An Abundance of Stars

Prolouge

Paris, 2015

Running, running away from it all. Through the crowds staring up at the Eiffel.  Through the ticket barriers I went one thing on my mind. My exterior was calm, steely, cool. Not out of place to the human eye, in this besetting world. No one human could, or would, possibly know. That's the thing being Hell bound. You won't ever be saved. So sometimes, that's why you have to save yourself. Or your stuck in the Labyrinth for eternity. I walk into the elevator keeping the door open so that a young mum with a pram and a young girl can come in. The child looked about...six? maybe eight? I'm no good with ages on children. She looks at me tiredly, a crooked smile on her face, mouthed a thank you to me. About twenty-nine. The steel door closed and I felt the lift go upwards, heading up towards the sky and whatever lies ahead. Nearly five minutes later the lift comes to a creaking stop at the very top of the tower. I held the door open so the and the pram could get out without incident.

The little girl looked up at me and bobbed a curtsy. I couldn't help grinning. God they're cute. And then they grow up. Pills and alcohol. Don't we all know? Weren't we all once little shits keeping our parents on the doorstep with a stopwatch when we go to a party once we hit fourteen. Suddenly, i broke away from my thoughts as something cold, small, and wet trickles down the collar of my over coat, sinking to my skin. It had started to snow.

The kid's will start in 3, 2, 1-

"MUMMY! it's snowing! Please take a picture, it'll be Nate and Charlie's first time seeing snow! oh they'll absolutely love it!"

I rest my case.

The mum got her handbag out from underneath the pram, and began rummaging in it. I walked over towards her. She turns around, knowing the unsaid words between us, I oblige and take the camera. She scooped the boys into her arms, somehow managing to put her arm around her daughter With the boys I noticed they had the same looks, but one twins hair was blonde the other's was Jet black. At least she'll have no problem telling hers apart. I once had a friend who had twin girls. Could never tell them apart.

I think her blindness might have contributed to the problem too. She figured out by the time they were twelve. Maria wore a perfume that smelled like cat puss and Anastasia wore one with the essence of baked apples. Badly burnt. I gazed at the family through the digital screen, and smiled. They seem so perfectly normal. I really do hope it stays that way for them. "Croissants," I say making the mum and girl chuckle and the boys squirm around. I took the photo and handed it to the girls out stretched hand, as if to rate my photography ability.

"Do you live here or are you on holiday's?" I ask, ever the politeness will stay. She smiled at me, the snowflakes dotting her dark hair. "Call me Adele. Me and kids are to be moving here next year. We're from Norfolk island. I thought I'd let Annaleise have a look around first, so it isn't such a whack in the face. Though Nate and charlie are too young to care." She stared fondle down at them, who currently were involved in their own little conversation. She gave the twins to Annaleise, while I have her her camera. Handing her brother's back to her mum, she burst out laughing. "MUMMY! didn't you notice? when the man took the picture the sun went from the sun to the moon and flashed back! How cool!"

oh, shit.

They know where I am. They've found me. It's time, I took my compensation of the Labyrinth. I step three steps backwards, and run. I fall, Annaleise's blood curdling screams mixing with her mother's, and Adele's flailing hands failing to catch the back of my overcoat. Long, white, skeletal fingers catch me, his snow white eyes shining. "I knew we would be together," he said. "My parabati." My body hits the ground, people rushing over, none calling ambulances or checking my pulse. I smile down at my body, We are free at last. And at that, my parabati sends two, perfect, white snowflakes down, one each resting my my eyelids.