Chapter 4

            After more than a month of mental torment, things began to return to normal.  The letters had ceased to come and Diana's stalkers had stopped their endless pursuit.  The light had returned to the Moulin Rouge.  A sense of security had almost been restored.

            This new breath of life also had a price though; work on the show had suffered and opening night was pushed to two months later.  Diana and Christian threw themselves into their work, channeling their former stress into something useful.  After a few days, it had seemed like nothing had happened.  The joyous and fun atmosphere engulfed the Moulin Rouge bringing a return to the utopia they had known.

            One night, after a day's strenuous rehearsal, Diana and Christian were sitting in their apartment relaxing when Diana got an unsettling feeling.

            "I think I may have forgotten something at the Moulin."

            "Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Christian replied.

            "No it can't.  This will gnaw at me all night if I don't go."

            "Fine, if you must." Christian conceded.  He knew her well enough by now that when she set her mind on something, there was no changing it.

            "I'll be back in a few minutes." She said as she kissed him.

            Diana grabbed her cloak, to shield herself from the unusual chill of the night, and started across the street.  The Moulin Rouge was dark and silent, very ominous looking in the nighttime.  She unlocked the door and walked into the empty ballroom.  She flicked on some sparse lighting so she could see a bit easier.  Diana looked around the room checking to see if she had forgotten anything in there.  When she was satisfied with the scan of the room, she went up to her dressing room.

            She opened the door, turned on the light and walked in.  She left the door open, knowing she would only be a few minutes.  She looked around again, finding nothing.

            "Maybe I didn't forget anything." She thought.  She turned off the light and went back downstairs.

            Upon reaching the ballroom again, Diana took one last look around as she walked to the door.

            Diana stood by the door for a second before she turned off the light.  "Maybe I'm just being paranoid." She thought as she turned off the light.

            As soon as the room was dark and Diana was leaving, a large black figure grabbed her from behind and placed a knife at her throat.

            "Maybe this time you'll listen to reason bitch." The figure whispered in her ear.

            He picked her up from behind, holding her arms down so she couldn't struggle and dragged her out of the building.  Once she was out of the Moulin Rouge, Diana let out a bloodcurdling scream that could be heard throughout the city.

            "Bloody whore.  This will make you behave."  The abductor took a cloth from one of his co-conspirators, soaked with enough chloroform to knock out a full-grown man in seconds and put it over her mouth.  Diana fell limp and her captors threw her into a waiting carriage.

            Christian heard Diana's scream and flew down the stairs only to be too late.  The carriage that held his wife had already disappeared into the night.  Christian tried to run after it but had no idea where it went.  Christian sunk to his knees, tears streaming down his face, screaming Diana's name.

            By now, most of Montmartre had come out to see what was going on.  Toulouse and the other Bohemians rushed over to the distraught Christian.  Toulouse tried to calm him but it was useless.

            "I can't lose her too!" Christian sobbed as Toulouse held him.

            As the rain began to fall, the entire body of people went inside the vacant Moulin Rouge.  Toulouse had noted to himself that Satie had run to get an inspector, as he and the Argentinean helped Christian inside.

            Chaos soon instilled as everyone was trying to find out what happened.  All most people knew was the scream and then they saw Christian.  A few moments later, Satie returned with the police inspector.  He went directly over to Christian, who was apparently the only one who could give any explanation.

            Christian sat in the back corner of the ballroom, away from everyone else, surrounded by the Bohemians.  He looked up briefly and saw the inspector approaching him.  Christian quickly tried to wipe the tears from his face and pull himself together even though no one could truly know the rage that was building inside him.

            "I'm Inspector de Fleur.  Who here can give some idea of what happened?"

            "My wife has been kidnapped." Christian spoke up angrily.

            "I know this is rough, but can you recall the event?" the inspector replied in an emotionless tone.

            "Diana went over here because she thought she had forgotten something.  She was gone a few moments and then I heard her scream.  By the time I had gotten downstairs, the bloody animals had put her in a carriage and taken her."  Christian snapped.

            "Do you have any other evidence?"

            "What more do you need!!?  If you had done something a month ago, this wouldn't have happened!" Christian screamed with his anger increasing every moment.

            "Pardon?" the inspector asked inquisitively.

            "Son of a bitch!" Christian screamed as he leapt out of the chair and lunged at the inspector.  The Argentinean was barely able to restrain him before he nearly hit the inspector.

            "Chwistian! Calm down!" Toulouse screamed.

            "She has been stalked and harassed for damn near a month and you bastards did nothing!!" Christian erupted, continuing his tirade from the Argentinean's grasp.

            The inspector tried to compose himself so he did not fire back at the obviously upset writer.

            "Do you have any idea who would have orchestrated this?"

            Christian was sitting down again with his head in his hands, desperately trying to fight back the tears of rage.  "The Duke of Monroth." He mumbled.

            "What proof do you have of this?"

            "The first letter that his manservant, Warner, delivered to us." Christian said, getting agitated again.

            "Do you still have it?"

            Christian nodded and stood up to get it from her dressing room.  It was the only one she hadn't destroyed.  He returned a few moments later and handed the letter to the inspector.

            "We'll try to find her.  I know this is difficult for you but…" the inspector said as he took the note.

            "You couldn't possibly have the faintest idea of what I'm going through." Christian interrupted.  The inspector acknowledged him and left, reminding them that they would keep in touch.

            The Bohemians had never seen Christian like this.  After Satine had died, he just retreated into his own little world.  Christian had only exploded like this once before, at the Duke when he questioned the ending of Spectacular, Spectacular, but never with such ferocity and for so long.

            After the inspector had left, Christian also started walking out.  The Bohemians were going to follow him but Zidler stopped them.

            "Let him be." Zidler said to them.

            "He needs us." Toulouse protested.

            "In the state he's in right now, he's likely to kill one of you and not realize it.  Let him be.  At least let him cool off first."

            The four of them stood in the doorway and watched Christian walk out, alone and in despair.

            He went back up to his apartment and slammed the door behind him.  Now that he was away from everyone, he could let his guard down.  He slid down the wall to a sitting position on the floor with his knees tucked into his chest.  Christian saw the ring on his left hand and immediately thought of Diana.  The thought that he had lost his love again crushed him and he started to cry, releasing all the emotion that he had penned up just moments before, thinking only the worst.