A great big hug and a thank you to everyone who reviewed! A quick death to anyone who didnt... and I'll find out who you are. Nah, I'm just kidding. Luv ya whether you reviewed or not. You're all awesome! I'll do individual thank yous on my xanga homepage, which you can find in my profile. Thank you and enjoy the chappy!
Disclaimer: I don't own PotO, get it? I also don't own Black Beauty. Only Alyssa, her grandmother, her mother, Dani (...Well, no, I guess my friend kinda owns her), and her little brother.
"Nick, it's a bird," Ally corrected with a groan, gently shoving her younger brother. "My bed is shaped like a bird. B-I-R-D." Nick laughed and gave her small push as well, and Alyssa giggled and affectionately ruffled his hair. It was moments like this that she loved, when she could just be herself, say whatever she wanted, and simply mess around with the people she loved, but the pair were forced to quiet down as they neared the dining hall.
The doors opened with the barest creaking sound (which was impressive considering their size), and both Alyssa and Nick took their seats opposite each other at the table. They were joined by their mother and grandmother within a minute, and before long everyone was busy eating.
"Mommy, did you see 'Lyssa's bed?" Nick asked incredulously a few minutes later, his words thick with mashed potatoes. His mother smiled and was about to answer when his grandmother interrupted.
"Nicholas, what have I told you countless times before? Swallow your food, then speak!" scolded the old woman. "And your sister's name is "Alyssa." I thought you would have realized that by now."
Unnoticed by anyone, Alyssa clenched her fist underneath the table. She abhorred the way her grandmother said her name. Her brother's way (to her, at least) was much more preferable. She would rather hear "'Lyssa" any day. The way her grandmother said it made it sound like "Alissia" with a really bad fake accent.
"Mother I was actually curious about Alyssa's bed. Where did you get it?" Alyssa could tell that her mother was trying to divert her grandmother's attention from Nick.
A smile graced the old woman's face. "Oh isn't it a lovely piece of furniture? I got it from your brother, Katherine. He gave it to me -Oh, it was years ago. When I first moved here, actually. It's over one hundred years old. Pity I never had any decor that matched it -before Alyssa's room, I mean- so I was forced to put it in storage before I could use it. I decided finally that such a beautiful antique deserved to be where people could see it, so I put it in Alyssa's room. Such a lovely antique." Alyssa gave her grandmother a fake grin, feeling her stomach twist slightly. Her bed was a hundred years old? Who the hell knew who could have slept in it?
Alyssa's mother smiled as well. "Yes, it is very pretty." There was a long pause as everyone continued eating, and the only sounds were the soft clatters of knives and forks.
As usual, Alyssa was the first one finished. "May I please be excused?" she asked, looking to her mother for the answer. After she got the expected nod, she politely thanked her grandmother and walked out into the hallway. She had to stifle a yawn as she strode toward her room, and found herself actually anticipating going to sleep, which was rare.
Once she was in her new room, Alyssa quickly undressed. It was a rather hot night, so she threw aside the sweatpants that she usually wore to bed. As she searched through the drawers in one of her dressers, she came upon a small, light pink nightgown in one of them.
Well, it would be a different experience, Alyssa thought as she pulled the nightgown over her head. It was a bit thin, and didn't even cover her knees, but it was deliciously cool, and she decided to wear it. She turned out the lights and slid into bed. Slowly she pulled the covers up to her shoulder, then reached over and grabbed the book she always read before falling asleep and fetched the small flashlight from beside it.
"'It must be Black Beauty! Why, Beauty! Beauty! do you know me! little Joe Green, that almost killed you?" Alyssa read, and even then her eyelids became almost unbearably heavily. Reluctantly she shut the book and placed it back where it had been. Her eyes slid shut as she sighed and let sleep claim her.
Erik used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. He had been cleaning endlessly all day, and now, though he still had a way to go, his progress was at last noticeable.
He was just picking up some of his compositions that had fallen on the floor when something glittered on the ground next to them. Curious, Erik reached down and grabbed it between his fingers; he immediately regretted doing so when he recognized what it was. It was the small silver ring he'd gotten Christine.
Before he could do anything about it, a solitary tear dripped from his left eye. Erik instantly went into a silent rage, and he drew his arm back as though to throw the ring into the water. Luckily, he stopped himself just in time. Instead, he began to break down and started to cry, holding the ring tightly in his fist.
"Why, God? Why must you torture me so? Only once in my life have I ever gotten what I wanted, and even now the memory of the kiss haunts me. But you know what I really want. I want someone who could truly love me for who I am, despite the horrible face that you cursed me with. Why is that seemingly so much to ask for? I just want one person to love me!"
Then suddenly, as fate would have it, something miraculous began to happen. If someone -say, Alyssa's mother- was to have opened the door to Alyssa's room, sat beside her body on the bed, and studied her figure closely, then would have noticed a very strange thing. The body seemed to be... fading from the bed. And if Erik had bothered to check the bed in his room, he may have realized that the ghostly outline of a body was slowly appearing on it...
Wow... looking over that chappy, I see that it was really, really short. Sorry about that, ya'll. I'll give you a really, really quick update to make up for it, eh? What say you? (Aragorn moment there, sorry). Anyway, indivudual thank yous on my homepage, and... oh yeah. Review, please!