Chapter 2

"Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer"- Jean de LaFontaine

When Caliban opened his eyes the first morning, he awoke beneath Vanessa Ives' roof, he didn't know where he was at first until suddenly it all came back to him. He felt the electricity as it zoomed through the room, the white gold spark holding an eerie chill. He saw it, the gentle touch of fingertips as they emerged from the water, and then her. In his dream, Vanessa Ives, the woman he'd just met rose from the water to look down at him as his bride. The vision haunted him even as it thrilled him. Caliban didn't know why, but he longed for it to be true even though he had known the woman less then half a day. The worst part was that he wasn't sure why. He couldn't, wouldn't deny that she was beautiful. One of the most, if not thee, most beautiful, enchanting women he had ever set eyes on, but so was the woman that his creator had found. Caliban suspected it was because of the kindness this woman had shown him though she had only known him a short time. He suspected it was because of the darkness that seemed to rest on her shoulders so easily as if it belonged there. All he did know for sure was that she was the most enticing, tender woman who had ever crossed his path. It was because of that that he didn't want to forget his vision from the night before. Rising from the water, surrounded by electricity; his bride. He had to keep reminding himself though that she was not. She was just a kind woman who his creator had convinced to let him into her home.

Caliban liked to think of her as an enigma. Something rare and exquisite in a world that hated beings such as that. When Ms. Ives looked at him, she didn't look at him like she was looking at a monster, but she looked at him as if he was a man just like anyone else. She looked as if she understood him and somehow, he thought she did. Because together they were shunned from the world, a curiosity, but together they could be simply human. Caliban truly believed that as he woke that morning in the first feather bed, he had ever slept in. He laid there picturing her as she arose from the water. He remembered her face, how she had smiled at him in her wane yet wickedly sinister way, her eyes beckoning him to come to her. That image stayed with him as he dressed that day. It stayed as he left the room in which he had slept and didn't leave even as he saw the face of the real woman.

"Come with me" whispered Mr. Poole when he came upon him at the bottom of the stairs, his voice low as if he was leading him to some sort of sanctuary. When Mr. Poole escorted him to the dining room, Caliban was taken aback when he saw her sitting there. She was the picture of elegance, not a hair out of place, her dress as black as the darkness that seemed to cling to her.

Caliban was taken aback when he first saw her. So, few people smiled at him the way she did in that moment. It was like she had been waiting for him. Like he was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen and even as he knew it wasn't true, he liked the thought anyway. When she saw him, Vanessa Ives smiled, and approaching her, Caliban could still picture her as his bride to be. He knew it wouldn't be true, but the thought stayed with him nonetheless especially the longer that smile stayed on her face. That smile was like a hand to his heart. A gentle stroke to the heart that was unfamiliar when compared to the cruel stabbings his heart had been subjected to since the moment he returned to existence. It wasn't forced or done simply as a gesture. Caliban knew it was real, with real feeling, and sincere kindness. He clung to it as if it were a ray of delicate sunshine set to dissolve any minute. The truth was, Caliban came to savior it the way he once savored the sweet oranges they sold at the theatre.

"Come, join me for breakfast" exclaimed Vanessa, looking at him with that smile in her eyes now. Raising a hand, she beckoned to him, letting the smile spread more. The words made him feel warm inside as he approached her before suddenly, he stopped his eyes finding they just wanted to look at her. To take her in. Her, a type of physical miracle that enticed him as he gazed upon her fondly. At first, he didn't move. When he did, the trance was broken all to quickly, and he was moving. His feet were moving on their own to sit next to her and his hands yearned to touch her. To reach out a tender hand to cup her cheek or clasp her hand. He didn't dare act upon it though as he got all the closer to her.

"Thank you, Ms. Ives" Caliban said it as if he was her humble servant willing to worship her at her will, as he sat down next to her at the table, as he did there was quivering within him especially when their eyes met in a clash of two dark eclipses.

"I trust you were comfortable and that everything was to your liking?" whispered Vanessa as Mr. Poole entered the room again. He set a plate down in front of him and left without a word.

"Everything was lovely, thank you" whispered Caliban turning his eyes away from hers, feeling suddenly strange at the kindness she showed him even when speaking to him. As he said it, she touched his hand, making his head jerk until he was looking into her eyes as a spark of electricity like he remembered from his dreams seemed to move between them.

He didn't need to ask her if she'd felt it. Caliban could see the answer in her eyes by the mere way they shined. There was a flicker of that electricity in her eyes. Like a shining streak of silver that flashed there when the two met, like an aftershock. Neither said anything about it though, Vanessa only continued to stare at him, her smile still as genuine, until suddenly she looked away too soon. She only looked at him still with that gentle smile gracing her lips after a moment.

"I'm glad everything was to your liking. I'd like you to consider yourself at home here…if there should be anything you need simply ask" said Vanessa her voice a low tenor that he strained to hear even as it boomed like firecrackers in his ears.

"You have my thanks, Ms. Ives…you don't know what your kindness means to me. The world has never been kind…I'm unaccustomed to such" whispered Caliban looking at her even as he avoided her eyes especially when she grasped his arm as if in silent demand that he look her in the eye.

"You should get used to such treatment, for as long as your stay here lasts, for as long as you are my friend, I will see to it that the world treats you kindly" whispered Vanessa, they looked into each other's eyes again, and that spark was there once more.

This spark was different. Fleeting, with a low buzz like existence that shook him. This woman shook him as he looked at her in all her brilliance. He suddenly knew that he would never meet another like her, and Caliban found he didn't want to as he gazed at her with such reverence. She was extraordinary. He hoped she knew that as he looked on her some more. It stayed there until Ms. Ives drew her hand away. Everything was silent as they ate until they had finished, only then did Mr. Poole appear to clear everything away, then Ms. Ives was smiling at him once more.

"I assume, given your name that you are a fan of Shakespeare?" the way she said it made it seem as if she already knew the answer.

"Yes…a friend named me after one of his creations, I've preferred the name ever since. I enjoy anything I can read, really, the written word has always been my unjudging friend" whispered Caliban his words becoming warm like fresh baked scones. They contained a sudden vigor that seemed to radiate off him. They produced in him the first genuine smile Vanessa would ever see from him. As she saw it, Vanessa cherished that smile as much as the glow she saw in his eyes.

"Good, then my surprise should give you much joy. Come with me" exclaimed Vanessa sharing that brilliant smile with him. She touched his hand for the second time that day. It elicited that spark, somehow stronger than the time before, and this time she gasped as she felt it. Her mouth turned up in an O of astonishment that turned into a smile soon enough.

"Come quickly, I can't wait to show you" whispered Vanessa as they rose from the table, her hand seeking his to lead him the spark developing a steady rhythm in their veins. As he followed her, Caliban felt the slow beat of his heart increase. He savored that feeling as she led him a familiarity somehow in the movement. Because to walk by her side felt right. As if it was destined by the gods. It felt even more righteous to hold her hand in his. To cradle her fingers in a sign of pure solidarity. Caliban cherished that too as he walked by her side. When they came to stop in front of a closed oaken door, Vanessa turned to look up into his face, her smile somehow becoming more brilliant.

"I want you to feel at home here…I hope you will come and go as you please and that you will come to see me as your friend. As someone you can trust" whispered Vanessa as she opened the door revealing more books then he'd ever thought to read in his lifetime.

"This room has been sorely neglected as of late, but I know you'll give it the attention it deserves" exclaimed Vanessa upon entering the room, standing as if on bated breath, waiting for his reaction as she unveiled to him her homes library. She didn't say anything more. She simply watched him as he looked upon the room with a cool, anticipatory gaze. The look on his face held awe. It gave her pleasure to be able to put it on his face.

"Ms. Ives…I've never before seen so many books. I thank you, for making them available to me" exclaimed Caliban, turning to look at her. In that moment, he was once again taken aback by just how beautiful she was, especially when she smiled.

"It is my pleasure" whispered Vanessa, as she said it, he remembered his dream. He wished she was meant to be his bride in that moment.