Don't You Remember Me?
Prologue: Best Friends
My name is Rachel Thompson. I'm an ordinary girl. I live with my father in a small country house just outside of Paris. My mother died while giving birth to me, so it has always been just me and him. Then, one summer when I was nine years old, a small family moved in beside us. It was a boy and his mother. Me and my father went over to their house to welcome them, but as we approached the door, we couldn't help but here screaming inside. We saw threw the window that the mother had slapped the boy across the cheek. We ran back to our house and just stood there in our small kitchen, trying to figure out what to do. We couldn't let that continue since it was child abuse. The next day we decided to go over and have a talk with the boy's mother. As we got closer to the house, we noticed that we weren't the only ones there. An elderly lady and a man, dressed all in black, were walking into the house. We knocked on the door and the lady opened it. She looked as if she had been crying.
"May I help the two of you?" Her voice shook a little with each word she said. My father was the first to speak.
"We were wondering if we could talk to the woman that lives here?" The lady shook her head a little and one tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm sorry but she passed away yesterday. She went to the market to get some bread, but a run away horse attached to a carriage hit her. We are the boy's aunt and uncle." We just stood there for awhile, wondering what to say. My dad stuck out his hand to the woman, and she took it hesitantly.
"If there is anything we can do, please let us know. I'm Roger Thompson and this is my daughter Rachel." The lady hugged me and my father and then stepped back. She was about to shut the door, but then stopped as if a sudden thought came to her.
"There just might be something you can do. Erik, her son, doesn't need to be in the house right now. We are moving all our stuff in over here, since we are going to take care of him from now on. I think it is best for him to get away from everything. Do you mind?"
"No, we don't mind at all do we, Rachel?" I just shook my head. It would be kind of fun to have someone to play with. The lady went back in and whispered something to the boy. He slowly walked out of the shadows and I couldn't believe what I saw! The boy was about four inches taller than me with shaggy brown hair. The surprising part was that he wore a white mask covering up part of his face. The other half of his face was normal, so I don't know what was wrong with the other side. While I was deep in my thoughts, my dad reached out to Erik and put his hand on the boy's back.
"Erik, I'm terribly sorry about your mother. How would you like to come over to our house and spend some time with us for a while? Rachel, my daughter, is probably about the same age that you are. How old are you?" The boy looked at me, then to my dad, and then back at his aunt. She nodded and he turned his head around to face us. In almost a whisper he told his age.
"I'm twelve, sir." My dad smiled at him and his aunt.
"Well, Rachel is nine, so I think you guys will get a long pretty well." His aunt thanked us and then shut the door. We led him back to our house and took him into the kitchen. He just stood there staring at his feet. My dad left us alone so we could get to know one another better. I just stood there across from him not knowing what to say. He looked up one time and gazed around at our house. His gaze seemed to stop on the piano that was in our parlor. He walked over to it and I just followed. It was mother's piano and father has never let me touch it before. Erik sat down on the bench and ran his fingers over the keys, as if they were a treasure. I stood beside him and watched his expression on his face. He looked as if he was in a trance. I gathered up some courage and asked him a question.
"Do you play the piano?" He seemed startled, as if he had forgotten I was in the room. He looked up at me for a second and then back down at the keys. For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to answer me. I was actually startled when I heard his quiet voice.
"Yes, my mother had a piano in our old house and I taught myself how to play. Do you mind if I play something now?" I was just so happy that he was opening up to me! I nodded and he began to play.
Sometime later, he had finally finished. I thought it was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard! It was almost as if he poured his soul into the song as he played it. I clapped my hands and I thought I almost saw him blush a little. He looked up at me and gave a shy smile. I smiled back. I knew that this was going to be a wonderful friendship!
Me and Erik were like brother and sister from then on. He would come over for at least three hours each day. We would play games, sing, and he even taught me how to play the piano. I even started to forget that he had a mask on. It didn't matter anymore because we had this strong bond that wasn't explainable. But everything must come to an end, and that end came too soon. Some people from the city had found out about the strange boy with a mask that lived in the country. One day, they decided to play a horrible joke. They came to his house and banged on the door a couple times. I watched from my bedroom window. I knew that his aunt and uncle had gone into the city a short time before the people arrived. Erik was in the back yard. I wanted to run out and bring him into our house to keep him safe, but I knew they would see me. I watched as Erik went around the house to see what was happening. In my head I was screaming, "No, don't go around the house!" Of course, he couldn't here me and kept walking around the house. The men saw him and started to laugh. He stopped abruptly and was about to run, when all of a sudden a shot rang out. A bullet had whizzed my his head, barely missing it. He stopped and turned around. They walked over to him and tore off his mask. He covered up his face and tried to get his mask back. They held it up high and started punching him. He tried to kick them, but there were too many of them for him to fight. He crumbled to the ground as they continued to kick and punch him. I watched in horror with tears rolling down my cheeks. I would have went and gotten my dad, but he had went out to hunt that morning. Once he was unconscious, they put him in a big sack and put it on their carriage. They climbed up and drove away. I just couldn't believe what had happened! I ran into my bedroom and flung myself on the bed. I sobbed all day long over the loss of the only friend that I had ever had.
(Author's Note: Okay, so that's the first chapter. I'll try and update around Tuesday. So, tell me what you think! Thanks!)
