As expected Duo wasn't thinking rationally once he'd figured out his best friend was dead. That's why he'd picked her up from where she was sitting and carried her inside the theater, and that's why he put her on his bed. For some reason his mind kept telling him that she'd wake up soon enough and that she would appreciate being brought inside.
But hours passed and she never woke up, and the sun rising told him it was a new day. There was no explaining why this temporary fit of insanity had led Duo to believe that a person no longer breathing was still alive, but somehow it had and he was incapable of thinking sensibly. When Bernier and Le Tallec came looking for Hilde, he told them she was feeling ill.
"What do you mean ill? That woman never gets sick!" Tallec favored Hilde out of all of his employees, and often relied on her for any job he considered especially important. "I demand to see her right now!"
"Sir, please... Hilde's asleep and I'm not sure if what she has is contagious. The last thing I would want is for one of you two to get sick as well." Duo gave a polite bow to the men and it puzzled them. Duo Maxwell had never showed any real manners in their presence except when he was first hired. "I will take care of any work that Hilde needs to finish or whatever you were going to assign her to do."
"Fine, but make sure it gets done this time." Bernier guided the portly man up the stairs, but before they'd completely disappeared from view Bernier turned around. "Which reminds me; Relena Peacecraft will be here this afternoon and has requested you again. Be ready in one hour, and greet her outside."
Duo waited until there was no one around before going back into his room.
'She's not going to come back to life by just staring at her. You might as well give her some courtesy and properly bury her.'
"Hilde can't be dead; I didn't even watch the show with her. I should've just stayed with her and maybe she wouldn't have died." He slumped down to the floor with his back against the wall. His elbows were on his knees, and Duo's head was limply resting against the wall. "If I hadn't been so selfish and left..."
'Then stop being selfish now and stop insulting her like this. Hilde deserves to be buried in a real cemetery and given a proper place for people to visit her. Not to be lying on your bed rotting.'
Duo forced himself to stand up and blow out the candle he'd lit earlier. He left the room and made sure the door was firmly closed. Nobody was going to find Hilde like that; not while she looked so vulnerable.
While he was going upstairs the situation he was in reminded Duo of the famous story, 'The Tale-Tell Heart'. Though Duo hadn't murdered Hilde like the narrator of that story had, and it brought his train of thought to a question he was dreading.
'How did she die? Was she murdered like that man...?'
The nauseating image flashed before his eyes once again, and Duo restrained himself from throwing up right then. The last thing he needed was to displease Relena while she was watching the show with his current attitude. So he forced himself to put on a grin as he greeted the young aristocrat and her bodyguard once again.
"Do you guys come watch the shows every day?" Duo avoided looking directly at Heero and focused more on Relena. "I'm sure someone of your status must have something better to do."
"Not really, all I ever get to do is sit around and watch my father conduct his business. He is unable to understand that I could help him with his work, but I don't want to be a bother to him so I leave him alone." Relena sighed and then gave a small pout that most people wouldn't have shown to only an acquaintance. "Duo you know you don't have to be so formal. I'm your age and I don't see why you should treat me like an old woman."
"Sorry, it's habit when I'm working." Duo glanced over at Heero and found the bodyguard staring at him. "Do you mind if I take care of something really quick, mademoiselle?"
"Go ahead, and stop calling me that! Just call me Relena," she smiled as she watched Duo take off downstairs.
Duo was able to make his way downstairs without running into either of his bosses, and felt immense relief once in his own room. Hilde was still exactly where he'd left her, even though Duo had still had some hope that she might be alive.
He hadn't intentionally left the door open, but Duo hadn't made a point to close it either.
That's why it took him by surprise to find Heero observing him from the doorway. Duo couldn't believe he had been so careless and allowed him of all people to find him with a dead woman in his bed. Being a bodyguard Heero could shoot Duo on the spot and claim he'd seen Duo murder her.
But he didn't reach for his gun. Heero didn't even blink as he laid eyes on Hilde's corpse.
To Duo's astonishment, Heero actually left the room without saying a single word to him. He stood up and went over to Hilde, and Duo felt himself become hollow at the sight. Duo felt as if everything inside of him had just melted away, and all that was left was this strange feeling in his chest.
As if everything had been carved out of his skin and now Duo was only filled with the air he breathed.
"I promise tonight I'll get you out of this wretched theater..." Duo wasn't sure if it was disrespectful to Hilde that he wasn't crying. He did feel like mourning for her, but the tears wouldn't come.
The whole time Duo knew her, he had always attempted to not show any weakness. It might've been a habit of his, but there was something that had always made the young man strive to not burden Hilde.
Heero was leaning against the wall when Duo emerged from the room, and closed the door quietly. Neither of them spoke as they began their ascent of the staircase, and Duo kept his eyes studying the wall to his left. Before they rejoined Relena, Duo grabbed onto Heero's arm and pulled him aside.
"Please swear to me that you won't speak a word about what you saw. I know it doesn't look very good from your viewpoint, but you have to trust me when I say I didn't kill her." Duo had a hard time reading whether there was even a reaction from Heero.
Heero leaned in so close that he was only inches from Duo when he spoke. "I swear I won't tell your secret."
When Heero's lips brushed against his own, Duo had been sure the bodyguard was going to kiss him. But Heero had turned away at the last second and began going up to rejoin Relena. Duo was left behind as he was still trying to figure out what had just happened.
Duo made himself follow Heero to be greeted by Relena at the top of the stairs.
"I hope you'll forgive me, Duo. You didn't seem to be feeling well so I asked Heero to help you if you needed it." Relena smiled apologetically and then sat down. She offered the seat beside her to Duo, "Would you like to sit with me?"
He shook his head to decline Relena's offer, and Duo felt bad about doing so. The only real reason he hadn't accepted it was because Heero would be standing right next to him. Just having the bodyguard that close would make him uncomfortable, but Relena didn't want to take no for an answer.
"Please sit with me; I'm sure you'd love the opportunity to get off of your feet for a couple hours." Relena stood up and gently grabbed Duo's wrist. She led him over to the seat and then took her own once again. "Just try to enjoy the show, and I promise I won't tell those snobby bosses of yours."
Reluctantly sitting down, Duo could already tell that it was a bad idea. Even now Heero's presence was making him fidget in his seat just as the show was beginning, and he couldn't imagine sitting for two hours like this.
Somehow he managed the incredible feat, and Heero hardly even moved the whole time. It seemed that in Relena's presence Heero wouldn't be bold enough to make a move, and Duo was thankful for it.
"I won't see you tomorrow Duo because my father is taking me on one of his business trips for a couple of days. So I hope you start feeling better." Relena curtsied for Duo, and Duo returned it with a bow.
Heero just stood behind Relena and seemed lost in his own thought. Duo tried to not glance at Heero as they were leaving, but he did just for a brief moment. Heero had apparently glanced at him at the same time, and Duo hastily whipped his head around and made his next destination his room.
Since it was only the afternoon, Duo checked on Hilde once again and then went off to clean the stage for the next show. His fellow co-workers continued asking where Hilde was, but he ignored them. Nobody had to know where Hilde was; because tomorrow they would all find out she'd left Bordeaux in search of better work.
That would be the story Duo would use because he couldn't think of anything else he could really say. Even though it wasn't a thorough explanation, none of the other caretakers had any real reason to question Duo about Hilde.
After cleaning up various areas for hours, Duo finally got his chance close to midnight to take a break. He intended to make full use of this small opportunity to go down to the cemetery with Hilde and give her a proper grave. His only problem now was how to carry the body out without drawing suspicion.
In reality there was no possible way to accomplish this task, because it isn't everyday you see someone walking down the street with a dead person. Yet Duo knew he had to risk everything to do what needed to be done.
So he waited until he knew that all of the other caretakers of the theater were off enjoying their own time off from cleaning. Duo carried Hilde in his arms in plain view of the world, but somehow he managed to escape the theater without being seen. Taking the back exit was the only choice, and so he ended up in the opposite direction of his destination.
'The only way I have even a slim chance of not being caught is to use the alley network...'
Ever alert, Duo ran down each dark alley he could find to avoid any possible contact on the main road. Everything was going well, and he even managed to make it to the cemetery without bumping into anyone. His next obstacle was a guard making sure nobody entered the graveyard.
"Why the hell would they station a guard for a place full of dead people? There are plenty of live people that probably need that protection more." Duo asked Hilde. "I suppose I'll just have to take the chance of making a distraction, but how the hell am I suppose to do that?"
That's when a miracle beyond reason occurred, as Duo was about to try the only plan he could think of, Heero appeared. Heero somehow was able to keep the guard completely unaware of his presence as he sharply hit him across the head with a blunt object. When the guard fell to the ground, Heero glanced over in Duo's direction as if he expected him to come out.
Duo was hesitant of trusting Heero, even if the bodyguard had never done anything to make him that cautious. He was helping a guy carry a dead woman into a cemetery in order to bury her.
This isn't the kind of a thing a bodyguard does everyday.
"Why are you helping me with something like this?" Duo asked as he stepped towards Heero.
"She was a close friend of yours, right?" Heero walked into the cemetery first, but wouldn't proceed any farther until Duo began to follow him.
Duo had no choice in the matter, so the two of them began to walk down the stone pathway. "That doesn't mean you have to help me. We just met yesterday; I don't see why you would even want to be associated with this kind of thing."
The two of them went to the back of the cemetery immediately, knowing that an unmarked grave would be too suspicious if it were towards the front. Duo was looking for an area that he felt would be appropriate for Hilde. He found an open space near the back corner where there were hardly any graves yet.
Heero had thought ahead of Duo, and apparently had brought shovels with him. As he went to go and get them, Duo got some time alone.
"I still don't know what happened to you Hilde, if you were murdered or not... But I swear to you, that if you were murdered in cold blood, I will avenge you." Duo heard Heero approaching and was then handed a shovel. He began to dig when he noticed Heero assisting him, "You don't have to do anything Heero. This is something I need to do."
"This isn't the kind of burden you carry alone," Heero began to help anyway and Duo decided not to bother trying to convince him to stop.
The two of them worked together on digging the grave, it took them until almost dawn. A couple of times Heero went to go check on the unconscious security guard, but the man didn't even stir the entire time.
In Duo's opinion the hardest part had to be lying Hilde down in that grave and knowing that this was the reality he had to live with now. She really did die, whether it was murder or not wasn't important at that moment. He just wanted a few seconds to say a few words, but they didn't have the time.
Because of the rush they were in, the two managed to finish replacing the soil in just an hour. As they were leaving, the guard was finally waking up, but they knew he wouldn't even realize what had happened.
After walking for a while Duo decided it was time to go back to the theater and get a little bit of rest.
"Listen Heero, thanks for helping me... but you can't ever speak of this." Duo avoided looking directly at Heero, "I have to get back to the theater before somebody actually notices I'm missing."
Heero grabbed his wrist to stop Duo from leaving, "Don't blame yourself for her death. From what I can tell it doesn't seem like anybody killed her, she might have died of some disease she was unaware of."
"I'll keep it in mind..." Duo jerked away from Heero feeling a sudden wave of anger.
'Hilde couldn't have died from some disease, she was too strong for that.'
When he arrived back at the theater, Duo found a group of his coworkers outside the building in a huddle. Once they heard Duo approaching one of the men quickly whipped around and glared at him.
"What's going on? Why is everyone gathered out here?" Duo was a few feet away from the rest of them, and he didn't intend to get any closer.
"Where have you been all night?" The same man asked him.
"I just went out, is that a crime?"
"Just what were you doing while you were 'out'?" A woman stepped from the small crowd.
"What is this, an interrogation?" Duo knew that he had probably been seen by someone last night, but he couldn't be sure. There was still a chance they were just furious with him for procrastinating to do his work.
"Stop playing dumb, Maxwell. I saw you carrying a body out last night, and I know it was Hilde." The man who originally began to ask the questions now pointed an accusing finger at Duo. "You killed Hilde last night and then dumped the body!"
Duo took a step back, "I would never kill Hilde. You have no right to accuse me of something you could've dreamed up last night."
It was hard to keep his composure with the guilt of burying Hilde, but Duo wasn't lying when he said that he hadn't murdered Hilde. Though he knew that this wouldn't stay a secret among the caretakers of the Grand Theater of Bordeaux for long. Soon enough this would leak to the owners Bernier and Le Tallec, and they would have no problem with going to the police about this.
The last statement had seemed to make the other people think about the possibility it had just been some man's dream. Half of them seemed to agree, but the others were convinced that Duo did murder Hilde.
But Duo knew that this distraction wouldn't last for long, so he began to carefully back away from the people. They had began to bicker amongst themselves and didn't notice as their supposed 'murderer' began to escape. It wasn't until one woman yelled out for him to stop, but by then it was too late for anyone to do anything.
Duo was in a full sprint putting as much distance between him and all of the caretakers. He wasn't going anywhere intentionally, because the only thing he could think about was how bad he'd screwed up.
'Now not only is it my fault Hilde is dead, but now everyone will think I killed her!'
As he continued to just keep running wherever his legs decided to take him; Duo ended up right back at the gates of the cemetery. The same guard was standing at his post, but he looked like he had just woken up. The man still seemed to be in a daze, so Duo went ahead into the rows of graves.
Knowing he was going to end up in front of Hilde's graves, Duo had to force himself to stop and took the chance to sit down behind a large sepulcher most likely for a deceased aristocrat.
'Why did I run? It only makes it obvious that I'm guilty of something, and that will make all of those people tell the police. I'm sure I'll end up being a wanted person by the afternoon...'
Duo could already hear the footsteps coming towards him, and knew it was most likely that guard coming to see what he was doing. It wasn't every day that you saw a young man running into a cemetery in the way Duo had. That was the kind of thing that just made you suspect him even more of some wrongdoing.
As the shadow stopped just beside Duo, he noticed the shadow was not that of a man but of a woman. He looked up and found that Relena was giving him a questioning look, "Why were you running like that Duo? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine Relena," Duo started to get up when Relena offered him a hand, and he took it gratefully. "I just started running without really thinking, and I ended up coming here. Why are you in such a dreary place? You can't expect me to believe you have so much time you go strolling through cemeteries in the mornings."
"No, I actually came here to visit my mother actually. She died five years ago from depression." Relena began walking in an aisle of different graves, and Duo followed her. "She became depressed when she had a miscarriage... But I do believe the thing that killed her was the fact my father was never around the entire time. I'm sorry for telling you such a gloomy piece of my past."
Duo didn't know what to say to her as they stopped before a grave with a woman's name. Standing there made him uncomfortable, so he began to head back to the main path. Duo waited for Relena while forcing himself not to look in the direction of Hilde's grave.
"Are you waiting for me?" Relena smiled at him sweetly and then hooked her arm in his. "I can give you a ride back to the theater if you want."
"No thanks, I'm pretty sure I'm fired."
He tried to laugh it off, but Relena could tell that wasn't how he felt.
"Then you can stay at my home for tonight. After all, it is rather lonely with just me and Heero staying there."
She didn't take no for an answer as she pulled him along with her to the entrance. There Heero was waiting for them with Relena's ride home, but Duo didn't want to make himself a troublesome for the young aristocrat.
"No thanks, I don't want to impose on you." Duo tried to pull away, and managed to get away from Relena. But before he could do anything else, Heero had a firm grip on him and guided him towards their ride. "Please let go Heero, I'm just going to be a pest to you two."
"Duo, we both insist that you stay. If you didn't it would hurt Mademoiselle Relena's feelings." Relena had already gotten in and gave a little pout to Duo. "Please take a seat beside her, or else she will continue to tell me about how much she worries about you."
After that, there was no more arguing, as Duo was now on his way to Relena's mansion.
----
Hi readers! I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting for this chapter... but I can promise the next update will be faster!
Please R & R!
Shari Maxwell
