Baume-les-Messieurs was a small village with a population of 175 citizens, everyone knew each other and helped one another. Always in each other's business and unable to hide any secrets, also if something happened the whole village knew.
Ten years have passed since the day that Eloise and Blanche found Nina in the woods. Nina managed to learn their language over the years which wasn't easy for her and took a while.
This was an all-girl orphanage with the boys and girls separated. The boy's orphanage was somewhere in another village, don't ask Nina where when she didn't even know half of the time where she was herself. There was this one rule that they always had to follow. Every morning, their first duty was to pray to the person they call God. Not that it matters to Nina to whom or even how many times she'd pray, but the result will always be the same. Today was her first day in a new school after she got thrown out of her old school for bad behavior. Oh well, that school was in a different village and a commute she had to take a bus for. Nina looked at herself in the mirror before she opened the door of her room when Eloise and Blanche appeared in front of her. She quickly shut it behind her before they could take a look inside. Eloise was wearing a white dress with purple flowers while Blanche was dressed completely in black like she was known for. Her piercings and heavy dark makeup around her gray eyes which the Sisters so much hated, made it all the more fun to wear them just to annoy them.
"Bonjour Nina, do you remember anything yet?" Eloise Asked.
"No, just the same dream over and over and over again." Eloise has been asking her the same questions every day for ten years now, but the answer has always been the same. She didn't remember anything since the day she stayed in the orphanage. She didn't know who she was or better yet, what she was. Nina was standing there with only her socks on when Blanche laid some black boots in front of her. The three of them always change clothes with each other, only Blanche and Eloise didn't do that because she was wearing too much color for her taste.
"What are the dreams about?" Blanche asked.
"Snow, a castle in the mountains. But I don't know what that means." Nina tied the knots of the boots. The dreams were always the same but she never understood what they meant."How long are you girls going to stand there, get to school," Sister Jacqueline shouted when she appeared behind Eloise and Blanche. She looked up and down at the
clothing choice Blanche had made yet again, no spot of collar to be seen.
"Yes, Sister Jacqueline," The three of them said in perfect harmony. And quickly ran out of the orphanage while Blanche smacked the door when she swung her black backpack over her shoulders, happy to be away from those Sisters who constantly judged her. They walked to school on the stone path through the village. Nina was so lucky that they still wanted to be her friend after what happened ten years ago and she's also glad that she gets to be in the same school as them. And hopefully, she can stay there.
"Are you ready for your first day?" Eloise asked.
"I guess."
"Just don't do anything bad okay, I don't want you to leave us again," Eloise whispered but her voice sounded more worried.
"I'll try my best but I can't promise anything."
"Try not to kill someone," Blanche said while sticking out her tongue.
Nina looked down at the small stones on the path, kicking one away with her shoe before she answered in frustration, "I can't help it." They both looked at each other and back to Nina, not understanding why someone wouldn't be able to help themselves, it was an easy choice.
"That was a long time ago and it's not like she killed someone, you guys are exaggerating," Eloise said.
"I'm the new kid and that means that no one knows me. In other words, nobody knows that I'm a freak. I can have a new start."
"You're not a freak." Eloise put a hand on her shoulder. Nina raised her eyebrows and looked at them. Everyone always told her that she was a freak, even in her old schools. Why would this school be any different? She was just not like everyone else, she looked different and the way she acted was weird to them. If she needed to be normal then she couldn't be herself, whatever she was. Then tossing weird dreams didn't make her any normal, more like a terrifying monster. That's what they saw. "Everyone is afraid of me."
"Okay, maybe just a little," Blanche said and winked at her before she continued.
"But only because you do those strange things."
"Having dreams, you mean?" Nina Answered.
"More screaming and always being angry at everyone," Blanche said.
"Well, I am angry, angry at myself that I can't remember anything that I need to know, that I should know". She squeezed her fingers together into a tight fist. Angry at herself and sad that she was stuck here for no reason. They walked past the woods where police officers were arguing with each other. The Chief, who was well known in this village, turned around when he heard footsteps that came closer.
"Bonjour Chief Delon, what's going on?" Eloise asked.
"Bonjour girls, on your way to school?"
"Yes, what happened?"
"Nothing to be afraid of, just an animal in the woods. Do me a favor and don't go too deep in the woods okay." He made it sound like there was nothing important in this
boring village, so he was right because nothing ever happened here anyway. I mean what were the odds that there was something scary out there, that would steal
your ped or even worse, eat you. Those kinds of things only happened in movies. But still, Nina wondered what it was, what kind of animal was exploring those woods. Nina was looking at the trees, the leaves that swung around in the air. "Yes chief," Eloise
answered.
"Have fun in school girls."
Chief Delon stared at Nina for a moment while she was focused on the trees deep in the woods. When Eloise and Blanche walked further, Nina quickly followed behind them while the officers carried on with their work. But Chief Delon kept on watching Nina until she disappeared in the distance. A cool summer breeze flew through her wavy hair while she walked on the stony path. A white T-shirt, tucked into her denim skirt, and a black choker around her neck with a little golden star. That one was borrowed from Eloise, who loved looking at the stars. She can't blame her; she liked looking at the stars too. They arrived at the school gate with gigantic metal elegant curls clamming up the sticks. One gigantic building was at the back of the courtyard, but as soon as Nina entered, everyone was staring at her. "Great everyone is already looking." She blew out a breath.
"Don't bother them, just don't do anything weird," Blanche said.
"I'll try." That's easier said than done, she didn't even do anything yet. Did she have something written on her face? She felt like this always happened to her.
"Good, we are heading to class. See you later."
"Okay, bye." Blanche and Eloise ran off to the school building. Nina followed behind them slowly while she was looking around at all the faces that were staring at her. Nina stepped inside the building with high ceilings and found the principal's office, lucky her it was in the next room behind the entrance. When she walked inside the principal office to get her school books, she saw the principal sitting behind her dark wooden desk. The walls were filled with shelves and cabinets filled with books. She looked up at Nina when she entered the room, ready to ask her all kinds of questions when she saw that she was holding her information papers. "Another girl from the orphanage. It seems that you don't have a last name?" She glanced at Nina over the papers she was holding in front of her.
"Yes, I have amnesia, I don't remember anything except my name. I don't even know for sure that that is my name. I rather not have a last name than some fake one, the only name that I want is the real one." Nina answered.
"You caused trouble at your old school and you were held back because you didn't manage French."
Great she is already looking through my very troubled past. What can I say, I was a monster in every school and maybe I didn't know any French because I'm not from here. While Principal Gaugin was going through her file, not even paying her any attention.
"Yes ma'am," Nina Answered.
"I'm surprised that you even made it into this school."
Did she just tell her that she was dumb on the first day of school, she didn't even prove herself yet. She had to be honest that she was surprised herself that she got in, even though, she thought that the Sisters had a lot to do with that.
"Good luck." She blurted out like an idiot who didn't want to admit that she didn't get in on her own. Not that she cared much, it would be the same as the last schools.
"I don't believe in luck; I only believe in hard work." Principal Gaugin answered.
"I'll try my best."
"I'm going to let my top student help you."
"I'm pretty sure I can handle it."
"You won't last a week, now get to class."
"Yes ma'am." She didn't have a lot of confidence in Nina and Nina wondered how long she was going to stay in this school before she got kicked out again. She's gone to more schools to last a lifetime. The first school was a real disaster, an out-of-control little girl who would chew off other kids' arms. That didn't even last a day and not understanding a word they were saying didn't help much. As Nina made her way through the empty hallway looking for her classroom, almost walking through a haunted house because everyone was already in class except for her. Now she had to open the door of the classroom with every student looking at her and thinking, hey there is that strange girl again for this morning. On top of that, she didn't know anyone in there. Blanche and Eloise weren't in any of her classes. She let out a big sigh in frustration thinking to herself that this was going to be a fun school year. The only people who didn't think she was weird weren't in her class when she finally found the room in this big old maze. When She opened the heavy door, jugging eyes landed upon her. Not only that, she was also late and wouldn't score so high with her teacher. I'm not here favorite now. "You must be my new student?" The teacher said.
"Yes, the name is Nina."
She was looking at her from head to toe while Nina was scanning the classroom looking for an empty seat so she could hurry up with this stupid day and get it over with. She Found an empty seat at the end of the classroom and made her way across the room.
By some miracle, she survived her first two classes and met up with Eloise and Blanche at lunch. Blanche and Eloise were already waiting for her by some benches outside the
building. Nina walked towards them and smacked her backpack on the table out of frustration. "Looks like you're first day has been going well so far," Blanche said winking at her.
"The principal said that I was stupid."
"You were okay in your old school. But this school is pretty hard, you shouldn't underestimate it just because it's a small village school." Blanche said.
"You just had a hard time because you didn't understand French and your attitude was terrible." Eloise smiled at Nina.
"She wants me to work together with someone."
"With whom?" Blanche asked.
"I don't know, the student with the highest scores."
"That's Léon, he and his sister are always fighting for the first place," Eloise said.
"Isn't he on the second place?" Blanche asked out of confusion.
"Not anymore, Léon beat her last year."
"Who is he?" Nina asked.
"Just a very smart person who doesn't look like a nerd," Blanche winked at her again.
"I haven't seen him today even though his sister is here," Eloise said while she looked behind her at a group of boys playing ball. Blanche was suddenly screaming across the courtyard, "Hey Martin, have you seen Léon today?" A boy with light brown hair, blue jeans, and a white T-shirt turned and looked at Blanche. Picking up his football before it went rolling away from him. As He picked up his football, he waved towards a girl with dark brown hair in a white flower cotton dress before he came running towards Blanche and Eloise. When he reached their table, he put his right foot on the bens and his ball on his knee with his arms holding the ball in place.
"Léon is at the principal office, why -?" He stopped talking as soon as he saw Nina sitting at the table, giving her a big smile while looking at her from head to toe. "You're the new girl everyone is talking about."
And what are they saying?" Nina asked, already knowing the answer to the question.
"That you look like an ice queen, stuff like that. And I also heard that you don't have a last name. Is that true, because I don't understand why someone doesn't
have a last name?"
"Well, it is, so what." Nina looked at him, feeling angry and also sad. I mean who doesn't have a last name? Someone like her that didn't have a family, didn't have anything
at all. Just a lonely useless weird person whose parents had left her to her fate. Not caring who she'd become or what she did. Not even bothering to search for her. Nina wondered how someone could throw a living person in the trash without even caring one little bit about what would happen to that person once they've left it behind. To be honest, she would also have left herself behind in some ally. There was seriously something wrong with her, she was weird, scary, and out of control. No wonder they just left her there. She probably killed someone or even hurt her own family and they left her for their protection. Blanche was flipping her fingers in front of Nina's eyes to make her stop spacing out. Nina did answer him rudely, but what kind of question was that? It was like she liked, not having a last name, not having a family.
"Sorry I didn't 't' mean it like that, it is just strange," Martin smiled back at Nina, but Nina wasn't so pleasant to hear it. For her, it hurt more to not have anything than the people talking behind her back and making fun of her.
"Was that all?" She answered.
"Sorry, you're just the talk around school today."
"All of that because of a last name!" She grinded.
"Not only that but because of your white hair, pale skin, and light blue eyes."
"Light hair isn't that uncommon," Nina answered.
"No, blond hair isn't that uncommon; your hair is as white as snow. Is your hair natural?" He looked at it, almost wanting to touch it.
"Yes!" I mean it's not like she had ever seen someone with white hair as white as hers if she thought about it. Did she just become even weirder than she already was? He stared at her hair for a moment, trying to find some roots that had grown out that showed her real natural hair color or maybe even looking for some lace of a wig that was sticking out somewhere around her hairline. Martin looked back at Blanche and Eloise. "So, you
guys looking for Léon?"
"Léon has to help Nina with her studies," Eloise said.
"And who is Nina?"
Oh, so people care to remember that I don't have a last name and the way that I look but not the only name that I have. The girl with the hair like snow," Nina said raising her hand and eyebrows at him. He gave her a playful smile and picked up his ball from the table.
"Have fun with that, bye." He ran off with his ball to some other boy with brown spiky hair covered in gel. The boy was wearing green cargo pants with a long-sleeved gray T-shirt and a goofy smile on his face. But still, Matin's words lingered in Nina's thoughts. What's that supposed to mean? Were Blanche and Eloise wrong and was Léon a jerk and that was why he didn't look like a nerd? Well, he would get a piece of Nina and knew exactly not to mess with her if he tried. But first, trying to survive the rest of the day with everyone staring or talking about her.
Finally, the school bell rang and everyone was eager to go home but not Nina. She was still far from home. She still had to meet that Léon guy and study with him before she was able to go home. If she could call the orphanage her home. Annoyed at how the whole day had been so far, she stuffed her arms with all her books and made her way to the secretary, waiting there for Léon. At the secretary, Nina was still stuffing her books into her bag while being frustrated that everyone was already gone from the school grounds. Great, just great. Nina always wondered why again and again that she didn't fit in with everyone else. Was she the way she was and what happened to her to be so different than all the rest? There wasn't anyone like her. Was she some alien?
"Your Nina?" A deep voice spoke to her that rolled into her ears. Nina jumped up from her chair, dropping a book on the ground as her eyes traveled from the black shoes up the body that was standing before her until her eyes met his. Nina could see her reflection in his dark brown eyes. The monster she truly was, the monster she felt inside her that was so desperate to get out all of a sudden. Somehow, her heart was beating faster and his lingering scent smelled different from all the other students in school and a lot stronger, it made her head a little tipsy. And soon her long nails were out in the open, scratching the bottom of her chair. Nina's vision changed when her eyes followed a sweat drop that rolled down from his neck. His smell was floating around him, that felt like a drug to her. She could see his heart beating in his chest, the banging sound vibrating in her ears. The loaning to have her nails and teeth in his skin. Why did she have the feeling that she wanted to eat this guy so badly? She was like an animal that suddenly got into heat. Suddenly she saw a book in front of her. "You dropped your book." Nina looked at the book he was holding when her head finally became clear.
"Merci, so that means that your Léon?" Nina asked taking the book from his hand and stuffing it into her backpack.
"Yes, they said that it was easy to find you because you stand out a lot."
Nina rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, I already noticed."
"So, should we go to your place?" Léon asked with a little hesitation in his voice.
"I live in the orphanage."
"That means that you know Eloise and Blanche." He smiled at her and her heart did a double flip for some reason and she didn't understand why. She never cared about anyone so why was he different and why didn't her heart want to stop rolling around in her chest?
"Well yeah," She quickly answered.
"We can still study there." Léon replayed. But Nina wasn't looking at him, she was
focusing her eyes on the tile floors and only then answered him a moment later. "My room
isn't really good to study in." Which was true. No one in the orphanage has ever seen her
room, so she forbids everyone to look at her door. The Sister left her alone because she was
becoming hysterical when they wanted to take a look inside. But Nina was protecting her room and the scary image that everyone would have seen if they ever entered. She didn't want to become an even weirder person than everyone already thought she was. Her room was her safe space, the only place she could be herself without scaring everyone else. If they saw her room, they would have had a lot of questions and everyone could find out exactly what she was.
"Then we can go to my place if you want?" Léon said in a calm voice. He saw the terrifying look Nina was wearing and didn't understand how his question could have hurt her.
"Sure," Nina said and stood up from her chair, pulling her backpack over her shoulders, and left the school building. Léon was holding his bike in his right hand, walking over the stones to his house.
"May I ask when you first were brought to the orphanage?" Léon asked.
"Since I was six years old, I think," She answered.
"You think?" Léon looked down at me and again he didn't understand, he didn't understand anything about her. The way she looked and her cold eyes kept everyone at a distance. Like she was trying to protect everyone around her, protect them from her. Léon was a lot taller than Nina but even, but even Nina wasn't that small. She was taller than most of the girls that she had met today in class. French girls weren't that tall but Nina wasn't from France. It was easy to see that she didn't naturally belong here and French people didn't have white hair. So how did she end up here? Léon was wondering while looking into those ocean-blue eyes for hers.
"I don't know." She answered awkwardly. Not want to answer because she didn't know. Nina held her fist close to her chest, her long nails that were cutting into her skin as the blood dripped down. Léon watches her face in silence, the pain that she was trying to hide in her eyes. The silence hurt and the only thing Nina could hear was his heart. A human heart, flesh, and veins that made it so hard to concentrate on anything else. And before she knew it, he stopped, stopped in front of his house. Nina looked up at the house in front of her, the big modern house he had. It made her wonder what kind of job his parents had. Léon opened the door to let her inside first. Dark wooden floors went through
the hallway of the house. White walls with pictures and a light brown round table. On the table was a vase filled with purple roses, blue, green, pink, and white roses. On the other side were two long closets in light brown oak. Nina looked at the painting on the wall while Léon walked up the stairs that led to a hallway in an L shape. His room was on the second door on the left. Nina followed behind him, but he stopped and turned around, looking at her before he opened the door. "This is my room. Don't mind my sister when she comes in, she kind of does that a lot." Léon said. His voice was a little hesitant hoping that he didn't have to deal with his sister today especially when he had a girl inside his room. And not just any girl that everyone has been calling the ice queen. He didn't understand why people would say that when they didn't even know her. All he saw was a beautiful girl who was only trying to fit in on the first day of school.
"It's okay, Nina answered and followed him inside. She glanced at the room; her eyes stayed on the balcony door as her feet moved on their own toward the balcony door. The window had a perfect view of the woods, the trees slowly moved in the wind. The leaves blew in the air in circles, higher and higher until they reached the level of the sun. The sun made them seem red while Nina kept spacing out. The blue sky became black with stars in the sky, the sun was suddenly turning into the moon. A firing red sky with sad wolves that were howling in the mountains. A voice calling her name but when she turned around, the voice was gone. There was no one there in this dark room. Water droplets started rolling down the walls, dropping fast as they made their way to the floor. That's when Nina realized that the water drops weren't just water, water didn't have a red color. It had a certain small when it kept moving forward over the floor to where she was standing. Nina took a step back until her back touched the cold glass of the window. The blood kept spreading until it reached her feet. Nina bent down on her knees and touched the red substance. But somehow, the blood still felt warm on her fingertips. She turned around and saw a reflection looking directly at her. Two pairs of red eyes and long teeth, a bloodthirsty wolf that was growling at her. The white fur was lighting up from the moon it looked like small rubies were attached in between the fur. Long hairs stood up tall and looked like sharp blades. Those blades were so sharp that they were able to cut through trees without a problem. The wolf jumped at Nina and attacked her when she quickly covered herself. But when Nina looked back, there was nothing there, no wolf and no moon. Instead, there was a bright sun in the clear sky. -What the hell, was that me -? Nina never saw herself before in her wolf form, not like that, not like a bloodthirsty monster. -But if that was me then who was that voice -? Nina turned around and looked towards Léon who was putting his backpack on the ground next to his desk. Something wasn't right about this house. The bed, the shelves on the walls, the glass door by the balcony. Nina felt like she'd been here before. But clearly, she hasn't. Nina had only been in the orphanage and that was all, she'd never been in someone's house before. Or perhaps it was something from her past and this person knew the answers to her questions. Nina sat down together with Léon on the dark wooden floor and pulled out her books, spreading them over the floor.
"Can I ask you something?" Léon asked.
Nina glanced up from her book and looked him in the eyes. "Sure, what is it."
"Why did you leave your old school when you only have two years left before graduating?"
"Because I like causing trouble." Nina grinned and smiled at him. But it was a face smile. She did cause trouble but it was not like she wanted that to happen. Trouble followed her wherever she went, she felt like she was cursed in this world.
"What kind of trouble?" Léon asked.
Nina looked at her math book, hesitating to tell him what happened. But she wondered if that was a good idea. If I tell him, then he would know that I'm weird or get terrified of the person that I am. Nina wasn't a good child, she had trouble behaving herself as long as she could remember. She was in a new school now and wanted a fresh start. "You don't want to know," she said.
"Did you kill someone?"
"No, of course not!"
"Then it doesn't sound that bad." He smiled at her in a way that gave her some confidence. His reassuring smile calmed her heart. But Nina still knew the truth about her. It was, it was bad. Nina hurt a lot of people and almost murdered someone when she couldn't control herself. She looked down at her hands while Léon walked closer to her. She hasn't changed at all since then and she wasn't even close to controlling herself. Right now, it was hard to keep it together with him near her, how long would it take before she hurt him or someone else in this school? "I'm just a very scary person with a bad temper." Nina finally answered.
"What happened?" He softly whispered.
"Nothing important."
"Well, you don't scare me, Nina." He smiled at her and opened his book. Not yet, Nina thought. But for how long would that last? How long would it take until he saw the real her? The monster that she was. Would he still say that she wasn't scary? They all said the same in the end, so why would he be any different?
"There is still something that I don't understand, why didn't you go to this school from the very beginning?" Léon asked.
"Because I was really bad at school with my greats and I couldn't get in just like Blanche and Eloise did, so I had to work a little harder every year again until I finally got in. But it seems that I barely made it, otherwise we wouldn't be here right now. I think that I'm at the edge of getting kicked out because I'm so bad at everything."
"That's not true, they are giving you a chance. Why else would Principal Gaugin ask me to help you, she could have denied you from the beginning. She wants you to take that chance, a chance to be here like all of us." He said with a smile and twinkling eyes. Nina couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth, no one ever said something like this, something nice to her. She was used to people calling her names behind her back and even in front of her face. Nina laughed and with a smile, she answered him, "It didn't seem
like that when she first called me stupid."
"Yeah, she can be quite mean at times but that's why it's so hard to get into this school." He smiles at her.
Nina looked over his shoulder at his desk where shelves were filled with books and one picture. A picture of a dog and a little boy, the little Léon was years ago. A black frame with a thin golden line on the inside, the boy held the little dog in his arms.
"You have a dog?" Nina asked.
"I only had her for a year." Léon stood from the floor and took the photo in his hands. He looked at it for a little moment not even remembering he still had that photo on his shelf. A small smile appeared on his face before he handed Nina the photo. She took the photo from him, taking a good look at it.
"What happened?" Nina asked.
He leaned against his desk, his smile disappearing from his face as he's eyes stared at the floor for a moment before he answered, "She ran away." He looked back up at her and noticed that Nina wasn't paying any attention to him at all. Nina was only looking at the picture, her fingers slowly moving over the glass. But you could only see the important details when you looked very closely and when you thought you saw, look again, because you may miss what was lying below your eyes. That's when Nina noticed that the puppy was wearing a blue collar with a medallion, a silver medallion. It had a moon, a tree, and flowers with blue diamonds. I know that medallion, I believe I have that same medallion. Nina's fingers kept moving over the puppy that was wearing the medallion. This was the only position she had from her past. Nina looked back at Léon without saying a word and just stared at him, looking at every detail on his face. Looking for clues, for sines. But it was very clear. Somehow, she remembered that boy. She looked up and looked around the room. The bed. The glass door. She was here before. And the boy didn't know the answers she was looking for. Nina dropped the photo on the floor, but luckily there were no cracks on the glass when it moved down her leg. She held her fingers through her hair when suddenly she stood up.
"Are you okay?" Léon asked.
Nina walked to the window and looked outside at the woods near his house. Voices were calling her name.
"Come back. Where are you? What happened?"
"Hold on, it's going to be okay."
"Open your eyes and look at yourself. Look at your reflection, look at what you've
become."