Im sorry everyone that it took me a while to update. I kept having two differnt ideas for this chapter, but finally came up with one while sitting in class and thinking about what to add to my story.
Capricorn may be a little OOC at the end, but he may be finally realizing that he just might be keeping Ann for a different reason other than just to use her. But anyway enjoy and leave comments!
Ann gloomily sat in her room for the next day while she could hear Capricorn making preparations for anything that was to happen when Dustfinger and the others showed up. As soon as Capricorn put her in her room that consisted of a bed and dresser, she heard the lock on the door encase her inside the room and orders being yelled out. But Ann was feeling worse because she knew that if she tried anything to stop them, then that would mean another family would have to suffer because of her. So all she could do was sit and allow Dustfinger come to his fate with open arms. Just the thought of her fire-eater dieing because of her was making tears silently stream down her face.
"Why. All we ever wanted to do was to play with fire and have a nice life. But then we get read into this damn world with its dangerous secrets along with the most hateful man to ever walk among pages and this world." Ann stood and walked over to a corner on the far side of the room and slide down the wall to huddle on the ground.
Holding her knees to her chest, Ann remembered how she would often sit the same way when her father, The Black Prince, would tell her tales that often would frighten her (even though before he told her the tale, he warned her but she wished to hear it anyway) and she would sit the exact same way and sob because of nightmares.
"I wish. If only this was one giant nightmare and when I wake up father will tell me its time to perform and stop slacking off. Then Dustfinger will teach me and new trick. And after we're done, we'll celebrate. Just like we did when…" The memories were flooding her thoughts and Ann couldn't stop crying for when seemed like hours.
"Yea, Lord Capricorn told me to hold the phone incase that dirty fire-eater called back and had some more news. No…No I'm standing guard. Yes I know that its time to eat you dumb-ass but if I leave my post then you can tell Lord Capricorn why no ones here." Ann heard the guard outside of her window talking to another black jacket and it seemed that one of them had something that she needed. The phone.
While living in the non Inkworld Ann had seen some of the devices that the people used and the phone was the most recognizable one that Ann could seem to remember because it held lots of numbers. But she learned something else that could save her and Dustfingers life. Caller ID.
"All I have to do is sneak out, get the phone away from the black jacket, I look up the caller ID that Dusty used from another phone, and hopefully he still has it. And then call Dustfinger to tell him that I escaped! Then he won't come here, we'll run away, and everything will be back to the way it was before all of this."
Ann walked up to the bedroom door and knocked on it several times.
"Hey Flatnose, Cockerell, anybody out there? I need to use the bathroom!"
She heard the familiar voice of somebody who sounded like their nose was being pinched. Flatnose. "The hell you want Ann!"
"I need to use the bathroom!"
"Hold it girly, I'm not supposed to let you out."
"But I really got to go Flatnose!"
"I don't care. Lord Capricorn told me that you have to stay in that room or else I get to suffer his temper."
Ann was getting desperate. She had to leaving the room and try to get to the phone.
"Just tell him that I had to use the bathroom; I'm sure he'll understand. I'll be real quick and no one will ever know that you even left!"
A long silence hung over the room and Ann swore she could hear Flatnose's head making noises while he was trying to think about it.
"You make it real quick you hear, and if you start any trouble--."
The door lock was removed and as soon as Ann saw the door start to open towards Flatnose, Ann kicked the door ramming it back into the mans face and knocking him out cold. She tiptoed over the mans unconscious body and looked both ways while in the hallway to check for anyone who may have been walking by. Lucky for her, the guards were on different shifts at that moment. Ann grabbed Flatnose and dragged him inside of her room to hide his body from any passerby's; she stopped and looked at his face. "You know Flatnose, I thought that your face couldn't get any flatter than it is now, but I have to say that this look really doesn't suit you. No, scratch that, no look will ever suit you."
She laughed to herself and grabbed the keys that Flatnose had been in the process of removing before he was so graciously knocked out, and went to the maid's rooms. Where the laundry was left while they cooked the meals. "I need that phone, and knowing Capricorn, he probably told anyone to report to him if they saw me. So that means…" Ann smirked and grabbed one of the smaller outfits for the younger black jackets among the crows. Quickly slipping her black attire on, Ann slipped outside with a extra gun to add to her disguise.
"I know he was outside so where did he go?"
Ann looked around for the man she saw outside of her room not but an hour ago.
"He said he couldn't leave his post, so he should be here. Damn! Why does everything have to be so difficult!?" She was fuming to herself while she searched what seemed like the whole village. Finally, after an hour of looking for the man, she spotted him shooting tabbies with a few other men.
Ok, now that I'm here, how do I get the phone? I suppose I could just walk up and ask for the phone…No! Are you stupid? Not even Flatnose…never mind he would fall for that. It needs to be more creative.
"Hey!" Ann yelled out to the man.
All of the courage that Ann had with her while searching for the man suddenly faded when she saw the looks they were giving her.
"What do you want pipsqueak? Lost yer mommy and need help find her?" All the men laughed the joke making Ann flush in anger.
"Lord Capricorn has ordered that you hand over the phone that he authorized you with so that he may call Dust-Dirtyfingers back." She almost slipped with the nomakingfunof term of the fire-eaters name. The men on the other hand didn't notice her slip and looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
"Listen lad, and listen well. Lord Capricorn told me to hold this here phone, and that nobody else could. So whatever yer trying to pull ya better knock it off before something bad happens."
Ann expected as much from the orders that Capricorn gave, and she already knew what response would grant her her prize.
"Aaalllrrriiiggghhhttt," Ann said sigh like, "But Lord Capricorn isn't going to like the fact that you aren't going to listen to his orders the first time. But oh well." Ann shrugged her shoulders and slowly walked away, but not far enough as to not hear the men whispering franticly about what to do. Finally, after some yelling Ann was called back.
"Oy, wait." The man yelled. A scared expression lay on his face.
"Yea, what do you want? I can't waste anymore time with you otherwise its going to be my head that gets yelled at." Hands on her hips, Ann made a very serious expression for one trying to not laugh at the mans eagerness to follow orders.
"Heres the phone, and tell Lord Capricorn that I apologize for making you late."
"Will do sir!" Ann smiled and then ran off.
After Ann found a secluded spot away from any peering eyes, Ann franticly searched through the phones past calls, praying for any god in the world she was in, that the call would still be on the phone and not erased. "Come on, please be here." Ann said, pressing all the buttons she could remember from all the other phones trying to find the little icon phone symbol on the device that showed passed calls. Then when she found it, Ann went down the names trying to find the one she so desperately wanted.
"Yes! I found it!" She finally found the name Basta on the phone and the time that the phone called. It was the same time that she remembered when Dustfinger called.
Ann pressed the redial button and waited while the phone rang, hoping that someone would pick up on the other line.
Footsteps crunched on the fallen leaves that surrounded the old cottage from which Ann was hiding. His temper was surprisingly calm for someone who didn't want any distractions from his plan. But when a man came into the church, the one who was holding the phone from which calls were made, and apologized for not handing the phone over to the 'lad' sooner. As soon as the words left he black jackets mouth, he stood from his throne and went to Ann's room. The door was unlocked, and when he stepped inside of the small room, he found Flatnose on the ground unconscious along with a bloody nose. Going back to the black jacket he asked which way the lad ran off too, the man pointed toward the farther east side of the village. He immediately ran in the direction pointed, ordering no following black jackets. Only for them to resume their work and not bother him.
After a while of searching, he found the 'lad' searching through the phone and talking quietly to 'herself'.
Capricorn found Ann, and she didn't even realize it.
After the fifth ring the phone exploded in Ann's hands. She fell to the ground clutching her scraped face and watched as the small pieces of her hope fell on the dirt. Ever singly piece of the phone was a burning crisp and Ann could only stare in shock and despair. That was her last hope of ever getting out of the village and it just exploded in her hand.
"What the--."
"I'm afraid dear Ann that no one is going to receiving calls from you. Especially Dustfinger."
Ann whipped her head around to face Capricorn. Suddenly her hands felt as if they were bound, and she realized that she couldn't move them. She was trapped once more and she couldn't even punch the man. Capricorn bent down and pulled a blood red handkerchief from his breast pocket and gently wiped the smears of blood on her face away.
"Ann I'm surprised at you. Even after all the threats I test you with, the bodyguards, the weeks you've been here, you still are acting like a child that isn't getting their way and is doing everything they can to get attention."
"I am not a child Capricorn. And anyway, even if I was one, you would be the last person I would've ever looked to for attention. In fact, I believe it was you who found me as a child and 'forced' my attention on you during a performance." Ann was glaring at the man as he continued to gently wipe her face.
"Yes that was me who held your gaze, but Ann. Don't forget, if I want something, I always get it. No matter who stands in my way."
Capricorn stood up and put the red handkerchief away, he looked down at the girl who had stole his gaze many years ago, and not a day goes by that he didn't think about making her belong to him. And now that she was in his grasp, he finally felt totally in control of everyone.
"Now, should I carry you or would you prefer to sit their all day?"
"Why can't I just walk?"
"Because my dear," The man said chuckling, "I can't trust you not to run away."
Ann shivered as the night air was finally taking its toll on her body.
"I would like to go back please." She whispered.
Capricorn merely nodded his head and scooped up the girl, who seemed to stay close to take in his warmth.
After Ann was fed, and she was cleaned up by the maids, she was placed back in her room. Not before getting a slap on the face by Mortola who yelled at her for causing Capricorn so much trouble and making him go out after her so many times. Ann sat on the warm bed and thought to herself. Every plan she had seemed to blow up in her face (no pun intended lol) and she started to figure that maybe should would never escape from the village. A song suddenly came to her memory. Dustfinger had once sung her a song as a child, and to that very day she could remember it. Just thinking of it made tears come to her eyes, and Ann then started to sing softly to herself.
I've been watching your world from afar,
I've been trying to be where you are,
And I've been secretly falling apart,
I'll see.
To me, you're strange and you're beautiful,
You'd be so perfect with me but you just can't see,
You turn every head but you don't see me.
I'll put a spell on you,
You'll fall asleep and I'll put a spell on you.
And when I wake you,
I'll be the first thing you see, lyricstop
And you'll realise that you love me.
Yeah...
Yeah...
Sometimes, the last thing you want comes in first,
Sometimes, the frist thing you want never comes,
And I know, the waiting is all you can do,
Sometimes...
I'll put a spell on you,
You'll fall asleep,
I'll put a spell on you,
And when I wake you,
I'll be the first thing you see,
And you'll realise that you love me.
I'll put a spell on you,
You'll fall asleep 'cos I'll put a spell on you,
And when I wake you,
I'll be the first thing you see,
And you'll realize that you love me, yeah...
yeah...
yeah...
yeah...
yeah...
Capricorn heard ever word that was sung from behind the bedroom door that belonged to Ann. And he suddenly felt guilt. He felt as though he caged a bird that would only sings songs of sadness and it was his fault.
"But she will still be mine and that's all that matters." He said softly. After waiting for a while, Capricorn softly crept into Ann's room, seeing her asleep.
"If only you know how you're changing me. How it hurts for me to do such cruel things to you. But soon you will realize that you love me and forget all about that matchstick eater." He said softly and then placed a surprisingly tender kiss to Ann's forehead and leaving the girl to her dreams.
The song is Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung and its one of my favs! Please R&R