by Athena Dore
“You know,” she said, “This kind of reminds me of our first date. It was a lovely place like this ”.
“So that was a date?” asked Xavier, “And there I was thinking you wanted to thank me for letting you stay…”
“It was originally to say ‘thank you’, but in light of everything that’s happened, I’m posthumously naming it our first date”.
Xavier chuckled.
“All right” he said.
They walked back under the light of the full moon. Rochelle laid her head on Xavier’s shoulder.
As she lay in bed that night, a slither of the moon’s light shone on her face through a chink in the curtains. She turned to Xavier.
“You know, I had the best day today”.
Xavier stroked the side of her face.
“I’m glad you did” he said.
He moved closer and kissed her. It was slow and tentative at first but the force increased until there was an insatiable greediness in the urgency that took her breath away and made her yearn for him, even though he was already beside her. So near. The strap of her nightdress slipped from her shoulder as his hands stroked and caressed. Lower. Rougher. She moaned softly. Xavier eased her onto her back, climbing on top of her. His wings opened but he fought the beast. He looked into her eyes, deeply, intently. Her heart raced. She could see how much he wanted her; good grief, she wanted him to have her. Her body ached with a longing to be his. She pulled him closer, ever closer.
* * *
The next day, Xavier had had another letter in a black envelope. It assured him, as always, that his membership was most welcome and that if he chose not to join, they could not ensure the safety of Miss Rochelle Phillips.
Another part of the letter stood out to him:
Remember the girl.
Xavier couldn’t forget. All these years, he remembered. All these years he’d tried to suppress the memory of what he’d done to her. She was the reason he avoided getting into other relationships, and risking hurting someone else. Until Rochelle. But Rochelle had helped him see that though it was difficult, though he doubted himself at times, he was capable of loving someone without hurting her and someone was capable of accepting him and his beastly nature. So anyone who threatened to harm her, even on paper… He snarled, his eyes smouldering. He scrunched up the letter in his hand and hurled it into the bin. Then, he turned swiftly and punched the mirror. It shattered.
Rochelle gave a startled cry.
“Xavier?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t move. His breathing was deep and furious.
She approached him.
“Xavier, what’s going on?”
He turned to her. His eyes were angry. She almost shrank away. She thought maybe he was turning but he was definitely Xavier. This was the first time she’d seen him like this and he scared her.
As his eyes fell on her, however, they softened into the gentle expression she associated with him. He lowered his hand from the frame, which had encased the large mirror.
“Your hand!”
He looked at it. Blood ran in little rivulets over his knuckles.
“It’s fine” he said dismissively.
She went to get her First Aid kit. She didn’t usually take First Aid kits with her on holiday, but travelling with someone like Xavier... He had even given her an emergency number to call to avoid ordinary human hospitals.
“Do you want to tell me what that was about?” asked Rochelle as she cleaned his wound.
Xavier sighed.
“There are things you don’t know about me”, he said, “Things I’ve done; things I’m not proud of”.
Rachel looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
“I wanted to spare you from this. The less you know about it, the better. You can still walk away”.
“I’m not going anywhere” said Rochelle. Even so, she was worried. The last time, when she’d said she wanted to get to know him better, he turned out to be not quite human. Now, she told him she wasn’t going anywhere. She knew he had a past but what if he revealed something about himself that was just as big and terrifying?
He closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts. Perhaps he was hesitating because he was afraid he might lose her… Either way, she felt uneasy.
“University…”, he began, “You know what it’s like – the partying and the drinking”.
Rochelle nodded.
“Well, I didn’t know my limitations”, he continued, “I had a girlfriend at the time and we ended up sleeping together but I was drunk and I turned and slashed her to within an inch of her life”.
He sighed. Rochelle noticed his hands were trembling. It seemed remembering still caused him some distress. But this explained was why he’d been so reluctant yesterday…
“I was so ashamed and… and scared that I didn’t tell anyone, not even Sebastian”.
She patted his arm.
“You don’t have to tell me this” she said.
“No, I do” he said adamantly.
He took a deep breath.
“When I found out what I was capable of, I was distraught”, he continued, “I was a monster. I even contemplated suicide. But then, an organisation reached out to me – The Order of Jessick. I gave them a fake identity so my family wouldn’t find out. They helped me sort out my life and I was grateful. But then, they started trying to get me to do things I didn’t want to do and so I… so I left”.
“About a year ago, they found out my true identity. And they’ve been blackmailing me, threatening to out my secret about what I am, what I did, if I don’t join them and provide financial assistance for their cause”.
That’s awful”, said Rochelle, “Can’t you stop them?”
“I managed to have some of them sent to prison and of course, I moved to Lower Ferton to lie low for a while. But it’s only made them change their strategy.
“How?”
“I found out they were responsible for Roseford”.
“What?”
Rochelle somehow felt it as a personal attack, perhaps because she had been there at the time.
“Yes”, said Xavier, “but that’s not all. They’re targeting you now”.
“Me?”
Rochelle’s blood ran cold. People who’d be ruthless enough to blow up Roseford were after her…?
“Yes”, said Xavier, “I was suspicious when you were in hospital, which is why we moved you to Roseford in the first place.
“And then, yesterday in the Piazza del Duomo, I saw some of them. I think they’re following us”.
Xavier looked at her. It was a piercing look.
“But it’s the wrong strategy” he said, vehemence creeping into his eyes, “because the thought of anyone harming you makes me so angry”.
Rochelle took his hand. She was worried. Bad things happened when people were angry – violence, misunderstandings, errors in judgement…
* * *
That afternoon, after Xavier had calmed down, she managed to persuade him to go to the Boboli gardens for a walk. He kept looking over his shoulder even though very often, they were the only people on the path. The bushes rose up high on either side of them, making it feel very private.
“You know, I’m so glad it was you who brought the parcel to my house. It could have been anyone. If it had been anyone else on the road, or even anyone else in your family, like Nico…”
“You would have fallen in love with him instead?”
Xavier laughed.
“No, not quite”, he said, “but I would never have met you. You would have been right down the road from me and I would never have known you were there. How could I have endured the rest of my life not knowing you, Rochelle?”
The warm breeze rustled through the bushes around them. He looked into her eyes.
“I love you” he said.
He leaned forward and kissed her. Softly. Gently. Like he needed her in his life.
He pulled away. She looked up at him, feeling a warm bu
zz glow through her chest. He loved her.
“I love you too” she said.
They began walking along, holding hands. The sun shone down on them. It felt like an enchanted garden, with Renaissance statues dotted along the path. Some were busts of people, others were figures and creatures frozen for eternity in their designated poses. It was so peaceful and secluded. Or rather, it was peaceful until a swarm of chattering tourists came along the path from behind. There were so many and they came upon Xavier and Rochelle so quickly that they broke their hands apart and Rochelle was drawn along on the tide and jostled towards the centre.
With great effort, she waded to the edge of the tourists and finally extricated herself from them. As the last of the throng passed by her, she looked for Xavier along the way that she had just come but he wasn’t there.
“Xavier?” she called. Still he was nowhere in sight.
He had probably been drawn along with the tourists too. She went in the direction they – and hopefully Xavier – had gone.
No one was there.
She looked behind her again. A man with dark hair and a blue shirt was walking along the path. He was looking at her. The way he was staring made her feel uncomfortable. Most people looked away or smiled or did something to acknowledge they’d seen you but he just carried on staring with a crooked smile on his face.
Rochelle ran. The man ran too.
Rochelle had no idea where she was going. The bushes lining the paths were so tall she could have been in a maze for all she knew. Suddenly, peaceful and secluded had become eerie and isolated. Her heart beat wildly.
She turned at every corner, hoping to be free, only to be greeted by another path similar to the last. It was almost like a nightmare.
Where was Xavier? After the things he’d told her earlier, she really didn’t want to be alone here.
Slowing down slightly to catch her breath, she took out her phone. She’d had six missed calls from him already. She called him back, still running.
“Rochelle?”
His voice sounded relieved that she’d finally answered the phone.
“Xavier?” she called frantically. Fear made her voice shrill and shaky.
“Someone’s following me”.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the Boboli gardens somewhere. I’m lost”.
“Don’t worry, Rochelle, I’ll find you” he said.
Through the phone, he suddenly heard her scream, followed by a thud.
“Rochelle? Rochelle?”
Frantic, Xavier scoured the whole of the gardens but the only thing he found of her was her red scarf lying abandoned on the ground. He roared in anguish. The sound was half-way between wounded animal and enraged man.
* * *
“Nice of you to join us”.
Rochelle didn’t feel that she’d quite joined them yet, whoever they were. She felt groggy and disorientated and her vision was blurry. She was lying on the floor. It was cold and had a black and white diamond pattern.
Where was she? The last thing she remembered was being in the Boboli Gardens, on the phone to Xavier and then everything had gone black. How long ago was that? Hours? Days? She’d been missing too much of her life in the past couple of months.
And where was Xavier? Was he here? She tried to sit up to see but she found her wrists and ankles were bound.
“Precautions”, said the voice, “We’d prefer it if you didn’t leave before you’d realised your purpose”.
Realised her purpose? She turned her head to see who was speaking. He was a man in a crisp, dark blue suit with dark hair and brown eyes. Somewhere in his forties, he looked quite ordinary, as though he would blend in easily in London’s morning commuter crowd. However, the drawl and lilt of voice gave him an authoritative, and even charismatic, tone.
“You make it sound like I’ve got a choice”.
“Oh, we all have choices, Miss Phillips”, he said, “It’s what we do with those choices that shapes the path of the future of mankind”.
Whatever. She didn’t have time to be waxing philosophical with someone holding her hostage like this.
“Where’s Xavier?”
“Shh-shh-shh, Miss Phillips”, he said, “We’ll get to the big questions all in good time. Until then, let’s get to know each other a little first”.
The man was so infuriating. If she hadn’t been tied up, his patronising tone would have made her punch him for sure, then she would have ‘realised her purpose’. But fine. She’d play along for a while. There wasn’t a lot a girl could do when she was tied up and lying on the floor.
“Who are you?”
“Tobias Maximus Heath at your service”, he said, “I am the Prime Protector and Chief incumbent of the Order of Jessick – UK division”.
He smiled.
“And you are the lovely Rochelle Mariah Phillips”, he continued, “I’ve heard so much about you – all good of course”.
Rochelle felt a bit creeped out that he knew her name. She wondered what other things he knew about her. However, Tobias didn’t continue the conversation. He looked up.
“Leave us” he commanded. She heard the footsteps of unseen people behind her as they walked across the room. There was the sound of a door creaking open and finally, the echo after it closed. Silence.
She didn’t know who the people were – soldiers or body guards most likely – but she wished they were still there. She didn’t trust this Tobias guy and she certainly didn’t want to be alone with him. He sounded the type who would pull out your fingernails whilst discussing which flowers he was hoping to plant in the garden this year.
“Ah”, he sighed, “Alone at last. I do my best work alone”.
Rochelle shuddered. That didn’t sound promising.
Tobias Maximus Heath took out a knife from his pocket and removed the sheath. The light glinted off its smooth edge and dazzled her for a second.
He walked towards her. Rochelle’s heart started to beat quicker. This was definitely the part where she died. Maybe they could reach an agreement. Maybe she could negotiate in an Arabian Nights kind of fashion and do something for him in exchange for her life…
He crouched in front of her.
“You’re a beautiful girl, Miss Phillips. I can see why Xavier Knight is so smitten with you”.
From him, it sounded creepy rather than complimentary.
“It’s a shame you’re tied up like that”, he continued, “That’s not how I like things. My guards are heavy-handed brutes. Though, they get the job done”.
He stood up again. The knife shone in her eyes once more as he walked behind her, out of her view. She panicked.
“What are you going to do?”
When he spoke again, he was very, very close to her. His voice was low in her ear. His breath tickled against her skin. She could feel the heat that radiated from him, could smell the heady scent of his cologne.
“If you try to harm me, my guards are just beyond the door and if you try to escape…well, we all know Xavier Knight is mortal”.
“If you even think of harming him…” she said coldly.
“Better be on your best behaviour, then”.
For a moment, he was still and she could hear him breathing in her ear. Then, he moved away.
She felt tugging at her wrists until suddenly they were free. The same happened with her ankles. She sat up.
Tobias returned to his original position in front of her. He put the knife back in its sheath and placed it in his pocket once again.
Rochelle was free. Surely that was the first step to getting out of here, wherever ‘here’ was? However, she still felt her hands were tied. Xavier would be the one to suffer if she tried to escape… She was as much a prisoner as before.
“I see you’re a sensible girl” he said when she didn’t try to run.
A phone started ringing. It was muffled but Rochelle recognised the ring tone as her own. It was coming from her bag lying on a small, round oak table at
the side of the room.
“Let’s answer that; it could be the beau. He’s been ringing a lot”.
He retrieved the phone and brought it to her. She snatched it and frowned at him. He had no right to go through her bag like that.
“Rochelle?”
“Xavier!”
