CHAPTER 3 – THE GREMLIN
Gabriel and Nathalie climbed onto the Eurostar, wearing bulky clothing and hats that hid their true identities. Nathalie had told Adrien that his father would not be able to join him for dinner that evening as they would be working on an important project that would keep them busy for the entire night.
Adrien had looked disheartened but he was used to his father placing work before him. "I'll be sure not to disturb him," he said, the disappointment evident in his voice. They then had Adrien's bodyguard drive them to the station while Adrien practiced his piano.
The Eurostar trip would take them a little over two hours leaving them plenty of time to reach their target before dinner time.
Amelie and Félix lived in a secluded rented cottage on the edge of London. When Amelie's husband had passed away a few months ago the family had been left without a breadwinner and with plenty of debt. The high-profile house in London's fashionable West End had been sold and the family was having to adjust to a more modest lifestyle to the one which they had previously led. The quiet neighbourhood would make executing the plan that much easier.
Nathalie had rented a small house in the same neighbourhood through a shelf company. It wasn't furnished, but it was more than sufficient for their purposes. Gabriel could feel the weight of the potion bottle in the bag that he clutched to his chest. Everything was in place.
-000-
Gabriel stood in the darkened upstairs bedroom of the rented house. He opened a bottle from his bag and a white butterfly fluttered out. One was more than sufficient for his purposes.
"Nooroo, Dark Wings rise."
Gabriel felt a rush of power as he was transformed into Hawk Moth. Though he had done this hundreds of times before, he never tired of the sensation of being imbued with Nooroo's energy. He could feel the muscles in his body swelling. He could smell the emotions of hundreds of thousands of London's residents. He felt … alive.
Hawk Moth held out his hand and the butterfly obediently landed on it. Clasping his other hand over it, he filled it with dark energy, watching it change colour as he did so.
Hawk Moth could feel Natalie's emotion a few feet from him. ANGER at his loss. SADNESS over the fate of his wife. WILLINGNESS to help.
He opened his hand and cried out "Fly my little akuma, and evilise her."
The butterfly quickly closed the gap between them, landing on Nathalie's glasses, turning them a purple-black. Hawk Moth's mind filled Nathalie's head. His familiar presence was strangely comforting.
"GREMIN. For so long you have been a faithful assistant, weaving your magic to assist me. Your cunning plans and sneaky moves have so often nearly succeeded in the past. I now give you the power of invisibility to enable you to finally succeed in your plans and to fulfil your wish to serve me."
"Yes Hawk Moth."
Nathalie gasped as a dark cloud enveloped her. A few seconds later she was gone, a small, goblin like creature in her place.
Hawk Moth handed her the bottle of potion. "Good hunting, Gremlin."
-000-
Moving around unnoticed in the twilight was easy for Gremlin. She quickly reached Félix's house and gained access through an open upstairs window. She crawled through the window and dropped into the sparsely furnished room and froze. As soon as she stopped she turned transparent, blending in perfectly with the wall.
Gremlin listened carefully. All seemed well. She stepped out of the room and started moving down the stairs to the ground floor. The minute she started moving she became visible again.
The television was on in the small living room. Félix was watching a game show and would regularly call out how stupid the contestants were. Gremlin froze again, her body suddenly hidden. She moved slowly towards the smell of cooking and peered into the kitchen.
Dinner was almost ready. A small table with two chairs had been set up next to the wall. A glass of wine had already been poured and an empty glass stood next to a can of coke for Félix. Amelie's back was turned to Gremlin as she stirred something on the stove.
Gremlin waited. Timing was everything. When Amelie stepped into a small pantry Gremlin saw her chance. She scuttled across the floor and climbed onto the table, opening the bottle with her clutching hands once she reached the top. A vibrant red liquid sloshed around inside.
First Gremlin poured a large dose into the wine, enough to render the drinker comatose for several days. The magic potion disappeared as it touched the wine, leaving no trace that it had been added. Next Gremlin opened the soda, pouring it into the empty glass before adding a slightly smaller dose of the potion – enough to keep Félix unconscious for a few hours at most. Gremlin left the table, surveying her handiwork. Not a trace of anything amiss.
-000-
Now to wait. Shortly after dinner both Amelie and Félix felt incredibly tired and turned in to bed. They stumbled past the invisible Gremlin as they climbed the stairs, close enough for her to touch them if she wanted to. A few minutes later the sound of snoring floated down the stairs.
"Sweet dreams," muttered Gremlin to herself.
Gremlin now used her long nails to unscrew the wall fittings around a plug. She climbed into the wall and started chewing her way through the wall, making sure to leave clear signs of damage as she did so.
Finally she moved back into the kitchen and turned on the gas before escaping through another window. The stage was set.
-000-
Nathalie felt Hawk Moth's presence drain from her a few minutes later as she stood in front of him. The akuma was gone.
Gabriel switched on the burner phone he had purchased at the station and called 999.
"Hello? Is this 999? Yes, I think there is a problem with my neighbours. I was walking past their house and I could smell gas. I tried banging on the door but nobody answered. Could you send someone please?" Gabriel gave the address before hanging up.
He looked at his watch. "Just enough time to catch the last train to Paris." Nathalie smiled at him.