Jeff tapped his fingers slowly on the long metal railing that marked the top of a long spiraling staircase. His light brown eyes darted around the room anxiously, trying to detect any sign of movement around him. He sighed and ran his fingers through his short black hair, trying to take his mind off the man who lay on the other side of the door he stood in front of. Mere moments ago he had been informed that he was needed in the presence of the man who ran all operations in which he worked. It was something that terrified him beyond all possible measure. For, Jeff's boss was not a nice man, nor a civil man by any means, and he was not at all forgiving. He knew of course, that the only reason he could possibly be needed was if he had done something terribly and irreversibly wrong and although Jeff had a suspicion he knew what that was but he would never admit it.
Around him the small, run down building in which he was situated in was almost completely deserted. He would think himself to be the only person present in the room if it wasn't for the dull light coming through the half parted blinds of his boss's office. Jeff couldn't see very far ahead of him as the building was plunged in darkness, something that his boss preferred. Jeff had been working for his boss for quite some time and had become accustomed to the darkness, his eyes had sharpened and he did not feel as lost and frightened as he did when he had first began to work. It was almost as if he was becoming more and more a creature of the night, the darkness was beginning to feel to him a bit like a protective cover, and when that cover was lifted he was intensely aware of everything he was doing, and the fact that what he was doing was wrong.
But however, right from wrong, for him, was no longer distinguishable. He had learned, through the careful guidance of his masters hostile actions, that the concept of right and wrong were merely a matter of opinion. What seemed to be right to one person may been inadvertently evil to next and vise versa. It was a lesson that Jeff was glad to have learned, at first he had been skeptical, his parents clearly telling him what was right from what was wrong. But now, he knew the truth, that the whole concept was merely the world playing more unmerciful tricks on the human mind. It was all propaganda, controlled by the mass media and specially designed organizations to brainwash the human race into doing exactly what they wanted, when they wanted. Such a power was useful, and terribly dangerous if it was given to the wrong person.
But Jeff did not dwell on it. He merely did as he was told and did it right, for the wrath of his superior was not something he liked to provoke. The stories that circulated around his mysterious master were something that he had heard many times and had scarely dared to believe. His co-workers had told him stories of his boss killing a man because he did not do his job to the right standard.
His heart began to beat more rapidly in his chest as he was jarred from his thoughts. The office door in front of him slowly began to swing open, a slow and spine-chilling creep echoing around the entire building. The door stopped to reveal a room plunged in darkness, the small lamp that had been causing light slowly was switched off by a person completely unseen. Jeff found himself looking into a dark room, with no visible person residing in it. But he knew better, he knew that his boss was waiting in the shadows, and although he felt that he would die from taking a single step forward he slowly walked into the room and allowed the darkness to completely consume him.
Jeff fought back the urge to turn around when he heard the door creak again, causing a shiver to run down his spine. A soft click entered his ears and he knew the door was closed. Jeff felt his hand begin to tremble, echoing the fierce beating of his heart. He quickly plunged his hand deep within his jean pocket to hide his fear, for he knew his boss's eye would find it and he would play upon his weaknesses.
No sound entered his ears, all he could hear was the beating of his heart and it was so loud that he wouldn't have been surprised if his master had heard it as well.
"What have you done?" came a sinister angry voice.
Jeff closed his eyes fiercely, for the voice seemed to come from inside his own head. But such a thing was absurd!
"You have disappointed me…" the voice continued, echoing a pleasant sound but edged with a dark anger that almost stopped Jeff's heart, "And from this disappointment I find that I have lost something of great importance, because of this I think it is only fair that I take something of yours. Something that you will dearly miss…"
"No," Jeff said softly, as if the small word could be a prevention.
A soft, sinister chuckle entered in his head, "You have one more chance. But fail me again, and mark my words, you will forever live to regret it."
Following his cryptic message was soft laughter, so disturbing that it scared him but so soft that it intoxicated him. Jeff hated the ugly sound, hated it with every fiber in his being. But it did not stop, the laughter continued, and Jeff's hands clasped fiercely around over his ears trying to block out the noise…
Before everything went completely silent and Jeff was left alone in the darkness.
Christine sat at the long bar table with Meg, a single martini was resting in front of her. A drink she generally did not wish to purchase but she had under Meg's insitance. Meg's eyes traveled over the bar, resting on any man that caught her eye, despite the fact that she had a boyfriend. Christine watched, slightly amused by her friends stereotypical antics.
"Sorry Christine," she said suddenly as she turned back to face her, almost as if it were the first time she noticed her, "What were you saying?"
Christine rolled her eyes, "Not that it matters much now. Forget it."
Meg pouted her lips slightly, "No Christine! I want to hear, I'm sorry, I promise I'll control myself."
Christine rolled her eyes, but her face held a small smile and Meg knew she had won, "Alright. All I said was it's not fair for Raoul to prevent me from seeing friends right? I mean, if I knew someone and wanted to see them but he disapproved…" Christine trailed off, unsure if she should be telling Meg at all. But the haze of alcohol was muddling with her brain and her mind was screaming for some sort of advice, and someone else's take on the situation.
Meg's nose crinkled slightly, "Is Raoul trying to make you stop seeing me Christine?"
Christine's eyes widened, "No! No that's not what I mean at all."
Meg sighed heavily, not looking entirely convinced, "Alright good, because you're not getting rid of me," she paused to take another sip of her drink and Christine allowed her eyes to scan around the murmuring bar, "Raoul is in no position to stop you from seeing friends, he sounds like a controlling bastard to me."
Christine sighed and looked at her hands, "I know, but I just, I don't want to mess this up, our relationship. You know, we haven't even set a date for the wedding yet? I'm not even sure if it's going to happen."
"It's going to happen!" Meg exclaimed, "Don't worry Christine, everything is going to work out. Raoul loves you, you guys are alright now right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Well then there's no reason why you should doubt it. You'll drive yourself insane doing that Christine. Now c'mon, let's have a little fun."
Christine looked up at her enthusiastic friend and found she couldn't keep the smile from spreading across her face.
"And the fun will resume," Meg exclaimed as she slowly stood, "Right after I come back from the bathroom."
Christine laughed lightly to herself and then turned back to the bar, the bartender a man of about her age with black hair smiled at her, "Another one?" he asked, referring to the empty glass in front of her.
Christine considered him for a moment, the sensible part of her knew she could refuse, because she was a rather lightweight when it came to alcohol. But yet, Meg's words kept ringing in her head, and she found herself nodding. "Yes please."
Meg opened the door with much difficulty and walked into the icy air of the morning. It was 4:00am and she was anxious to get to bed. Christine's giggling self was slumped on her shoulder, and she found that she had to support all her weight while trying to get to her car. She hadn't expected Christine to order another drink…and then another. She hadn't known how many she had had when she left her. How long could she have been gone? A whole 10 minutes?
"Meg!" Christine loudly exclaimed suddenly, her speech dreadfully slurred, "Meg, I have a secret for you!"
"That's nice Christine," Meg said dryly, her eyes searching for her car.
"No! Meg…there's a man! A man that Raoul…that Raoul said I couldn't meet…"
Meg could barely make out what she was saying.
"A mask! He was…mask!"
Meg rolled her eyes in irritation as she found finding her car was near impossible. Angrily she readjusted Christine arm around her shoulders and took a few steps to the side.
"I have a secret for you too Christine, You were supposed to be the designated driver tonight…"
"Meg!" she exclaimed loudly, "Meg, do you think that I could see mask again…? If it possible at…at all?"
Meg couldn't understand a word, "Yes…Yes Christine of course."
"Meg, I love you so much, you're so nice to me!" Christine slurred surrounding her friend in a large hug.
Meg stumbled slightly under the weight of her friend and sighed heavily, "Tell me about it." She muttered under her breath.
Meg's eyes snapped upwards as she heard footsteps on the hard pavement, her eyes squinted as she saw two figures slowly making their way towards them. She found they looked oddly framiliar but she couldn't quite make out their faces. Christine was completely oblivious however, and kept talking in the slurred voice.
"Thankyou," she said, "for bringing me…I needed to forget about everything…especially Raoul's parents…I think…I think they kept me from seeing Raoul that night…I think they…"
"Christine…Christine shh…" Meg whispered anxiously in her ear.
"What is it Meg?" Christine said, a little too loudly to be normal. Slowly Christine turned and felt she would faint right on the spot.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. De Chagny," she said slowly.
A/N: Here's chapter 11. Thanks for sticking with this story. I would like to say that I have much more time to write now that certain personal things are out of the way and my updates should be much quicker for awhile. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. S'all I really have to say.
Thanks!
