Aurelie and Adrien E-Book

Susanna Erlemann

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 356

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Sixteen-year-old teenagers Aurelie and Adrien have been a couple for a year and are in seventh heaven. But then something happens that throws Aurelie completely off course and her whole life comes crashing down. She sees no other option but to break up with Adrien, but her faithful boyfriend is not so easily defeated and the great battle for love begins. Aurelie finds herself on a rollercoaster of emotions and also has to deal with her twin sister Amelie, who never misses an opportunity to bully her. Will Aurelie stand by her feelings or will reason prevail in the end?

Leseprobe

Chapter 1

It was exactly eighteen o'clock when the two sixteen-year-old teenagers living in Paris, Aurelie Reaugardier and her boyfriend Adrien Martin, arrived at Aurelie's house. They loved each other very much and had been one heart and one soul for a year. No one should or could destroy their bond and now they had been for a walk together at the Eiffel Tower. "Thank you for taking me home, Adrien," Aurelie said with a big smile on her face and Adrien smiled back. Every time Aurelie smiled, she infected those around her with it. "I'd love to," Adrien replied and they walked arm in arm to Aurelie's front door. They were currently standing in the small garden in front of her house and they didn't want to spoil the good mood. Whenever Adrien brought Aurelie home, Aurelie's twin sister Amelie, who was ten minutes older and the opposite of Aurelie, opened the door for them. She was scheming, mean, ruthless, selfish and also had her eye on the sweet, friendly and charming Adrien. Aurelie didn't know anything about it, however, as her sister hid her admiration for him well. Amelie was a pro when it came to lying or covering up, and she had proven that time and again in the past. She had often blamed her classmates when she herself had done something wrong and had always turned it around so that they were punished. Since then, she had done it again and again and enjoyed it whenshe lied and made others suffer. It gave her the validation and power she needed and it was the same with Aurelie. She was jealous of her because she had her Adrien and a perfect relationship with him. However, it was no wonder that Amelie emulated them and liked him too, as he was Aurelie's absolute prince charming and never did anything wrong. Amelie could only be jealous. Now Adrien rang the doorbell for his girlfriend and Aurelie remembered that her sister would probably answer the door. Why had she forgotten her key again! All she had to do was pocket it quickly and then they would be spared the meeting with Amelie! How annoying! Her happiness sank slightly and she looked at Adrien accordingly. "What's wrong?" he asked, a little worried, and touched her gently on the arm. Aurelie loved his care and direct attention to her well-being and she was able to smile slightly again. "Well, you know who opened up to us the last few times, and that was another absolute mood killer," Aurelie revealed, pressing her eyebrows together unhappily. She could already see Amelie's venomous expression and it sent an icy shiver down her spine. Hopefully someone else will open today, she thought, and her friend understood her. "Yes, I know that, but just ignore your sister. Look, we really did have a wonderful day at the Eiffel Tower, and we don't want to let it spoil our mood. Especially not from Amelie," Adrien emphasized again and his girlfriend kissed him on the lips. "What was that for?" Aurelie smiled broadly and quickly answered his question: "For you. You're great." Adrien managed to cheer her up again and again and the joy in her gradually returned. She was very lucky to have him and she appreciated his attention. "Thank you," he grinned and blushed, because Aurelie's compliments and affirmations did him good and he knew that he was doing everything right. After all, it was more important to him than anything else that Aurelie was happy and that he was helping her. But before the two lovebirds could continue laughing, someone hurriedly opened the door for them. They were startled, but to their surprise, it wasn't Amelie who opened the door. It was Aurelie's father, François Reaugardier, who was on the phone while opening the door and made a hand gesture that said something like "Come in". Aurelie and Adrien nodded to thank him and Adrien waved to his father-in-law. He and François got on very well and François had immediately welcomed him into the family when Aurelie had introduced him a year ago. "Yes, yes, of course that's a problem, YES!" they heard Aurelie's father shout in annoyance until he disappeared into the dining room, which was directly to the left of the rectangular front door. The couple looked at each other in amazement and at the same time wondered what was upsetting the fifty-year-old. They certainly didn't want to talk to him about it, as François often snapped when he had problems and then had to talk about them. So Aurelie whispered: "Would you like to come to my room and accompany me to Leona's or would you like to go home already?" Leona Flamant and Marie Claude were her best friends and the three of them were inseparable. That evening, however, Aurelie was invited to her house alone because they wanted to have a movie night and Marie couldn't make it because she had an appointment with her boyfriend Vincent, who was also Adrien's best friend. After thinking about it for a moment, Adrien wanted to give his girlfriend an answer and felt bad when he realized that he had an important meeting with his parents Claudette and Olivier. He just didn't know what they wanted to talk to him about, but he couldn't turn them down either, as he always wanted to please everyone and not disappoint anyone. "I'm really, really sorry, darling, but I have to go home now because mom and dad want to talk to me about something important. I really would have liked to take you to Leona, but you know I can't say no because I..." Adrien always found it very difficult to explain himself, as he was always looking for the perfect words so as not to offend anyone, but Aurelie understood him and touched him lightly on the cheek, which stopped him. "Hey, it's all right. If your parents need you, so be it. I'll manage the few meters on my own," Aurelie assured him and gave him a supportive smile, which quickly made him feel better. Adrien was reassured that she didn't hold it against him and expressed it immediately. "Okay. Then I'd go back home now and leave you alone. It's a shame that our paths go in exactly the opposite direction, otherwise we could at least walk together until then. But now I really have to go. See you tomorrow Aurelie, have fun at Leona's and don't go to bed too late," he said and Aurelie laughed heartily. "Thank you and don't worry. We'll fall asleep after an hour at the movie anyway," Aurelie guessed and Adrien kissed her on the forehead. "All right then. Au revoir, my heart," he said and left. "Au revoir!" she called after him and closed the front door. She stood in front of the door for a while, smiling and exhaling loudly, while Adrien went home to his waiting parents. Typical Adrien thought Aurelie. He was caring and perfect in everything he did. Sometimes he almost acted like her father when he gave her advice, but she didn't mind because she preferred to get it from him rather than from her father. When François told her what she should and shouldn't do, she quickly got annoyed, but when Adrien did, she listened to him and smiled. Adrien was very special to her and she never wanted to lose him. She had never felt so strongly connected to a boy before. Mostly it was just crushes or admiration, but when she met Adrien the previous year, everything was different. It was during a protest against violence near the Louvre and when Adrien approached her, she instantly fell in love with him. He was just as perfect then as he is now and he had wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes that always reminded Aurelie of the ocean. Aurelie still had chest-length brown hair at the time, but now she had a long chocolate-brown mane that reached down to her hips and was tied back with a dark green hairband. It matched her eyes perfectly and because her hair wasn't in the way, her small round face was well emphasized and everyone saw her little snub nose, the fir green eyes and the full lips. Amelie, on the other hand, didn't look like that at all, even though she was her twin sister. Their faces were very similar, although Amelie's eyes were brown. The biggest difference was that Amelie's hair wasn't as voluminous and was only shoulder-length and her forehead was covered by bangs. This meant that everyone could tell them apart and there was no confusion. But now Aurelie wanted to get going again. She just had to let her father know somehow that she had an appointment. She was aware that she couldn't shout at him now because she would disturb his phone call. So she decided to quickly run to her room to write him a note and then stick it on the dining room door. That way he would see her message immediately. The long wooden staircase that was right outside the front door and led to the bathroom and the family bedrooms was winding and you always had to turn when you walked up the steps. So she climbed the steps and arrived in the upstairs hallway, the walls of which were decorated with lots of family pictures. Some of the pictures featured Younes, the twin sisters' older brother. Younes was twenty-five years old and had moved out four years ago when he completed his training as a policeman. Since then he had lived in central Paris and his sisters only heard from him once a week as he was always quite busy. He was also a girl crush. Every week there was another girl who approached him on the street when he was carrying out his official checks, but the black curly-haired man with the dark brown eyes ignored her and conveyed anew each time that he wasn't interested in flirting. Younes was more of a loner because he believed that he could cope better on his own and that women would only cause him problems. Aurelie looked at the pictures for a moment and smiled. She and Amelie hadn't had much time with him when they were little, but Aurelie made an effort to keep in touch with her brother, who was nine years older. She crept along the long corridor until she finally reached her room. It was the last room and she always had to walk ten meters to reach it. She went into the small room, which was quite monochrome. Her furniture was white and the wallpaper was a pleasant pink that brought light into the room. Aurelie marched over to her desk and pulled a mini yellow note from one of the bottom drawers. She then grabbed a ballpoint pen and wrote down her message. Finally, she tore off a piece of sellotape and stuck it to the note, leaving an adhesive surface free. Done! She walked back down the path and came to the basement, where she heard her father on the phone, still quite upset. Keep it down now, thought Aurelie, feeling like a secret agent as she crept to the dining room door and stuck the note on. That's it! Then she grabbed a front door key from the small key board attached to the wall next to the front door and left the house. On the way to her friend's house, Aurelie noticed that it had become cool and dark outside and that there were already stars in the sky. Was it the same when she was out with Adrien? She probably hadn't noticed then because she had been focusing exclusively on him. As soon as her boyfriend was with her, she forgot a lot of things anyway, because she always got hot and her heart rate accelerated. As she walked along the sidewalk to reach the metro station that would take her to Leona, the streetlights were on and she could see where she was going. Still, she felt a little uncomfortable, as she hated walking alone in the dark. The wind blew at her from behind and her hair flew forward. When she looked up, she could even see a shooting star. How beautiful dusk could be, but it was cold and she rubbed her arms, even though she was wearing a winter jacket to protect her from the freezing temperatures. There was a rustling in the bushes and Aurelie got scared. She looked around again and again, but she saw nothing and no one who could be dangerous to her. Her heart was pounding like crazy and she felt warm as her fear became apparent. "Oh man," she whispered anxiously and there was another rustle as she walked past the bushes. It was only half past six, but she felt as if it was already midnight. Why did it always have to be so dark when winter came? And why was she always afraid of everything? Aurelie wondered all sorts of things and immediately decided to ask something into the silence. "Is someone there?" she gasped, and there was a crackling sound in the bushes. She wheeled around but still didn't see a soul. It was slowly becoming more and more scary and she wished Adrien was by her side. Her heart was doing what it wanted and she wanted to run back home where she didn't feel watched or unsafe. She breathed loudly and suddenly a firm grip grabbed her, almost piercing her jacket and pulling her instantly into the bushes. Aurelie screamed like a banshee and thrashed around in panic, but to no avail. Her heart was pounding in her throat and everything was happening far too fast. She had no idea what was happening and what she should do. "HELP! NO! LET ME GO!" she screamed in panic and looked into the darkness with wide eyes. At the same moment, she saw a tall, broad man grinning at her through the darkness. That grin looked dangerous, threatening and unpredictable and Aurelie's panic gripped her whole body. "Relax, sweetheart," the strange man said in a menacing voice and laughed derisively. His laugh was as echoing and dangerous as that of a murderer in a horror movie and Aurelie looked at him in fear. Suddenly the man squeezed her into a corner from which she was unable to free herself. His grip was so tight and Aurelie was trapped. She was about to fall over if her heart continued to pound so crazily against her chest. The fear and the feeling that she was completely helpless overwhelmed her. "What do you want from me? Let me go right now!" Aurelie screamed, breathing furiously. But the stranger stopped talking to her. She went red in the face and the man felt fantastic. He held her with both wrists with his ice-cold hands so that she couldn't fight back. "What is this guy doing to me, what does he want?" Aurelie thought in fear and continued to scream. At some point she ran out of strength and her pulse continued to rise. All at once, she felt a damp cloth on her face and she became weaker. "What ... what do you want from ... me?" she wanted to know a second time, but her strength was fading. Her legs became like jelly, and she could barely hold herself up. Everything was spinning and all she could hear was the black figure announcing: "You and me, darling, we're both having fun now." Aurelie understood exactly what the man wanted and was startled. He kissed her on the neck and ripped open her jacket. Aurelie didn't know what was happening to her, but she was aware that she didn't want this. Suddenly he fumbled around under her sweater, tore the wool and kissed her between her breasts. "I don't want this!" she cried, feeling as if she had landed in a nightmare come true. "Oh be quiet!" the man cursed and only held her by one wrist. Aurelie didn't see what he was doing and cried. The creep had a great feeling. He had a helpless girl in his power and had drugged her so that she could no longer defend herself. But Aurelie didn't want any of this and it was becoming increasingly clear to her. Her breath caught in her throat, but she summoned the last of her strength to make it clear to him that this was against her will. She couldn't allow a criminal to use her and her body for his perverted purposes! He kept kissing her neck, stomach or chest and Aurelie croaked weakly: "I told you to leave me alone!" Then she kicked him between the legs with the last of her strength to put him out of action. Earlier, when he had only been holding her by one wrist, he had pulled his pants down, and now she hit him right where it sent him sinking to the floor with a loud scream. "AH!" he groaned in pain and released his restraining grip. "You'll regret this! Wait a minute!" he threatened angrily and limped towards her again. But before the injured man had the chance to take her back into his grip, Aurelie fled. She was completely distraught and disoriented, but she knew that she had to and wanted to run home immediately. She had to get to safety! Aurelie jumped out of the bushes and squeezed her jacket over her half-naked torso so she wouldn't freeze. She ran frantically back to her house, but she felt that her legs had no strength left and that her head was pounding. Her tear ducts were also pumping like crazy and she cried as she tried to get to safety. Her tormentor was no longer chasing her, as she had injured him perfectly, but he was very angry. He was kneeling in the bushes, still screaming loud enough for her to hear him. Everything inside him was boiling and he wanted to beat Aurelie up right then and there, but she was a safe and far distance away from him. "YOU BITCH!" was the last thing she heard from him, but she continued to cry and finally arrived at her house. Her whole body was running on adrenaline and that had given her the final push she needed to escape. The panicked girl fumbled around in her jacket pocket, looking for the key in complete disarray. She was still crying and felt so bad. She finally found the key, but it fell to the floor and clanged. Aurelie banged on the door and called for help. "Ow... open it... PLEASE!" She looked in vain to see where the key had fallen, but luckily someone opened the door for her. She was running out of breath and just as her mother Dominique Reaugardier opened it, she collapsed in front of her. Her eyes turned into a dizzy spinning top and Aurelie's strength left her. "Hey, what's wrong Aurelie, have you forgotten something, you..." her mother began, but her youngest child lost consciousness faster than she could speak. Dominique was startled and crouched down next to her daughter, who had fallen into her arms. "OH GOD! TREASURE! Hey, wake up! FRANÇOIS! COME QUICKLY!" she ordered, panicking. She shook Aurelie to no avail and her heartbeat accelerated out of sheer fear for her poor daughter. Finally, her husband arrived and called an ambulance without thinking twice. "Dominique, what's wrong, darling?" he asked calmly and became just as panicked as she was when he saw his motionless daughter. "ACH YOU ... What's happened to her?" "I have no idea but call an ambulance right now!" the mother of three urged him loudly and François nodded obediently. "Yeah yeah ... sure!" He quickly dashed into the kitchen, grabbed his cell phone and then returned to his family. He quickly typed the number into the cell phone, and it rang at the other end of the line. "Hello, emergency call center, what can I do for you?" asked the man on the phone, and the father of the family, upset, told him what had happened to his daughter. "Hello, this is François Reaugardier, we need an ambulance here immediately. My daughter ... she arrived here and collapsed in the doorway. She's breathing, but she's not moving. We need urgent help here!" "Please calm down. Where are you?" the man asked calmly, and this calm only frightened Aurelie's father even more. "We're at 34 Rue du Jour. Please come quickly!" he begged him and the man gave further instructions. "All right. Put your daughter in the recovery position. We'll send a car and be with you soon," he announced and François nodded frantically while he told Dominique what to do with hand signals. "See you soon and thank you," he replied and hung up. Dominique put Aurelie in the recovery position and her husband gently stroked his daughter's hair. "Are you coming?" Dominique asked in a sad voice and looked hopefully at François. She was extremely worried and he confirmed her question with a serious nod. "What's happened to her?" she wailed and François gently stroked her back to calm his lover down a little. However, his care was of no avail. "I have no idea, but something really stinks here. Just look at her. Her clothes are ruined, she's only wearing a bra under her jacket, her hair is disheveled and ... she has bruises everywhere," he listed and got a bad feeling. "I don't think she got to Leona," Dominique cried, wiping a few tears from her face. She didn't want to think about it, but the sight of Aurelie evoked her deepest fears. "You mean that someone has ..." François couldn't get any further because he was lost for words. He swallowed and Dominique nodded to confirm his assumption. Shocked, he looked at his unconscious daughter and sobbed: "My poor Aurelie."

Chapter 2

Half an hour had now passed and Aurelie had been picked up by ambulance. Her mother was in the car with her and her father had followed. But now the worried parents were sitting in the waiting area of the hospital and it was past eight o'clock. They were both half-mad with fear, as they had only seen their daughter being driven into the treatment room and didn't know what had happened to her or why she had lost consciousness. François paced up and down excitedly and Dominique tried to calm him down, unfortunately with little success. He was tormented by feelings of guilt and reproached himself greatly, imagining what had happened to his poor daughter. "If I hadn't let her go, none of this would have happened, but no, I had to argue with my brother on the phone! I'm so..." Dominique stood up and interrupted his accusations. "You're not responsible for this happening. It's nobody's fault and we don't even know what exactly happened. Please calm down a little, François. I know it's difficult for you, but please try,' Dominique admonished him in a calm voice and gently stroked his cheek. She felt the stubble of his gray beard and tried to smile to reassure him, but she was far too excited herself and had to make an effort to hide it. "All right," he agreed and sat down with her on one of thechairs in the emergency room waiting area. The silence was quickly ended, however, when Dominique's cell phone buzzed and Aurelie's friend Leona called. "It's Leona," Aurelie's mother remarked, looking at the screen of her cell phone, "she's probably worried because Aurelie hasn't arrived." "Understandable," grumbled François and Dominique didn't think twice about whether she should take the call or not. First, she texted her other daughter Amelie to tell her that they were in hospital and then she answered the phone. After all, Aurelie had originally arranged to meet her and Leona was already very worried about her friend. So Dominique had to tell her about everything! "Yes hello, this is Dominique," she greeted Aurelie's friend and she didn't even get the chance to return the greeting. Instead, she made her concern for Aurelie immediately apparent. "Do you know where Aurelie is? She wanted to be with me over an hour ago and normally she's only half an hour late if the metro doesn't work out. But not a whole hour! I've already called Marie and asked if she knows anything, but she couldn't give me an answer either. She's with me now and I've also tried Aurelie herself, but it only went to voicemail and there was no one at her house either. I'm really worried about her!" Leona said anxiously and everything inside her screamed for answers because she hated it when she didn't know anything about her friend or something strange happened. "Please calm down first. So Marie is with you now?" Dominique checked first, so as not to duplicate what had just happened and to make sure she hadn't misheard Leona's excited report. "Yes," Leona replied dryly and Marie's voice rang through the receiver. "Hello, Mrs. Reaugardier. Do you know anything?" Marie wanted to know and after confirming that both of her daughter's friends were on the other end of the line, Dominique mumbled a kind of yes. "Aurelie, my husband and I are at the hospital. She collapsed in front of us and everything looked as if someone has tampered with her. But please stay calm and at home before something else happens to you. Come by tomorrow, but please not today. Everything here is stressful enough as it is," she summed it up and her husband just nodded beside her. "Will you do me a favor, please?" It wasn't easy for Dominique to tell the girls about Aurelie's terrible experience, but they deserved the truth and should definitely follow her advice and her request. They should not walk alone through the dark and put themselves in danger. "Oh my God," Leona stammered and Marie was just as shocked. Their breath was taken away at this moment of truth. They could hardly believe what Dominique had just told them. "How could this have happened? And how is she?" she wanted to know and Leona was already feeling guilty, just like Aurelie's father. She thought that none of this would have happened if she had met Aurelie on the way. She felt like a bad friend who hadn't been there for her friend when she needed her. "I'm afraid we don't know anything yet. Aurelie is still being examined, but please stay where you are and ... Adrien! You can't tell him anything yet either. He would also come here immediately," Dominique remembered and she hoped that the two young women would listen to her in order to avoid any more turmoil and to tell them clearly once again what they should and shouldn't do in order not to spread this misery any further. "We'll do as you say," Marie replied seriously, preferring to listen to her friend's mother, as she was right and it was the best way forward for now, as long as they didn't know anything more specific. Leona added the rest of her sentence directly. "But tomorrow morning we'll come to the hospital as early as possible to check on her and we'll let poor Adrien know too. I'm sure he'll feel terrible when he finds out what might have happened to Aurelie...", Leona realized, thinking of Adrien. He of all people, who always wanted his girlfriend to want for nothing or to feel bad in any way, would fall into a deep hole of guilt and fear if he was told what might have happened. "Yes, I know, but don't come to the hospital in Rue d'Esme until tomorrow around eight o'clock," the mother of three reiterated and just as she was finishing her speech, a doctor appeared in the hallway. "Girls, I have to call it a night. The doctor is here now." "That's all right," said the two sixteen-year-olds and Dominique Reaugardier quickly hung up so that she could concentrate on the tall, slim doctor with the short fiery red hair. She was wearing square glasses and was now standing right in front of the two parents, who finally no longer had to wait. "Good evening, Madame and Monsieur Reaugardier. I am Cecile Beaumont, the doctor treating your daughter Aurelie. We have now examined her and she is stable so far. There is no longer any cause for concern as far as her physical condition is concerned," the doctor explained and Dominique and François breathed a sigh of relief until she continued her diagnosis. "However, based on her appearance when she was admitted, we did a gynecological examination and discovered a few special details." "What?" asked François, standing up again. "What happened to her?" Dominique also wanted to know and became serious. "Well, we found saliva residue on her neck and between her breasts and the injuries to her wrists also indicate that she was held down by someone. Everything looks as if someone wanted to sexually abuse her," the doctor reported with a heavy heart and Aurelie's parents fell into a deep hole. They didn't want to believe that their suspicions had been confirmed, but they were also glad that they now knew what had happened to Aurelie. Nevertheless, the truth hurt like a fresh burn in their parents' hearts. "So someone tried to rape her?" François repeated again for his own understanding and the shock took over his body. The doctor nodded sadly. It wasn't easy for her to tell the worried parents what they had found out, but she had to do it. It was her job and she wasn't allowed to deny or change anything to make it sound better. "Unfortunately, the perpetrator did it very cleverly. He anaesthetized her with a substance that she inhaled, and if you inhale it for a while, you first lose control of your body and then at somepoint you also lose consciousness. That was also the case with Aurelie and she was really lucky that she was able to escape. If she hadn't, she would have fainted on the perpetrator and then she would have been defenceless against him," said the attending doctor, giving the all-clear once again, "but we really didn't find any traces in her private parts and so we can rule out the possibility that the perpetrator made it. Besides, Aurelie is safe now and she's asleep." "I just can't believe what my poor child had to go through. We're going to report this rotten bastard, this scoundrel, this monster, and then he won't get away with it!" François decided angrily, gesticulating wildly with his index finger. He just wanted the man who had tried to harm Aurelie to be punished, and as severely as possible. After all, he hated it when things didn't go the way he wanted them to and when his youngest offspring was doing terribly. "You can do that, of course, and I would have advised you to do so if you hadn't decided to do it now. The police will also arrive tomorrow morning and question your daughter. We wanted her to be able to recover from the shock and for no one to confront her with what happened today. If you check on your daughter now, I would also advise you not to confront her immediately. If she wants to talk on her own, that's fine, but please don't upset her anymore," the doctor advised the two fifty-year-olds calmly and they nodded. "Okay. We'll give it a try. Which room is Aurelie in?" Dominique asked, taking her husband's hand. "Room 104. It's the penultimate room before we go to the fifth floor. Goodbye," said the doctor, saying goodbye and pointing in the direction that led to Aurelie. She then turned around and walked in the opposite direction. "Then let's see our poor child," François urged his wife, scowling at her. Now that he knew what had happened to Aurelie not so long ago, he felt even worse and the guilt gnawed at him. But he was not alone in this, as his loved one was no different. She also looked down at the ground in shock and wondered why something so terrible had to happen to her poor child. Why hadn't she been there when she needed her and why hadn't she driven her to the metro station? Then this whole disaster wouldn't have happened in the first place and Aurelie would now be happily watching movies with Marie and Leona. After François' announcement, they followed Doctor Beaumont's directions and arrived in Aurelie's room. Aurelie lay asleep in the white-covered hospital bed and her parents crept slowly in her direction. They felt like thieves stalking their prey. At the moment, they just didn't want to wake their daughter, but they didn't succeed. As they sat down on the chairs next to the bed, Aurelie opened her eyes and startled. "AH!" she exclaimed, startled and propped herself up on her hands, "Maman, Papa, what are you doing here and where am I anyway? Is that disgusting guy gone?" "Yes, he's gone," Dominique reassured her and Aurelie slowly sank back into bed. But she was still upset and didn't want to talk about what had happened to her. "You're in hospital. When you got home, you were completely exhausted and collapsed," François explained to her and Aurelie opened her eyes. Her father's words instantly reminded her of what had happened a few hours ago and a movie played before her eyes. She breathed quickly and became afraid, even though she was safe. "Aurelie, what's wrong?" her mother asked worriedly, touching her gently on the hand. But that worried her even more and she pulled her hand away. "I ... I ... I'm watching another movie and I'm still scared. But I definitely don't want to talk about it, it ... it was so bad and I don't want to be reminded of it," Aurelie pleaded with her parents, tears rolling from her eyes. Panic, sadness and excitement took up space in her body and she didn't know what to do with these three emotions. "We accept that, but you'll have to talk about it in the morning because we're going to report that bastard. Then he won't be able to assault innocent girls anymore!" François predicted and was in his element. Justice was more than appropriate for him. "What, are the police coming then? I don't want to talk about it!" she told her family excitedly, her desperate look supporting her. Why did they decide something like this over her head? Didn't they understand her situation? "I can understand that all too well, but you have to if you want the guy to be brought to justice," Dominique emphasized and Aurelie only cried even more. Could no one understand her? As soon as she thought about it, everything replayed itself before her eyes and she felt the panic again. She didn't want that, but she didn't want him to get away with it either. "Of course I want him to be punished, but..." Aurelie stopped. It was only at that moment that she remembered Leona and Marie and ... Adrien. "Does Leona even know that I'm not coming anymore? She must be really worried," she suspected and threw the blanket aside. She wanted to get up and leave, but her father held her by the arm so she couldn't run away. "It's all good. Leona knows and will come over tomorrow with Marie," she explained to Dominique and smiled lovingly at her daughter. She slowly calmed down again and sat back on the bed. "And I think it's better if you get some rest. After all, you are weakened and may not be discharged from the clinic until noon tomorrow," François explained, raising his eyebrows. He already knew a bit about hospital discharge times because he had been a long-term patient himself a few years ago. Back then, he had been diagnosed with cancer and had regularly undergone chemotherapy, with repeated bouts of weakness. It had taken him two years to overcome the disease, but he had done it. "It's fine," Aurelie agreed with her father and covered up until she realized that her mother hadn't said anything about Amelie, Younes and Adrien. Did they not know? Yet these three people meant just as much to her as her parents. "And what about Amelie, Adrien and Younes? Do they already know? Do they know I'm here?" she asked, looking at her parents with a frown. "Amelie does, I've sent her a message. Adrien shouldn't find out until tomorrow and Younes will find out from the police. I don't want to confront him directly now. We all know what Younes does when his family is in trouble. He'll make short work of it..." Dominique explained and Aurelie nodded. "I know Younes and Adrien would have come straight away and Adrien ... he would have ... oh, it doesn't matter. I'll try to sleep now," Aurelie decided and snuggled into bed, "please go back home to Amelie. She hates it when she's home alone and on her own." "Can we really leave you alone?" François wanted to make sure, as he didn't want to leave her behind again. Of course, she was safe in the hospital and nothing could happen to her, but she was going through an absolute rollercoaster of emotions and he didn't know whether they should put her through this alone. But Aurelie nodded quickly. "Please go. I want to sleep now and be alone," she admitted and her parents looked at each other and simultaneously came to the conclusion that something was wrong with Aurelie. Usually she never sent her parents away and always wanted them or someone else to be with her when she wasn't feeling well. But now Aurelie just wanted to be alone and not be bothered by them anymore. She knew they meant well, but she couldn't bear their worry. "See you tomorrow then," Dominique and François said goodbye and Aurelie looked at them again. She waved to them and closed her eyes. Her parents left the room and outside the door, François said to his wife: "I have a really bad feeling. There's something wrong with Aurelie." "I know. It seemed to me that she was traumatized," Dominique suspected and looked at François with concern. She wassure of one thing, and that was that Aurelie should be well again as soon as possible and that this traumatic event should not be allowed to control her. "We'll contact a psychologist tomorrow. She will hopefully bring Aurelie's smile back," she decided, and François nodded with conviction. "We'll do that, but for now we're going home," he announced and the two of them left the hospital. They were of course aware that Aurelie wasn't happy now, but they preferred to take the safe route and let Aurelie free herself from her worries. If she didn't want to talk to her parents, she should do so with professional help. Aurelie certainly wouldn't be happy about it, but that was the best thing for the worried parents now.

Chapter 3

The next morning, the program started straight away, and two police officers arrived early at Aurelie's hospital. They arrived at around seven o'clock and they weren't alone. Aurelie's parents and her brother Younes came with them. Aurelie was sitting in her bed eating the last bite of her breakfast when suddenly there was a knock on her door. "Come in!" Aurelie called out and the five people came straight into the room. "Aurelie!" shouted Younes and came running to his youngest sister. He held her hands and immediately wanted to know how she was feeling. "Hello sis, how are you? I heard what happened and I immediately swapped shifts so I could check on you. Is everything okay?" Aurelie smiled tentatively at her brother and released herself from his grip, feeling uncomfortable. Younes’s eyes looked at her with expectation and concern and she quickly gave him an answer. "Hello, I... I'm glad you're here Younes and I feel okay, but I... well, actually I don't feel well at all because yesterday was really bad and so..." Aurelie didn't really know what to say to him because she was still very foggy and the police were worrying her. "Good morning, Mademoiselle Reaugardier, we're from the Paris police and we're here to question you about yesterday's incident. Do you feel up to it?" the taller policeman wanted to know and scrutinized her with a serious look. He was about two meters tall and very stocky