The Pianist: A Tale Of Horror

Chapter5

One night, Émilie is in her bed when she hears a piano melody. It is different from the ones Vincent likes to play. It is a sad and languorous tune. Could it be Vincent? But it's 3am! She gets up, lights the torch on her phone, and leaves her room, following the music that seems to be coming from downstairs. She slowly descends the stairs and looks into the music room, but the melody seems to come from further away. She returns to the vestibule and listens. She believes she has finally identified the source of the heavy melody which now seems to sometimes contain false notes. She gets even closer and finally sees a half-open door. This is the source of the melody. She pushes open the door and sees a small staircase plunged into darkness. It leads into the cellar. Heart pounding, she descends, the narrow and dusty steps. In the middle of the cellar, she thinks she sees a silhouette behind a beam that moves in the flickering light of a candle. The music is now loud, distorted, and scary. Emilie steps away from the beam and what she sees freezes her blood in her veins. The little housekeeper, Marie, is completely naked, a dagger in her hand, her frail body is covered in mud and blood, her muddy hair falling on her face. She dances a sort of macabre waltz all by herself, spinning around, again and again to the rhythm of the terrible melody, which comes from nowhere. Suddenly Marie stops, stares at Emilie, raises her dagger and plunges it into one of her eyes. Blood spurts out and Marie stabs her other eye, screaming like a wounded beast.

In shock, Émilie falls, gasping for breath, she gets up with difficulty and flees up the stairs and stumbles on all the steps. She then goes back upstairs chased by the horrible crazy music. She locks herself in her room and tries in vain to find her phone. Suddenly, someone knocks on the door, it's Nadia. Looking serious, she tells her that an ambulance has been called for Marie. She gives her her phone which she had dropped. Trembling, Emilie asks her what happened to the poor young girl, but Nadia doesn't seem to have the faintest idea. After a while, Émilie hears an ambulance arriving and sees Marie being taken to the hospital, blindfolded, through the window.

Émilie can no longer sleep. She cannot erase from her memory the horrible vision of the dagger thrust into Marie's eyes. Early in the morning, she looks for Nadia to tell her that she wants to leave the castle. This one is in the kitchen, consoling Karine, the other housekeeper, who is in tears. Nadia says that it seems that Marie has psychological problems and is taking quite a lot of medication. Karine said sobbing: "Her heart is broken". Nadia asks Emilie to wait a bit because she has to talk to Mr. Costine who has just arrived from a trip. Émilie goes back to her room and packs her suitcase, she waits for Nadia for hours but she doesn't even pick up the phone. Émilie then decides to go up to Mr. Costine's office to tell him personally that she is going to leave.

When she knocks on his door, a familiar voice tells her to come in. She enters the room, and to her surprise, she sees Vincent sitting at Mr. Costine's desk. She asks him what he is doing there and he smiles. He gets up, walks over to her, takes her hand, kisses it and tells her that he's really sorry and that he knows it's too much for her. She asks him what he means. He looks at her tenderly then replies: "It's me Théodore Costine". Émilie looks at him with wide eyes dumbfounded by surprise. He tries to pull her tenderly into his arms but she resists, protesting: "and why did you lie to me?" She pulls away from him, gripped by that same old feeling of betrayal. So, Vincent -or Théodore Costine- asks her to listen to him. He had introduced himself as a simple music teacher when they first met so as not to spoil this magical moment with his status as Mr. Costine the billionaire. He wanted to be for a little while just a pianist so that she would continue to listen to him as she had listened to his music. He asks her if it was still possible for her to see him just like that pianist she had met that night. In truth, it didn't matter to Emilie. Money has never been a determining factor in her choices. She asks him how a businessman can play the piano so well. He tells her that his grandfather taught him. He shows her old portraits hanging on the walls of the office. His grandfather's photo shows him playing the piano at a big concert in Romania. He had fled the country with his family and had settled in France a long time ago. His father was also a musician, he had continued to teach him music but he had also succeeded in business and left him a fortune. This castle is one of them.

Vincent admits to Émilie that when he met her, he rather wanted to go out with her than to hire her. He may be a successful businessman but since the death of his wife, he hasn't had much luck in love. Émilie understands this but she tells him that she has been feeling upset since the terrible incident last night. Theodore doesn't understand Marie's gesture either. He says he always felt this house was cursed and he intends to sell it as soon as possible. Suddenly, the office door opens and little Valentina enters. Her father calls her but she only takes a few steps forward with her usual reserve worthy of a great lady. She says she wants to go with Émilie. He asks her with a laugh if she doesn't want to celebrate her birthday today first. He turns to Emilie and asks her if she would like to postpone her idea of leaving until at least after Valentina's birthday. Émilie meets the little girl's gaze and finds distress there. Her heart softens and she takes her in her arms, promising her a nice little birthday party.

Valentina's birthday party takes place in the famous music room. A few children of Valentina's age are invited. Like a good schoolteacher, Émilie organizes games for the kids. She is surprised to see that Theodore participates in her games with childlike joy. He also plays nursery rhymes on the piano for children. He reveals another talent: that of a magician, and his magic tricks are much admired and applauded by by children. Émilie forgets all her fears during these moments of simple happiness. She is very touched by this powerful man who does not hesitate to turn into a child to amuse his daughter. After the candles have been blown out by Valentina, and the kids have stuffed themselves with cakes and all kinds of sweets, the chauffeur comes to take them home. Valentina goes back to her room and Théodore and Émilie find themselves alone again in the same room in which they met. Exhausted, they collapse on the couch. Théodore takes Emilie's hand and asks her to stay. He offers her to have dinner together tonight, jokingly promising her a sugar-free dinner. Emilie has no desire to refuse. She wants to be with this man.