One-shot
Modern day AU.
Enjolras was never a curious man, not even when he was a child. But never has he ever felt lured to the heartbroken voice of person, let alone a ghost. The sound came from an alley. It was lightly illuminated by a single streetlight. Sitting against the tainted with gravity wall, was a girl. Her shoulders shook as wretched sobs escaped her pale round lips.
Words: 4291
Genre: Romance/Friendship
Rated: K+
Pairings: Enjolras/Éponine
It was meant for Halloween, but hey, I'm only a month late. I could be much later or I would have given up a long time ago. This is written really strange, the first 886 words were written a month ago and since there I picked it up yesterday…
Hope you enjoy!
Ghostly encounters
Enjolras could see ghosts. Feel their presence. When he first saw a pale white translucent person in front of him, he was eight years old and back then, like any child would, he freaked out. When he was thirteen after the passing of his grandfather, he admitted his 'gift' to his parents. He used to talk to the ghost when he was younger, until he started high school. That was also when his revolutionary spark started. At the end of High school he had this tight band of friends who supported him and his ideas. That same band of friends followed him around college, hoping to start a better life for those who are poor.
Enjolras became a lawyer, defending the rights of the innocent. He's still a quiet young man to be lawyer, age twenty-six. Although his appearance looked youthful, his personality was much older. He became a emotionless man, a man made out of marble, as his friend Grantaire would put.
Today is Monday twenty-seven in October. Halloween is nearing and people has started preparing the loved holiday. It was also a time that ghosts were more active, some loved to scare the wit out the living, even though they can't be seen some pranked the living. Enjolras has seen a lot.
The blond man walked down a quiet road back to his apartment, having an heatedly argument with the person he's talking with on the phone.
"Mother, please listen to me," he was tired of this situation. "I have no desire to meet a woman and settle down with her."
His mother argued back with that she wanted some grandchildren.
"We've had this conversation before, mother," he hanged up.
It felt rude but he's really tired from the court and he's pissed because he lost.
Suddenly he heard a soft hollow weeping. He tried to ignore the sound, but couldn't help but draw nearer to the sound. As the blond man neared, the weeping sounded louder and more haunting. A ghost, he assumes. Judging the voice, it was either a child or a young woman. Enjolras felt his heart ache for the person who lost their live that early.
Enjolras was never a curious man, not even when he was a child. But never has he ever felt lured to the heartbroken voice of person, let alone a ghost. The sound came from an alley. It was lightly illuminated by a single streetlight. Sitting against the tainted with gravity wall, was a girl. Her shoulders shook as wretched sobs escaped her pale round lips. Her dark threshes fell down on her bare bruised shoulders. Her clothes stained with blood and dirt. Her deathly pale skin covered in old and new bruises, the cuts were fresh but there isn't blood coming out.
As he nears the girl, no older than 20, he saw a bullet wounds. Her hand was a bloody mess and on her stomach was a distorted round blood stain on her faded grey tank-top.
A victim of murder, he thinks and grits his teeth.
He now stands in front of her, looking down at the ghost girl's painfully matured face. Her lifeless eyes that were like coal, widened as she noticed him.
"Y-you can see me…?" her rough voice sent haunted shivers down his spine.
Enjolras nods.
"I can see you, yes," he replied emotionless.
The girl wiped her non-existent tears from her face, a ghost can't cry tears.
Enjolras couldn't help but pity the ghost-girl, with hair and eyes dark as the night. A murdered soul can't find peace until his or her body got a proper burial.
"Why would you pity a lost, forgotten soul," she spat, dark humour coating her words. "A forsaken girl caught by the hands of fate, who left her here."
"Do you know where I can find your body?" something in him wanted to help the broken ghost.
"Where does the straightforwardly come from?" she got up from her sitting position.
"I pity you, you were crying in an alley," he bluntly admitted. "Probably the place where you were murdered."
"I don't need your pity," she replied harshly, her empty black eyes filled with fire, adding a brown tint in the endless depths of black.
He ignored her anger.
"I know you can't leave this alley until your body is found and buried," he stated.
"Who says I want to leave this place?" she asks, annoyed.
"I've talked to a lot of ghosts in my life, some were murdered, like you, and the last thing they wanted was to stay in the spot they're murdered in."
The ghost girl face changed. A sad grim face replaced the anger and the newly spark in the eyes died, turning the brown colour to a deep abyss of black again.
"I've been here for six years already," she said, voice soft and almost muted.
Enjolras kept silent, he figured out if he kept prying for answers, he wouldn't get them. The ghost laughed, no humour found in the sound.
"I was on the wrong place at the right time," she spat. "And he didn't care, the bastard, even helped them get rid of me."
"I will help you," he responded and received a confused glare. "To find the murderers, to find your body and set you free."
The girl stared at him with her black, soulless eyes that filled with sorrow.
"Why?" she asked as she floated slightly against wall, her back going through it. "I've been forgotten, an annoying filthy brat erased out this world."
"There must someone who never would never forget you, right?"
"I don't know, I barely remember," she whispered. "See, I barely know who I was. I forgot myself!"
The sudden outburst of frustration and ghost girl jumping up from her position startled him and he found himself backing up.
"Your name," he spoke self-assured he could help her. "I need your name, to help you."
"I don't remember!" she shouted.
"Then try," he said calmly.
The dark ghost girl closed her eyes in concentration. Enjolras could see she's trying to find her name that's buried deep in her death memories. Her mouth is slightly opening and closing, muttering things under her breath- if she had one, he remembers himself. Her face is scrunched up in deep thoughts.
Suddenly her eyes fluttered open with a new found sparkle in her eyes.
"I remember," she smiled briefly. "It's Éponine, I can't remember my last name."
Enjolras muttered her name, testing it from his mouth.
"It's an unique name, I'm sure I could find some records by the police."
The ghost girl now with a name- Éponine slowly backed up against the wall.
"And your name is?"
"You can call me Enjolras,"
Éponine smirked and pointed toward the end of the alley.
"You should go, we have company," he turned his head the direction and frowned at her comment. "I don't want them to lock you up in a loony bin for talking in the air."
He snorted as he noticed a man staring in his direction like he had two heads.
"I mean, who else is crazy enough to help me?" she followed the blond man as he walked towards the exit of the alley.
Enjolras passed the man, ignoring the stranger completely and exited the alley.
"I will wait here!" he heard her call out.
The corners of his lips turned up briefly in a confident smile.
"Don't worry, Éponine," he muttered. "You'll get out of there."
That night Enjolras started looking on the internet, looking for the missing Éponine in newspaper articles. With a cup of coffee next to him on the nightstand and his laptop on his lap, glasses on his nose, laying on his bed. Reading article after article, not finding what he needed to know.
He pushed his glassed back on his nose after fell down the bridge of nose after pinching the said spot in irritation.
Could she be right? Is she really forgotten?
His bedroom door opened and Enjolras shifted his eyes from the screen to the person in the door.
"I thought I heard furious typing through the walls," his housemate, Combeferre, entered the room. "What's keeping you up so late, new case?"
"No, it's just something," Enjolras replied returning back to his screen.
"I know you since we were kids, it's never just something," Combeferre said, yawing in his hand.
Enjolras sighed and closed his laptop.
"You know I can see ghosts, right?" he asked.
"Yes, you told me," Combeferre took off his glasses to clean them. "What has that to do with you working so hard?"
"I met a ghost girl, a few hours ago," Enjolras explained. "In an alley, she had horrid wounds and bruises."
"Murdered?"
"Yes, she told me she was murdered," he muttered. "Have I told you a ghost that's been murdered never can leave the place they were killed in?"
"I think you mentioned," Combeferre pushed the glasses back on his nose. "And unless they had a proper burial, they can't leave that place."
"Correct."
"And you want to help the girl?"
"Yes," Enjolras replied placing the laptop on his desk.
"You never helped a ghost before, why is she so special?"
"I don't know," the blond admitted. "Something about her is…special?"
"Any success?"
"No, I can't find anything about a girl named Éponine that went missing six years ago," he admitted. "No news about her, no missing alerts, nothing. Like she never existed."
"Go to sleep, tomorrow we have a get-together planned with the guys," Combeferre left the room, returning to his own bed.
Enjolras pinched the bridge of his nose- which is becoming a bad habit when he is stressed, and returned to bed.
When he finally found something about the murdered girl it was three days later. He found a small article about a young woman missing six years ago in their town. It wasn't much, her name wasn't even mentioned. But there was a criminal activity in the alleys. At the end of the article is said that is was a mistake, that the girl didn't get missing, that her mother stated that she left to another town for a new start.
Enjolras found it a little strange.
Now he is sitting next to Marius, who babbled about some girl he met on the streets.
"Pontmercy?" the blond called out for the brunet.
"She had golden hair- what is it, Enjolras?" the freckled man asked.
"You've been living here all your live, right?"
"Most of it, yes," the younger man seemed a little sceptic .
"Have heard something about an Éponine?
Marius seemed to turn into thinking mode until realisation flashed in his eyes.
"Eponine? As in Éponine Thénardier?"
"If that's her last name, yes."
"I knew a girl named Éponine, she left town six years ago- without saying anything," Marius ticked the table with his fingers. "No goodbye, nothing."
Marius put his hands in the air to make a point.
"Though, she was missing for a few hours, until her mother told the police that she left town, that she had eloped," Marius continued. "It didn't sound really convincing."
"I met her a few nights ago."
Marius seemed to live up after that sentence.
"How is she? Has she come back?"
"She never left town," Enjolras admitted and Marius brows frowned in confusion.
"What? I never saw her the past years."
"She's dead," Enjolras stated. "Six years ago, when her mother claimed she just left town, she's murdered."
Marius had no words, his mouth opened and closed, but no word could be formed.
"M-murdered?" he stammered out. "She's dead?"
Enjolras nodded.
"She was my best friend, she did everything for me," Marius started. "Are you sure she's dead?"
"Yes, I'm certain."
"But you met her a few nights ago! How did you even see her when she's dead?!" Marius snapped, gaining the attention of the other guys and shot up from his seat.
"I never told this, except to Combeferre," Enjolras started. "I can see and communicate with the dead."
Marius sat back down on his chair and put his head in the palm of his hand.
"If only I walked her home that night," Marius muttered.
"It isn't your fault, if you walked her home that night, you could have been murdered, too."
"Yes, could."
Marius face only showed grief, completely the opposite before Enjolras talked to the younger man.
"Oh god, Enjolras, what have you done to young Pontmercy?" Grantaire, the cynic drunk he was, taunted to the blond man.
"Is he sick, oh why is he so depressed?" piped Joly in with worry glanced over his face.
"Enjolras here, just told Marius that his best friend, from six years ago, is murdered," stated Combeferre who sat left to Marius.
"Will you help?" Enjolras asked. "I'm trying to discover were the murderers put her body so she's free to leave the place of murder."
Marius, who had his face planted on the table, piped up from his position and sucked in a breath.
"I'm going to accept that she is dead, it happened six years ago after all. But I'm going to help, to try to find the murderer and make him admit were her body lies," he said with defiance in his eyes.
"I don't think this normal," Joly interfered. "You had the five steps of grief done within fifteen minutes, I think something is wrong with you."
"Oh let drink it away for tonight, I'll pay you a drink," Grantaire turned to the bar.
It was a week later Enjolras returned to the alley where Éponine waited for him. This time he had Marius with him. The blond knew that the younger man couldn't see the lost girl, but she could she him and maybe it triggered some memories.
"Your back!" Enjolras heard the same haunted sound as last week, but with a new emotion. "Did you found out anything."
Enjolras nodded and Éponine noticed the other man standing behind the blond.
"Who's this?" she asked, curiosity masked her face.
"This is Marius," Enjolras mentioned Marius to get aside him. "He was you best friend."
Éponine frowned before she recognized the brown hair, the cute freckles and stunning green eyes.
"Marius! Now I remember!" she excitedly bounced. "He was always so nice for me, he didn't judge me for my parents or where I came from. I believe I even fell in little in love with him, but don't tell him that!"
Is she was living and breathing she would have blushed in embarrassment.
"She's glad that you're here," Enjolras told the brown haired man.
"She's here, right?" Marius looked in the empty direction where Enjolras saw Éponine. "I want to tell her something."
"I'm here," Éponine floated to his direction.
"Yes, she's right in front of you now."
"Okay this is really weird. But here I go," Marius started. "I feel guilty that I didn't walk you home that night after the movies, it was midnight but you told me you weren't scared. That night, like any others, I assumed that you had gone home safely. But when you didn't answer my phone the next morning, because we had planned to go on a fieldtrip with 'Zelma and Gavroche and you didn't show up, I go worried. So I called 'Zelma who told me that you never got home.
"I wanted to call the police but your dad caught 'Zelma calling me and hear her mention her name, he abruptly took the phone from her and told it was none of my business. When your mom stood in front of the door, she told me that you left town. I didn't believe her, but she told me to forget about you. I would never forget about you, Éponine. Never."
A strangled sob escaped her throat and she smiled.
"I remember now," she wept as the memories viewed in front of her. "My father, his gang, I remember their faces."
"Did they do it, Éponine?" Enjolras asked and turned to Marius. "She remembers."
Enjolras turned to Éponine who started sobbing.
"I think they did," she squeaked out. "Not Montparnasse, though, but he was there."
Enjolras nodded.
"Thank you, it won't take long anymore," he said. "You'll be free, soon."
"Merci."
The first thing Enjolras did was searching up Thénardier on the internet when he got home. He found a recent article about a robbery committed by the Thénardiers. Scamming and framing people, only Madame got arrested. Thénardier escaped with the help of some of his gang.
Someone knocked on the door and that means it neither Combeferre or Courfeyrac who just entered the door.
"Come in," Enjolras called.
It was Marius with some mapped documents under his arm.
"I got these from the police, I found Montparnasse's location," he said taking one of the documents and handed the paper to Enjolras who took them eagerly.
"He's two towns away from here, five hours to drive."
"How did you get these?"
"My cousin is an officer, he has some ways."
"Let's go then," Enjolras shut is laptop and reached for his coat.
"We are dealing with a possible murderer, and we are just with the two of us," Marius followed Enjolras like a puppy
"We're both lawyers, we can sue him," he shrugged on his coat and headed to the door.
"He's probably armed," the brown haired man still following the blond
"Good point, call Bahorel," Enjolras turned to tell Marius.
Marius took out his phone.
"I'm going out!" Enjolras yelled to his housemates.
Instead of five hours it took seven hours to drive to the location, since Marius couldn't read the map and Bahorel had to take three lunch breaks and picking up and drunken Grantaire along the way-much to Enjolras annoyance.
With Enjolras annoyed they arrived at the shady neighbourhood Montparnasse seemed to live in.
"I don't like this at all," Marius sputtered out the words. "But it's for Éponine, it's to help her."
Grantaire snored in the backseat of the car next to Bahorel, passed out. Enjolras stepped out the car and headed to the address with Bahorel following him. Marius hurriedly stepped after Enjolras as he locked all the doors so the car won't get stolen or Grantaire murdered in an alley- he doesn't want to history to repeat.
Enjolras knocked at the ebony black door since no doorbell could be seen, it's probably broken off and stolen since the be dreading is still there. After getting no answer he knocked again, I little more forceful.
"What do you want!" the voice that snapped when the door opened.
A young man, no older that Marius, had opened the door. His hair was as black as the night, slicked back with a generous coat of hair gel. He had dark eyes that sparked with anger and annoyance. His clothes were brands, but obviously stolen.
This man was Montparnasse, a terrible man with being capable of being charming.
"I need to ask you some questions," Enjolras supressed his annoyance and anger.
"Are ya from the police?"
"No."
"Make it quick," Montparnasse spat, looking around nervously. He obvious didn't want to seen with men in suits.
"Éponine," Enjolras calmly said her name and the other man turned white.
"What about her?"
"Where is her body?" Enjolras asked fiercely.
"I can't talk about this shit," the dark haired man replied.
"She told me you weren't involved, I'm a lawyer I can defend you as witness," Enjolras bargained. "So tell me where her body is."
"How can she tell ya, she's dead!"
"I can see and talk to ghosts, that's how I know," Enjolras answered. "She's been stuck in the alley since the day she was murdered, she can't escape that place. She can't move on just yet, not without a proper burial."
Montparnasse bit his lip nervously.
"Her father told me to bury her," he slowly admitted. "I am involved."
"Can you show us where," Marius pried.
"Are you sure you can defend me in court?"
"Yes, I can reassure you I can erase your involvement," Enjolras said.
Montparnasse scoffed.
"What's the price?" he mocked. "You don't seem to be a cheap one."
"Solving Éponine's murder is enough," Marius interfered. "Can you please tell us where her body lies?"
"Look, I can't leave now," Montparnasse started. "She lies in the forest three or four hours away from here."
"The Enchanted forest?" Marius asked.
Montparnasse snorted at the name and nodded.
"I think it lost its enchantment now you know," he mocked and turned to Enjolras. "She lies under and oak tree, fifteen minute walk from the entrance of the forest. You know that place were teenagers share their first kiss."
"Thank you for your time," Enjolras handed him a card. "Give me a call when you need my help."
Upon entering the forest they hurried to the oak tree. Enjolras had ditched his red coat already when they left the car. Marius and Bahorel carried a shovel and Grantaire is still passed out on the backseat of the car.
The normal fifteen minute walk, turned into a five minute run. When they reached the tree they spotted a young teenage couple ready to kiss.
"Oh great," muttered Enjolras and cleared his throat to get their attention.
The couple snapped up from their position and turned to the older men.
"My apologies, but this place hasn't been so magical the past six years," Marius apologized
Enjolras shushed the two away and held out his hand for a shovel. Marius handed him the shovel and the blond started digging. Bahorel soon followed suit. Marius started explaining the story to the young couple as the other two kept digging.
After fifteen minutes digging they had made a pretty deep hole.
"I think I found her," Enjolras said and brushed the last dirt away to reveal an human skull.
He sighed in relief.
"It is a body," he said. "Pontmercy, call the police.
The brown haired man nodded and went back to the entrance to make a call for the police. Enjolras sniffed from the cold air as the adrenaline and warmth left his body and smiled at bone in the quick grave.
"I told you I would find you, 'Ponine,"
After all the commotion of the news, the interviews and defending Montparnasse in the court, it was the day her funeral. All dressed in black, single for the red rose in his hand he listened to the new.
"Today is the day that Éponine Thénardier is going to be officially buried in the cemetery. A week ago her body has been found by Gabriel Enjolras who also solved the murder that had been committed by her own father."
Enjolras turned off the TV and hurried outside, he found Marius waiting for him with Éponine's sibling he found yesterday.
"Ready to go?" he asked the children, who nodded.
Azelma held Gavroche his hand tightly with her own, trying suppress her crying while the younger boy stood there with a strong face for his remaining sister.
Enjolras smiled sadly at the two as he mentioned them to get in the car and nodded to Marius. The whole way it was quiet beside Azelma trembling sobs she tries so hard to suppress. Marius told her that it was okay to cry.
The funeral went slow for him and he watched the girl of the two siblings cry her eyes out, the young boy almost lost his strong behaviour, but Enjolras caught a single tear falling down his cheek that he hastily wiped away.
The priests words didn't reach his ears as he stared at the coffin. As the priest finished the prayers the elder man let the two teenage siblings place the first roses on the coffin. People started following suit placing the white roses. Enjolras was last to place the rose before the coffin was put in the ground and the dirt covered the ebony wood.
Enjolras sat alone on a stone bench in the cemetery staring at Éponine her grave and smiled. It felt good to help a lost soul find their final rest place.
"Merci beaucoup," he heard a voice said beside him. He turned his head to the direction, it was Éponine. She wore a white gown instead of the ratty clothes she wore before and her bruises seemed faded. The large bloody wound was also gone, no blood on the pure white dress. A large, thankful smile is present on her face.
"You're welcome," he returned his gaze to the thumb stone.
Suddenly he felt a cold hand on his shoulder, her small hand. He never felt a ghost make contact before and it startled him. The hand slipped over his shoulder and she embraced him.
"Thank you so much, for everything you have done for me," she pulled back and looked in his eyes with her now brown eyes. "Freeing me, keeping me company the past weeks and finding me."
Éponine placed a small kiss on his cheek.
"I like you a little more than when we met the past weeks," she admitted. "I think I'll come to 'haunt' you from now on."
She winked and disappeared in the light as the sun began the set in the winter air. He touched the spot where her cold lips met his cheeks and stood up from his position, letting the blood flow in his almost frozen legs.
Enjolras walked to the thumb stone and touched the cold marble, placing the red rose on her soil and read the text on the stone again.
Here lies Éponine Thénardier
1990-2007
Sister and loving friend
The girl that won't be forgotten again
I attempted to write a one-shot again and I finished it! That's a rare thing for me, since I'm known for not finishing anything…
I hope you enjoyed!