Chapter 11: A Monster Meeting
"I didn't think I would ever hear myself saying this, but, honey, I am tired of driving."
"Hmm, then you shouldn't have bought a new Catherine."
"This isn't a replacement Catherine. She is an entirely new per- ahem, an entirely new vehicle."
"So this one is a girl too?"
"…..would you like to name her? Officially?"
Lucille glared at him then thought better, "How about, uhm, Hildagard?"
"Absolutely not."
"Gertrude?"
"What is she? A nun?"
"I like Heidi."
"As a name or the girl that chased me around the park and broke my toy cars?"
"Hmmm, how about-"
"You know what? Let's name her later. I'll keep driving."
She giggled, "Thank you," and she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. If she wasn't mistaken, there was a light blush on his face and he concentrated more on the streets.
They explored the town the whole day, but turned up nothing. It was agreed that they would try again the next day. Except there were no more reports in the morning. Nothing in the newspaper that would hint the creature's whereabouts or plans. Lucille figured it was in hiding, but without any clues it would be useless to try to find its location. Searching at night sounded like a better plan. If one ignored the potential danger in that. So all five of them spent the morning re-evaluating the information they got from the newspapers. Maud was the one to notice the uncomfortable pattern in attacks.
"I think it has something against musicians."
The silence that followed would put a cemetery to shame.
"I-In each case, there's one victim left worse than the others: the performers. First, it was the man in the alley with pieces of his own instrument beaten into him. Then, the singer left on the rooftop. And the others were just there at the wrong time and got caught up in the creature's rage."
"Then, shouldn't it have attacked Lucille that night?," Raoul inquired.
"Well, maybe it didn't know who she was."
"Yes," Emile cut in, "the creature caught those men after they left work. Wait," he searched through the stack of newspaper on the table and picked one up, "See, here!," he pointed to an ad, "The second victim sang at the theater house the night of the attack. The thing could've heard him singing from outside and waited for him to come out later. Lucille, you weren't doing any quiet singing or humming were you?"
"No, it was cold and I wanted to get back inside to warm up."
"It makes sense," Emile commented to Maud. Lucille stared blankly at the two, then one side of her mouth curled up into a small smirk.
"Lucille, stop making that face," Raoul warned.
"I'm not doing anything," she replied annoyed.
Francoeur chittered nervously. He recognized that face too.
"Okay! Before you decide to reveal your completely insane plan, I think we should go out for some fun; because, in case anyone forgot, we are here to relax too."
"Yeah!," Emile happily cheered, "Monsters and meetings be darned!"
"Haha, there we go!"
"Uh, but Lucille and Francoeur are scheduled to perform at the theater today," Maud so helpfully reminded, "Did you all forget?"
"Actually, I did not." Lucille had the most pleased grin on her face. It was terrifying.
"Francoeur," she stated sweetly, "We are going to be busy." Francoeur silently groaned and thumped his head on the table. His continuously shot nerves could take little more. He thought life was difficult as a tiny flea. It was much more so as Lucille's friend. He made no attempt to fight or sway her. It would be best to save his energy to protect her from the violent creature.
They went out after the discussion to pick up things for the night. A performance isn't constructed in an hour. No, there was much planning to do. Lucille and Francoeur had the basics of their show planned, but the details needed some fine tuning and they needed some supplies. Good thing they all had the town memorized by now. Except for poor Francoeur.
He was looking at a hat in a window that appealed to him when he realized Lucille was gone. And everyone else. He looked frantically around, but they were nowhere in sight. He ran down the streets in search, almost jumping up on a roof for a better view. That wouldn't go well with the towns people. Emile explained to him things he had to stop doing in public because humans couldn't do them. It would've been easier to just jump up though. He switched to a more leisure pace when he caught sight of Raoul's new truck. Waiting would be boring, but better than becoming even more lost. Still, those gloves in the nearby window are very nice. As long as he stayed within sight of the truck, some more looking couldn't hurt.
Some minutes later, Francoeur heard the distinct sound of tires swerving and a vehicle roaring closer. He turned just in time to witness the new truck be slammed from the back by a small car. Then it rolled down the street.
He flung himself onto the truck in hopes of stopping it. They both then rolled further down until they reached the edge of a hill and plummeted. He gripped the roof of the car with one hand and kept his hat on with the other. Enough attention was on him already, losing his hat right now wouldn't be a good idea. They gained speed and Francoeur was so sure he was going to end up a splattered mess at the bottom of the incline. Instead, someone decided to help the poor soul out.
…
She really needed to take good care of her clothes. It was the third time she had to go buy more thread and material to patch her shirts and skirts. The woman at the store even started asking questions. There had to be another store she could go to. This is what she was looking for when she saw a most peculiar sight. A tall man attached to a car flying down the hill. It didn't seem like they were going to slow down on their own. Not until they hit the building at the end.
It was with an excited leap that she landed on the side and swung the driver door open. She saw many people operate these things, and vaguely remembers stealing one the night she went….home. She slammed hard on what she hoped were the breaks. Her memory held true, because the tires slowed down to a halt with an ear tearing screech. Unfortunately, the brakes didn't work for the man on the roof.
…
Francoeur was thrown forward at a concerning speed. He squeezed his eyes shut for the impact and let out a loud hiss when he hit the solid ground. Something must have broken. There goes the show. He kept his eyes shut until he felt a shadow hovering over him and peeked them open. A truly beautiful sight greeted him. It was a woman wearing a royal blue dress with black hair and an angular face. She had high cheekbones and red lips as dark as dying roses. Her eyes were a magnificent gold. And they were staring intensely at him. Not just at him, but at his neck. He realized too late that his scarf had loosened and uncovered part of his face. He froze in fear and did nothing as she peered closer, lifting her hand to his scarf. Time slowed down as she pulled it down, and he prepared for a scream that did not come. Her eyes widened and she tilted her head in a familiar sign. She showed no fear or disgust and it only served to confuse him. Why was she not horrified?
"Francoeur!"
The woman looked toward the source of the voice then back to him before returning the scarf to its place and stepping away. She lingered by his side until his friends reached them. He looked to Lucille running down the street and back. The woman had a weary look in her features. She hid it well after a quick shake of the head.
"Are you hurt? Show me where if you are." Lucille took control of things so fast and effectively. He always admired that about her. He let Raoul and Emile lift him to his feet then indicated that he was not injured. It wasn't until Francoeur glanced at the woman a few times before they all noticed she was there. Her smile revealed gleaming white teeth that were a smidge off in alignment, on the verge of being jagged. He thought nothing of it and waved at her nervously.
"Oh, uhm, hi," Emile waved at her as well.
"Can you tell me what happened?," Lucille asked hopefully. She would worry over her friend until she knew exactly what he went through during the time that they had lost him. He certainly wouldn't be able to tell her.
"The car," was all she said. She motioned with her hands that it went down the hill and that she had stopped it while Francoeur fell off. It made her look like a street mime.
"Wh-"
"Wait, why was my truck going down the street?" Raoul looked around and saw the indent the other car made on the back. "Ahhh! No! And I got this like four days ago." He continued to whine, so Lucille promptly elbowed him in the gut to quiet him down. It worked, a little bit. The woman watched and chuckled to herself. When all eyes were back on her, she waved weakly because she felt unsure of what to do and turned to walk away. Francoeur reached a hand out to her, but only managed to brush her arm. Maud followed after her.
"Miss? Wait! Are you okay? We'd like to talk to you, and thank-" upon turning a building corner, Maud found herself talking to the air. The woman was gone.