I apologize for the late posting, the holidays have been killer. This chapter is brought to you by Star of Chaos.
It seemed to be a fact of life that a young man, no matter how good his upbringing was, when left to his own devices will have the housekeeping skills of a chimpanzee, and Etienne Marceaux was no exception. Growing up he had never dared to have a messy room and, when visiting his cousins, it would have been risking his life to leave a mess anywhere in Tante Mattie's vicinity, but now that he was pretty much on his own, Etienne found himself leaving dishes in the sink because he didn't want to bother washing them, leaving the trash baskets to overflow because he couldn't find the motivation to empty them, and generally just being a slob. The fact that he was in the midst of a major depression didn't help things any.
It was a shame, too, because it really was a beautiful house. Despite his misery, Etienne had been able to take a moment to admire it when Remy first brought him here. He'd been surprised that the Guild even had this house, but then Remy had explained that it really wasn't theirs and that they were just 'borrowing' it since the actual owner didn't seem to want it. He remembered old Ms. Adler; despite being weird, if not downright crazy, she had been nice too sometimes. Etienne had never told his cousins or even his brother about this, but once when he was a child he had snuck over to this house out of curiosity and hid in the bushes. The housekeeper had heard him outside and was in the process of kicking him off the property, almost literally, when Ms. Adler had come out onto the porch and invited him in for cookies. Along with the cookies there was nice cold milk, and Ms. Adler had sat at the kitchen table with him and asked how his family was, almost like she knew them. The really weird part came when she told him she thought he had his mother's looks, which was strange because A: he didn't think Irene Adler would have known his mother, and B: the old woman was completely blind. She was gone now and Remy said that the woman's heir, some niece, was nowhere to be found, and this was a good thing because no one would ever think to look for Etienne here, and the last thing that he wanted right now was to be found.
He still couldn't believe this was happening. It was all going so well; the job had gone off without a hitch, and he and Remy had gone out to celebrate. Etienne still couldn't figure out where he could have lost the chalice. He didn't think he had gotten drunk enough that he wouldn't have noticed dropping something like that, but the fact remained that the chalice was gone and he didn't have a single clue as to where it could be. And instead of celebrating his Tilling with his friends and family, Etienne was hiding out here in an abandoned old house while his cousin figured out what to do. He already knew what would happen though. If that chalice wasn't found, he would be banished from the Guild, which was nearly on the same level as getting kicked out of his family. Could be worse, I suppose, Etienne thought to himself. Remy could make me tell Bella Donna that I lost her chalice.
Etienne couldn't imagine what he would do with himself if he wasn't part of the Guild. He'd have to be kept out of Guild business, which made up a good chunk of the average conversation in his family, live a so-called 'normal' life…even get a job. He couldn't picture himself working an average, 9-5, legitimate position. It was just completely against his upbringing. He kept telling himself not to worry, that the chalice would be found and everything would be okay, but a little pessimist deep down inside kept whispering that he was wrong, that it wouldn't be found, and he would be banished.
His first night in the house, he had gone out to the local liquor store and made off with a couple of bottles of bourbon. Etienne thought maybe some kids or bums or somebody had been in the house previously, because there had already been a bit of a mess there before he added to it, as well as several bottles in the trash. So wallowing in self-pity, he didn't see any problem in adding to the mess, figuring he'd clean it up later. Several hours later, full of bourbon and a meal he'd cooked up for himself from the provisions he and Remy had picked up on the way to the house, Etienne stumbled upstairs and crawled into one of the bedrooms towards the back of the house. He could have taken the master bedroom, but the idea of sleeping in the same bed that Irene Adler had slept and probably died in was rather creepy. The room was dusty from disuse, and the bedding was a bit stale, but it was comfortable and quiet and Etienne passed out almost the minute his head hit the pillow. At one point in the day he woke up, having thought he heard a noise in the house, but then just rolled over and fell back asleep. When he finally did get up, he had a headache that may not have been bad enough for strong men to swear off drinking, but it was bad enough for him to at least consider it awhile. His mouth was dry, his tongue felt fuzzy, and his head felt like it was going to explode.
Etienne opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The sunlight coming through the window felt like it was stabbing into his head, increasing the volume on the drumbeat going on in his skull. And this was supposed to make me feel better? he thought to himself. Well, he wasn't feeling any better, but the pain had certainly become a priority over the rest of his problems.
Etienne shifted in the bed to get the sun out of his eyes and was immediately made aware of a new problem: his bladder felt like it was going to burst. He hadn't planned on getting up; with the way his head hurt, staying in bed had seemed like a pretty good idea, but now he had no choice in the matter. Bracing himself for the worst, he sat up and wasn't disappointed. The pain in his head cranked up several notches, and to add to the fun, his stomach began to churn. Nearly falling out of the bed in his haste, Etienne rushed clumsily out of the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom, where he proceeded to answer the various demands of his body. Several minutes later, he rested his forehead against the cool porcelain of the sink and closed his eyes, already feeling a little of the tension release from his head.
"….urgh……" Was about all he could come up with to sum up his feelings at the moment. Okay, so far so good. He was up; he was out of bed. His most immediate needs had been met. A shower would probably be the next best step. The porcelain felt so good against his head right now though, he'd get up a minute.
It was about five minutes later when Etienne got himself up and stumbled into the shower, remembering to take his clothes off first. The shower turned out to be an excellent idea because while his head still hurt afterwards, he felt clean and not quite so fuzzy-minded. In fact, he felt better enough that he decided he could try going downstairs and finding something to eat, or at least a glass of water.
After making his way back to his bedroom, Etienne got dressed and noticed that the sunlight that had streamed into his eyes earlier must have been the setting sun, because it was now dark and he could see lights on in some of the neighbors' houses. He was a little annoyed at having slept the day away, but it wasn't like he had a schedule right now anyway so he shrugged it off and went down to the kitchen to find something to eat or drink.
The mess downstairs reminded Etienne of his depression earlier and why he had been drinking. Still not finding the motivation to do anything about it though, he disregarded the bottles lying around, rinsed out a glass, and poured himself some water from the faucet. It wasn't too cold, but it was wet and his body was so grateful for it that he ended up drinking half the glass at once. Any thought he might have had regarding food though disappeared when he looked over the dirty dishes in the sink, some still covered with bits and pieces of food and with the occasional fly crawling over them. It was probably for the best though; despite having worshipped the porcelain goddess already, he still didn't think he was quite ready for food yet. Instead, he took his glass of water and went out the back door where he found a porch swing that looked like it had seen better days. Etienne sat down on the swing and rocked gently; it was relatively quiet in this part of the neighborhood and he could hear crickets chirping out in the grass. It was all very peaceful, but Etienne missed his family already. He was used to the bustle and activity of the Guild, and this was just too quiet for him. Somehow, they just had to find that chalice. To live with a major chunk of his life cut away like this would be too much to take.
Etienne sat and rocked for awhile, drinking his water. Eventually he went back into the kitchen and returned with some bread, but it didn't stay down for too long and he ended up in the downstairs bathroom a little while later. All this didn't help his head at all, and he mentally kicked himself for not having grabbed some aspirin or something like that at the store when he was there with Remy earlier. There was no way he could go now though; Remy would kill him if he left the house. So he returned to the porch and laid out on the swing for a while longer, until repeated yawning convinced him to go upstairs and go back to bed, and other than getting up once to use the bathroom, slept the rest of the night away without incident.
Etienne was once again awakened by the sun coming in through the window, but at least it wasn't setting this time, and he was happy to have not slept another day away. He was even happier to find that his headache had gone away and that his stomach was no longer trying to rebel on him. It definitely looked to be a better day than yesterday. Maybe he should find himself something to do to keep himself busy. Cleaning the kitchen might be a good start; that really was a mess that he had left in there. Feeling better today despite all the crap that had gone on in the past couple of days, Etienne got up and got dressed, ready to keep himself occupied by some other method than drinking.
It wasn't until he had reached the bathroom and prepared to do his thing that he first heard a noise downstairs. It sounded like someone was walking around. Quickly zipping up his pants, Etienne moved over to the door and opened it just a crack. It was probably just Remy coming to check up on him, but he couldn't take the chance that the Assassins had discovered their chalice missing and come after him already too. After listening a moment, he decided that it couldn't be Remy; his cousin would have called to him upon coming in. Who could it be then? Etienne was quite positive that if it was an Assassin he wouldn't be hearing any footsteps at all, just the quick intake of his own breath as a knife slid between his ribs.
Already chilled by this thought, he froze when he heard the person start coming up the stairs. Etienne had nowhere to run; the person would have a clear view of him if he left the bathroom to go back to his room, and the old boards of the house would creak like crazy if he ran. Fearing suspicion if he closed it all the way, Etienne left the bathroom door ajar and opened the door to the linen closet inside the room, which he already knew from his explorations was very spacious. Once inside the closet, he closed the door quietly and waited, wondering what to do next.
The person went into one of the other rooms for a minute, but then came back out. Etienne heard the footsteps come closer to the bathroom. He thought he'd have a heart attack when the door was pushed open the rest of the way and the person walked in. The door was then closed. Through the crack in the door to the linen closet Etienne could finally see the stranger. He couldn't believe it when he saw…a girl?
But not just any girl; she was beautiful! The two-toned hair was a little odd, but it wasn't really that different than some of the other things girls were doing to their hair these days, and besides, on her it kind of worked. Etienne cringed in embarrassment though, thinking that he was trapped in a bathroom with a girl while she was probably going to…But then he noticed the towel and robe on her arm and saw that he was wrong. It was worse than that. She was going to take a shower and he was stuck in the closet. He supposed most guys would kill to be where he was right now. In fact, he was sure that Remy would, but Etienne couldn't help but feel embarrassed and more than a bit guilty that this girl, whoever she was, was going to have an audience without knowing it.
And that was a good question. Who was she, anyway? Having a robe and towel with her, she looked quite at home. Etienne would have to figure out a way to make himself known to her without scaring her too badly. For now though…
He'd intended to close his eyes when she started getting undressed; honestly he did. But she had such beautiful white skin underneath her clothes, such long and slender legs; Etienne couldn't help but watch, totally enthralled. He'd never seen a girl get undressed before, other than in the movies and at that strip club his brother and cousins had taken him to once, but this was different. It was real, unrehearsed, and innocent, and that combination made it erotic for him. Etienne swallowed hard, his mouth and throat having gone completely dry. His heart sped up and he watched helplessly as the girl finished getting undressed and stepped into the shower. He heard the water start and tried to think of what to do next. First thing, of course, was to get out of this linen closet, then he could…Well, what could he do? He was stuck here; he didn't dare leave for fear of running into members of either Guild. He also didn't dare stay in this bathroom a minute longer either. Finally deciding to figure out what to do once he'd gotten back to the privacy of his bedroom, Etienne put his hand on the door to push it open…
…and found it stuck. Whether it be old age, or humidity or what, the latch was stuck and the door wouldn't open. Greeeeaaat, now what am I supposed to do? Etienne thought to himself. He figured he probably still had a few minutes; the girl had just started her shower and with that long hair it would probably take her a couple of minutes just to wash it. The noise of the water would also cover any sound he made with the door, so Etienne took a chance and shook the closet door, trying to shake whatever was stuck loose. But no luck; the door held fast and Etienne panicked. There was no way on earth he could let himself get caught in this closet by a girl coming out of a shower. He shook the door again and again, but to no avail. Finally he went for broke and hit the door. It pushed open for him, and Etienne stumbled out.
The noise must have been louder than he thought because as he broke free from the linen closet, the water in the shower stopped and he heard a scream as the girl stuck her head around the curtain.
"WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?" the girl yelled, clutching the curtain around her body. It had only a slight frosted shade to it though, and it didn't really do much to hide what she looked like underneath.
Etienne froze. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he cried out, cringing back against the bathroom door. He was going to hell for sure; Tante Mattie would skin him alive for peeking on girls in the shower. "I was already in here, but you were coming up the stairs and I didn't want you to find me," he stammered, trying not to look at her with just the curtain wrapped around her wet body.
The girl glared daggers at him and Etienne cringed a little more. Not only was he a trespasser in the house but she now probably thought he was a pervert as well. Watching him warily, she carefully stepped out of the shower and wrapped the robe around herself, stepping out of the curtain once she had the robe tied securely around her waist. Once clothed, she stepped toward him, one hand curled up in a fist.
"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my house?" she demanded, her southern accent thickening with anger. The girl grabbed Etienne by the collar and slammed him back against the door. He tried carefully to push her away, not wanting to hit a girl, but she refused to budge.
"Why did you go and mess up my kitchen like that?" she continued, not waiting for an answer to her previous questions.
"It wasn't me!" Etienne squeaked in terror, horribly embarrassed at having been caught like this, but then recovered his voice. "Well, not completely anyway." If I'd drank all that bourbon, I'd have died of alcohol poisoning.
The girl glared at him for a moment. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't call the cops on you right now," she snarled.
"Would you believe me if I told you I was hiding from a bunch of assassins?" he asked.
The girl shook her head. "No."
Etienne scratched the back of his head. "Damn." Well, so much for telling the truth.
She was going to kill Remy LeBeau.
It wasn't the first time that Bella Donna had said that to herself, both seriously and in jest, but this time she meant it.
She supposed she should thank the maid; the girl's family had served the Guild of Assassins for years but the girl herself was new to the job, and if she hadn't broken that teacup, Bella Donna would never have known that the chalice was missing. But the housekeeper had gone on a cleaning spree and taken the maids with her. Bella Donna didn't know what had possessed the woman to assign a new girl to the job of cleaning the storage room but she had, and the girl had proceeded to drop and break a teacup from a set that was an heirloom in the Boudreaux family. Fearing retribution, the housekeeper had run to get her Matriarch immediately. Bella Donna wasn't too upset about the teacup; it was a lovely set, but honestly, who sits around these days and drinks tea anyway? No, what upset her was the empty space in the midst of the tea set where her family's chalice should have been. The real heirloom of the collection, the chalice, had been given to the Assassins by Candra herself, and its disappearance was not to be taken lightly.
It had to have been the Thieves. Nobody else had the skill, or the audacity, to break into the heart of the Assassins Guild and steal something as important as that chalice. Bella Donna noticed the dust that still covered the shelf; the girl hadn't gotten to the chalice yet when she had dropped the cup, but Bella Donna didn't believe that the crime wasn't a recent one. The dust was too perfect, as if the chalice had never been there in the first place, and Bella Donna knew that wasn't true. No, the chalice was gone and she knew that the only people who could have done it were the Thieves. Perhaps Remy himself? She couldn't imagine him sending someone else into his former lover's stronghold: it was such an intimate act somehow. And what did he want with the chalice, anyway? Was this just his version of a joke, or was there something more devious up the sleeve of his trench coat?
"Whatever it is, he's not getting away with it." Bella Donna muttered under her breath, and picking up one of the other tea cups in the set, hurled it against the wall where it landed with a rather satisfying smash. "REMY!" she snarled, wishing it had been his head instead.
Noticing her assistant and one of her lieutenants standing near the door, she barked orders to them to start hunting down the people responsible and stalked out the door, already thinking about what she'd do to Remy or whichever Thief was responsible once she got her hands on him.