Alive

Chapter 1

It was sickening how people would use innocents as tools. Bend them. Break them. For their amusement, for their hand, and for their plans.

It had taken Talon longer than admired to kill Gérard Lacroix. Trying again and again until their patience wore thin.

When the line was drawn, Talon decided to break someone. Someone who lived a complicated life, but a life that was woven into the illusion of a normal life.

"Mari? You are leaving again?"

A concerned Amélie Lacroix was greeted with dead silence as her husband shuffled through his bags, and put his phone down.

"Gérard…"

The man she loved ignored her, deep in thought. Mrs. Lacroix stood, looking at him and holding back her tongue. She was getting tired of this game of hide and seek. He left, said it was needed, and came back with little-to-no explanation.

"Gérard!"

"Yes, Amélie?" He muttered lowly as an answer. Trying to keep the worry out of his voice as he stared at his bags.

"You keep leaving… This has gone on long enough, Gérard. What is going on?" Amélie's voice was harsh, but had an audible tone of worry among it.

"You should not worry-"

"Passer sur le corps!" She snapped. "I worry everyday! Please Gérard.. Please."

Her pleads were reacted with a sigh, and a saddened frown. The man grabbed his bags and forced a smile. Leaning to Amélie and giving her a peck on the lips.

In Gérard's mind, he was to distance himself from his femme when there was any proof of a nearing attack. A possible attempt to murder him, loomed and planned by the very own Talon.

Gérard Lacroix stepped away from the frowning Amélie, grabbing her hand and giving a saddened smile. He slowly let the hand go, and stepped from the door, much to Amélie's lament.

Amélie merely watched in silence as her love slipped from her grasp once again. She doubted she would get any answer at this point.

Lacroix's heart pounded and she stepped forward, locking the door and looking out the window.

Gérard had already gone.

To Amélie's confusion, he was gone in such a short amount of time. She looked around, and when she spotted a man who wore what seemed to be police gear, she skipped a heartbeat.

'Why would such a heavily armored person be… here? Bizarre…' She thought to herself before shutting the blinds. As she shut them, her eyes caught with the man's, and Amélie felt shivers crawl down her spine.

With each pump of blood through her heart, Amélie was dared to think of possible scenarios. Fear was the idea, and perpetual. Amélie was suddenly under the idea that her life was in danger, and it put her on high alert.

Treading to the bathroom, Amélie looked into the mirror. Planning to go about her day like she normally would after she took a shower. It was bright outside, and Amélie didn't plan to hide in her shell of a house all day.

She flung the curtains from the shower opening, and leaned forward to turn the knob. Amélie felt a random wave of nervousness as she did this, and turned to the door. She quickly walked and shut it before taking off her clothes, and glanced at the door behind her.

Stepping into the contraption, she felt the warm water wash over her body, and she took in a deep breath that absorbed the hot air. Amélie kept her eyes closed as water forced her now wet hair against her shoulders, and she sighed deeply.

Amélie couldn't shake the feeling in her gut that told her someone was watching her. She bit back the urge to grab the sharpest object in the bathroom, and walk out in her house bare, threatening whoever was there. The worried woman could do nothing but fight back those idiotic urges, and tell herself that she was just being paranoid.

'You are just acting like this because Gérard has been running away from you… Imbécile… He is probably cheating on you. That is the only logical reason he would be acting like this!'

Amélie scowled and ran a hand through her hair, taking a breath once more and trying to flush the ferocity down. It was a sickening thought, but Amélie was someone who knew she needed to consider what possibilities there would be. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. It was just how the world went 'round.

"Gérard is just doing his job…" Amélie soothed herself with, "You know that he is not the kind of person to betray the person he loved. He would just be straightforward, and tell you the truth."

Amélie managed to slow her heartbeat, and keep her worries down a bit. Opening her eyes to watch the water trickling down the walls. It was calming, and Amélie could not determine why such a simple thing would be such. Maybe that was it though. It was simple, and simple things made life easy.

Satisfied with the answer to her own inward question, Amélie turned the knob and listened as the water came to a stop.

Amélie hopped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a towel as the cold breeze hit her. Treading to the dryer and running the towel up and down her body, getting rid of the water so that it wasn't cold, and so she could get dressed.

After drying herself to amount she needed, Amélie plugged in the dryer, and let the towel fall. She flicked the switch on, and the loud noise of the dryer filled her ears as the warm air came rushing out. She suppressed a shiver, and quickly dried her hair, running a comb through it, and quickly coming to a halt.

Crash.

Shards of glass hit the floor in the kitchen, and Amélie held her breath as her heart began to pound in her chest. Someone was here. She knew it! She should have just listened to herself and called the police while she had the chance. Now she stood, defenseless in the bathroom, without clothes, and without any devices she could use to contact officials.

Amélie thought she could hear the thoughts in her head out loud at this point. Her head was rushing, and emotions piled in her conscious. She quietly put on a bathrobe that Gérard got for his birthday last year, and she grabbed a pair of nail-cutting scissors.

Slowly, Amélie opened the door…