Monarchy

Chapter 5: Town Affairs

     "Hey." Dominic's voice flooded my head. "Abrianna, time to wake up." I peaked an eye open to see him leaning over me with a smile on his face. "How about after breakfast we go walk around the town. I want to show you around." He pulled me to sit up.

     "Breakfast?" I asked, my voice cracked and my mouth formed a cheesy grin.

     "Yeah. I made you waffles." I put my hair into a ponytail and followed him to the dining room. His sisters all sat around the table talking. Dominic put his hand on my lower back like when he did when I was nervous at the store we first went to together.

     They didn't take their eyes off me the entire time they were eating. Dominic had to have felt the tension too. Even if he did, he didn't do anything about it. Even if he did, he didn't do anything about it. Eventually they left. After, it was just Dominic and I.

     "Where are your parents?"

     "My dad came last night to get my mom. They're headed to Canada today to talk about some school thing. My sisters have a private tutor coming over soon, they'll be busy most of the day with lessons. Which leave you and I free to do whatever we want." My mother taught me how to read and do math so I never had the need for a tutor. I suppose that was my parents way of keeping me hidden from the rest of the world. "When you're done I've got clothes already picked out for you on the bed. I can't wait to take you to town."

     Town. Dominic would never do what Zack did. He was so much better than my brother. Fear sparked inside of me anyway. I gave up on the rest of my breakfast.

     "Well you can go ahead and get dressed before me. Then when I'm done we'll start our walk."Dominic's smile seemed to stretch from ear to ear. I couldn't help but feel like this was going to end badly. I hurried to get dressed. Out of the choices Dominic had left me I chose a thin light brown long sleeved shirt. My mom taught me more about fashion and how to impress boys more than she taught me anything else.

     I  matched the shirt with a pair of black skinny jeans and light brown knee high boots. I didn't even pass Dominic on my way to the front door, but I only had to wait a little while. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt.

     "Wow Abrianna, you look fantastic!" He looped his arm around mine and lead me through the door. The scenery was even more astounding in the daylight. A pasture of green grass contained horses I didn't see last night. There were even a couple of tree in the front. The back of the house was surrounded by the trees like a wall. A packed dirt road lead from the house to the main road which had been paved.

     Dominic chatted mindlessly about all the things he couldn't wait to show me in town. Looking back at the big white house I believe that it would have been the perfect place to grow up. I imagined Christmas in the much too large living room. A tree that reached the ceiling, presents for everyone stacked high around it.

     I never got much for Christmas. Usually just handed down clothes from my mother. The kitchen staff would get me my books. As i got older, so did the contents of my books. Those books taught me all I know about romance, which sadly isn't much. However, in the books a boy shows he likes you by holding your hand, hugging you, and kissing you. I looked down at my hand that at some point during our walk Dominic decided to grab.

     Two out of the three in the past week that I've met him him, he has to like me. Right?

     "Okay, here is the best place in the world." The sign above the door read 'Ray's Bar-B-Que'. "They serve the best pulled pork and fried apple pies around." Dominic ordered for the both of us, and once our food was ready he sat us down at one of the picnic style tables.

     He was right, these were the best apple pies I'd ever had. Dominic ordered a few more for us to go. I didn't even know that there were places to eat outside of the house, I thought it was all made up in the books that I used to get.

     Dominic showed me around so many stores. By the time we went to eat dinner I was exhausted. "Order anything you want. I'll be right back." He walked away with a man who was dressed like my father. A girl with dark red hair and freckles walked over not long after Dominic left.

     "So, you're here with Nici." She sat in his chair. "I'd be careful if I were you. Girls don't tend to last long around him."

     "What do you mean?"

     "His sister's are evil. Some of the girls he brought home ended up dead. Ask him about Samantha if you don't believe me." She walked away a few seconds before Dominic showed back up.

     "What did that girl say to you?" He was angry, his voice gave it away. "Abrianna!" He snapped, making me flinch. "I'm sorry. She's just been a problem for my family since I met her. I just want to make sure she didn't threatened you." He grabbed my hand across the table. I wanted to pull my hand away but I didn't want to make him any angrier.

     "She just told me to be careful. That your sisters' can be really mean." Could he tell that I was lying?

     "Do you promise me that's all she said? I don't want us lying to each other. I really like you Abrianna." He likes me? It was hard to think the rest of the night while he ate. One the walk back to his house he never let go of my hand. He said he likes me. I never wanted to feel this way about someone. I never wanted to end up like my mother.

     Together we stood at the edge of the dirt road. The sun was setting behind the house again and I couldn't help but admire the scene again. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay with Dominic so I need to enjoy every second, who knows what'll happen when I'm not allowed to be here anymore.

     "Come one, let's go get some sleep."

     "Are you going to sleep next to me again?" The comfort of him holding me last night brought smile to my face.

     "Only if you want me to." I nodded, I couldn't think of his not being by my side, despite how frightening he was at dinner. I turned to look at him, his eyes were sparkling in the fading light. He leaned down a little. His lips were just barely away from mine. "Last one to the house gets locked out." He whispered before running off towards the house.

     I lost, but he didn't really lock me out. We tumbled through the house laughing together. His sisters weren't to happy to see us but all they did was complain that we were being too loud. Dominic apologized and we shut ourselves in the room. Sleepiness hit me like a brick.

     "Let's go to bed." He grabbed his clothes and walked through the door into the bathroom. "Clothes are in the top drawer. I'll get dressed in here okay?" He shut the door and I hurried to get dressed. I put my hair back up into his loose ponytail. "Are you done?"

     "Yeah." I said in the middle of a yawn.

     "Good." He replied before running into the room and tackled me on to the bed. "Good night." He said before kissing my cheek and burring the both of us in blankets.

     I didn't think of him next to me that night. I didn't think of his sisters or how his parents hadn't come back yet. All I could think about was the one question I would have to ask sooner or later. Who is Samantha?