Authors: Thomas McDermott
“Good evening Ellen. I must say I think this country air is agreeing with you. You look radiant.” Unused to compliments Ellen blushed and coughed nervously.
“Oh gosh thank you Miss D’Aumont…I mean Celine. Honestly I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to calling you that.” She looked down at her empty plate feeling incredibly plain next to the beautiful and worldly woman at the head of the table.
“Oh nonsense. It’s about time anyway. You’ve been irreplaceable to me for some time now. I hope you know how important you are to me.” Celine poured water from the long slender ewer on her right. Ellen helped herself to the water situated near her trying to imitate Celine’s polished movements. “ I hope that you don’t find this too tedious being kept out here in the country. Perhaps I can arrange for some day trips to keep you occupied. I hear there is some fabulous antiquing in town. You can take my company car and buy some new things for the office.” She said this casually and flippantly as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. She acted like they were old friends having dinner together and Ellen wished that it were all true. But instead she was here hiding out in the country from some unknown enemy. She wished she knew more about her abductors.
“Did the police ever find this Marcus?” She asked hopefully while a few drops of the delicious water spilled on her chin clumsily.
“Oh don’t worry about Marcus. He’s about to get his come uppance.” Celine lifted a gold bell from the table and rang it sharply. In a few moments Sophie came in the room with a young local girl to help her fill the table with food. There were silver platters of cold meats and cheeses and covered dishes that sent off mountains of steam as the lids were removed. The smell of chicken and fish and roast beef filled the air casuing Ellen’s mouth to water. She was really hungry now and reminded herself to wait until Celine began eating before she started in on her own dinner. Sophie and the young girl served them and Ellen was happy to see Celine accept so much food on her own plate. At least she wouldn’t look like a pig now. She glanced at Cceline at wondered how she kept her incredible figure and still eat all these rich foods. Of course she probably lived at the gym when she wasn’t at work like so many women did these days. Ellen just never felt comfortable sweating in front of strangers. She was just too shy. She waited until Celine lifted the fork to her mouth before she began to eat. The chicken was slathered in a heavy cream sauce that was too delicious for words. She broke a chunk of the baguette and took a healthy bite. For a moment she forgot all of her troubles and worries. For a little while she lost herself in the feast that lay before her and had no qualms about heaping her plate a second time as they ate in silence. She noticed suddenly that Celine had stopped eating and was staring at her intensely. She put down her silverfork and swallowed a mouthful of water. Celine was smiling at her.
“I’m sorry I’m making a beast of myself. I just can’t help it. I’ve been so hungry lately and the food here is always so amazing. I’ll probably return to Paris twenty pounds heavier than when I left.” She held back the sudden urge to belch.
“Oh Ellen don’t be silly. I would be insulted if you didn’t enjoy Sophie’s cooking. She’s absolutely the best I’ve ever met and I’ve met some of the very best!” Celine was radiant and cheerful. “That’s why I keep her out here away from the city so that someone else won’t steal her away from me. I’m glad you have a healthy apetite. It makes me happy. You are too skinny anyway and I never say that unless I mean it!” She raised her glass in a toast across the long table overflowing with plates. “You see to me a good apetite is the sign of good health and it let’s me know you are not completely mad at me for keeping you prisoner here for so long. I was afraid you might go on a hunger strike but I can see now I have nothing to worry about!” They both laughed and Ellen swam in the illusion that she was rich and fabulous like Celine and that they really were friends.
“Yes, about that Celine.” Ellen’s voice was quiet and characteristically shy again. “ I was wondering if you knew how much longer I will be here. I am thinking that there is so much work for me to catch up on. Please don’t think me ungrateful. It isn’t that at all.” She was blushing and embarrassed. She had said far too much and she watched in fear as the smile disappeared from her boss’ lips.
“Oh Ellen! Of course I could have some work for you to do.! I’m so sorry. I was thinking of this as a little vacation for you. How thoughtless of me. If it’s work you want I have plenty of things that need to be done around here. I will have it ready for you in the morning. Forgive me for being so presumptuous.” She smiled pertly not like before as if something were now bothering her.
“Oh Miss D’Aumont that would be wonderful. I mean Celine.” She giggled nervously.
“Good. But don’t get too comfortable because in a few days Marcus will be in custody and the streets of Paris will be safe again for my little sparrow.” Celine’s voice was strained and rehearsed now and Ellen trembled a little without knowing why.
“Oh how wonderful! That is the best news Celine!” They toasted again to Ellen’s safety.
“You’ll never have to feel afraid again. Now go on. Finish your meal. There’s a lavender crème Brule for desert. I’m afraid Sophie’s outdone herself tonight.” Celine continued to stare at Ellen as if she had instantly gone from old friend to lab rat but Ellen didn’t notice. She was beaming now. She now had something to do to make the days go by and she would be free to get back to her life in a few days. Now it would be easier to pretend she was on a little vacation that there was an end in sight. Things were beginning to take a turn for the better and she gulped down the remaining food knowing that is wasn’t going to be like this for too much longer. Celine had spoiled her and it might be hard to get used to her little meals eaten alone night after night in her tiny kitchen. She had gotten used to all of this splendor too quickly and too easily and she had no idea how she was going to come off of the pedestal without falling on her way down.
After dinner Celine excused herself to go check on the lab. Ellen wandered around the great room that had windows leading to the back. It was so peaceful and quiet here and one of the servants had made a beautiful fire in the stone hearth. She lay back on one of the overstuffed chairs and watched the flames dancing all about. Her slacks were very tight and she decided to unhook the top button for a little breathing room. God she was getting fat! She noticed a bulge protruding from her mid section. She swore it wasn’t there this morning. She was horrified to think that she had gotten so fat in such a little time. She noticed that her stomach was hard as well and not at all the flab she was expecting. If she didn’t know better she would have sworn she was pregnant but she knew that was impossible. She sighed and decided to think about it all later. She was too full and too tired to give the matter any further thought. She watched the dancing flames until they took on shapes and characters much as clouds do when wafting across the sky. The characters became more vivid and lifelike and she could hear voices and imageine stories about the characters until she drifted off effortlessly into sleep.
In the laboratory Celine was conferring with one of the technicians. They were looking at a computer screen with numbers and letters all in neat little rows. She also had some papers laid out on the desk in front of her and was studying them very seriously. Without looking up she asked the man in the white coat.
“What is the acceleration rate?” Her voice was low and monotone. There was no sign of the amusing and charming woman who had just dined upstairs with the mouse.
“At this point it becomes exponential! We can expect completion within a couple of days.” His French was stiff and formal.
“A few days? This is incredible! It is far better than I imagined.” There was a long pause as she shuffled through some of the papers noisily. “Can she survive such acceleration?”
“Normally I would say no, but since she has been drinking the tonic her body had begun to change. Her healing rate is almost as fast as yours now.” The scientist had come to life now forgetting his grammar. “It is going to be very unpleasant but I am fairly certain she will survive.”
“How interesting. I never expected this. And both samples are still viable?” She turned to the man and looked at him for the first time. He was short with graying temples. He reminded her of the invaders of so long ago. It made sense as it turned out he was from Rome.
“Alive and kicking both of them. Well, they should be kicking by tomorrow.” He smiled at her. She threw back her head and laughed with him. She punched a few keys on the computer and watched as a simulation of cellular growth begin to enlarge and take shape. In a moment it became very much like a fetus and a few moments more it took on the look of a child but it was no ordinary child at all. The hands looked more like paws with distinct claws projecting out and the face was long and lean much like that of a panther and at the rear unmistakably was a little tail.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” She murmered with a sense of awe. “Poor Ellen…she had no idea that she is about to become the mother of gods.” Celine clicked off the screen and turned to the technician who was giving her the strangest look. “I want her sedated from this point on. There’s no sense in her suffering any more than she has to. I’ll have her brought down to the lab in a few hours.” The man in the lab coat nodded silently. “Oh, and you had better restrain her. The tonic had most assuredly made her stronger than she looks. I don’t want any unpleasant surprises. Do we understand each other?” She glared down at him and he could feel the heat coming from her. He was used to it by now.
“Completely.” The man gathered up the papers and watched in quiet horror as the beautiful president of Celgen took her leave.
HOME
When Sasha woke up she yawned and smiled as if remembering a pleasant dream. She opened her eyes and before her mind had a chance to analyze anything she was overwhelmed by the beauty of the room. It was a room from Versailles at the time of the Sun King. A woman’s bedroom without a doubt and for the tiniest of moments she began to ponder if somehow she had been catapulted through time like a heroine of some novel who falls in love with a Duke who later turns out to be a great uncle of hers. She knew this could not be. There was a rational explanation but she just didn’t know what it was yet. She reached back into her mind. She was on the stairs and she was looking down into the garden of her dreams and now here she was but where was here? It hit her suddenly without warning. She was in the house! The house that she had visited almost nightly in her dreams. The moment she had been dreaming about was now a reality and here lie the seeds of horror. How could she possibly be in a place her slumbering mind had created? She had never been to Paris until she moved here but somehow she knew that all along her ambition had led her to just this place. She didn’t believe in reincarnation yet she could not discount it in the face of this new thing. She didn’t know what to believe. Her eyes roamed to the tall elongated windows overlooking trerraces that led down into an enormous garden. What the hell was happening to her? She got out of the opulent bed adorned with endless silk pillows and brocade blankets of turquioise and gold. The attention to detail was that of an artist. It was a school girl’s dream and now she would fall in love with the dark haired stranger who had rescued her. The stranger! She must have fainted and the man had brought her to this house. But why? Suddenly it all mattered very little. She knew that something was going on and she knew that she would get to the bottom of it. She looked up to the gilded vanity with tall gracefull swans on either side of the egg shaped mirror. Her reflection startled her. Her chestnut hair was down and fairly curly in the humid Spring morning of Paris. The windows were open and she glimpsed the tall trees with their speckled trunks and leaves dancing on the breeze, She turned back to the vanity. There was a vase filled with black Dahlias. They were uniquely beautiful. Everything in the room was beautiful and she suddenly felt dizzy. Too much stimulus was threatening her logical mind. The very softness of the room lulled her soothingly inviting her back to the bed all in white and gold painted wood. There were swans carved in the headboard and she saw her clothes hanging over the chaise lounge that faced the window. She did not know what she would have done next as the sound of gentle knocking distracted her from the trance that was engulfing her..
“Yes?” She barely managed hearing the fear in her own voice as her heart pounded furiously and she felt the heat rush to her face from the adrenaline rush.
“Bonjour!” A pleasant young woman’s voice sounded through the door. “Desirez un café ou une tasse de the?”
“Oui. Je prends un café merci.” She rushed to the door and opened it to see a lovely young French woman dressed sharply in black and white like a very modern and chic maid. She rolled in a little cart with a silver coffee set on top. There were also plates filled with croissants and fruits and cheeses. This was ridiculous! Was someone playing a joke on her? She was in the middle of a bad novel and she didn’t know her lines. She decided to play tough.
“Where am I?” She did not smile. She did not speak French. The young woman smiled and said softly.
“You are in the house of Marcus D’Allessandro on the Rue Raynouard in Passy. He wishes to speak to you now that you are awake.” She poured the dark fluid into one of the pretty cups. “Sugar? Cream?” Sasha nodded absently as if she had lived with a maid her whole life.
“What the hell happened?” Her anger was rising to the top now and she couldn’t hold it back.
“Oh Miss, you fainted on the streets and Mr. D’Alessandro and his driver brought you back here where his doctor was waiting.” She handed the cup to Sasha. It smelled fantastic like only true French coffee could. It was so hard to keep focused in this beautiful place. She had the feeling the longer she remained the more difficult it would be to leave.
“His doctor?” She really was living in a novel!