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Chapter Eleven – Thunder

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Harken to the booming thunder as it rumbles across the heavens,

much as the thudding heart of a lover pounds wildly within its breast.

"A Fool's Book of Wisdom"

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Erik leapt from his seat and knelt before her. He roughly took each of her upper arms in his hands and pushed her back down into her seat. She struggled against him for a moment, but Erik refused to release her from his grip. Her eyes met his and he inwardly gasped at the depth of fury contained within the twin chocolate pools. Still, he managed to maintain his calm and hold onto the young woman.

"Monsieur, if you do not release me, I shall be forced to scream …."

And, that was it. That was when Erik could stand it no more. His tenuous claim to control over his body slipped from him. He leaned forward, pressed his lips to hers and claimed her mouth with a passionate kiss.

◊ ○ ◊ ○ ◊

Christine stared sullenly out of the train compartment's window.

"How can this be happening? One moment, I am in a state of sheer bliss and the next, I awaken to find myself feeling utterly embarrassed by knowing that Helen witnessed Erik and I in a compromising situation. I cannot believe that Helen saw us. I cannot believe she saw the passion that Erik and I shared. Yet, she says nothing about it now. How did she find her way into our dream? And, as if Helen seeing us were not bad enough, now, Erik chooses to ignore me. He pretends that nothing happened between us. How could he? How can he? What is wrong with him? Or, is there something wrong with me? Am I the one with the problem? Did I misinterpret the look in his eyes? Did I alone feel the overwhelming power of the sensations caused by the touch of our skin upon skin? Perhaps, I allowed my loneliness to trick me into believing he feels something for me other than lust. He is, after all, just a man and I have seen what men do when given the opportunity. I was so certain that he had feelings for me, but there he is. Just look at him! Look at the way he sits there! He looks so cocky, so pleased with himself that I just want to scream at him! I want to sink my nails into his eyes and tear the gloating expression from them. I want to slap that smirk from his lips. Argh! Men! They are so insufferable! And yet, I wish that Helen did not interrupt us. I wonder … I wish …."

She wanted to release her frustration and confusion by screaming, but knew that she could not, so she silently sat there and fumed. She sat and stared unseeingly at the rapidly passing countryside, as her disappointment fermented into annoyance, which swiftly matured into outright fury, which she directed solely upon Erik.

"He is such an arrogant prick! I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!"

Further and further, her mind spiraled into an inferno of rage against the man. She became so lost in her endless loop of fuming that she failed to hear Helen's words. Nor did she notice the words, which issued from her lips in response. The old woman's departure did not make a dent in her awareness, but the man's sudden movement and subsequent touch upon her arm, did. The slight pressure of his hand upon her instantly stilled her roiling emotions and she focused upon him with a clarity she found almost frightening.

"Now he wishes to talk? Well, Erik, it is too little, too late! The time for talking is past. I have nothing to say to you anymore. In fact, I do not need to be here! I am a grown woman now. I make my own decisions, not you. Why am I still here anyway? I am not beholden to you, I am leaving!"

She allowed her fiery gaze to run briefly over the man and she moved to stand. The world swirled before her as her mind overloaded on the sensations of the moment. She felt his hands take hold of her upper arms and thrust her back into her seat. She winced as her head snapped backward and cracked against the wood paneling of the compartment's wall. The pain caused a bright flash of light, which temporarily blinded her. However, the warm press of his hands upon her arms aroused her shocked mind and prompted her to struggle against his commanding hands. Realizing the futility of her actions, she ceased her struggles and allowed his hands to restrain her. The fire of her anger surged and burned so hot through her that it seemed cold. She struggled to breathe, but the heavy, frozen weight, which pressed upon her chest made it almost impossible. A small part of Christine's mind listened in horror as her mouth moved and the words she expelled fell like blocks of ice from her lips.

"Monsieur, if you do not release me, I shall be forced to scream …."

"No! No! No! It is not supposed to be this way! Oh, Erik! Why do you torture me so? Why can you not remember me?"

And, then just as the cold began seeping into the last bit of Christine's mind, Erik's mouth crashed down upon hers sending a firestorm of desire throughout her body. As the heat spread, it burned away the heaviness from her heart and she unknowingly lifted her hand to cup his unmasked cheek. As his searing kisses ravaged her mouth, the young man's passion claimed her as his own and she surrendered to her yearning to live forever in the sweetness of this moment.

"Oh, Erik! Yes! Yes! My God! You do remember! Yes! You do!"

As those last thoughts burst from her mind, her body and soul took over to revel in the sensations burning through her. The young woman succumbed to her overwhelming need to discover more about what she could touch with her hands and with her lips. And, as she pushed aside caution, surrendering herself to the passion, thunder rumbled in the distance unnoticed by the man and woman. However, someone leaning against a wall nearby did notice it. The body lurched upright at the sound and froze. Then, with a shocked gasp, began to run.

"Oh! Fuck! No!"

◊ ○ ◊ ○ ◊

Helen unseeingly made her way down the length of the train cars. Passing from one car to the next, not noticing anything around her. Her mind focused on the task she must soon undertake. She bumped into a metal rail, which blocked her path and blinked. She stood looking at the receding train tracks and countryside.

"Hmmm …. I am fortunate for the railing or I might have walked right off the train. Well, I had best return to see if Erik and Christine are reconciled. I would not want things to get out of hand. No, that would not do at all. Not that I do not trust Erik, but …."

She chuckled and turned to walk back through the train. After moving through several cars, Helen paused in the middle of a gently rocking corridor. She rested her aching body, leaning against the wall for support. A groan almost escaped her lips and her hand began to massage the valley between her breasts.

"Aw, hell! The gods do task me. After all my years of service and all that I sacrificed, for them almost to allow the legacy to die with me is quite disturbing and confuses me greatly. For me to finally find the girl and then know that my sands have almost made their last pass through the hourglass is … well, disheartening at best, but I must make the most of the time I have."

She sighed deeply.

"I suppose I should be grateful that the enchantment worked. Now, if I could only be certain of how much time I have and whether it will suffice."

The rumbling sound of distant thunder interrupted her reverie and she bolted upright from the wall.

"Oh! Fuck! No!"

Steeling her resolve, she forced her legs to her will and ran to the compartment. The hairs on the backs of her arms and on the top of her head tingled and lifted with static electricity with each step she took closer to the young woman. Again, Helen heard the crack of thunder, but this time it sounded much closer.

"Oh, shit!"

Winded, she paused before the sliding door. Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession as her breath wheezed in and out of her lungs. She leaned forward slightly and rested her hands on her thighs to calm herself. After a moment, her breathing slowed, she straightened and raised her hand to knock upon the door. Thunder boomed all around her, but other than lifting her eyes heavenward, the old woman seemed to pay no heed to the sound, but she winced inwardly. Her hand fell and rapped sharply against the door. She smirked at the panic she heard in the muffled voices, which emanated through the wood panel and waited. After several moments, Erik slid open the door.

"Yes, Madame? Is there something you require?"

Helen cast an appraising look over the man before her. She took note of the fact that he stood blocking her view of Christine and that his normally pallid complexion appeared almost rosy. Helen bit her bottom lip.

"Erik, I thought that perhaps it best if I returned to the compartment. It would not do for someone to notice the two of you alone in here. It is, after all, quite inappropriate for Christine to sit with you unchaperoned. I must apologize to you, Christine. It has been many years since I worried about my reputation, so I only just realized my mistake in leaving you here with Erik. Of course," Helen glared at Erik as she spoke, "Erik would never do anything that might sully your reputation. But, I thought it best not to run the risk. One never knows who may see what and then say something to whomever."

"Well, I believe you know my opinion on society and its priggish propriety, but I do not wish to cause Christine any undue distress, so I bow to your more level head, Madame."

He stepped aside and swept his arm across his body to wave her into the compartment.

"After you, Madame."

He cocked his head to one side, raised his one eyebrow and with his lips pressed tightly together, his mouth stretched into a heart-stopping grin.

Helen shook her head at him and rolled her eyes.

"The way you act today causes me to reconsider my opinion of you and makes me wonder how and where you learned such provocative behavior. If you had not lived with me for the last eleven years, I would seriously believe you a scoundrel and womanizer of the worst sort. Erik, do you fully understand how much a rogue you appear when you do things like that? You are fortunate that I know you so well or I would not have left Christine alone with you just now."

She gave him a playful smack on his arm as she passed. As she began to reclaim her seat in the middle of the bench, a flushed Christine cleared her throat.

"Um … Madame? Do you think that you might … well, I mean, would it be acceptable … oh! Helen, I would like Erik to sit next to me. If that is acceptable to you. We were in the midst of a discussion and, well, I just thought having him sit next to me would make talking with him easier."

The young woman's voice stumbled to a halt and her flushed face burned a brilliant scarlet.

"Oh, no, Christine. I do not mind at all. Erik? Please continue with your … um … conversation. I believe I shall take a short nap. This has been a rather exhausting day and it is not even Noon yet. Please wake me when we arrive in Paris."

She slowly sank onto the bench and nestled her backside into the corner of the compartment. Her gaze ran over her companions and she watched as they quietly spoke. The folds of flesh, which lined her face deepened into a gentle smile as she watched Erik, oblivious of his actions, enfold Christine's hand within his.

"Well, it seems that whatever Erik did to apologize, Christine accepted it and forgave him. Everything is proceeding better than I anticipated, almost too well! Damn it, but that was a close thing. Too close! It would most likely be a prudent course of action on my part to keep a sharp eye on those two. Ah, young love! So beautiful, so strong and so completely out of control. I need to tell Erik why it is so very important to take a care for her maidenhead. He would not want Christine to end up like me! Oh, no! He would not care for that at all, of that, I am certain. After all these years that I spent searching for the girl, one would think that I would have planned what I need to say to her, but I have no idea how to broach all I need to say. There is so much to tell and for a girl raised with no experience of things, which lie beyond the natural world, I have no idea where I should start. Damn! I truly am feeling every one of my years today."

"Sleep calls to you, crone. Remember your folly and save the girl from one of her own."

The bracelet sparkled and burned with a rapidly fading scarlet light. Helen surrendered to the pull of Hypnos and slept soundly. Unfortunately for the old woman, Morpheus touched her sleeping form and pushed her peaceful sleep into a dream that led her into a nightmare.

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Chapter Twelve – Choices

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History is a series of colorful events scrawled by men into the dust.

Life soars, daring us to rise above the earth and the choices we make.

"A Fool's Book of Wisdom"

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Helen's choked breath heaved from her lungs, almost giving a voice to the complete revulsion she felt. Her mind reeled in shocked horror as she struggled against the hands that roamed, groped, pinched, poked and clutched over the ripe, young curves of her body. Her young, strong yet, small hands grappled against the much larger and stronger ones that attempted to pin her to the hard, dusty ground. She knew the battle in which she currently found herself engaged was already lost, but still, she could not … no, would not admit defeat. Although she fiercely struggled against the brute who wished to claim her virtue, she felt a part of her mind slip away. It seemed to hover above her and watched as the wretched young woman writhed beneath the swarthy man in her pathetic attempt to free herself from him. That small part of her looked with detached interest at the small motes of dust raised by her pounding fists and kicking legs in the dark corner of the carnival tent. She heard the raucous sound of many voices raised in merry conversation on the other side of the canvas.

"So close … so close! And yet, none would hear me if I screamed. No one would take note, thinking me just another girl frightened by one of the poor unfortunates on display in the sideshow. Goddess, why? Oh, why? Why is this the way I shall lose my innocence? Oh, Mother Goddess, your hapless babe needs your protection. Please? Help me survive this!"

And, the floating essence of the girl watched as tears began to stream from the pair of rich sapphire-hued eyes of the body to which she knew she belonged. The part of her that soared free of her physical form wanted to pull the abused girl into her arms and console her. But, all she could do was hover above her and watch the horror unfold.

Suddenly, Helen found the separate parts of her mind reunited as a huge fist slammed into the side of her jaw. She reeled, seeing flashes of light sparkle about her and a tempting darkness beckoned to her, but she steadfastly refused to submit to the temptation to yield, to surrender. A crude, raspy voice snapped her consciousness back into the present.

"Lay still, girlie! If ye do no … well, I will find it necessary to give ye another one of me little love taps and then, ye will no trouble me no more. I really do prefer me fucks to be living and kicking when I plow 'em, but I will takes it as I can gets it. If ye knows what I mean."

He leered down into her face, a string of drool dripped from the corner of his mouth to land on her chin. She shuddered in disgust and turned her face away from him. His lust-glazed eyes roamed over her beautiful, but bruised face and he sneered. Another disgusting rivulet of saliva oozed from between his lips as he took in the long, wavy coal black hair, which splayed about her head like a dark halo. The deep, hypnotic, sapphire blue of her eyes and the unearthly translucence of her skin lent a sharp contrast to her ebony mane. The man ran his thick tongue over his chops as he took in the sight of her full, pouting lips, which were blood red and swollen from his mouth's crude demands on them. The sight of the woman struggling beneath him pleased him immensely and he ground the proof of his pleasure into her belly.

"If ye did no wish for ole John Thomas to be taking ye, ye should have stayed at home. Now, spread yer legs, bitch! Do it! Or, do ye wish for me to be giving ye another little pat on the cheek?"

Helen whimpered at the thought of the man taking her unconscious body. His calloused hands grabbed her slender shoulders, his talon-like fingertips digging into her soft flesh. He lifted her slightly from the ground and gave her body one violent shake, which whipped her head forward and back.

"Well, cunt? Yeah or nae?" He growled dangerously.

She squeezed closed her eyes and shook her head.

"No! I cannot allow his seed to take hold in my womb. I must remain awake. I need to fight him in the way of my family. I must begin the incantation, so I may protect my womb; prevent a child coming of this unholy act. If only my family's gift granted me the power to place a hex upon his loins, I would, but …."

As she ceased her struggles, relaxed her body and surrendered to the gypsy's lewd demands, she heard the sound of his arrogant laughter slowly fading from her consciousness. Helen drew an invisible veil between her mind and body. She silently droned the words of the enchantment within her mind that she never thought to use as she felt him claw and tear away at her clothes. She called upon the Mother Goddess and prayed for her torment to end.

As the man took her body, she felt the presence of the Goddess carefully take hold in her mind. The touch was comfortably warm, dark and safe. It whisked Helen's spirit to a place far from where her violated body lie wracked in pain. Her soul rejoiced in the darkness and with invisible fingers, greedily gathered the gloom about her, until her essence lie profoundly within its depths. Alone in the darkness of her soul, her fury burst free and she conceived the plan, which would wreak her vengeance upon the man. She turned her back on the comfort of the Mother Goddess and began to set free the bindings of her power.

"Girl, the thing you set free was meant to heal, not to kill."

The voice echoed through Helen's mind, but she paid it no heed for her anger completely consumed her. She called down the fire from the heavens. Amidst an explosion of light and sound, Helen heard the man's scream and felt his body jerk spastically then grow still. She heaved the now dead man away from her abused body and cried. It was at that moment that Helen felt the first stone blocks of a great wall begin to drop around her heart.

"Girl, you made your choice. It is now time to pay the piper. Come with me!"

◊ ○ ◊ ○ ◊

"No!"

The wrinkled, old woman screamed and bolted upright, her hands raised protectively before her chest. Her eyes darted about the small compartment, searching for … something. With a sigh, her gaze fell to her wrist and she sadly stroked one of the crystal beads with her thumb. After a moment, she looked up to find two sets of eyes staring at her. Christine's eyes full of worry and confusion. Erik's hooded orbs full of his sadness and love.

Helen in an attempt to lighten the tense atmosphere joked.

"Why are you two staring at me? Oh, please! Do not tell me that I have suddenly grown a second head?"