Their eyes met, and that was all Éponine was able to register before a little shred of survival instinct crept into her and she began to retreat. Her actions did not go unnoticed, however, and the tall young man at the gate had already begun to climb the wall before she even stepped a yard away.
"Don't move."
She looked up to the voice that had come from high above her, the words snaking around her as soon as they left the speaker's lips. My God...
His tone was far from raspy, though it had little touches and though his voice was intimidating, his looks were far from it. Legs swung around the wall with eyes still drawn to her own, the stranger's feet touching the floor with a flawlessness that left Éponine in awe. Upon inspection, she could tell that he was fairly older than herself, though the comfort of seeing someone her own age could not shake the fleeting feeling of fear that had crept into her skin. A thousand questions arose in her head that she so wished to say, though her confidence had leaked and she found herself bereft of a voice once again.
Enjolras had been scaling the wall when he had first seen the trace of a shadow, a figure hugging her arms from the cold behind a tree, but watching all the same. When he was taking part in such thievery as this, to be spotted would lose them the promise of money and gain them a weighty sentence in prison, so getting caught was not an option. However, as he neared closer and shouted his command, whomever it was' face came into view and he stopped, feet firmly hitting the ground with his realisation. Enjolras' eyes caught the dark ones of the bourgeois, and in an instant, crimes were forgotten. He had committed uncountable felonies in his years of living and dealt with many an upper-class Parisian, yet whenever theft had been made, the victim had been either unaware of it, or gifted with a blow to the head so as not to remember. Therefore, coming face to face with someone the men around the corner waiting, and himself, were about to steal from, was something the curly haired young man did not expect to find. Her face expressed the epitome of fright, and her skin had turned so icy that it was comparable to a first falling of snow.
"I'll scream!" Éponine warned, surprised at the new found bravery and it's timely appearance in such a situation as this. With her words, she turned around and chanced a sighting at the grand house, regretting the notion in an instant when felt the presence of a strong arm drawn across her neck.
"I'll cut your throat."
Any confidence that had been present in her manner now left immediately, dwindling until it's existence was entirely unheard of. Before she could scream or even react to such a threat, a hand had clamped itself over her mouth, leaving her with no option whatsoever to save her sorry self. Her parents were fast asleep, and the maids' building was but a mile away from the maison itself. And then, a glimmer of a miracle came into existence.
"Enjolras!"
For a moment, Enjolras' grip ceased, leaving Éponine the ability to turn around so that she was facing his chest with her own, her eyes scrutinising his in a bid to inflict the slightest bit of intimidation on the thief. The men were beginning to get impatient after sending the eighteen year-old to the front of the wall, their muffled voices becoming more prominent as time ticked by. He had but mere seconds to scan her face and the fright it projected, yet it was enough to leave go of the porcelain neck his arm had taken residence on. Éponine's eyes bore into his, and she felt an ounce of gratitude despite the loathing and abhorrence that had nestled in her feelings.
"There's a watchman!" The stranger shouted, his hands pushing the girl with such force that it left her clinging to the tree. She hid behind it with the only will she had left whilst her eyes followed the young man as he scaled the wall again, fear present on his expression as he fled from sight.
~
Éponine had returned to her bed with muddy feet and a nightgown soiled with soil. Her dark hair was wild with a gale that had picked up upon her returning, and her feelings had sent her into a panicking state. Stupid, stupid girl! What were you even thinking?!
It took her almost two hours to get to sleep, all the worry and apprehension creeping up on her whenever her eyelids began to grow heavy. She had lived the nightmare she had woken from, so falling back to sleep again with fear of another bad dream was now unheard of now she had been the very source of a threat sent her way by a thief only mere years older than herself. He had, however, freed her without granting her the promise of a cut throat, and it was that that had Éponine intently thinking for the duration of those two hours. It was protection, and surely there were more men waiting for him at the other side of the wall. No one was stopping them from doing God knows what to her and stealing from the only home she had ever lived in. Why would he let you go?
Questions reeled in the young woman's head, though they grew faint as seconds turned into minutes and her eyes closed at long last, the group of men's retreating, fervent footsteps unheard by her ears.
