Chapter 17 : Salomé

It was now 07:35 P.M.

Gabriel was in front of the majestic Paris Opera. He had chosen a dark purple ensemble and a gray tie to dress for the opera. After all, he was the leader of a famous fashion boutique. He always had to be stylish and top of fashion, just like his son.

The neighborhood reminded him of his youth days with Emilie, the woman of his life. The one for whom he was doing what he was doing.

Arriving at the Opera Garnier, he waited the tickets near the stairs. Lodge 38D, 3rd floor west part of the stage.

"The person is already waiting for you in the lodge, Sir." He said quickly, and then added, "The lodge is privatize for the two of you... Good evening, Mr. Agreste. "

The tone of the opera employee seemed to imply a secret rendez-vous between that person and Gabriel. He felt suddenly extremely disturbed by this implication. He decided, however, not to react to it -royally ignoring the young man who had handed him the tickets, and climbed the stairs.

He recognized several famous people from the fashion industry. They came to greet him and talk about the incoming performance. Gabriel remained very courteous and professional, more out of habit than envy.

After several long minutes of small talk, he arrived at the third floor. The lodge was guarded by a extremely tall young man with raven hair and icy blue eyes. He seemed to recognize Gabriel, and swung the door leading to the lodge without saying a word.

The lodge was velvet red and golden, rather small but very well located. It gave a wonderful view of the stage. However, it was empty, no one inside. Gabriel exhaled a long sigh. Once again his "partner" had failed him.

"Why is she not here, now?" He thought extremely annoyed.

A voice that came out from the speakers announced the beginning of the performance. It prayed the audience to turn off any electronic device. Gabriel complied, putting his phone in silence mode, quickly looking at the time indicated by his phone: 07h58 P.M.

The lights sieved slowly, leaving the room in a complete darkness. A captivating and mysterious music whose sound rose crescendo rocked the ears of Gabriel. The curtain open. A woman sang in German words that Gabriel could not distinguish nor understand. However, the dramatic tone of her voice and the music made the scene understandable by anyone.

The moon was an omnipresent element of decoration; the characters seemed to turn around and looked at it as a fatal omen.

"One-act play... it means no one can go inside the room anymore. So either she's not here or she's watching me." Gabriel thought.

It was a man's turn to sing (Herod surely), and Gabriel felt a dark aura emanate from the room, unless it was from the lodge.

The first two scenes went at a crazy speed. Gabriel looked at the room with interest, trying to figure out if Snake had hidden a message to get him through the show.

The beginning of the third scene was with the arrival of Salome, a black smoke now seemed to emanate throughout the room, at each step the smoke was gaining ground, and Gabriel advanced in his chair to try to understand where this smoke came from.

It was at this moment he felt the caress of a hand catch his wrist. He felt his blood drain his body. He turned his head towards his hand, his eyes wider than ever. The lodge had not been open once, and no one could have slipped into the lodge otherwise.

A wavy red-haired woman looked at him with an amused and seductive smile. She put her finger on her mouth to demand silence from Gabriel, and then looked at the scene. She was dressed in a glittery black dress that went down to her ankles. She seemed almost supernatural. She was very slender and thin, she raised with her right hand a small pair of binoculars to take a better look at the scene.

A head brought to Salome –Jokanaan's head. The young woman watched the scene with interest while Gabriel did not know where to look at anymore.

The curtain bowed down after the applause of the audience. Gabriel still in shock did not even bother to clap his hands. He gazed incredulously at his partner, who seemed delighted by the enthusiastic applause she gave to the performers.

She finally got up, followed by Gabriel, and offered her hand.

"Gabriel Agreste, happy to finally meet you." She said.

Gabriel took her frail hand and squeezed it. She had a handful squeeze for such a fragile hand, and Gabriel told himself that the snake was often fooling with the appearances.

"Likewise. How should I call you? "

"Snake is perfect." She marked a pose, her eyes now spotting Gabriel from head to toe.

"I like the fact that you chose purple, the color of the Butterfly." She remarked.

Gabriel was more than surprised; he said nothing, preferring to ask another question.

"How did you get hold of the snake Miraculous?"

"Gabriel, every day is enough for it's trouble[i]. I think that revealing myself to you was enough for tonight."

Seeing the insistent and heavy look of reproach of her partner, Snake decided to reveal a little more.

"But, if I had to say something... Let's say that when the guardian left various miraculous around the world more than a year ago, I went looking for mine."

"Where did you find it? Gabriel asked, more and more curious, because each of Snake's answers led to other questions.

"We'll talk about it again at our next meeting. You can call me Emeline." She concludes.

She dangerously approached her face from his. Her green eyes suddenly surrounded by a mesmerizing yellow halo. A smoke emanated from the Lodge, the same smoke from the performance earlier. A grin distorted the captivating features of Emeline. She pulled her face closer to his again and Gabriel closed his eyes reflexively.

Nevertheless, nothing happened. He opened his eyes feverishly. Everything and everyone had disappeared: the smoke, Snake... Gabriel felt that he was shaking from head to toe and decided to leave the lodge in a hurry. The tall young man who had opened the door was no longer there.

Yet a staff member of the Opera came to bring him a new letter, a new appointment. He put it in his tailor, and then went back to his mansion. The one thing he was sure about, this day had been very, very, interesting.

[i] French expression to say : each day at time