31 Octobre 2015
Aubrey Parish, Louisiana
Having spent the day exploring the town, Eleni noted the pleasant drizzle was becoming more and more aggressive. She let the wind rage at her, clad only in her lace and silk black summer dress and matching heels, somehow propelling her all the way back to the hotel. She felt like Mary Poppins without an umbrella.
She'd learned a thing or two about Aubrey Parish. She learned waking up to the sound of the perky Alisaundra and Ali's infamously talented alcoholic lover in the room next door was not pleasant at 7 AM. It was not pleasant at 9 AM. By 10 AM, someone had to go, and Eleni was happy to dash out of the hotel. At night, it had the old-world charm of a time that had passed by without aging anything about it. It was even romantic. Like Blanche du Bois standing near her paper lanterns, the daylight tore away the illusion and the building was just a building. It was old, run-down, forgotten like the rest of the town.
The sun had not come out since Eleni had arrived, and she asked a random stranger about the weather. Although it wasn't so far from New Orleans, the placement of the Parish left it cloudy about 335 days of the year. It was also almost tropical, with temperatures and humidity off the charts 9 months of every year. The idea that Eleni had moved into a tropical rainforest wasn't so unappealing. She, and others like her, could walk about in the middle of the day without having to make an excuse to retreat to a dark room until evening.
She'd enjoyed the freedom of running around in the daytime as she never had before, wearing light fabrics and taking her shoes off on the sand. Returning to the hotel, she made a beeline for the parlour. Quietly, she sat at the small antique desk in a way that suggested she was always impeccably put together. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. She'd been thrown for a loop since the moment the limousine pulled up to the gates of the strange city.
It was a day she'd never forget. Pierre had sent himself in a limousine with all the amenities, only to have much of his spacious area for stretching out and drinking while glued to his mobile phone filled with Eleni's belongings. It was a tense ride. Eleni didn't know if she'd be in the small town for three weeks or three months, but she knew he would not be there when she returned. Eleni should have cared, but she didn't. She found even looking at her former lover distasteful.
Approaching Aubrey Parish, they learned it wasn't even on a map, and the closer they got, the more impossible cell service became. The driver stopped to ask directions and buy Eleni something called a Cheerwine. To her disappointment, it was not wine and it was really not that cheerful. They finally saw the "Welcome To Aubrey Parish!" sign, and drove toward the indicated small roads. Finally, a man with dark skin and an indistinguishable drawl of a Creole accent told Pierre he could go no farther in the car and those in uniform came to gather most of Eleni's things.
Shivers ran through Eleni as she recalled the large man speaking to Pierre, one large muscled arm put up like a gate to stop the small Frenchman from proceeding. "Ain't no one comes in the Parish who leaves." White teeth shown from the man's flawless dark skin. "We got that charm on the cityfolk".
There was something ominous in the way the man spoke to Pierre, and they said their goodbyes at the limousine parked at the entrance to the small town. As Eleni leans to hug him, he whispers, "Are you sure you want to do this, Eleonore? You've always been adventurous but New Orleans loves you. It needs you."
Eleni notices he does not say he loves her or needs her, and her dark blue eyes smile sadly. Leaning in equally close, she murmurs softly, "New Orleans shall wait. Half the town believes I killed my husband, the others call me a witch or try to find a way into my bed. To add insult to injury, the man I chose to be my companion loves my daughter. "
She looks at him pointedly. If looks could kill, the poor man wouldn't stand a chance.
"Marguerite is in Paris now. She is a married woman with children. If you destroy her family, you will disappear so completely the world will forget you ever took a breath." Eleni's crimson smile does not fade, and they look like lovers, parting sadly but necessarily. It was a beautiful scene from a 1940's film.
"Marguerite is an immortal, Eleni. They live by different rules. Understandings are commonplace. Of course you know that." Pierre's voice is calm, though his face has turned a few shades whiter at their goodbye. "I am sorry if I hurt you."
Her smile turns up in an amused half-laugh, and her lips move even closer, the crimson-stained lips perilously close to his ear. "One must care to be hurt, cheri. You, I shall forget quickly. My daughter's reputation and family, that is something about which I care. She is immortal, yes, but noble and respectable. Do not forget my words. I have eyes everywhere." With that, she kisses his cheek and runs off in the graceful manner of two lovers being parted. She even stops to wave, miming the action of wiping a tear away. Eleni is an actress, and a very convincing one at that.
As the car pulls away toward the airport, she says in a sweet tone to the man guarding the entrance. "Please, Monsieur. I am here alone. It is--overwhelming." She gestures to the remaining contents of the car, which added to the others, were the contents of an entire room. Sad and wide blue eyes look up from what appear to be tears, and there was no world in which he would refuse Eleni the help she needed. A man clad in a military uniform came over to help with the relocation, not introducing himself but making cheerful banter as if to cheer Eleni up.
Eleni's numerous trunks and furnishings, even a piano, were moved into a spare room in the hotel. Who besides Eleni traveled with a piano? It was,though, an antique and she'd simply emptied a small guestroom from the New Orleans manor to serve as furnishings for her new adventure. Arriving at the hotel, she learned it was over-booked and construction on new housing by the waterfront wouldn't be finished for a week. "Less ya like the swamps n' gaters. We got few of those."
Eleni decided to wait. That was when she was introduced to the old hotel, and the cheerful, doll-like Alisaundra. In addition to Scott and Alisaundra, the third room was rented to a man no one ever saw. When Eleni told Kayla at the front desk that the other occupant was rarely seen and kept odd hours, she was met with a shrug. "We let people keep to their own business here. One of the reasons people keep on coming, miss. It can be a relief to be anonymous."
It was all tolerable until last night, when she met the man in the middle room, the one the love-struck Ali had been mooning and sighing over daily. It seemed Ali had gotten her way and she was happy enough. Eleni knew the man, Scott, as he had claimed. She'd yet to acknowledge the acquaintance, but she knew him at least well enough that neither of them were guaranteed anonymity if the other spoke.
Eleni also knew what he was capable of and to keep a distance. Part of her wanted to warn Alisaundra. Another part wanted to move Scott into the new beach cottage with her, because Eleni hated to be alone for too long. A third, colder part of her just didn't care and wanted distance from both of them.
Fortunately, today was the last day in the room with Alisaundra. She was ready to move, though it was a brilliant full moon, Halloween, and a thunderstorm raged outside. The winds started to pick up as the rain went from pleasant drizzle to drenching torrent Clearly, Eleni was going nowhere tonight.
Pulling out her journal, Eleni dates the page, beginning to write about the day's adventures. If she'd been the average person, she wouldn't have heard and felt the presence in the room and heat it radiated. Turning her head, she sees the good-looking man in military garb that helped her move the other day. He isn't graceful in the way he throws himself on the couch, just big, and in need of some dry clothes.
"Rough day, is it?" She smiles at him, her eyes amused but curious. She'd seen him once again today when she found the local pub and decided to have a drink. Either he did not remember her or she wasn't the most interesting thing around. He'd been engrossed in his phone most of the time, though he'd lazily bought her a drink. There was a difference between chivalrous and interested. It was a pity, Eleni thought. She'd have been intrigued if his response to her was one of interest. As it was, her curiosity was mostly superficial. Eleni liked people who liked to admire Eleni.
The broad-shouldered man was just relaxing in the parlor, flipping through his phone. He didn't seem to be doing anything in particular on it, just fiddling. Perhaps it was a tick, much like people fiddle with a pen or a lighter when they're thinking. He did those things too, neither were handy at the moment. He didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching, but he was drawn out of his reverie when Eleni spoke. A look of confusion crossed his features briefly, and then recognition set in. "Oh, hi. Eleni, right? We met across town." Her smile is returned by a laid-back and confused one. "Rough day? What do you mean?" This time, he gives Eleni a smile bright enough to light up a room and a wink of a green eye.
Eleni inclines her head in greeting, a gesture she gave those she liked and respected. It was a tiny bow of the head, enough to be polite but not to show subservience to anyone. "Eleni, yes. And you are Marius, the carrier of luggage with the old-fashioned name". Her lips curl up teasingly. "Ah, I meant you were sitting here so peacefully. It was like unwinding at the end of the day. I debated whether or not to disturb when I recognised your face". For some unknown reason, Eleni's mind stuttered as if she didn't know what to say. "I am sorry that I mistook you for a servant earlier in the week. I mean, an employee. You were wearing that uniform and are very tall and strong. You should have corrected me so I didn't make such a fool of myself." A lovely peal of laughter escapes Eleni's lips, but it is almost the nervous kind. "It's been hard here. Life is nothing like it is back home and I haven't a friend or anyone to rely upon. I hear that's how it is with most, though."
The man reached up to peel off his glasses, folding them gently in his lap as he looked Eleni over, and then again. It was hard for him not to look. "You're not interrupting much. To tell you the truth, I found myself a bit bored. Used to having something to do, somewhere to be. In the Navy there was always something that needed doing. It's a little disorienting to go from that to this..." He made a small gesture when he said 'this', as if speaking of Aubrey Parish as a whole. "Dear lady, you could not make a fool of yourself if you tried. It was a pleasure to help a damsel in distress for once," he teased. "It also gave me an excuse to find you again today, Miss Eleni. I didn't know you'd return the favor."
This elicits a tilt of the head from Eleni. "Finding me today wasn't some sort of mistake? You didn't seem very interested in a conversation." She chuckles, and murmurs, "In fact, that loud Italian man just about talked my ear off trying to impress me. Sadly, shouting doesn't impress me. I have sensitive hearing and it just hurts my ears."
Eleni had met Dino, a thin and wiry man from Brooklyn. He was a stereotype of every Mafia movie and television show ever created, from the accent to the fact that every fifth word had to be censored. There was a kind of rough charm about him, though not in the way he wanted Eleni to find him interesting. He kept buying her drinks, but his hand also kept moving to rest on her thigh until Chance glared at him.
Chance wasn't just the bartender, he owned the place, a simple dive bar that had been made classier with a few alterations and a gourmet chef. It was called Mudbugs, though Eleni thought that was a terrible name. Chance seemed to live at Mudbugs, although he kept getting offers to buy him out. At nearly seven feet tall and 260 pounds of pure muscle, Chance didn't tell anyone anything twice. Sometimes a look was enough, and one look from Chance kept Dino's hands off of Eleni. Still, it was no thanks to the Marine or Army soldier or--Navy. Marius had said he was with the Navy. "You were too busy with your phone to help rescue the damsel today."
His face looks stunned, as if she'd slapped him. "Miss Eleni, I take you for the kind who can handle her own rescuin'." Marius offers this indignantly. She'd hit a nerve and he lapses into a country accent before recovering. "I also take you for the kind who needs rescuin' more days than not. Still, I apologize if I seemed disinterested. It definitely wasn't an accident, finding you again. Sometimes, life just makes other plans." He taps the screen of his phone. The smile that would win over the coldest person in the Parish had returned and little dimples were like bullets focused on Eleni.
"Disorienting, yes. This place is that. To tell the truth, it's the only reason I haven't taken this uniform off. It's the one thing that still feels..." He trailed off and shrugged. Marius didn't have the right words to describe what he was thinking, and it didn't matter much in the end. "Well, no sense sitting around whining, I suppose. So what about you? I gathered from the conversation there at Chance's you're fairly new in town too? You staying here or just passing through?"
Eleni's blue eyes focus curiously on Marius, and she wanders over to the other couch and takes a seat, her head tilted towards the man compassionately. "Tis funny, I spent my first night in this town sitting in this room as well". The circumstances were different, but she didn't mention that. It was rather rude to admit she slept in the parlour because it was Alisaundra-free. "There is a lot of idle time, I will say that. I suppose it is a place to find peace within yourself. Of course, you shall find a job, and meet friends. Then time will be less idle".
She nods at the comment about the uniform. "The first few days are the hardest, or they have been for me. They feel empty, and lonely, even for those who love adventure." She swings her foot rhythmically, as if a song is in her head. "I had been, yes, but they fortunately found a house for me to call my own. It is small, but shall do. The hotel was quite overcrowded..I was sharing the purple room upstairs with another girl. She shall be happy for her space!" Eleni laughs merrily, but she is a little jolted by the slam of the front door and the resulting creak.
In this town, everything reverberates in something of a creepy way, Eleni thinks. The howling whispers of storms brewing are the least of her concerns.