Chapter 5: The Horror

Claude was as quiet as possible when he sneaked out to meet her. The girl beamed when she saw him. Claude barely saw her smile in the faint light of the rising sun.

"Hello, Claude!"

"Keep it down!"

Claude looked over his shoulder to check that no movement came from his house.

"My parents will be awake soon." He warned. "What do you want?"

"I've been thinking about you every day. I just realized I love you!"

"You... love me? Really?"

"Yes! We should be together!"

"I- I would love to, but how can we be together? You're a gypsy and my parents-"

"Don't worry about it, Claude. We can just run away together. Please?"

The idea of running away was a rather nice one. And to be loved was something extra special. Claude didn't think anyone really loved him. If the gypsy girl was the first to give him that, he would cherish it.

He smiled. She took his hands and leaned in to kiss him. Claude gratefully kissed her back. For that moment he felt important to once. For once he mattered to someone...

"Claude!"

Claude jumped at the sound of his mother's angry voice. He glanced back at his house to see his mother standing still in disgust and his father marching out with a torch.

The gypsy girl let go of him, breaking into a run.

"Wait!" Claude called after her.

He tried to run, but was immediately thrown on the ground. In the torchlight, he saw a murderous rage in his father's eyes.

"What did you think you were doing, boy?!"

"I was- I..."

Claude choked.

"I just saw you with your lips on a gypsy!" His father thundered.

"But... She loves me!" Claude defended.

Claude's father kicked him harshly. The boy cried out in pain.

"Stupid boy! Gypsies can't love! All they do is lead you to sin! Drag you to hell! Is that you want? To burn in hell?"

"Father... Please!"

"You don't understand the fire that awaits you... I will simply have to make you understand!"

Claude was struck with horror. He tried to get away, but was kicked again. He couldn't escape when his father plunged the blazing torch into his body. The boy screamed in agony. He cried, but no one acknowledged him. He saw his own mother watch with nothing but contempt.

"NO! STOP!" Claude begged.

"This is the fruit of your lust! SUFFER IT!"

As he writhed in pain, Claude barely noticed the gypsy girl in the distance. She was watching, horrified. But as soon as Claude met eyes with her, she ran away...

Frollo awoke in a panic, jolting as if to get away from the flames. But he saw that no torch was shoved into his body. There was no fire. Just a large... disfiguring... scar...

That scar... That damned AWFUL scar! He couldn't just wake up and be relieved that it was all a dream. It wasn't just a dream. It was real! He had the scar to prove it!

"No..." Frollo said in denial. "No... No... No!"

"What's wrong?"

Esmeralda. She was awake. Frollo had forgotten she was there since he was so used to sleeping alone.

"Go back to sleep!" Frollo ordered.

He climbed out of bed, grabbed his clothes from the floor, and threw them onto his body in a rush.

"Where are you going?" Esmeralda questioned.

"Away." Frollo answered abruptly.

He didn't care that it was the middle of the night. He wouldn't be able to sleep after such a nightmare, and Esmeralda was the last person he wanted to be around.

"Stay where you are!" The judge commanded. "I will be back."

He marched out of the room, slamming the door.

It was cold, so he had a fire lit, although he knew it would disturb his mind. That was just how things had to be. Better to suffer in front of the fireplace than to remain in bed with that gypsy. Gypsies... Curse them...

Frollo vaguely remembered the gypsy girl he had known as a boy. He couldn't remember her name, or how old he was at the time. It had been so many years, and he'd done his best to block those events out.

But some of it was unforgettable. He remembered how wonderful he'd felt when she'd confessed her love to him, and how miserable he'd felt for years afterwards.

After the burn, the young Claude Frollo spent days in agony. When the initial pain had worn off, it was replaced with horror. His father had succeeded in making him fear hell. And gypsies. He never saw that gypsy girl again. He came to hate her for everything. Giving him that kiss that was punishable with fire, and abandoning him. After saying she loved him... Frollo decided his father was right. Gypsies didn't love, they were just impure beings who tempted you and made you suffer.

Frollo wasn't the same after the burn. The agony made him determined to never know hellfire. Never would he let himself burn again. He did everything possible to overcome that fear, to feel like a righteous man. No matter what it took. He became the most righteous man he could imagine. And if he did sin, he took no responsibility for it. It wasn't his fault. It was always someone else's fault. He could never accept blame, lest he cease to be a righteous man. He would blame anyone, punish anyone. Whatever it took for him to have some peace of mind, to believe that he wouldn't go to hell and be burned once again.

He wouldn't look at a woman. He knew it was possible to have a woman, that it would only require marriage, but he didn't want that. At least, he convinced himself that he didn't want it. The truth was that he was afraid to marry. He didn't want to see the inevitable look of shock and disgust on a woman's face when she saw his scar. He wanted to keep that scar permanently hidden, so he avoided having anything to do with a woman.

Until Esmeralda...

That girl had awoken all of his repressed urges. And given him a reason to fear again. He'd managed to forget about the fire for the most part, but the uncontrollable lust he'd felt for this woman had put him back in the place of the boy whose father stood over him with a torch. He'd managed to deal with it, to find fault in her instead of himself. He'd even found himself giving in to the desire and merely asking God for mercy. But as soon as his lips had touched her, the memories of the last kiss had struck him like lightning...

But it should be gone now. That nightmare shouldn't have happened. Frollo struggled with it as he stared into the fireplace.

"Beata Maria... I have taken her as my wife. I have made our union lawful. So why am I tormented? I am not one of those sinners. I have nothing to fear. Why do I still see fire? Why do I dream of it?"

The crackling in the fireplace made Frollo tremble. Droplets of sweat formed on his face.

"Why?" He repeated.

The burning incident played through his mind again. Terrified tears rolled out of his eyes.

"Why?! Tell me why!"

He dropped to his knees, screaming and grasping his head between his hands.

"Make it stop!" He begged. "PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!"

His breathing was out of control. Frollo was scared in a way that he hadn't been for so many years. It wasn't like him. He was used to feeling secure. He didn't know how to handle such helplessness.

"What is this?!" A feminine voice called.

Frollo looked to the doorway to see a concerned Esmeralda, now wearing a nightgown, witnessing his mental breakdown...

Wow, that was a big chapter to write. Let me know what you think!

More to come!