Chapter Twenty-five
Let Fate Decide
I must say spending time with Meg either in conversation or quiet walks is something I find unexpectedly rewarding. Of course I try to maneuver as many intimate moments as possible but I am equally eager for our less physical exchanges. One would think I'd press my advantage and bed her but I find the anticipation of such an eventuality almost as exciting as the final conquering of Meg will be.
Having learned how sensual Meg is I am continuously fascinated how easily I can bring her to climax with only my hands, lips and voice and all above the waist I might add, for the most part. I allow myself this silent posturing and conceit due to years without either where sexual prowess were concerned, not for want of trying. I dare not sing to her gauging her reaction to these caresses used to fuel a lover's desires. When Meg indicates she wants to give me equal pleasures I use my powers over her body to increase her enjoyment. When we do join I want to burn like an incendiary flame. Having climbed the heights with Meg already I find I want to wait for anything further.
The only disruption in our happiness is Heinrich, he has returned and sent word that Meg should join him in town for lunch today. He is toying with her. I know the signs as I did it for years with every manager entering my opera house. I hate sending Meg out to share that man's company but it must be done. Holding her as she cries tears me up inside. For that alone Heinrich will pay. Meg should not have to shed one more tear on behalf of any uncaring brutish man. I include myself among them. I treated Meg abominably and fail to comprehend how she could feel anything other than contempt for me.
I gave Meg my solemn word I wouldn't follow her into town and risk being seen. More likely she doubts my ability to refrain from strangling the man on sight. Meg is learning how to read and understand my mind more with each passing day.
I pace each of the three hours she is away roaming aimlessly from room to room. One hour to town, one hour with Heinrich and then one hour return trip to slamming of the front door followed by a feminine voice cursing like a drunken sailor signals Meg's return. I am in time to see her rip the gloves from her hands and toss them carelessly onto the hall table. Next comes hatpin and hat. The pin hits the floor with a metalic clink. I pick it up and calmly hand it to Meg. She snatches it from my hand and jabs it ferociously into the innocent hat. I am glad I am not the object of her wrath. That hatpin could be lethal in the right hands.
"That…that animal, that reprobate, he has the unmitigated gall to suppose I will happily pack my bags and help him fleece you of your worldly goods. Is the man so thick, so self-absorbed he hasn't noticed how I despise him and his touch even more so? I have stated my disgust in every way I know how yet he carries on as if I am a confused willful child, not a grown intelligent woman at all," now that the pressure valve on her anger has been loosened the steam of her first outburst begins to fade.
"Well I take it he isn't to be satisfied with a small fortune in trinkets and petty pocket change?" I ask knowing the answer all too well. I expected nothing less.
"I am beginning to feel my objections to his permanent removal were perhaps made in haste. His ego is such that he can't imagine any woman not finding him irresistible. He…he said…well he said some very unflattering things about you. For goodness sake the man smells of hair oil and looks as if he could provide half the city with cooking grease. As for his manners…well let us say they leave a lot to be desired. Having had time to fume and think all the way home about his abysmal behavior I am finding my objection to a harsher punishment to be lessening with each time I must spend a moment in his company. I had to stand on the sidewalk at this late hour flagging down public transport at my own expense mind you as he couldn't be bothered to bring me to my own front door as a gentleman should. He insisted I send the carriage home. I should have known he had evil intentions in mind," the steam is on the rise again.
As entertaining as this is I want to move on to more pertinent subjects such as when my prey will be making an unsanctioned visit to my home. As always I find it easy to soothe Meg with my hands and voice. It isn't long before she is leaning against me breathing calmly with her arms around my waist. It is becoming harder for me to tell if it is my hypnotic talents at play or whether Meg is truly mesmerized by me and my voice, not on a mental level but a physically sensual level. When first I set about using my mesmerizing skills I did not see any complication arising from it as I only used it to heighten our sexual encounters. Being a man I find I want her to respond to me not some suggestion I slip into the soothing nonsense I whisper in her ear.
Will my attraction still exist if I do not speak of anything but business? What woman could find anything in such mundane conversations stimulating? I will test my theory after I rid us of Mr. Heinrich Grueber.
Pushing her away from me I give her a thorough going over. It is my face she centers her attention on capturing me in the amethysts that give her eyes their mystery and allure. Perhaps it is I who am mesmerized and not Meg. All I know for certain is that I will do her biding. I ask her if she is calm enough for us to examine our plan looking for any flaws we may have missed the last fifteen times we discussed what would happen. She is so we retire to the study. I like this room. Several fantasies featuring Meg and I improperly clothed or rather unclothed have featured my desk and the rather overstuffed chair by the windows. Being a tall man I require specially fitted clothing as well as my furniture. Everything I buy is built for two. Did I design everything with my deviant sexual appetites in the back of my mind? I can't say and really it is a moot point. The woman has to be willing to indulge and as yet Meg and I haven't gotten past our initial sexual experience. It is not Meg keeping us at this torturous level but me as I admitted before. I enjoy the titillation.
Point by point I go over the details of our plan. I can't help but notice Meg seems just as mesmerized by me as I speak about the hard dry facts as she was when I whispered naughty suggestions in her ear. Her chin comes to rest on her fisted hands giving me her rapt attention. If I told her the house was burning and we were about to die would it even register? It is a good thing her part is only to deliver the day and time I am supposed to be leaving my house. As a safety precaution I am sending Meg out for a night to visit a gallery that is displaying several works of art by some of the masters. Raoul and Gustave will receive tickets as well. I shall beg off as I have a prior engagement.
Heinrich will show up expecting to find Meg waiting for him like some harem girl waiting for her master. Having made plans to force Meg to help him rid me of my valuables he won't take it in stride that she is going against his wishes to stay on the night of thievery. I can't take a chance he will not honor his word not to harm Meg if he gets what he wants. To steal my possessions will not be enough for him. He will want to hurt me by using Meg as a weapon. I won't allow it.
I'll leave my home empty of occupants so he can have free access to everything. Hiding within my walls I will be able to see him wherever he goes. If he decides to open the safe then he will seal his own fate. Greed will be the judge proclaiming his sentence of death. As far as I am concerned it is a forgone conclusion what will happen. He won't be satisfied until he has taken everything from me. I am so confident of the outcome that earlier this morning just after sunrise I dug the grave that will become Heinrich's resting place although if he is going to hell as I suspect then his death will end in anything but peace.
Meg can't eat a bite of her dinner. I on the other hand eat a robust meal. I am not in the least troubled by what will happen. After all it is in Heinrich's hands if he will walk away a relatively wealthy man or resting forever in a place no one but me will know as his final resting place. I look at this situation the same as I did my traps at the opera house. I warned everyone what could happen if they chose to invade my home. I left it up to then to listen or not. Most did, a few did not. My conscience was clear on the matter of those deaths but I have so many I cannot reconcile with a just reason for taking their lives. Penitence is the only way to give me relief from the possibility I will end up in hell instead of heaven. Everyone I know personally will be beyond me if I should die without making some gesture of retribution for my sins. I am not a religious man or at least I never was before but recent events have brought about the question of what will become of my immortal soul should I die without asking for God's forgiveness. During my life I took turns cursing God followed by declarations he did not exist.
Having people in my life who matter give me a different perspective. Perhaps this mortal plain is not the end but a beginning to a much longer journey. Meg has been to see her priest. All these years I did not know Meg attended church or even that she held any belief in God at all. I know Madame attended every chance she got and look how that ended.
On the night of the big event Raoul sent word he would stop by and pick up Meg so they could attend the gallery opening together. I had already made my excuses. When he arrived it is as well I know of this other woman he is interested in or I couldn't let Meg out the door with him even if Gustave is standing beside them dancing from one foot to another in a hurry for his big night out with the grownups.
Cook and Howard have the night off with compensation in their pockets to pay for a long pleasant visit in the city. Heinrich will find no impediments to taking everything not nailed down. If he is smart he will bring a wagon as many of the paintings and statues adorning my home are of great value historically, artistically and monetarily. There is a considerable amount of cash in my safe but it is a drop in the bucket to what he can lay his hands on in every room of the house. He isn't too intelligent in my opinion. A man with knowledge of who and what I was should know I wouldn't take leaving my possessions out in the open lightly. If he is foolish enough to imagine he has the upper hand that mistake is on his head.
My goodbye kiss for Meg I intended to be sedate and proper but the moment I inhaled her scent it went straight to my head or more accurately far south of there. I must have shocked both Gustave and Raoul for they were silenced into speechlessness.
"Uncle Erik what are you doing to Mademoiselle Giry?" my son's inquisitive nature could be silenced only so long, a few seconds by my estimation.
Straightening away from Meg I brush the sleeves of my jacket, pull at my cuffs then fiddle with my cravat all to give me time to recover my ability to speak normally.
"I suppose this is as good a time as any to inform you Meg and I are…courting?" I hesitate on the last word as so many other inappropriate words sing out inside my head. All of them would shock Meg and Raoul. Gustave wouldn't understand the meaning of some of them.
Raoul looks unsure if he should congratulate us or advise Meg to run as fast as she can for the nearest exit. Eventually he regains his manners to say, "Well I suppose congratulations are in order. Best of luck Erik," he says as he grabs my hand for a firm handshake. "Meg I extend my congratulations to you also." Why does it sound more a question than a statement?
"Uncle Erik does this mean you are getting married? Can I be in the wedding? Have you bought a ring yet? Does that mean you won't have time to play with your experiments? Can I have them?" Gustave is looking at this as an opportunity to acquire my curiosities. How do you tell an eleven year old that those objects witnessed my sinful pleasure with Meg and are therefore bound to me for eternity? I can't. I will just be a selfish uncle unwilling to part with one single possession.
Before I can give my son reason to think I am selfish Raoul reprimands him for being avaricious. It is a small thing but sometimes small things fester and become larger problems. He will be spoiled enough without giving in to his every whim. I only feel slight jealousy to witness Meg on the arm of Raoul as they exit out the front door. I have nothing to fear where they are concerned. I know this for certain as Meg casts me a look that is sure to fire my blood. Have I ever received a come-hither look in my life? Most certainly not, Meg is my first and sure to be my last.
Besides, Gustave will be playing gooseberry and I foresee him asking endless questions about everything leaving the two adults little time to share intimate conversation.
It is good that we are all finding our way to forgiveness. To hold on to such destructive emotions as hate and revenge only gives time to add fuel to the flickering flame. This philosophy is why I will not let Heinrich trouble me one more minute than necessary. He will be dealt with swiftly and permanently then he will be quickly forgotten.
This could be a long night for me so I fortify myself with plenty of drink and food during my long vigil. Heinrich is intelligent enough to watch and wait before entering the house. He must be certain of his privacy. I made certain to be seen leaving riding my own horse. I'll ride out a quarter mile then double back to leave the animal safely in the stable.
Stealthily I move from shadow to shadow just in case my prey is slightly more intelligent than I give him credit for. I enter my home through the side entrance and make my way into one of my passages.
I am nearly at the front of my home when he enters via the front door which he believes Meg left open for him. Little does he know I am the spider and he the fly. I have welcomed him into my web from which there is no escape.
Keeping him in my sights is easy courtesy of my creative remodeling of the space in the walls. So many times he comes near me and I find it harder to ignore the fact that he is touching my things and taking them as if he has a right to them. Let him enjoy his fleeting moment of triumph for in the end I will be the victor. There is a slight wrinkle in the plan as Heinrich brought an accomplice with him. The unknown man is lacking in intelligence or any thoughts that I can see. He is a drone, brought along simply as extra muscle. Likely he would have been eliminated later if Heinrich's plan would have succeeded. Perhaps I shall let the mystery man go without harming him. After all he doesn't know anything about me. All he will have been told is that a robbery would take place.
Just as I suspected Heinrich told his partner Joe to drive the wagon to their meeting place. Now I am willing to let Joe leave without harm but I'll not let him take one item of mine. I must follow him and leave Heinrich to walk through my personal space. Later I may need an exorcism performed as everything will be tainted by his evil touch. I want no remnant of his devilish aura remaining.
Naturally Joe will have to take the drive leading back to the main road. I on the other hand can trot along in a straight line making the distance much shorter. As he passes me I toss my lasso snagging him around his neck. My intent is only to bring him to the ground so I exert just enough pressure that he cannot remove the noose strangling him.
I suppose I do look rather fierce as I swoop in to stand over my prey like an avenging black angel. He can't speak because I have cut off his air supply but his eyes tell it all. He is frightened by the sight of me. With my black mask and billowing black cape I must appear sinister, downright evil in fact. Playing on his belief that I may be some ghostly specter or something sent by God to exact punishment on the wicked I use my most evil sounding voice. Oh the memories this brings back to me. I shouldn't enjoy them so much but I do. It is invigorating to have complete power over another.
"Leave now and I shall forget you have invaded my forest. I am the keeper of the woods bound here by blood. If I kill you here within my realm you will join me. Would you like to join me for eternity in the task of keeping the woods inviolate of interlopers? Join me and we shall return and offer your friend the same choice. Be quick about it. Deny me and you will suffer such torture as you cannot imagine. Leave now and promise never to step foot within my woods and I shall pardon your violation this one time, only this once mind you," I bend down close to his face letting my hot breath blow into his face. I may even smell somewhat like a demon from hell after eating raw onions and spicy sausage links.
His answer is all but a forgone conclusion as I loosen the lasso so he can speak. As soon as he is free of that constriction he peddles backward then scrambles to his feet to head off to anywhere but here. I don't believe this part of the country will ever see poor Joe again, just as well as my heart wasn't in taking his life. Heinrich on the other hand I anticipate meeting face to face. My heart is pumping and pounding to the same rhythm as my fast moving feet. Just about now my prey will be in my study trying to crack the combination on the safe. To make it easier I changed the tumblers so that even a simpleton could get it open. No matter what numbers he chooses the dials will click and open the door giving him the impression he is a skilled safecracker. It is by my skill and wits that he is being lured into my trap. He is a dead man; he just doesn't know it yet. Soon I will acquaint him of that fact and enlighten him just how painful his eventual demise will be.
A/N: What evil lurks in the hearts of men? Poor Heinrich. Just kidding. He'll get what he derserves and we'll all be eating popcorn, clapping and cheering.