Chapter Dix-Sept
They had been in Montmartre for a month, which made it their one-month wedding anniversary. Christian had woken her up early to give her a bottle of champagne and a poem he had written for her. He then left for the bakery, where he would get their breakfast of crescents and jam.
She had snuggled under the warm quilt, reciting Christian's poem over and over again in her mind.
"Some days I sit and ponder
The way my life has been.
I wonder if I had chosen different paths,
Where would I be and when?
I have made many mistakes in my life,
But one thing is for sure,
I have learned something from every one,
And I have become more mature.
I want to spend my life in your arms;
I want to hold you close and tight.
I want to be your shoulder to lean on,
Every day and every night.
I will love you today, tomorrow and forever.
I will love you until my last breath.
I will learn from your tenderness
And please never expect anything less.
Satine, darling, I love you and thank you for making my life worth living. Yours forever, Christian."
She smiled, almost hearing Christian reciting the words to her. She closed her eyes, wondering how someone as wonderful, as talented, as amazing as Christian could have ever fallen in love with her…and married her? Unable to find an answer, she turned her attention to the window, where she could see the windmill of the Moulin Rouge, turning silently as though an unseen force were pushing its blades, and the elephant that lay beyond.
She remembered all too clearly being in that elephant. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting the loving words of her husband surround her like a warm blanket.
"Close your eyes," She heard a voice say. She smiled, knowing it was Christian. She wondered why she didn't smell the crescents, but didn't bother voicing her question.
"Hello, darling," She whispered.
"Keep your eyes closed…I have a surprise," There was something in Christian's voice that didn't sound right.
"Christian…" Before she could finish her sentence, his lips slammed down onto hers. He kissed her hungrily, tiny hairs tickling her nose.
This isn't right, she thought. Christian doesn't have a moustache.
She opened her eyes and met a gaze so dark, so cold, that it made her shiver. These eyes did not belong to Christian. They belonged to a person who made her heart turn cold.
She whimpered, trying to push her way out of bed. Richard had her pinned.
"Christian!!" She screamed. Why wasn't he coming to her rescue? Why was he just standing by the door like he was awestruck?
Richard shifted his arm, giving her a chance to get out of the bed. She ran to Christian, but only made it halfway. She stopped abruptly when she saw the blood.
Her husband's shirt was stained dark red.
"Oh my God," She whispered as he collapsed to the floor. She rushed to kneel beside him, his head in her lap. She grabbed his hand. It was like grabbing a mound of ice.
Richard snickered in the background.
She burst into tears as Christian began to cough up blood.
"Did you really think I'd let you two live happily ever after, like in a fairy tale??" Richard asked with a cruel laugh, "This is my fairy tale ending." He snickered again and aimed a gun at Christian.
She hadn't even noticed it until that moment.
With little hesitation, Richard pulled the trigger and the bullet dug right into the heart of her lover.
She woke up screaming.
A/N- The poem was from a website. Lost the address, but just giving whoever wrote it credit….Heeheeeheee, don't you just hate me for building you up in this chapter and then it turns out to be a dream?? MUAH HA
