Prologue
Ever since I was a child, people would come by our house and have their fortunes told. That was how we earned money to fill our stomachs with food and fabrics to clothe us. Our little house was no more than a rickety shack that could barely stand on its own during the harsh winds and storms that assailed our little village.
We were settlers in a small village just at the coast of Le Havre; my father was a fisherman along with all the other fathers in the village. My mother was a seamstress and made clothes for the locals. I was a maidservant in a local flower shop on weekday mornings. Life was simple back when I was a child.
But all that changed…
"Adrienne." I opened my eyes at the mention of my name. The shack echoed the strong bellows of the wind and I curled up into the ball with my blanket shielding little of the decreasing temperature. I looked up from the dirty white cloth of my pillow and into the worn eyes of my mother. Her pale lips let out a soft smile and she stroked my rather messy sandy brown hair. "Come and walk with me child." I looked at the other bunk beds in the room; both my brothers were still asleep.
I crawled off from my bed and followed my mother out of the room. The storm was trying to throw our little shack away and the winds never ceased to strike the windows. My mother seemed to continue to the sitting room where our worn coffee table was lighted by two candles. What surprised was why the candles' light never vanished despite the strong wind. I looked around and found a silhouette of a rather large man. He stayed hidden in the shadows. I paused in my step and my mother pushed me further to a stool behind the coffee table. I took this as my cue to sit down.
Upon the stool, my mother handed me the worn tarot cards that I always used in predicting things, just for fun but lately what I foretell happen and I had distanced myself from it. Especially when I drew the card that told me of…
…My father's death.
And what a bad girl I am for I did not weep a single tear for him for I had known of his death three weeks earlier and back then, tears had streamed down my misty gray eyes.
I took the deck of cards and looked from the person to my mother. My mother let out a smile and spoke, "Show him his future my dear." I cocked a brow but my deck of cards had settled upon the floor. And I looked at the person and his hand, as to what card he would draw.
The cool wind rushed into the house and blew away my hair off my face. My eyes widened, for the man had such entrancing golden eyes with malevolence glinting in them. In between his fingers, he held in a smug fashion the Devil card.
I looked up at the pale blue sky; it was daybreak and I had to find an inn soon. My dirty clothes seemed to make me stand out from the regent crowd who walk along the streets. The women were drawing their fans over their faces to hide their disgust and men frowned at me. It was a normal day to day occurrence and I could careless for I only needed a nice bed and some new clothes. I patted the sum of money I had earned from gambling as I looked along the various shops which specialized in tailoring. My eyes skimmed through the clothes; there were some fancy dresses and some snazzy men's attire. Yet a simple one caught my eye and I went in to buy one. Despite the unpleasant gaze the owner of the shop threw at me, she hastily made our transaction then shooing me off their way. I was fine with that.
I walked a few ways off from the town's main attraction and finally landed at a suitable inn. It wasn't as grand as the ones I've come across but it will do. I hastily booked a room and proceeded to the private confines when I received my key. To the bathroom it is!
The feel of fresh white cotton upon my skin was heavenly and the cold water to bathe in was glorious. My stomach growled in protest and I rubbed my palm over it. I looked over my pouch and there was more than enough money for food and lodging. I proceeded to trudged down the stairs towards the bar, dressed in a simple white cotton shirt and chocolate brown shorts that ended upon my knees. Black boots adorned my feet as a small black cap kept my hair from disarray. I sat myself in one of the seats which was adjacent to a group of people.
A waitress came to me and I ordered a simple dinner of bread and soup. I was in France which was hard to believe. It had been a good two months since I left Le Havre. Two months ever since a stranger ask for his fortune late at night. My mother had been acting strangely and I thought it was because of my father's death. It seemed that way but two days after, our little fishing village was attacked by these weird machinery which were said to be firing bullets at everyone. I had managed to escape because I was sent on an errand to sell the flowers; no one seemed to have survived when I came back and without further ado, quickly fled the ruins with only the deck of tarot cards in remembrance.
No sooner the food came and I dug into the soup, ravishing the bread until I was full. I sighed contentedly at the feeling of a full stomach. With my stomach sated I couldn't help but gaze around the room. My eyes wandered back to the group of people but they were gone. I stood up from my chair but my pouch fell down and I bent down to pick up, silently cursing at the thing. However when I stood back up, I came face to face with an odd looking machinery. A barrel of a large gun protruded from its shoulder and was aimed at me, point blank. My mouth hung agape and I couldn't move in total shock.
