Love of a Stranger
Ob1MegOb1
Alright I'm sorry it took so long for me to update but I kind of got writers cramp on this story so, I'm going to rewrite some things. I'm sorry to those who have liked this story so far. I still hope you continue to enjoy this story. So here we go. Just to let you know this chapter still starts out the same.
Chapter 6
"The rich can be demanding, the rich can be conceiving, and the rich can be deceiving.
(Jasmine)
I lay down on my bed and just lay there deep in thought. What was I thinking? I had hardly met the man a day before! And what was I doing thinking about love when my brother and sister were out there probably being corrupted against my will? A couple tears ran down my face but I brushed them away knowing that I could not break now.
(Erik)
I massaged my temples for many minutes. What had I been thinking. Here I was having been thrashed by love almost twenty four hours before and here thinking I had found it again. She was a single mother almost. She would never choose me over her children. If she had a choice I know she would pick them over me. Because I know I would.
(Jasmine)
I tried to sleep but voices kept echoing in my head. "Sometimes I wish I had never been born." "Jasmine why don't I have anything special?" "Why are you helping him when we can barely help ourselves?" I closed my eyes wishing everyday that I could just rid myself of emotion and just live an existence where what you felt didn't matter.
(Erik)
I lay on the bare floor not caring how much it made my back protest. I was looking up at the ceiling which was her floor. I was wondering what was going through her mind. Was she worried about her children or was she thinking about the kiss me and her had been so hesitant to share?
(Jasmine)
I mean why would he care about me? I'm a poor penniless nothing. He was a beautiful singer, composer who could maintain a stable life even without letting himself being known. I sighed turning over on my bed. Why did God hate me? What had I done to deserve a life full of so much indecision. Or did God intentionally do this to every poor soul on the street.
(Erik)
She was a smart beautiful woman. Why would she even want to be seen with a horrific sight like me. The fact she had sheltered me for so long surprised me every hour I was with her. I had intentionally put her and her family at risk, and now her brother and sister had been spirited away by the very man I despised.
(Jasmine)
Maybe I was just making a huge...
(Erik)
Maybe this whole experience had been one big...
(Both)
Mistake.
(Jasmine)
I awoke to voices downwstairs. Voices? I jolted up my back protesting but still I wanted to know why there were foreign voices in my house. I pushed myself up and gently feeling my way over to the stair case. I stopped at the foot of the stairs suddenly realizing I did recognize the voices. One was Erik, and the other was a voice I had not heard in a long time.
(Erik)
"You have made a mess now Erik. You seduced a young girl, burned down most of the opera house in your anger, and now you have possibly put this young woman's life in danger."
"How did you find me?" I demanded. It was not the fact I was upset with her finding me. I was just annoyed with the fact I could never escape her.
"Because I know the young woman who lives at this house. I have known Jasmine since she was a young girl. Before she was blind in fact."
I gazed at her in shock. How on earth could the ballet mistress of the Paris Opera House know a young poverished woman. "How do you know her?"
(Jasmine)
How did he know her? Was actually echoing through my mind as he continued to talk to the woman I knew as Madame Giry. She had been a good friend of my mother's. But it was a past life my mother had never shared with me. She never told us why her best friend was the ballet mistress at the Opera House or how she knew her. And for the longest time that had been fine with me.
She had always been there when we needed her. She took care of us after our parents died. Until I was able to take care of my family at least. Ever since then I had not heard from her.
"Once again Madame how do you know her?" Erik demanded and I continued to listen, curious to see if she would tell him how her and my mother knew each other. Maybe I would finally get some answers to my past.
(Erik)
She turned away from me and faced towards the open window. My patience was beginning to wane as usual but my curiosity kept getting the better of me. As much as I respected Jasmine's privacy there was so much I did not know about her.
She sighed, "It was a long time ago when I first met Antoinette."
(Jasmine)
I became tense at the mention of my mother's name. They had indeed been friends for a long time. And yet I only remember knowing her since I was about three.
"She was a young woman wishing to pursue a career in dancing, but her father would not allow it. Eventually though she fought against him and she joined the ballet. She was very talented and very quickly became popular among the dancers and singers as well."
(Erik)
I sat there listening intently not believing what I was hearing. Jasmine's mother had once been a popular dancer at the Opera House? If she had been so popular what was Jasmine doing here impoverished in this pathetic hovel. Madame continued to speek and it was suprising to see...pain etched in every feature.
"It was when she was about eighteen that she met Charles. He was a young man coming through and they met when we snuck out of the Opera House one night. He was a very decent man and they soon became very fond of each other. A few months later he asked her to marry him."
"A few months later she left the Opera House against her families wishes with Charles. He had gotten a job and she soon found out she was pregnant. Knowing she could not continue her dancing career she left with him. They bought this very house here and never left it until their death."
(Jasmine)
I sat there not believing what I had just heard. My mother had once lived a life of promise and she had given it all up for this? For me? I sat there my heart aching. Why did she discontinue what she loved doing all for him? She could have taken a break and then returned to dancing? Maybe me or Rebecca could have then been in the ballet. Like Madame Giry's daughter, Margaret. We wouldn't be in this position of desperation, and I wouldn't be here in this position feeling absolutely helpless.
"About four years later, Jasmine contracted scarlet fever. The poor child battled against it for weeks. She was in and out of fever, and they began to lose money over the doctor's bills. Pretty soon their whole life revolved around Jasmine. But she began to get worse because of the poor conditions of their home. They requested she be moved from the city but they could not afford it."
"One night it finally came. The night we feared she would finally pass away."
I sat there my mind filled with memories of those last days. The last days before my entire world went black.
"There was nothing more they could do but pray. Pray to God that he would save their only child. And then a miracle happened. God answered their prayers...but not without a price." She stopped and I could hear her pacing.
"She woke up screaming. She cried for Antoinette for hours. She just wanted to see her mother, her father, she just wanted to see anything. But her sight never returned, and they had to tell her she would never see again."
(Erik)
I turned away from Madame Giry so she would not see the pain on my face. Or that I could not see her cleary because my eyes had become rediculously teary. I had made the appearance of being stable and unemotional around her. And I would keep that image no matter what. But on turning around it was then I saw her at the foot of the stairs. She was sitting there her eyes teary and sad.
No doubt this subject was one that she had not been subjected to in a long time. Like me she would rather not hear the stories of the past but keep them hidden. But Madame Giry still kept going and I feared how much pain this might cause her.
"Three years later Antoinette found out she was pregnant again. She was utterly exhausted as it was working with Jasmine all the time. The girl was six by then and was learning fast how to make her way around the house. But she was also still a girl and she was prone to tantrums and crying fits."
"Of course," I muttered, "Do not make it seem she was spoiled Madame."
"Of course not Monsieur. I am only talking about a child who suffered much in her lifetime."
I nodded still my eyes fixed on Jasmine. She sat there listening intently to the movement of me and Madame. I think she knew I was standing there because she smiled slightly.
"Anyway, their financial state began to worsen and with a baby on the way things only got worse. I told Antoinette she was always welcome to return to dancing but she said her family was more important right now."
(Jasmine)
To hear her tell the story of my mother's devotion made me both proud and angry at the same time. Proud that she wanted to be there for us. But mad she did not try to improve our situation.
"Then they had William, and they were so happy to have another child in their family. Happy that Jasmine had a playmate. And once William got older he took pride in helping his older sister around. And when he turned twelve, Jasmine eighteen, little Rebecca came into their lives."
I smiled remembering the day Rebecca was born. Hearing her sqealing little cry, the sound of her laughter. Her first word and how she had barely begun to speak when she stopped speaking entirely.
(Erik)
I remembered the little girl very well. How her eyes had lit up when she realized she had spoken to me. And how Jasmine's eyes had filled with tears at the sound of her sister's voice. As I looked at Jasmine's face now, I could see the longing in her eyes to hear her voice once again.
"It was then the gedarmes began coming. They said there had been reports of Charles stealing food from the local markets but everytime witnesses declined ever seeing the act. Until one day two years later, they caught him stealing bread from the bakery. I was not there but I know what happened."
I turned to Jasmine seeing tears starting to appear in her eyes. "Stop," I said softly, "I don't need to hear anymore."
"If you wish to know Jasmine then you must," she said.
(Jasmine)
He knew I was there, that was why he was asking her to stop. But the truth was I did not want to relive this day. But it seemed I would be forced to.
"They brought him back here to the house. They told Antoinette and the children to say good-bye before they beat him to death before their very eyes. I remember coming to the house straight after and Rebecca was stark white just staring straight ahead. Jasmine was sitting in a corner her hands over her ears, singing softly to herself, while William was on the floor unconscious. Apparently, he had tried to fight them off. Antoinette was nowhere to be found. A few hours later her body was discovered in on a river bank dead."
Tears fell down my face, I tried to hold back the sobs itching in my throat. But I couldn't. One escaped. Until finally more came. What at first was embarrassment gave way to the sadness in my heart.
(Erik)
"Stop now!" I said my voice louder than I thought. I turned to her and kneeled in front of her. "I'm sorry," I whispered. She shook her head and slowly got up nearly running back up the stairs. She moved fast for not being able to see. I heard the door slam and I cringed at the sound of muffled sobs.
"My god," Madame said softly, "I did not know she was there."
"Maybe it would be wise to stop when I say stop next time," I said glaring at her.
"And who do you think you are to defend her Monsieur? You have no idea what that young woman has endured in life."
"Actually Madmoiselle I do," I said softly.
"I guess it is good she is not here to hear what I came here to tell you."
I turned toward her and I was afraid of what I saw in her eyes. "What has happened?"
Madame Giry sighed, "Christine showed up this morning crying, saying he was furious."
"Furious about what Madame?" I said my irritation rising.
"The children are gone."
TBC
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