Authors: Thomas McDermott
There was music playing above the voices of the guests as the Count and Countess D’Aumont descended the pink marble stairs. They walked slowly arm in arm and were whispering little things in each others’ ears. At first no one saw them on the landing in the gallery and then little by little the voices were hushed as a ripple of wonder spread through the gathering. The host and hostess smiled benevolently at everyone and slowly the sound of applause filled the room. The music took a turn into something light and gay and the beautiful couple began to greet each of their guests properly walking from group to group with bows and curtsies and kisses on the cheek. Many of the men were staring blatantly at this fascinating creature wishing quietly that their own wives could pull off something like the countess. She was obviously wealthy and self possessed yet there was something so sensual about her that the men found themselves thinking thoughts they had no right to be thinking. The party got underway and there was much food in silver dishes and an abundance of wine and claret and brandy. As the hour of midnight approached the noise from the party reached a new peak as excitement at the prospect of a new year was at hand. Celine behaved beautifully and none could have guessed that she was not truly born of French royalty because every gesture and every word spoke only of the most refined training and her accent was as perfect as her deportment. In that evening Celine was envied by more than half of the women present and hated by the remaining half. She was well aware of this little fact and counted it as a personal victory. Her place was secured now. They would talk of this party for months to come and about how gracious and kind the new countess was. Celine counted this night as a victory and wished that it would last and last but like all things time was ticking madly away and around two in the morning the party was still going on and many of the guests who were staying for a few days had stayed up dancing and playing cards and gossiping the night away. Celine wandered from group to group and chatted politely with everyone she encountered acting as if they were the most fascinating of all people and begged them to tell her more of their lives and adventures. All this information she locked away inside her bright mind like little jewels. The more she knew about these people the more power she would be able to glean for her and her husband. She was listening intently to the most oppressive of bores, a fat countess with a title who complained endlessly about her health. Suddenly Celine could no longer hear the monotonous ramblings about the woman’s digestion because she was startled by the presence of someone who was staring at her. It was someone outside in the snow looking into the windows directly at her. At first she thought it must be a stable boy who was lured by the lights and the music but dismissed the thought when she got a good look at his clothing. He was apparently someone of social standing with his long black cloak and even in the dark she thought she could see diamonds shining on his fingers. He was a man of small stature standing all alone in the drifting snow. She thought he was a guest who had drank too much and was confused but then something about him began to haunt her. There was something familiar about him and in a heartbeat she knew who he was. He was one of the invaders who had stolen the water from her all those years ago. He had come looking for the spring which was now well hidden far beneath the large house and he was staring at her coldly and accusingly and most definitely with a look of disbelief. Celine excused herself from the tirade of the old woman and walked quickly to the stairs where her husband was talking excitedly about business with a few other of his wealthy friends.
“Please excuse us gentlemen.” She said in her most feminine and seductive of voices. “I need to borrow my husband for just one moment, I promise to return him to you unharmed.” She laughed and grabbed Marcel’s arm and led him away from the ears of the partygoers. She whispered to him as quietly as possible about the man on the terrace. Marcel looked shocked and his eyes flew to the windows to see the man Celine was talking about. There was no one outside. Celine just clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Oh don’t worry my love. He’ll be back and I bet you he doesn’t come alone.”
“What do we do?” Marcel sounded frightened.
“Oh I will tell you what we are going to do my love. We will lay the most intricate of mouse traps because after all it is we who have the cheese.” She kissed him unexpectedly. “Don’t you worry about a thing. You take care of the guests and begin to make excuses for me that I am simply too tired to continue on anymore and had to retire but don’t interrupt their fun. Tell everyone I will see them in the morning over a hot and sumptuous breakfast which our cooks are preparing even as we speak.” She smiled at him reassuringly “Don’t worry darling. We have what he wants and that is to our advantage. He won’t risk anything with so many people around and this time he doesn’t have an army.” An angry dark look clouded her eyes and for a second Marcel was afraid of her. She turned and walked up the stairs quickly leaving the party without a single glance backwards. Marcel watched the figure of his wife ascend the stairway with a look of awe and timid fear. It was easy to forget who she really was at times and tonight had been one of those evenings where he had almost forgotten everything except that he had a beautiful wife and that most of his peers were envious of him. The illusion of normalcy had come to him this evening and he had reveled in it. Seeing the mad look of vengeance on her face reminded Marcel that there was nothing normal about Celine. There were times when he looked at her as if she were some demon or monster from an old legend and when she caught him looking at her thus, she would kiss and coddle him and smooth away his fears with the pleasures of the flesh at which she was very skilled. She made it to her room unseen and ran to her windows. Out in the park she could barely make out the footsteps leading from the terrace out into the lovely grounds. They were disappearing quickly but from the looks of the white dusty trail it seemed as if the interloper had made his way down to the stables. How could it be that none of her vast army of servants had seen him? For a moment she considered going after him but abandoned the idea. He would return. He must know by now that the house stood on top of the ancient sight of the pool of Locium. To get to the waters he would have to get through her and she would make that very easy for him. She sat down wearily on her bed and began to remove her silk shoes. She would have to get rid of her guests before she could deal with him. Most of them would be gone in a few days and since she had waited now for her revenge for countless centuries she knew that a couple of days would mean nothing in the vast expanse of time, besides it would give her time to devise a plan worthy of the men who stole her life from her. Mere death was not good enough for them. She would make them suffer horribly first and relish each moment of pain she would be able to inflict before ridding herself of the threat to her life and her claim to the waters. Once again she found herself the guardian of the sacred pool and never more than now was her destiny more clear to her. She rang for her maid to help her undress and as the woman removed the yards of material that Celine found ridiculous yet pleasing to look at she began to think of just how she was going to get the men who had stolen what was hers. She was excited at the prospect of creating a plan that was both clever and cruel. For so long now she had been nothing but civilized and proper and was all that everyone had expected from a woman of her position. For the first time in a long time she was going to be herself again. She would be powerful and primitive and eternal and as she sat there she began to feel the energy rise dangerously from her body and her maid stopped in the middle of unlacing the ribbons that held her in and looked around the room as if she sensed something was wrong. Celine regained control of herself and the woman returned to the task at hand as if nothing unusual had occurred. Celine would have to be more careful. She came perilously close to revealing just how powerful she was and in front of her chamber maid of all people. She belonged to the most superstitious and frightened group of all these outlandish people who called her ancient land their home. She didn’t want to have to kill another servant and she really liked this one though for the life of her she could not remember her name. No, there would be enough killing soon. She breathed in and out slowly and deeply to calm the boiling rage that was coming up to the surface of her mad soul.
ORLEANS
Sasha got off the train at the quaint brick station in Orleans and had no trouble finding a taxi as there were several waiting in line as the passengers disembarked. Her driver was an old French man who had a passion for collecting the wild mushrooms that abounded in the heavy forests of Orleans. He went on and on telling her how many different types could be found in the woods surrounding the town and how amazing and delicate each species was to him. In a way she envied the old man and his passion for something so simple and solid and once again she wondered why she was beginning to yearn for a life that was bourgeoisie when all her life she dreamed of the polar opposite. This dichotomy of thoughts was interrupted when she realized that they had arrived at Celgen. She paid the man and then asked for him to wait as she was totally aware that she had no plan of action. All she knew was that she had to see Taylor and make sure that he was alright. The driver had no problem waiting and pulled out a book about the different varieties of wild mushrooms and began to read. Sasha got out of the taxi and blinked in the midday sun. The lab was an enormous chateau with round turrets and even sported a moat. There were white swans swimming in the water and she thought she could hear the bleating of sheep in the background. It was definitely an unusual location for a laboratory. She gathered her courage and rang the doorbell not quite knowing what she was going to say. After a few minutes a middle aged rotund woman answered the door and looked Sasha up and down as if she were a street beggar.
“Excuse me. I work for Celine D’Aumont and I’ve come on some urgent business. It’s imperative that I speak to her.” The woman continued to stare but began to nod up and down as if she understood.
“Miss D’Aumont in not here.” She finally said in a low heavy accent. “She left for Paris this morning. You missed her by a couple of hours. I’m sorry you wasted your time.” She smiled as if she were not sorry at all.
“Well then, is Taylor Hamilton still here? The American journalist? I need to see him as well.” Sasha was surprised at how shaky her voice sounded. The old woman glared at her and looked around to see if anyone were near.
“No. I’m afraid he left with her.” She began to close the door and Sasha put out her hand to stop her.
“I know for a fact that he did not return with her. Please just let me speak to him for a minute. He wanted me to come see him. You’ll see.” Her feisty Irish nature began to assert itself and she was not going to let this round French guard dog keep her from Taylor.
“If you knew Celine had returned to Paris then why are you here?” The woman sniffed mightily. “I thought it was imperative that you speak to her.” The woman was clearly mocking her now.
“Please I just need to speak to Mr. Hamilton for a moment. This is company business and I don’t think Miss D’Aumont would appreciate you getting in the way of official business.” Sasha groaned inwardly. She couldn’t lie well to begin with and under pressure it was only worse. She wouldn’t believe her if she heard herself right now.
“I’m sorry. I told you that neither Miss D’Aumont nor Mr. Hamilton are here. Please excuse me but this lab is off limits to anyone without a pass and I assume you don’t have one. Good day!” With that the woman slammed the door in Sasha’s face. She stood there for a few moments trying to come up with an idea to gain entrance. She couldn’t think of any. She decided to walk around the grounds to see if she could get a glimpse inside. So far she hadn’t noticed any guards or other employees outside and figured it was worth a shot. She walked down the driveway pretending to leave and asked the cab driver to drive down the road a short distance and let her out again. Once more she asked him to wait and pressed some money into his hands. He seemed more than happy to oblige and went back to his reading on the amazing mushrooms.
“You know some of the most delicious mushrooms I’ve ever gathered were right in those woods over there.” He pointed his dirty grubby finger towards the forest. Sasha feigned interest long enough not to insult him and walked back down the road towards the chateau.
Taylor woke from a frantic dream. Images and voices continued to drum inside his head as he opened his eyes and tried to make sense of everything. He was in a large comfortable bed covered with a gray down comforter. The sunlight was streaming in the windows and the room had the distinctive French Provincial look to it. There was too much lace and too many conflicting patterns of endless varieties of wild flowers. He knew instantly he was still at the lab. He had some kind of seizure and passed out. That’s about all he remembered. Celine must have placed him here after he had become unconscious. The first ting he realized upon waking was that his horrible thirst which had haunted him from the beginning of this trip was completely gone. In fact he felt exceptionally well for having suffered some kind of attack. His head began to clear and the dreams faded away into the invading light. He jumped out of bed and went to the door only to find it locked.
‘What the Hell?” He tried the handle again with no success. Why had she locked him in here? Where was she? Why hadn’t she taken him to a hospital? These were all questions that had no answers. He started to panic and thought that this would get him nowhere. He took a deep breath and walked over to the windows. Looking outside into the fields that spread far behind the house he blinked in disbelief when he saw a figure walking stealthily through the lavender. It was Sasha! What was she doing here? He pounded on the window for an eternity until she finally looked up. She looked as surprised as he felt and she made a motion for him to come down. He wanted to shout to her but thought better of it. The window was large enough to go through if only it would open. He grabbed a wooden chair painted in white with white fabric drowning in lilacs and with all the strength he could muster he smashed the chair into the glass shattering the window into a million pieces. Quickly he took off his shoes and removed the remaining glass around the edges so as not to cut himself. He listened for the sound of footsteps and hearing nothing he began to climb out the window. He was on the second floor and suddenly realized he had not thought this through. There was the narrowest of ledges running along the bottom of the casement and he realized that this would have to do. Sasha came running up to the house the minute the window was destroyed.