A Rose and A Phantom (Descendants of Classics Book 1)

Chapter 7: The Rose is Plucked and the Phantom is Shown

Chapter 7:
The Rose is Plucked and the Phantom is Shown

That night, Rosabella rushed over to Derik's so that she could not only eat but tell him about what had happened. She just knew he would understand. As soon as she entered, she ran into the kitchen and waited for Derik to come. He entered the room next to the kitchen.
"What would you like to eat, Rose," he asked her.
"A sandwich would be nice," she said shyly.
"I'd make it for you myself but I wouldn't want to scare you away with my horrendous face." His voice sounded solemn and full of the self loathing Rosabella had assumed he had before.
"I promise I won't run; my favorite character in a book is actually very ugly to others but I find him utterly handsome." Rosabella blushed at her own statement.
"I am not ready to show you my face yet; perhaps once we have gotten to know one another for a while then I may feel comfortable with showing you this cursed face of mine." Derik seemed to be cursing himself. She had no idea why he would curse himself so.
"I'd like to be the judge of that for myself; I can't be told what I think. I guess I'll just make my sandwich myself if that isn't too much to ask."
He agreed and Rosabella got to work making her sandwich. She found the items she needed fairly quickly and had her sandwich made in no time. She decided to make Derik one as well and finished with that one as well. She left his plate on the counter and sat herself against the wall to where she was facing away from the doorway. Derik took his plate quickly and began eating. She ate quietly and soon found herself telling him about what had happened with the pompous fop from earlier. He laughed at her terminology for the jerk. They continued to talk for a good thirty minutes before cleaning up their messes.
They moved to the drawing room which was in the other doorway on the right when she had entered. She found the drawing room to be a lovely room. It was decorated with a woman's touch. There were flowers around the room along with beautifully ornate vases that contained the beautiful flowers. The most common flower found in the room happened to be a rose. Rosabella found this intriguing but didn't question him about it. She just wanted to enjoy his company as they talked about different subjects. They had been discussing musical theatre when they reached the topic of the theatre's production of "Romeo and Juliet".
"We are actually performing it right now," Rose said. Derik smirked as he already knew that.
"I know, Frau Garrett recorded the performance secretly for me seeing how I can't really go out in public," he said smirking in the beginning but frowning at the end.
"Then you must have seen me in it; I was Rosalind. That was my mother's name. I felt so proud to be playing a character that held her name, it made me feel closer to her in a way," she said nostalgically.
"I'm sorry if I brought up any unwanted memories or feelings," he apologized. He felt bad for mentioning the topic now; he might have just triggered an emotional breakdown for her.
"No, it's fine, I'm actually relieved to talk to someone about it after so long. I haven't talked about her since her funeral unless you count when that idiotic man disparaged her choice in names," she said muttering the last part to herself. Derik heard her anyways and laughed at her personal commentary.
"You are most amusing with your nicknames for the said fop and have a most vast vocabulary. I assume you do well in school," he asked trying to avoid the touchy subject.
"I do but I feel as though it isn't stimulating enough at times. What about you; what were your grades like in school?" Rosabella was curious as to how he acted in high school.
"I've been homeschooled all of my life. I have had many tutors and finished with academics when I was twelve," he said as if in thought.
"Wow, you must be a genius or prodigal child. What have you been studying since then?"
"I study music, ventriloquism, the performing arts, and I've only recently begun dabbling in architecture. I must admit, I have always been rather odd to others. I have been isolated because of it."
"That's terrible! If I were there I would have spent time with you!" She was shocked! How could people treat a man with such knowledge so?!
"Well you are here now and for that I am glad. You are a pleasant companion," Derik said smirking. He loved her company and hoped she wouldn't mind his use of the word companion.
"I am honored, kind sir. I hope to have the pleasure of being in your presence quite often as it seems I have caught myself a case of curiosity," she giggled. The sound alone made his heart swell with pride.
"Then I shall be happy to oblige your curiosity so long as you remain my friend, meine Rose," he projected his voice in a whisper to where it sounded as if he were whispering in her ear. She gasped at the sound of her name in a foreign accent when it was his voice that made the sound.
"Then I suppose we have a deal," she said after catching her breath.
Rosabella checked the time on her phone and saw that it was getting late. She sighed in disappointment. She told him that seeing how late it was, she would regrettably have to leave. He spoke to her as she left and bid her goodnight. He continued watching her as she walked down the pathway to the sidewalk in front of his home. Derik observed a figure nearing her and was instantly on edge. He watched as the figure imposed a threat to his Rose's wellbeing. The figure in question came up behind Rosabella. He was eager to ensnare the innocent girl. She continued walking none the wiser of the events that were about to take place.
"Hey Rosa, want to see what a man can do for you?" The voice that said that was all too familiar to Rosabella. She stopped walking and turned to look at the incompetent Baron.
"I'm sorry, Baron von Lockhart, but I'm not sure if I understand what you mean," she said trying to maintain her composure.
"I meant, do you want to see what my bedroom looks like," he asked with a perverted look of lust in his eyes. Rosabella understood this too well. Panic began to set in and she tried to hide it.
"I'm sorry but I need to get home, my dad will be waiting for me," she said looking around frantically for something or someone to help her.
"It looks like I'm going to have to give you no choice; I've never been turned down so I'll have to teach you a lesson," the Baron said just before lunging at her.
She ducked out of the way and began running just to be pulled back forcefully by the wrist. She cried out in pain as she was pulled into an overly muscular chest. He held her by the shoulders with a tight grip as he glared daggers at her. He backhanded her making her collapse to the ground. She held her throbbing cheek as tears poured down her face. She attempted to crawl away when she was pulled by the shirt roughly. She landed on her back and cried out for help. She was pulled to her feet by her attacker and winced closing her eyes as she prepared for the punch to the face that she anticipated she would receive.
At the sound of Rose crying out in pain and for help, Derik rushed from his hiding place and over to the foul man that had attacked his Rose. He saw the man ready to raise a fist to her face and lost it. He pulled the man back and punched him himself. He felt himself lose it completely as the man attempted to fight him. Derik shoved him away and swung a fist into the man's jaw earning a slight cracking sound. The man looked up at Derik and a look of horror crossed his features. He then scrambled away in fear, forgetting his purpose for being there altogether.
Derik turned his attention to Rose and saw her curled up in a ball on the ground, sobbing. He knelt beside her and gathered her up into his arms. He knew he couldn't bring her home for fear of being accused of doing that to her. He couldn't bring her to the hospital to check for wounds for fear of being screamed at in horror. No, his only choice was to bring her inside to one of the guest rooms to assess her injuries. He cradled her to his chest and glimpsed down at her. She was shaking with each sob and fighting to get out of his grip.
"Shhh, it's okay now, you're safe from that man," he cooed to her to calm her down. It was then that she decided to look up.
Rosabella was shocked by the sight that met her eyes when she looked up at Derik from his arms. The first thing she noticed were his lips. They were terribly bloated and looked to be pulled in two separate directions. They were also looked to be scarred and dried up. She next noticed that the skin of each cheek was pulled taut against his skull with what appeared to be gaps on certain parts. This made his muscle and cheekbones clearly visible. His nose appeared perfectly fine if you only looked at him from the left. The left side of his nose was malformed and barely looked like there was a nose when looked at from a certain angle.
On the left side of his forehead towards where his hairline should be was a section of skin so thin that the skull there was completely visible. In a section of that part of his head, there was a section of his skull that was missing. The brain tissue beneath was very apparent to any onlooker with the thin layer of skin there sticking to it. This made every detail of his brain there distinguishable. The distorted skin from his cheeks continued onto the top of his head where his hair should have been. There were very few long strands of pitch black hair that could be seen. What shocked Rosabella the most were his eyes; they were a dull almost lifeless shade of blue making them appear grey. They were filled with unshed tears as he returned her gaze.
"Now you see the monster I am; I'm sorry that you had to see it in such a way. Forgive me," he whispered as a tear slid down his cheek.
Rosabella looked up at him as she was carried back into the mansion she loved. She remained silent as she gazed up at the almost skull-like face of her dearest friend. Her sobs had subsided and only silent tears remained. She was in awe of his appearance. She had never expected him to look that way.
Derik occasionally looked down at her as he carried her upstairs to a bedroom across from his. He felt all hope of being able to love the girl in his arms leave him the moment she laid eyes on the monstrosity that was his face. He internally cursed himself for not covering his face after getting rid of her attacker. Now she would never love him nor want to be in his presence. He placed her on the bed in the room and saw her eyes half closed. He assumed she had fainted from shock and her eyes were twitching. He sat at the foot of the bed after tucking her in under the covers. He held his face in his hands as silent tears poured down his face.
Rosabella looked at his back as he sat at the end of the bed. She felt so many emotions: fear, sadness, shock, terror, hope, and compassion. The one emotion she felt the most was confusion. She had no idea why he saw himself as some monster. She honestly thought he was handsome. She had never seen a man with a face like his. She had no idea someone so handsome could exist. She was not blind to his ugliness, quite the opposite. She was fully aware that he was terribly deformed and wondered if the rest of his body was like that. She remember his arms being muscular but lanky. She blushed as her thoughts led her elsewhere.
She shook that thought from her head and she heard him sob. Her heart broke for him. He must have been treated so badly by his parents for him to be living in a mansion that appeared to be deserted. She knew she had to do everything in her power to make him happy and fill his life with laughter. She was going to make it her mission to make him smile or laugh whenever she visited him. She couldn't bare the thought of him wallowing in self loathing alone in his room. Her tears from before began to pour down her face again as she imagined the emotional pain he must have been through for him to think so lowly of himself. She cuddled closer to the blankets she was wrapped in and looked at him from a gap she had made for herself to see him.
It was then that she noticed his clothing. His shirt was white and had puffy sleeves that reminded her of a pirate. He wore black pants that reached his waist tightly revealing his lanky waist. On his feet were boots the reached his knees and looked like they were rolled over. He truly looked like a pirate. She smiled sadly to herself as the tears continues down her cheeks. She watched as he stood up and walked around the room appearing to be angry. She saw him punch the wall leaving an indent and then storming out of the room. She quickly tiptoed out of the bed to continue watching him.
Rosabella watched him enter a room further down the hall slamming the door. She padded quietly down the hallway and stood in front of the door. She took a deep breath before slowly creaking the door open. She peeked inside and saw him curled up in a ball in the corner behind the piano. She silently made her way over to him. As she got closer, she could hear him sobbing. His sobbing became louder the closer she got to him. When she reached him, she sat on the floor and curled up against his side.
Derik threw his hands in the air in shock. He looked down at his side and noticed that Rose was there. She then positioned herself to where she was cuddled up against his chest. He lowered his arms and hesitantly wrapped an arm around her. He took turns between staring at the wall in front of him and at her, both being shock filled gazes. He had never had a woman curl up against him nor had he ever felt a woman grasp his shirt as she got comfortable against his form. Her auburn waves were lightly tickling his neck as she breathed.
"You're not a monster, Derik," he heard her whisper just before her body relaxed against him completely.
He stared down at her in shock and brushed a hand against her hair absent mindedly. She had accepted him. She really accepted him. A smile formed on his distorted lips as he repositioned her onto his lap. She cuddled even closer to him and a small smile formed on her lips. Derik relaxed against the wall as his eyes closed. The smile never left his face all night. Neither did hers.