fter an awkwardly silent limo ride home, Sage walked into the grand living room of the loft, the coven trailing behind her wanting to know what took place at the art gallery. “How did that artist know you? Lisa asked. “We are always careful not to be photographed,” Samuel chimed in. “How did he know what you look like?” Daniel asked. “I don’t know,” Sage replied.“I don’t know how he knew what I look like.” “This isn’t good,” Cody said. “Maybe we should kill him,” Pedro suggested. “No!” Sage said, the forcefulness of her voice startling everyone. “So what do we do then!” Billy exclaimed. “Once Pearson sees that painting, he’ll be
Sage glanced over at Anna as she thought of what move to make. “We find out what it is that he wants,” she said. “And why the bloke felt the need to paint a sketch of you,” Anna said, looking at her pointedly. “Let’s just hope that Pearson doesn’t watch any television or read the newspapers for the next few days while we figure out what we’re going to do about this situation,” Samuel said. Pedro became irritated as his patience wore thin. “Well, in that case, we might as well all paint bull’s-eyes on our chests,” he said, storming out the room. “Dude needs to seriously take a chill pill,” Billy said. “He’s just hungry, among other things,” Anna said. “What do you mean by ‘other things’?” Cody asked. “Nothing,” Anna said, glancing at Sage wryly. “I’ll go check on him,” Lisa said leaving the room. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Billy said. “I’m coming with you,” Daniel said. Samuel and Cody also excused themselves, leaving after Daniel. Sage shook her head perplexed. The only thing she was certain of was that she needed to see the man that had the same name and face as her beloved again.
“What happened tonight?” Robert asked, ushering a drenched Cristian to the back room of the gallery as he paced back and forth. “What was that all that commotion about?” he asked. Cristian shrugged his shoulders while he tried to make sense of what happened. “I don’t know,” he replied. How could he explain that the woman he thought was a figment of his imagination existed when he didn’t understand it himself? The only thing he knew was that he needed to see her again and speak to her in person. “I have an idea,” he said, his mind racing.
“Will I like it?” his manager asked, worried. “Sure you will,” Cristian chuckled. “Don’t you trust me?”
Sage sat up in her bed, having trouble resting. Pushing aside the satin sheets, she got out of bed and walked over to the window, staring out. She replayed in her mind the moment she saw Cristian standing at the podium at the art gallery and his eerie likeness to her lost love. Closing her eyes, she remembered the first time she saw Cristian so many ages ago in the furniture store. How incredibly handsome he was and his deep voice that sent chills down her spine. “This can’t be a coincidence,” she thought. “There has to be a reason behind this.”
Cristian stepped out of the elevator leading to his loft, closing the cage behind him. He walked absentmindedly into the room, still in a daze of what had happened hours ago at the gallery. Taking off his jacket, he sat down on the couch, his mind going back to the moment he saw the mysterious woman in the flesh. Taking a deep breath, he threw his head back, closing his eyes. “She looked just the way I saw her in my mind,” he thought. “But even more beautiful than I had imagined.” He got up from the couch and walked into the bathroom to take a shower, glancing briefly in the mirror at his reflection. He stopped, backed up, and looked again. “What the hell!” he said, as he noticed that his blonde hair had turned dark brown. “How did that happen!” he wondered wideeyed. It felt as though from the moment he saw the mysterious woman that he was in some kind of alternate universe. “Nobody would believe me in a thousand years if I told them I don’t know how this happened,” he said staring at his hair in disbelief.
The following morning, Sage sat on her daybed staring at the old newspaper clipping, lost her in thoughts, when Anna appeared. “Looks like we won’t have to make the first move after all,” she said, handing her the morning newspaper. “Look on the back page of the advertisements.” Intrigued, Sage flipped through the newspaper to the back page and saw a full-page advertisement that read: Beauty Mysterium, I’d Like To Meet Face To Face Today At 1:00 p.m., The Art Gallery. West Collections paid for the advertisement. “So what do you want to do?” Anna asked. Sage reread the advertisement. “This is what we’ll do,” she replied.
“Oh my, God,” Robert said staring at the line of people that showed up at the art gallery after the publication of the advertisement. It looked like a Halloween party with people wearing various costumes. Some were dressed as Cleopatra, others as Nefertiti. “This is a freak show!” he exclaimed as the gallery called in police enforcement to stave off the fanatics trying to push their way through the barricade. Cristian came from the back to look at the bizarre scene. His manager did a double take, staring at his hair. “When did you change your hair color?” he asked. “It’s a long story,” Cristian said. “Don’t ask.” “Okay, I won’t,” Robert said. Anna stood behind a woman dressed as Mona Lisa. “What makes you think you’re the woman in the painting?” she asked, snickering. “Because I’m the woman he’s searched his whole life for,” the woman replied. Anna choked back her laughter. “Maybe you can tell me more,” she grinned. “Over supper,” she said wickedly. “Let’s call it a day,” Robert pleaded. “This is getting out of hand.” “You’re right,” Cristian said, feeling dejected. Just as he was about to call the whole thing off, he looked into the mass and saw Anna talking to the costumed woman. “Her!” he said pointing in her direction. “She was here last night. Bring her in.”
A security guard walked over to Anna who was still conversing with the woman. “Mr. West would like to speak to you,” he said. Anna smiled sweetly at the woman who was fuming. “Nice talking to you.” “We’ll have to meet up again for that meal,” she said with a wicked grin. Robert led Anna, who seemed to glide in the air, to the back of the gallery where Cristian was waiting for her in his studio. He looked at her milky white skin. “People think I look like a vampire,” he thought. “Hi,” he said nervously. “Hi,” Anna replied flipping her hair. He shuffled his feet. “So are you her publicist?” he asked. “No,” she replied firmly. I’m Anna.” “I’m her best friend.” He nodded his head slowly. “Why didn’t she want to come?” he asked. “Didn’t you see that circus out there!” she said hotly. “She didn’t want any part of that, and do you blame her?” “No,” he said, shaking his head. He tucked his hands in his pockets. “Brilliant idea,” she said sarcastically. “What’s her name?” he asked, ignoring her cynical tone. “Sage,” she said. He swallowed hard. Her name sounded so familiar to him. “Why did you paint her portrait?” she asked suspiciously. “I kept seeing her in my mind, and I decided to paint what I saw, because I couldn’t forget her face,” he said. Anna thought of the story Sage had told her of losing her love, and his name was Cristian. “Look,” he said sighing. “I need to speak to her.”
He took out a sheet of paper and wrote down his name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. “Could you please give this to her?” he said. She took the paper from his hand. “I’ll give it to her, but I can’t make any promises that she’ll come,” she said. “Thank you,” he said. Having been a vampire for a long time, Anna could tell with her senses when a person wasn’t sincere. She could hear it in their rapid breathing and pounding heartbeat, she could smell it with the fear oozing through their pores and see it in their eyes. Looking into his eyes, she wanted to believe he was being sincere, but she was aware that it could all be just an act. Cristian watched as she left the gallery, hopeful that he will finally meet face-to-face with Sage. Arriving at the loft, Anna handed Sage the piece of paper containing Cristian’s personal information. Nervously, she took the paper, her hands shaking. Anna stared at her, concerned. “You don’t have to do this,” she said. “I know,” Sage replied. “But I have to see him face-to-face to have some questions answered, and maybe find closure to the past.” Anna caressed her shoulder. “I understand,” she said, “If it’s any comfort, he does have long fingers.” Sage laughed at her best friend.
Still in Scotland, Rafael sharpened the silver stake in their suite, while John surfed the Internet, coming across an article about the presentation at the gallery. “Boss, you need to see this,” he said. “What is it?” Rafael asked. “Just come here for a second,” John said. He turned the laptop around so Rafael could see the article. It contained a photograph of the painting. “Well, what do we have here?” he said grinning. “It looks like we’re taking a trip to New York City to finish this thing once and for all.”
Cristian paced anxiously back and forth at his loft, when he heard the sound of the elevator approaching. From the moment that his intercom rang, Cristian’s heart began to thump loudly in his ears like a drum, as he waited impatiently at the door for it to open. The elevator stopped, and for what seemed like an eternity, the door finally opened as he opened the cage staring face-to-face with Sage. He stared at her, speechless. She smiled at him. “I can’t come in unless I’m invited,” she grinned.