I can sense the activity in the apartment before I even open the door. Henry practically opens it for me, beckoning me inside with a nod of his head. I walk in, Uncle following me slowly. The steps were hard on him, but he insisted on coming in with me.
“Where’s Mireille?” I ask Henry.
“Packing.” He nods his head toward our bedroom.
“Packing?”
“Look at the pool table.” He steps forward, and I follow him. My mouth drops open in surprise. I can’t even see the table- it’s covered with large bouquets of flowers.
“For her. From him.” Henry shakes his head. “They were on the table when we came in.”
“So he’s got the key then.” Uncle rubs his chin with his hand. “They must have made a copy when they had Kirika.”
“Lambert.” I swallow the lump of nervousness in my throat. “It had to be Lambert.”
“Droger’s as bold as he is arrogant.” Uncle sighs. “Let me see the cards on the flowers.”
I turn from the pool table and go into the bedroom. Two bags are open on the bed. I see she’s already packed my things, and is rummaging through her dresser. I study her, bent over so her long hair hides her face; is she as afraid as I am?
“Mireille.” I start, but fall silent. Perhaps it is best not to confess my fear.
“We have to go. It’s not safe here.” She turns and busily stuffs her bag.
“Where will we hide?” I ask her. I can’t imagine she wants to go with Soldats.
“Hide?” she snorts. “We’re not going into hiding.” She picks up the baby seal from the dresser and stuffs it into the bag. She zips it shut and looks up at me.
“We’re going to the most public place I can find. And I dare him to move there.”

I stare out the window at the city below us. The Auberge- I’ve heard of it, seen it on the news. A place for the elite, the wealthy, and the famous. I never thought that I would be staring out of a penthouse suite looking at the lights of Paris.
“How are your eyes? Still seeing spots?” Mireille’s voice is teasing and soft. She seems at home already here, staging out areas of the suite for her own use.
“I didn’t know there would be paparazzi.” I rub my eyes again.
“They’re crawling all over this place, trying to catch the celebrities. Good thing you’re not famous. You’d be blind by now.” She takes my hands away and kisses my eyelids. I feel myself relax, and lean into her.
“We’re safe here.” She nuzzles the tops of my head. “Maybe you won’t have your nightmares now.”
“That would be nice.” I mumble into her chest. She’s so warm and comforting. It’s hard to imagine my life before Mireille.
“Let’s finish unpacking, then we can take a bath together.” She says lightly, and I smile. I walk over and get my bag, then stand in front of the dresser.
“The dresser is so big.” I say, looking at the shining wood. It towers over my head. Everything in the suite is large and expansive; the bed here would not even fit into our bedroom at the apartment.
“I’ll navigate that if you want to start the bath.” She taps my shoulder and hands me her favorite bubble wash. I nod my head and go into the bathroom. It’s huge, big enough to hold our pool table. A giant bathtub is elevated on steps in the corner. A quick look at it sends me back to the bedroom.
“You better do it.” I hand the bottle back to her.
“Why?” she looks puzzled.
“Because- there’s buttons.” So many of them…this is no ordinary tub, and I want nothing to do with it.
“You’ve never seen a jacuzzi?” her voice is incredulous.
I shove the bottle at her, and she begins to laugh. She grabs my face and kisses me, still laughing.
“Ok, you unpack, and I’ll start.” She kisses me again, more softly this time as she sees the pout on my face. “Silly.”
I ignore her as I hear her walk away, trying not to laugh at me any further. I unpack quickly, using only the lower drawers, the ones I can reach. We haven’t brought a lot of clothes- I wonder how long we will have to stay here.
A strange growling and gurgling sound is now coming from the bathroom. It mustn’t be anything dangerous, as I can hear her humming to herself. I love when she hums like that; she doesn’t seem to even be aware of it at all.
I pull out my sketchbook and the picture of the nightmare room falls out, slipping onto the bed. I take it into my hands slowly, turning it over, reading the name on the back. Leaving the growling tub sounds behind, I exit the bedroom and go into the adjoining office. This suite seems to have everything. I find what I’m looking for and go back to the bedroom.
I tape the picture to the wall by my side of the bed and then lay sideways in the bed, my chin on the edge, staring at my nightmare room.
“Anna.” I whisper, looking at the overturned chair, the open shutters. “Where is this place?”
This place….where something terrible happened. I feel it, down to my bones.
“What are you doing?” Mireille’s voice causes me to jump.
“Nothing. Just looking.” I blurt out, rising up to my elbows. I realize she’s naked. She stands in front of the picture, blocking it.
“I can’t believe you brought that thing with you.” she crosses her arms angrily. “Do you want to have more nightmares?”
“No. Of course not.” I frown back at her.
“Good.” she turns and starts to tear it from the wall.
“No!” I lunge forward, grabbing her arm. I slide off the bed, bringing her down to the floor with me.
“Kirika- what’s come over you!” her voice is shocked.
I hold the picture up against the wall. A small corner has torn away, but I won’t let the picture fall to the ground.
“Let it go, Kirika.” Her voice is softer now, matching the urging look in her eyes.
My hand slides back up the wall and I re-fasten the tape. Her eyes narrow and she pushes me away from her. She gets up and looks down at me.
“I’m going to take a bath before it gets cold.” she walks away from me and enters the bathroom, slamming the door shut.
“Mireille.” I say to the empty room. I look at the picture again, feeling it pulling me in, crushing me.
Let it go.
“I can’t, Mireille.” I whisper. “I can’t.”

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