Chapter Three.
By now it had turned into a game of hide and seek. Very entertaining for Reaver yet not so much for Angeline. He knew all the corridors, hallways, passages and secret rooms within his manor, Lake View Manor, Reaver's Manor. Angeline had no recollection of where she was going but she knew that he could send her into surprise at any moment. She knew he'd find her sooner or later, and she simply couldn't leave without her father nonetheless. Danger was around every corner, literally. If she turned a wrong turn then she could be face to face with the ex pirate or locked in along those lines. Reaver knew quite well his way around a woman as well as his very own home. Being the pursued was rather exciting, but being the pursuer was most thrilling indeed. He wouldn't stop until he'd bedded at least one girl on this occasion tonight.
Reaver had left his bed chamber and stood at the top of the staircase, overlooking the hall, arms both rested on the bannister whilst his mesmerising sienna gaze diverted and burned through the crowd. Only the movement of his guests made the chase oh so sweet. A flicker of red caught his eye and that was where his gaze flickered towards. Reaver began to descend the stairs in a light jog, making swift work to follow the girl. Angeline on the other hand was quite frightened yet angered. If she was thoughtless enough to hide within the groups of people in the hall, he would have spotted her instantly, but this was just as dangerous as he would be looking for her with much more awareness. She hurried along the corridors and passages, each decorated with golden and red furnishings, rugs and shining polished walls. Angeline gave a snort as she passed by a few of his paintings; he was such a vain man, having paintings and scupltures of himself; no doubt he was obsessed with his own personal beauty. Angeline turned towards a door that led along a balcony within the house, another balcony totally opposite, and within the midst of it all on the ground were the party guests. No sign of Reaver just yet. She scurried along the red and gold rugged balcony with her hands lightly pinching her dress to her legs as not to slip, yet stopped stone still once a bullet was fired just in front of her head. It hit the wall silently but the gunshot was heard all around. This happened often so the guests ignored it.
"Leaving so soon, my sweet?" Reaver called questionably from the opposing balcony, leaned against it casually. Angeline was startled from the gunshot just missing her and looked away once the smoke of the bullet slowly seeped by her nose and up into the air. She attempted another run but the same thing happened. "You wouldn't want to be ruthlessly splattered across the wall now; besides, I don't want my walls to be doused with blood. Such a wretched thing to clean I must say." Angeline stopped and sighed, letting her dress drop slightly but not standing oh so still as she could be pinned by a bullet. "What exactly do you want?" the girl called back over the balcony. "Isn't it obvious, love?" Reaver questionably declared, arms still resting on the balcony with his trusted DragonStomper .48 sat in his right hand, "I wouldn't be playing cat and mouse with you if I weren't expecting to ensnare an alluring young lass. I shot at you to stop you from declining yourself something so temptingly exquisite." Angeline could hear the tone in his voice, full of aphrodisia and urgency; she turned and placed both hands on the bannister of the balcony. "Just why? You could choose of any girl tonight yet you're hunting me down a lion and a mouse!" the tension within her was raring to burst. A wide grin was visible on Reaver's face from where he was stood even by her eyes, "I thank you graciously for comparing me to such a noble creature as a lion, darling, I applaud. Yet I concur, you are more the gazelle than the mouse, for you put up a formidable chase knowing that you will be brought down soon," Reaver took a bow, "Yet, I do wish you would hurry. I'm getting awfully bored far to quickly. Either you make your way over here, or begin your way towards the bed chamber. All the doors and windows are locked, I'm afraid," a smug grin was still plastered over that irritating face.
Angeline gave an aggrivated sigh and ran a hand through her mahogany mussed up curls of hair, still tied up. The stress was getting to her. "Reaver, this game isn't going to work. You might as well let me go." Reaver laughed, "You're far too much of a prize to leave untouched, Angeline. Over here, or the bed chamber. Tick tock, time waits for no stranger," the man lightly tapped the shining silver barrel of his DragonStomper .48 against the bannister. "Do I have a choice?" Angeline called back. Reaver was getting rather irritated by this girl's stubbornness. "Ah, matter of fact, yes. Yes, you do have a choice. I have two propositions. The first, as I have so regularly mentioned and you are so eagerly willing to participate, is that we agree to coition and make our way upstairs, which by my mind, is the easiest. The second option is much more difficult but it must be done. I'll need you to deliver something for me with young company by your side. There are 'friends' of whom I need you to meet with, and give them a special gift from dear old Reaver. The first is as easy as pie, yet the second takes quite a smidge of time, but it must be done." Angeline thought it over, "So basically, what you're telling me, is that I have the choice of sleeping with you, or going on a long and enduring journey for you?" she simplified, running a loose curl behind a ringed ear. A smirk tugged at the corners of Reaver's lips, "My, that's not the only thing that's long and enduring, I assure you," he chuckled fiendishly, "Yes, simply. Oh, and I forgot to mention. It's all going towards the cause of preventing daddy dearest from painting the walls and floor in a lovely shade of carnage red, so do hurry, "And between you and me, I don't intend on paying him," a sly wink he gave her, a twirl of his pistol back into the holster, and he left back to the main of the party. Meanwhile Angeline was stood stunned. Father? He was going to kill her father if she didn't do one or the other for him? What a tyrant! The knuckles of Angeline's pasted white under her pale skin before she left the balcony to search for her father.