Dawn Over the Seine

Chapter 8

Eponine slowly sat up as she woke up from her sleep. She was no longer in any sort of pain and she felt somewhat refreshed. Swinging her legs out of the bed, Eponine stood up and stretched herself out. Hearing a few bones up, she began to walk out of the bedroom. Stepping into a plain hallway with two paintings of Paris, Eponine tried to catch any sound other than her own breathing.

Nothing.

Being satisfied with her findings, Eponine ventured to the end of the hallway. The living room appeared and the sight of it made Eponine frown. The room looked barren. There was one couch and one lounge chair. A small coffee table was placed in front of the furniture. In the corner of the room was a bookcase full of hardback books and next to the bookcase was a lamp. The walls were a plain beige color, just like the hallway and bedroom.

The whole place had a strange feel to it. It seemed unlived in. There was no personal touch anywhere. Well, except for the paintings. But they were simple pieces of art of landmarks throughout the city. Nothing special. Just like every other square foot of the flat.

Eponine wandered into the kitchen and looked around. Plain. Boring. But only with food which made it better. Eponine grabbed an apple and began to take a bite when she heard someone clear their throat.

Spinning around, Eponine faced Javert sitting at the small kitchen table watching her. She slowly chewed her bite of apple and swallowed it.

"Hey there Javert," she said.

"Good morning, mademoiselle," Javert replied briskly. The two stood there in awkward silence for a good 10 seconds until Eponine spoke again.

"I told you to call me by my name."

"I chose to ignore the comment."

Eponine scoffed and pulled her phone out of her jean pocket. She had 3 missed calls from Azelma and 1 missed call from Monty. Eponine's heart fluttered as she saw that Marius had texted her 4 times as well. Javert noticed the girl lighten up and frowned. With a wide smile on her face, Eponine put her phone back into her pocket and looked back at the frowning Javert.

"You're always frowning," she commented. "Well, frowning or scowling. But I've never seen you smile or show any sort of good emotion. I can tell by your decorating skills that you don't like happiness. Do you beat puppies or something because they cause joy? Or do you steal candy from infants? You just seem like you hate the world."

"Because I do hate the world. Now since you are obviously feeling better, which I can tell by you being annoying, I think that you should leave." Eponine raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Wow. You're a total dick." As soon as the words left her mouth, Eponine instantly regretted it because Javert was on her in a flash. He pinned her against the wall by her throat. Eponine's hands went up to Javert's as she tried to loosen his grip on her. In response, Javert pulled Eponine away from the wall then pushed her back into it. Eponine let out a cry of pain then clenched her jaws together so that no sounds would come out.

"Do you want to apologize for what you called me?" Javert snarled. Eponine narrowed her eyes at the Inspector. "I guess not." Tightening his hand on Eponine's throat, Javert lowered his face closer to hers. Eponine's eyes grew wide with fear. She had endured worse pain than this from her father, but a police officer, especially the Inspector, she couldn't believe that he would do this to her. She was also scared because it was getting harder to breathe.

Javert noticed the fear in the girl's eyes and realized what he was doing. He quickly released her from his grasp and took a step away. Eponine gasped for breath and leaned against the wall. Timidly, she asked, "Am I allowed to leave?"

Javert slowly nodded and Eponine quickly walked towards the front door. She opened it and looked back at the Inspector. "Thank you for helping me, Inspector." With that, she walked out and slammed the door behind her. Javert sunk into a chair and put his face in his hands.

"What is going to happen to you, Eponine..."