A distant cry filled the air. Marie listened as the cry grew louder and ran down the crowded streets towards it, bumping into strangers she passed. The crowd seemed unending and unmoving. Marie pushed her way through but ultimately got nowhere. Knowing that she would not be able to navigate her way through the crowd, she tried to call back to the cry, wanting to help who ever was in this agony. But when she opened her mouth she realized she was the one screaming in agony.
Marie shot up in the bed as she continued to scream, the same scream that echoed and haunted her. Panting, Marie tried to regain her composure. 'It was just a dream' she told herself as she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and the dried tears from her cheeks.
"Y'got sum powerful pair of lungs dere," a voice whispered.
Marie grabbed and pulled the sheets up close to her shoulders as if creating a shield protecting herself from the unfamiliar room she finally realized she was in. Marie glanced around the dark room. Everything was hidden in shadows. From what Marie could see, and that was not much, it was a rather large room, not cluttered with the knick knacks that make a room homey and personalized, but it did have a few sparse paintings on the wall and a fresh vase of flowers on the night table. But what was the most predominant to Marie was the shadow that was rocking back and forth in the corner.
"No need t'be put at unease, hun," the soothing voice continued.
"How did Ah get here?" Marie managed to ask as she regained her breath.
A sweet laughter arose from the corner. "Now 'ow bout t'at. Most people ask 'where am I?' or 'who are y'' but never had any one asked dat 'fore."
"So Ah take it, Ah'm not the first tah end up in this predicament." Marie shot back while squinting, trying to make out who was in the corner.
The sweet laughter filled the air once more. "Well let me answer yo'original question first. As t'how y'got here, Remy brought y'."
"Remy," Marie muttered the name to herself, as if it was foreign to her. She racked her brain trying to find the face to that name as she quietly repeated it again.
"Y'know Remy. About yea-high," the shadow stood up and motioned the hand about a foot above the head to as a way to demonstrate how tall he was, and continued to describe, "Strikingly handsome. Needs a shave and a haircut. Has an ego dat could make a conceded debutant jealous."
"Oh him." Marie remarked as she ran her hand through her hair.
"Oui," the shadow responded while stepping out of the shadows and into the dim light that was given off by the small lamp on the night table. It took only a moment for Marie to recognize the woman before her was the one she talked to the day before.
The woman nodded as if knowing what Marie was thinking, "Don't worry bout dat now. Now from what Remy has told me, 'e said dat y'collasped on de ground bout four hours ago," the woman put up her hand to let Marie know that she will explain the whole situation. ". Not knowin wat caused y'to collapse or where t'bring y'he brought y'to see me. I was his nanny, raised 'im and 'is frere since dey were pups. Dey call me Tante Mattie, well dem and everyone else 'ere, so y'can call me Tante Mattie as well. Anyway " She continued to walk over to the side of the bed and grabbed the pitcher, poured a glass of water. She then handed the glass to Marie as she smiled warmly. Marie smiled graciously as she accepted the glass and began to drink it.
"Well now, where was I?" Tante asked herself, "Oh yes, he brought y'to me, cus I know a t'ing or two bout medicine, and healin. As to where y'are, y're in de guest house at de back lot of the LeBeau Esate. But enough about dat. Besides thirsty, how do y'feel?" Tante asked as she stared at the empty glass. She reached over and poured more water into the glass. "Do y'remember what happened before y'collasped?" Tante Mattie asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed next to Marie.
Marie shook her head in response as she drank some more. "Hmmm." Tante stared at the girl who was busy trying not to notice that she was being observed. "Well, I may be a silly ol' fool but I'm sensing a lot of pain from you. "
Marie shifted uncomfortably trying to situate herself away. "Ah, so I'm right. Now dere be two real reasons Remy brought y'here. One, t'meet de girl he likes and two, de t'inks I can 'elp y."
"Well Ah thank yah for yahr hospitality and help but Ah really don't need it. Ah'm fahne." Marie said as she climbed out of the bed and put on her shoes that were laid next it.
Tante Mattie just watched as Marie struggled to put on her shoes and finally remarked, "So then if y'don't need help that's quite alright. Just makin sure." Then Tante Mattie pushed herself off the bed and slowly walked over to the door, but before she reached it, she turned around and remarked in a soothing tone, "But is it always normal for y'to scream in yo'sleep?"
Marie's head shot up and her eyes widen as she made eye contact with Tante then quickly averted them back to her shoes. Tante walked over to Marie, bent over, and lifted Marie's chin with the hand. "Y'can' hide de pain forever. Y'can try 'nd lie bout it, but yo'eyes don't lie. I can see de pain. And child it is too much pain for one person t'carry."
"Ah'm fahne. Ah got mah own way of dealing with things, and Ah'm fahne, really," Marie stated as she finally strapped her shoes on successfully.
"Hmm," Tante muttered as she moved back to allow more room for Marie to stand up, "Well if yo'way of dealing wit it, is not dealin wit whatever is going on yo'head, den y'doin a fine job of it. Screamin and cryin in yo'sleep is not healthy, neither is havin panic attacks. Y'can't keep it bottled up, y'need some one t'talk to. I can see y'cryin on de inside. And I'm here fo' y'to talk with." Tante Mattie stopped while she looked at Marie's reaction. When she realized Marie did not have a reaction, she continued, "Or maybe I'm not de one yo'should be talking to-" But at that moment, the door was kicked open and in walked Remy.
"Look at y'bargin in 'ere. Where are yo'manners?" Tante yelled as she put her hands on her hips and continued, "Hasn' any told y'never t'barge into a ladies room. Y'always knock first, Lawrd, she could have been dressin for all y'know."
Remy stepped in the room further and put up his hands in defense, "Désolé, besides its unfortunate it is so dark in here, wouldn't be able t'see anyt'ing." He grinned causing Tante to smack him on the back of the head.
"Y'need some sense knocked int'y. Honestly dun' know how de filles can put up wit y." Tante Mattie huffed while she shook her head and muttered to herself. Her muttering died down leaving the three in silence. Remy situated himself to face Marie. He stood staring at her, taking in every detail as if she might have changed in the four hours. Marie could feel his eyes burning into her. That feeling that made her unsure of herself.
Remy continued to stare at Marie, Marie continued to stare at her ring while she twirled it around her fingers pretending not to notice Remy's deep stare on her, and Tante Marie stood back and observed the two in amusement. When she noticed that neither one was going to break the silence, she took it upon herself to do so, "Well, look at de time. I better get t'bed, need mon beauty rest." Tante Mattie lingered there for a moment to see their reactions and was quite surprised when Marie was the first to respond.
"Yes, well uh-that makes two of us. Ah better be on mah way before Ah really become a big inconvenience." Mary forcefully smiled while she gathered her things that were on the night table.
"Never could be," Remy grinned and continued, "But y'alright Marie, not too long ago I saw y'collapse t'de ground like a ton of bricks?"
Marie nodded as she looked down at her hand that was now swollen and bruised. 'Must have been from when Ah fell' she thought to herself as she covered the injured hand with her sleeve so no one would notice. "Ah'm fahne really," she replied shortly and continued as she made her way to the door, "Ah thank yah again and Ah'm really sorry bout this."
"Just remember what I said t'you." Tante said with a warm smile.
"How can y'say yo'fine?" Remy asked in a condescending tone, as he turned around to face Marie who had one hand on the door.
Marie turned around to glare at Remy before thanking Tante for her hospitality and leaving the room. As soon as Marie left the room, Tante let out of huff.
"I know exactly what y'mean-"
But Remy's scuff was interrupted by Tante Mattie, "Not her, y'." Tante Mattie glared at him to shut Remy up from trying to refute what she said. "Look at y. Dat fille needs 'elp, and y'come in here 'nd act like a ane (jackass). Makin her feel 'orrible."
"Well wat makes y'dink dat I should be de one t'elp her?" he asked defensively. "Well what makes y'dink dat it shouldn' be y'?" She asked aggressively. "If it's not y', it'll be some one else. And do y'really want some ot'er guy t'do yo'job?"
"It's not mon job," Remy muttered to himself.
"Well den, y'obviously didn' bring her here for not'in. Lawrd, look where y'brought her. To yo'house. T'de one place where y'can't bring any one. Y'have yo'own apartment, why didn't y'take her dere, or t'hospital or back t'her hotel?" She asked.
"I dunno." He replied with a shrug.
"Den y'embarrass the fille den insult her. Wat a gentleman, I t'ought y'prided yo'self in treatin de filles well."
Remy stood in silence and nodded, "I am a jackass, and always will be." He then walked towards the door.
"Where y'goin?" Tante Mattie put her hands on her hips. She was not ready to let him go this easily.
But Tante's questioning did not deter Remy. He opened the door, and replied without turning around, "T'go find her." And with that he shut the door behind him and made his way out of the guest house. Just as he was about to leave the house, he heard Tante Mattie yell, "Took y'long enough." With that, Remy smiled and went to go find Marie.
Remy quickly made his way down the dirt path and walked along the bend that framed the small forest. There he saw Marie. She walked all hunched over with her arms hugging herself. He ran up to her to be greeted with, "What do yah want, LeBeau?"
"How did y'know it was moi?" He asked now walking by Marie's side.
"Only yah would be fool enough tah follow meh after that." She said never breaking her stride.
"Oui. I'm just trying t'make dings right. Why are y'makin such a big deal about it."
This caused Marie to stop and look at him, "Big deal? Gee, Ah don't know. Yah embarrass and insulted me. And that's quite enough for one person tah do."
"Embarrassed?"
"Yea yah take me here tah a place Ah don't know, tah people Ah don't know, and treat meh like a god damn mental case!" Marie shouted.
"Mental case!" Remy chuckled and raised his voice to match the intensity of Maries, "Don't y'see, y'are one. Look at y'. Fainting on concrete. Cryin and screamin in yo'sleep. Can't y'face de facts! What more signs do y'want. Want me t'write it out for y'.?"
"How do yah know Ah cry in mah sleep?" Marie demanded.
"Y'still have dried tear marks on yo'cheeks." Remy answered while motioning on his own cheeks to demonstrate where they were on hers.
"So what's it tah yah. So what if Ah cry and scream in mah sleep, or if Ah have panic attacks. So the fuck what? Ah don't need this." She yelled while motioning to Remy and herself. "Ah don't need any of this. Ah don't need pity. Ah don't want any of it."
"Pity, dat's wat y'dink dis is. Pity?" Remy scuffed while running his hands through his hair. "Well den y'have a lot more problems den I dought." He motioned to his head.
"Yah don't know me, so why do yah pretend dat yah do! Fuck you!" Marie exclaimed before turning around and stomping down the dirt path.
"Y'know what Marie?" Remy called after her. "Pity is all people will have for you. Pity and relief. Relief dat dey dun't hafta deal wit you. And pity cus all y'have is yo'self. No one else could love, hell let's not even go dat far, no one could like y', people try t'help y'and y'throw it back in dere faces!"
Marie gritted her teeth trying to gather her thoughts to eloquently tell Remy off, but all that she could gather was a, "Yah are a fucking asshole LeBeau!" And with that Marie disappeared around the bend leaving Remy by himself.
He sighed and put his hands over his face. He lingered there for a few moments gathering his thoughts and replaying what just happened. "Way t'go. Real smooth, connard (asshole)." Remy walked off the dirt path, and up the hill cursing at himself for letting his temper get the best of him. He slowly made his way up the hill and into his house. He walked down the hall hoping to find Tante Mattie to explain to her what happened, that is if she didn't hear the screaming.
"Looks like we found a temper dats equivalent t'yours."
Remy turned around and walked towards the living room opening he just past, and there sure enough inside was Henri sitting on a black chair.
"What do y'want?" Remy asked bitterly. He was in no mood to deal with anything right now, especially not Henri.
"Little harsh on de fille weren't y'?"
"Wat?" Remy practically exclaimed.
"Shh, keep yo'voice down, y'woke enough people up from yo'screaming outside, no need t'wake de rest up."
"Dis is unbelievable." Remy snapped. "First y'get on mon back, den Tante, den Marie, and now y'are sticking up for de fille y'told me t'keep under surveillance. I just dun' get it."
"Yea, well I was mistaken."
Remy leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, "Never heard y'say dose words, 'fore."
"Yea well when I'm wrong, which isn' often, I say so." He replied as he scratched his brow.
"And what brought bout dis change of heart?" Remy questioned.
"Well-" Henri tried to start but couldn't quite choose how, instead he looked down at the table before him. And on this table, there was a file with Marie's picture on it. And Remy noticed it.
"Wat's dat?" He motioned to the file.
"Um well, I wasn't quite sure bout her, like I told y'. But I just couldn't wait for y'to find out, cus lets face it, y'didn't get any where. And dats probably cus y'didn't want to. But any way, I got Theo do some work on her."
"Some work?" Remy hesitated repeating.
"Yea, well, he did some research and he claims that she is not an easy one t'trace. But its all explained in de file. And dat fille has quite a past. Y'can read it if y'want." Henri said as he motioned to the file as Remy raised an eyebrow.
Did I leave you guys in suspense? I hope so, lol, so yea sorry this chapter is another cliffhanger, one of my many cliffhangers, lol, and I'm even more sorry it took me soo long to update! I'm out for the summer which means I have more time, and I'll update a lot faster but you guys know the story-the more reviews I get, the more motivated I get and the faster I update!
I hope you guys like this chapter! Thank you so much for continuing to read and review! I'm so happy you guys really like the story!!! I love reading your reviews, comments, critiques, and helpful advice! Thanks for the reviews guys, positive reinforcement does wonders for my self-esteem, keep it up, lol. You guys are the best! If you guys have any ideas or comments feel free to tell me.
So do a "Ebert and Roeper" and tell me if it's a thumbs up, down or just if- y. Well basically just tell me what you think and believe me when I say, I am not above begging for reviews, lol!