Note : That's short, very short. Just to make you salivate a bit. Besides, the following chapter is a bit complicated so I needed to get the baby in first, before anything else happens. Characters are not mine, they are Marvel's. And thanks for reassuring me on my English skills!
Enjoy.
Chapter 10
Baby blues
The next night found us in front of a huge cottage house, about a mile and a half out of St-Johns. A small boy had told us it was Sir Essex's home, where him, his wife Bethy and his adult daughter and son, Janet and Nathaniel, lived along with two dogs and three cats. Sure enough, the name "Essex" was written on a panel on the gate in front of the house, as if it could make us any more nervous. To kill Sinister was one thing. But the man wasn't Sinister yet, and to kill a young man in cold blood was something else. But when I crossed Remy's eyes, I knew such scrupules didn't haunt his head. The man was going to turn into Sinister if we didn't kill him now. And that was it.
Remy swiftly jump over the fence as I simply flew over. There was a celebration of some sort in town; hopefully the Essex's wouldn't be at home, leaving the house empty for us to have a look at the surroundings. Remy silently moved towards the door. It wasn't easy forgetting he was once a thief, I thought, as I saw him move swiftly without making a sound. He bent on the door lock, and I heard the hinge creak as the door slowly opened a few seconds later. My jaw tightened at the sound, but the house seemed empty, and no sound could be heard from the inside. We slowly made our way into the house, checking everything around, engraving it in our heads.
We entered the lavishly decorated living room and I couldn't resist looking at the large portraits adorning the walls. I saw a man in is fifties, wearing a dark suit and a stern look, plunging his eyes into mine. I shivered and looked at the second painting.
I must have gasped, because Remy leaped like a scared frog and quickly put a hand on my mouth to shut me up. "What's de matter with you!" he hissed in my ear. I pointed at the painting.
"That man… I saw him at the tavern, yesterday!"
I had no doubt. The man in the fifties was still there, but he had a smile on his face. Behind him, a hand on his shoulder, was standing a nice looking woman in her late forties. On each of the man's sides stood who could only be his son and daugther. The young woman, not older than twenty, held in her arms one of the three cats that could be seen on the picture. She had beautiful hair hanging down on her shoulder and a nice smile. On the other side of the picture was standing a tall, young handsome man. I recognized the brown hair and the startling blue eyes at once, and my heart pinched. He seemed so nice…
"Well I hope you didn't get attached" Remy said coldly. I turned on my heels to look at him.
"Look, Ah know what we have to do. But Ah can't get outa mah head that we're gonna kill a man that is, for now, innocent. I met that man, Remy. And he didn't seem dangerous a bit."
"You're telling me you're getting a soft side for Sinister, chérie?" That last word had an ironic tone I didn't like.
"There is a difference, damn yah, between being and gonna be! That man is still innocent for me! He isn't Sinister yet!"
He opened his mouth to reply but we both heard a sound and he snapped his head up, frozen. It was coming from upstairs. I heard it too: a woman, singing what looked like a baby's lullaby. Remy relaxed; the woman hadn't heard us. He narrowed his eyes at me. I raised my brows, challenging him with my eyes. His twinkled with malice, and he gave me a ironic smile and walked towards the staircase. I took a few seconds to realize what he was doing.
"Remy! The hell with yah, what tha hell are yah doing!" I hissed.
"I'm goin' back to sleep" he murmured back. "Open you'eyes, Rogue, what does it look like I'm doin'? I'm goin'up."
"Dammit, Remy, there's someone up there!" He didn't listened and went up the stairs. I rolled my eyes and began to follow him when my eyes caught another portrait. The young man we strongly supposed was Nathaniel was standing with both his hands on a young woman's shoulders, sitting in a arm-chair. Both of them had smiles up to their ears. Two huge hound-dogs were sitting by each of the woman's side, and she had a bundle of some sort in her arms. As I looked closer, I saw a baby's face, deep into sleep. I looked down at the signature, "Bethy Essex", and a small note, ingraved in the frame. "In the kind memory of Rebecca Essex, loved mother and wife." And when I heard a baby starting to cry upstairs, my heart stopped beating, and I felt cold.
***************
"Now there there, dear Remington, you go back to sleep, now. Nanny's there, sleep, dear child."
He stood frozen in the hallway as he saw the woman putting back the hiccuping baby into the crib. He saw a flash of dark brown hair as the pulled the sheets over him, hiding him from his view. The woman went back to her seat by the window and closed her eyes. He slowly drew back to the stairs, feeling something stuck in his throath, and began to go down, careful not to make the wood creack under his weight. Rogue was waiting for him by the door, looking outside. He took her arm and they slowly went outside. Once they had passed the gate, she fell on her knees and began to cry, her face in her hands.
"Chérie? Rogue, what's goin'on?" He could hardly ask her what was wrong. He got down on his knees and cupped her face. Her eyes were red and tears flowed from them, rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh, Remy…" she moaned. "That baby… it's Essex's baby!"
"Yes I could guess, but…"
"His wife is dead! We'll make him an orphan!"
That stopped him dead. Visions of the orphanage he had been living in as a child, before he ran away to live in the streets of la Nouvelle Orléans. He shook he head, clearing the thought. "What about the orphans he gonna cause, Rogue?"
She sniffed. "I don't know, Remy. Ther's somethin' wrong with that baby, Ah can't put mah finger on it."
"I think so too."
She looked up, surprised.
"And that's why you're comin' here tomorrow to give monsieur Essex a cordial bonjour."
To be continued!
PS : The name Remington belongs to Kaleidopy. I didn't find that name, it would be cheating to claim it's mine.
