Faith could smell lilac in the air even though it was October. The sweet, cloying scent wasn’t unpleasant, but the clash of spring in autumn struck a dissonant chord. Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised her, in the Old Town, there were far more trees than in the higher blocks. That didn’t account for the smell, however, the sweetness that she couldn’t shake. The moonlight spilled uneven on the cobblestone streets, silvery blue. It made her think of him; she looked up at the moon, not yet full but swollen, and she whispered his name.

When she was a girl she had always been told that the moon did not belong to the light god Villem, instead it belonged to the fae. They cherished it as most people of their nature cherish such baubles, and it waxes and wanes because of their mercurial nature. This always puzzled Faith, what did that make the theriathropes? No one seemed to take them into account, but Faith decided that the only thing it probably made them was unfortunate. As usual.

They waited for her under a flickering gas lamp, their shadows dancing at their feet. The girls had picked a curiously empty area, but the rich were known to go to bed early on Sunday nights. This area had not yet been taken over by the light mages’ constant attempt to revamp the areas, so the streets were cobbled, the buildings were deep red brick, and only old money lived within them. It was safe to assume, of course, that Gee probably lived nearby.

Faith spotted Gee first, which wasn’t much of a surprise because of the girl’s thick long hair, which she had dyed a deep, shimmery blue. Faith didn’t really know Gee that well, but she had always gotten the impression that the color choice was ill fitting. Gee wore the brown piping of an earth aligned non-magical student at school. Her eyes caught Faith’s and she smiled, waving her over as though they were friends. As though this were some sort of social outing instead of some strange meeting at midnight in the rich part of town.

The other two girls required no introduction, and Faith’s stomach curled at the sight of them. One short one tall. One blonde one redhead. Holly and Robin. She couldn’t tell if they were bad people or just standoffish ones. She hadn’t said more than three words to either, and this was entirely because they were mages. Mages. Holly was a seer, Robin a dreamwalker, both seemed to be insufferable. She never understood why the two of them kept Gee as company. The girl has money, of course, but being a mage went beyond that. At least Gee was aligned, at least some element responded to her even if it was on some weird molecular level. She got to wear the colors. What made absolutely no sense to Faith was the idea that the two mages would want anything to do with her. With the exception of one middle schooler several years behind, Faith was the only person at the academy that wore the drab colorless uniform of the unaligned. She had no magic. She had absolutely nothing. Her mother had cried when she found out.

Holly looked at Faith with watery green eyes and attempted a smile. That was the trouble with her lot, they could see well into the future, but they couldn’t tell anyone about it. Holly hated making eye contact with people, and Faith watched as her eyes slid from her face to rest on the space above her head. It was harder to see that way. With that sort of burden, Faith would keep the colorless uniform. At least she could make eye contact.

“You’re an hour late,” Robin snapped. If Faith was unnerved by Holly, she was absolutely terrified of Robin. The tall, leggy redhead was a dreamwalker, seers could see the future, but walkers? They could see into the minds of others. Faith wasn’t sure how strong Robin was as a walker, but she knew for a fact that the girl had to wear a suppressor while in school to make sure that her grades were legit. Like it even mattered.

Faith decided to be truthful. “I didn’t think that you guys were going to be here, plus the subways are hell and it’s a long way from Block 70.”

She noted the sharp intake of breath from Gee. Faith’s face was blank. They could enjoy such a scandal if they wanted, she had dealt with worse.

Gee brushed blue out of her eyes, Faith caught a flash of silver on her wrist. Was that a medical bracelet? She had never noticed it before in school. Then again Gee usually sat at the front of the class, not in the back.

“Of course we would show up,” Gee said conversationally. “We asked you here.”

“You asked me here,” Faith echoed. “Yes. Why is that? Are we going to have a slumber party? It’s late enough. We can braid each other’s hair.”

The three girls tried very hard not to look at the brutal cropped layers that framed Faith’s face. It was a challenge that none of them were willing to take, not even Robin.

“We want a memory of yours,” Holly said. She sounded as though she were stepping around a particularly dangerous minefield. “Robin’s here for that, obviously.”

“Oh stop it, Holly, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” The irony of her words was not lost on anyone.

“I dreamt,” Holly continued, pushing herself. Faith could see the strain she was going through. “I…I dreamt.”

“We need to see something,” Gee attempted to clarify. “Holly was adamant about that.”

The seer could say nothing, she merely nodded.

“What…memory?”

“Your fifth birthday, what do you think, you colorless freak!?” Robin was clearly done with the niceties, and Faith felt an odd pushing against her skull.

“Robin stop it!” Faith took a step back from the trio as frost began to glaze over her heart. Of course. Everyone had talked about it. Everyone loved to talk about Faith McCain, the colorless girl who was a nonentity, a no one, a girl who went off for a three day weekend and came back a killer. The girl who had stood in the girls bathroom on the second floor with a pair of scissors and cut handfuls of her long dark hair, letting it scatter around her during fourth period. She had not done a minute of time, she had gotten off, as cases like hers usually do, but still they talked. Still everyone knew, and the whispering about that had not stopped until her father’s death.

“That memory.” Her voice was odd. Flat.

“Yes,” Holly said, adamant. Faith raised her eyes to meet Holly’s, and the girl flinched. The only thing interesting about Faith was her eyes, predominantly black, when the light caught them in proper places the deep violet shown beneath. she had her father’s eyes.

“You rich kids have some serious thrill seeking issues,” she said cooly, slowly moving out of the circle of flickering light.

“No!” Robin moved to stop Holly as she lurched forward, but one look from Gee stilled the urge. She moved towards Faith, her arms outstretched, beseeching. “Trust. Trust me.”

Her mouth slammed shut then, closed by her own ability. “Just trust,” she said, barely above a whisper.

For a moment there was only silence, Gee decided that the only way this was even going to work was if Faith listened to Holly. Holly was the whole reason for this, everything at this moment was about what Holly saw. A muscle in Faith’s jaw twitched as the girl whispered again. “Please. Trust us.”

“You can see the future, right?” Faith asked slowly. Holly’s eyes began to water. Faith was half in the darkness now, her head slightly down as casting dark shadows across her pale face. She thought for a moment, and for one awesome minute Gee was convinced that it was going to happen. She’d trust. They’d see the memory, and then they’d know exactly what Holly meant.

Instead the three girls just listened to Faith’s footsteps as they echoed back to the subway.

“I knew she was going to do that,” Holly mumbled quietly.

“No shit,” Robin replied.

“See you tomorrow!” Gee called after Faith’s retreating back.

“You should have told her, Holly. No, we should have told her. We should have told her everything!” Robin lit an angry cigarette as she spoke, gesturing with a smokey hand. “She’s not buying the whole mysterious seer act.”

“It’s not an act.” Holly. Quiet again.

“But what if we’re wrong? I’m not throwing another log on the fire to burn if we’re wrong.” Gee and Robin turned to look at Holly for a clue, for anything, and instead saw her hugging herself, her eyes watering.

Someone was clapping.

Gee had exceptional hearing, and she could hear the languid, easy strokes the hands made together, the movement simply for the love for movement. It carried the casual looseness of a lazy lover.

“This is not good,” Robin said.

Patrick looked exceptionally beautiful in the moonlight. The blue of it brought out the gold in his hair and made it seem almost platinum, his usually alabaster pale skin seemed almost to glow from within, and if it wasn’t for his aura of almost unspeakable evil, he probably could easily be mistaken for an angel. Luckily, Gee knew that this wasn’t an angel. This was Patrick.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, a gentleman makes his presence known, however I really couldn’t stop myself from witnessing such an exquisite act of utter failure.” Patrick let himself into the circle of flickering light, beaming at each of the girls in turn. Holly flinched from his stare as though he were some sort of devil.

Not too far off, Holly.

“How did you get across the bridge?” Robin asked, her disgust threaded through every word. Patrick mooned at her like Harlequin to his Columbine, stalking over to her and gently twisting his fingers into her ginger colored hair.

“Oh my dearest little bird…I did what any man would do. I walked.”

“Well go home, Patrick. Show’s over.”

His grin frayed a little at the edges, until his eyes flicked upwards. Gee could tell a new plan for mockery was being cooked up in those unnaturally bright cyan eyes. Luckily, it seemed to be directed at her.

“Moon’s pretty tonight, eh Regina?”

She kept her tone flat. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Nearly full.”

“I’ve got time.”

“Two days at the most, bet my watch.”

He slid his arm around her shoulders, leaning in so she could see the wrinkles around his mouth as it attempted to stretch too wide. She looked up at him, refusing to be afraid. “So smart, he uses a calendar. No wonder the others in Gilead voted you their leader.”

Patrick’s circus grin fell into that of a sleepy smile. “Oh, that is where you are wrong, Regina.” His voice took on a silken purr, as though they were speaking in bed. The thought of that made her skin crawl. “It is not charm nor wit nor wisdom that leads me to my realm of esteem. I merely killed the one who came before me.”

Gee leaned closer to him, her teeth bared. “That’s all? Do I have to be a vampire to do that?”

“Stop it!” Holly stepped in, physically separating the two. Robin stood back and watched, amazed at the sudden spring to action. “I refuse to allow this to happen because like it or not, we are on the same side.”

“Don’t you have a babysitter?” Robin was feeling particularly helpful tonight.

“Yes,” Holly said. “Where’s Ian?”

“Ian’s indisposed.” Gee’s heart sank as she immediately recognized the voice of Mark, who had taken this time to reveal himself. He regarded Gee with wry amusement as she scowled at him.

“Indisposed!?” Holly looked terrified.

“How long have you been there?” Gee asked.

“Hi Mark,” Robin added, Mark nodded his head at her in greeting.

“He had work Holly, it’s fine. I’m keeping an eye on him tonight.”

Gee crossed her arms and took a deep breath. “I think there’s seriously something wrong with your politics if you need a babysitter for your vampire president.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Patrick sounded indignant. Mark clapped Patrick on the back and walked into the circle.

“We actually meant to stop by anyway, see how the new girl turned out.”

“There isn’t going to be a new girl,” Robin said.

“Yet,” Gee added.

“They failed really bad,” Patrick replied. There was a hint of gloating in his voice that Gee did not appreciate. Robin appreciated it even less.

“Shut your piehole, leech, or I will shut it for you!”

Patrick seemed unmoved by this sudden outburst, instead he grinned at her. “I’ll shut my mouth, but not my mind…as you well know.”

Robin nearly glowed with rage, and Gee was unsure of whether or not that was actually a thing she could do, she’d rather not test it. “Go away, Patrick,” Robin hissed.

“Fine.”

“So the new girl was a bust?”

“She’s not going to be the new girl!” Robin’s annoyance grew with every word.

“Yet,” Holly and Gee said in unison. At Holly’s assent Robin gave up.

“The way you three were talking, she sounded important,” Mark stroke his chin idly, thinking out loud. “Or was this another Holly venture?”

No one said anything.

“Aria…” he murmered. “Would you mind if I kept a closer eye on this for now? Would that be okay, Gee?”

He turned his gaze to her and she seemed surprised by his sudden attention. Her mouth opened, then closed and then she merely nodded. He smiled. She could see the sharp, tiny spikes of his teeth. The teeth that made him different. Made him….evil? They were on the same side, she reminded herself. For some reason though, there was something overwhelming about an immortal being asking your permission for anything.

“Good. Patrick?” Mark turned, and found an empty space where Patrick was. He made a quick note of the three girls in front of him and gave a little sigh. “I am horrible at this babysitting thing.”

“Is he really gone?” Holly’s voice gave a little tremble.

“He’ll turn up back in Gilead when he gets bored, however I don’t want anyone walking home alone.”

Holly and Robin both lived in the same building, so they bid Gee and Mark tonight and left them to walk in the other direction. The two of them walked side by side in silence for several blocks, and Gee felt oddly calm walking with him…despite what he was. Several blocks down she could see the steady glow of electric lamplight, the light mages were winning in their crusade week by week. There was something comforting about walking beside a vampire, the stillness of him. It was only after several minutes did she hear him finally draw breath to speak.

“I think you should keep working on that girl.”

“What, Faith? Of course. She’s been through a lot, I’m not worried.” Mark said nothing, and Gee looked up at the sky. The moon was almost full. It was almost time again. “Well, tonight was a standard night, huh?”

Mark contemplated the moon, quiet and still beside her. She stood on her stoop now, hands on her keys and ready for the door.

“Enjoy days like these,” he replied. “I don’t think there will be very many more of them.”

With a tip of an imaginary hat, Mark was gone.

Faith did not mind that her mother was passed out on the couch when she arrived home that night. It was fine to carefully drape the fuzzy blanket quietly on the couch. She was unworried about waking her, knowing that if she did she might get another unfortunate zap, the drinking made her mother’s powers go a little awry. The evening’s aggravations bled out of her mind as she tiptoed down the hall to her own bedroom, she forgot Gee, Robin, Holly, their bizzare request. Instead her mind was filled with music, no, not her mind, her soul.

Faith did not care that tomorrow she would wake to find that Robin and Holly had never made it home that night.

It did not matter to her, because she slept, she dreamt of him.

And that was all that mattered.

She closed her eyes, and waited for the familiar weight of him sitting at the end of her bed. She knew she had to be asleep for this to actually happen, but sometimes she was too excited. However, before she knew it, he was there. She sat up in her dream, her eyes shining.

“Joel,” she whispered. “You came.”