Twisted Ever After

by Celeste Thrower

  But once again, our eye contact froze every muscle in my body, and my ability to form coherent thoughts started to become cloudy. Lucien’s eyes drew me in once more, and I studied every spot in his beautiful brown eyes. I wanted more time to look at him, to look into his eyes, I couldn’t leave, yet.

  “Please stay,” he said even though my legs lowered me back into my seat before the words had left his lips. “I promise to tell you all I know regarding our parents tangled history.”

  “Please do,” I whisper, breathy and low. This man completely entranced me.

  “You’re right, my father and your mother were betrothed, and she ran away with your father. My father didn’t take the loss well. He truly loved your mother. He consulted a family of witches; they’ve been close with our family for generations. You never know when you are going to need a potion or two.” He laughed casually at his admittance of magic existing in our world. “There was a curse placed on your mother, one you suffered for and suffer still… as the curse is now bound to you.”

  “How…” I squeak.

  “My father told me before he died. Told me you would eventually seek us out.” Lucien dropped his voice into a growl. “Told me to make sure you would be mine.”

  I gasped at his words. “What?” I could no longer form complete sentences. My thoughts were jumbled and uncoordinated. What has happened to me? I touched my forehead, and the room started to spin around me. My body went numb before my vision turned black. The last thing that registered before complete darkness was Lucien growling, “and now I have.”

  I woke with a bright light shining into my eyes, my lids heavy, and my head pounding. If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn I was out all night at a rager. I tried to move my limbs, summoning my inner strength to move the weight of the light blanket off me.

  Where am I? The room I saw was utterly unfamiliar to me. Panic seized me as I tried to recall the events before I fell asleep. Slowly things came back. My parents, the curse, trying to find DuPont. But none of it helped in figuring out where I was.

  I timidly stand off the bed, testing my weight on my legs, pleading with the Gods they would hold. Once I was confident I could walk, I made my way to the door and peeked into the hallway.

  Seeing the coast was clear, I tiptoed out of the room, doing my best to not draw attention to myself. I had to find a way to get out of this place and get back to my life. Get back to Adam. My heart yearned for him, our bond keeping me going. I wanted nothing more than to feel his strong arms wrap around me once again, like a fortress where no one could hurt me.

  I walked down a long hallway that seemed to have no end. It ended, however, at the most beautiful library I had ever seen.

  The steps greeted me like an old friend, worn and familiar. The air thick with the scent of old musty books, a perfume that calmed my frayed nerves. I made my way to the bookcases and ran my fingers along the ancient tomes as if I could learn their knowledge through the touch of my hand. Many classics ran under my fingertips as I walked past the bookcase. Finally, a title caught my eye. Gone with the Wind had always been one of my favorites. I pulled the book from the case and opened the front cover admiring the mint condition.

  “That’s a good one.” A voice behind me whispered, nearly scaring me to death. Lucien stood there, once again, dress impeccably with minimal effort.

  “I… well… um…” Once again, my usually calm demeanor seemed to fly out the window anytime Lucien was near. Something about him unsettled me, deep down to my core — something I couldn’t put my finger on.

  “Please, sit.”

  Lucien pulled my arm gently as he led me to the loveseat in front of the fire. We both sat down, our closeness made me uncomfortable. I tried to scoot away, to get him away from my personal space, but I was already at the end of the loveseat with nowhere to go. No matter how attractive he was or how distracted he made me, I had Adam and I loved Adam with every fiber of my being.

  As if reading my thoughts, Lucien said, “Ah, my dear Belle. You must have a special someone. You are too beautiful to not have someone close to your heart. It’s too bad; they won’t have you anymore.”

  I looked at him confused, even though he was right and I was with Adam, I was still very much alone. Both parents gone and no family to speak of; it didn’t get much more isolated than that.

  “Belle, tu m’appartiens maintenant.”

  Then with no warning, Lucien pressed his lips against mine. NO! I tried to lift my arms to push him away, but somehow without my knowledge, he had grabbed my wrists and held me firmly in place.

  Abruptly, all my fighting spirit slipped out of me. Kissing Lucien was what I was supposed to be doing. He was my… NO, NO, NO! I mentally shook myself, trying to fight off whatever on-slaughter was happening inside my brain. Whatever it was, it was trying to erase every part of me. But once again, my efforts were futile. I could not fight the comfort of being in Lucien’s arms or the pull of my eyelids. It was too much to resist. I didn’t have near enough energy.

  A couple of hours later, I woke once more, but the panic I had experienced earlier was gone. What was it that had me so worried? I laughed. I was exactly where I was meant to be — lying in front of the fire in Lucien’s library with my favorite book. I smiled to myself, could my life be any better? Lucien and I couldn’t be more perfect for each other.

  Sudden sharp pain in my temple made me wince. A vision of a castle with talking furniture interrupts my thoughts. And a man, someone who I once held very dear to my heart.

  It irritated me. I couldn’t seem to nail down the memory; it hovered there, outside of my reach. Like having an itch you can’t scratch. I set my book down and search the one person whom I craved.

  I found Lucien in his study, and I instantly felt my tension melt away. He smiled at me as I approached him. “Ah, mon amour. How was your nap?”

  I crawled into his lap and snuggled against him. I inhaled deeply, greeted with the familiar scent of clean pine. Wait, that isn’t right. I stopped and inhaled again. Lucien smelled of Peppermint and a hint of cologne.

  Once again, I am a victim of shooting pain in my temple and the image of a man with reddish-brown hair and beautiful light brown eyes. I pressed my palm to my head, and Lucien’s eyes narrow.

  “Bad headache?” he said with what sounded like little concern.

  “Yea, probably slept wrong on the sofa again.”

  Lucien’s gaze darkened as if he was privy to why I was having weird visions and headaches. I laughed nervously to break the tension that was quickly filling the room.

  Lucien pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Why don’t you go lie down again, mon amour. You look like you could fall over.”

  “I’m okay,” I protested.

  But as soon as I looked into Lucien’s eyes, I felt my resolve waiver. I wasn’t tired, not even a little, but I couldn’t understand why something that I had little interest in moments ago now sounded like such a great idea.

  I nodded my head wordlessly. Yes, going to lay down was perfect.

  A few more days seemed to have passed, at least that’s what Lucien said. I spent all of my time reading in front of the fire and sleeping at weird times. I was continually fighting the visions, dreams, headaches, and a gut feeling I forgot something. I couldn’t remember my life before coming to stay with Lucien. He saved me from the loneliness that would have crippled me, or at least that’s what he said. We didn’t discuss it too much because I feel shooting pains in my head whenever I tried to remember things.

  I was comfortable with my life here. I enjoyed every aspect of daily life. The book nerd in me couldn’t be happier. I’ve always loved books… It’s just… if only that nagging feeling would go away.

  One night I had the strangest dream. It had been so real. The man who haunted my visions came to me in my bedroom. Concern had traced his face, confusion too, he couldn’t seem to figure out why I couldn’t remember him. I had tried to talk, but you know how dreams go. I could
n’t answer his questions or ask any of my own. The man in my dreams fascinated me, but I couldn’t fixate on him too much, or the pain would set in. I asked Lucien about him once, and he just looked deep into my eyes and told me to forget about it, so I did. For a while.

  But I couldn’t completely forget. It felt like he was the answer to all my questions. He knew what I could not remember.

  Every time I would get closer to remembering, the pains in my head would start, and I’d fall asleep again.

  Just. like. now.

  A few days later, I awoke much more energetic than I could remember feeling in days. Lucien had been busy working, doing whatever it is Comtes do. Or maybe he had an actual job that didn’t involve his title. Hmm, I should ask him, we are to be married one-day… Wait, am I marrying Lucien? Lucien DuPont?” There was someone else… I knew there was someone else. So why was I marrying Lucien? My head started to throb, and I sighed from frustration. This whole situation was getting ridiculous.

  I wanted to see Lucien. It wasn’t hard to figure out where he would be; he was always in his study.

  Two male voices drifted into the hallway from the cracked door to Lucien’s study. One was Lucien’s, of course, but the other man’s voice sent delicious shivers down my spine. His voice was oddly familiar, and yet I couldn’t place him. I went to the door and leaned in, trying to catch their conversation.

  “What did you do to her? She isn’t herself!” the man said.

  I heard Lucien laugh.“She is where she is destined to be, the effects of the potion will wear off once she truly falls in love with me. When her precious mama died, and the curse passed to her, Belle’s fate was sealed. She was meant to be mine!”

  “You won’t win; Belle and I are the ones meant to be together. We’ve already survived our first trial, and this won’t be any different.”

  “But if she bears you a child, she dies. She is safer with me.”

  “You don’t even love her.”

  Lucien didn’t speak next, and I couldn’t see his face, but everything they had said… a curse? That man? My head was spinning. What is going on? Why don’t I have any idea what is going on?

  “True love will always win,” the strange man spoke once again, and my heart soared from my chest at his words. He was the one. The one I dreamt about, the one I longed to be with.

  I heard shuffling as the man came toward the door to leave. I sprinted around the corridor, peaking around to glimpse his face, and sure enough, I recognized his profile.

  THAT was my man… so… what the hell am I doing here with Lucien?

  After making excuse after excuse to stay in my room and not see Lucien, I paced around my room. I stayed in my room until I was confident he was asleep. Lucien was on a schedule. At precisely 10:30, he went into his den to have a drink and a cigar. Then right before 11, he went upstairs to his room for bed. And he didn’t come down until 6 am.

  The longer I was away from Lucien, the clearer my head became. My head didn’t throb near as much, and I felt like I had the energy of a six-year-old waking up on Christmas morning.

  There were a couple of things I had come to terms within these last few hours. I was cursed. Not only was I cursed to die after I gave birth to a child. If it was not a DuPont child, the curse would pass down to the child and then their child after. Per Stirpes for curses. Also, I had been drugged, DuPont drugged me with some potion. The concoction in question somehow made me forget my life, made me compliant for anything he said. I hadn’t quite figured how he kept triggering it, but I would sure ask once I confronted him. I mean, he’s broken at least fifty laws. Kidnapping for one, slipping something into my drink. I am sure there is more.

  I watched as the seconds ticked by on the clock as it rested on my nightstand. 10:59 pm… I waited until 11:10 pm for good measure. I slipped out of my room. My bare feet made no sound on the carpet. Again, going to the only place Lucien occupied regularly, his study. Thankfully, no doors in his house squeaked. No one would know I had slipped into his study and closed the door quietly.

  I made my way through the room in the dark, trying to avoid any obstacles. I knew there is a lamp on his desk, and I made my way to it first. I clicked the lamp on and scream, convinced my heart would never beat normal again.

  Lucien’s narrow gaze met mine as he sat in his chair, unmoving, a glass of amber liquid in his hand.

  I was so busted, so freaking busted.

  “Jeez Lucian, I didn’t know you were in here. You scared the crap out of me!” I said trying to sound as innocent as possible.

  He didn’t seem to be falling for it; actually, he seemed pissed off. Or, judging from the way his lids hung low and the flush on his cheeks, I’d say he was drunk. The empty bottle of Johnny Walker on his desk confirmed it, making the situation much worse.

  Lucien was a calculating and calm man, but even the best of them lost their cool when there was alcohol involved.

  He still said nothing, staring at me with bloodshot eyes. I fidgeted under his gaze, unsure of what do to. My whole plan went out the window as soon as I ran into him, so getting back to my room seemed like the smartest thing to do.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to bed.”

  Lucien grabbed my wrist painfully before I can get away.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he spits out through gritted teeth. “I didn’t say you could leave.”

  He stood and pulled my arm, and by extension, pulling me into him.

  “Ow!” I say with a growl of my own. “That hurt.” I tried to push away from him, but his grip was hard as steel.

  “What are you doing here, Belle?”

  “I… was not doing anything. I lost my way. I’m on the way to the library. To get another book.”

  “I don’t believe you,” he said matter-of-factly. “Try again.”

  “I am telling the truth!”

  But Lucien didn’t let me finish my sentence. He pressed his lips against mine, once again uninvited. Lucien runs his tongue along my lip, wanting to deepen his kiss. I try to push him away, but I couldn’t break from the cage he created around me.

  It was as if my fighting had encouraged him. He moved us towards the loveseat in his office near the fire. As the back of my knees hit the edge, I fell like a sack of bricks - ungraceful and more frightened than I had ever been before.

  “Why are you doing this?” I cried as he stands above me like the predator he is.

  “It’s meant to be Belle. You have always belonged to me and me to you. I’ve been watching you, you know. I knew you would seek me, especially after I heard word that your idiotic father had died. I was confident you’d find your mirror and traces of our parent’s past.”

  “So when I came… you already knew everything.”

  He leered at me, leaning and resting his hand next to my head on the top of the loveseat.

  “Oui, I did. I know the answers you’ve been searching for. Know that my father loved your mother so much he died inside when she left him. Know the hate that spilled into his marriage with my mother, the marriage he resented. He loathed me, the spawn of a woman he never loved and constant representation of a life he would never have. I didn’t find out about the curse until I was sixteen, and other families in our aristocratic circle began to plan marriages. My father refused proposal after proposal, saying I was destined for another. Then at eighteen, I was told about you, learned your name, and where you lived. I sought you out, out of curiosity. Only to be pleasantly surprised to see such beauty, full of life, and wonder. Something I seemed to lack in my own life. I made a pact with myself. You would be mine and no one else’s.

  I also knew of your boyfriend, the special bond you two had. But a special bond is no match for a curse. A curse that will kill you if you don’t follow through, if you don’t marry me and carry MY child.

  As soon as you walked into my mansion, your life was mine. It was so easy to slip you the potion at our lunch, a potion especially made for you to make yo
u fall in love with me. All I had to do was look into your eyes, and you hung on every word I said. You were entirely under my spell.”

  It was information overload. I was utterly speechless at Lucien’s confessions. His obsession with me and the curse that bound our lives together.

  Lucien’s eyes grew full and intense. It turned my earlier fear to ice in my chest. Adrenaline and panic were coursing through my veins, making my arms and legs tingle in anticipation and sheer terror.

  Lucien was becoming more and more unstable. I needed to find a way out.

  He leaned in, wanting to kiss me again. He grabbed the back of my head and pulled me to meet him, but my eyes were looking past him and around him.

  I almost laughed aloud as I saw the perfect weapon, something completely cliché and overdone in movies, the fire poker. With his hands on my head and neck, he wasn’t restraining my body. I also wasn’t intoxicated like he was, so while his movements were sluggish and slow, I was able to move with speed and agility. He had his legs on either side of mine, and before our lips touched, I had the perfect opportunity. I bucked off the loveseat and slid down between his legs. His momentum going forward, he fell into the loveseat while I scrambled to my feet. I grabbed the poker and held it like a knight with a sword ready for battle.

  Lucien righted himself, back on his feet in no time, which meant he wasn’t as drunk as I thought. Think, think…

  “Belle, come here, darling.”

  “No.”

  Lucien stepped toward me, and I stepped back. Again, and again.

  Lucien grinned, amused with our game of cat and mouse.

  “Come on, mon amour. I will get you eventually.”

  Once again, I felt a rush of adrenaline. I eyed the door to the study, my ticket to freedom. I needed to get around the desk and open the door.