His White Rabbit

Ch. 16 - Midnight in the hall

William takes a breath and thinks of what he wanted to play on the beautiful Steinway in the main hall of the house. The acoustics are wonderful, the piano is ready and he just needs a song.

Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor.

It's what he loves. What he knows very well and always leaves him feeling better and relieved. The theme is a little dark but he doesn't mind somber melody. He never thinks of such themes as sad or uncheerful but considers them a part of his own personality. His main persona anyway.

The ecstatic William hates it and finds no joy in such music. The compositions that make him feel miserable are the worst kind for him.

So no Rachmaninoff. It's going to be Liszt. La Campanella.

Who is in charge tonight?

Rachmaninoff it is.

As he starts playing, the walls breathe in the sweet sound of life. Despite the echoing, no one seems to mind the beautiful music that the man is playing in the middle of the night. Not caring about waking anyone up, his fingers move across the black and white teeth of the magnificent instrument. It seems like everyone is asleep. Even the other William.

But Rosie is awake, listening carefully. She awoke to the cold wind that scraped her cheeks and lips and when she found no trace of William, she found her way to her senses, trying to locate the missing man. She didn't worry because the man kept her on the edge of her nerves the whole time so this was perfect for her.

But the music was... so dark and melancholic. It disturbed her and she wondered if it was William who was playing such tunes. The darkness was alarming but she got out of bed and walked towards the source of the sound, wanting to hear it more clearly and enjoy it in silence. It was actually beautiful, here in this old house and its vibe, it was perfect. Terrifying though. Rosie couldn't figure out what it was she was feeling but it's either of those two things.

Her bare feet moved silently across the cold floor of the hallway. It was carpeted but it was still very chilly out there. Her gown was gently moving as she walked at a steady pace, following the music. She felt like it would stop if she moved too fast and that it would stop if she's too late to see the performance. She had to see who it was that was playing this beautifully. She assumed it was William but couldn't be sure because she had no idea that he could play piano at all.

He didn't notice her as she stood at the top of the stairs, watching and listening like a baby listening to its mother's voice. She was so quiet, her breathing was shallow and soft while his own was fast and deep due to the effort he was putting into the composition. Still, he was so elegant. His back was straight and he moved so swiftly. He was focused and hidden deep in the pit of this opus.

But for a split second, his eyes darted and he spotted her studying him dead quiet. He didn't stop playing though.

Rosie paled when he gave her a poker face and continued as nothing could stop him from finishing this piece. This William made her interests peak. Made her walk down the stairs and get close to the vicious animal that could snap her head right off of her shoulders.

As she took steps one by one, the music got more intense and she could feel the fear coming from her own skin. She didn't want to be scared but she couldn't help it. William is in his calm state which she knew by now could take a turn and go for the worse at any given moment. Do not touch the wolf. It was a mistake coming down, she thought. She could have watched from afar. She even heard the music from the bedroom but she was too curious to be kept inside those walls.

"What do you want, sweets?" His voice breaks the music and suddenly there is nothing but silence surrounding them. "Bad dreams?" She took another step but that's where she stopped because of the look William just gave her. Like he was saying "I dare you to take another one". There was not much light but she could see the face of the animal that was hungrily observing its prey. Rosie thinks of what to say, reminding herself of the fact she was talking to the calm and short-tempered William so she had to be careful with what she's going to say.

"It's beautiful." She pauses and drops her gaze to the ground. Her feet were freezing and she just now realized how cold it was. "I just wanted to watch but I will go back to bed if you don't want me here." She says softly, hoping he'd let her stay and listen to him.

"Come here." William says and moves a bit, making some space for Rosie to sit next to him. She moves to him and sits down, not too close so she is not touching him. She still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with her kidnapper. The crazy man. But a very handsome and talented crazy man. "My mother taught me how to play." Rosie thinks for a moment, trying to recall the mention of his mother. He never said anything about her. William sees the concern and curiosity on her face and sighs. "She left us when I was eight. Never came back. Never heard from her since then." He doesn't smile at the memory of his mother. Just stares into the piano. "She loved playing this piano. Adored Tchaikowski." And that's all he said about her that night. Rosie didn't dare to ask any more questions about his mother.

"What else can you play?" She changes the topic and looks at him for a tiny moment then looks down at her palms that were getting really cold. William notices this so he takes her hands in his own and tries warming her up as he spoke. His palms were nice and warm from the playing probably, she thinks.

"Debussy, Vivaldi,... Tchaikowski, Schubert, and some others. Can't really remember right now because it's been a while. You might have noticed that I don't have a piano back home." He keeps rubbing their hands together and making it so much nicer for her. The gown was very thin so it wasn't really keeping Rosie warm at all, not only her hands. She knew she'll have to go under the covers soon in these clothes. "I can play something for you but you must go to sleep after that. It's too cold and we are getting up early tomorrow."

Rosie smiles and nods, happy to hear something else tonight. She had no idea what time it was but she didn't care at the moment. She was fascinated by William's talent.

"Slow or fast?" William straightens his back and puts his foot on a little pedal of the piano. "Actually, I know what to play." Rosie didn't mind that he chose the song already, she was looking forward to whatever he was going to play for her anyway. She enjoyed his company like this. It was so relaxing when he was like this, peaceful and not aggressive towards her. She felt like she was getting drawn to this side of him and she didn't mind it but she knew this won't last long.

William slowly put his fingers on the keyboard and took a moment right then. Rosie glued her gaze to his fingers and hands, waiting for him to start moving. She was waiting in anticipation to see and hear what he had in store for her.

The start was so easy and simple, she felt like she could learn how to play it. The song was familiar once the real fun began. It was Vivaldi but she didn't know exactly which composition. She did not dare to ask and interrupt William as he was just getting started and was not going to stop for a stupid question. She wanted him to play. To show her how graciously he could move his hands. She watched them and admired the speed of his fingers. She imagined it was a lot of pain to learn something this fast.

It's The Four Seasons. Winter. Very difficult and hard to learn. William moved so beautifully like it wasn't hard at all. He made it look so simple. It was amazing to her how he played this thing just from his head, with no notes in front of him or any sort of written material that would help him. It was just him and his mind and his motoric functions.

William went on for some time and then it all seemed to come to an end as he slowly finished the song. It was splendid. Marvelous. Rosie was fond of beautiful music and she enjoyed this type of entertainment so she loved the show he just had for her.

She smiled and kept looking at the keyboard like there was more to come. It was easy to feel William's breath on her hair as he breathed calmly and looking at her. He was proud of himself but it was nothing new for him. The playing. He was just happy that someone was enjoying the same music as him, especially because he played it. He appreciated Rosie as his audience and he loved seeing her interested in the things he loved.

He also liked it when she was calm around him. He didn't like seeing her scared and unhappy, even though it was amusing sometimes. He learned that it's much nicer to have Rosie in a willing company than force her into spending time with him. This time she came to him on her own in the middle of the night. Even after last night.

She was so upset about the phone call and he hated that but he needed her for the job. Not the magician's assistant, no. That's a big fat lie he told her in the beginning but what he needs her for is something else.

But he started liking her and is not planning on letting her go just yet.

He wants her. He wants her to be his.