Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 4
Chapter 5: Covered Mirrors
It was a few days later Remy LeBeau stepped through the door of the beautiful suburban house that belonged to Kitty's older cousin Lucy Gutman, his presence barely noted by the dozens of people dressed in black who stood in small groups and talked in hushed voices.
Kitty hadn't asked him to come to the funeral, she'd insisted on going alone although he hadn't been able to stick with this decision, and so he'd tailed her silently, and he'd managed to creep into the service and remain unnoticed. He admired how well she held herself together.
The house inside was lavishly furnished, the complete opposite of his own drab apartment. Colourful walls and carpets, plush sofas and chairs, fine antique furnishings. He kept his head low as to not let his eyes distract anyone from their mourning, and passed down a small hallway, glancing down into a kitchen, Kitty was standing talking to her cousin.
Kitty looked strange in all black, a long black pin stripe skirt hanging down to her ankles, a simple black blouse and a black cardigan pulled around herself for warmth, she held a tissue in one hand, her eyes slightly puffy as if she'd been crying again.
Remy watched her for some time, and then wandered around a little more seeing that she was busy. His presence still unnoticed. He found it odd that every mirror in the house was covered with large sheets of paper, it was slightly unnerving.
"Remy…what are you doing here?" he heard Kitty's voice, she sounded choked up and he turned to look at her, her eyes were red, yes, she'd definitely been crying again.
"I…just wanted to check up on you I guess," Remy shoved his hands in the pockets of his black pants, "how are you holding up?"
Kitty gave a shrug, "I just buried my parents," she said softly, her eyes went glassy.
Remy winced, it had been a stupid question really, he put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"How did you know where to find me? I didn't tell you where I'd be…" Kitty said softly.
"You know me, I'm the best sneak around," Remy smiled.
"Excuse me, who is this?" came a sharp flustered voice that sounded amazingly like Kitty.
Remy glanced over Kitty's shoulder, a slightly older and taller girl with dark curly hair and a slightly large nose was looking at Kitty disdainfully. The girl was almost the spitting image of Kitty, if her eyes had not been hazel and her hair had not been so curly.
"Lucy…this is my friend, the one I've been staying with," Kitty feigned a smile and gestured towards Remy.
"What's he doing here, he didn't know your parents!" Lucy seemed a little agitated. "We agreed only close friends and family would be permitted here at this time!" she sounded practically frantic and overwhelmed.
Remy felt like slapping the girl, Kitty didn't need to be scolded at her own parents funeral, "actually, yes I did," Remy lied, and quite well, "I was out the last time Kitty visited them," he stated calmly, he put his arm around Kitty's shoulders in a protective way, now he understood why Kitty had been reluctant to speak up for herself. "Could you excuse us please, we were having a private discussion," he said, and gave Lucy an expression that said 'leave us alone'.
Lucy threw Remy a look of contempt, and sauntered off to busy herself with other more important matters.
Remy felt Kitty's shoulders raise as she sighed, he looked down to her, "she's…some piece of work," he admitted.
"Tell me about it," Kitty drabbed at the corner of her eyes with her tissue.
"What's with the mirrors?" Remy asked, gesturing to a large mirror behind them covered with a large sheet of paper.
"It's a Jewish thing," Kitty grumbled, "Its so that people who're mourning aren't distracted with their appearance," she said, "there's also this weird belief that the dead get trapped in the mirror something," Kitty explained quickly, all in one breath, her eyes slightly widening, "I'm goin' crazy…I can't tell how I look."
"You look fine," Remy assured, "just fine."
Kitty leaned into him, "I want all this to be over, Remy," she groaned tearfully, her head resting against his hard shoulder.
"It will be…" he assured sounding rather confident, he patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"How long did it take you to get over Gabrielle's death?" Kitty asked quite seriously, she turned and looked at him desperately, those sapphire blue eyes of her seemed to burn right into him.
Remy's handsome tanned face seemed to go pale for a time, his eyes glazed, he looked as if he might be a million miles away and mixed in his own thoughts. His answer came, what could only be described as delayed. "I…don't remember," he mumbled softly. And this was the last he spoke of it.
Rogue stared out of the window distantly, it had been days, four days, and not a word from Kitty – nor Remy. She'd expect this kind of behaviour from Remy LeBeau of course, but Kitty? Thoughtful Kitty who always had the consideration to let people how where she was, what she was doing, and how she was feeling?
"Four days!" Rogue complained, Ororo Munro was curled up on a chair in the living room flicking through a book, "four days and not a phone call or nothing," Rogue scowled.
Ororo glanced up from her pages, her blue eyes quizzical, "hmm?" she asked softly.
"Kitty…she's been gone for four days…four days with that swamp rat and she hasn't even called or anything, I just don't get it," Rogue frowned, she walked over to the couch and dropped into the middle seat, folding her arms stubbornly in a childish manner.
"Kurt did say he spoke briefly with Kitty," Ororo reminded, "I believe he said she sounded like she had begin to cry – then Gambit picked up the phone and cut him off."
"When was that?" Rogue sat up straight.
"The first day they were gone," Ororo replied, she tucked a lock of her silvery hair behind her ear, "maybe the reason they are in Illinois is personal, Rogue," Ororo tried to reason, "after all, it is unlike Kitty, and I see no other reason why she would rush off without telling us."
Rogue sighed, "I just…I can't help thinking they're up to something, that they're running off to get married or something crazy…" Rogue tapped her fingers on her elbows distractingly, "Its driving me insane."
"Do you still care for Gambit?" Ororo asked in a tone that was neither accusing or nosy. Rogue felt her temper flare however when this was asked.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" she demanded, "that part of my life is over, I don't care for him!"
"Rogue, please," Ororo gave an expression that reminded Rogue of the days of when Ororo was her instructor. "You do not need to get so angry whenever someone asks you this, I realise it must be frustrating, but you must expect it, you and Remy have a history, albeit a brief history in your youth, and people will always be curious," she reminded.
Rogue sighed and pulled herself up, "I'm going out," she said, tossing her hair, "I don't know when I'll be back," she uttered, and with that, left the mansion in a huff.
Remy and Kitty entered Remy's apartment building together, the air was cold and bitter now, and it outside it seemed as if it might rain soon. Kitty had been quiet – which was unusual for Kitty who sometimes found it impossible to stop talking once she started. Remy gathered there wasn't much else Kitty could say right now, she'd just buried her parents, she needed some peace and he didn't want to disturb her with questions of how she was feeling or if she might be hungry or tired.
They walked silently up the staircase, Kitty holding her breath to avoid the smell of cat urine suffocating her senses, when they finally approached the second floor, Remy's door was wide open, the apartment inside dark.
"What the…" Remy's voice was very low.
Kitty frowned, "you didn't lock the door?"
"The door locks itself when you close it," Remy mumbled, he reached into the pocket of his trenchcoat and he pulled out his Bo-staff, "be on your guard," he whispered.
Kitty followed him carefully, she dared not even breathe in case it was too loud. It was obvious someone had been, when Remy flicked the light on in the living room, the boxes that had once been stacked against the wall were now strewn everywhere, the Television was smashed and the couch was turned upside down, the coffee table, overturned. Remy gave the apartment a quick look over, making sure no intruders were still inside, and he closed the front door.
Kitty knelt down by one of the boxes, the DVD player that it contained still in place, it hadn't been touched, none of the merchandise had been taken. A strange thing for someone to have broken in and left thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in the apartment, "It doesn't look like anything has been stolen, Remy…" Kitty admitted, she got up.
Remy nudged one of the boxes with his bo-staff, he didn't seem particularly surprised, but agitation was evident on his face. He looked over the whole room with his eyes, his expression growing angrier by the second. He moved the couch aside and pulled the edge of the carpet up, revealing wooden floorboards underneath. He pulled a few of the boards up completely, "fuck…" he whispered.
"What is it? Is something missing?" Kitty asked worriedly.
The sound of police sirens were approaching outside, Remy rushed to the window, and peered out, "Fuck, the police are coming," he said.
"The police!"
"There's forty thousand dollars worth of stolen equipment in this place!" Remy rushed to the bedroom Kitty had been in, yanked a closet open and pulled out a rucksack, he began to stuff clothes into it. "Not to mention I'm on the fucking run for manslaughter!" he hissed.
Kitty looked at him, "where are we going to go?"
"We're gonna get out of here, as soon as possible," Remy said hastily, he pulled the rucksack onto his shoulder. "Grab your bag, quickly."
"Who called the police?" Kitty wondered, she picked up her bag, feeling thankful she hadn't really unpacked anything.
"Probably that old bitch with the cats, probably heard the noise of whoever broke in," Remy grabbed a hold of Kitty's arm, "c'mon!" the sirens had stopped, the police were probably already on their way into the building. Remy headed straight for the stairs up to the third floor, yanking Kitty along, "Keep up!" he hissed.
Kitty kept running with him, "why do I have to run?!" she demanded quietly as she tried to quicken her pace.
"Cat lady saw you with me, duh," Remy muttered, they began up the staircase to the fourth floor, then up to the fifth, then to the sixth.
"How many floors are there," Kitty asked breathlessly.
"Nineteen," Remy breathed, still running, he could hear footsteps approaching, he reached into the pocket of his trenchcoat and pulled out a playing card, leaned slightly over the banister of the seventh floor landing, he charged up the card and threw it with some force towards the staircase, the impact causing the kinetic energy of the card to explode the staircase, "that should slow them down," he drew his breath, he took the stairs three at a time, still running, Kitty still following. They both made their way to the roof for a hasty escape.