Disclaimer – See Chapter 1

Consequences of Not Paying Attention

When I began my tale I told you what happened was all my fault.  Its true. 

Oh, sure, there were things that people didn't tell me, things that, if I'd known about them, I could have prevented the tragedy that followed, but they didn't.  And the truth is everyone involved had gotten accustomed to my periodic visits that kept me aware of the problems in their lives.  Over the intervening years I had saved Satine from any number of wretched old monsters that had plagued her life, and I interfered directly to keep Christian from turning into his father.  Now however, Christian had gone to Paris, right to the hotel where Toulouse lived, literally right under him, so I knew it would be no time at all before the insane little creature took control and pulled my nephew into the whirlpool of the bohemian revolution that included the Moulin Rouge and Satine.  I had chosen and groomed them for each other for years, ever since I first read Christian's poetry and heard her sing.  It was just a matter of time.

Everything went according to plan at first.  I did not want Christian to think I had set him up in Montemartre, so I gave him the address of the hotel and left the rest up to him.  Naturally he wrote to me almost immediately, and as everything fell into place at once, I didn't see any reason to intrude.  A week or two later Satine wrote me as well, her letter fairly bursting with happiness like I'd never read before.  For once my plans were coming together without my having to shepherd them along every step of the way.

They spent the summer in apparent bliss, rehearsing for their play.  Christian would be a success as a writer and Satine would become a star actress, and they would both be happy for the rest of their lives – it couldn't have been more perfect.  I read each letter with a warm glow growing inside me and patted myself on the back for all my clever machinations.  I had no clue that a cloud of darkness hung over their love.

With just two days until opening night I returned to Paris.  Taking up residence in my favorite hotel I went to see my solicitors and make certain that all the arrangements had been made for my surprise to Christian and Satine.  They would have their opening night hit and then I would present them with their wedding present – a charming little apartment in a very fashionable part of Paris.  Then I went to my travel box and slid off into a peaceful sleep to await the night, assured that at last my plans for my family were coming together.

Arising just after sunset I was dismayed by the cold rain that sheeted down from the gray skies.  However, I cheered myself with the thought of my protégé and his love and dressed for the performance.  It was still an hour before the performance would begin, but I decided to arrive early and visit with Satine.  Doubtless Christian would be on hand as well, and I could dispel any nervousness the two felt by distracting them with conversation.  In truth, I also missed the two of them and was eager to see them again.

Though there were several new people working about the Moulin, the bouncers recognized me and welcomed me in.  As I made my way backstage I came upon several of the dancers, now dressed in their harem girl costumes.  While Satine was my favorite, I was friends with most of the other girls, even the sometimes-vicious Nini.  Upon spying me coming up the stairs she hurried to the landing and threw her arms around me, laughing with delight.  "Milord!  Wondered if you was gonna make it tonight."  Her outlandish costume and make-up were no more so than her normal can-can dancer clothes, but she seemed a bit more exotic and oddly enough, vaguely sad – which didn't fit in with her personality at all.

"My dear, I wouldn't miss this performance for the world!  And I daresay, with this place a theatre all your lives are going to improve.  For once, I'm glad to see Zidler's ambition will be good for you girls." 

"Yeah, well, don't know if anythin' good's gonna come outa what's gonna happen tonight ducks, but we'll soon find out won't we?"  She said it in her usual sardonic tone, but there was an undercurrent of pain – as if all her cynical opinions were about to be proven right and she didn't actually like the idea.

"Nini! We got enough bad luck going on tonight without you bringing more in!"  Baby Doll pursed her lips in deep annoyance.  I looked back and forth between the two women and gave the others a cursory glance.  It was clear from their faces, something was deeply wrong here.

I grabbed Nini's arm, "What are you talking about my girl?  You'd best be quick and tell me!"

Wresting her arm from my grip she growled at me, "I've had enough manhandling the last couple days to last me a lifetime!  Go ask your precious diamond if you're so desperate to find out!"  She turned on her heal and walked away with the others following.  None of them looked angry, but some of the glances they threw my way were so solemn as to alarm me to the depths of my very soul.  I turned and nearly ran for Satine's dressing room.

+++++

The door to her new private dressing room was closed, but when I knocked the cheerful voice behind it momentarily belayed my fears as it bade me open the door.  I have seldom been so wrong.  Along with the longevity my condition has granted me I of course have other abilities, and one of them is a heightened sense of smell.  While the predominant scents in the room were perfume and stage paint, there was an underlying odor – one I was intimately familiar with – blood, and its familiar companion, death. And as I stared at her in abject horror, she confirmed my dark fears by giving in to a sudden coughing fit that seemed to drag itself up from her depth of her being and she clasped a handkerchief to her mouth to catch the result.  I was across the room in half a heartbeat, grabbing her hand and the kerchief to stare at the splotches of thick blood, which covered the cloth in her hand.

Still on my knees, I turned my head slowly to look up into her face, a painted face that could not disguise how pale she was. And now tears marred the paint.  I closed my fingers around the hand that held the handkerchief and reached up to cup her cheek, "My darling, how long have you been ill?"

"S-since just before –" She choked and tried to draw a deep breath, but was unable to do so and the rest came out into the barest whisper, "just before Christian came."