She was nineteen the first time she felt a heart stop beating.
Giselle watched his pupils dilate after that last breath escaped his lips. His exhausted flesh, covered in defense wounds, sunk to gravity. Giselle grinned, dropping her knife as she stood up over the body. Her silk lavender dress was soaked in blood. She tucked soaking strands of hair behind her ear and breathed in deep.
"Con."
She kicked the dead man's torso and almost expected to hear a groan from the pain.
"Oui. A con he must have been."
Giselle felt her throat close up in shock. She knew no one could have heard what happened. It was an abandoned warehouse right outside of Bordeaux at two in the morning. No one would think to walk in, even if they heard something suspicious. People here always kept to themselves. Except, apparently, the voice Giselle just heard behind her.
Giselle quickly turned around with her deep brown eyes widened. She saw in front of her a slender blonde woman. Her long curls were pinned up and she wore a dark maroon dress peaking out from a black pea coat. She had a calm, warm look in her eyes. No fear. No disgust.
Giselle didn't understand her sentence, and simply grabbed the knife from the ground and demanded in her native tongue, "What the hell are you doing here? Who are you?"
The blonde woman laughed and playfully held her hands up as if she was surrendering. "Vous me comprenez maintenant?" She continued to speak fluent French. "I've been watching you, Giselle. You are a beautiful woman. A woman who deserves much more than what's been given to you."
She walked closer to Giselle, inches away from her face. Giselle lowered her knife, slowly becoming captivated with the woman's words.
"He didn't deserve you, did he? See, you are strong and intelligent. And in this world not many people understand or truly see it. Your mother didn't. She left so long ago, not giving you a chance. Your father seemed to not care at all. And it's just been you ever since, hasn't it? Trying to make a living, find a connection. And he comes along," she motioned at the lifeless body, "But they don't get what is hidden deep inside you. He's beneath you. A lesser species. I would have lured him to a warehouse myself."
She placed her hand on Giselle's left arm, sliding her fingers down to the knife. Giselle let her take it.
"I couldn't let someone else so useless, so ignorant, live for another day," Giselle almost choked on her words, realizing she never spoke aloud of such a subject.
"Oui, mon amour. Not when they don't see how special you are. If you were my daughter, I would honor you." The woman now held Giselle's hand and looked for a connection in her eyes. "Would you like to come with me? I can show you a whole new life."
"Oui," Giselle obliged. She couldn't imagine any other option in that moment. In her act of violence she did not consider the aftermath. She had never met anyone who could see her true self in such an instant.
"Oui sont vous?" Giselle almost whispered these words.
"Lily." The warm smile appeared once more. "Now let's get this cleaned up. There's a few people I'd like for you to meet."