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Post by Evie on Nov 28, 2009 22:54:42 GMT -5
**FOUR YEARS OLD**
Evelyn Enjolras was, as far as four-year-olds go, largely unremarkable. She could run and walk and jump and dance; she spoke with average proficiency for a child of her age; she had a tendency to get into things that she wasn't meant to. It wasn't on purpose, truly, but the big cabinet on the side of the dining room was always so large and imposing, and at luncheon today she'd realized that she was finally tall enough to reach the handle.
This was why, late one December night, there was a large crash from the dining room. The cabinet really wasn't too interesting, just a lot of bottles. She would have just closed it, but purple was her favorite color and there was a big purple bottle at the back; if she could just reach it...
Evie cried and turned to run on four-year-old instinct, but her bare foot came down on the glass from the bottle of single malt she'd knocked over. She let out a cry that was halfway between a wail and a gasp, and in stepping back, overcompensated and fell into the growing puddle of amber liquid.
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Post by Chuck Bass on Nov 28, 2009 23:04:54 GMT -5
Chuck was in the middle of a dialing a number when he heard the loud crash. The direction of the sound and the cries were enough to let him know what happened. He dropped the phone and ran over.
"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled at the sight of her on the floor, drenched in the alcohol. Concern and panic manifested themselves into rage. Before he knew it, he had grabbed her roughly by her wrist and was dragging her up and off the floor, shouting curses at the top of his lungs.
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Post by Adrienne on Nov 28, 2009 23:17:21 GMT -5
Being four, Evie could have explained herself with words had someone come in and taken care of her foot and then asked her. She could have said that she was only trying to get a better look at the pretty purple bottle, and all could have been resolved. But then Monsieur Charles had walked in, not Mama, and he was yelling and he had her wrist and her foot hurt so she was probably bleeding, and all she could do was burst into very loud wails, accompanied by tears.
The only two words she managed were "let go," pulling on her arm but then realizing that her shoulder was hurting now, too, and that just made her cry harder. It was the kind of crying that only a very upset four-year-old could do: the kind that sounded mostly like an older child, but with a hint of the infant still in the not-quite-developed vocal cords.
Adrienne had moved towards the room at the first cry, but when she got there she moved at the speed of light, swooping in to snatch her daughter and cradle her protectively, eyes flashing dangerously at Chuck. Evie sobbed into her mother's shoulder.
"What in God's name do you think you're doing, Chuck, what on earth did you do to--"
But it was then she spotted the blood spreading on the front of her dress.
"Evie, petite... oh mon dieu, qu'est-ce qu'il y a, Evie, qu'est ce qui c'est passé..." She murmured, not expecting a response but in a tone that was soothing, all the while giving Chuck a look that could have killed.
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Post by Chuck Bass on Nov 28, 2009 23:25:01 GMT -5
Adrienne's cooing made him angrier.
"This is exactly why she does idiotic things like this! You coddle her when she should be reprimanded!"
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Post by Adrienne on Nov 28, 2009 23:28:47 GMT -5
The look on her face was somewhere between disgust and rage, leaning towards the latter.
"Charles Bass, she is four years old and she is bleeding; if you think now is the proper time for punishment then I have absolutely nothing to say to you."
She turned and stormed out of the room and down the hallway, headed for the library. She laid the still-wailing Evie down on a chaise, pushing her own emotions aside and cooing to her daughter while she grabbed a convenient blanket to dab at the blood on her tiny foot.
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Post by Chuck Bass on Nov 28, 2009 23:40:40 GMT -5
When a maid rushed in, Chuck harshly told her to clean up the mess then stormed out of the room to where she had taken Evie.
"So her being four makes it alright that she broke into the liquor cabinet and nearly got herself killed? Might as well just give her a lollipop and get on with it!"
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Post by Adrienne on Nov 28, 2009 23:47:43 GMT -5
She took a moment to steel herself before turning around, hair flying and eyes glinting.
"You can't break into something that isn't locked, for one, and second, she is four[. Did you not hear that part? Four, as in no reasoning skills because she isn't old enough to determine right from wrong. Christ, Chuck, it's like every time she fails to act like an adult, which I might mention she can't because she's four, you throw a fit!" As always when she was angry, her accent got thicker.
Evie's sobs had reduced to mildly terrified sniffles from the chaise.
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Post by Chuck Bass on Nov 28, 2009 23:49:53 GMT -5
"Then this is your fault!" he shouted, jaw tense and eyes locked onto hers.
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Post by Adrienne on Nov 28, 2009 23:54:26 GMT -5
"Oh, I'm sorry, since when do you have the right to criticize my parenting methods? What right do you have to make any comment whatsoever on her behavior?" The look in her eyes completed the sentiment: it's not as if you've admitted to being her father.
"You can't just ignore her until you feel the need to criticize her." She snapped.
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Post by Chuck Bass on Nov 29, 2009 0:04:50 GMT -5
"If I'm that useless, why don't I just walk out that door and leave you to your perfect little family?"
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Post by Adrienne on Nov 29, 2009 0:09:20 GMT -5
"Maybe you should. Maybe the tension in the house would finally dissipate. Maybe David, who's ridiculously shy, would come out of his room. Maybe Evie wouldn't have to ask me what she's done wrong to make you hate her so much, like she did yesterday."
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Post by Chuck Bass on Nov 29, 2009 0:12:12 GMT -5
"Well, she's observant, I'll give her that."
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Post by Adrienne on Nov 29, 2009 0:18:37 GMT -5
There was a silence, and then Adrienne snarled: "Your father was right to hate you."
But the silence had made her realize something: Evie wasn't making any noise. She looked over her shoulder at the chaise. There was a sinking feeling in her chest that she couldn't explain when she saw the one-footed set of bloody footprints on the wood floor. Without another word, she set off to find her daughter, thankful that she probably hadn't heard the last part.
When she found that the footsteps led out the door and into the snow, she let out a cry that consisted of only one word, carried off by the roiling winds: "Evie!"
There were no thoughts in her head but her daughter's safety as she plunged into the storm, screaming Evie's name and following the little red footsteps.
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Post by Chuck Bass on Nov 29, 2009 0:24:44 GMT -5
Despite his irrational anger, Chuck was right behind her, calling out her name as loud as he could. He looked all around him. All that was out there was freezing winds and snow... and the pond. His heart sank when he saw where the footprints lead.
"Adrienne! The Pond!" he called out briefly before rushing over to the body of water nearby.
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Post by Adrienne on Nov 29, 2009 0:26:50 GMT -5
They heard a crack, a high-pitched scream, and a splash.
The noise Adrienne let out was not one that could easily be said to have come from a human being. She moved as fast as she could towards the pond, but Chuck was closer.*
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