Immortal Beauty (26 page)

“Sasha White. It is imperative that I speak to you.” That was it. No explanation or apology for stalking her.

“Is it? And why would that be?” Sasha tried to keep from raising her voice and tried her best to match the stranger’s calm exterior.

“I will explain myself but not here Could we walk for a bit?” The woman rose and started walking away without bothering to wait for a response. This woman was not only a mystery but she was incredibly rude. Sasha had to follow her because she wanted to get to the bottom of this. She hurried to catch up with the woman in black until she was walking by her side.

“Let’s go down by the river…less people.” She didn’t look at Sasha but straight ahead with the absurd creature perched on her shoulder. She kept silent until they were farther away from the crowded streets and walking along the Seine. Sasha couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Well? What’s this all about? Why have you been following me? I mean, I should call the police.” She wanted to assert herself somehow against this woman.

“Go ahead. Call the police. It won’t make any difference. I can wait. Go ahead.” The woman was infuriating. Sasha simply continued to walk alongside her. Finally the pretty young lady began to speak.

“My name is Claire. I’m not even supposed to be speaking to you. I’m only supposed to be observing you.”

“Observing me? What do you mean? Who asked you to watch me?” A terrible thought rose in her mind. “Celine?”

“Oh Lord no! If Celine knew I was watching you she would have me killed.” The woman said this last statement so casually and even laughed at the idea of it.

“Killed? isn’t that a little extreme. This is my boss we’re talking about.” Suddenly the call to the police didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“It’s not extreme for Celine, but that’s not why I wanted to speak to you. I’m watching you to make sure nothing happens to you. We believe that Celine may try an attempt on your life very soon and we are trying to make sure that this does not happen.” Claire was completely serious when she spoke even though her words were incredulous. She acted as if she were talking about the weather and not the murder of her companion. “The reason I am speaking to you is that I think something has happened to Taylor. Celine took him to her lab in Orleans today and returned alone. We think she may have already killed him.” Sasha couldn’t breathe. Was this really happening? Had she unwittingly found herself in the midst of some beauty world mafia? It was truly all from a bad novel and she wanted it to all go away.

“Who is this ‘We’ you keep referring to? Who are you and for that matter why should I believe anything you say?” Sasha continued to walk by Claire’s side ignoring the accusing stare of the blackbird.

“That is unimportant right now. You are the only one who could possibly get into the lab at Orleans. You might be the only one who can save him. She already knows that we move against her.” Claire stopped walking abruptly and stared out into the river. The bird flew from her shoulder and up into the sky. For the first time Claire looked directly at Sasha and in that moment Sasha was sure they had met before. “I don’t care if you believe me or not but if you love Taylor like I know you do then you will go save him. I am just the messenger.” She started walking off again and Sasha followed at heel.

“Wait! You are going to have to explain yourself! How do you know about me and Taylor? I’m not in love with him either…we just met!” She didn’t know why that was so important to say and felt like she was just found out at school having a crush on some boy.

“Whatever Sasha. You do this every time and frankly it tires me. All of this tires me. I’ve said what I have to say and now you mustn’t follow me.” She pretended to smile and turned to leave.

“Yeah right!” Sasha kept by Claire’s side who looked at her with the piercing light eyes.

“I mean it Sasha go back to work or whatever. I don’t care. I just thought you should know that Taylor is in trouble. I’m sorry I even bothered.” She dismissed Sasha with a wave of her hand.

“I am not letting you get away without explaining yourself. I’m just going to follow you until you give in so you might as well save us both the trouble and tell me what this insanity is all about.” Sasha grabbed Claire’s arm tightly.

“You really don’t want to do that.” It was more of a bored sigh than a threat.

“Oh really? What are you going to do?” Sasha did not respond well to threats. Claire didn’t answer her and the Sasha heard a sound from afar. It was the sound of birds cawing and crying out from the air and all around them. She looked up and saw hundreds of birds flying towards them. They swooped down and circled her and the flock became a frightening force becoming more loud and more dense with each passing second. Sasha screamed and let go of Claire’s arm. The birds were pecking at her hair and disorienting her completely. She waved her arms about madly and continued to scream. Little by little the raucous became less intense and it seemed that the birds were going away. Only a few remained screeching at her as she tried to pull herself together. Claire was nowhere to be seen. Sasha felt the tears come flying down her face as fear and frustration overwhelmed her. She tried to rearrange her outfit to look as if the most insane thing in the world did not just happen to her and smoothed her hair which was all over the place. The tears continued to fall as she started walking back to Celgen even though she knew she couldn’t return to work like this and she pulled out her cell phone to let them know she had taken ill and was going home. Without even thinking she headed for the metro and bought a ticket for the RER train to take her south to Orleans. On the way out into the country Sasha took this opportunity to pull herself together. She started with her appearance in the small bathroom on the train. She pulled her makeup out of her purse an reapplied everything after washing off the old which had run from all the crying she had been doing. She took her brush and forced her untamed hair into submission and secured it into a ponytail. Once satisfied that she looked somewhat normal she returned to her seat by the window and watch the lovely countryside roll by. The train passed quaint little towns with churches made of stone and there was plenty of livestock in the verdant fields south of Paris. It was all so genteel and calm that she suddenly wished for an existence like this. How funny that she found herself dreaming about the rolling hills and farms that she had spent her entire life trying to escape. Maybe she was homesick for the first time since coming to France. It was bound to happen eventually. She never really had the chance to reflect on all the changes that had happened since moving away. There had only been time for work and more work to reach her goals. Now sitting on the fast moving train she had a good hour or so to think about all the things she had pushed to the back of her mind. There had to be some explanation for all the bizarre events that had come crashing into her life. Once she saw Taylor she knew she would feel better. She couldn’t help but feel that she was being played somehow in someone else’s game. The idea that Celine could kill Taylor was just so unreal that Sasha began to discredit Claire as some crazy bird lady from the streets who made a habit out of stalking innocent people. She would definitely go to the police when she got back home. They probably knew all about crazy Claire. Right now though she just wanted to make sure Taylor was alright. She gazed out of the window and tried to quiet her thoughts that were going around and around in circles never arriving at any logical explanation. Speculation would just make her more crazy than she felt already. What she needed right now were some cold hard facts. Hopefully Taylor had found out some new information about Celgen that was keeping him in Orleans. She found herself wishing this to be true and kept pushing Claire’s words out of her head. Only a few more miles and she would get to the bottom of all this.

PASSY

Candles were lit in every possible corner of every room in the grand house. Guests were beginning to arrive in their carriages for the most talked about party of the year. The Countess D’Aumont was not a woman that many people could decline when she sent out invitations written in gold ink announcing a New Year’s party in the Passy estate and there were few who could not attend simply because they had retired south for the winter. Most everyone was curious to see how the new Countess was getting along. She had taken the place of the poor woman who had died with her two daughters only a few years back. Everyone thought that the Count would not recover but then his mistress was the only one who could reach him in his inconsolable grief. He had wanted to die and came to believe that God was punishing him and he would only allow Celine into the dark and musty rooms of the sad house to bring him his broth and his wine and bread when he felt he could eat. Only she could spend hours by his side saying nothing and after a while began to suggest to him that the sun would rise and set with or without him. The world didn’t care. It would still turn the harshest of winters into the gayest of Springs without once glancing to see if he were alright. She told him that death was part of this life and something we all had to accept at one time or another and surely his dearly departed family would want him to continue living in the beautiful home he had built for their happiness. She whispered in his ear an incomprehensible story of how it was she alone who had cheated death. She had found a way out of the horrible cycle of suffering in which he was ensnared. For the first time since the death of his beloved girls the count took an interest in something. At first he thought she must be mad but then little by little in the dark and cold stone rooms he began to believe the story. It explained how it was possible that he found her sealed into the hillside for century upon century. She told him of the deception of her own people and how it was her own father who had sealed her into the hill. Her punishment was the result of the invaders from another land who stole the sacred water right beneath her menacing gaze. It was her mission to follow them through time to make them pay for what they had done to her and her people. The theft had happened on her watch when she was high priestess of the waters of Locium. She told him the tale of a goddess who fell in love with an angel and they made love in the air and the weight of this new emotion sent them plummeting towards the earth but they did not care. They were so hypnotized by their passion that they never even noticed that the moment the goddess’ foot touched the ground they transformed into a spring which flows forever as a testament to their love and also as a warning to the gods to beware such human emotions such as love. The spring was hidden under a hill by the water nymphs because they knew what this water would do to the mere mortals who lived there. It was too powerful and too sacred. None must sip from the waters under threat of eternal punishment. For centuries before Celine was born it was her people and her family that guarded the waters. It was hers to protect and hers to partake and now the thieves must be alive somewhere very near for she knew the addictive qualities of the water. They would return to the source of this she was certain. She divined a new purpose for her and her husband and the purpose gave him enough strength to rouse himself from his depression. Part of his isolation stemmed from the fear that God would strike him down next and first wanted him to suffer by losing his family first. Now Celine was telling him he need not fear death anymore. Her gods were stronger than his. She kissed him and told him he could live forever by her side with the water flowing right underneath their feet. She needed his help to extract the revenge she had planned for centuries. She could feel their presence even as she whispered her diatribe in his ear. She knew the time was coming and she could not do it alone. All the while she fed him the water from the spring far below which gave him back the strength that had gone rushing from his limbs in that horrific moment when he found out about his family. The water was sharpening his senses and giving him an optimism that had been missing for so long. It was Celine who convinced him to marry her and to carry on with life as a man of position and power. It was Celine who told him what to do with all his money that he thought nothing of and within a year she had doubled his already immense fortune, and it was Celine who persuaded him to throw the most sophisticated party of the year to show everyone that he was back in his stride and that people should no longer feel sorry for the “poor Count D’Aumont.”

The guests continued to arrive even though the weather was ghastly. They came from Paris and from Versailles and from the neighboring villages from houses as large and splendid as their own. Many came to meet the new wife for the first time as it was whispered in many circles just how beautiful his distant cousin was and how charming and what a blessing she was to the grieving man. Of course they al knew that she had been his mistress but they chose to ignore this piece of information and welcomed her into the civilized society as the Countess D’Aumont. The servants were kept busy tending to the horses that continued to pull up to the unassuming façade and almost every guest failed to suppress the wonder and surprise at finding themselves at the top of the most magnificent marble staircase leading down to the great gallery already brimming with people. The house never looked more beautiful and Celine knew it. She wanted to impress the society in which she was becoming a bit of a local legend. She had to live up to that legend and even surpass it. She felt the familiar hunger for power and prestige and worship wash over her again as she fastened the pin of emeralds into her coiffure. She wanted to wait until everyone had arrived before making a proper entrance. She had her maid convey to her who had arrived and marked a list at her vanity table each time a name was revealed. Only a handful were left and it was possible they might not make the event due to the winter storm that was already gaining in intensity. The snow falling outside her windows only gave her more strength as if she gathered energy from the display of power that only nature could provide. She looked into her reflection and was taken back at how truly stunning she was. She wore a gown of red velvet accented with white and green ribbons. In her hair were ribbons of emerald color woven into the upswept locks that took hours to put into place. She wore only emeralds as her jewelry tonight knowing how the light and color showed off the creaminess of her skin and the scarlet color of her mane. She was never more beautiful that she was right now and she wanted to remember this moment forever. She smiled at the notion that she truly would remember this moment until the end of time. Her husband had knocked at her door three times already to urge her to greet her guests and each time he was sent away with the promise that she was only a few minutes away from being ready. Her mirror image looked proudly back at her. She had every reason to be proud as she had in such a short time conquered this new age with all its strangeness and frightening progress. The morals of this time confused her as they went against her own upbringing which regarded sexual relations as natural and part of worship. These people were prudes which was a word that had no existence to her until recently and how she had learned it all so quickly. She remembered with a slight giggle how shocked Marcel had been at her wanton advances and her unreserved manner in which she regarded her own body. He had never met a woman like her who was in control of her sexuality and knew exactly how to utilize it. She behaved like a common woman of the streets at times but this only fueled the passion he already felt for her and then in a flash she could become as regal as a queen and an upstanding member of high society. She was a mystery to him and lately he was beginning to see what a paradox she truly was. Celine finally roused herself and gathered a light shawl to wrap around her shoulders. She told her maid to fetch her husband and stood before the mirror looking in vain to find any flaws in her form.