Prologue
"Alright, kids, time for bed." Izzy's pronouncement was met with whines of protest from the three Johnson children.
"Aw, man!"
"Five more minutes?"
Kate shook her head. "No way, guys, it's already half an hour past bedtime and your parents will kill us if you're all still awake when they get back from dinner."
She led the five-year-old twins, Sam and Eric, to their bedroom, Izzy and the already half-asleep little Leah trailing behind. The two babysitters tucked each toddler into bed, flicked on the glowing SpongeBob nightlight, and quietly shut the wooden bedroom door behind them. Then, they stumbled blearily downstairs and Kate plopped onto the Johnson's comfortable couch with all the grace of an elephant.
"Ugh, I'm so tired! Those kids have way too much energy."
Izzy was only half-listening to her best friend's complaints as she rifled through the movie cabinet. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, at least it pays by the hour. Come help me pick a movie to watch, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson aren't going to be back for a while." With much grumbling and yawning, Kate joined her friend in front of the expansive flat-screen TV.
"Hey, these are all kid movies," Izzy protested with minor disgust. Izzy was quite the fan of scary movies.
"What did you expect, Saw and Final Destination? They have three cartoon-obsessed toddlers!"
Izzy huffed in annoyance. "I just thought they'd have a little more taste in movies. Told you we should've brought some stuff from my house."
Kate nodded as if in agreement, but on the inside she was glad she'd "forgotten" to grab something out of Izzy's movie drawer. The two friends had pretty similar personalities, but movies were one thing they could rarely agree on. Kate hated nearly all horror movies, instead preferring comedies or, even better, sweet, love-conquers-all storylines. Secretly, she was overjoyed that the Johnson's owned mostly cute Disney or Pixar DVD's.
Izzy pulled out a small stack of "acceptable" movies, and told Kate to pick from the pile. All four options were some of the scarier children's movies in existence, but one in particular caught Kate's eye. She'd never seen it, but knew it was a Disney movie, which meant a guaranteed happy ending. In bold letters, the front of the case proclaimed the film's strange title: the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Izzy spoke as she picked it up and examined it.
"I've only seen part of the opening scene, but it's way darker and more in-depth than any other Disney movie. You want to watch it? I promise, it's not too scary," she teased. Kate grinned and nodded, and Izzy went to make popcorn as her brunette friend popped the disc into the DVD player. She came back with the snacks just as the opening song started to play. A choir bellowing in Latin mixed with the sound of ringing bells, the beautiful cacophony soon giving way to an accordion and a melodious male voice.
"Morning in Paris, the city awakes
To the bells of Notre Dame…
The fisherman fishes, the bakerman bakes
To the bells of Notre Dame.
To the big bells as loud as the thunder,
To the little bells soft as a psalm,
And some say the soul of the city's
The toll of the bells…
The bells of Notre Dame!"
The two girls settled on the huge couch, bowls of popcorn and carbonated drinks cradled protectively in their laps. Distant thunder boomed outside; another storm was blowing through the area. Ignoring the inclement weather, they watched as the colorful performer onscreen told of a long-ago band of gypsies trying to sneak into Paris, and being thwarted by a cruel judge who was obviously the antagonist of the story. This man, apparently called Judge Claude Frollo, almost tossed an innocent baby down a well, but was stopped by the Archdeacon, and eventually agreed to take care of the disfigured child in an attempt to save his own soul from Hell. The child was cruelly named Quasimodo.
By now Izzy and Kate were completely engrossed in their movie, paying little attention to the increasingly loud storm raging outside. The storytelling gypsy started singing again.
"So here is a riddle to guess if you can,
Sing the bells of Notre Dame…
Who is the monster and who is the man?"
As the song swelled to its climax, thunder and lighting ripped through the skies. The deafening sound collided with the movie's music, and all the two girls could hear was the low rumbling of the storm, clanging church bells, and above all, the final words of the song.
"BELLS OF NOTRE DAME!"
The world seemed to split in two. Wind sprang up out of nowhere and swirled around the young women like a whirlpool, their startled screams completely overshadowed by the roaring gale and crashing bells. They spun faster and faster, and with a flash of light and one final knell, they were gone.