The Pianist: A Tale Of Horror

Chapter 4

Émilie starts working in the castle. The first few nights, she couldn't sleep. The sounds of the old castle are strange to her city ears. One night, she is lying in her bed, the regular ticking of an old clock rocks her and she begins to fall asleep. She closes her eyes and rolls onto her side. Suddenly, she feels a hot breath on her face, then the jaw of a beast snaps shut in front of her mouth with a crack. Emilie jumps, she runs to turn on the light and looks at her empty bed. Maybe she had dreamed. She is not used to sleeping alone and her nerves are on edge every night.

During the day, it is Valentina who makes her forget his fears. Émilie adores the little girl. Far from being a spoiled child, Valentina turns out to be an excellent student. She speaks perfect Romanian as well as French, since her mother was of Romanian origin. One day, Valentina asks her if Lisa is okay. Émilie is surprised to know that the little girl knows Lisa. She tells her that if her father agrees, they could see her. Valentina, with her restraint that contrasts with her age, goes to put herself in the arms of Émilie who hugs and kisses her.

When she is not with Valentina, Émilie loves walking around the huge castle which looks like a museum. She looks at old paintings, old Baroque furniture and antiques of all kinds. One morning, as she leaves her room, she hears a piano tune. It's definitely him! Her heart flutters and she smiles. She feels alive again. She quickly goes down to the music room where the piano is. She opens the door and sees Vincent, playing a happy tune. Vincent stops playing and exclaims: "Émilie!". He goes to greet her without hiding his joy at seeing her again. She announces him that she is now working in the castle and the young man's big black eyes sparkle with joy. He tells her that he is going to give her a welcome gift. He asks her to sit down and close her eyes. He begins to play a touching and tormented Beethoven sonata. Vincent asks her what she sees. Émilie sees herself on a cliff, she watches a storm in the sea. The wind is blowing hard, the clouds are racing in the sky. They are getting darker. Thunder rumbles and lightning strikes the sea in the distance. A torrent of rain falls. The music softens, the sonata ends and Émilie opens wide dazzled eyes. Vincent asks her what she felt and she replies that she felt fear but also fascination. Vincent tells her that this is called the "sublime". It is the beauty of power that frightens and at the same time irresistibly attracts. When she leaves the music room, Émilie discovers with surprise that it is now dark and everyone is asleep. She looks at the time in a clock and sees that it is now 4am. How could she have spent all this time with Vincent without realizing it? She returns to the music room to tell Vincent but she is surprised to find it now empty and plunged into darkness.

For days, Émilie and Vincent meet as often as they can in the music room and chat there for hours. One day, she notices that one of the paintings in the music room is covered by a sheet. She gets up and goes to reveal it. She discovers the portrait of a pretty young woman dressed in an outfit from the 1920s. Vincent tells her that it is Mr. Costine's great-grandmother. Below the painting a label indicates that her name was Henriette Costine and that she died in 1975. Émilie has the impression of having seen this lady before. Vincent tells her that she may have already seen another portrait of her in another room, but Émilie realizes that she was not the same age. Suddenly, Emilie remembers. This woman is just the old lady who chased her out of the castle on the night of the party. She hesitates, then gives up telling Vincent, who hastens to cover the painting again. She tells herself that it has to be a woman who looked like her because she is from the same family. Otherwise what would it be? a ghost?