Hidden Secrets (An AHS: Hotel/Tristan Duffy Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Six: Emotions

Within the next month, Tristan and I grew closer and closer. It wasn't just like he was feeding from me then shrugging me off. He would vent to me about problems he had throughout his life and things he was dealing with at the time. He'd tell me his views on life, people, and art. He was just so real with me. He didn't sugarcoat his thoughts. I admired him for his honesty and how headstrong he was. I knew he was capable of murder and that he was a murderer, but he was much more than that. He was full of so many emotions. His rage could bring the walls down, while his passion for little things in life could truly move anyone who was around to listen to him. I had never known someone like him. He was damaged, but he chose to see himself as whole. He refused to be broken by the things that had happened to him in the past. I aspired to be that way. 

And while Tristan was both strong and outspoken, the Countess wouldn't allow him to be either. She wanted him to be completely submissive, and towards her he was. To her, he was just her little puppet. He would do as she said, because even if he fought back she'd find ways to make him choose her way over his own. Each day he returned from her, he seemed less alive. He was losing himself trying to please her, and I felt that I was the only thing that reminded him of who he truly was. I would strike up conversations and talk about the things he loved, and it would always bring a smile to his face. But the next day, she'd break him down more, and I'd watch his true colors begin to fade.

One day while Tristan and I were talking, he got a text from the Countess telling him to come to her room. Like her own little servant, he listened to her command and went up to her immediately. I waited in his room for him to return and began reading some books he had brought me. It was maybe a half an hour later when he came bursting into the room.

"I'm so sick of this!!" he yelled as he slammed the door behind him.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I'm tired of having to do everything she wants!" he confessed with rage in his voice. "I'm sick of her screwing around with other guys and wanting me to help her please them, and then demanding my undying love and loyalty!"
"I'm sorry..." I said, unsure of what else I could say to make the situation better.
"The sad thing is, when she turned me, I thought she was saving me from a life of misery." he laughed mockingly. "I thought she loved me... but she doesn't know what love is. She doesn't even care about me."

He then walked over to the wall and rested his head against it, as if to calm himself. Then, without warning, he yelled out in anger and threw his fist into the wall in front of him.

"Tristan... calm down.." I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm here."
"For now!" he spun around to face me. "But if I told you I would let you go, you'd leave and never look back. You're only nice to me so I won't kill you!"
"That's not true." I told him. "Maybe I was scared at first. Maybe I dreamed of escaping when you first brought me here... but not anymore. I've only known you for a month, and I don't know what lies ahead for me or you, but I do know I could never leave this hotel without you by my side. Leaving without you... it isn't an option anymore."
"Really?" he looked deeply into my eyes, as if to see if I was being honest.
"Really." I answered. "I've never had someone listen and care the way you do. And I've never had someone tell me everything their soul desires and what they dream of like you do, with no restraint. You're so incredible and capable of so much more than just being the Countess' servant."
"Why do you think so much of me?" he questioned. "Why do you see so much in me when everyone else just sees me as a handsome face or a murderer?"
"Because I care about you, Tristan." I replied with sincerity.