Out of the Darkness... Trapped without
light
Her, now clouded, blue eyes stared at him for a moment. Soon after, she began
shaking uncontrollably as her eyes darted about the room. Tears fell down her
cheek when her lids closed, burning the scrapes on her ivory skin.
Christian sat motionless, unsure of what to do. He’d hoped, if not expected,
Satine to rush into his arms and hold him tightly as he’d comfort her. He
didn’t expect this.
He reached out to touch her shoulder and maybe she’d stop crying. Instead, she
recoiled fearfully and scrambled off the bed. She frantically crawled as far
away from him as possible and curled up in a tight ball.
“Satine? What is it? Tell me what’s wrong!”
She tried her best to shut out his panicked voice with her hands. Crying, she
rocked herself back and forth, whimpering like a lost puppy. He advanced
towards her cautiously. Her eyes were screwed shut; she didn’t notice his
approach. His hand touched her arm. She was ice cold!
She screamed and scrambled further away from Christian. Distraught, he simply watched
her repeat the same gestures as before. “I can’t even touch her! Why is she
afraid of me?”
At that moment, Harold and the doctor rushed into the room. “What happened? We
heard a scream,” Zidler demanded. He then saw his little Sparrow in the corner,
sobbing uncontrollably; he blanched, becoming as white as her.
“She... I don’t know! She woke up and she started shaking and I can’t even
touch her...” Christian sobbed. “Why is she like that? WHAT’S WRONG WITH HER?”
He was becoming hysterical.
“Just leave her,” the doctor advised.
“What? I’m not going to leave her like that! I need to help her!” he yelled,
horrified.
“It’s best for her! She’s been traumatized, and she’ll need time to recover,”
the doctor explained. Christian looked over to Satine; she was still rocking
herself, crying. “You may stay in the room with her, just keep your distance.”
He nodded solemnly. He would help Satine, no matter what it took. The two other
men left again, this time for the night. Christian backed slowly to the chair
Marie was sitting on previously, and waited. If he waited long enough, maybe
she would come to him, but Satine made no motion of leaving her corner.
***
The night was long and lifeless. She’d stopped crying an hour after Harold and
the doctor left, but still remained, unmoving, in the dark corner. She seemed
oblivious to Christian’s presence. He simply waited patiently for her to fall
asleep, so maybe he could get closer. Three hours later, her resistance broke
and she fell into a deep slumber.
Christian didn’t notice for a good while. His lids were beginning to fall with
the heavy burden of sleep. He shook himself awake several times and watched
Satine. She literally hadn’t move since she first crawled into the corner. If
she hadn’t begun shaking from the cold, he probably wouldn’t have known.
He grabbed the blanket from the bed and dragged it towards Satine. He carefully
wrapped it around her and watched as she stirred slightly. A sad smile appeared
on his face. Unsure of what to do next, he sat beside her and watched her with
complete adoration. She almost looked like she had four months ago, safe and
happy. He reached out to stroke her scratched face and drew a shuddery breath.
“How could he have done this?”
They didn’t have physical proof that the Duke took Satine that night, but they
both disappeared that night from the
Christian suddenly had the irrepressible urge to hold her. She was asleep and
couldn’t cower away, so what harm could it do? He reached out and pulled her on
his lap; her forehead resting in the crook of his neck, his arms wrapped
protectively around her. To his surprise, she cuddled against him and sighed
contently. “She’s so small!” he thought, alarmed.
“I love you Satine, ‘til the end of time,” he murmured in her hair. She smiled
in her sleep. “Maybe she does remember me...”