Author's Note: Not checked over by a beta, so any errors are my own. :) Hope you enjoy reading the next chapter of Dancing with Demons!
Chapter 4 – Cora's PoV
I sat in the library, my second little space of sanctuary, trying to read the second book I had chosen but having little luck since all I could think about was my morning with Charlotte. While the library was open for Jasper to enter - he had made no promises of staying out of any other room than mine - I was usually left alone lost in a book. Well, I did read the books, but most times I was lost in my own thoughts staring at the pages without seeing the words.
Charlotte was hard not to like, but she was one of them.
And I didn't mean that only as she was one of my kidnappers.
I had a terrible feeling that my kidnappers only looked like humans. Then I wondered if I was going crazy from being kidnapped and only thinking of some insane and unrealistic idea. Besides, vampires weren't real. Sure, I read tons of books where the leading lady fell madly in love with a vampire, but this wasn't one of those situations. The sexy, slightly dangerous vampire did not kidnap the leading lady without even having met her! My idea was insane, but all three of them were gorgeous, more so than normal people, with those ruby red eyes and the not eating.
I wanted to find a friend in Charlotte, she had been nothing but kind and friendly to me since Jasper had brought me here and she seemed to want to be my friend. Maybe it was because, before my captivity here, she was the only woman living with two men in the middle of nowhere Texas. I wanted to have a friend here, but wondered for what purpose. I had no clue what was going to happen to me, and while some strange part of me felt safe, I still feared what Jasper's plan truly was for me.
Jasper had not let on what his intentions were, only that he was protecting me from someone by keeping me here. As far as I knew, which was little and only from his promises, he would not and was not planning to ever hurt me in any way. If he did not want to hurt me and he was willing to protect me, a complete stranger except for the eye contact across a park, then what purpose did I serve? Why did he feel the need to protect me? Other than the close encounter in the library he had mostly left me alone, appearing occasionally in the corner of my vision but never approaching me.
With a sigh of frustration at my overall situation, I set my book down on the table beside me rather hard and stood up. I left the room and ventured into the large open space between the living room, foyer, kitchen, and the hallway to my room. No one was in the more formal living room, but I could hear the T.V. on in the back living room. I walked through the living room and Charlotte was reading a magazine in one of the chairs while Peter sat on the floor playing a video game. I scanned the room, even looking down the hallways for any sight of Jasper.
"He's not here right now," Peter said from the floor, without taking his eyes off the T.V. screen. I stared at him for a moment. Peter was tall, almost as tall as Jasper. They were both broad shouldered with slim waists and those long ass legs. I wanted to smack myself as I pictured Jasper in my mind. I was not going to be attracted to the man, vampire, inhuman whatever he was that was keeping me for whatever purpose in his house. I focused on Peter to try and remove the image of Jasper's long denim clad legs from my mind. Peter's hair was shorter than his brother's. It was curly, but only brushed the tops of his ears and fell across his forehead. He dressed similar to Jasper in jeans and tshirts.
I realized I was standing on the stair between the two rooms, staring at Peter, and moved into the living room and sat on the first cushion of the couch I reached and watched Peter's video game on the T.V. It was Titanfall, I only knew because Collin played sometimes when we hung out at his apartment. I blinked back my tears at the thought of my best friend, and dance partner.
"You play?" Peter asked.
I took a shaky breath, and tried to speak normally. "No, I prefer books to video games."
"Damn, only Emmett plays video games with me, babe," he said to Charlotte, turning his head away from the screen to look at her.
"That's because only you and Emmett act like five year olds," Charlotte replied in a sweet but sarcastic tone, never taking her eyes off the pages Cosmopolitan.
"Who's Emmett?" I asked without thinking, and then quickly snapped my mouth shut and looked down.
I heard Peter snicker before he spoke. "He's a friend of ours, but he lives up in Washington. He likes to travel, so he comes here to visit sometimes, but don't worry we won't be having visitors for a while."
Peter didn't sound foreboding in a stomach dropping heart in throat kind of way, but I found it strange that he mentioned that Jasper and the two of them would not be expecting anyone anytime soon.
"Don't take my husband too seriously, Cora," Charlotte said from across the room. "He thinks he knows everything. Although I do doubt Emmett will be coming by any time soon." She smiled at me and then went back to reading.
I watched Peter play for a while before deciding I wanted to burn off some energy and hopefully burn away my thoughts of Jasper and my situation. I didn't want to dance, but the pool had looked nice and clean, and it would be warm enough outside. Leaving the room without a word to either of them, I went to my closet in search of a bathing suit.
Several different bathing suits were hanging on the rack next to the variety of shorts. There was a single black one piece and then an array of colorful and barely-there bikinis of different styles. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the black one. After grabbing a towel and putting a robe on, I made my way downstairs and out to the pool.
The water was clear and I could see the light blue painted concrete bottom that was a gentle slope to the deep end and sides. It was a large rectangle, with a diving board at one end. I laid my towel and robe on one of the lounge chairs and went to the diving board. The water was cool as I dove in and it felt good in the warmth of the setting sun. I began to swim laps first starting with the breast stoke and then switching to the back stroke or just kicking with my legs.
It was dark and my fingers had turned into prunes before I climbed out of the pool and dried off. I wrapped the robe tight around me; the lights were on in the basement, Peter had come down and started to play pool while I was swimming and Jasper had joined him at some point. Once in the house I made a bee line for the stairs and kept my eyes on where I was going.
I made it to the middle of my room when I noticed the things sitting on my bed and I froze, surprised to see the items. There was a pink shoe box and sitting on top was my old pair of pointe shoes. I thought about my desire this morning to dance and was happy to think that now I could. I was strangely annoyed at the fact that my kidnappers had gone to get something that had been mine after I had discussed with Charlotte my dancing history.
While I was thankful that I had the proper shoes to dance in now if I chose to, I was hesitant about the surprise gift. Why would any of them go out of their way to do something for me. I was their prisoner, not a friend or a guest to be kind to. What was the point of giving me my shoes?
I moved closer to the bed and saw the note and necklace, and my heart skipped a beat. It was the one my grandmother had left to me a month before she passed away. Now I wished more than anything that she was still alive. I missed Granny more than any other person in the world, and I had lost her long before I was kidnapped by Jasper.
Fingering the necklace before picking up the note, I smiled at the memory of finding this treasure on my vanity one afternoon when I still lived with her in her little farmhouse near town. I reread the note and then put the necklace and the note on my desk.
I went back to the bed and opened the shoe box, revealing a brand new pair of pointe shoes, and a set of gel pads to help cushion my toes. I closed the box and took both pairs of shoes into the closet and set them next to the shoe racks that were already underneath a section of hanging clothes.
Curiosity about my surprise finally got the best of me as I gingerly touched my shoes, so I made my way to the living room and to Charlotte.
She was watching some soap opera on T.V. and stringing glass beads onto a piece of string. Charlotte gave me a smile and looked up at me, never stopping her flow of grabbing a bead and stringing it.
"What's up, sugar?" she said.
"Did you talk to Jasper or Peter about our conversation this morning?"
"Nope, not a word."
"Did you go get my pointe shoes from my apartment?" I asked next.
Her grin turned into a full blown smile and her hands stopped moving. "Nope, I've been here all day. Jasper's the only one that left the house."
She gave me a wink and then went back to watching her show and making jewelry. I heaved a sigh and then pivoted on the ball of my left foot and returned to my room.
Why? Why had Jasper gone through the trouble to retrieve my shoes? If Charlotte didn't tell him, then he must have heard us talking about it. But why would he go get them for me? What did he have to gain by fetching my shoes? What reason did he have to be kind to me?
He's been nothing but kind to you. My conscious reminded me.
I let out a frustrated groan and headed for the shower.
Why? Why? Why?
Why had he done this? I had not asked him for them, or for anything. Truthfully, I was surprised and a little suspicious, but thankful none the less for the gift Jasper had left me.
Although, to find my grandmother's necklace he would have had to go through my jewelry box. Had he gone to my apartment just for the shoes, and then decided to scavenger hunt? Why would he bring the necklace back too? Was he trying to win me over? Did he think a gift, that he took from my home like he did me, would appease my hatred of him and make me like him?
You do already like him, or well... you think he's really sexy. I frowned at my train of thought, wanting to smack myself for even thinking about Jasper that way, but I could not help it. He was an incredibly attractive man, and he obviously saw something in me to take me and bring me here to his home. Whatever his feelings for me where, they were not lust driven because he had yet to force himself on me, or even give a hint that he would.
I cut the water off in the shower and dried off before grabbing clothes from the closet, dressing, and laying down to sleep. I wanted to erase the thoughts of Jasper from my head, and the best way to do that was to drift into unconsciousness. It was had to keep my thoughts from drifting to Jasper as I tried to fall asleep. My last waking thought was wondering where he was in the house right now.
I laid back on the couch as his hands drifted from my shoulders down over my breast and to my hips. He gripped me hard and moved me straddle his lap. His hands roamed over my body again, first trailing down my thighs and then back up my sides before he tenderly brushed my hair back. I smiled at him as I looked into his dark eyes. They were black with desire that matched my own that I was feeling.
"You're beautiful, darlin'," he whispered as his lips caressed the skin behind my ear and down the column of my throat. He nipped the skin along the curve of my shoulder gently with his teeth.
"You're mine," he growled.
'Yes," I replied breathlessly as he rocked his hips up to grind against me.
"Say it, tell me who you belong to," he ordered in that sharp tone that left no room for argument. It was hot, it was sexy, and it made me want him even more.
"I'm yours, Jasper."
His mouth crashed against mine and a low growl rumbled in his chest.
My eyes snapped open and a sat bolt upright in bed, breathing hard.
Holy shit.
No, fuck no, I did not just have one of those dreams about Jasper. Fuck!
I pushed my hair back with one hand and then flopped back down with a disgruntled noise. Seriously? Dreams about Jasper? What the actual fuck...
"You okay sugar?" Charlotte asked, popping her head around the partially open doorway, scaring the shit out of me.
My heart hammered in my chest as I gave her a nod.
"Good, I made breakfast. Whenever you get up and dressed it's ready." Without waiting for my reply she left the doorway and me to my thoughts.
Most of the time I could not remember my dreams, but the image of Jasper, of me looking at him at eye level as I straddled his muscular thighs was not leaving my mind.
Jesus, I was in so much trouble. I was having dirty fantasies about my kidnapper. How exactly was I going to look him in the eyes? Oh right, I wouldn't.
I dressed slowly in a pair of jeans and a light purple shirt that had little sequins embellished across the front to make a floral pattern. I decided to forgo socks and shoes since I had no intentions of leaving the house, not like I'd be allowed to anyway, I thought with a rather snarky tone.
The smell of bacon and biscuits drifted from the kitchen, so I followed my nose. Jasper and Peter were reading parts of the newspaper at the kitchen table and Charlotte was putting food on a plate which she sat in front of me as I took a seat at the island. She poured a cup of coffee and slid the creamer and sugar along with a pot of jelly across the counter.
I fixed my coffee and then munched on a piece of bacon as Charlotte began cleaning. While chewing I took in my surroundings with a growing anger. Again, I was the only one eating anything, and maybe they had already eaten, but there were no other dishes in the sink or the drying rack. No coffee cups sat in front of two gentlemen across the room, and Charlotte cooked every day, but I'd never seen her taste or eat anything she created.
I tossed the piece of bacon back on my plate and glared at the other three occupants in the room.
"Is there a problem with the food, Cora?" Jasper asked with a raised brow.
"No, but why am I the only one who ever eats?" I snapped.
Jasper grinned and shot Peter a look that screamed shut up as he laughed at my comment. "We have a very strict, very specific diet. However, you do not, and Charlotte finds joy in cooking, so," he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and turned back to the paper in front of him.
Well, I never in all my life. Anger welled up inside of me at his brush off answer. So my question might have been a little snarky sounding, but I wasn't stupid. They were different.
I stood and picked my plate up before strolling over to the trash can and dumping the contents inside. Not caring if I broke the plate or not, I threw it into the sink and marched out of the room both pleased with myself and furious at the three whatever the fuck they were housemates I was forced to live with.
Slamming the door to my room shut I threw myself onto my bed backward and stared at the ceiling. I found that I still hated Jasper, but I was curious, damn curious, about what he was, what they all were. I was also mad at being kept out of the loop on something that could very well have to do with why Jasper kidnapped me. Frustration, anger, hatred, curiosity - I felt them all. A giant confusing mix of emotions, a reaction to the circumstances that brought me to this point in time, but among that mess of turmoil, I was not afraid. I did not fear Jasper. I had only been afraid of him directly the first night, the moments after he caught my one attempt out of the house. Otherwise, I had originally had fear of my situation, but thinking now, I did not fear him.
And that pissed me off.
I should be afraid. I knew I should, but why wasn't I? Because he had been nothing but kind to me, or was it something else? The same reason why I was drawn to Jasper, curious to know him, but also found him and the others to scream dangerous at time. The first night for example, and the red eyes that sometimes turned black.
Thinking of Jasper's black eyes made me think of the dream that I had wanted to forget. I did not want to be attracted to him, I did not want to be having fantasies about him in my sleep. Woman who were kidnapped were not supposed to be attracted to their kidnapper, it had a name - Stockholm Syndrome. Beauty and the Beast was a fairytale, and real life kidnappings were not fairy tales, they were nightmares. And that thought brought me full circle back to Jasper's black eyes. Normal human eyes did not do that. Sure, my blue ones could be bright on a sunny day and appear stormy blue grey in cloudy weather, but they did not all of a sudden turn a complete different color, and no one had red eyes.
I was seriously conflicted with a strong desire to not think about anything related to Jasper, so I slid off the bed and walked to the closet. The ballet shoes made me think of Jasper and why he had given them to me. They were like a small piece of my former life.
Former life... it had only been four days since Jasper had kidnapped me. Was my life really over because of this? Would I ever be free? Stopping that miserable train of thought in its tracks, I grabbed the shoes, a pair of black leggings, and a tank top before marching back out and depositing it all on the bed.
After changing clothes quickly, I grabbed my shoes and headed down to the basement. The space was open, a perfect layout for entertaining, and I briefly wondered if Jasper ever did entertain. I had no clue what kind of profession Jasper had, but the house he lived in was massive, and richly furnished. Perfectly designed to usher guest downstairs from the foyer to enjoy the expansive finished basement and patio area. If they had to stay the night, upstairs held plenty of guest rooms across from Charlotte and Peter's space. The main, more personal living space was left to those who lived in the house, unless you invited them to the main floor living room.
Shaking my head and brushing away thoughts of Jasper's plans to entertain and the reasons behind the layout of his house, I set my shoes on the floor near the stereo and looked through the selection of music. There was everything from classical to country, rock and roll to rap and I was a little surprised. I scanned the classical collection, selected a disk, and then inserted it into the stereo.
I stretched as the music began playing, and then began to warm up. I let my thoughts drift away as I listened to the music and let it wash over me, my movements flowing with the melody. As the song ended, I paused in the middle of the floor. I jumped slightly at the sound of clapping coming from the entrance to the room.
Charlotte was standing just inside the door with a big smile on her face. "You're really good. Do you think you could teach me?"
I didn't answer her as the next song came on, but didn't begin dancing either. Instead, I could not help but stare at her. Why did she want to be my friend so terribly?
"Oh, come on, you don't have anything else to do, and even though you hate us, I'm the only other woman around. We might as well try and be nice to each other, maybe even friends," she said as she walked closer.
As much as I hated to admit it, Charlotte was right. I didn't have anything better to do with my time, and a friend wouldn't hurt anymore than I already did for being here.
"Fine. We'll start with the basics."
"Cool, but just to let you know, I'm a fast learner."
She wasn't kidding about the fast learner bit. By late afternoon, Charlotte was well on her way to being a professional. She was a fast learner, and a visual one. I would perform a move while she watched and then she would try, doing it correctly each and every time.
When she quickly picked up the grand adage and perfected it as we moved across the middle of the floor, I stopped and turned to face her, my hands on my hips. "Okay, this is ridiculus. These moves took me years to perfect, to learn everything you've done today, perfectly. What the hell?"
Charlotte smiled and let out a small giggle. "I told you I was a quick learner."
"Okay, and why are you laughing?" I asked, and I could help but smile at her.
"You're cute when you're all riled up, like a little ferocious kitten. Jasper will like that."
My smile fell instantly. "No," I said rather harshly, mostly because I was angry now. "I don't give a damn what he likes or doesn't like. He fucking kidnapped me. That's the only reason I'm here, because I can't leave! It's all because of him, so why would I care how he feels about me?"
Charlotte became serious too as she replied. "He really did take you to protect you, he was truly worried about you, and I'm really sorry that you've had to go through this. Please know that we don't mean you any harm. I want to be friends with you, Cora."
"Then why did he have to kidnap me? If you meant me no harm, if there was no more meaning behind this than a threat, why not introduce himself, yourselves, into my life instead of uprooting me out of it?"
She looked mildly ashamed and looked down at the floor and around the room before speaking. "You'll have to ask Jasper his reasons for his actions. If it's worth anything to you, Peter told him it was a bad idea, but Jasper tends to do what he wants."
"Well, that's a piss poor excuse if I've ever heard one, but if it's worth anything to you, I think I could use a friend right now."
She smiled brightly at me, her red eyes glowing just as bright and she spun around in a perfect fouetté.
"Show off," I grumbled playfully.
"Don't be jealous, you're a magnificent dancer. I saw you dance last Saturday night. You're absolutely beautiful."
As upset as I was that they had watched my performance, just a few hours before Jasper kidnapped me, but I was also touched by her kind words. It was obvious she meant them. "Thank you, Charlotte."
My stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly and we both laughed.
"I liked your little tantrum at breakfast," she said. "That was cute, too. Let's go get you something to eat."
I grabbed my shoes and cut the music off before following her out of the room and back upstairs. She entered to kitchen while I went to put my shoes back in the closet. When I came into the kitchen minutes later Charlotte was already battering chicken with flour. A cast iron pan with oil was heating on the range top.
"Fried chicken?" I asked.
"Yes, what do you want to go with it?"
"Mashed potatoes and gravy. I can help with the potatoes," I said, going into the pantry and taking out two medium sized potatoes.
I set them on the counter and then went in search of a good pairing knife.
Charlotte stopped me when I began to peel the first potato. "Don't, I'll do it."
"I'm not going to cut myself. I can think of better ways to die than by bleeding to death on your kitchen floor. Besides, my grandmother taught me to cook, and fancy peeling tools were not allowed. Now, go fry my chicken. I'll be fine."
She studied me, as if determining if I really was or wasn't going to kill myself, and I must have passed her test because she went back to the chicken. I peeled the potatoes carefully over the trash can and then set them back on the counter. Charlotte had retrieved a cutting board and I sliced each potato. While the first batch of chicken cooked, Charlotte started a pot of water boiling and I added the sliced potatoes.
We worked well together in the kitchen, not bumping into each other or being in the other's way. As I was putting my food on a plate, Jasper came into the kitchen and sat at the island. I took a seat at the farthest chair from him. Charlotte put a glass a sweet tea down in front of me.
"Thanks."
"How was your day, Cora?" Jasper asked.
I tried extremely hard to keep my eyes on my plate. Ignoring him as I began eating my dinner.
"It was nice to hear the music, did you enjoy being able to dance?"
Again I tried to ignore him, but the feeling of his eyes on me was enough to drive me nuts. I peaked in his direction from the corner of my eye and saw he was watching me.
"Since when did eating become a spectator sport?" I questioned sarcastically, turning my head to return Jasper's stare.
Charlotte snorted with contained laughter as she did the dishes, but Jasper smirked.
"Well, they do show eating contests on the sports channel now a day, so it could be considered a spectator sport," he replied.
I rolled my eyes and turned back to my food with a mumbled "whatever".
Jasper did not ask anymore questions, but listened and watched from his place at the countertop as Charlotte and I struck up a conversation about dancing.
We reviewed the steps and movements we had done today and talked about how I usually weaved together a dance. I enjoyed choreography and Charlotte thought it would be fun to create our own dance.
"You pick the music and we can work on that one day," I told her.
"What about dances with a partner of the opposite gender?"
An image of Collin flashed in my head and I wished I could speak to my best friend. "Collin was my partner. I danced with other guys growing up and in college in classes, but more often than not I was paired with Collin. The teachers or instructors always saw a chemistry in Collin and I even though we were just friends. I've know him since we were little, he was, is, my best friend."
I blinked quickly as tears welled in my eyes and memories flashed in my head, one after another. I stared down at my plate, unable to look at either of the two people who I knew were staring at me.
Collin, age four, punching another little boy on the daycare playground because he had pulled my ponytail and made me cry. Collin, a year later, demanding to his mom that if I, his best friend, was taking dance lessons then he was going to take them too - screaming in the middle of the crowded park that he wanted to be a ballerina, too. Our first years dancing, and each one after that. The night my mom died and his mom and my grandmother let us talk on the phone for hours because at age ten, Collin was the only person I wanted to talk to during my moment of loss. Collin, our freshman year of high school bringing ice cream, a chick flick and his shoulder for me to cry on after my first boyfriend had dumped me. All of our shenanigans in college and eventually memories of our early days with our studio now. I bit my lip to contain my sob and took a deep breath.
"Thank you for dinner, Charlotte. I.. goodnight."
When I made it to the hallway Jasper was already standing between our doors. I hated that my room was across from his, and yet, I took comfort that I was also not in the basement of the house. I stopped and looked at him since he was blocking my way. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and it made him look rather intimidating as he stood completely still, his red gaze watching my every move.
People said I was tall for a woman, at 5'8", but Jasper stood almost a head taller than me. I titled my head slightly to look up at his eyes.
"Thank you for my shoes, and for my grandmother's necklace," I barely got out loud enough for someone to hear.
"You're welcome."
"You shouldn't have done it, but thank you, and I'd like to be left alone."
He smiled and uncrossed his arms and stepped aside. "Have a good evening, Cora, and I'm sorry about your friend."
When I glared at him he continued. "I'm sorry that you've lost your friend. I saw the two of you together. It was obvious that you were very close."
"We were." My reply was quick, barely audible as I quickly moved past him and entered my room. I closed the door behind me, putting a barrier between him and me.
It was hard to think in his presence. It was hard to breathe. He overwhelmed me and I feared it wasn't just because I was scared of him. I slid down the door and sat on the floor, not having the energy anymore to stand. This was not supposed to happen to me. I had worked all my life to earn my place as the principal ballerina. I had worked all my life to achieve my greatest dream and I had succeeded.
There had been a time when I wanted a man, a boyfriend, but after my disastrous relationship with Steven I had been happy to be single. I had Collin and my other friends at the studio, and I wasn't ready for a new relationship. Steven's actions had hurt. Hurt more than I had ever let him believe, they hurt more than anyone knew except Collin. Collin knew everything about me and I knew everything about him. He was my brother more than my best friend.
Jasper had thrown my life completely out of its orbit and into space. I wanted to know why he had done this, but I still didn't want to speak more than a few words to him. I found myself attracted to him physically and I was both angry and horrified at myself.
How could I be attracted to the man who had done this to me. True, he had kept his word and his hands to himself, but our close encounters made me feel things I shouldn't. It made me confused. This whole situation had my whole life in a state of chaos and I did not know what to do.
Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes and rolled silently down my cheeks. Why me? What was so important about me that Jasper did this? Nothing had gone as I expected once being kidnapped and that added to my hesitation about him and his friends. It didn't help my curiosity or trust in him.
Trust. Should I trust them? They weren't human. If Jasper's red eyes were not a huge glowing clue, then the speed and eating were signs enough. He had not hurt me, but that didn't make up for what he had done, for what he was. Could I really be thinking Jasper, Charlotte, and Peter were all vampires. It was insane, I was going insane from everything that had happened to me recently.
I wiped my tears and stood from the floor. A hot shower would help me think and then I could sleep - try to put the day behind me. I grabbed panties and a t shirt first and then walked to the bathroom. It took a long time to fall asleep once I laid down, but eventually I must have stopped thinking about Jasper and the situation I was in long enough to find peace to rest.