Chapter Fourteen: Belonging to Shaw
Erik took a seat next to Charles on the sofa. The room was in itself overwhelming, being very old fashioned. But there was no denying that everything was the best that could be bought. Shaw was sitting opposite them, his eyes never leaving Charles. Erik didn't know whether all of this had been a bad coincidence or if Shaw had been planning this all along. Although he felt nervous and worried for Charles, he couldn't help but be most concerned for Raven right now. The last thing she needed was to be involved with someone like Shaw, especially when Shaw was in love with her brother, to the point of complete obsession.
Charles was like a statue, sat completely frozen. As soon as Raven had stepped out of the room the smile disappeared from Shaw's face and his expression turned darker. Erik felt his heart painfully skip a beat and he realised that he was frightened. He had never been intimidated by anyone before, and certainly not by Shaw, but right now he had the sense that he would lose the fight today. Shaw had a look in his eye that Erik didn't want to challenge unless he had to. There was no way of knowing how either of these two unreadable men would react to one another, neither was particularly predictable, and Erik was acutely aware that he had only ever heard Charles' version of their history.
While Charles was nervous and twitchy, Shaw casually spread his arm along the back of the sofa, and relaxed back into the cushions. He crossed his legs in a lazily fashion and took a deep breath. Erik refused to sit down until he knew the score. He couldn't tell if Charles was trying to keep him at arms length, or if he wanted him to sit beside him for support. Charles wouldn't look at him, and that was doing nothing to calm his nerves.
Was Shaw genuinely attracted to Raven? It wouldn't be surprising; Raven was strikingly beautiful and had a very enthusiastic personality, which couldn't fail to keep someone interested. But then Erik trusted Shaw about as far as he could throw him, and had seen many pretty girls like Raven on his arm over the time he'd known him. The only person Erik had ever heard Shaw mention more than once was Charles, and that hadn't been with much affection. So, was Raven just being used as a way for Shaw to get closer to Charles, to embed himself further into his life? And if that was the case, what was Shaw's aim? Did he want Charles back, or was he going to try and destroy him? Hurt Raven, and out Charles to his family, humiliate him and paint himself as the victim in the story?
There was no way of telling especially as no one was talking, and Charles wouldn't look at anything but the floor. Maybe Charles already knew that was about to come, if he was reading Shaw's mind he'd know exactly what Shaw was doing. Erik felt around the room for potential weapons. There was metal in the lamp base, in the next room was a dining table with a silver candlestick on it. Feeling his power spreading through the room, and returning to him with the slight vibration of the different metals, calmed him and reminded him of his own strength. All that Erik did know, was that the way Shaw was staring at Charles, told him that whatever Shaw felt for Charles was far from over.
Erik felt himself suddenly needing to look around the room. His eyes alighted on the drinks cabinet, although there was no way of telling its function through the solid wooden door. He realised that it wasn't him that had been searching for its contents, but Charles.
"Erik, would you get me a drink?" Charles asked.
Erik was surprised at how steady his voice was in this situation, but remembered how good an actor Charles had been last time they had all met. Erik nodded and found that someone had already decanted the scotch. He kept the measures small and added water into the glasses, since the last thing they needed right now was to end up drunk. He poured Shaw a drink also, since there was little point in being rude. As he handed the drink to Shaw, he caught the threatening look in his eye.
"I knew you were lying to me Lensherr. I knew you had left together, I saw you both on the security cameras. But what I don't know, is how you managed it," Shaw said, his gaze returned to Charles, who' s hand was shaking slightly, only noticeable by the whisky shivering in the glass. "Care to fill me in? There are plenty of blank spaces in here, when it comes to me and you," Shaw tapped the side of his head, indicating a loss of his memory.
Erik took a seat on his own and looked back at Charles once again. So Charles hadn't been completely honest about how often he'd used his powers. Apparently Shaw was fair game when it came to messing with his memory, and Charles had done a cut and shut job on him before. But what was alarming was that Shaw knew something had been done to him, and how close was he to guessing the truth?
"There is something different about you Charles, as much as you are a fucking cock tease, you're something else. You're like me, and what makes you think I would ever let you go?" The way in which Shaw spoke, although the words were not pleasant, held a certain amount of amusement in the tone. As if they were all sharing in a sick joke.
Erik felt himself tense. Shaw knew. OK he might not have put all the pieces together yet, but he knew that Charles wasn't 'human'. Erik couldn't deny that this was partially what made Charles so fascinating, the potential power he had, the way he struggled to justify it to himself and make peace with it. Shaw would destroy him, if he ever found out what Erik knew.
Charles looked so small sat on the large ornate sofa, surrounded by cushions. His eyes were wide and Erik was ashamed of himself, as he realised the slightly frightened look on Charles' face was exciting him. He wished they were alone right now; he wanted Charles to look at him, to be nervous of him, and to let Erik kiss his nervousness away. The thought suddenly disgusted him, because he could see his own lust for Charles written clearly across Shaw's face. Fantasy aside, he never wanted Charles to be scared of him.
"No," Charles whispered after a while. "You never let anyone go… unless you've finished with them."
"You make me sound cruel Charles." Again there was a curve of a smile on Shaw's lips, as if seeing Charles shy away from him was something to be laughed at.
"Aren't you?" Charles challenged him.
Shaw's face darkened again. He leant forward slightly as if to get his point across more clearly. The action made Charles retreat even further.
"Have I ever been cruel to you Charles? You know you were the only one I ever wanted. You still are."
Shaw watched Charles swallow his drink with hungry eyes, following the movement of his throat. Erik considered the fact that he should have put more alcohol in Charles' glass, since he probably needed it. It appeared that Charles was considering what had been said so far, and weighing it up. There was one major question that hadn't been asked, and it seemed only Erik had the courage to bring the topic up.
"What are you doing with Raven?" Erik questioned once the palpable silence had enveloped Charles into being mute. "If you want Charles as much as you say you do… do you really think this is going to help?"
The grin reappeared on Shaw's face, and Erik knew that Shaw was laughing at him also. This only angered Erik more, and reminded him of how Shaw saw the world. People only existed to him by their usefulness, beyond that they were mere jokes.
"Ah, Charles' exquisite blonde sister? What do you think I'm doing with her?" he replied, the implication of his words not lost on either of the company.
"If you're touched her…" Charles suddenly said. But his words were more concerned than threatening. Erik wondered why Charles hadn't been more worried about this from the off, unless Shaw wasn't as psychotic as Erik thought him to be.
"You'll what?" Shaw confronted him. "Tell her the truth?"
Charles stood but looked just as uncomfortable as ever, he took a step towards Shaw, but rather than Shaw moving back, he just moved closer, as if he was ready to pull Charles into his lap if he had the chance.
"I'll tell her right now," Charles promised. He looked at the half open door nervously as if wondering how close Raven was to hearing everything anyway.
Shaw leaned back into the sofa, looking up at Charles. His whole presence was so overwhelming that even Erik felt as if he was being draw towards him, and couldn't blame Charles for wavering and not knowing which way to turn.
"She'll never believe you, you've lied so much already. And even if she did, she'd never forgive you for letting her become involved with someone like me. How could you shut her out? All you've done is keep her innocent and naive. She doesn't know how to play games like you do Charles. She won't lead me on," Shaw said, the smile on his face darkly seductive. Although he was speaking about Raven, her importance paled in Charles' presence. It was all about Charles, and it always would be.
Erik knew for certain that if Charles said he would leave with Shaw right now, Shaw would forget Raven and never touch her again.
"It took me months to get anywhere with you, but I sense I wont have so much trouble with Raven."
The look that crossed Charles' face was the first flash of anger Erik had seen since they had arrived, and even Shaw moved back a little.
"I don't care if she hates me, I'll tell her everything. I tell her what you're really like!"
"And what is that? All I asked of you was to stop fucking the entire population of London and be with me. But you couldn't commit. I know now, that's just who you are. I wouldn't ask that of you again Charles. You can even keep screwing Lensherr, I don't care, just come back to me."
The look on Charles' face was something Erik couldn't read. He could see true confusion in Charles' eyes, and Erik realised that Shaw might just had offered the one deal that could win Charles back to him. Charles looked everywhere but at Erik, and when he looked back at Shaw, Erik found his heart was in his mouth.
"No, I don't want to be that person anymore."
Shaw just laughed. He tried to reach out and touch Charles' hand, but Charles moved away.
"What has he told you about me?" Shaw asked of Erik.
"The truth," Erik replied. His stomach flipped over, and he felt sick. This game was something that made him feel ill, and he didn't know how Charles could stand it.
"The truth? Charles doesn't know how to tell the truth. He'll have you believing anything he says, he is especially good at getting inside your head."
Charles suddenly sat down looking deathly pale. Erik felt Shaw's words had hit a little close to home. After all, Charles could make them both believe whatever he liked, and they would never know. This thought was probably what had caused Charles look as he did right now, maybe he'd heard Erik's doubts also? Erik thought it would take a lot more than one glass of whiskey to put some colour back into Charles' cheeks, as he looked up at Erik with pitiful eyes.
"I am making a lot of money with this man here," Shaw continued pointing at Erik. "Don't you dare fuck him over like you do everyone else. If you ruin this for me too Charles, you find out how cruel I can really be!"
Erik had begun this conversation wanting to punch Shaw in the face should Charles want him to. He would have put everything on the line for Charles, but now Shaw had succeeded in placing a seed of doubt in his mind. He was unable to shake the cold feeling that was creeping over him, and he was desperate for Charles to look at him and tell him that nothing had changed. In his heart he wanted to believe Charles wasn't using him. Oxford Charles had shared everything with him, he was trustworthy, and he was someone Erik could fall in love with. London Charles would slip through his hands; Erik didn't know him at all.
If Shaw could use Raven to get to Charles, what was stopping Charles doing the same to him? After all, they had only gotten together after Charles had realised Erik's relationship to Shaw.
"Do you honestly think you can keep control of someone like Charles, Erik?" Shaw asked after a while. "You are way out of your league boy."
Erik looked back at Charles. Perhaps Shaw was right. Charles lived in a completely different world to him, what worried ordinary people didn't touch him. He was set apart from them all, but that in itself didn't scare Erik. Life wasn't all about money, and what Charles lacked in real life experience, Erik more than made up for the two of them. Sometimes you had to struggle to find yourself, and perhaps that was why Charles was still lost.
"I don't want to control him," Erik replied. Shaw was sick. Talking of controlling someone. Even if Charles had been an idiot in the beginning, he had made it pretty clear that he'd wanted it end. It was Shaw who was making this into some horrible game, of which Charles couldn't seem to escape.
"You can't save him Erik. He'll always belong to me, no matter what he tells you."
Charles folded his arms across his chest. They were all silent now, lost in their own thoughts. Only now Erik was keenly aware that anything he was thinking of, was also up for grabs for Charles to hear if he liked. This had never made him uncomfortable before, but Shaw had made Charles' power seem wrong. No wonder Charles had been so keen to hide it away. Once again Shaw had intimidated him into submission. Maybe Shaw was right, there was something between him and Charles that Erik couldn't get in between.
But maybe Charles needed to be saved? Shaw just wanted to possess him; he didn't care if Charles was happy. Shaw wouldn't care if all he saw in Charles' eyes was fear mixed with defiance. Shaw would never see what Erik had seen. Shaw would never know the Charles that he did. As far as Erik was concerned Charles could leave his lost soul behind with Shaw and he could build himself a new one, a clean slate and a new life with him.
"I thought we would be doing tea and cakes, but hey lets just go straight to the hard stuff," Raven said as she walked into the room and spotted the drinks in everyone's hands. "Did you find something to talk about while I was away?"
Shaw smiled at her, but before the silence could drag, Charles' mother walked into the room. The woman must have been in her late sixties or early seventies, and had the look of someone who had spent most of her life drinking gin and tonics and lying in the sun. She'd obviously had a lot of work done also, and dressed in a classic way, complete with obligatory pearls. She reminded Erik of a mean version of Joan Collins, if Joan Collins was scary and really angry looking. As she gracefully walked through the room, Erik couldn't stop staring at her.
After the initial shock of being in the same room as this glamorous woman, Erik realised that she was exactly what he had been expecting. The way in which she let Charles kiss her cheek before she looked him over, made Erik think he'd predicted her personality spot on.
"You look well Charles. Not so tired," she said, before she pulled him closer so that no one could overhear what she said next. "Sleeping in you own bed at last?"
"Yes mother, you realise Raven exaggerates everything, don't you?" Charles replied, annoyed. Raven always had to tell his mother everything.
"Hmm. I know you. You never stop; I want you to look after yourself. If you can't then I'll send you home."
Charles didn't argue, and Erik wondered whether Charles would pack up his life and quit if this scary woman said he had to. It looked as if Charles' fight had gone from him as he sat down deflated next to Erik. The action caused the attention to be redirected.
"Who is your friend?"
"Erik Lensherr," Erik replied, he would have held out his hand if he thought for one moment that she would take it. The look in her eyes was extremely unfriendly, and told him to keep his distance.
"Oh yes. I've heard about you."
Her eyes drifted towards Shaw. Erik realised Shaw had been quick. He had gotten to the mother first and smoozed the old lady. Shaw had poisoned her against him, and all the evil stares he was getting should have been pointed at Shaw. Erik sighed, he'd never expected to enjoy today, but now this was even worse. God only knew what the woman thought he'd been doing to her son.