Once again I stood frozen against the wall until the dimmest of the torch lights passed through the coldest, blackest stone of the dungeon. A cold draft from the eyelet above crossed my partially exposed chest and every deep bone in my body shook heavily. My violently shaking hands found their way unsteadily to the front of my bodice and I hastily tried to cover it up, trapping some of the menacing air in my clothes. Frollo's presence, and the presence of the guards hung in the darkness like so much of the violence and blood that had occurred in the cell before me. As I finished tying up my bodice, the words of the judge rang in my ears like the toll of a funeral bell.
"I would pray to god that he makes it through the night..." I inhaled sharply and the cold hit my lungs, causing me to shudder more. I barely heard my own voice through the damp grip of the cell.
"Monseiur?... Hello?" I called out to him and drew my breath back again, holding it silent. The dark shape on the floor where the guards had dropped him lay motionless. Panic crept up my spine. I hesitated for a moment before cautiously walking towards him, my hands outstretched slightly as I tried to safely cross the dim, dark, space. As I neared his slumped form I crouched down, close enough to hear a deep and steady breath. Very delicately I reached my hand out towards the faint outline of his face I could make out. As I gently placed my hand on his forehead, I noticed my shuddering had stopped. A cold sweat covered his face, yet beneath it, a comforting warmth. My hand lingered for a moment as I considered how long it had been since I had touched someone, or been touched, in a kind way. A dull ache filled my heart as distant memories of closeness passed through my mind. As soon as the warmth began to radiate through my frozen fingers, my other hand throbbed in pain, bringing me back to reality. I withdrew to hold the hand and winced. Clopin did not stir and I was beginning to feel fear for the days to come. I let out a loud sigh and lay down a distance away from Clopin, his knee just above my head, watching him carefully as I did so. Once I lay down and heard that his breath had not wavered in its heavy pattern, I relaxed slightly and immediately fell to sleep.
Suddenly I found myself back in my room in the Palace of Justice servants quarters. I remember glancing down at my hands and finding they were covered in blood. Panicking, I ran to the door of my room and threw it open. The hallway of the quarters were pitch black, and as I tried to feel my way through them I smeared the blood across the walls, stumbling toward the stairs. When I turned towards a window at the top of the stairs, a tall, thin silhouette of a man created a heavy shadow. I couldn't see his face but I recognized him as CLaude Frollo. Two thin arms emerged from the darkness and grabbed my wrists, pulling me into a constrained grip. I struggled to be free but couldn't escape from the feeling of his nails digging into me. When I tore free I looked down and noticed my clothes had been ripped off, I turned to run once again but found I could not move. His voice sounded from the darkness of the hall.
"These are for you. Take me to him." I looked down and two large necklaces, heavy chains with wooden crosses covered in spikes, weighed around my neck. I ran down the stairs and through the front doors of the palace, which opened onto the market in front of Notre Dame. The day was dim, and I found myself surrounded by people. I ran through them, afraid they would notice me naked and covered in blood, but nobody turned from their paths, and I couldn't meet anyone's eyes. I stumbled and fell to the hard cobblestone ground. A pair of boots appeared in front of me, and as I carefully stood up, I came face to face with Clopin, dressed as he was that day in the market, with a thick black hood and black mask. Only the near pitch black of his dark brown eyes, silhouetted by the white that surrounded them were visible. They shook me as they had the day I first saw them. He glanced down at the heavy necklaces that had been placed upon me by Frollo, then glanced back up to meet my eyes again.
"You!" He whispered sharply. I fumbled to take the necklaces off.
"Monseiur...I didn't mean..." but when I looked back, his eyes were fixed behind me. Suddenly the entire market scene had disappeared. When I turned to see what he was looking at, I was met with a face of terror. Frollo stood directly behind me, eyes ablaze with fury, a twisted, evil smile across his face. The image was so vivid and so terrifying, I could feel my heart stop even in my dream. But it was a very real sensation that jerked me awake, freeing me from my nightmare.
As I slowly came to, my heart jumped again at the sight of two large, dark figures standing in my cell. One held a torch, and the other held Clopin draped over his arms. I gasped and sat up, pushing myself away from them quickly. Their dark, panicked eyes widened as I did so. As the man with the torch turned, I saw a glimpse of the faces of one of the figures and recognized him as the gypsy guards from the catacombs, the ones who had brought me into the gypsy court to be delivered my sentence. Relief, fear, and excitement flooded my heart and I reached into my boot quickly producing the key I had stolen from Frollo. I held it up to them, proudly. My heart began to sink as they didn't react in the slightest. One turned to the other and spoke in a language I did not recognize, and the man holding Clopin turned toward the open cell door and began to walk towards it. The man with the torch turned to follow him. Confused, I lunged forward and grabbed the leg of his pant.
"PLEASE!" I cried. "I did what you asked me to do, please don't leave me here!" My breath panicked and tears freely flowed down my face.
"You failed us, girl! This is where you came and this is where you will die." The man spat back at me. I gripped tighter.
"It wasn't my fault! I still got the key! Please, I beg you." I sobbed. From the open cell door there was rustling deep in the cell block. The man with the torch looked towards it, startled, and back at me fiercely. "Shut up!" He scolded, and an impact from the back of his gloved hand filled my vision with darkness for a moment as I fell towards the wall. I began to lose consciousness, but in the haze of the blow, I heard a familiar voice.
"You idiots. She knows too much."
"But, sir!" a voice boomed back
"I said do it!" It responded.
In an instant, the damp cell and the group of figures fell to darkness all around me.