Captivity Defined

Chapter Eight

Christine let her eyes travel around the enormous room, taking every little detail in. The room was probably about the size of the stage of the Opera House, but unlike the stage this place seemed free of the chaos and confusion that followed along with the goings on in the Opera Populaire.

Thick Persian rugs, the color of crimson blood, spread out across the floor in various places. Some were the luscious color of red roses and yet others as black as a midnight sky and there was even one that was white, which seemed odd and even random to Christine. The rugs themselves were woven perfectly, and the feel of them beneath her feet screamed out how expensive they must be.

Where the rugs weren't covering, she could see the dark wood flooring, which blended nicely with the beautiful rugs.

She slowly walked over the Persian rugs to the next room, which happened to be the bedroom. Before she stepped into the room, however, she turned back around to admire the room she had been in. Several couches surrounded a beautiful fireplace, with another gorgeous Persian rug in front of it. The fluffy, red pillows on the couches contrasted with the black in a way that could only be described as extravagant. The fireplace was made out of pure marble, and she felt as though she could stare into the fire's flickering flames for ages on end, but she was eager to explore the rest of her new home.

Stepping into the bedroom at last, she felt her heart almost stop at the beauty of it. A black lace canopy adorned her bed, draping over it like a gorgeous veil on a bride. The bed itself had at least twenty pillows on it, some red and some black, but all extremely fluffy. The bedspread itself was a gorgeous work of art indeed. Black lace trimmed the entire bottom of the bed spread as well as the two main pillows, and she could tell, even from far away, that it was made of expensive materials.

The bed looked so inviting, she just wanted to jump on it and cuddle with the many pillows until the dawn met the dusk. She resisted the urge, but only because there was more exploring she had to do.

She could see closet doors, the dark wood so dark that it was practically black. Contrasting with the black doors was the small white Persian rug adorning the floor just before them. Curious, she walked to the doors and opened them, only to gasp in shock.

It was a huge walk in closet, complete with a small staircase leading to a second level. Dresses made of the finest silk filled the racks, and she honestly had never seen so many shoes in her life. But what was probably the most surprising (and more than likely mortifying) thing that astonished her was the lingerie that was in the back left corner of the small room. Every kind of corset, shift, and chemise imaginable was hanging from the racks, all of them being red or black or even both. The one thing that intrigued her, however, was that one out of the chemises, corsets, and shifts was white. There was only one white corset, only one one white chemise, and only one white shift. Why was that? Why only one?
Blinking to clear her thoughts, she dragged her eyes away from the white garments to the others filling up the corner. Half of them caused Christine to blush simply looking at them, much less wearing them. Needless to say, they would draw immediate and complete attention by anyone who saw them.

Not that anyone would actually see her dressed in only her underclothes, but still it made her cheeks flush crimson to imagine her Angel - for who else would it have been - picking them out for her.

Three see - through drawers were full of nothing but underwear and stockings, and she didn't even dare to inspect those farther.

Her cheeks flushing even more with every second she stared at what she deemed to be the Lingerie Corner, she hastily backed out of the closet and shut the doors, unwilling to even go near the Lingerie Corner to go up the stairs to explore the second floor of her wardrobe.

She breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself as she walked out of the bedroom into the main room once more. She saw the French doors, but what drew her curiosity was the door beside it, which led to her "Secret Place", as her Angel had called it.

She put her shaking hand on the door handle, still trying to calm herself after the shock that had hit her hard in her closet. Closing her eyes, she used a breathing exercise her Angel had taught her at the very beginning of her teachings.
Opening her eyes, she frowned slightly. How was it that even when he wasn't around, she still had her Angel in her mind? The thought perplexed her greatly, tearing at her as she fought to try to find a logical reason why her Angel was haunting her mind.

Shaking her head slightly, she brought her thoughts back in to what she was about to discover, and her heart started to pound in excitement. Turning the handle quickly, she stepped into the room, and the sight that greeted her literally took her breath away.

The room was the size of a ballroom, and had glass walls, which the sun shone in through from the outside world, lighting up the room brightly and giving it a peaceful atmosphere. Gorgeous trees and flowers and bushes surrounded the wall on the outside, leaving Christine to gasp in awe at their beauty. In the middle of the giant room was a beautiful water fountain. It was in the shape of a Phoenix, it's wings spreading out around the entire fountain, collecting the water which swooped down from the ceiling of the room, which was also glass. The feathers of the Phoenix formed a bench on the fountain, and the comforting sound of the water falling echoed slightly throughout the room, wrapping Christine up in its almost musical atmosphere.

But what astonished her the most was the floor. The floor was made of a material Christine had not even thought possible to be suitable for flooring.

Mirrors.

The floor was made out of mirrors.

It was as if someone just spread a gigantic mirror on the ground and built around it, calling it a floor.

The mirrors reflected literally everything. The gorgeous garden of beauty outside, as well as the very rays of sunshine themselves, were reflected by the mirrors.

The resulting sight was magnificent. It gave the room an extremely peaceful atmosphere, and yet whispered the hint of romance in the midst of it.

Christine could only stare around the room in awe, slowly stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind her. As the door shut, she glanced behind her to see that this side of the door was made out of a mirror as well. If it hadn't been for the pure silver handle, she would've never been able to tell that this was a door.

The silver handle perfectly matched the trimmings of the floor - to - ceiling windows, and the vaulted ceiling almost made the room seem... magical.

Christine now understood why her Angel had told her this was her Secret Place.

It was a place of peace, a place where she could completely and totally relax both physically and mentally. A secret place was where you could do this. It was a place that was so beautiful to you that it calmed you, and so therefore you kept it a secret.

She breathed in deeply, inhaling the sweet scent of roses, though there weren't any actually inside.... which was strange.
Why could she smell something that wasn't even there?

But she didn't linger on those negative thoughts for long. Walking giddily over to the fountain, she sat down on it and leaned back, closing her eyes and simply listening to the calming sound of the water falling into the fountain.

She didn't know how long she sat there, but it seemed as if it were a very long time after words that she was awakened from her daydreaming by the sound of the door to the room opening.

"Christine."

Her Angel's voice sounded very pleased, as if he were extremely satisfied that she was in this room, for whatever reason.

Christine reluctantly opened her eyes to look at him, ignoring slight feelings of anger towards the man she had called her Angel for so long.

"Dinner is prepared... You must be starving. I have set out your clothes in which you are to come down in, and it would please me greatly if you were to leave your hair down. Dinner will be served in precisely thirty minutes, and you shall be down there promptly at that time. Until then, my Christine."

With that being said, he turned and disappeared from the doorway, leaving a surprised and upset Christine in his wake.