Voice Of A Troubled Angel

Chapter Fourteen: Wait a Minute... Hostage Much?

    Christiana had been with Erik for nearly a week now. She was terrified of overstaying her welcome. She did not want to do anything that would lower his opinion of her. She liked him too much, and she learned quite a bit about him from living with him. Needless to say, she liked what she learned.

   Erik was sweet and funny, and he had a temper, yes, but it was so amusing to watch him get angry at little things, like a pencil that dared to shatter it's point un his hand as he was writing. It was pleasant to wake up to his playing a random instrument, to be invited to sing with him in the evenings. She loved when they told stories or talked in front of the fireplace, with his glass wall allowing the moonlight and twinkling stars to shine down upon them. Christiana would rather have a moonbeam tan than a suntan, at this time.

   She was drawn to Erik, but doubted he was drawn to her in the same way. She had nothing to offer him, nothing he could find fascinating. Yet she craved his company. All she wanted was to be around him.

   But now that a week had passed, she hoped to continue their friendship in different houses. Spending all of his time with her, she assumed would make him grow tired of her company, and while she wanted to spend all of her time with him, she would rather have it be brief and continuous than one long stretch then never again.

   She thought he would tire of her company. If Erik knew this, he'd faint at the thought and scold himself for giving her that impression.

  Nevertheless, she decided today was the day to talk to him about it. He was in a good mood anyway, which was a bonus. He might need his guest room back after all. And she should reimburse him for the clothes...

  "Erik?" She asked, shyly moving closer to him.

  "Yes, my dear?" He replied, writing a few notes down.

   "I don't want to be a burden anymore, so I decided today would be a good day to... go. You've been kind, and I hope we can continue to be friends. Perhaps we can visit each other?" Erik stopped listening after the word 'go.' His entire pencil snapped in half in his strong hand.

   "What?" He asked, turning to her. "Leave, no. No, you can't leave."

   She frowned, but secretly was delighted... could she hope that he liked her?

  "Why?" She couldn't hold back a smile.

  "Because... it's dangerous."

  Her smile fell and was replaced by a frown. "Oh."

  "Yes. Dangerous. You are much to precious to lose, so you must stay with me."

   Erik rose to fetch a new pencil.

   "I do need to let Mr. Cathy know what happened. May I drop by the store? Go home and get a few things?"

   "No. You will stay here; I can provide for you, Christiana." He was adamant about this.

   "Okay," she raised her hands in defeat. Her conscious told her he was acting a bit... worryingly... but she'd rather not believe he was obsessed. Even though he was.

   Christiana agreed, and Erik sighed in relief.

  He didn't want her to think he was caging her, but then he would not risk her being harmed. He loved her and needed her. If she died, he died. Period.

   "I'm not keeping you in a cage, you aren't a songbird to be kept, Christiana, I know this. But I can't let you go. It's dangerous and I'd miss you. Now if you'll excuse me, I do need to find my pencil sharpener."

   Christiana smiled. "I'll tell you where it is if you promise to play Monopoly with me."

   Erik frowned. "From the subject of your captivity to children's board games. Alright, where is it?"

  "Promise first."

  "Yes, I promise to play the theft game with you. Where is it?"

   "Check your left hand. And it's not about theft. You just don't like the fact I beat you last time. You really don't know how to handle your money."

   "Paying sixty fraudulent dollars for a property that only takes in two for rent, is theft."

    "Sure, Erik. Anyway, let me know when you are done so we can get started." Without another word, Christiana left the room.

    She needed to think.

   He wasn't really holding her hostage, was he? He did have her best interests at heart, of this she was certain... maybe he just had weird ways of expressing his feelings? Either way, she didn't have to go back to her mother, and she was getting a friend out of it.

   It might have been foolish, but then the best decisions occasionally are... Christiana decided not to believe that Erik was not allowing her to leave him. She'd choose ignorance bliss over pain and betrayal any day. It's not as if he actually was holding her hostage, right? Or was she just stupid?

     She could not know, after all, the intense flames of love consuming Erik's quiet soul. Once he had seen her again, once she had been with him, he could never let her go. She had to be his, one way or another.

   Yes, sentencing her to a life of damnation by forcing her to live with a monster like him was selfish and pointed more towards obsession than love, but she did not know he was a monster. He did not know that within the space of another week, she would be forgive him anything.

          Fluff chapter, I know.

   Alexa

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