Les Miserables: The Flame That Never Dies

Prologue

*This is what starts the story off; it's a prologue. This little section is pretty fast paced. I promise the rest of the story won't be as fast paced as this! This is just letting you in on what's happening right before the story starts.*

{Gabrielle}

Heaven. The eternal bliss. It had ended. I was alone. I was in the dark. I felt fear, a feeling I hadn't felt for many years. A feeling I hadn't had any memory of.

"Courfeyrac?" I called out. No answer. "Enjolras?" No answer. "Gavroche? Éponine?" No answer.

Then I saw a sudden light.

"Gabrielle," a voice said my name. It sounded peaceful.

I wasn't frightened anymore. I opened my eyes. I saw light, but it wasn't the comforting light I had seen earlier. I felt cold. I felt the roughness of the pavement underneath me.

Where was I? I looked around me and saw people. People who were wearing very strange clothing. Were the women wearing trousers too? I stood up quickly. Was I at the docks? How did I get here? Where were all the boats? Where were all the women who "worked" here? I took a few steps then looked down at what I wore. I was wearing a black skirt that only went to my knees. My blouse was made of a silk-like fabric and tucked into the waistline of my skirt. I wore a maroon jacket. At least the jacket didn't change.

Where was I? I walked down the street and stopped. Was this Saint Michele? Everything was different. The buildings, the streets, the people. Everyone looked clean. I walked towards the direction of where Café Musain used to stand.

Where was I? I saw a man with ebony hair. He had a wine bottle in one hand and was staring at a street. Was that where Café Musain had stood? Where were all the carriages? The man turned around and looked at me. His mouth opened as did mine. I ran to him and hugged him.

"Grantaire! What happened? Where are we?" I asked him.

"We're in Saint Michele. Don't you recognize it?" he asked sarcastically, looking at me. I pulled away from our hug and looked at him.

"How?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. One moment we're in heaven the next we're on earth?

"This can't be Saint Michele? What year is it?" I told him.

Surely it couldn't have been Saint Michele. We had only been dead for a few years right?

"It's the 21st century," he replied. I looked at him, my eyes widened.

"Two hundred years?" I asked in shock.

"Well, less than two hundred years, but only by a little," he said.

"Are the others here?" I asked him.

"I know some of them are. They're all in America. We've been here a few months. Where have you been?" he asked.

"That's impossible! I was with Gavroche this morning!" I protested.

"He's here too. Come on we'll go meet them," he said.

He took my hand and led me through the streets. We quickly walked and reached what he said was an airport.

Apparently it had things that could fly. I doubted him, that is until I saw one. It took us three days to reach America. We landed in what was called New York? I think that was what Grantaire called it. The sight of it immediately shocked me. There were buildings that were so very high. There were lights that weren't caused by candles! Electricity? Wasn't that what Grantaire had said? Large crowds of people, with women wearing trousers! They weren't even looked at twice by men for wearing them! At least those women wore decent clothes though. Others were almost stripped to bare necessities! It certainly was a world strange and new.

"Grantaire? Where exactly are we going?" I asked him curiously. He pushed his way around the crowd with my hand in his. He led me straight to an apartment building that seemed to reach the sky.

"We're here. The hotel." He led me up the stairs and through the doors. It was stunning. It had so much technology. It had a thing called a television set and something called a telephone. "Tomorrow we'll get you enrolled in the academy we go to," he said to me. I smiled.

"Merci, monsieur," I said.

He looked at me. "They don't say monsieur or mademoiselle here," he said. My mouth dropped open. They didn't do that? "Just go sleep on the bed, I'll be on the couch. Tomorrow we'll see the others," he said.

I walked off into the bedroom. I had seen many strange things in the last few days. I lay my head down and shut my eyes. I had come back to life from heaven. Why? *Saying it again this was meant to be fast paced!*