Hi everyone! I wrote this for English class over a year ago and recently found it. I thought I would upload it for all to enjoy. I love the Kiki strike books, and have read them and reread them. This little scene is chapter ten of the Darkness Dwellers where Kiki is in the bell tower place and the two boys, Marcel and Etienne, come in and find her. It is in Etienne's POV
I hope you enjoy
Disclaimer: I have no claim to the Kiki Strike books or its characters.
Kiki Strike: The darkness Dwellers
Chapter 10
Etienne's POV
I'll admit, the bell tower may not have been the greatest plan. I mean, it seemed easy enough, compared to our past failures at the crypt. The problem was the new guard stationed outside. Marcel wanted to give up once we found out about him, but I told him this was our last shot, which is true. We can't have anymore bad press, and we can't do nothing, or the Darkness Dwellers will never let us join.
Finding out the guards patterns was very easy, dinner at 10, breakfast at 5. That pattern has been going on since he was stationed outside on Saturday, and seeing as two days later I'm hiding down the street a bit as he makes his way across said street to a café, I'm certain that trend is still in place.
"Let's go Marcel." I said, grabbing my backpack full of equipment we may need to fix the bell and a lantern I brought for extra light. We quickly made our way over to the bell tower entrance.
"We can turn our flash lights on now, yes?" Marcel asked.
"Yes." I said to him, turning on my own. Quietly we made our way up the stairs to the top, where a locked door was waiting for us. Picking the lock was probably going to be the easiest part of this entire adventure, especially now that no one else was in the tower.
"There it is. Isn't it beautiful?" I said pointing my flashlight up to the rusty and broken metal bell. Soon, though, it will once again ring out all across Paris.
"You're joking, no?" Marcel said to me. I guess he wasn't as thrilled with this project as I was. "This is our project? it's a hunk of rusting metal!"
"It's a national treasure!" I told him, angry at his lack of enthusiasm for our newest project. "Now shut the door Marcel. The guard will be back soon."
As Marcel shut the door I lit the lantern and set that along with my backpack beneath the bell and its rotting rope once used to make the bell ring. Then I took a minute to take in my surroundings.
The room was octagonal, and also cramped. The walls were all stone, and the floor covered with what seemed to be relatively fresh paper ripped up into hundreds of pieces. Marcel and I were not the only ones to have been up there recently it seemed. The arched windows were boarded up, and the room was very cold.
Spinning slowly I looked at the walls when my light landed on a thing in the corner of the room
Stumbling back, putting a hand to my mouth so I wouldn't scream, I fell onto the dusty floor. The ghostly image of a girl was standing along the wall. What I could see of her skin was as white as a marshmallow. Her hair, completely devoid of color, looked like spider webs shooting out of her head. Her features were sharp and striking.
She was very beautiful.
"What's wrong with you?" Marcel asked me. My response was simple to point a finger at the figure. When he saw what I was pointing at he quickly shut his eyes and yelled "Mon Dieu! Make it go away!"
"I think I'll stay if you don't mind" The figure responded, her French accent perfect. "After all, I was here first."
"It speaks!' I cried. How could a ghost do such a thing?
"Mon Dieu" Marcel yelled again, looking like he might faint.
"Would you both stop? I'm not a ghost." The thing said, and she was starting to sound annoyed.
"V-vampire?" Marcel stuttered out the question. He was always jumping to crazy conclusions. Though, I did think it was a ghost.
"No, I'm not a vampire, either. I'm one hundred percent human. And if you both don't mind me saying so, you're both acting like a couple of ninnies."
With that sentence I realized she was right. I was acting very foolishly. With as much dignity as I could, I stood up and dusted off my pants.
I was not a ninny.
"If you're just a girl, how did you get up here?" I asked her. It was a reasonable question. The door was locked, and locks from the outside.
"Where's here?" She asked.
"The bell tower of St. Maurice." I replied
"In Paris?" she asked, looking a bit stunned.
"Of course in Paris! What's going on? Who are you?" I asked, though I was starting to get an idea about how she got up here, and why she didn't know where she was.
"You first." She said. She was stubborn. Oh joy.
"We came to fix the hunk of junk hanging over your head." Marcel said, seeming to finally have gotten over being scared.
"Marcel! It's a secret!" I snapped. How could he go telling random, albeit beautiful,. Stranger.
"Don't worry, I'm not in any position to gossip. So do you to make a habit of repairing rusty old bells in the middle of the night?" She asked.
'It's not just old," I said. "It's one of the most famous bells in France. It hasn't been heard in a hundred years. We want everyone in Paris to enjoy it again." and maybe the Darkness dwellers would let me join.
"Sounds like a perfect project for the Darkness Dwellers," Kiki said.
"What would you know about the Darkness Dwellers?" I asked, confused.
"Hmmm. Let's see. According to the Paris police, the darkness dwellers are a mythical organization. There's no solid evidence that any group by that name has ever existed. However, many Parisians believe that the organization was formed to protect the catacombs- a network of bone filled tunnels deep beneath this city. The Darkness dwellers' fans claim the group secretly repairs national treasures aboveground as well." Pausing here, she pointed at the bell.
"But not everyone thinks they're so wonderful. Some people believe that the Darkness Dwellers exploit the catacombs for their own amusement. A while back, a police officer reported that the group had used stolen electricity to build themselves an underground movie theater. And earlier this year, a shipment of old skeletons on its way to New York was intercepted by French customs officials. Some think that the bones had been pilfered from the catacombs, and that the Darkness Dwellers were selling them to finance their adventures.
"But the police still insist that the Darkness Dwellers are just figments of the public imagination. I suspect that the truth in this case is much more interesting. In my experience, it usually is."
"How…?" I sputtered.
"I read Le Monde, and I pay attention." She replied. She was very smart, then. I thought for a moment. I had a few options. I could befriend here, see if my theory about why she was up here was correct, and hopefully help here. I could leave, hope in a few days she wouldn't be here, but if my suspicions were correct I could be walking away from a girl that was in danger. Plus she was intriguing, and beautiful, and just maybe she could help with the bell.
"Truly impressive." I finally said after a moment. "My name is Etienne, My friend is Marcel."
"You can call me Kiki." She said. What an interesting name. It fit her. "So, are you members of the Darkness Dwellers?"
"No, they never invite anyone under eighteen to join. Marcel and I don't want to wait another two years, so we've been trying to prove ourselves worthy of the honor."
"And give them a little good press." Marcel added.
"Yes the Darkness Dwellers' reputation has suffered since those skeletons were seized by customs. Marcel and I want to fix something beautiful so Paris will love them again. But our last project was a terrible disaster. There was an accident, and we almost destroyed a tenth- century crypt. My father had to pay a fortune to repair the damage, but the body inside the crypt…. Well, let's just say could be our last chance to prove that we're not completely incompetent." I said, a bit embarrassed. She probably read about the incident with the crypt, seeing as she said she reads Le Monde and that was the newspaper that printed the story. It made the front page too.
"So, you're intending to break into this tower every night to work on the bell?"
"That was the idea," I said. "I go to an engineering school, and we studied this church in class. The city has never raised enough money to fix the bell, and the whole building has been abandoned for years. I thought Marcel and I would be able to come and go as we pleased. Then on Saturday, we discovered a night watchmen stations downstairs. I've spent the last two evenings studying the man's movements. He heads to the café across the street for his dinner at ten and for breakfast at five. We can slip in and out of the church while he eats. If you don't mind me asking, is the man guarding you? Did someone lock you up here?" Finally, a chance to ask about my suspicions.
"Yes, but the less you know about it, the longer you're likely to live." She said. So her captives were willing to kill. That wasn't good. I wonder if she knows who they are.
"So you're a damsel in distress, eh?" Marcel said. " Good thing we showed up to save you." That idiot. He had no brain filter sometimes.
"Did I say I need saving?" Kiki asked, sounded defensive and looking like she was about to punch him.
"You must excuse my friend." I said, stepping in before he could make things worse. "He's not known for his tact. Look, the door Is open now if you'd like to go. We won't tell anyone that we saw you.'
"I'd love to leave, but I can't. and you too can't stay here. I'm expecting visitors soon. They won't be amused if they discover I have company. You'll have to come back some other time." she replied. What kind of person, given the chance to escape her kidnappers chooses to stay?
Someone who had someone to lose if they left, I realized.
"What will happen if we go." I asked her. If she said she would end up being killed I wasn't leaving. I wanted to know her better, and I couldn't do that if she was dead.
"I'm sure I'll live, I have something my captors might want. I just need a chance to propose a trade."
"But you could freeze to death In the night!" I argued. Maybe I could get her to see reason.
"I come from a very cold country. I know how to survive in weather like this." I wonder where she was from? So many questions, though I knew there was not enough time. She needed us to leave.
"Do you have any food? I brought a sandwich…" I offered. She must at least be hungry. She looked at me sadly.
"You're very kind, but I can't accept it."
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us. Is there any way we can be of assistance?" I asked desperately now. If I left, would I ever see her again?
"Yes. I suppose there is one thing you can do. You can send a message to my friends in New York."
"you're an American? How is that possible? Your accent is perfect?" Marcel said. I wanted to punch him.
"Who said I was American" Kiki said, "Will you please excuse us for a moment, Marcel? I would prefer to speak to Etienne alone."
Well, fixing this bell was going better than expected, though not in the way I originally thought.
Marcel walked out the door leading to the stairs, saying he would meet me tomorrow at our usual stop in a café in the center of Paris. When we could no longer hear his footsteps, Kiki finally spoke.
"Alright. Do you have a pen?" She asked. I nodded, and pulled one out of my jean pocket. She bent down to pick up a scrap of paper on the floor.
"Can you send an email to this address. Tell my friends you found me locked in a bell tower, and that I am fine. Then tell them I need the cure ASAP"
"The cure?" I asked. Cure for what? Was she sick?
" Yes. Just say the cure. They will know what I mean. Now you really must go."
"Alright. I'll send this as soon as I am home." I promised. I wanted to help this strange girl. I gathered up my backpack and lantern, and turned to say goodbye.
"Thank you." She said before I could say anything. "For all the help you have offered."
"You are welcome…" I paused, feeling a bit awkward. She waited patiently though, until finally a moment later I said "Can I come back and take you to the catacombs?"
"Sure. Come back tomorrow. After ten, when the guard leaves. We can sneak out, but I have to return here without it seeming like I left."
"I can have you back by 5."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye Etienne." She said.
"Goodbye Kiki." I said, and walked out the door.
"Don't forget to relock the door." Kiki's voice came from inside. I did as she said, shaking my head at the thought of a girl asking to be locked back in a bell tower. What a strange, beautiful girl.