He awoke to pounding on the door. His thief stirred as well and ran to the door, tripping over a shoe and landing on her broken hand. But she didn't even notice, she picked herself right up and swung open the door. It was the small elderly woman from the other day. He had forgotten that she lived here too.
"Sabine," she exclaimed. "What's going on?"
"Arie, come quickly, Pierre is gone!" The old woman was sobbing, grasping at her heart. Before the old woman could even finish her sentence, Lee/Arie shot out the door and down the stairs. Erik whipped the blanket off of him and ran after her.
She was three stories down already and only running faster. She turned onto a landing six floors down and raced towards the end of the hall.
"Pierre? Pierre? Where are you?" She screamed down the hallway. Erik followed close behind, trying to figure out what was going on. A flash of moonlight hit Lee's face as she raced past a window., that's when Erik saw complete horror that covered her face.
"Arie? Nanna? I'm scared!" A meek voice came from outside. Lee ran to a window and peered out. Two large men were holding him, dragging him from the building.
"No," she said quietly to herself then raced again down the stairs.
"What's going on?" Erik asked her while he tried to keep up. She didn't respond, but instead once she reached the second floor, she headed to the balcony leading to the main floor and leapt off it. Erik's eyes widened in astonishment as she landed intact and without stumbling. Wow, she had some skill on her, he thought. When he looked over the railing, he saw her racing out the front doors onto the street. When he finally made it outside, he found her just standing there yelling his name.
"Pierre!" She had hollered over and over, but never getting an answer back, only an echo. The chilled air just added to the unbearable silence that came from the streets. Lee let out another scream, this time one, it was one of anger. He came behind her and put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.
"This isn't over," he had heard her whisper to herself. What had she meant? He pondered. She growled again and ran back inside. Erik looked on into the distance, trying to figure where the men had gone, but when he saw only darkness, he headed back inside. He paced himself, until he heard what sounded like a hurricane inside. There was no real storm, but there was very much the wrath of one. Lee had been throwing things on the floor in frustration and was trashing the entire hall. She took a candle stick and hurled it at a mirror, shattering it. A painful memory came back to him, reminding him of his painful time with her, with Christine. He let her behavior continue for another minute, just standing there, observing her destruction. Then, when she picked up a glass vase, he interfered.
"I think that's good," he grabbed it from her hands. Her shoulders sank in defeat and she sank to the floor. He found a place next to her. She buried her head in her knees and sighed deeply. After a few minutes, she looked up at the mess she had created, and let out another deep sigh.
"Thank you for stopping me," was all she said before heading back up the stairs to her room. He couldn't help but feel completely helpless and confused.
She slammed the door to her room and began to pace. How could I have let this happen? She screamed at herself inside. How could I not see this coming? Now it was her fault Pierre had been kidnapped, now she'll have nothing to do but give into the kidnappers demands, which could be more than just handing over the ring, which she no longer had.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She pounded her fist against the wall, leaning her head on it as well. "God! Think before you do something Arabelle!" She scolded herself.
"So, is that your real name, or just one of your many aliases?" Her head whipped to the open door. There he stood, the man whose ring she'd lifted. She glared at him and began to dig through the pockets of all her pants, looking for something.
"Look, maybe you should explain this all to me," he closed the door and sat on the moldy couch, like a gentlemen. She looked up at him, baffled, and at a loss for words. She just stared down at him, not being able to help but wonder what lay under the fabric of his cloak. She had had the chance to fulfill her curiosity when he fell asleep, but for some reason, she didn't. Not thinking it was right, knowing it wasn't right. But then it struck her. He had not explained anything to her either. She didn't even know his name.
"Why should I? I mean, you seem to know so much about me since you stalked me yesterday and the day before," she snorted. "I mean, you haven't even so much as told me your name." Her eyebrows arched for a second. She had found what she was looking for, a her cigarettes.
"Besides," she went on, looking matches. "Don't you have a fiancée to return to?" He stood and snarled at her, even if she couldn't see it, she knew he was.
"I advise you to hold your tongue," he pointed a finger at her. She smirked.
"Go fuck yourself, monsieur." She curtseyed and walked up to a large mirror on an old wooden armoire. She spotted the lighter on top of the armoire and was just about to light up when a scream erupted.
"Sabine," Arabelle ran downstairs and into Pierre and Sabine's living quarters. There she found a hunched over Sabine, her hand on her chest, tears running down her face. In her other hand she held a piece of paper.
"Oh Pierre! Oh Lord!" She sobbed. Arabelle knelt down beside her and comforted her. Erik had followed her down and was just staring at them. She took the paper from Sabine's hands and asked Erik to read it.
"Bring the ring to the Opera Populaire along with 500 francs by midnight on Sunday. If these requests are not met, or if you do not come alone or at all, the boy will die. Sincerely X." Sabine's howls increased in number and volume. Arabelle just embraced her and rocked her, hushing her and trying to calm her.
"We'll get him back, I promise," Arabelle hugged her tighter, promising Sabine and herself. "I will bring him back." She pushed away tears of her own. It took an hour to calm Sabine down and leave the room. When they left the room, she started heading down the hall and pulled a key ring out of her pocket and unlocked a room door.
"What are you doing?" He asked her. She just opened the door and led him in.
"If you are going to stay here, you can take this room." She said flatly. He stepped in and looked at his surroundings. There was a queen sized bed, old and musty. An armoire with a dusty mirror, and a curtain covered window.
"Thank you," he barely said above a whisper. She nodded and left him there, heading back to her own room. She had three days to get the money, but what about the ring? It was for his fiancée, she couldn't take it from him. So what was she going to do? And how the hell did she always get herself in these situations? Arabelle leaned against the door and let out a large sigh.
"Fuck, I have no idea," she pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and sat against the door.
Things really heated up this chapter! Lot's of drama is in store for these two down the road!
From here on out, I'm probably going to be updating frequently! Mostly because I wrote a giant portion of this last summer and all I have to do is edit the chapters. So I guess that's good news for those who are liking the story so far. I promise that there is a lot more drama, action, romance, sarcasm, and heart wrenching moments to come! I'll probably get the next chapter up in the next few days. Read and Review, rest and relax! haha!
Until next time,
Luce, your Surly Mermaid!