"𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍" | 𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄́𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒

𝟎𝟏

I looked at the street where the broken barricade once stood. I remember, dead bodies were scattered around the street. Some of my friends, some of the soldiers. Now they were all equal.

So many people died here and I could have died too. However, I do not seek to remember the fateful nights of the 5th and 6th June 1832. I prefer to remember the days, that was filled with laughter and chatting. It all started in May 1830 when I was just 15 years old.

***

"Eponine! I am home." No reply. Maybe she's following Marius around again. "Gav?" Still no reply. I went to get a cloth for my face. I was beaten up by some rich men. I winced at the coldness. "Clara, I'm home.", my sister Eponine yelled. "Bonjour ma sœur." "Clara, your face. The rich again?", she asked. I nodded.

"What did they do this time?" "They pulled me into a dark alleyway and beat me up.", I said. "You need to more careful. I can't lose you.", she said. She held me tight in her arms.

Eponine has saved us, Gavroche and I. We were stuck with our parents. They abandoned Gavroche as a baby but little Eponine saved him from leaving the inn. He grew up in a little room of the inn. Eponine and I thought him everything we knew. Gavroche was now 9 years old and he was like a normal child. And we were very proud of him.

My big sister saved me from being sold. Azelma and Cosette were sold to strangers. As much as I know, Cosette is living her best life. Azelma is studying in England. We got letters from Alzema. None of us could read, but Marius Pontmercy could. And he read the letters for us.

We were living a normal life. Well, we didn't live a perfect life. We were short on bread all the time, sometimes we wouldn't eat for days and give Gavroche our last piece of bread. It's all we have. But we will get through this, hopefully.

I was daydreaming when I felt someone tapping my shoulder. "Oh bonjour, Marius. Excuse me, I was daydreaming again." "About what were you dreaming this time?" "Life. A normal life. Without worries, with no pain, with freedom.", I dreamed. "Sounds wonderful." "It was until you tapped my shoulder."

He laughed. "Your face is full of bruises. What happened?" "The usual. The rich men beat her up, once again. They will never leave us alone, will they?", Eponine interrupted. "Should I get you a doctor?" "Marius, I am fine, thank you.", I said.

"If you ever need a doctor, just tell me. My friends are doctors." "We know, we know. You're really fascinated by those boys." "They are nice. Eponine, they want France to change." "You believe that?", I asked.

"Yes, I do. Unlike you, I'm not skeptical about this.", Marius defended, "you guys should come to a meeting." "No thank you.", I said. "Come on Clara, it can't be fun being beaten up every day." "What makes you think that I think that's fun? My body aches and face stings whenever I touch it.", I said harshly, getting up.

"I'm sorry Clara, I didn't mean it that way." "I hope so." "You should join our meetings tonight." "Alright, we will join your meeting tonight. But what about Gavroche?" "Oh, he's there already." Eponine spit out the food that she had. "What!? My little brother is at your meeting? Did you know about this Clara?"

"Don't look at me, he's the one who told you that!" "Good, when does it start?" "It has already started.", Marius replied dryly. "Why are you still sitting here then?", Eponine asked. "Because I enjoy your company." "Let's go to the meeting of yours."

***

We walked 10 minutes in the dark until we stood in front of an old building. It looked like it was going to collapse any minute. "Let's get inside." "Marius, you're late!", a guy yelled from the window on the second floor.

We rushed into the building which was called Café Musain. We walked up the stairs to a door. Behind the door, we could hear men chatting. I wasn't aware of what was about to happen.

(a/n: welcome to my first chaper of "marble man". I hope y'all liked the chapter. Leave a comment down below and tell me what you think about the chapter❤︎)