Victoria dared to look up when she was near the very Arbat and bumped into Kharon with her eyes.

He was standing near the first building, looking up at something there.

He looked like an angel, looking at the heaven which he had been thrown down from for a long time ago. Here he was, wearing the black, having a bunch of bright blood-burgundy roses and a strange smirk, looking at the azure clouds.

The hot sun was gently touching his black shirt, feeding with its unmerciful warmth, tendering his face which was so unscrupulously looking at it and even didn’t narrow his eyes.

The man saw nobody, he was interested in nothing but in the blue height.

Victoria was stock-still and staring the demonic creature of an unbelievable beauty and unusual behaviour.

There was a woman wearing a swinging dress in the wind. It was light turquois colour and shining. The woman passed by Kharon so closed that beneath of her dress grabbed the demon’s legs into its tender embraces. Kharon gave a smiling look at the smoothing dress over his trousers and then at the woman walking away. She looked at him back playfully and disappeared in the underground passage.

Victoria, staying near the passage, was waiting for the fabulous woman to obtain a better view of her. But she didn’t appear like if she disappeared into a thin air.

Suddenly Kharon sharply turned his head in the direction where Victoria was, his frown took her, and he smiled. Victoria smirked, shook her head and went down to the underground passage. She was rushing to her beloved at full speed and even didn’t notice her bump into a man.

What astonishment was when she understood that that man was Kharon who had been staying at the Arbat with no motion for a moment ago.

‘Are you running to me?’ he asked, embracing her.

‘How did you get here?’ Vic closed her eyes, pressing herself to him. ‘People can notice your sudden appearance.’

‘No, they can’t. They are too busy with their life streams where they must dabble. You noticed me at once, didn’t you? I felt your devouring stare at me. How strange it was crawling over my face, shamelessly trying to look under my shirt… Victoria… Your thoughts are luxurious, I’m looking forward to your letting them come out… no, capture the reality.’

The man kissed her. Victoria was melting in his arms, because of his curious kisses, of his words and whispers. She enjoyed every second that Kharon gave her.

‘Let’s have a walk, you’ll tell me how wildly you hated people in queue in the tax agency.’ Kharon slowly took her by the hand and led to the exit out of the passage in the direction of the Arbat. ‘Oh, I’ve forgotten,’ he stopped and stared at the girl at the loss. ‘I saw men give the woman flowers… Is it romanticism?’

Kharon stretched the bunch of flowers to Victoria. Finally, the girl had a chance to examine the flowers and she was shocked with the beauty of their petals. They were really of blood colour like if someone put a brush into a venous stream and then painted the flowers. The tips of the petals were velvet literally. There were specks of dust, weightless but visible ones of endearment which a human could scrutinize. The buds were very thick full of life energy.

‘Kharon,’ Victoria whispered being fascinated, unable to tear herself from the flowers. ‘They’re so beautiful. I’ve never seen such prodigious colour.’

‘That’s ok,’ the demon smiled. ‘These flowers weren’t grown up on the earth.’

‘What do you mean? Are they from Mars?’ Vic asked seriously.

‘Of course, no, they aren’t. I took them from the place, as you like calling it – hell. We have such flowers there. There are no such on the earth and it’s hardly they’re gonna be.’

‘The flowers from hell. Form the demon. Kharon, am I ok?’ the girl confusingly looked at her companion.

‘Absolutely. You believe in my existence, but you don’t believe in the world where I live, and such flowers can be? You’re so strange.’

‘Strange is better than insane. You see, that’s you and you know yourself all your entire life, you’re not surprised with yourself. And I’ve known different things all my life. I’ve been grown up like an atheist for my 20 years as well as sceptic and materialist. I’ve been laughing at others who believe for 20 years. My mother is resuscitation specialist. She will never believe that a dead body has a soul and it goes somewhere to travel. Of course, I feel stupid when you appear.’

‘I always had fun at the way people react to my appearance. I’m something unusual in their lives. But I don’t usually need to prove them anything. It’s different with you… I’m in your world with you, in your life… in reality.’

They were walking along the Stariy Arabat, hands in hands. They were like other millions over the world, they weren’t different. The demon in the shape of a man stayed unnoticed as the girl with her sold soul.

Kharon examined the world having no tiredness. He observed people doing that or this, dressing, combing, what bags and jewellers they had. He had been building the picture, immersing himself into a human life, trying to understand what social cell he needed to get to be comfortable.

Victoria was thinking of his warm hand, his fingers between hers, how pleasantly his thumb was gently and rhythmically touching her index finger and how pleasantly his finger could have been touching her body…

The demon smiled as he heard the girl’s thoughts. He liked the things she imagined, and he looked forward to having all those spilled out of her mind into reality.

‘Kharon,’ suddenly the girl stopped. ‘I gotta tell you something. Yesterday when you left, I saw a girl be killed…’

‘Are you speaking about your vision? I’ve seen everything already through your memories and eyes that happened to you yesterday.’

‘Then you have to know what it was.’

‘It was a vision of a past.’ Kharon shrugged his shoulders.

‘Do you think it’s ok?’ Vic couldn’t understand imperturbable calmness of the man.

‘Yes, it is. I see the same every day.’

‘Kharon,’ Victoria pressed to him, trying to get to his ear. ‘What if I tell you that it is not ok to see any past in vision for people? We can’t see past, present and future… We have no visions.’

‘What if I tell you,’ Kharon stooped to her ear and whispered in the same way as she did, ‘that you can’t know everything that happens to other people? The thing that you think normal or abnormal, happens to you, can happen to others and they’re ok with it.’

Victoria was looking at his amber-brown eyes and getting him right. Kharon tried to explain in a veil way that that hadn’t been the worst thing that could happen to witches. But he didn’t want to tell her who she was. He didn’t want to explain that the dying old woman managed to give Vic her gift under Lucifer’s pressure.

‘Have I calmed you down?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you want to see my flat?’ he smiled. ‘I’ve concluded the agreement already… wait… Agreement of accommodation leasing for two years.’

‘What an awkward hint.’ Victoria couldn’t help smiling. ‘Then you ask me for tea?’

‘Yeah, I can. I have tea. And coffee as I remember.’ Kharon was confused.

He was serious and even offended a little bit with the girl’s mocks and he tried not to look at her. Then Victoria understood that “wanna see my flat” meant to see his flat and nothing more. It never occurred him to blow the girl’s mind with the help of such terrible human step to get her into bed.

‘Let’s go.’ Victoria felt stupid again.

How could that be? Even the demon of sex sometimes thought of something else except sex and people were always thinking of it. They also tried to hang their desires on others.

‘Why did you act so strange?’ Kharon asked.

‘Nothing, don’t pay attention to.’ The girl answered by a quick smile.

The demon stopped again and carefully looked at Vic’s face.