Eclipse (part 16 of 32)
Back to Part 15I can sense the activity in the apartment before I even open the door.
Henry practically opens it for me, beckoning me inside with a nod of his
head. I walk in, Uncle following me slowly. The steps were hard on him,
but he insisted on coming in with me.
"Where's Mireille?" I ask Henry.
"Packing." He nods his head toward our bedroom.
"Packing?"
"Look at the pool table." He steps forward, and I follow him. My mouth
drops open in surprise. I can't even see the table- it's covered with
large bouquets of flowers.
"For her. From him." Henry shakes his head. "They were on the table when
we came in."
"So he's got the key then." Uncle rubs his chin with his hand. "They
must have made a copy when they had Kirika."
"Lambert." I swallow the lump of nervousness in my throat. "It had to be
Lambert."
"Droger's as bold as he is arrogant." Uncle sighs. "Let me see the cards
on the flowers."
I turn from the pool table and go into the bedroom. Two bags are open on
the bed. I see she's already packed my things, and is rummaging through
her dresser. I study her, bent over so her long hair hides her face; is
she as afraid as I am?
"Mireille." I start, but fall silent. Perhaps it is best not to confess
my fear.
"We have to go. It's not safe here." She turns and busily stuffs her
bag.
"Where will we hide?" I ask her. I can't imagine she wants to go with
Soldats.
"Hide?" she snorts. "We're not going into hiding." She picks up the baby
seal from the dresser and stuffs it into the bag. She zips it shut and
looks up at me.
"We're going to the most public place I can find. And I dare him to move
there."
----------
I stare out the window at the city below us. The Auberge- I've heard of
it, seen it on the news. A place for the elite, the wealthy, and the
famous. I never thought that I would be staring out of a penthouse suite
looking at the lights of Paris.
"How are your eyes? Still seeing spots?" Mireille's voice is teasing and
soft. She seems at home already here, staging out areas of the suite for
her own use.
"I didn't know there would be paparazzi." I rub my eyes again.
"They're crawling all over this place, trying to catch the celebrities.
Good thing you're not famous. You'd be blind by now." She takes my hands
away and kisses my eyelids. I feel myself relax, and lean into her.
"We're safe here." She nuzzles the tops of my head. "Maybe you won't
have your nightmares now."
"That would be nice." I mumble into her chest. She's so warm and
comforting. It's hard to imagine my life before Mireille.
"Let's finish unpacking, then we can take a bath together." She says
lightly, and I smile. I walk over and get my bag, then stand in front of
the dresser.
"The dresser is so big." I say, looking at the shining wood. It towers
over my head. Everything in the suite is large and expansive; the bed
here would not even fit into our bedroom at the apartment.
"I'll navigate that if you want to start the bath." She taps my shoulder
and hands me her favorite bubble wash. I nod my head and go into the
bathroom. It's huge, big enough to hold our pool table. A giant bathtub
is elevated on steps in the corner. A quick look at it sends me back to
the bedroom.
"You better do it." I hand the bottle back to her.
"Why?" she looks puzzled.
"Because- there's buttons." So many of them...this is no ordinary tub,
and I want nothing to do with it.
"You've never seen a jacuzzi?" her voice is incredulous.
I shove the bottle at her, and she begins to laugh. She grabs my face
and kisses me, still laughing.
"Ok, you unpack, and I'll start." She kisses me again, more softly this
time as she sees the pout on my face. "Silly."
I ignore her as I hear her walk away, trying not to laugh at me any
further. I unpack quickly, using only the lower drawers, the ones I can
reach. We haven't brought a lot of clothes- I wonder how long we will
have to stay here.
A strange growling and gurgling sound is now coming from the bathroom.
It mustn't be anything dangerous, as I can hear her humming to herself.
I love when she hums like that; she doesn't seem to even be aware of it
at all.
I pull out my sketchbook and the picture of the nightmare room falls
out, slipping onto the bed. I take it into my hands slowly, turning it
over, reading the name on the back. Leaving the growling tub sounds
behind, I exit the bedroom and go into the adjoining office. This suite
seems to have everything. I find what I'm looking for and go back to the
bedroom.
I tape the picture to the wall by my side of the bed and then lay
sideways in the bed, my chin on the edge, staring at my nightmare room.
"Anna." I whisper, looking at the overturned chair, the open shutters.
"Where is this place?"
This place....where something terrible happened. I feel it, down to my
bones.
"What are you doing?" Mireille's voice causes me to jump.
"Nothing. Just looking." I blurt out, rising up to my elbows. I realize
she's naked. She stands in front of the picture, blocking it.
"I can't believe you brought that thing with you." she crosses her arms
angrily. "Do you want to have more nightmares?"
"No. Of course not." I frown back at her.
"Good." she turns and starts to tear it from the wall.
"No!" I lunge forward, grabbing her arm. I slide off the bed, bringing
her down to the floor with me.
"Kirika- what's come over you!" her voice is shocked.
I hold the picture up against the wall. A small corner has torn away,
but I won't let the picture fall to the ground.
"Let it go, Kirika." Her voice is softer now, matching the urging look
in her eyes.
My hand slides back up the wall and I re-fasten the tape. Her eyes
narrow and she pushes me away from her. She gets up and looks down at
me.
"I'm going to take a bath before it gets cold." she walks away from me
and enters the bathroom, slamming the door shut.
"Mireille." I say to the empty room. I look at the picture again,
feeling it pulling me in, crushing me.
Let it go.
"I can't, Mireille." I whisper. "I can't."
Onwards to Part 17
Back to Eclipse Index -
Back to Noir Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction