Hopes of Paris

Chapter VII: Stone

Loud sounds of ambulance sirens passed by Jacquie, Aiden, Pierre, Evangeline and Evanka in Avenue Kléber as they walked back to Jardins du Trocadéro. However, nothing was heard once that ambulance faded away. All of them walked slowly with their heads held towards the sidewalk they were on, looking extremely miserable and desperate. Evanka walked between Jacquie and her sister, while Pierre and Aiden walked infront of the girls. Sall's little cousin spoke out, still in some sort of a state of denial to something Jacquie had just said. Her half lidded blue eyes started rising, and she looked aside towards Jacquie as they walked.

"So you're saying that the girl kept coming there everyday?" Asked Evanka, gazing towards the female besides her.

"That's what the owner of the bookstore told me," Jacquie replied, her eyes still locked down below. "I went inside again and asked him who that girl is, and he said she kept coming there at very consistent times."

"Did you ask when her appearances started?" Evangeline asked, entering the two's conversation. "Perhaps we can link that to something, and make sense out of it."

"Yeah, he doesn't remember exactly when she started coming," Jacquie kicked a little roll of paper on the ground to the side. "However he did mention that she's been coming for more than a week in a row."

"He's too old, I bet he wouldn't remember everything with detail." Aiden added, speaking without turning to look back at the girls.

"Did he try talking to her, at least?" Evanka asked another question.

"He has to no avail," replied Jacquie. "Whenever he'd talk to her, she wouldn't reply and would keep staring at the book."

Aiden noticed how silent Pierre was, so he nudged him with words. "Pierre," he lowered his voice so that the others wouldn't feel like something is wrong. "Are you okay?"

Pierre did not respond and he was spacing out. His eyes looked dead and he had nothing expressing on his face.

Aiden tilted his head and furrowed an eyebrow in confusion. "Pierre? Pierre...? Pierre!"

In Pierre's head, Aiden's voice was echoing but fading out. All of a sudden, his voice faded in so quickly and Pierre's eyes widened. He found himself in the gardens again, sitting between Sam and Sall on the fountain's edge. Pierre looked around him as if he had just woken up from an eternal slumber. Everyone else were looking at him as if they were surprised to see him that way. Sam started with checking up on him, leaning closer to stare him in the eyes.

"Pierre... What's wrong?" He asked, tilting his head as he waited for an answer.

It took Pierre a few seconds of staring into Sam's eyes before he suddenly started to laugh. "Wha- I'm fine! Nothing is wrong with me!" As he spoke, he waved his hands and smiled with his eyes to the others.

"I haven't seen you like that in such a long time. You're not okay," Aiden interfered as he sat on the ground. "What were you thinking of?"

The expressions on Pierre's face returned to those of emptiness. His eyes lidded and his head was held towards the ground again in silence.

"Pierre," Sall spoke out with his monotoned, cold voice as his eyes were closed and looking down below. "Forgive me. I know I had promised you not to mention this incident infront of anyone, but I have to for my story to go on."

"I know, and that's fine," Pierre nodded, looking towards Sall's closed lids. "I think I understand where your story is going and why you're telling it to us."

Sall opened his eyes slowly. He felt sincerity in Pierre's words and that he truly understands what's being told.

"But Sall," Pierre frowned slightly. "Was that story truly the start of your fall?"