Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait guys. School started on August 8th this year, and along with it came a bad case of Writer's Block.
This chapter is dedicated to Satoshi, the Jolly Hat, and Hotaru. You guys are awesome, and hilarious!
Again, many thanks to my amazing reviewers, my beta (Random Battlecry), and last, but certainly not least, my main supporter, Amey.
It took me only ten minutes of the allotted thirty to wash up. While waiting for Erik to come and escort me to where ever his dining room was, I started looking through the parcels on the bed.
One contained a clock, for which I was grateful. It was impossible to see what time of day it was down here. I would have to ask Erik to set it for me. Another contained a mirror, which I immediately placed in my bathroom. One of the remaining packages was rather small, so I opened it up, curious. Inside I discovered makeup; and not just any makeup, either. This was makeup perfectly suited to my complexion and tastes. It gave me a cold shiver up my spine. Erik must be paying attention to each and everything I do if he caught on to what kind of makeup I buy.
The next package held a beautiful vase, and the last of the packages, wrapped around with a black ribbon with a single red rose through it, held a box of chocolates.
I grinned stupidly. It has been said that you can buy your way into a woman's heart. I don't believe that's entirely true; but, I think, you can get a considerable way inside a woman's heart in that manner.
I stashed the chocolates on one of the empty shelves on my bookcase and filled the vase with water from the fountain, placing my rose in it. The vase I set on top of my bookshelf.
As I thoughtfully positioned it there, I heard three polite raps on the door.
"Come in," I called out, and got off of the chair I had drawn up to the bookcase to reach the top.
Erik entered, and I noticed that he had put a pair of black leather gloves back on. Other than that, nothing about his appearance had altered.
"Good afternoon my dear." The endearment made my cheeks darken a few shades, though not many. It had been so long since a male had called me anything other than "Christine." Though Mrs. Valerius still calls me "Little One" when I visit her.
"And to you as well, Erik," I replied politely.
Erik offered me his arm, which I took. I was grateful that he didn't offer me his hand, still being in shock from the last time, and not eager to repeat the experience. And I don't think I could bear to hear Erik beg for me to forgive him for a transgression that he had no control over.
We walked down several hallways in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't entirely comfortable either.
We entered a room that was obviously the dining room without our silence being broken. I wasn't sure what to say to such a man. Especially after my unseemly eruption earlier.
The room's walls were painted a dark golden color. All the furniture in the room was make of a wood that was similar in color to mahogany, though I have no idea if that was actually what it was made of, having little knowledge of wood types. And with Erik in black, the room was decidedly dark. My white hoodie stood out like a sore thumb.
There was a medium sized table in the middle of the room. Two places were set on the table, facing directly across from each other.
I sat down in the one closest to the door, and Erik sat down momentarily across from me, before jumping up.
"Forgive me, my dear! I have forgotten the food. It's been so long since I've dined with another human being that I have forgotten the most important thing. You see, when not in civilized company I usually only eat once a week at the most." I felt my eyes widen at the comment. Once a week! No wonder he was so thin. "But I know you must be accustomed to less…eccentric eating habits."
Erik hustled out of the room through a door on the wall closest to his seat. In mere seconds he came back through the door, pushing a silver cart with several covered dishes in front of him.
He stopped so the side of the table, where both of us could reach it in ease. As he sat back down he spoke again. "Enjoy."
Before reaching out to uncover one of the plates, I bowed my head and said grace. When I looked back up, Erik was giving me a peculiar look. But it was gone so fast I wondered if I had imagined it.
Uncovering one of the dishes I discovered several prawns, a chicken wing, and a chicken breast.
I loaded the plate onto mine, noticing that Erik took nothing. Deciding to ignore this, I made polite conversation about nothing in particular.
While I was cutting up the chicken breast, we fell silent. I blurted out the words that had haunted my subconscious all morning.
"When are you planning on letting me go?"
Erik's eye's looked around wildly for a moment, and then rested on me. The look of pain in his eyes warned me of the answer before I got it.
"Christine, if I let you go, you would never return to me. You can never leave this place."
At this announcement I felt the color drain out of my face. Stay here…forever? With Erik?
Then the anger came. How dare Erik take control of my life! I highly valued my freedom, and I wasn't about to let some prideful, masked madman take it away from me. I lunged at him across the table, decidedly making it clear that I did not wish to stay underground any longer. For a few brief seconds, I felt capable of killing him.
I didn't realize the knife I had been cutting the chicken with was still in my hand until it met with the mask.
Review Replies:
Hari: Thanks for being such a great reviewer! You have no idea how much your reviews mean to me.
Monj: I'm glad you like it! Was the dinner eventful enough for you?
Ahomelesspirate: Let me think…nifty nickname…How do you like Mel? I got it right out of your penname.
I'm so glad you think I'm doing an okay job at writing Erik's mood swings. Keeping Erik in character is one of the hardest things. Christine on occasion, but Erik is always being difficult.
Tink: You might have to wait a while for E/Cness. The first part of my story, which should be quite long, isn't very Erik friendly. There is a whole lot of R/C fluff planned. But there is a tiny bit of E/C fluffyness planned. And then it just turns into an angst fest for a bit, with no fluff.
Anne: You made my day with that review! I wasn't even planning the smile when I went into the chapter. When I read over my work, I didn't even remember writing that part. It just sort of…happened.
Amey: My clone! You reviewed! I'm so happy!