Chapter Seven: Oh, Dear, Donna!
** I was woken by a slap to the face! I sat up quickly to find that all of the sous chefs, Chef Pippino, and Jack stood around me; all were staring at my wounds. The sous chefs gasped and both Chef Pippino and Jack sighed in relief; Jack lifted a note that laid on my thigh up and opened it, he read aloud:
"'To, Monsieur Jack,
I may have taken too much blood; I became carried away at tasting her again. She will not die, I was sure of that, place an ice bag on her wounds, she will be fine, Monsieur Jack. You know where I am, awaiting your anger-fuelled ranting.
Sincerely,
O.G. (or, as your sister calls me; the Vampire)'"
Jack threw down the letter and stomped on it, yelling curses; he whipped around, towards the chefs and stared at each one. "If word gets out about this, I will have you all beheaded." He hissed, all of the chefs nodded and ran out of the cold room, back to their stations to finish lunch service. Chef Pippino came forwards and gently touched my wound, shaking his head slightly.
"I'm so sorry, mademoiselle, that we didn't notice your absence sooner. We thought you ran to the WC!...D-Did it hurt?" Chef Pippino asked, helping me up from the chair; Jack hurried to my aid also.
"It's fine, Chef, you didn't know." I said softly, my legs trembled a bit, but nothing more. "No, Chef, it doesn't hurt, it actually felt extremely delightful." I added, standing on my own and sighing. "But" I continued.
"He said he could make it hurt, he said that it was my choice whether it was to hurt or not." I finished; Jack sighed and Chef Pippino nodded, shaking his head at my neck once more.
"Junie" Jack said, looking at the side of my torso. "Turn around" he ordered, and, so I did; Chef Pippino gasped.
"Your dress, princesa! It is ruined!" Chef Pippino cried, I glanced down as best I could to see that the bottom half of the torso on my dress was ripped open, and there were also several rips in my corset where you could clearly see the skin of my back; for the Vampire had dug his nails into my corset, thank heavens it had strong padding! I shook my head and hurried over to the small towel lying upon the ground; taking it up and tying it around my neck again, it just barely covered both bite marks.
"I think I need a bigger towel" I said, smiling, attempting to lighten the situation, but, from Jack's hateful expression, and Chef's pitiful one, my attempt was in vain.
"How many times did he say he was going to bite you?" Jack asked, he had picked up the letter and was twisting the paper in frustration.
"Fairly often; he said, whenever the hunger returned ot him." I replied; Jack nearly hissed in rage! He ripped the paper to shreds and ran over to a shelf and kicked it many times, screaming curses as he did so. Chef Pippino had to run over to him, to calm him down.
"I'll kill 'em" Jack hissed in a heavy, American accent. "I'll kill the bastard!" He yelled, turning upon his heel to me. "Junie, if he lays another hand on you, you tell me, alright?" He asked, his rage taking ever more a hold of him, I nodded slowly and Chef Pippino told me to get out before Jack made an even bigger fool of himself before me; so, I did as I was told and walked out, finishing lunch service.
** I had much free time between lunch and dinner, so, I walked about the Palais Garnier, getting to know my surroundings, when, I heard little girl's giggles; I turned to see two small girls running into the amphitheater, wearing pink, bedazzled tutus. I smiled and slowly followed them in, peeking inside to see Donna, along with her friends, dancing on stage. I grinned and walked inside quietly, sitting down in a red, velvet chair and watching them; their instructor was also on stage, nodding in satisfaction at the girls. Their instructor yelled something in French and their routine began! They twirled, flipped, twisted, spun on their toes, jumped, and did all sorts of stuff I could never do!
I smiled and marveled ever more at their flexibility when one of the girls cried out, she had done a flip and landed the wrong way on her ankle; Donna and a few other girls rushed over to her, but, as she did this, the instructor grasped Donna by her hair and pulled her back! I stood from the seats, shocked and disgusted that someone would hurt a child that way! Donna cried out and all of the girls upon the stage froze where they stood. The instructor hissed something to Donna in French and then threw her down upon the stage!
Now, I got angry.
"Hey!" I yelled, gaining their attention, Donna gasped at seeing me and rushed down the stage stairs, jumping into my arms. "Are you alright?" I asked Donna quietly; she nodded and threw her arms around me, cuddling close to me. At hearing English spill from my mouth the instructor addressed me in English.
"And, who are you, mademoiselle?" The instructor hissed, she was a woman of aging years with raven black hair and emerald eyes; her skin was incredibly pale and sagged over her skeletal frame. You could obviously tell that she was once beautiful and athletic, however, that had given way to old age and arthritis. I placed Donna back upon the stage, but, kept her behind me as the Rat Catcher had done for me in the cellars.
"June Benoît, mademoiselle" I hissed in reply.
"And, what seems to be your problem?" She asked as the ballet girls began to help carry their injured friend away, without their instructor noticing.
"The way you're treating these girls. You're hurting them, you're throwing them around as if they can't feel pain; what, they're...nine, ten years old? They're little bodies are still attempting to grow, and, if you break their bones at this point, they...they won't heal right!" I explained, the instructor woman rolled her eyes and muttered something in French.
"Stupid Americans..." she whispered before sighing. "Listen, Mademoiselle Benoît, that is how we train the girls, being a ballerina is a lot of wor-"
"I know" I spat. "I was a ballerina when I was six, I won three competitions but have attempted to forget every second of that; they were the worst years of my life." I hissed; the woman nodded.
"Dancing is not for everyone" she said. "However, pray tell, why did you not like it?" She asked, I grinned.
"My instructor, coincidently enough; I hated her, she treated us worse than trash, and, if we did anything wrong she would smack the part of our body that was off with a switch" I growled, the woman appeared puzzled.
"Switch?"
"Tree branch" I explained; the woman paused and shrugged.
"I've had worse" she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"
"No, I most certainly will not" I growled, the woman reached for Donna, but, I moved and blocked her hand with my leg. The instructor sighed.
"It's how they learn, you learnt to dance, didn't you? Does it matter if you hate it or not? Like I said, mademoiselle, dancing is not for everyone; now, I will get back to teaching and you will get back to whatever it was you were doing." She said snootily, turning to find the girls had vanished.
"Cooking" I corrected, feeling like the Vampire. "I cook, I am a chef, I was cooking." I replied; the woman turned to me, fires in her eyes.
"Well then, Mademoiselle Chef, go make me something to eat." She growled; I grinned the biggest grin I ever have.
"Oh, don't worry, mademoiselle, I'll make your dish extra special." I said, the woman sighed and stomped off of the stage, yelling for the dance girls; as soon as she left I turned to Donna-Marie. "You're sure you're alright?" I asked and she nodded, hugging me.
"You really used to take ballet?" She asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, I didn't like it, though; I even tried singing, but, I'm worse at that than a rusty door hinge." I laughed, Donna smiled.
"Oh, I bet you're not that bad" Donna said, I gave her a frank look and she laughed; she sat down on the stage and I followed suit, sighing. "Can you at least hum?" Asked she, looking over to me; I smiled and began to hum a little of Pachelbel's Canon; Donna-Marie swayed from side to side as I hummed, she smiled. "Good, you're doing good! Now, just open your mouth, and hum" she instructed; I sighed and shook my head, a smile upon my face, hesitantly, I did as she said.
I glanced over to her to see her cringing. I told you!" I cried, she giggled; she sighed.
"It's just 'cuz you've never been taught how to; it's alright, just...for the meantime, stick to cooking." She said, patting my arm, I laughed and sighed, looking about the amphitheater; it was so incredibly quiet, which was extremely odd for an amphitheater! However, as I looked about, I saw, in an opera box, close to the stage, there sat the silhouette of a man, a very tall man and he was watching us; I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but the silhouette was still there!
"D-Donna, do you see that too?" I asked, tapping her arm and motioning to the opera box; she squinted and nodded.
"Yeah...it...it almost looks like there's someone in there!" She cried; she leaned forwards and gasped, grasping my hand and attempting to pull me up.
"Donna! What's gotten into you?" I asked, getting to my knees; she looked quickly from the box, to me and hurried to my ear.
"That's the vampire, in there! That's his box that he watches the shows from" she whispered, I turned my head, and, the towel didn't turn with me. Donna gasped. "Mademoiselle J-June, w-what's that?" She asked, I turned back to her quickly; pulling the towel over my bite marks.
"What's what, dear?" I asked, smiling to her; her face dropped.
"June...what's happened to you?" She asked, taking a step towards me.
"Nothing, Donna, I'm fine; everything's fine."
"You're lying to me" Donna said. I sighed.
"No, I'm not; what reason would I have for lying to you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow to her; she shrugged. "Exactly" I continued; she, hesitantly, sat down in my lap and we were peaceful, for a few moments. I laid my cheek upon her head, and that's when she did it.
She yanked the towel off of my neck and shoved me backwards in one motion, so I couldn't cover up the bite marks. She shook her head as I sat up, tears gathering in her small eyes; I could do nothing, I was just as powerless under her gaze as I was the Vampire's (for totally different reasons, of course). "D-Donna, please" I whispered; she gulped and shook her head, allowing a tear to cascade off of her eyelash and kiss the stage.
"No...you...you lied to me...all I...all I wanted to do was keep you safe!" She screamed, throwing down the towel and rushing off, pressing her head into her hands and weeping as she rushed away.
"Donna!" I yelled, I stood, towel in hand, but I did not follow. I found it useless, there was the slamming of a door and then silence; until the vampire began to clap slowly from his box.
"Well done, well done, indeed, Mademoiselle June!" He cried, stepping out of the darkness of his box and leaning on the side, smiling to me.
"What do you want?" I spat, clenching the towel tight in my fist; he shrugged.
"I can't sit in the amphitheater and watch the trust of a little girl shattered?" Asked he, I sighed and turned away from him. Gosh, the arrogance bestowed upon him was truly awe-inspiring, I wanted to slap him so hard! Ugh!
"You know what?" I growled, turning upon my heel, back to him and walking to the edge of the stage, close to his box.
"What?" He asked, smiling, more than likely taking enjoyment in my anger.
"Why don't you go...compose or something!" I yelled, and he chuckled, staying calm.
"That part of my day is over, mademoiselle, for now." He replied. "Besides, it gets awfully quiet down there when I tire of playing; my record player has broken." He continued. "So, I must content myself in watching the misadventures of the surface world" he finished; I sighed and fiddled with the towel.
"You know, if Jack sees you he's going to kill you" said I, and the Vampire erupted into laughter, laughing so hard a tear or two fell from his eyes! He sighed and wiped them away.
"Oh, that is a funny joke, my dear! The funniest I've heard in ages! Oh, my dear, have you actually fallen under the ploy that he could kill me? Do you really thrust your faith into that?" He asked, giving me a frank look with a smile and drumming his fingernails upon the small wall he rested upon.
I paused and shrugged, he shook his head and began pacing about the box. "I could do whatever I wanted and he couldn't touch me; he wouldn't dare touch me!" He paused and turned towards me, a malicious grin spread across his face. "Actually...I could..." he whispered to himself. "Be ready tonight, my dear, ten o'clock sharp" he said; I paused.
"What happens at ten o'clock?" I asked and my reply was maniacal laughter; I sighed uneasily and hurried off of the stage, to tell Jack of what happened.
** "Jack! Jack, where are you? I've got to-" I cried, running into his room; however, he was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands; he rubbed his eyes and turned.
"What is it, Junie?" He asked, a paper in hand.
"W-What's wrong?" I asked, walking into the room and sitting upon his desk; he sighed and turned towards me; holding the paper closer.
"Our parents, they said that soon they're going to pop in for a visit; to see how you were doing." He replied; my brows furrowed.
"But...it's only been a few days...what do they need to check up on me about?" I asked and Jack shrugged.
"They've always been very protective of you, like I said before, I had to fight to get their permission to take you over here." He replied, crumpling up the letter and throwing it into the fire which blazed beside us; he stared at the bite marks on my shoulders. "We've got to think up a way to hide those" said he, I nodded.
"About that..." I whispered, and, then I told him of everything that happened; he jumped from his chair at hearing what the Vampire said and he looked to me with eyes filled with rage.
"You are not to be alone at any point during tonight or tonight's service, after dinner service is over you are to come straight here; I'll have a nightgown ready for you and you can sleep in my bed, do you hear me, June? Straight here!" He yelled, I nodded quickly and he nodded. "Good" he said. "He thinks he can dominate you just because I let him have a sip, oh no, oh, hell no; he's got another thing comin'."
Jack hissed, pacing in his room. I didn't know what was worse, the fact that my parents were coming and the bite marks weren't even close to healing, or that I'd have to deal with raging Jack all night!
(A/N)
Aria…what's an idea? I'm just slightly worried…
