he will join you in Paris. Please let him know when you want to meet. That’s the message he asked me to give you…” 

Melissa tries to think quickly. Julian’s away? “Sarah, could you come, too?” 

She can almost hear Sarah smiles. “Melissa, the two of you deserve a bit of intimacy. You have to give Julian time with you, just the two of you. I trust both of you, and you can understand why I would be a bit of an obstacle. He needs to find you again…” Sarah’s voice trails off. “When he’s back, please come to us as soon as you can. Then we’ll have a party: I’ll invite Jane, too.” 

So it is. Sarah has given her the go-ahead, in the city where Julian was born, his city. A thought hits Melissa, a twist she had not thought of before this instant. Has Sarah been “recruited”? Has the Coven enrolled beautiful Sarah? 

She scans her memory of the meeting in Brooklyn. Gabrielle and Helga, and herself, and then Sarah and Julian. Sarah looked as if she was sheltering her husband. But she also saw Helga and Sarah exchange a smile, more than once. But why should Sarah be tempted? What does she have to gain? Security for her husband and herself? And if this happened, where does that leave her, Melissa, the go-between?

Protection

She shrugs off the thought. Sarah has one mission: protecting her husband. Melissa knows she would not stop at anything for Julian’s sake, but there is no value in enlisting now, when she knows too little. Later, perhaps, after Berlin, when they know. Sarah thinks Melissa’s good for Julian; it is simple. 

Alone in the little house in East London Melissa’s planning the Paris meeting. She wants to choose the location of their meeting carefully. A public place but not one where Julian would feel crowded. Maybe the old Arena, the Roman amphitheater? Then they can walk Rive Gauche, perhaps aim for the Luxembourg? Of course, he knows the city inside out. He lived there, and met Sarah there first.

Melissa’s troubled by another thought. They did not stay, they moved to London almost immediately. Indeed, they got married in London. Was there a reason for Julian to leave the city he loved, so soon after meeting the woman about to become his wife?

She’s soon distracted by the familiar tremor of air and sounds in the house. One of them, may be both – or more – has arrived. Soon she’s faced with a smiling Gabrielle who is still adjusting her human appearance. The fluid contours materialise, the face is still indistinct… It takes no more than five seconds. 

“So,” Gabrielle says calmly, “you and Julian are going to meet one on one?” Melissa smiles. She knows “they” know everything; they hear everything, and her teacher, wise Gabrielle, is a master at sieving through all that their sensors capture, particularly if it involves Julian or his wife.

The two of them continue their chat silently. Soon, Melissa’s appraised of the Coven’s current state of play for Berlin. She also learns that Helga is in Moscow. The wheels are turning.

---

Julian

As I no longer know what to believe, I fear the worst. The worst is for you to be their creature, an artefact of their sinister science, so perfect a creature that even you don’t know the truth, that you believe yourself human. I know you don’t lie, but I fear you have been lied to about how your life started, after my school friend died. There is the nightmare.

The best protection I have against those evil thoughts is work. Work helps me take my mind off the bad dreams. Working helps me remember what I love: your smile, your friendship with Sarah and Jane, the way you have to prove how human you are, how deliciously human, and your loveliness. Then the shadows dissipate, the rain stops, and sunshine is back.

I asked Sarah to call you and say I was away and wanted to know when and where you wanted us to meet. In Brooklyn, you said about us meeting in Paris. I am not sure why, although this triggered all sorts of romantic fantasies in my mind. Well, let us say that I look forward to us being together there, as if the city has the gift of wiping out all the doubts, the fears, the pain.

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