Y BlacK MagiC Y
Chapter four: Land Of Denial
Max stormed out of Logan's place with Original Cindy behind her running, and trying to catch up with Max's speed.
"Do you have fire on you're ass? Stop walking so fast boo! I'll end up having a heart attack!" she said to Max, running out of breath. "Would you mind explaining to Original Cindy what just happened in there?"
"Nothing. Forget it okay? Now hurry up or we'll be late for work." Max said.
"We're always late for work Max! What difference does it mean that we will be late another day? Normal won't fire us! He never does." she said behind Max, who opened the door of their apartment and got in, running to her bedroom, changing herself and in a flash, and getting out, ready to go to Jam Pony.
Original Cindy looked at her like she was an alien.
"Houston, we've got a problem." She said out loud, rolling her eyes up to the roof, and putting her hands on her hips.
"What?!" said Max, taking a breath and sitting at the table, before pouring herself a cup of coffee. 'You know what.' she told herself.
"Girl, we're not working 'til noon!" Original Cindy looked at Max up front, frowned, and sat down on a chair. "What's going on in that head of yours?" she asked her boo.
Max made a sick face, and sat down on the couch, defeated, and tired of making excuses.
"Nothing and everything is going on in this head of mine." Max said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples with her fingers to ease the headache she was having. 'Logan told me I wouldn't have a headache if I calmed down, but I'm still having one. Go figure.'
"Your head's killing you boo?" Original Cindy's question was a trick, and Max knew it, so she used it to her advantage.
"Yeah…I know I calmed down yesterday, with the trembling and everything, but I'm having one anyway."
"Ahan…so, Logan was able to make you relax and to make you calm down enough for the shaking to fade…so…was it good?" Original Cindy asked, raising both eyebrows to Max.
Max stared at her home girl wickedly, knowing that she probably woke up during the night to check up on them, and had found her and Logan all cuddled up together.
"You want to know something, you ask directly. I'm not into the *turning around the subject thing* with you. Ask&Answer game, remember?"
"Aiight. Did you feel bad for having snapped him unconscious?" Original Cindy asked. 'She wants to play it, fine by me!'
"Of course I did!" 'What kind of a question is this?!'
"What did you feel? Exactly?"
"I was ashamed, and I felt pain. I guess. For having cost him some…" Max tried to figure what she felt inside when it happened, but all was confused. "I don't really know."
"Did you like the feeling of Logan's body against you?" 'She wants me to go right to the point, then I'll do it!'
Max took a pause and stared at Original Cindy's evil glance.
"Yes." Max said, smiling at her friend. 'Oh god yes…'
"How was it?" She asked, crossing her arms. 'Original Cindy wants details!'
"Good..." Max said in a tone that was like: You know, it was okay. 'Fabulous!' She thought to herself.
"What did you think?" 'I'm gonna make her say it!'
"That he smelled good." Max said, among other things she thought. 'So good…'
"And…?" Original Cindy replied, almost insulted by Max's answer. 'Come on! Be more explicit!'
"That I would have just eat him up!" Max smiled to Cindy. Admitting things to her wasn't really the hardest part, because Max knew that her boo already knew all of this deep inside. 'All of him.'
"Did you think of running away at that time?" 'Ooouu, she's really telling the truth!'
"No." Max plainly answered. 'And that's bizarre coming from me.'
"So why did you do it this morning?" She asked Max softly.
Max took the time to think about this one.
"I felt weird."
"How weird?" Original Cindy asked, frowning her eyebrows. 'Weird?…What kind of a word is that?!'
"Just weird. Bizarre." Max answered, her eyes staring into an empty space.
"Weird how?" 'He he he…'
"It's the same question!" Max yelled into her home girl's ears.
"Answer it!" Original Cindy shouted, like she was talking to a prisoner, doing the interrogation.
"Weird is weird, okay? How the hell should I know how weird is when it's the first f*cking time I feel this way? It was just weird." Max said, starting to be pissed by the questions, mainly because she was having trouble answering them. But at the same time, she was really tired of always running away from her feelings, so it was a good thing. First, admitting it to her boo, and then to her, and then to Logan…oh God! "I was all like, thinking of how sweet he is, and how he cares so much about me, and all I wanted was to hug him until he stopped breathing because I wanted to be so close to him, and then I was staring at him sleeping, and all that weird feeling overcame me, and then, all I wanted was to put my lips over his and kiss him and just rip his clothes off, and I'm not even in heat!" she shouted outraged by her own behavior to Original Cindy, who smiled back at Max, satisfied with her home girl's answer.
"You really like him Max. And he loves you. I know he does boo, you should have seen him last night when you were dancing."
"I can't believe I was dancing." Max said, and then realized what Cindy just said. "What did you just say?" She asked, her eyes wide open.
"Yeah, dancing, I almost got an stroke myself…but never mind that. You were dancing and he just looked at you during 15 minutes without keeping his eyes off of you Max. He's crazy about you. He's madly in love with you boo." She said to her, softly, trying to make it sink in. 'Maybe if Original Cindy keeps saying it, she'll end up believing me!'
"Come on! I'm a genetically enhanced killing machine for him. He repeated it to me many times. I know he cares, but love? No, he can't love me Cindy. I'm not lovable, I'm despicable as a human being. I've seen the disgust in his eyes last week. He knows I did awful things, and he's so damn noble, he won't let himself fall for a prototype like me. He doesn't love me!" Max said denying everything, and almost angry, but more at herself than at her home girl. "And I don't need him either! I was fine before him, and I'll continue to be fine. I like him, a lot, but maybe it's only because he's the first male person to get close to me. To really know who I am. And now, to think I'm in love with the guy? No, no, no, no…it's just phony sentimentality. Nothing more." Max said to her friend, but in fact, she was trying to convince herself it really was what was going on.
"Max…you just said it." Original Cindy was smiling.
"I didn't say anything." Max was suddenly panicked. 'What did I say? What did I say?!' She thought for a few seconds. 'Damn! I said I was in love with him…'
"Yes you did. Original Cindy's a lot of things, but she's not deaf." She smiled at Max.
"It's not me talking, I'm still under chemical influences…it must be the Herbal Cookie again…I'm delusional." Max said, standing up and going into her room, denying it all.
Original Cindy stared at her, wondering if she should laugh or cry. 'Damn that bitch is stubborn!' She sat on the couch. 'Is loving that scary…?'
********
Logan woke up in his bed, alone. He stared at the empty side of the mattress, where Max had been not long ago -it was still warm- and smiled. He knew she wasn't going to be there when waked up. He had hoped she was going to be, but he knew her too well. He sat on the bed, waited a few seconds before sitting himself in the wheelchair, and went to the kitchen.
"Good morning Casanova!" Bling said to Logan, wearing a too large smile for Logan's silence.
"Good morning Bling. To what do I owe the Casanova name?" he asked him with a straight face.
"You mean that you don't remember? Anything…?" Bling replied in a tone that implied a lot.
Logan's chest squeezed, suddenly afraid of the possibilities that were offered to him.
"What's going on?" Logan asked, unsure if he would like the answer or not.
"Max isn't with you this morning Logan?" Bling's question was too mischievous for him not to acknowledge it.
"No…She probably woke up early and decided to go home." He said logically, like there was nothing unusual about this.
"I bet! With what she said to you last night, I'd hide in the wardrobe for a few days myself!" Bling was enjoying his mental torture this morning.
Logan smiled at Bling, crossed his arms, took a deep breath and stared at him.
"I know you're dying to tell me Bling, so why wait. Spill it out!"
"Well…If you INSIST…" Bling began to say, very happy to do so, since him and Original Cindy made a pact to finally make those two open their eyes to each others…not to say hearts. "Well…as I said…"
"Will you SPILL IT for Christ's sake!" Logan shouted at him when he saw that his friend was taking way too much of his time to tell him. 'What happened? What did I do? What did she do?'
"Okay, okay…relax man. Maybe I should ask Max to say to you those beautiful words she whispered into your ear last night again." Bling saw he had caught Logan's attention. "But then again…I don't think it would make you RELAX…quite the contrary!" Bling was enjoying this a lot. A lot. And I repeat it for emphasis: a lot.
"What…?" Began to ask a paling Logan. 'So this was before I woke up…'
"Max was quite over you last night. She was trying to wake you up. Well, not just trying, she really succeeded, but with words you probably wished to hear since the first day you've met her." Bling replied, softly smiling at his buddy. "I know she was whacked up, but in a way, she meant it." Bling paused to let Logan absorb what he had just said. He could see that he wanted to know the exact words Max said to him. "I won't tell you what she said, because frankly, I don't know if she remembers saying them, and I like the girl. Don't want her to be embarrassed about it, but I can tell you that she thinks you smell good. Very good." he said to Logan, before laughing and turning away, heading out to the living room, leaving a catatonic Logan staring at an empty wall. Astonished.
********
Eileen Hattaway isn't a woman that dissociate herself from other people. She isn't really a beautiful girl, but if you look closer, you could see she has charms. Her hair is a dark red, and her eyes are green, but there is something in the way she is, in the way she acts, that made other people look away, almost afraid of staring at her.
She was going to be 25 in a week, and it was then that she would give herself to God for the rest of her life. Eileen had been 6 years old when her parents died in a car accident, and she had lived most part of her life moving from one foster home to another. Some people thought she was autistic, but she wasn't. It was only that she was feeling too much. She could feel the emotions going through another person's body, and it was sometimes too much to bare, especially since she was only a child, and didn't understand where most of the suffering in the world came from.
When her mommy and daddy died, she was in the back seat, forced to watch them suffer for 3 long hours before the rescue team arrived. The pain had been so intense that she felt like she was living both their deaths. After that, she just cut herself from the outside world, dealing with the pain inside of her.
She became a very silent child. When she was 14 years old, her 'dad' used that silence against her, when he entered the bedroom that she and her 'sister' slept in.
He had looked at Eileen, knowing she would not speak, while she watched with horror her sister being raped.
"You're so weird child, that even I don't want you." he had told her, snorting and covering her sister's head with a shirt.
That night, Eileen flew down the stairs, and ran as far away from that house as she could. She didn't know why she didn't do something for that poor girl who was being abused by her father. All she could think at that moment was to get the hell away from there. She bought a bus ticket with the little money she had in her pocket and headed for an other town. Seattle.
She finally ended up at the Jesus Church, where the sisters took great care of her. After all, she really was an orphan, so nobody would look for Eileen Hattaway.
In a week, she was going to be a Sister from the Jesus Church, and that was all she wanted. Those women had helped her in a way that she never thought possible, and was very grateful for it. She still wasn't talking much, but she talked when necessary. Eileen had been helping the poor with Sister Madeleine as a blessing for her. She wanted to make up so bad for not doing anything for her little sister years ago, but Sister Madeleine had told her that it wasn't her fault; she was 14 at the time and reacted like any normal child would react. 'Adults sometimes have trouble dealing with things less worst than that, so don't think less of yourself because of that. You did what you thought was the best for you, and even if sometimes it can be seen as selfishness, it wasn't. You were running for your life Eileen. Now God is giving you a second chance by helping others, it is yours to take it or not.' She had said to her when Eileen told her the whole story about her life.
And she had chosen; she had made the decision of helping people. She felt good with them; they were her only family. 'They are so good to me. How can I ever repay them for the life they gave me?' she thought to herself while praying. She was sitting in the front row of the church, looking at the Jesus statue that had been repined where it was before falling down yesterday. She frowned. 'Why don't I remember it falling? Why didn't I hear it? All I remember was that I was talking to Father Lacroix and then, blank. Why don't I remember?' Eileen tried to pray in order to put away the thoughts that were running through her mind, but she couldn't.
********
Logan arrived at Sebastian's place at noon. The previous day, before Max had knocked him out of it, they had talked a little, and Sebastian had said that he would do some digging, before informing him on the case of Father Jean Lacroix.
"So", Logan said, trying to understand what had been said. "This Lacroix guy was the priest who exiled himself in Asia after the murder of that sister 5 years ago in Paris. His assistant was the boy who got executed for it, but really was innocent after all, and the French police never found that out. Why?"
"It's not good for publicity to admit you have killed an innocent man." Sebastian replied.
"It's disgusting." Logan said back, feeling like he was about to vomit from what he had just heard.
"It has happened more times than you think Logan."
"I know, that's why it's disgusting. Where was morality in those days? And where is it now?" Logan couldn't understand how someone could prefer saving his public image instead of saving an innocent life.
"There isn't anymore." Sebastian paused before continuing. "This guy is really covering his tracks very well. Finding the proof against him won't be easy. And the sign you showed me on the picture of the dead sister is biblical. It means * Free souls in Heaven. * Like a clear conscience. And I wasn't able to translate all of the words he was saying to this sister on the tape you send me, but it's basically some kind of spell that was used in the early years to clear the souls from unwanted demons -and by demons I mean secrets, diseases like epilepsy, all that sort of things- before dying."
"Before dying?" Logan repeated, not sure he understood.
"Yes, it was practiced when the person was in great pain, and dying. It's some kind of hypnosis, so it makes the pain less perceptible to the dying person." Sebastian answered back. "But I know what you're thinking, and no. Those women who died 10 years ago, and the sister 5 years ago weren't sick at all. But they had money. Money that suddenly disappeared after their death."
"I see…" Logan replied.
"Yeah. And now I heard, that yesterday, Father Lacroix took the plane to Switzerland. Why? Don't know, but we have an idea, right? What else is out there other than banks? And his little departure just might be the help you need to further your little research at the church."
"Sure. A rich girl is what attracts him? I think I know just where to find one." Logan said laughing to himself.
Sebastian looked at him and smiled.
"She'll never agree to that my friend."
"Well see about that." Logan replied, and wheeled himself out of Sebastian's apartment.
***********
The day at Jam Pony had been the same as usual, but Normal had a cold, so he wasn't yelling as much as usual, which was great for a girl's mood.
"Original Cindy will try to find something to put in Normal's drink to make him sick all the time, because she enjoys not being yelled at a lot."
Max laughed at that.
"I'm gonna take a shower before going to Logan okay?" Max said before going into the bathroom.
"Ohh…? You're going to Logaaannn…" Teased Original Cindy.
"Yeah. And no it's not because of what you're thinking. We have something to discuss about something that you won't know about." Max said to her on the other side of the door.
"Business?" She asked.
"Exactly."
"Leg work, huh?" Original Cindy wanted to know.
"Shut up boo!"
"Damn! I'll never know what's the dealio with those two." Original Cindy said to herself, walking to the kitchen to make some tea.
10 minutes later Max got out of the shower and went to her bedroom in a towel.
"I made some tea sweetheart, do you want some?"
"No thanks." Max shouted before closing the door.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, Original Cindy stood up from the couch and opened it. It was Logan.
"Hey Sleepy Head, how are ya today?" She asked him, showing him inside.
"I'm fine, thanks for your concern." He said to her sarcastically smiling.
"Boo's in her room putting on some clothes. It shouldn't be lon…" Original Cindy didn't have the time to finish her sentence that Max got out of her room in her underwear -both black- with her red shirt in her hands, furious. She walked towards Original Cindy without noticing that Logan was almost having a heart attack.
"What the hell did you do to my shirt? Look at it!" Max shouted at her.
"Max…" Said Original Cindy looking at Logan who didn't know where to look anymore.
"Don't Max me! You borrowed it and you gave it back with a hole the size of Arkansas!" Max continued shouting, showing her the hole in her shirt. "Do I look like I can buy shirts whenever I want to? I'm not a freakin' money machine!"
"MAX!" Original Cindy yelled, now having caught her friend's attention. Max stared at her with her right hand on her hip.
"I DIDN'T see the hole in it, and you really SHOULD put something on!" she said to Max.
"What's with you? It's not like you never saw me before!" Max stared at Cindy like she was a crazy woman.
"Me? Yes. But him? No." Original Cindy answered back to Max, showing her their visitor.
Max turned around to see a very silent, flushed Logan, who didn't know where to look anymore. A little squeal got out of her mouth before she turned around and ran to her bedroom.
Original Cindy couldn't help herself anymore and laughed. She then stared at Logan who looked like he hadn't taken a breath in 10 minutes.
"Did you loose your inspiration/expiration functions?" She asked him, who wasn't looking at her at all.
"Hmmm…I'll just…leave…I'll be home if she wants to…whatever…" Logan started to roll himself out of the apartment.
"Will you be alright to drive?" Original Cindy asked, laughing her ass off inside.
********
To be continued…
Please, tell me reviews! Reviews! I want you to talk to me!!! :-]
Anna
Chapter four: Land Of Denial
Max stormed out of Logan's place with Original Cindy behind her running, and trying to catch up with Max's speed.
"Do you have fire on you're ass? Stop walking so fast boo! I'll end up having a heart attack!" she said to Max, running out of breath. "Would you mind explaining to Original Cindy what just happened in there?"
"Nothing. Forget it okay? Now hurry up or we'll be late for work." Max said.
"We're always late for work Max! What difference does it mean that we will be late another day? Normal won't fire us! He never does." she said behind Max, who opened the door of their apartment and got in, running to her bedroom, changing herself and in a flash, and getting out, ready to go to Jam Pony.
Original Cindy looked at her like she was an alien.
"Houston, we've got a problem." She said out loud, rolling her eyes up to the roof, and putting her hands on her hips.
"What?!" said Max, taking a breath and sitting at the table, before pouring herself a cup of coffee. 'You know what.' she told herself.
"Girl, we're not working 'til noon!" Original Cindy looked at Max up front, frowned, and sat down on a chair. "What's going on in that head of yours?" she asked her boo.
Max made a sick face, and sat down on the couch, defeated, and tired of making excuses.
"Nothing and everything is going on in this head of mine." Max said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples with her fingers to ease the headache she was having. 'Logan told me I wouldn't have a headache if I calmed down, but I'm still having one. Go figure.'
"Your head's killing you boo?" Original Cindy's question was a trick, and Max knew it, so she used it to her advantage.
"Yeah…I know I calmed down yesterday, with the trembling and everything, but I'm having one anyway."
"Ahan…so, Logan was able to make you relax and to make you calm down enough for the shaking to fade…so…was it good?" Original Cindy asked, raising both eyebrows to Max.
Max stared at her home girl wickedly, knowing that she probably woke up during the night to check up on them, and had found her and Logan all cuddled up together.
"You want to know something, you ask directly. I'm not into the *turning around the subject thing* with you. Ask&Answer game, remember?"
"Aiight. Did you feel bad for having snapped him unconscious?" Original Cindy asked. 'She wants to play it, fine by me!'
"Of course I did!" 'What kind of a question is this?!'
"What did you feel? Exactly?"
"I was ashamed, and I felt pain. I guess. For having cost him some…" Max tried to figure what she felt inside when it happened, but all was confused. "I don't really know."
"Did you like the feeling of Logan's body against you?" 'She wants me to go right to the point, then I'll do it!'
Max took a pause and stared at Original Cindy's evil glance.
"Yes." Max said, smiling at her friend. 'Oh god yes…'
"How was it?" She asked, crossing her arms. 'Original Cindy wants details!'
"Good..." Max said in a tone that was like: You know, it was okay. 'Fabulous!' She thought to herself.
"What did you think?" 'I'm gonna make her say it!'
"That he smelled good." Max said, among other things she thought. 'So good…'
"And…?" Original Cindy replied, almost insulted by Max's answer. 'Come on! Be more explicit!'
"That I would have just eat him up!" Max smiled to Cindy. Admitting things to her wasn't really the hardest part, because Max knew that her boo already knew all of this deep inside. 'All of him.'
"Did you think of running away at that time?" 'Ooouu, she's really telling the truth!'
"No." Max plainly answered. 'And that's bizarre coming from me.'
"So why did you do it this morning?" She asked Max softly.
Max took the time to think about this one.
"I felt weird."
"How weird?" Original Cindy asked, frowning her eyebrows. 'Weird?…What kind of a word is that?!'
"Just weird. Bizarre." Max answered, her eyes staring into an empty space.
"Weird how?" 'He he he…'
"It's the same question!" Max yelled into her home girl's ears.
"Answer it!" Original Cindy shouted, like she was talking to a prisoner, doing the interrogation.
"Weird is weird, okay? How the hell should I know how weird is when it's the first f*cking time I feel this way? It was just weird." Max said, starting to be pissed by the questions, mainly because she was having trouble answering them. But at the same time, she was really tired of always running away from her feelings, so it was a good thing. First, admitting it to her boo, and then to her, and then to Logan…oh God! "I was all like, thinking of how sweet he is, and how he cares so much about me, and all I wanted was to hug him until he stopped breathing because I wanted to be so close to him, and then I was staring at him sleeping, and all that weird feeling overcame me, and then, all I wanted was to put my lips over his and kiss him and just rip his clothes off, and I'm not even in heat!" she shouted outraged by her own behavior to Original Cindy, who smiled back at Max, satisfied with her home girl's answer.
"You really like him Max. And he loves you. I know he does boo, you should have seen him last night when you were dancing."
"I can't believe I was dancing." Max said, and then realized what Cindy just said. "What did you just say?" She asked, her eyes wide open.
"Yeah, dancing, I almost got an stroke myself…but never mind that. You were dancing and he just looked at you during 15 minutes without keeping his eyes off of you Max. He's crazy about you. He's madly in love with you boo." She said to her, softly, trying to make it sink in. 'Maybe if Original Cindy keeps saying it, she'll end up believing me!'
"Come on! I'm a genetically enhanced killing machine for him. He repeated it to me many times. I know he cares, but love? No, he can't love me Cindy. I'm not lovable, I'm despicable as a human being. I've seen the disgust in his eyes last week. He knows I did awful things, and he's so damn noble, he won't let himself fall for a prototype like me. He doesn't love me!" Max said denying everything, and almost angry, but more at herself than at her home girl. "And I don't need him either! I was fine before him, and I'll continue to be fine. I like him, a lot, but maybe it's only because he's the first male person to get close to me. To really know who I am. And now, to think I'm in love with the guy? No, no, no, no…it's just phony sentimentality. Nothing more." Max said to her friend, but in fact, she was trying to convince herself it really was what was going on.
"Max…you just said it." Original Cindy was smiling.
"I didn't say anything." Max was suddenly panicked. 'What did I say? What did I say?!' She thought for a few seconds. 'Damn! I said I was in love with him…'
"Yes you did. Original Cindy's a lot of things, but she's not deaf." She smiled at Max.
"It's not me talking, I'm still under chemical influences…it must be the Herbal Cookie again…I'm delusional." Max said, standing up and going into her room, denying it all.
Original Cindy stared at her, wondering if she should laugh or cry. 'Damn that bitch is stubborn!' She sat on the couch. 'Is loving that scary…?'
********
Logan woke up in his bed, alone. He stared at the empty side of the mattress, where Max had been not long ago -it was still warm- and smiled. He knew she wasn't going to be there when waked up. He had hoped she was going to be, but he knew her too well. He sat on the bed, waited a few seconds before sitting himself in the wheelchair, and went to the kitchen.
"Good morning Casanova!" Bling said to Logan, wearing a too large smile for Logan's silence.
"Good morning Bling. To what do I owe the Casanova name?" he asked him with a straight face.
"You mean that you don't remember? Anything…?" Bling replied in a tone that implied a lot.
Logan's chest squeezed, suddenly afraid of the possibilities that were offered to him.
"What's going on?" Logan asked, unsure if he would like the answer or not.
"Max isn't with you this morning Logan?" Bling's question was too mischievous for him not to acknowledge it.
"No…She probably woke up early and decided to go home." He said logically, like there was nothing unusual about this.
"I bet! With what she said to you last night, I'd hide in the wardrobe for a few days myself!" Bling was enjoying his mental torture this morning.
Logan smiled at Bling, crossed his arms, took a deep breath and stared at him.
"I know you're dying to tell me Bling, so why wait. Spill it out!"
"Well…If you INSIST…" Bling began to say, very happy to do so, since him and Original Cindy made a pact to finally make those two open their eyes to each others…not to say hearts. "Well…as I said…"
"Will you SPILL IT for Christ's sake!" Logan shouted at him when he saw that his friend was taking way too much of his time to tell him. 'What happened? What did I do? What did she do?'
"Okay, okay…relax man. Maybe I should ask Max to say to you those beautiful words she whispered into your ear last night again." Bling saw he had caught Logan's attention. "But then again…I don't think it would make you RELAX…quite the contrary!" Bling was enjoying this a lot. A lot. And I repeat it for emphasis: a lot.
"What…?" Began to ask a paling Logan. 'So this was before I woke up…'
"Max was quite over you last night. She was trying to wake you up. Well, not just trying, she really succeeded, but with words you probably wished to hear since the first day you've met her." Bling replied, softly smiling at his buddy. "I know she was whacked up, but in a way, she meant it." Bling paused to let Logan absorb what he had just said. He could see that he wanted to know the exact words Max said to him. "I won't tell you what she said, because frankly, I don't know if she remembers saying them, and I like the girl. Don't want her to be embarrassed about it, but I can tell you that she thinks you smell good. Very good." he said to Logan, before laughing and turning away, heading out to the living room, leaving a catatonic Logan staring at an empty wall. Astonished.
********
Eileen Hattaway isn't a woman that dissociate herself from other people. She isn't really a beautiful girl, but if you look closer, you could see she has charms. Her hair is a dark red, and her eyes are green, but there is something in the way she is, in the way she acts, that made other people look away, almost afraid of staring at her.
She was going to be 25 in a week, and it was then that she would give herself to God for the rest of her life. Eileen had been 6 years old when her parents died in a car accident, and she had lived most part of her life moving from one foster home to another. Some people thought she was autistic, but she wasn't. It was only that she was feeling too much. She could feel the emotions going through another person's body, and it was sometimes too much to bare, especially since she was only a child, and didn't understand where most of the suffering in the world came from.
When her mommy and daddy died, she was in the back seat, forced to watch them suffer for 3 long hours before the rescue team arrived. The pain had been so intense that she felt like she was living both their deaths. After that, she just cut herself from the outside world, dealing with the pain inside of her.
She became a very silent child. When she was 14 years old, her 'dad' used that silence against her, when he entered the bedroom that she and her 'sister' slept in.
He had looked at Eileen, knowing she would not speak, while she watched with horror her sister being raped.
"You're so weird child, that even I don't want you." he had told her, snorting and covering her sister's head with a shirt.
That night, Eileen flew down the stairs, and ran as far away from that house as she could. She didn't know why she didn't do something for that poor girl who was being abused by her father. All she could think at that moment was to get the hell away from there. She bought a bus ticket with the little money she had in her pocket and headed for an other town. Seattle.
She finally ended up at the Jesus Church, where the sisters took great care of her. After all, she really was an orphan, so nobody would look for Eileen Hattaway.
In a week, she was going to be a Sister from the Jesus Church, and that was all she wanted. Those women had helped her in a way that she never thought possible, and was very grateful for it. She still wasn't talking much, but she talked when necessary. Eileen had been helping the poor with Sister Madeleine as a blessing for her. She wanted to make up so bad for not doing anything for her little sister years ago, but Sister Madeleine had told her that it wasn't her fault; she was 14 at the time and reacted like any normal child would react. 'Adults sometimes have trouble dealing with things less worst than that, so don't think less of yourself because of that. You did what you thought was the best for you, and even if sometimes it can be seen as selfishness, it wasn't. You were running for your life Eileen. Now God is giving you a second chance by helping others, it is yours to take it or not.' She had said to her when Eileen told her the whole story about her life.
And she had chosen; she had made the decision of helping people. She felt good with them; they were her only family. 'They are so good to me. How can I ever repay them for the life they gave me?' she thought to herself while praying. She was sitting in the front row of the church, looking at the Jesus statue that had been repined where it was before falling down yesterday. She frowned. 'Why don't I remember it falling? Why didn't I hear it? All I remember was that I was talking to Father Lacroix and then, blank. Why don't I remember?' Eileen tried to pray in order to put away the thoughts that were running through her mind, but she couldn't.
********
Logan arrived at Sebastian's place at noon. The previous day, before Max had knocked him out of it, they had talked a little, and Sebastian had said that he would do some digging, before informing him on the case of Father Jean Lacroix.
"So", Logan said, trying to understand what had been said. "This Lacroix guy was the priest who exiled himself in Asia after the murder of that sister 5 years ago in Paris. His assistant was the boy who got executed for it, but really was innocent after all, and the French police never found that out. Why?"
"It's not good for publicity to admit you have killed an innocent man." Sebastian replied.
"It's disgusting." Logan said back, feeling like he was about to vomit from what he had just heard.
"It has happened more times than you think Logan."
"I know, that's why it's disgusting. Where was morality in those days? And where is it now?" Logan couldn't understand how someone could prefer saving his public image instead of saving an innocent life.
"There isn't anymore." Sebastian paused before continuing. "This guy is really covering his tracks very well. Finding the proof against him won't be easy. And the sign you showed me on the picture of the dead sister is biblical. It means * Free souls in Heaven. * Like a clear conscience. And I wasn't able to translate all of the words he was saying to this sister on the tape you send me, but it's basically some kind of spell that was used in the early years to clear the souls from unwanted demons -and by demons I mean secrets, diseases like epilepsy, all that sort of things- before dying."
"Before dying?" Logan repeated, not sure he understood.
"Yes, it was practiced when the person was in great pain, and dying. It's some kind of hypnosis, so it makes the pain less perceptible to the dying person." Sebastian answered back. "But I know what you're thinking, and no. Those women who died 10 years ago, and the sister 5 years ago weren't sick at all. But they had money. Money that suddenly disappeared after their death."
"I see…" Logan replied.
"Yeah. And now I heard, that yesterday, Father Lacroix took the plane to Switzerland. Why? Don't know, but we have an idea, right? What else is out there other than banks? And his little departure just might be the help you need to further your little research at the church."
"Sure. A rich girl is what attracts him? I think I know just where to find one." Logan said laughing to himself.
Sebastian looked at him and smiled.
"She'll never agree to that my friend."
"Well see about that." Logan replied, and wheeled himself out of Sebastian's apartment.
***********
The day at Jam Pony had been the same as usual, but Normal had a cold, so he wasn't yelling as much as usual, which was great for a girl's mood.
"Original Cindy will try to find something to put in Normal's drink to make him sick all the time, because she enjoys not being yelled at a lot."
Max laughed at that.
"I'm gonna take a shower before going to Logan okay?" Max said before going into the bathroom.
"Ohh…? You're going to Logaaannn…" Teased Original Cindy.
"Yeah. And no it's not because of what you're thinking. We have something to discuss about something that you won't know about." Max said to her on the other side of the door.
"Business?" She asked.
"Exactly."
"Leg work, huh?" Original Cindy wanted to know.
"Shut up boo!"
"Damn! I'll never know what's the dealio with those two." Original Cindy said to herself, walking to the kitchen to make some tea.
10 minutes later Max got out of the shower and went to her bedroom in a towel.
"I made some tea sweetheart, do you want some?"
"No thanks." Max shouted before closing the door.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, Original Cindy stood up from the couch and opened it. It was Logan.
"Hey Sleepy Head, how are ya today?" She asked him, showing him inside.
"I'm fine, thanks for your concern." He said to her sarcastically smiling.
"Boo's in her room putting on some clothes. It shouldn't be lon…" Original Cindy didn't have the time to finish her sentence that Max got out of her room in her underwear -both black- with her red shirt in her hands, furious. She walked towards Original Cindy without noticing that Logan was almost having a heart attack.
"What the hell did you do to my shirt? Look at it!" Max shouted at her.
"Max…" Said Original Cindy looking at Logan who didn't know where to look anymore.
"Don't Max me! You borrowed it and you gave it back with a hole the size of Arkansas!" Max continued shouting, showing her the hole in her shirt. "Do I look like I can buy shirts whenever I want to? I'm not a freakin' money machine!"
"MAX!" Original Cindy yelled, now having caught her friend's attention. Max stared at her with her right hand on her hip.
"I DIDN'T see the hole in it, and you really SHOULD put something on!" she said to Max.
"What's with you? It's not like you never saw me before!" Max stared at Cindy like she was a crazy woman.
"Me? Yes. But him? No." Original Cindy answered back to Max, showing her their visitor.
Max turned around to see a very silent, flushed Logan, who didn't know where to look anymore. A little squeal got out of her mouth before she turned around and ran to her bedroom.
Original Cindy couldn't help herself anymore and laughed. She then stared at Logan who looked like he hadn't taken a breath in 10 minutes.
"Did you loose your inspiration/expiration functions?" She asked him, who wasn't looking at her at all.
"Hmmm…I'll just…leave…I'll be home if she wants to…whatever…" Logan started to roll himself out of the apartment.
"Will you be alright to drive?" Original Cindy asked, laughing her ass off inside.
********
To be continued…
Please, tell me reviews! Reviews! I want you to talk to me!!! :-]
Anna
