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Nothing But A Lie

Chapter 29

Six months earlier

"Oh, excuse me! I'm sorry."

Before he could assure the young woman that it was more than okay that she'd accidentally bumped into him, she was walking quickly away.

Sky had been going to check the mail, and right as he was entering the clustered mailbox area the girl was leaving, resulting in their collision. At first he was a little annoyed, but then he saw her face. She was the most stunning girl he'd ever seen in his life, despite the fact that her fair hair was up in a messy ponytail, and she wore a dirty t-shirt and jeans. He noticed the logo on the back of her shirt, and it matched the logo for a coffee shop he'd never been to across the street. She must have just gotten off work.

He watched her–mouth open like a moron–as she turned into a staircase and jogged to the top, unlocked and entered her second floor apartment. He could see the numbers on the door from here: 203. That one was a studio. She lived alone?

He wondered if she was a new tenant. If he had seen her before he definitely would have remembered her.

Forgetting the mail, Sky went back into the office, locking the door once inside and disabling the alarm before it went off. It was about an hour past closing time and everyone had already gone home. He sat at the front desk computer and within minutes he had her application and lease information pulled up on the desktop. She was the only person on the lease, confirming that she did live alone.

Name (First, middle, last): Christine Hanna Daae.

Date of birth: March 6, 1997.

Occupation: Full-time student.

Move-in date: August 20, 2015.

Lease term: 12 months.

As he scanned the rest of her information, Sky wondered how he had missed her. He'd purchased this property because of its modest size so he could better keep track of the people who lived there. He wouldn't want any negative reviews due to shitty neighbors. It was weird that she had lived there for over seven months without him ever seeing her before. She must be a private person, or maybe she was just very busy.

He had to know. He had to know everything about this girl.

From that moment on, every second of free time he had was dedicated to studying Christine Daae. At first, he followed her, disguising himself with a hoodie and sunglasses whenever he did; even though it got him some strange looks due to the heat. He had her routine memorized quickly. She wasn't one to stray from her usual activities.

On weekdays, she'd go to class. She worked five nights a week at the coffee shop, her shift usually five or six hours long depending on the day. On Saturday mornings she'd go to the local park and walk around, keeping to herself unless she was shyly asking a stranger walking their dog if she could pet them. Sometimes she'd feed the ducks. And every Sunday morning she went to church.

It was clear that church was her favorite place to be. Though mostly keeping to herself everywhere else, she socialized a lot at church, talking and laughing and praying with anyone and everyone. It was where Sky had to lay low the most. If she were to notice him anywhere, it would be there.

She also helped lead the worship group as one of the main singers. Her voice was beautiful, and when she sang she captivated the whole room. It almost made even him want to believe in whatever God she sang to, but he'd snap out of it as soon as she was finished with her song.

With everything new he learned about her, he only needed more. After a few weeks of following her, Sky used his master key to enter her apartment when she wasn't home. The first thing he did was set up an unnoticeable camera that pointed to the majority of her main living area, using the newly downloaded app on his phone to check and adjust as needed. Then, he surveyed her place, trying to get a deeper feel of her personality.

She was messier than he'd expected. Her twin-sized bed was unmade, the flowery bedding bunched up at the end of the bed and the unkempt sheets littered with stuffed animals and pillows. Unable to resist, Sky took one of the pillows and held it to his face, inhaling.

"Oh my god," he muttered to himself. She smelled delicious.

The drawers to her dresser were open and there were small piles of clothes carelessly left on the floor, and her laundry hamper was overflowing. There were empty soda cans left on her nightstand, dresser, and desk, which was covered in papers. He looked through them curiously, finding mostly school stuff. He found her class schedule underneath various assignments and readings. She was a music performance major in her freshman year, and she took half music classes, half gen-ed classes.

He opened the drawer to the desk and observed the documents inside. The top paper was a statement from the university showing her scholarship and financial aid information. After doing some mental math, Sky decided that even with whatever the coffee shop was paying her, she was barely making it.

Sky rifled further until finding a copy of one of her admissions essays.

The girl had a way with words. She wrote about her life struggles, and he was shocked to learn that she moved to America from Sweden as a child. He was even more shocked to learn that both of her parents died when she was a young teenager in a tragic car accident. Since then she had been living with an old couple from her church that so generously took her in. She wrote how once she went to college, they'd be transitioning to assisted living, and she would persevere to make them proud. He was tearing up by the time he finished it.

After putting the papers back in the drawer, he checked the time. She would not get off work for another hour or so, but he would wrap it up just to stay on the safe side. He sorted through her worn clothes basket, taking a tank top and–weak man that he was–a pair of panties, stuffing them in his pockets before leaving everything else as he found it. He slowly opened the front door, making sure no one was around before he locked up and returned home.

Sky had never experienced obsession to this degree before. It was a little bit scary, the way it consumed him completely and pushed him to do things he'd never done, but he couldn't push it away. He had been heartbroken for so long from losing Meg and Peyton; they had been his entire life. He felt so purposeless without them, which is why he'd dedicated all of his time and energy into work since they'd left him. The financial success was nice and all, but it wasn't the most important thing to him.

Love was the most important. And the second he had laid eyes on Christine, he found a new purpose. Her.

Sky wasn't sure what the next step would be. For now, he planned on watching her through the camera he'd planted. He wanted to know her sleeping habits, if she spoke to people on the phone or invited friends over in her free time, or God-forbid a boyfriend. He wanted to know her strengths and, more importantly, her weaknesses. Something he could use to control her when the time came, because he knew he would not go about this the traditional way. That had never gotten him far in love, so he would try something new.

No matter what it took, and no matter how far he would have to go, Christine Daae would become his. He was in love with her, and he would somehow make her love him back if it was the last thing he did.

The night Sky had to spend in jail was pretty much what he had expected: uncomfortable, dirty, sleepless, and more an annoyance than anything else. By the time dawn came, he felt like absolute hell. His head and eyes ached, his throat burned from the assault he had endured, his stomach roared with hunger, and his body twitched with restless longings for her.

Christine. His poor, sweet Christine… where was she now? Was she okay?

Sky had been so angry with her at first. Honestly, he still was, but the reality of the situation had sunk in more and more as he laid on the rock-hard mat he was somehow expected to sleep on. How could he have been so violent with her? Everything had gone much, much too far. Nothing went as planned. Of course, if she hadn't pushed him the way she had, then they wouldn't be in this fucked up situation in the first place, so...

Christine was at fault, but Sky still wished that he had been able to hold himself together. He should have left her alone down in the basement, waited as long as it took before she begged him to let her back up with him. He should have known her fucking creep of a voice teacher would want to take her for his own. He should have been ready for him.

How did the man even know where they were? And how did he get inside? Sky was sure that everything had been locked up as always. Did Christine somehow give him the address without him knowing? Should he have been listening to her more closely? It wasn't like him to miss any details.

She was his undoing in every way. She made him the way that he was. She had been the one to make him so furious, and she did it on purpose! She wanted him to lose his temper. How could she have done this to them? They had been making so much progress. Why did she have to push him so far?

It didn't matter. He missed her so much already. He had no idea how he would get through not being able to see her for who knew how long.

All night, his mind raced. Though he was certain all of this was–mostly–Christine's fault, there were things Sky thought that he might have done differently had he known this would be the outcome.

What if he had waited to take her? What if he had arranged a meeting with her out in public and charmed her into becoming friends, and eventually lovers? Would she have actually liked him if he hadn't forced her into everything? Surely he would have been able to make her fall in love with him if she had just let him. Maybe she wouldn't have fought so hard and been so stubborn if the situation had been different.

But Christine just had not seemed the type of person to give any man the time of day. She was much too devoted to her private little life, her routine of going to school, work, and church, and doing pretty much nothing else. Sky had known then that if he approached her and asked her out she would have rejected him no matter how much charm he'd turned on. That was why he'd been so determined to hold her against her will until she had no choice but to fall in love with him, just to make each of their lives easier.

And then she'd turned out to be a fighter, which Sky had never seen coming. He really did expect it all to be much easier than it was. But what he didn't see coming was just how much more he would fall in love with her because of her defiance. It was just so fucking sexy, especially because of how surprising it was coming from her. From that time so long ago when he was only watching her, he never would have guessed she had such a fire inside of her. It was ridiculously attractive.

But God, was it inconvenient, and he had to really think about what he could do next time to keep this from happening again. He obviously couldn't let her return to school. She would have to be okay with online classes or something like that, or even not finishing college at all. Sky had more than enough money to support them both, and it would only grow with the more investments he would make in the future. Christine would make a perfect stay-at-home mother.

The thought of that had him smiling wide.

Last night, Sky had refused to speak to the officers without an attorney present when they had retrieved him from his apartment, but complied quietly with all of their demands otherwise. Before entering the jail cell, he'd used his one phone call to contact his lawyer.

Arthur Murphy was one of the best attorneys in the state of Arizona, and he had been working for Sky's family for many years. They spoke briefly on the phone about what had happened, and Murphy assured him not to worry and that Sky would be able to leave by the time morning came.

They called his name just as the sun was beginning to rise. Sky was able to pay the bail amount and walk out of the station by six. The morning was cool and cloudy, and Sky breathed in the fresh air with relief. With how awful the night was, he could not imagine what prison would be like. He was eager to talk with Murphy about his options. He turned to the short, balding man and shook his hand firmly.

They rode in Murphy's luxury car to the nearest diner. Murphy brought out a notepad and pen from his briefcase, and slipped on a pair of reading glasses.

"All right, kid" Murphy began slowly, writing the date and Sky's name at the top of the paper. "This is what we're going to do. You're going to tell me everything that happened last night, and we'll go from there."

The rain had stopped a couple days prior. The desert heat was back with a humid vengeance that made the baby hairs that weren't long enough for her lazy ponytail stick to her neck and forehead. The muggy air was strangely comforting, though, after being in the freezing hospital room all week. She felt like she could walk around out here for a while, despite her sore body and shaky legs.

The walk to Erik's car only took a few minutes. Christine was quiet, not knowing what to say and not really feeling the need to speak. Without looking at him, she could feel Erik's concerned eyes on her, but she just didn't have it in her to reassure him that she was okay.

She wasn't okay, at least not yet. She couldn't look up at him and smile, couldn't squeeze the hand she held. It would be inauthentic. A lie. And she was done with lies.

The hospital stay had been awful, and she was relieved it was finally over. It was an intrusive and embarrassing process, and a lot of times Erik would have to step out to give her and the doctor and nurses privacy. She'd hated that, needing him close, but knew it would only have been more humiliating if she'd allowed him to stay. The hospital staff had been gentle and patient with her, though, and she supposed that it could have been much worse.

They'd even sent her a special therapist who was specifically trained to help the type of victims that Christine now was. Christine liked her a lot; and she was to meet with her every Wednesday afternoon from now on.

The very worst part had been when the police had come to interrogate her. The officer took her full story, and the probing questions he asked afterward made her feel even more ashamed. The only thing keeping her from a full panic attack was Erik, who had sat by her side the entire time, holding her hand tight. A huge part of her had not wanted him to know everything that happened to her, but she knew it would have been worse if she'd kept it a secret from him. He deserved to know the extent of her damage, especially if she was going to be living with him.

Plus, she would have been too weak to talk to the policeman without him. That was for certain.

It was all such a mess. When it was just she and Erik alone, however, it wasn't too bad. He never asked her personal questions, or forced conversation. He allowed her to stare out the window silently, or blankly watch TV, always holding her hand without complaint. When she would start to cry, he comforted her quietly, murmuring soft words that swirled around her brain until she was able to relax again. And then he'd go to the vending machine to get her a soda.

It was all very unexpected, and she often wondered why he was being so amazing. He'd even insisted she order herself new clothes, products, and anything else she might need for her stay with him, just so that she wouldn't have to deal with getting her things back from where she'd been.

Was it all out of pity? Or had he begun to care for her more than she'd known? Maybe she'd get the courage to ask him at some point, but for now–as he drove them to his house–they were silent.

But then, she remembered something, and gasped. "Wait, you have a dog, right Erik?"

"I do. He has been staying with a friend of mine."

"When will he be back?"

His lips twitched, keeping his eyes on the busy afternoon road. "If it is all right with you, I can have him dropped off this evening."

"That is more than all right with me! I'm so excited to meet him."

"I will call Nadir, then, once we get home."

Home. It felt a little strange, going to Erik's house to just… live with him. Again, she couldn't help but wonder why he had been so insistent on taking care of her. She was extremely thankful, of course, but she also felt a little bit guilty. She vowed to herself to take up as little space as possible, and to not bother him in any way. He'd already done so much for her, and she wanted to be able to repay him eventually, but for now all she could offer was silently swearing not to be a nuisance in any way.

Erik eventually pulled into a two-story house's garage, which he'd opened by clicking the little remote attached to his sun visor. Erik was a single man who'd lived alone, so the place was bigger than Christine had assumed it would be. Though he'd already told her that she would have her own room and bathroom, it was still a bit of a surprise, and even from the outside it looked much nicer than anything she'd ever lived in before.

He opened the passenger side door for her, gently helping her out and leading her inside. She had made sufficient progress in healing, but Christine was still very much bruised and tender. It would be a few weeks until she was healed physically at the least. He would do everything in his power to ensure that.

But the turmoil she suffered from on the inside would take much, much longer to nurse. Erik was well aware of that, but determined nonetheless.

The door from the garage led straight into the laundry room, and Erik awkwardly pointed it out for her. As if she couldn't gather that information herself. He then led her beyond to the spacious kitchen, and he savored Christine's bright smile when he informed her that he'd stocked the fridge and pantry with all of her favorite foods. Thankfully she'd seemed to gain her appetite back quickly, and he didn't have to fight to convince her to eat after that first day in the hospital.

Christine felt a little nervous as Erik showed her the rest of the first story, pointing out the living room, den, his office, and his bedroom. It was quickly clear to her that she would be all alone upstairs. She kept her mouth shut, however, not wanting to seem more needy than she already had been. It would only take so much for Erik to get annoyed with her.

After helping her slowly up the stairs, Erik led Christine to her room, apprehensive of her reaction. The only time he would leave the hospital throughout her stay is when she was in a medicated sleep for the night. He would use that time to return home, clean himself up, and prepare the house for her stay. The linens were washed, as well as the new clothes she had ordered. The house had come furnished back when he bought it, and he hoped Christine would find it all adequate. He knew nothing of interior decorating.

"Wow," Christine whispered.

The room was huge, and the bed that dominated most of it was the largest she'd ever seen. There were large windows where the hot sun shone through and illuminated the entire space, as well as a door leading out to the balcony that overlooked the backyard. The walk-in closet door was open and she could see some of the clothes she had picked out hanging inside, and she could guess that if she opened the drawers to the giant dresser she would see the rest. And that was it.

Erik's generosity was just too much for her to take, and she began to cry.

She stood there like an idiot, blubbering into her hands until she could feel Erik's hand lightly touch her shoulder. Without thinking about it, she threw herself into him, wrapping her arms around his thin body and pressing her face into his shirt. Before she could bring herself to second-guess it, though, he was holding her back. Not nearly as tight as she was, but still, it was the comfort she needed.

"Christine?" he murmured, worried. "What is the matter? Is the room not satisfactory? What can I change?"

She shook her head against him, sniffling. "No, everything is perfect. I just–" Her words cut off with a fresh set of sobs.

Erik shushed her gently, running fingers through her hair. "You are safe now. Hush, dearest."

"I know. I feel so safe with you, Erik. I j-just feel… guilty. You're being so nice to me, and I don't know how I'll repay you."

"There is no debt, Christine. Do not think that way."

"Why not?" She had to know, and she looked up to his unreadable masked face.

He stared into her eyes intensely, knowing it would likely scare her away but unable to stop. There was no way he could lie to her now. "Your safety and comfort is my priority. It is the only thing I care about."

But why, she wanted to press him further, but his sincerity was enough to break her into more sobs. She pressed herself close to him again and allowed herself to just cry, hoping he could feel the overwhelming gratitude she felt towards him.

Erik feared he would combust at her being so close. He had barely gotten used to holding her hand, but this… he had to fight to refrain from shaking. If he allowed himself to, he would surely fall apart.

Perhaps having her here was not the brightest idea after all. All he could think about was how he would die when she would eventually leave him.