And we're up to Chapter 3... wow, I still have a long way to go. Anyway, a million thanx to all you amazing reviewers! This is the chappy where Alyssa finds herself in Erik's lair... hmmm... well, let's not keep you waiting. On with the chapter...
Oh, and thanx to my betas: Belacani On The Rez, xxXGoddessXofXdeadXloveXxx, and, I'm happy to say, my friend Dani who has finally gotten a fanfiction name (she probably won't post anything, though), myshorty!
Disclaimer: Still don't own PotO... I'll let you know when I do, okay? Talk to you in the next million years when they invent real time travel!
Alyssa groaned in her sleep and groped blindly below her feet for a blanket. Her fingers lightly brushed one, and she pulled it over her head. The was when she noticed something rather odd. The blanket was velvet... and there hadn't been any velvet covers when she'd fallen asleep.
"What the...?" She sat up and opened her eyes. It took a second for them to adjust, but when they did, she almost wished they hadn't.
She wasn''t in her room anymore. In fact, Alyssa had a feeling she wasn't even in her grandmother's house anymore. It looked like she was underground, in some sort of cave or something. Looking around, she saw that it was actually very finely decorated, in a way that she knew her grandmother would appreciate. She may have even thought it to be pretty, is she wasn't in her apprent situation.
Striving to be as silent as possible, Alyssa slid out of the bed, and she realized with a shock that it was her bed! It looked much newer, but other than that was completely identical.
What the hell? Are bird beds like in style now or something? Now utterly confused, Alyssa crept to the cave-like entrance to the room and cautiously peeked out. There was another room beyond it, lit by hundreds of gold candles. She turned her head slightly and almost jumped in surprise.
There was a man moving around the room, seemingly cleaning up. Alyssa realized suddenly with a sickening fear that she must have been... kidnapped, and that that man must have been the one who had taken her.
Oh... my... god. Oh my god. Oh my god! Alyssa ducked behind the wall as the man turned. Panic tore at her heart, but she was determind to not lose her head; she knew that she had to escape and only could if she kept herself calm.
I have to hide. She searched the room, and saw a rich wooden door in the wall. Alyssa walked over to the door and quietly opened it, but was disappointed to find nothing but a small, elegant bathroom with no place to hide.
Desperate by now, she saw that there was a small space between a dresser that was standing by the door and the wall, one that she might be able to squeeze into. Alyssa knelt down and eased her body into the crevise, then sat there to wait for a chance to escape.
Erik sighed once, then knelt down to pick up a candleabra that had been knocked over. His knees felt greatly relieved as he bent them, and he could suddenly feel the exhaustion in his legs and arms. He reluctantly decided that he would clean up only what he'd already started on, and then he would go to sleep.
It was about an hour befor he considered hismelf finished, but at last he straightened up with only one thought in mind: of getting into bed.
He walked up the few steps and into his room, where he began to take off a couple outer layers of clothing. When he was clad in only a thin shirt and pants, Erik prepared for sleep. He lay for a few comfortable minutes in darkness before losing consciousness.
Alyssa waited for one long hour to pass after she heard Erik's breathing become even before crawling out of her hiding place.
Funny... he didn't even wonder where I was. What kind of freak kidnapper is this? She dismissed the thought and concentrated instead on carefully stepping where her feet would make not a sound. It took longer than she thought, but she made it out of the room without waking Erik.
Now that Alyssa had time, she got a good look around the main room. Many of the candles had gone out, but a few remained glowing. Alyssa turned her head and was shocked to see that water covered about half of the ground floor. It really was a cave!
Swiftly Alyssa decided to brave the water. She glanced back at Erik's room once before stepping forward.
The liquid was so icy that Alyssa's very bones seemed to ache after only a couple seconds in the water. No matter how hard she tried to trudge on, she found that she couldn't. She couldn't escape by water.
Frusterated, Alyssa turned quickly around, and in the process she accidentaly knocked over the same candleabra that Erik had set right only hours before. The clatter was louder than she could have ever expected, and she cringed.
Erik awakened instantly, and he stood up from the bed almost faster than the eye could blink. He didn't even bother to get more thoroughly dressed, but hurried out of his room. He stopped short just before entering Alyssa's sight and looked around the corner of his room.
What the hell? Erik blinked to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, and to make sure that he was truly seeing what he thought he was, and still he couldn't believe it. There was... a young girl in his home! And not only that, but the girl had naught but a nightgown covering her (rather slender and lovely, as Erik would soon notice) body.
Slowly and silently, Erik sneaked toward Alyssa. His eyes were focused on her intently, as though he was trying to figure out whather she was an image of his imagination or not.
Suddenly Erik realized that she was real, because he could hear the faint sound of her breath. The shock that that gave him nearly knocked the breath out of his own lungs.
Alyssa felt her neck prickling slightly, and she instinctively turned around. She gasped at the sight of Erik, but had no time to scream before her mind froze and she fell over in a dead faint. Erik caught her a second before she hit the ground. Confused, he picked up her small frame and carried it back to his room. After he set her on the bed, he sat down in an armchair to try and sort out his thoughts.
It looked like he wasn't going to get the sleep that he wanted after all.
Haha so there ya'll go. Another cliffy... hehe, I'm evil. But that's okay. You know why? Because I have Health Insurance! Oh yeah! And I'm eating dried pinapple with sugar... yum. Mmmm... And usually I don't like pinapple, but this dried sweetened stuff... yum! You guys gotta try this!
Anyway, review, Please! I'll post thank-yous on my website, which you can find in my profile. Thankies!