Chapter 37: Through the Looking Glass

For the first time, I was alone. Before I had known that Dustfinger would be back in a matter of hours, but now, it would be days. My only friend left in the world had left me alone in the hands of a devil. Sure there was Resa, but she was working and I wouldn't want to intrude. There was Darius too, but if I visited his room two days in a row, how would that look? I was completely alone.

I feared being alone with myself, with my thoughts. I didn't want to think back to that day. I didn't want to relive that hour over and over again. It would drive me insane, that scream. That's one of the few things I will ever remember about Eric, the last time I heard his voice, his scream. His scream was one of anguish, one of pain, one of death itself. It was a scream so desperate, so heartbroken, that it shakes you to your core. It was one of those screams that etches its sound on your very soul. So that every time you pass over that memory, that's all you can hear, that scream.

I never wanted to remember that sound, his last cry, yet I had to. I'm the only one left alive that heard it and cared. I had to remember; forgetting would be like killing him twice. I could keep him alive in my memory.

I attempted to shrug off those melancholy thoughts and picked up Peter Pan. I still had a few chapters left. I might as well use it as a distraction, to drown out the scream. Once again I flew out to Neverland, only to leave to open the door for a maid with breakfast and for Basta's fist slamming against the door. I sighed, closed the book and opened the door.

"Yes?" I asked politely.

"Capricorn has returned and would like you to join him in his room for lunch. He said for you to wear the black dress. I'll be back in ten." Basta stated as he handed me a hairbrush. I closed the door, changed, and brushed my hair out, which was quite a painful experience since I hadn't brushed my hair in the past few days. Basta came back for me and guided me up a flight of stairs to a door.

As he opened the door he whispered, "Have fun." in a tone that seemed to know something I didn't.

Capricorn's room was the entire third floor of the building and was about eight times the size of mine. The walls of the room had black and dark red vertical stripes that made the room seem larger than it was. There were two fire places, one at each end of the room, each with a mahogany mantel. The one on the right side of the room, where Capricorn was standing, had two crossed swords above the mantel and the one of the left, near his bed, had two shot guns hung in the same manor. By the fire where Capricorn was standing were two leather arm chairs with a small mahogany table in between.

His bed was tucked away in the corner of the room. It was king sized and was a canopy bed, the posts were made of the same mahogany as the mantels with intricate burn marks and the cloth was a sheer red. There were accompanying bed stands on either side. There was a wardrobe to the left side of the door, and a dresser to the right. The large bay window was directly across from the door and had heavy black curtains. There was a small square table in the center of the room that was set up for lunch and was adorned with a silver table cloth that stuck out like a sore thumb in this room, and a single white rose in a vase.

"Ah, Miss Elizabeth, I am so glad that you could join me." He smiled.

"Basta, you may go." Capricorn said, waving Basta away. Basta gave me a cruel smile and left. I joined Capricorn by the fire and we stood in silence. I saw the reflection of the fire in a mirror out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, and saw my face for the first time. I was mesmerized and horrified at the same time. I didn't see my face, I saw Lizzy's. I advanced to the full length mirror and Capricorn took notice.

"Oh, right, this must be the first time you've seen your face since you've changed. To be thrust into such beauty, it must be so startling." Capricorn sympathized, but I didn't hear him. All I could hear was that scream. I touched the glass and then my face like I was trying to prove that it was real. I felt a sharp jaw line, high cheek bones, and perfectly shaped nose. It wasn't my face, but I wasn't entirely Lizzy's either, it was a hybrid of the two.

What I felt was not what I saw. I saw Lizzy's face covered in blood. It was filled with agony and sorrow. I saw her corpse floating in the middle of the ocean, her arms torn off, sinking to the bottom of the ocean to be devoured by sea creatures. I saw Eric floating next to her with a slit throat. I saw his eyes, Dane's cold, soul piercing eyes. Those were my eyes now. I had his eyes now, and I hoped mine weren't so cold and calculating.

"Some men wouldn't be able to appreciate such beauty. The contrast of your silver hair and youthful face is breath taking. It's a shame you haven't been able to see it before my dear Lizzy." Capricon whispered in my ear. The 'Lizzy' snapped me out of my trace. I wasn't Lizzy, I was Elizabeth. I wasn't dead, floating in the ocean, I was alive and well.

I felt his lips kissing the nape of my neck, one of his hands on my ass, and the other around my waist. I instinctively used S.I.N.G., solar plexus, instep, nose, groin. I did exactly what it sounds like. I elbowed him in the solar plexus, slammed my heel on his foot, used an uppercut that caught him in the nose, and finished him off with a kick to the groin. Unluckily for him, I was wearing heels. He doubled over in pain.

I crouched down, lifted his chin, and said "One, my name is not Lizzy, its Elizabeth. Two, I don't want to become familiar with you in any way, shape, or form, meaning that I would never even think of having sex with you. Am I clear? After all… I'm only a maid." I stormed out of the room leaving him there. I met Basta at the bottom of the stairs.

"Have fun?" he taunted.

"Oh, lots. I'm not too sure about Capricorn though. I think he might need some medical attention." I spat. The color drained from his face and he raced up the stairs. I hurried back to my room, flopped on the lower bunk and cried. I was alone in a village of devils with a rapist for their king. The only comfort I had was Dustfinger's pillow, which still smelled of soot and dirt, his smell. But even that would fade, and leave me alone like the man who left it there.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment or two!