Julia Lelieveld and the battle with the underworld
~4~

Fortunately, in those 10 minutes on the bike, I was able to calm down a bit. I knew it was new and exciting for everyone. Certainly now that Evil had already been, there would only be more to follow. I tried to shake the thoughts off me.

School. How strange, everything just continues as it was.

Yesterday I had missed my last hour because of the fight. Rob said he had informed me that I still had to go to the doctor because of my wrist. And that I needed tutoring afterwards, because I had missed my appointment with the psychiatrist. Fortunately, he had also been able to convince Tim that nothing was wrong. How that had happened I still didn’t know, because I had run away from the gym without any explanation.

“Hey Julia, is your wrist feeling better?” It was Eva. A sweet spontaneous girl, I was friends with her and her twin brother Bas.

“Yeah, fully approved again.” I saw them look suspicious.

“Gosh, you look tired.” She looked at me concerned.

I waved it off. “Just slept badly. How’s volleyball?”

I knew how to start with Eva about a different subject and luckily I always succeeded. “Oh it’s so nice! I look forward to every training session.”

And so she kept on chattering until we got to the classroom. Renzo was a little bit behind, but I could tell he was keeping an eye on things. Lucas would be here somewhere too. I hadn’t seen him since yesterday on the roof.

The day passed slowly. Luckily my body felt better. I still couldn’t believe the fifth element did that. My head was still tired. The feelings I picked up since Tuesday were getting stronger, but not yet as they were before.

I had arranged with Sara that she would pick me up tonight to go downtown so Daddy would know who she was and where I would be when I wasn’t home. An alibi in case I was busy with the circle.

At the end of the afternoon I said goodbye to everyone and walked towards my bicycle. I had to replace a way to clear my head, because everything that had happened over the past few days kept running through my head.

Ever since Monday, ever since Ivo had acted like an asshole. And that I woke up on Tuesday with the fifth element. That the circle found out and we started practicing. The incident with Kate in the shed. And the moment when I ran into Simone in the locker rooms and I went into battle with Evil. Even though I had come a few times to the point where I almost wanted to give up, I didn’t do it, because I had to move on, I had to fight. I wouldn’t give up without a fight.

I got on my bike and started cycling, playing back everything that happened yesterday afternoon. How Lucas could be so intensely bad. That he had unceremoniously pushed me off the roof with the intention of taking me out.

Luckily I didn’t see him today. I didn’t know what I would do or what I would feel if I met him. How would he behave? Would he go on the offensive again or would he take Evil’s order seriously? Would he just observe and report back to Evil? How would he do that? Why was I even bothered about this?

I cycled into my street thinking I hadn’t managed to clear my head. I felt my body start to protest with every move I made. I started to get tired. Not surprising after what happened yesterday, but I still had to go out tonight. Something I had absolutely no interest in.

When I got home I was surprised to see that dad was already home.

Over dinner we talked about school and my tutoring, luckily I had learned how to tell lies over the past few months. As much as I hated having to lie to dad, I did it for his own safety.

After dinner we sat together at the kitchen table, I did my homework and dad went on with his work that he hadn’t got to at the police station.

The doorbell rang and dad looked up from the thick file on the kitchen table in front of him. I walked to the door and there stood Sara.

“Hey, nice to have you here.” Sarah smiled.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Okay.”

I led her into the kitchen. “Daddy, this is Sara, she goes to school with me. I go shopping with her and Kate, a good friend of Sara. Do you remember?”

He seemed to think for a moment. “Yes of course. Hi Sara, I’m Sander Lelieveld.” And he shook her hand. “Hello sir.”

“Just call me Sander.”

Sarah nodded. My father looked at the file again. It hurt me. He was really away from home a lot and when he was home he continued to work. He had no interest whatsoever in what was happening in my life. Sara came by so he knew who I was with if I needed an alibi, but he took everything for granted. Sara looked from my father to me. I shrugged my shoulders.

“Let’s go to the mall, shall we pick up Kate first?”

“Yes, that’s okay. Dad, we’re going to the mall.′

“That’s all right sweetheart, are you careful?”

“I will.”

“See you tonight.”

“See you tonight Dad.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled and said goodbye to Sara.

When we cycled the way towards the shopping center I felt that strange feeling again. Last time I felt that, Renzo said Lucas was nearby. I looked around but didn’t see him.

“What are you doing?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t know, I have a feeling Lucas is around.”

I saw Sara’s eyes widen and look wildly around her.

“Calm down, he won’t hurt us.” I sounded more confident than I felt.

“Come on, let’s move on.”

Sara nodded a little uncomfortably and rode on.

Kate lived near the shopping center, she was already waiting for her bike in front of her house when we arrived.

It still felt awkward between us. Somehow she was jealous of me. There was nothing to be jealous of, but she obviously saw it differently.

It was busy in the mall. Santa Claus was coming. We made surprises for each other every year. A twinge of sadness and loss rose in my heart. I quickly shook off the thoughts. There was no point in thinking that way, it will never be the same again.

I didn’t know if it was the time of year or the fifth element, but I didn’t feel comfortable. I kept my guard up and looked for Lucas somewhere, but still no sign of him. Sara and Kate wanted to go into a big clothing store, but I said I had to pick up something at the drugstore and come see them later.

“Okay, we’re on the second floor.”

“All right, see you soon.”

They walked into the store and I sat down on the bench in front of the department store. At least now Sara and Kate were safe. I closed my eyes and concentrated with all my might on the fifth element. The feeling grew stronger. I opened my eyes and walked straight to the side of the department store. There he stood. Lucas.

He looked at me intensely with his dark eyes. I stopped. See what he was up to. But he did nothing. He also stopped.

I felt an anger take over me. Not far from here he pushed me off the roof. I still couldn’t believe he was that bad.

Before I woke up with the fifth element, we really clicked. Maybe it was because he was an e-warrior and I was a practitioner.

Only then did I not have my powers yet, but he probably felt it with me. But how could he be genuinely kind and concerned about me?

How would he feel now? I couldn’t understand how someone could turn around like that. On the other hand, if someone had told me I would have fifth element powers, I would have laughed at them squarely.

There we were. Our minds turned overtime.

I saw that he was in two minds. Would he want to destroy me? Does he want to fight again? But he knew it couldn’t be done, he had orders from the leader of Evil.

I was fed up, he didn’t have to take his command so literally and follow me everywhere.

“Stay away from me Lucas.”

And having said that, I turned and quickly walked back into the shopping street. My feelings did not diminish. He probably didn’t care.

With a bad feeling in my gut I walked into the store and got into the elevator to the second floor. Soon I saw the girls standing in the ball gowns department.

“There you are, what do you think of this one?” Sara asked, holding out a very pretty blue dress for her. “Very nice, you have to try it on”, I told her with conviction. Her eyes lit up and she walked into the fitting room. Kate looked a little uncomfortable. She was holding a red dress with a nice tight bodice and a large flared skirt. I nodded at the dress. “I’m sure it will look good on you, why don’t you try it on?”

She looked at me for a moment and then smiled. “Thanks, I’ll show it to you.” And she walked into the fitting room laughing. This felt good.

I would have to hang out with Kate a lot and we should be able to rely on each other. I was hoping that we would still get a good bond, despite our false start.

Sara stepped out of the fitting room and the dress fit her like a glove. She beamed from ear to ear. She also knew that this dress would be an asset to her.

“Great, you really should buy this one,” I told her.

“I think so too,” she said with a laugh. She did a pirouette in front of the mirror and the dress moved beautifully around her slim body.

“May I ask what the occasion is for this fitting session?”, I now asked very curiously.

“Oh, you don’t know that yet? Every year before the Christmas holidays, the school gives a Christmas ball to the students. And of course everyone goes to the gala.”

“Nice”, was all I could say. A Christmas ball? My, how very human. How wonderful if you could only worry about your outfit. How I wish I could be so uncomplicated for a moment.

“You must be going too!” Sara and Kate said in unison. Meanwhile Kate had also come out of her cubicle and the red color looked great on her. The dress accentuated her curves beautifully. “You look beautiful,” I told her. She beamed. “Indeed, Julia is right, you look really beautiful,” Sara said affirmatively.

“Shall I take it then?” said Kate a little shyly. “Sure!” said Sara.

I nodded in confirmation. She looked again in the mirror and disappeared back into the cubicle. Sara followed suit. From the booth Sara said: “But you’ll definitely come to the ball, won’t you? It’s always great fun!”

I looked around at the beautiful dresses. I would love to go. I was sure that Eva and Bas would go too. And I wouldn’t want to miss Renzo in a suit. But would it be possible? What would it be like then? Maybe had there been so much evil that it wouldn’t be safe?

“Julia? Are you still there?” Sara asked from the booth.

“Oh yes, sorry, I’m still here. Yes, I think I’ll go.”

“Very good, then we’ll go get you a dress,” she said as she walked back out of the cubicle with the dress over her arms.

“What do you like?” she asked as she searched the racks.

“Oh, stylish, elegant yet simple?”

She looked at me smiling. “Okay, we can work with that.”

Kate also got excited and went to help Sara replace a dress. How could I just pick out a dress here when evil was out there? In fact, Lucas was out there too. “Hey, keep your eye on the lesson, don’t you,” Sara yelled through the racks. I tried to shake off the thoughts and enjoy myself. And suddenly I saw my dress. A beautiful black elegant dress, simple yet festive. Perfect for me. I took it off the rack and held it in front of the mirror in front of me. Now I saw the same twinkle in my eye that I had seen with Sara and Kate before. The girls walked up to me and said nothing. They just looked.

“I think I’m going to try these on,” I said, breaking the silence. She both nodded. “This is your dress, it’s beautiful,” Sara said affirmatively.

In the fitting room he felt like a second skin around my body. It fit perfectly, just maybe a little too long, despite when I was wearing heels. Well, I wasn’t that big. I looked down and saw that there was quite a cleavage in it. I wasn’t sure if I should get out of the booth. Why didn’t they have mirrors in the cubicles? How I hated that.

I couldn’t contain my curiosity. The girls’ enthusiasm was infectious. I stepped out of the booth and turned to face the mirror. For a moment I didn’t seem to recognize myself, the dress was really beautiful. In my reflection I saw Sara and Kate standing next to me. They both had the same smile. When I looked at my own face, I saw that I looked the same. This was my dress. Although he was a little too long and had a little too low neckline.

“This is it,” I said more to myself than to the girls. She both nodded at the same time. “He’s really beautiful, Julia,” said Sara.

“Isn’t the cleavage too low?” I asked the girls.

Kate shook her head. “No, girl, you can have it just fine.” And she gave me a little push with her shoulder and a big wink. I started laughing and Sara and Kate joined me.

In the mirror I saw someone approaching us. Still with evil in mind and wary, I turned around at lightning speed. A surprised saleswoman looked straight at me, unsure of my posture. I quickly corrected myself and put a smile on my face. A little taken aback, the saleswoman also corrected herself and put on her most beautiful smile.

“You look gorgeous in this dress.”

“Thank you.”

“For the beauty, the dress would have to be shortened a little bit,” she admitted honestly. Grateful for her honest opinion, I nodded. “I thought so too, do you have a service that can make the dress shorter?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “We have.” And as she said that, she walked over to me and looked at the price tag of the dress. “It’s included with the dress. Clothes above a certain budget are entertained for free.”

I was a bit shocked, shit, I hadn’t even looked at the price yet. I quickly followed her lead and looked at the card that hung on the side of the dress.

Oops, 200 euros, I had never spent that much on a piece of clothing.

For a moment I felt a twinge in my stomach that I wouldn’t be able to buy the dress, despite it being so incredibly beautiful.

But then again, I hadn’t bought anything new for months. And I was sure that if Mommy would be there and see me in this dress, she wouldn’t have hesitated. And at this thought, I nodded to the saleswoman.

“Let’s settle it then. I need him in two weeks.”

The saleswoman nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll call the seamstress so she can pin it off and you can pick it up again on Saturday.”

I nodded in agreement and was glad I made the decision to buy the dress. But in the back of my mind, Evil kept gnawing at me. What would it be like in two weeks?

Once at home, I enthusiastically told Dad about the dress and the upcoming ball. I was afraid he would replace the dress too expensive, but he was fine with it. Tired but satisfied, I went to bed and fell into a deep sleep.