Phantom Pirouette

Chapter 4: Roman (Part One)

I wanted to run as much as I wanted him to grab me.

I eyed the door behind him and began searching the room with my eyes to see if there was some sort of alternative escape route. "Dimitry," Renaissance said softly, taking my face into his hands, "Will you trust me?" I was on the verge of crying by then, I grabbed the sleeve of my shirt to try and tide the tears over. "Just this once," he said, moving ever closer to my face. I was sent into a spiral by him. All my emotions mixed together in some sort of poison and longed to seep through my eyes, to drip onto the floor and fall onto him. Everything ached. Very hesitantly, I nodded and looked him in the eyes. My vision blurred as the poison tears began to swell, I felt choked up by the atmosphere. Renaissance ran his thumb along the waterline of my eyes to wipe my tears, I wasn't sure why I was crying, and I think he knew that. I wanted him to hug me, so I felt better. I inhaled deeply to try and catch my breath, closing my eyes for a moment. But as I opened them, I swore for a moment, Renaissance wasn't himself.

For half of a second, I saw him, his ivory skin roughed over with what looked like dark leather, his eyes no longer held his charm, no, they were a deep red, his hair no longer flattered his face, it was dark, and on the top of his head sprouted what looked like long black swords that held against my throat. I gasped at the sight, but after blinking away the vision, he was normal again. I was scared. I shook at the short sight, Renaissance saw this and grabbed my waist, "Are you alright?" I nodded quickly, choosing not to tell him about what I saw. "What, uhm, what did you need?" I choked out, clearing my throat and catching my breath. I refused to look him in the eyes. "I just need you to come with us to our next ball. We could use the extra support."

I was still shaken by him, even more so now that he wanted me to go slaughter another ten thousand people.

"Dimitry, you do not look well, are you feeling alright? Do you need water?" I held onto his arms and nodded quickly, I needed to get out of the room, and I needed to leave. Renaissance sighed and nodded, "Come with me," he took my hand and opened the door, then pulled me back out to the grand room. The boys were gone. "Where'd the boys get off to?" I asked, following him to a grand kitchen. "They went to collect the corpses and souls. They enjoy it." Renaissance picked me up and sat me on the counter as he faced the small well in the kitchen. "What do you do with the bodies?" I asked, leaning back against the cabinet. "We keep the corpses of the children. Card is a necromancer. I collect them into our group. The other bodies, however, we usually burn or feed to the dogs." I pretended to understand. Renaissance handed me a glass of water and sat next to me on the counter.

I carefully drank the water; I felt a little better then.

I set the empty glass down and Renaissance took it and put it back in the cabinet. I felt light-headed then. Renaissance set his hand on my back to steady me, I was about to fall. I held my palm against my head to try and see, everything was moving, and my vision blurred quickly. "Dimitry?" he said, sounding concerned and cunning. "My...My head hurts..." I managed to say. Everything went dark and I felt myself fall against Renaissance.

...

I woke up and found myself on a bed. A large bed in a large room, a dark room, an unfamiliar room. A thick blanket was pulled up over my shoulders. I sat up and held my head, it still hurt like hell. I looked around to see any sort of light, all I could see was the silhouette of a man sitting next to me.

Wait, what?

I jumped at seeing the shape of him, I didn't know who he was or why he was with me. "Hello?" I said wearily, moving to the other side of the bed. The silhouette leaned forward and moved closer to me, "Don't be scared," he said. His voice rang with familiarity, but I couldn't tell from where. "How do you expect me not to be scared when you've kidnapped me?" He laughed, "Kidnapped? That's a strong word, dear." He moved closer, and I was about to fall. He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him, I knew his grip from somewhere, but where? "What are you doing?!" I demanded, trying to squirm away from him. "Why are you always trying to run from me, Dimitry?" I stopped moving and looked at him. There wasn't any light, but in the darkness, I could make out the faint shade of green in his eyes. I squinted, trying to see him clearly, "R?" I saw him nod his head. "What is wrong with you?! Knocking me unconscious and trying to molest me! How dare--" I was stopped by him when he kissed me. I wanted to fall unconscious again. "Sorry," he said softly, drawing back away from me, "I wasn't sure how else I was to get you quiet." I felt something click in me, something set something else off, and I felt as if I'd been pushed off a cliff and submerged under water. I was stunned, stricken, and frozen. "Please, let me explain," Renaissance said, turning on a small lamp on the right side of the bed. My eyes were still held wide open, and it didn't make it any better knowing that the man next to me was sitting with his shirt unbuttoned. I was thrown into yet another spiral. My face flushed red as I laid back down quickly and faced the other direction.

Renaissance rested his hand on my shoulder and shook me gently, "Can I please explain?" He begged, resting one hand on my shoulder and letting his other hand wander my waist. "Go ahead." I said stiffly, still facing away from him. "I would appreciate it if you were to look at me," he said, moving his hands off me. "Oh, trust me, I would love to look at you," I said, laying on my back and looking at him, "But I would rather not get molested." Renaissance laughed, "I'm not going to molest you." "Then why am I in this bed?" I snapped, looking back at the ceiling. "You fainted." I sat up quickly in surprise and looked at him, wide eyed and curious, "Why?" was all I could say in the moment. "I believe it was from shock or being overwhelmed. I do apologize." I sighed and buried my face in my hands. "That's embarrassing." I muttered, trying to calm myself down.

I wanted to hit him so hard.