So I took a few days to write this chappy trying to get it PERFECT!!! I like how it turned out. We're so close to being done... So sad… So I'm not gonna talk too much so you can get on to reading.

I might actually just finish uploading it all today... We'll see....

ENJOY!!

Chapter 18

The Beginning

The day following Elisabeth's unexpected reunion with Joseph was a day like any other. Elisabeth awoke with the sun- something she had never done before. She stood by the window, looking out on Geneva's beautiful lake. Elisabeth was captivated by its beauty, until she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window. Despite her efforts to remain young and beautiful, time had had other plans. Her hair which once had a wild mind of its own had now lost its life. Her vibrant color had sprinklings of gray and the curls had lost most of their bounce. Her once perfect, porcelain skin was now filled with weathered wrinkles that showed those around her, her sad and tragic history. But the biggest change was her eyes. The eyes that were once the portal to a mischievous, spirited soul were now windows to a sad, empty, and dying one. She was an empty shell, just waiting for her time to run out.

"Oh, you're awake."

Elisabeth turned away from her reflection and stared at Alexa.

"Do you want me to call down for breakfast?"

"No," Elisabeth said with a smile. "Let's go out and see the city, Alexa."

Elisabeth had felt it- a change in the air... Perhaps the wind had changed direction or the Earth had tilted a bit more on its axis. Either way, Elisabeth felt that something was going to happen today. The beginning of something new.

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Elisabeth spent the day with Alexa as they traveled throughout the city. They visited Le Jet d'Eau, the world's largest water fountain. They walked through the grand gardens of the Promenade des Bastions. They ate lunch on top of Le Salève, a beautiful mountain that dominates Geneva's sky. They spent the afternoon walking along the bank of Lake Geneva. As they walked along the right bank, Elisabeth stopped at the beautifully ornate Monument Brunswick.

"Did you know," Elisabeth asked Alexa. "That this is actually a tomb?"

"Really?"

"Yes. Charles II, the Duke of Brunswick spent the last three years of his life here in Geneva. When he died in 1823, he left his entire fortune to the city of Geneva," she took in a deep breath of the fresh air and looked around her at the beautiful, vast lake and mountainous scenery. "If I had any say in where I would breathe my last breath, this would be it."

"Elisabeth," Alexa scolded softly.

"You don't agree?" Elisabeth asked, raising her brow.

"I try not to think of such morbid things as death and where I want to die."

"Well it's something that can't be avoided," Elisabeth said quietly. After a deep silence, Elisabeth asked her friend quietly, "What do you think happens to you after you die?"

"Well," Alexa said. "I was raised in a Christian family, so I suppose you go to Heaven after you die." She stopped to look at Elisabeth. "Do you not believe that?"

"I was raised to believe that as well. And I did once… a very long time ago," she said as she stared out at the lake. "But I've seen too much to think that I'll end up at the Pearly Gates."

"Ma'am," Alexa protested. "You can't possibly think that you're going to go to Hell!"

"What if Heaven and Hell weren't the only two options after you die? What if there's a third possibility?" Elisabeth asked, pensively.

"Well," Alexa answered thoughtfully. "Anything is possible. The Bible speaks of Heaven and Hell and I believe that that's all humans need to know about. But I suppose there are other possibilities that we weren't supposed to know. God didn't tell us because we weren't meant to know." Alexa laughed as she came out of her philosophical state of mind. "I'm sorry… I'm rambling! Forget what I said."

"So," Elisabeth said to herself, deep in her own thoughts. "Am I the only one who knows about you?"

"Miss Elisabeth," Alexa said, pulling Elisabeth back to reality. "It's getting late. We should probably start heading back to the hotel."

"Yes," Elisabeth replied. "Yes, of course."

The two women quickly turned to head back to the hotel when a young man bumped into Elisabeth, throwing her off balance. The young man quickly steadied the woman and cried,

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going… Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Elisabeth said as she brushed the man away. She turned to continue on her way when the young man caught her by the sleeve, stopping her in her tracks. Elisabeth shot a glare at the stranger who was continuing to act similar to a cockroach- not leaving her alone. She tried to turn away again as the man asked:

"Elisabeth?"

"Yes?" Elisabeth answered cautiously. She had learned to despise the paparazzi and reporters ever since Rudy's passing, but there was something different about this man. He was clearly Italian and yet he spoke perfect German to her in a French speaking country. She stared at him, long and hard. There was something so familiar in his eyes…

"Luigi?" Elisabeth asked, shocked.

The man smiled a wide toothy grin and ran his hand through his curly, black hair. How he had grown! Once an awkward teenage boy now a handsome, charming young man.

"How are you, Luigi?" she asked, genuinely interested in the boy's welfare.

"I'm good," he said, nodding. "I'm here on business."

"That's wonderful!" Elisabeth smiled.

"Yes," Luigi said as his nods slowed. "How are you? I heard about your son. I'm so sorry."

"Yes, well," Elisabeth said quickly, before her emotions could kick in. "It's a part of life, I suppose. Death."

"Are you alright?" Luigi asked her in a concerned voice.

Elisabeth shrugged her shoulders and sighed, "I'm surviving."

Luigi smiled sadly. The pain in her eyes was undeniable. She no longer hid herself behind a façade of false emotions. She had no need to. She was no longer in the public's ever watching eye. She was merely a woman trying to live her life from day to day. A woman with pains and worries, just like everyone else.

"But don't worry about me," Elisabeth said with a small smile. She gave Luigi's arm a reassuring squeeze. "Good luck on your business trip. I'm sure you'll be great."

"Thanks," he said softly as Elisabeth turned to walk away. After several footsteps, Luigi called out, "Elisabeth!"

Elisabeth turned to look back at Luigi and froze in fear. Standing before her was no longer the kind little boy she had befriended years ago but a crazed man with a gun. A gun pointed at her.

Three things happened simultaneously. Three men who happened to be passing by, ran up to the crazed man trying to stop what was inevitably about to occur. Luigi fired his gun. Elisabeth smiled.

The single shot that was supposed to pierce Elisabeth's heart in a quick and painless death had been skewed by the three men moving Luigi away. Instead, Elisabeth was shot in the stomach.

Elisabeth fell to the pavement as she writhed in excruciating pain. Her vision began to blur as the pain grew more and more unbearable. She found it hard to breathe- as if a thousand tiny daggers penetrated her lungs every time she drew in a quick breath. She could hear shouting far off in the distance.

"Someone call an ambulance! Someone's been shot!"

"It's Elisabeth!"

"The Austrian President's wife?"

Elisabeth slowly looked around her. A small crowd had formed. Some people were on their cell phones- calling for help- others were crying. She looked to her right to see Luigi being restrained by three large men. He had dropped his weapon and was kneeling on the ground, staring into her eyes. Elisabeth averted her eyes from Luigi's to look up at Alexa, her assistant and dear friend for so many years. She was crying, holding Elisabeth's head in her lap. Elisabeth could see Alexa's hands were covered in something. Blood.

Elisabeth placed her hand where the pain was growing from at a terrifying speed. She winced as her fingers made contact with the wound. Elisabeth slowly raised her trembling fingers up to her line of vision to see them covered in deep red blood. Her blood.

"Oh God," Elisabeth cried out in fear. She shut her eyes, tight, as the waves of pain became unbearable. It burned. She felt as if her entire body was on fire. She felt as she had all those years ago when she was hit by that car. Only this time, Death was not there to relieve the pain. There were no icy kisses or cold hands to make the pain go away. She was alone in this.

No. I'm not alone, Elisabeth thought as she reached out her hand to Alexa, who held on for dear life.

"Everything's going to be alright," Alexa said with a reassuring smile. But Elisabeth knew the truth. This was it. This was the beginning of the end.

Medics arrived on the scene and carefully transported her on a stretcher to the ambulance. As the sirens screeched and the vehicle sped to the hospital, Elisabeth looked around her in fear. She was surrounded by strangers. Would she die like this? Alone? Always alone?

"Oh," Elisabeth cried softly as a single tear fell down the side of her face. "What's happened to me?"

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