Chapter 10

The room was filled with anticipation from all three men. The day was a lot nicer than it's previous and light was beaming in through the windows of Basil's studio. Lord Henry was impatiently standing beside Dorian who had insisted of wearing a yellow scarf of Basil's to cover his eyes as a blindfold before he saw his portrait for the first time; he continued to insist that it made its unveiling feel like more of a surprise and made the whole deal a lot more exciting than it already was. This seemed to be true as Dorian couldn't seem to stand still which kept making the scarf over his eyes slip a little over his nose- this he then giggled at as he put it back into proper place. Basil stood on the other side of Dorian, ready to walk him to the portrait which was positioned in front of them, facing the opposite way so all that any of them could see was the back of the canvas.

"Come on Basil! Enough suspense! We are here now and ready to see Mr Dorian Gray's supposedly marvellous portrait!" Lord Henry huffed.

"Oh just a little longer," Dorian giggled as the scarf, once again slipped over his nostrils, "I'm not ready to see it yet! I want more time to prepare myself... And Basil, this scarf truly does smell delightful!"

Basil blushed and, to cover it up, said, "Oh Dorian you've had a whole day and night to prepare yourself. What are you afraid of? It isn't awful I assure you!"

Lord Henry gave a small chuckle and Dorian playfully hit him on the arm, "I'm not afraid of it looking awful, you are a fine artist Basil. I'm just afraid of what it may turn out to be."

"And what is that?" Basil asked, mildly curious as he took Dorian's arm gently (his heart almost skipping a beat at the chance of being able to touch him so freely) and walked him towards the front of the portrait.

"It's just it might..." Dorian stopped mid sentence as Basil carefully pulled off the blindfold which covered his eyes so he could finally view his portrait.

"Oh Basil..." Dorian sighed, like he were in a dream, "It's..."

"What?" Lord Henry panted with irritation as he strode to where the other men were standing, "I want to see it."

However Lord Henry's reaction was very similar to Dorian's when he too saw the portrait for the first time. The three men gazed at the painting of Dorian, everything was ideal about it. It showed a perfectly postured Dorian with flawless china doll like skin with slightly rosy cheeks and eyes that seemed to glisten from the light of the room they stood in.

A small sob interrupted their gaze and both Basil and Lord Henry turned to Dorian.

"What's the matter, boy?" Lord Henry said slightly amused, "Not good enough for you?"

"No," Dorian replied, wiping his eyes using Basil's yellow scarf, "It's too good! I'm... I'm jealous of it!"

"What do you mean?" Basil asked confused.

"Ah," Lord Henry smiled knowingly, "Envious that this portrait shall stay forever young. Whereas, you, of course, will not?"

Dorian looked up at Lord Henry with aspiration in his beautiful eyes, "Yes! That's exactly what it is!"

Basil looked at them both with curiosity and but mainly worry. What kind of conversations had Harry and Dorian had before while he wasn't in their presence? How much influence did Harry really have over Dorian already? What kind of plan was he fabricating? And why hadn't he, Basil, been able to stop it from happening?

"What do you mean, Dorian?" Basil whispered.

"I mean," Dorian paused, thoughtfully, the sudden rush of emotion from early had disappeared completely and his eyes had gone a frightfully blank as he reached out a finger to touch the plump lips of his portrait.

"You would wish to exchange your soul to remain how you are?" Lord Henry enquired thoroughly interested, "How fascinating."

"I disagree," Basil huffed, a little unnerved about the whole situation, "I don't think we should be discussing such demonic practises such as selling ones soul!"

Lord Henry chuckled, "Of course young Dorian never would!"

A still air stood in the room with the three of them.

"Would you?"

The still air in the room suddenly wrapped itself round Basil's body as Dorian answered in one single, seemingly insignificant word as he slowly turned around to face the pair of them with a new found dark presence in his eyes which shot into Basil a small morsel of pure fear in the depths of his heart...

"Yes."