Greetings, friends! Thank you for your patience and for not killing me for being so slow in updating! A big hug to all of you who take the time to review—your comments are very much appreciated! This chapter will contain more yummy fluffiness, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and am not making any money from this writing.
Chapter 9: Sweet DreamsThe first thing Sarah noticed when she woke up was the smell of chocolate. The rich, heady aroma of the sweet substance literally permeated the air, and she couldn't help but smile as she stretched cat-like and inhaled deeply. She lay in the warm, cozy bed, reluctant to leave its soft embrace, until the significance of the sweet odor made its way into her sleep-fogged mind. Why am I smelling chocolate? Wait…Silver Ticket…the party at the factory…I met Charlie and Willy…WILLY!
. "Glad to see you back among the living, sweet Sarah." Her eyes flew open and met the amused gaze of the fore-though of chocolate maker, who lay stretched out on his side full length beside her, his head propped up on his left arm as he watched her with a mischievous grin on his pale face. Willy stared at her as if mesmerized, reaching out with a gloved hand to brush a lock of hair away from her face.
For a moment, there was dead silence as the reality of Willy Wonka laying on the bed with her set in; Sarah stared at him, too horrified to speak or move. Then with a startled yelp, she shrank from his tender touch and rolled away, taking herself and the covers onto the floor where she landed with a groan-inspiring thump. Her actions sent Willy rolling in the opposite direction, but fortunately, he had been expecting something of the sort to happen and was not caught unaware. He landed on his feet and moved gracefully around the foot of the bed where Sarah lay struggling to free herself from the cocoon of blankets. He seated himself gracefully on the floor Indian style and rested his chin in his hands as he watched her squirm about.
"Y'know, I've always found my bed to be quite comfortable, but if you prefer to sleep on the floor, I'm sure we can work out a compromise." With an undignified shriek, she half rolled, half crawled underneath the high bed where she curled up, literally panting with terror. So she wants to play hide and seek, hmmm? Well, I'm game…With a grin, Willy stretched out and rolled under the bed until they were once again face to face. Startled by his sudden move, Sarah tried to roll away, only to have her wrist caught in his firm grasp. She lashed out with a closed fist towards his face, only to have her other hand intercepted as Willy shook his head slowly, a mock frown on his face.
"Uh-uh-uh! Didn't anyone ever tell you it wasn't nice to sock your host, especially when said host just happens to have saved your life? You landed me a good one yesterday and you're forgiven, but no more punching the nice vampire in the face, 'kay? It really dampens the mood." He released her right hand and chuckled, casually flicking her nose with one gloved finger. "Kinda romantic in a spooky sort of way under here, isn't it?"
When she tensed and squeezed her eyes shut, Willy heaved and exasperated sigh and reached out with one arm to pull her close. Resting her head in the crook of his right arm, he maintained her hold on her right arm at her waist. He slowly ran his left hand up and down from her shoulder to her hip in a repetitive motion, while at the same time uttering a a soft, soothing, shushing sound. He could feel her trembling, and was dismayed that he was the cause of her fear. He gently ran his fingers down the side of her face and cupped her chin in his hand. "Sarah, please look at me." He said softly, and she flinched as if he was about to strike her. He tried again, lowering his voice a half-octave and putting a bit of his special hypnotic power behind his request. "Sarah, open your eyes and look at me, sweetness. That's my girl!" he murmured as her frightened eyes slowly opened at his command. "There, that wasn't so bad, now was it, hmmm? Relax, girlfriend, I'm not going to bite you….at least not yet anyway. " His chuckle died as her eyes rolled with terror, and for a moment he was afraid she was going to faint on him again. "Sarah, shhhhhhh, my dear, it was a joke." His voice grew serious as he continued. "If I had wanted to harm you, don't you think I would have so by now? You've had a bad shock, and all I want to do is take care of you. I'm not your enemy, Sarah…" He leaned in until his nose was even with hers, and then his lips brushed hers with an almost chaste kiss. "In fact, I'm completely on the other end of the spectrum." His white teeth gleamed in the dim light. "Now, as much as I like dark enclosed spaces, I would rather have this conversation in a little more hospitable setting. If I let go of you, will you come out without trying to beat me to a bloody pulp? I think there's some things we need to talk about."
At her tremulous nod, he released her arm and she scrambled out from under one side of the bed as he came up from the other. He made no sudden moves toward her but instead focused on brushing imaginary flecks of dirt and lint off his velvet coat, giving her a chance to look over her surroundings. She didn't remember a great deal about her previous awakening, other than running toward the door, but something about the area seemed…well…different. Funny…I don't remember the room being this dark before, or as big…
"I took the liberty of having you moved to my room while you slept so I could keep a closer eye on you. It's also quite a bit more comfy than the guest rooms above ground."
Sarah looked up at Willy, a startled expression on her face as she backed away towards the living room portion of Willy's suite. "Are you reading my mind….is that one of your…powers?" Sarah asked, bumping into the leather sofa and plopping down, her shaky legs not wanting to support her any more. "And what do you mean aboveground….do you mean that we're..?"
Willy had followed her into his living area, where he promptly flopped down into his immense purple bean bag chair and pulled out three giant size Everlasting Gobstoppers and began twirling them around with one hand, similar to Jareth's mesmerizing crystal trick in Labyrinth. "Yep, 275 feet down, to be precise. Believe it or not, 85 of the factory is underground. What you see from the street is just a smidgen of my world. It will be my pleasure to show it all to you. Of course, that will take some time, but that's the one thing I have plenty of, my being immortal and all." Willy smirked at the wary look she gave him. "And as for reading minds, I sometimes can hear other people's thoughts when they think them loud enough, and emotions as well. In your case though, I didn't need to---I could tell you didn't recognize the room by the look on your face" Willy stopped twirling the balls and was now juggling them quite rapidly, the tip of his tongue extended as he focused on his task.
Sarah looked over at Willy and favored him with an angry glare. "Will you please stop playing with your balls for a minute and tell me exactly what I am still doing here?" Willy made a strange noise and lost his concentration, sending a pouting look her way as he scrambled to catch the colorful orbs as they flew in different directions. Sarah sighed and shook her head, rising from the couch to pace back and forth in front of the big screen tv, a bit self conscious as she realized she was wearing nothing but a long silk dress shirt. "It's not that I don't appreciate your hospitality, and I'm very grateful that you saved my ass from that freaky Zorro wanna-be. I feel perfectly fine, but if you are worried about me you could just as easily send me to the hospital. I'm sure your insurance would cover it, and I swear to you I won't sue. I mean, it's not your fault that one of your guests turned out to be a horny psychopath."
"You're here because you need time to recover from the attack, and we need to discuss the fact that you know what I am, as well as what we should do about the situation. I'm afraid I can't let you leave until we resolve these issues." Not that I intend to let her leave at all…hopefully before long she won't want to leave me, ever… Willy sat back in the huge sack-like chair, looking perfectly relaxed as he prepared to talk about his undead state.
She turned back toward him, closing her eyes and tipping her head back as she rubbed her arms in a nervous gesture, a fearful yet somewhat sad expression on her face. "I…you don't have to worry about me saying anything to anyone about you being a vampire. It's not like anyone would believe me even if I did tell…they'd declare me certifiable and lock me up in a heartbeat. Maybe they should anyway…maybe I am going mad. Either that or I ate some bad mushrooms or something and just imagined the whole throw the rapist against the wall and rip out his throat scenario."
"Or you could face the truth—that you saw me give that bastard the punishment he rightly deserved for laying hands on my woman." She didn't hear him move but felt a breeze, and when she lowered her head and opened her eyes he was suddenly in front of her, looking down at her with a serious expression. "I may look harmless, Sarah, but I am still a vampire, and I make no excuses for protecting those in my care. I did what I felt was necessary at the time…I'm only sorry that you had to witness such a thing. I am not usually so…" For a moment, Willy seemed to be at a loss for words.
"What….cruel? Violent? Brutal? Vicious? Take your pick…any and all of the above apply. You should have called the police instead of killing him in cold blood." Sarah snapped at him, pushing out of his arms and taking a few steps away before turning back to face him once more. "And since when am I" she raised her arms and using the index and middle fingers of each hand as emphasis ""your" woman? I don't recall exchanging more than a half dozen sentences with you at the party. I never expressed any interest in even dating you, much less sharing your bed or last name, especially after you insult me by practically asking me if I have any experience in the sack, and now all of a sudden I'm your property?" Her fury increased as she saw Willy's serious expression lighten as he broke into a smirking grin, his preternatural eyes almost glowing in the room's subtle lighting. It was then that she recalled her state of undress, and the words she had given the artist came back to bite her in the proverbial ass….
"You saw the tattoo, didn't you?" Arrrrrgggggh…me and my bright ideas…
Her heart sank as his grin widened and he nodded. "Loooocy, I think you got some 'splainin to do." He commented, ala Ricky Ricardo as he approached her in a predatory manner, backing her up and bracing his hands on either side of her shoulders against the big screen tv.
Realizing she couldn't maneuver around him, she looked at the floor as she spoke, refusing to meet his eyes. "It was my way of rebelling; you were never meant to see it, I swear. I was angry at my dad for giving me the third degree about not selling my winning ticket and decided to do something, well, outrageous. So I got the tattoo and took a picture of it and well, um.."
"And ummm? Go on…I'm just dying to hear what was going through your devious little mind." His taunt made her angry, and she gritted her teeth before continuing rapidly.
"I wanted to do something to embarrass my dad, so I wrote a letter to Penthouse Forum, saying that you and I had wild pig sex while covered in marshmallow crème and chocolate syrup during the party, and I signed my name and hometown to it." She gulped and glanced up to see Willy looking at her with his eyebrows raised, his cheeks a bit pinker than they had been a moment before. "I didn't send it." She rushed to assure him.. "Once I cooled down, I knew I would never be brave enough to actually mail it. I came awfully damned close to doing it, though; I can just imagine my dad's reaction to…" Willy cut her off with a kiss.
I gotta stop letting him kiss me like this…The voice of her subconscious was overridden by her body's desire to continue the pleasurable sensations that Willy's close proximity were causing. The kiss was becoming hungry, and Sarah's hands crept up to the back of Willy's neck beneath his silky hair as she held on for dear life. Getting dizzy from the lack of oxygen, she finally broke away, gasping and reeling, unaware of the lovely picture she made with her passion-glazed eyes and kiss-swollen lips.
Willy smirked. "Your brain may say you're not interested in being mine, but your body has been telling me otherwise." He realized a moment later that that was probably not the best comment he could have made at that particular moment as the beauty in his arms turned beast-like in her anger.
"OOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Of all the nerve….Sod off, you obnoxious wanker!" With that she applied her patella to the most tender portion of his anatomy and shoved him aside, heading for the doorway. How he beat her there she didn't know, but as she reached for the doorknob suddenly he was before her, a strange expression that Sarah couldn't read upon his face.
"Now that…that wasn't very nice of you, and once I am able to stand up straight again, I am most likely going to be very, very angry." His voice was very tight, and she noticed that his upper body was still bent over as if he was preparing to heave. "You weren't thinking of going somewhere, were you?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. I'm going to find my way to the surface, wave down a taxi, go home, schedule an appointment to get this damn tattoo removed from my bum, and forget I ever met you!" With that she flung open the door, and stood there dumbfounded as she looked at the 30 foot wide churning chocolate river that swirled in front of her. There was a set of rapids to her far left, and the swiftly moving dark brown flow disappeared into several tunnels in various directions to the right. There was literally no where to run to.
"If you're thinking about going for a swim, I wouldn't recommend it. You'd more than likely get sucked into one of the fudge room intakes chutes, and that would be….unpleasant, to say the least." His voice was calm, and despite his rage moments earlier at her desperate attempt at escape, his arms were gentle as he wrapped himself around her, leaning down to rest his chin on her shoulder. He felt a moment of sorrow as he saw the realization dawn on her that she was virtually trapped in his underground world until he said otherwise, but it was for the best.
"Come and sit down, Sarah….we still haven't finished our talk yet." He felt her reluctance, and tugging gently, he turned her around to face him.
"Talk….what is there left to talk about? I'm the unwilling prisoner of a chocolate making vampire who's god only knows how old and who's holding me deep underground, possibly for nefarious purposes! What's there to say other than I want you to release me and I mean right now?"
"Well, lets see….I'm 138, which is relatively young in vampire years, I'm a Leo, I'm immortal, I enjoy long walks on the beach, in the moonlight of course, I like all most kinds of music, I don't have to eat but I adore Mexican and Chinese food, and I like to use chopsticks. I'm a snappy dresser, I really like chocolate but I think you know that already, I stand 5'10 in bare feet, I'm immortal, I adore crossword puzzles, and I have honorary degrees from 3 universities. I'm tired of being alone, I think you're absolutely the most beautiful woman on the planet and I'd very much like to snog you until you faint, and I am seriously thinking about converting you and making you my wife forever, oh, and did I mention I'm immortal?"
THUD
"Sarah?"
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