RedDeathLvr, thanks for the review! Well, we'll just have to see how this goes.
icanhearthedrums, I'm always dreaming about Erik's muscular chest... ahhh.
thegeyerguesthoouse, there will be lots of fluffy stuff in the next chapter, so prepare yourself.
Stargazer1364, awwh, thank you for the kind words. I'm glad my work makes you smile!
Sorry about the huge gap betwen updates, however the other fan-fic I've been working on has come to a close. Therefore, I should have more time for this one! Hooray!
Shall we get started?
The next day, rehearsals were cancelled due to a fault in some of the new electrics in the main theater. Lily watched as her sister piled herself hurriedly into a cart and never returned all day. However, she was so busy that she never realised her sister did not come home that night, or the morning after.
Lily woke late the next morning, rehearsals had been cancelled again meaning that everyone had the day off. She padded downstairs to find Nadir stood, clutching his gloves tightly in his hands -looking as if he hadn't slept. Dark rings hung like swollen halos over his deep eyes.
"Ah! Good morning Miss Rivard!" He called suddenly as she seemed to appear in front of him. He was slightly startled, having been staring into space for so long.
"Good morning Mr Kahn... Are you quite alright?" She continued to walk down into the dining room to receive her late breakfast as he trailed behind her, eyes worriedly darting along the floor and his fingers were fussily twitching- like he often did during a performance. Nervous about things going wrong.
Cynthia would usually ease his troubled mind by elbowing him harshly and telling him to calm down because his fussy nature was starting to make her nauseous. However, Cynthia didn't appear to be here. In fact, Lily can't even remember hearing her beloved sister coming home at all last night...
"Wh-where is Cynthia?" Lily asked nervously as she sat at the table. A plate full of hot oats was passed to her in order to warm her up, honey was drizzled along the top to add a little sweetness and a steaming tea-cup was placed next to her.
"That is what I wish to know also. She was supposed to meet me this morning, she promised me she would meet me for tea so we could solve a few of our problems... I waited for three whole hours." The tone of his voice was saddened and cracked with fear of her fate. He looked as if his legs were going to give out. Luckily, Lily managed to offer him a chair just before his legs turned to jelly.
"She left early yesterday morning and I didn't hear her return..." Told Lily to the Persian man as she stared into the tea-cup sick with worry. Anything could have befallen her sister. Though she talked big and had wit as sharp as any blade, she was still disadvantaged and vulnerable. She could have been mugged or kidnapped or worse!
Nadir knew this too, evident by the look of pure woe and helplessness on his face as tea was placed in front of him also. But what good could tea do?
"I can't even call the police to start a search. They told me she must be missing for longer than a day before they spend their men on searching for her. I-I just feel so useless... so helpless." He picked up the tea and despite the fact it was steaming hot, drunk it in one huge swig.
Lily knew the feeling too. The last time this had happened they found her three days later in a dark alley unconscious - she had been mugged and was so shocked and dazed that she couldn't get up. Passersby mistook her for a tramp. They were lucky to find her then, what hope did they have now?
One of the maids came rushing in with a letter in her hand. It was lined in black and had a red wax seal in the shape of a skull in the back, Nadir recognised it immediately and stood dropping his tea-cup whilst tipping his chair. The cup landed with a smash on the floor as the letter was handed to Lily.
The young blonde read the neatly sprawled and talented handwriting, her face at first showed relief then dropped.
"Dear Lily and Nadir, do not worry for Cynthia. She is here, safe with me in my home, well fed and unscathed. She will be safe in my protection and will continue to be in my protection from this day forth, I am sorry Nadir but it is the only way I can go on living. I-" Lily was interrupted by some commotion at the door.
There was some shouting and fretting and wailing. Nadir ran to the noise and so Lily, to find a distraught Cynthia at the door. Tears ran down her face and she had blood on her hands, they led her into the lounge and handed her a hot cup of tea. But she was too in shock to speak, so instead she sat, rocking slightly as Nadir held her.
"It was awful..." She repeated over and over. He knew what this meant, he knew what Erik had shown her, what she had done - but he had to hear it from her. She could no longer bring the tea-cup to her own lips, her hands shook and tea splashed over the white dress she was wearing.
It was strange, Lily never recalled Cynthia ever owning a white dress - Cynthia always suited such macabre colours like: red, purple and black as they matched with her hair and fair skin. Of course Lily did all of her clothes shopping. Had she not become a singer she knew that she would surely be working in a shop like Selfridges.
The dress itself was beautiful! Pristine white, long, frills lining the bottom. The top flowed out slightly, so when she moved it was graceful and elegant with but a single bow on the high chest. There was a black ribbon, silken, tied with such care around her neck.
Her hair was down, looking longer than ever, it swayed past her hips and two tendrils rolled down each shoulder, shiny against the plain background. There were little bells attached to bows either side of her head that jingled when she turned her head even slightly. A rose was in her hand, so very strange it was in colour - blue. The petals had flecks of blood on, the same blood that stained her hands.
Lily was thankful, as the blood wasn't hers. They cleaned her hands and found no wound; but if the blood wasn't hers, whose was it? Who had she been with that day and why had they let something like this happen? Where had se been all night and with whom? Where did she get those clothes and where are the ones she had when she'd left?
A maid led Cynthia upstairs to give her a hot bathe, perhaps to try to soothe her shaken body. Lily had never seen her look so shy, so shut in after all Cynthia was an outspoken kind of person. No matter what was on her mind she would tell all the gory details. A trait uncommonly found in this misogynistic day and age.
Lily watched as Nadir paced. She knew he was nervous and worried, but all of this pacing was making her even more so terrified, she could see why her sister disliked his worrying traits so much. Occasionally he'd stop and run his hands through his hair or slump onto a chair or even mumble something to himself. It was a few hours later that Cynthia actually emerged.
All around her eyes were red, sore with crying. Though Lily had never seen her beloved sister cry before, she knew she often did because her eyes would always look sore, sad and stark. Especially when they were younger and Lily was sill coming to terms with her sisters disability. Whenever it was mentioned she'd run away, then later Lily would see her eyes and feel so ashamed for saying anything.
Cynthia emerged from her room, dressed back in her normal attire, however a little lazier than usual. She was wearing a dark purple skirt without a hoop, a light purple collared shirt, untucked without a corset. Her hair was now tied back in a big yellow ribbon. Yet, she still wore that silken black bow around her neck. She padded slowly down the wooden staircase, her feet making soft sounds without her shoes on. She looked tired.
"Cynthia!" Nadir sprung up from his chair, writhing his hands. He seemed to notice the little black bow too and kept his eyes fixed on it as she walked over.
"What happened Ce-Ce?" Asked Lily as she poured more tea and dismissed the maids for the day. Ignoring them both, she sat down, poured her own tea -a skill she had to practice and was determined to get right- then cleared her throat.
"Well..."
Find out in the next chapter!
