{Play the video above for the theme song to our lovely dark character...}
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drop.
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drop.
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drop...
Christine's eyes fluttered opened, agitated from her unconsciousness by the insane rhythm of water dripping from the ceiling to the floor.
Her eyes focused on the single source of light in the room; a flickering candle that seemed as if the smallest amount of wind would immediately blow it out and cast the room into an explicable darkness that overtook one's soul.
Christine's vision was blurred slightly, as if she were looking through the eyes of another, but standing behind a wall of fog... she blinked a few times, in an attempt to clear her vision, but still, all she could see was the flickering light... and a shadowy figure...
She blinked a couple more times, fighting through the blurriness to try and see her surroundings, but still... her vision was blurred by a fog that seemed to cover only her eyes.
Breathing in shakily as she tried to calm herself, Christine noticed that the flickering light was now completely blocked by the shadowy figure.. and that the shadowed figure was now getting bigger... and it's unidentified shape becoming more defined... taking on a more humanly form rather than a mass object...
It looked almost as if the figure... whatever, or rather, whoever, it was, was now standing only a few feet away from the bed on which she now rested, and as Christine blinked a couple more times, she realized that she could now make out the figure clearly.
Black clothes hung on the perfectly built frame of a man... a very, very tall man... The clothes stuck to him, perfectly outlining his built form, and yet she could not lock eyes with the man, for his head was down.
Christine coughed ever so slightly, her gaze locked onto the man's head, dread consuming her for fear of what she might see once he raised his head.
The figure was Erik, she just knew it.. she could feel his intimidating presence, could feel his nonexistent ability to see straight into her soul and know her darkest desires...
She was just about to turn her head away and ignore him, when he raised his head.
Hair as black as midnight, styled to utter perfection, framed the perfectly shaped face, his strong jawline sharp enough to cut through something, his nose inexplicably shaped to perfection, and those lips... those soft, slightly-pink lips that sent her body bursting into flames whenever they touched her skin.
Slowly, she raised her gaze to his, and she drew in a quick gasp of shock as their eyes connected.
The dark, golden eyes held an unfamiliar emotion that she had never before truly seen Erik possess..
Flickering back at her, unblinking, they pierced into her as a sword through a man's heart. The glint in his eyes.. that dark, flickering gleam that challenged every fibre of light Christine's soul might ever possess... consisted of nothing but torturous evil that spoke of the ability to cause unseen horrors in a world where nightmares thrived on the souls of the consumed.
Christine's entire body immediately stiffened in fear, as she sensed that the evil aura surrounding this.. this.. man of darkness was something that should not be beckoned with.
"Oh, what a fluttering bird you are... I truly do wonder whatever he might see in such a shy, innocent, young girl such as yourself.. I surely did think he had better taste in women than that..."
The voice that spoke immediately demanded Christine's complete attention, and caused every muscle inside of her body to tense up at the malevolent tone, filled with such menace, such darkness, such utter iniquitous that it would cause even the brightest and most valiant Angel to question the value of light itself.
The man leaned closer to her, so close that she could feel his evil breath on her neck, his eyes glittering with untold plans of certain doom.
"Ah... but yet... what an alluring, bewitching amount of beauty you posses..." he purred, and Christine resisted the urge to flinch away as his index finger slowly slid across her skin, tracing her cheekbones and then caressing her jawline in a worshipful manner that caused her to shudder in horror.
His finger brought upon her skin goosebumps, his touch chilling her skin to the point that she wondered if maybe it might just freeze under his icy, yet almost sensual, embrace.
Christine felt her bottom lip tremble in anxiety, her entire being stiff as her head screamed at her to just leap away and not allow the vile creature to lay hand on her. And yet, she felt as if she were bound, by an invisible, and yet irresistible force.
A vicious cackle floated throughout the air, the sound bouncing off the walls and echoing into Christine's ears. The sound itself was enough to drive even the strongest man to his knees, pleading for the sound to stop.
Her eyes closed, her body starting to tremble violently at the intensity of the maleficent presence in which she now presided. She opened her mouth as a cry escaped her throat, pleading with the dark figure to stop this torturous mind game, to leave her in peace!
But his villainous laughter only continued to fill the air, surrounding her mind with a dark cloud that seemed to cause her grip on reality to start to slip through her fingers.
She couldn't handle this. Her fragile heart, which had already been broken in mutliple times by Erik's inescapable hold on her mind and body, felt as if it was literally cracking under the pressure caused by this new evil's threat of unimaginably wicked plans for her.
If she allowed herself to succumb over to this.. man.. she knew that she would never be allowed to escape the intense darkness that would consume her.
She could not let that happen! She refused to let one more person, even one as powerful as this, to completely take over her soul!
This corruptness would end, she would be sure of it! And if she could not fight it... she would die trying.
Sitting up, Christine's eyes blazed with fury as she smacked the man's hand away from her body, her form shaking under the mental pressure she was in.
Her voice was steady, and yet the fear and terror was evident in its tone as she weakly threatened her new captor.
"If you dare to lay hand on me again, I assure you, you worthless man, that I will not hesitate in reacting violently and doing what I must to survive!" she hissed, but her threat was lost on the man as he erupted into a wild fit of laughter.
"Brava, brava, bravissima, my courageuse petite princesse!" he cackled, his eyes gleaming in true amusement as he sent a charming smirk her way, causing Christine's blood to boil in an emotion that she had only felt whenever Erik's lips brushed her own.
Shaking the feeling off, she attempted to control her fear when he roughly grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him as he smiled evilly down at her.
"You are a feisty, uncontrollable lioness.." he purred, the last word rolling off his tongue in a way that almost made Christine feel as if it were Erik speaking to her and not this man. "Beauty and yet a beast inside of her proclaims its inheritance with a loud roar.." he mused, his thumb brushing against her lips slightly.
Christine attempted to jerk her face away from his vile grip, but he held her fast. "Ah yes. Quite the fiery personality you possess.. It is very courageous of you to show your roar to me, the ultimate master of souls... and yet..." he paused, a sinister smirk forming on his perfect lips, "it intrigues me so deeply.. that I feel myself developing an infatuation for it.. for it is very becoming of a woman as attractive as yourself to carry such a strong, bold personality."
He pulled his hand away abruptly, and gazed down at her with that sinister smile that Christine could only describe it as a smile that belonged in nightmares.
"Continue amusing me, my love, for I shall be back soon for more entertainment. Oh.." he paused, his fingers once returning to caress her cheek. "and do try not to be so tempting."
Cackling wildly, he swooped out of the room, the door slamming behind him and causing the candle to blow out.
Once again, Christine was cast into complete darkness, the only noise in the room being the sound of her heavy breathing and the steady dripping of water coming from the ceiling.
. . . . . . . . . .
{AN: And that's a wrap for this chapter! I hope it pleased you guys very much... I tried very, very hard to fill this chapter with an intensity that you, as a reader, would feel simply by reading the words.
Hopefully I have accomplished that... and now, I have a challenge for you, my dear readers.
Can I reach 500 votes and 200 comments by Chapter Twenty-Five?
Only you know the answer to that...
Reviewing only takes a second, guys! Let's see if we can do this!
(Thank you so much for all of you that have reviewed, you guys are absolutely amazing!) }