After she heard the sound of the door closing at the top of the stairs Elizabeth collapsed onto the bottom step, her head in her hands.
What should she do?
Victor looked angry and it had frightened her slightly to feel such hate pouring from him. What would he do if she were to help the creature?
Biting her lip, she remembered what she had told herself; that the creature was a guest in her house and therefore she was in charge of his comfort.
He now laid silently, head turned towards her, his pleading eyes boring into her begging for answers, and Elizabeth could not ignore his plea. Pulling out the ring of keys she began walking towards the bars.
Gripping the keys tightly, never taking her eyes off the creature as he did her, she opened the barred door with the first of the smaller keys and after walking in she closed it behind her locking it once more.
Thoughts of William began swimming through her head. The man was here, chained for a reason for he had killed her dear brother. He might secretly be the evil being Victor claimed him to be.
But…
Holding onto the bars she saw that the creature now lay with his eyes closed, as if trying to hide coming tears.
He wasn't evil, she confirmed. He couldn't be. How could a monster cry and have regrets?
It seemed all he asked for was a little mercy from the man who forcibly brought him back into this world and left him to the cruelties of men.
The woman moved to sit on the floor less than a foot away from the creature. His eyes were now closed and he appeared as if one asleep. What could he be thinking?
Seeing a stray lock of hair, Elizabeth could not help her compulsion to gently pick it up and move it aside. The creature's eyes snapped open in response in reaction while his body involuntarily cringed completely from her touch, the sounds of chains filling the air.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she said quietly as if speaking to a frightened animal. The torture he must have endured must still lay heavy on his mind.
Slowly she moved her hands closer to him and carefully removed the gag. He laid still, tense, not daring to look at her but finding the dingy ceiling to be a preferable sight. But after a while he finally spoke, noticing that the woman seemed determined to stay.
"I will not harm anyone else, you know. I know my strength and have been shown some mercy. So why?" he asked seemingly more to himself than anything else.
But Elizabeth found herself answering.
"Victor finds it necessary for the safety of the household. I think you don't deserve this but this isn't much I can do except make your time here a little more comfortable. I prepared the cell behind this wall for you the best I could so you might feel less of a prisoner. If you cooperate I can help you to it."
"Of course-Thank you," said the man gratefully.
The woman started to undo the locks one by one while the creature sat silently until she finished. It was then she heard his soft voice once more.
"Thank you for your pity."
"Do you think you can walk at all?" asked the woman ignoring his statement.
"I can try."
The woman moved side by side with the creature and pulled his arm across her shoulders as to help him get up.
"We need only get through the door, so feel free to use me as your support " she said noticing how stiff he became at the close contact, but did not resist letting her help him stand using both her and the wall to walk towards the door bit by bit.
Once through the door Elizabeth found herself to be his sole support as they made their way the short distance to the bed, which they both sat on exhausted.
The man looked at the desk and chair in the nook and then to the bed he now sat on.
"I hope you like it though it isn't much. If you need or want anything else I will try my hardest to get it for you."
"Your kindness is more than enough-more then I deserve but thank you."
The woman smiled warmly satisfaction filling her. She wished she could stay and speak with him some but remembered who waited for her.
"Victor is waiting for me but I'll come back later with something to eat," she said getting up and starting to walk towards the door.
When she got there she stopped and turned saying,
"I am truly sorry you have to stay here but hopefully after my husband's satisfied that you will be as harmless as you say you are I could bring out to the gardens, which are quite beautiful, or see of you can be moved to a guest room, though there would be restrictions I assume."
"I would love to see them. I wandered in the forests for a time after your husband left me in terror. I'm accustomed to seeing the wind pass through the trees and watching the birds. But a cage such as this prevents such simple pleasures, not like father would understand… perhaps I can survive here with someone as kind as yourself," said the man laying down on the bed watching Elizabeth smile gently as she closed and locked the door behind her.
"I will see what I can do," was the last thing she said before leaving. He felt a little weird with the pillow beneath him and a soft mattress, things he never had the connivance of. But they were something to call his own given by the woman who seemed a guardian angel to him.
As she walked up the stairs, he could have easily thought her the angel returning to heaven, but would visit him though he lived in hell.