Chapter #5Fall by: imaj   Previously: "An Iron Moon Rising" 
You press one hand against the old glass pane and stare out as the slowly insistent patter of the rain drums against the window. Typical Fall weather for Glasgow, though you have to remind yourself to not use the Americanism, and use the word Autumn instead. Across the park, through the drizzle of the rain you can see the bell tower of the university thrusting into the sky. The gothic structure looms in the murk.
"Nice view," you mutter. "At least you won't have far to go to class."
"Yeah," says Bea, rolling up beside you.
You glance sideways at your foster daughter, though you are sure the description no longer applies. Eighteen now, Bea is an adult, ready to take her first steps on her own. Here at university no less. You feel a great sadness well inside yourself, because you realise that Bea is going to stop being such a major part in your life. For the last twelve years you have been Siobhan Connor in order to bring up Bea and her sister.
But now they don't need you anymore.
So in a little while you are going to walk out of here and change your face. You won't be Siobhan Connor anymore. Not so much. You might get to visit Bea from time to time, but mostly you'll be working on whatever mission Rosalie assigns to you.
"Are you ok," asks Bea.
"No... Yes, I'm fine," you tell her, your voice wavering. "Something in my eye," you explain.
Bea smiles and hugs you warmly. You feel a smile steal over your own face. For all that your mood is so low, you cannot help but feel proud of Bea. She has grown into a strong young woman. Not pretty, like her sister Imogen, but someone who's beauty lies in her character. Even after all these years, her toothy smile still has the power to make you feel better inside.
"I've got something for you," you say, turning away from the window. The flat is still a mess of unpacked boxes and crates, but your bag is still clearly visible amongst them. You walk over and open it, taking the cloth wrapped object out and handing it to Bea.
"What is it," she asks as she unwraps it, revealing a shiny metal oval inside.
"A mask," you explain as the cloth falls to the floor. Bea flips it over and examines it closely. "I'm moving on," you explain. "More work to do for the... for my friends..., but I want you to take this and know that I'll always be nearby, and always be there to help you."
"How does it work."
How does it work, you think. Can you tell her the truth? That when you activate it you'd jump inside her and seize control. It's not that you want to, in fact the idea appals you. But if something happened to her? Being able to help her directly, or at the very least work out she was in trouble. That you would do: Enough to help her escape and keep her safe.
How to explain though... "If something happens, if someone comes for you," and you pause and shudder at the idea that someone might try to get to you through Bea again. It's been three years since the assassin came for you in Olympia - an assassin who now works as one of your colleagues to boot - and the memories of Bea's terrified face are still raw and fresh. "It will let me find you, and help you," you explain.
Bea nods slowly. "Thank you. What do I do?"
"Put it to your face," you explain. "But sit down first. It will make you sleep for a few minutes."
She does as you ask, clearing aside a small spot on one sofa before gently pressing the remote mask to her face. A few minutes later you are helping her to her feet again. "Is it working?"
You close your eyes and concentrate. The remote control sigil, like all the others in the Libra is part of you. It took you years of experimenting to work it out fully, but now that you know it's there, examining it is merely a simple act of concentration. The mask on Bea is obvious to you, and it would be simple to dive in to it. But you pull back. "Yes," you reply. "I've got something else." You take out a small piece of paper from your bag and hand it to Bea. "This is the number and address for one of my friends. She lives not too far away from here now. If you need to contact me, or you need help you can ask her."
"Thanks," says Bea. She shoves the paper into one of her pockets. There is a brief, awkward silence. "This is it then?"
You wipe your eye again. "I guess." You step forward and hug Bea, so she doesn't see the tears forming in your eyes.
*****
In fact, you go to meet your friend before you leave Glasgow. It is still raining when you reach the School of Art, so you spend fifteen minutes waiting outside, huddled under an umbrella, waiting for her to arrive. Then a little after four, Kali Valentine walks out of the front door, dressed in a charcoal grey woollen skirt suit and deep purple blouse. She hurries across the road over to you and ducks under your umbrella
"Will Prescott," she greets you, her facing cracking into a warm smile as she peers over a pair of half-moon reading glasses at you. You aren't sure what impulse made you change to your original -albeit flipped - face before coming here, still locked at the same seventeen years old as when you last wore it. "You haven't changed at all," she adds in an amused tone
"Neither have you. You look good Kali," you reply. She looks more than good, especially since she must be in her seventies by now. Kali Valentine still has the same smooth and ageless complexion that she bore when you first met her nearly twelve years ago. Only her hair, which is now as pure white as a flurry of snow, hints at her real age. "I thought you'd retired."
"This," she says with a self depreciating laugh. "Oh this is just me keeping my hand in. A visiting lecturer in design to eighteen and nineteen year olds is retirement compared to what I used to do in Los Angeles." She smiles winningly at you and you laugh in response. "Come Will, I'll take you to my apartment."
*****
Kali's apartment turns out to be a tastefully furnished penthouse suite in a block by the riverside. Fully two walls are covered entirely in windows, and it offers a sweeping view of the river and its surroundings. Admittedly by now the rain is so heavy that the cranes downriver are half obscured shadows, but it still must have cost her a lot of money.
"So Bea is attending university here," says Kali, walking up behind you. She offers you a heavy mug filled with steaming hot coffee. You clutch it both hands, glad of the warmth after spending all that time in the rain.
"She wanted to go to a foreign country, but not too foreign," you explain. "Um... and at least everyone speaks the same language here."
"Or close enough," laughs Kali. Her accent is stronger than it used to be, you notice.
"Can you keep an eye on her," you ask. "For me?"
"Of course I can child," she replies before catching herself. "I forget that you are older and wiser than you appear Will, my apologies." She pauses for a moment. "Whatever possessed you to chose that face again?"
You sink into one of the comfortable sofas and think over the question. "I think I wanted to make a clean break. I've been Siobhan for so long..."
"And now you aren't," says Kali, sitting down beside you.
"No," you admit. "And there's nothing to Siobhan outside of looking after Imogen and Bea. I mean, I had a life as her, but it was all just to support the girls. And now they are grown up, have their own lives. The house is being sold and I find that I've spent the last twelve years being a ghost."
"Well, that is the advantage that you have over the rest of us Will," Kali tells you evenly. "You have the option to start over as someone else."
You nod grimly. "But everyone I know is old now. Frank's turned thirty and Joe and Rosalie aren't far behind. I thought about building up a new identity for myself." you tell Kali. "An eighteen year old girl like Bea: Sign up on the same course as her and become her friend..." You tail off. Better not to tell Kali that with no significant possessions of your own you would have been forced to steal something - either the money to sustain yourself or another student's life to live in.
"I don't think anyone would blame you," says Kali, a smile playing across her lips. "Anyone who knows you can see how close you and Bea have become."
"Which is why it's better just to make a clean break," you state, turning away from Kali.
"I understand." There is a pause in the conversation that seems hours long, though it surely can't have been more than a minute. "Where are you headed now?"
"Nowhere," you reply. "Rosalie's given me a few days to tidy up Siobhan's affairs. I don't think she's decided what to do with me yet."
"Spend a few days here then," says Kali, her smiled becoming very broad. "I have a job south of the border, in Leeds - an office refurbishment. I was going to give one of the students at the School of Art the opportunity to come along, but you could come instead."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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