/the bird cage/

…chapter fourteen

"I'm hungry."

"I know." Small breaths danced their way out from the male's pink lips that were flushed from the continued kissing the couple had done in the past hour…amongst other things.

"I'm serious, Elias. I've been starved for almost five hours now."

"You know it's only been about two."

"But it feels like forever. I'm hungry." Her skin had grown more comfortable on her and had gotten used to the touching and rubbing her mate had been doing to her since the last time they were still. It had hurt at first, everything had, but it eventually subsided.

"Let's finish talking and making love, first."

"We've been talking the whole time and we just got through doing that a few minutes ago. What else is there to talk about?"

"What do you mean 'that'?" he smirked.

"Well, you…you know. That. Making love…" Eliza blushed at the fumble of her words while Elias grinned on.

"Besides, it's not like we have to talk. We can just lay together…" he said coyly.

"No. I'm sick of laying down."

"You know, you complain far too much for a woman."

"I'm still only seventeen."

"Yes, but doesn't that qualify you to be far to old to be married off now."

Eliza scoffed at him. "No. I'm still youthful, if that's what you mean to say. Just a little older."

"A little older? Love, your turning eighteen soon aren't you?"

"So?"

"Doesn't that qualify you to be an old maid?"

"No. I don't see how you find that so funny."

"You know I'm just joking."

Eliza remained silent next to him.

"Eliza?"

"Yeah, but it's still rude," she frowned with her lids half closed over her eyes.

"You should know my sense of humor by now." His eyes looked beautiful in the dimly lit room. He had lit a candle earlier before they got a bit more comfortable in bed.

"I know that you have no humor."

"What?" he said chuckling. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you have bad manners when it comes to taking a joke yourself."

Elias frowned. "No. I take jokes just fine."

"You only laugh at your own and then go completely schizo when I say something about you. You're quick to laugh at me for the stupid things that I say or think, which you shouldn't even be prying into for that matter, but you get huffy-puffy when I laugh at your faults."

"I have no faults," he huffed. His brows were still furrowed in his own stubbornness, but his eyes had a look of curiosity to them. It was as if they were testing her to say anything further.

"You're so egotistical. All you care about is yourself," she said laughing lightly. Elias was still frowning, though.

"Like now!" She continued to laugh on, bemused. If an audience was there it would be hard to tell if she was purposely laughing to irritate him or if she genuinely was amused by her own joke.

Elias turned over on the bed so that his back was facing her. He was trying his best to conceal how irate he was becoming.

Eliza stopped laughing once he was facing away from her and seemed to be annoyed by her provoking. She scooted her body over to his underneath the covers and embraced him from behind as she spoke into his ear.

"Elias?" she said softly.

He apparently refused to answer.

"Come now, you're not cross with me are you?" She kissed his earlobe and nuzzled her nose against his cool cheek.

"Don't talk to me right now."

"Eli-"

"Stop."

She felt the cold shoulder that was given to her and suddenly felt out of line. But why should she? Wasn't he proving her point just now? She scooted away from him sat still for the longest time without speaking. At least until she could hold her words in.

"You know what? This is what I was talking about earlier."

"Eliza, please."

"You must be feeling what I feel whenever you do this to me."

"Eliza, be quiet," he said sternly. She looked to the back of his head in contempt as she sat quietly. She couldn't help the feeling of being mad at him for being mad at her.

Finally, after sitting in the same spot for about a quarter of an hour, she got up from the bed. Slowly, though, as not to make any noise to stir him from where he lay, and left the room.

How on earth could she put up with such a man? No, she dare not even answer it, because if she did, she would be thinking in vain. Hadn't she thought over this an already tedious amount of times? Why bother, she was stuck with him whether she wanted to be here or not. She belonged to him no matter how much they both denied it. Why did she still have to love him so? It wasn't a normal love. It seemed to be a more twisted, unnatural infatuation of each other. She had waved farewell to a normal life the night she agreed to live with him. To be with him. To think, as a child, he still needed something from her. When did the initial attraction occur? Shivering to herself, she pushed that thought away. It was far more twisted to think of that, than their strange relationship.

As she walked a little ways down the hall to the stairs, she realized how good her body was beginning to feel. It felt like she was stretching every inch of herself with every step onto the hardwood floor. Muscles elongating themselves against her leg bone and constricted back to their normal place. Tendons and toes awakening from their sudden shock to death (revitalization). The one unpleasant feeling was the temperature of the floor. It was freezing like Elias' cheeks. They must not have unpacked the rugs yet.

Making her way down the stairs, the delicious fragrance of food was coming from the kitchen. The most potent smell was the pleasant drifting odor of butter rolls. She walked through the waiting area between the staired hallway and the dining room. But before she could go on, she passed by a mirror and had to briefly stop to look at herself. She could hardly see herself. There was a faint outline of her features, but hardly any color to her skin. It wasn't as if she could see right through herself, it was almost like there was a sort of blank, fuzzy spot in the mirrored picture.

It was a little awkward and she had to admit that she felt a little spooked with the absence of her detailed reflection in the mirror. Adjusting her eyes to try and make out her faint portrait, she noticed how disheveled she was. She would need to fix up before she went anywhere else around the house, including eating. She couldn't go back into the Elias' room, though, so she would need to find another guest room to freshen up in. She walked back up the stairs and looked for the guest room she had spent the first part of the first night in. It was harder to find it, though, then it was to remember what it looked like. There were tons of rooms on either side of the hall. How would she find it if they all looked alike? Well, there was the answer. It didn't even matter which room she used because they all, so far, looked the same.

"Excuse me miss?" Eliza jumped at the voice behind her and turned around in fright.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but were you looking for something?" The youth had a slight British accent and appeared to be one of the hired help.

"Oh, nothing. I- I was going to look for a guest room," she said holding a hand to her abdomen. The maid was half bending over from the side and picking up a small trash bassinet.

"Um, there's plenty of guest rooms." She paused for a second. "Are you Master Char's female companion?" The maid had blue eyes and golden hair. For a second, Eliza felt a tinge of jealousy and suspicion since the beautiful maid would be so close to her loved one. Well, in all honesty, she hated her lover right about now, but she couldn't help but feel protective. Then again, she noticed the maiden's threatening beauty before she noticed the intrusive nature of the question. How would she answer that? She thought of herself as more than just a "companion". How should she title herself? Bah! Just tell her yes and be off with her. She couldn't stand in the hall talking all day, what with the state she was currently in.

"Actually, I am." The girl nodded and got up from her knees with the basket before she turned around.

Eliza had to hold in her surprise when she saw the other side of the girl's face. The right side of it was marred with burns. The girl didn't even stop to see Eliza's reaction, but walked steadily down the stairs from where Eliza had just entered.

Eliza turned around and shook off the encounter she just had. Actually, the girl had been a bit more hospitable than all the other attendants. Still, she had to have been an idiot in asking such a personal question. Did she want to get fired? She continued on her way down the hall in search of somewhere to freshen herself up.

She found herself in front of a dark wooden door that was no different than the others. She hadn't found one with a bathroom as of yet and was hoping this was the last room to look into since her feet were beginning to get numb from the freezing floor.

Looking inside, she found everything inside to her immediate delight. There was a canopy bed inside that had delicate, lace-like, looking sheets. All the other furnishings inside the large room included a cherry wood vanity, a cherry wood writing desk, and a full-length mirror next to a large chest and bureau that was the same color as the vanity and desk. There was a large window on the opposite side of the room from the door that had the same material curtains as the bed-sheets.

Everything about the room was refreshing and definitely had a feminine appeal to it. She wondered who's room it was since she was staying in the master bedroom with Elias. This was nothing like the guest room Elias had stuck her in the first night. Or a guest room period.

Eliza walked over to the vanity first as she pulled out the wide, cushioned stool and sat before the mirror. This mirror was different from the one in the front hall. She could actually see herself in full color in the mirror down to every detail like she used to. Only a brief thought was as to why this mirror was different, but she let it go just as quick as it came to her. She was dreadfully pale, though, with dark circles around her eyes. She needed nourishment.

Looking down onto the tabletop, there was a fine, silver brush and comb along with a little box of fancy barrettes set up in perfect symmetry to the contents on the other side. On the left hand side of her, there was a smaller box that contained different colored ribbons of varied material. Further up, there was a single broach that was much larger than she had ever seen her mother wear. It had a beautiful Ruby center and looked positively gorgeous against the darkness of her locks when she held it to them. Red suited her well. Then, closer to the mirror, there was a crystalline bottle of perfume with the usual pump and tassel. It smelled of some flower. That was all she could read on the French bottle.

She was about to pick up the perfume to smell when she realized that the room had a bathroom to it. She got up from the stool and pushed it back into the table before she walked over to the door of the other room. Opening the bathroom, she realized how dark it was. If she lit a few candles, perhaps she could take a quick bath and be out of the room before someone found out where she was. Since Elias hadn't told her about this room yet, she figured that she wasn't supposed to be in here anyway.

She moved her body over to the window that was closed by thick curtains. Opening them, the sunset was beginning to flood the bathroom. No need for candles as long as the sun stayed up. She needed a bath anyway, so she might as well hurry before she would have to look for a candle to light the room. As she ran the bath, she began to undress herself near the towel cabinet so she wouldn't be in front of the window. Getting into the bathtub, she quickly made use of all the toiletries set up around the large oval tub. She only hoped that whatever room this was supposed to be used for, that they wouldn't mind her using the bathtub. Besides, she was already pretty sure this room was set up for her. At least it seemed to welcome her as much. If not, well, she would deny ever using it. She had always kept that sort of strategic lying from her childhood.

When she was through, she wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out of the bathroom, opening the door. As she entered the room with a towel around her body, she found someone on the bed, hidden behind the canopy veil. From the figure (and plain common sense), she already knew it was Elias. She only shook her head and sighed in frustration to his on and off again behavior.

"Elias, you never cease to amaze me."

There was no answer. She frowned and walked confidently towards the bed, swaying her hips in an effort for him to beg her forgiveness. But when the figure didn't move, and nothing was said, she figured that it was all wishful thinking on her part. Either he was getting back at her by the silent treatment or there was something wrong. She walked up to the veil and threw it to the side to find him, fast asleep. She rolled her eyes as she got up onto the bed to see if he was really sleeping.

When nothing happened still, she started to chuckle at the realization of what had just happened. Not to mention how funny the picture in front of her was. Here her lover is, probably naked underneath the sheets, awaiting her return to the room from her bath, and he ended up falling asleep in the process. She could never be mad at him for long. Crazy, their relationship was. She would give it that much.

She gave Elias a small kiss on his forehead and got off the bed to find something to change into. Looking around, she realized there was bureau and a closet. She went over to the bureau first where she found nothing. Looking into all five drawers, there was still nothing inside the entire bureau. She went over to the closet. Nothing there either.

Okay, maybe this isn't my room. No sooner had she thought about this, two familiar arms enclosed her damp, toweled body to a taller male's. What? Wasn't Elias asleep just a second ago?

Soft kisses were administered to her neck and shoulders, as his warm breath on her skin stirred her libido.

"When did you get up?"

"When I felt your lips on me."

"When did you finally get over yourself?"

"When I started thinking about how horrible you've been for me which turned into thoughts about you."

"And?"

"And then I couldn't help but get a little anxious, which was when I realized that I needed to find you."

"Seriously, Elias. Is that why you came looking for me?" He still kept kissing her neck and sucking a little on her earlobe. "Because you needed a good bed-tussling?"

He was still kissing up on her when he didn't respond to her last statement.

"Elias?!!"

"No, of course not. Of course not, love."

"Then what?"

"To come tell you that dinner's ready." Eliza turned toward him and gave him a disbelieving look.

"What? You were complaining earlier about how hungry you were."

"I'm sorry but do you really expect for me to believe that? It's the stupidest excuse I've ever heard."

"I thought it was pretty logical."

"So you came here nude to tell me this?"

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way," he said grinning. She hit him on the shoulder and rolled her eyes as she attempted to walk away from him, only to have him pull her back to him. Neither person said anything as they looked at each other. The constant game they played of chase they played was starting up again. It wasn't until Eliza gave him full eye contact that she saw the playfulness and lust in his eyes.

She laughed, "Surely, I must've forgotten how coming to tell me dinner was ready turned you on so much." He still held her firm and when she tried pulling away from him, he held her back to him. He must not have been in as joking of a mood as she was. Too bad because she wasn't in any sort of aroused mood either.

"No," she told him adamantly. Well, she might as well start being straight out with him if she were to ever get some sort of power in the relationship.

At this he picked her up and threw her on the bed. As Eliza flew through the air and landed on the mattress, she clung tightly to the towel in any vain attempts to cover herself. Right about now, though, it looked like giving him all the power would save her the extra energy.

Elias climbed atop the bed and crawled over to Eliza. Her cheeks were beginning to flush with embarrassment from seeing her naked lover stand before her unabashed. It was as if her eyes were finally registering that both parties were without clothes. He was going to pull her towel off until Eliza still gripped it stubbornly. Looking her in the eyes, he buried his hand into her towel from the bottom till he had a good fistful to pull. With his nose touching hers and both pairs of eyes looking into the other's, he grabbed at the towel and yanked it off her forcefully. She immediately self-consciously put her arms around her to cover herself. Kissing her nose and still keeping eye contact he pulled her arms away from her. He pulled her body up to his and wrapped her body underneath the sheets. It seemed that when they intently looked at each other, it intensified all the actions that took place between them.

Getting under the covers, his body warmed up against her and she could feel every contour of the man beside her up against her touch-sensitive skin. He embraced her smaller body and brushed his nose against her ear. That little touch was filled with so much affection that Eliza couldn't help the woozy, lovesick feeling that was brewing at the pit of her stomach. This was all happening way too fast, this she was sure of.

"I love you, you know that?" And he waited till now to tell her this?

Elias climbed on top of her so that she was on her back and they were skin to skin, nose to nose. Looking at each other, Eliza studied his face in search of a certain emotion that would clue her in to what he was thinking right now. Her brain was too tired and headache-prone to even try to pry into his thoughts as he had so many times done to her himself.

And while Eliza surveyed Elias' features, he simply looked into her eyes. He had come to learn that he didn't have to look at her body language or study her 'language' (to find out how she felt). Her eyes spoke everything out to him, betraying her privacy. The privacy that she had always kept so close to her and valued. The privacy that he desperately wanted to be apart of. The day he would know that they were ready for each other would be when she'd feel comfortable enough to speak to him. To really speak to him and tell him everything she had ever known to her very life. To communicate to him without words. To spill her heart out on the table in front of him so that he would truly know her as well as, if not better than, she did. He wanted to be her most important asset.

His gaze left her eyes as soon as the horizon of his lids closed over his pupils. Nudging his forehead down underneath her neck, and away from her sight, he continued to nuzzle his nose into her skin. He pressed his body up against hers in a more intimate manner and she heard his every breathing irregularity. His soft caresses with the tip of his nose soon turned into feverish rubs as his forehead now joined in. His arms began to rub up and down her sides and continued to grab onto her. It obviously wasn't long before Eliza knew exactly where this was heading. She moved her arms up to his torso and pressed her hands up against whatever surface of his chest wasn't embraced against her skin, and gently pushed at him.

He clasped on to her arms and wrapped them around his body as he began to kiss up her neck to her earlobe, stopping occasionally to graze his bare lips against the side of her face.

"Mmm, Elias no." Eliza ran her arms back to where they were before to push at him. At this, he compressed his body more so against hers and began to thrust his hips against her. Pushing at him in a more defensive manner, Elias grabbed at her arms and secured them over her head, with his hands at her wrists, as he continued to indulge her.

"Elias, no."

"Why?" he said with a raspy voice. Why was she fighting? She honestly didn't know anymore.

For some reason, he couldn't get close enough to her. They had already been engaged in the same act in earlier evening. For some reason, though, she had set him off into a mood and his body was too entranced with her's to stop.

It wasn't long before the hour was up and they found themselves exactly where they started off. Lying next to each other, the two listened in to the other's stabilized breathing that Eliza felt a little more sleepy than before. They had definitely, though, missed dinner.

As they lay there, Eliza's mind began to wander. She watched his chest rise and fall steadily and sometimes anxiously while half of her body was on top of him, and the other half was moreso just next to him.

"Elias, why do we breathe?" She breathed deep as in demonstration and whiffed at the intoxicating scent of his hair.

"Hmm?" he hummed back drowsily.

"Why do we breathe if we don't have to?" She turned her face up to his so that she could look at him. He looked back at her with light eyes meeting darker, more curious ones.

"Why do we eat if we don't have to? Why do we make love?" His voice was intriguing, no matter what he said and it always had a sort of trance-like effect on everyone, including herself. It was more or less a lulling sound and you would almost completely miss whatever it was he said. Eliza blushed at his last comment. That, she had heard. She would celebrate the day when she would rid herself of all her conservativeness.

"I'm positive that most of it is just out of habit. You know, something to make you feel the least bit normal." He paused for a second, glancing at her pink cheeks. A devilish smile etched its way across his lips.

"But I suppose some things are a bit of a necessity aren't they? Perhaps more primal than anything, no?" Eliza shut her eyes to keep herself from laughing at the obvious mocking he did to her pride. She couldn't help the slight upturn of the lips that was completely against her will. He continued.

"Why do we drink blood? Why is there apprehension of the sunlight? Why do we get anxious? There are plenty of things in this life that don't make sense, Eliza. There's no use in trying to," he yawned. "All your questions are just led on to another one." He brushed his fingertips against her eyelids so that she would look at him. At his touch, her eyes blossomed open to reveal her dilated pupils, looking straight back at him.

"I have a question, too."

"What?"

"How did you fall today?"

"It is still today?" she countered in a childish, more naïve manner.

"Yes. How did you?" She was silent. She looked down a little at the comforter that they lay in.

"No, look at me." He pressed his hand against her cheek to bring her face in, towards him.

"I don't know. I don't really remember why or what I was thinking. I don't think I was thinking." Elias frowned at her answer. This couldn't be good. Perhaps she wasn't as well off from the transformation as he thought or this was her body's way of letting go. Perhaps he would lose her. Whatever the reason, paranoia (if that was the case) was never a good sign.

"It was the light in the window, I think. Maybe that was what set me off." Perhaps this answer would prove to be zero help either. Elias decided that he would dwell about this a little later. Now was the time to nourish his patient body.

"Get dressed, we're going out." She looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean."

"You know, to feed?"

Eliza's eyes widened. "No!"

"What do you mean, no? You need to feed. You're going to get sicker than what you already are if you don't."

"Well, don't you think I should maybe eat dinner first."

"Weren't we just talking about this? Love, you don't need to eat. If anything your body still thinks you need to. You really don't have to. Besides, your body's probably hungry for blood, too."

"I think I would know my own body. And I know that I don't have an appetite for blood right now."

"Darling, you never have an appetite for blood. You shouldn't have an appetite for anything. It's just to nourish you body…to keep it well."

"Oh."

"We weren't meant to need anything but blood. It's our nature. We weren't meant to really desire anything either. That's how our world works."

"Any weaknesses?"

"Heat and lack of blood."

"Heat? What do you mean? The sun?"

"Only direct sunlight. Every other day, you just use hats like everyone else or a parasol. The sun isn't really a traumatic experience." He paused as if thinking a moment. "Perhaps the UV rays, that's all."

"Then what's the purpose of living an eternal life without any sort of pleasure?"

"I didn't say pleasure," he smiled.

"Not that. Everyday things."

"You only think it's pleasurable because it benefits your body, and it's mental and physical needs. You buy a large, expensive dinner to satisfy you appetite as well as your taste buds. You buy a fancy cocktail dress to satisfy your vain mental need of appearance. You don't need those things anymore, so what would be the point?"

"This sounds a bit boring."

"Sometimes, perhaps. There are advantages, though."

"I still want to eat, though."

"You still have to meet my brother."

"He's here right now?"

"Yes."

"While we were…"

He nodded his head.

"And earlier?"

"Um, hmm."

"Don't you see anything wrong with that?"

"Why would I? He has a room downstairs." Elias began putting on the clothes he had stripped off earlier when no one was in the room. Eliza just watched him as he finished dressing.

"C'mon, let's go."

"Wait, I need clothes."

"Oh, right, that is a problem."

"Why? I brought my suitcase throughout this whole trip. It's here, still, isn't it?" He was quiet for a little while as if thinking to himself.

"What? What is it?" she asked worriedly.

"I know you brought it but I can't remember where I put it."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't know? You lost my personal belongings?" He just shrugged.

"One of the maids should know where it is."

"Well are you going to go find it?"

"Yeah, I'll be back in a second." And with that, he left.

Pretty soon, that one second turned into thirty minutes of waiting. Getting tired of sitting around, Eliza put her old clothes back on and went out into the hall, looking around.

Walking a little ways down, she called out Elias' name but got no reply. She started to walk back down the hallway to her room when she heard something coming from one of the doors. Going further down the hall, she heard it louder and it became more distinct. It was some sort of rapping against a door. Something heavy bumping against it.

She walked a little ways more before she stood in front of the door that the noise was coming from. She couldn't help the anxiety coming on inside her since the noise was coming from the direct door in front of her. Maybe there was something inside that would hurt her. Whatever it was that was making that sound, it was extremely close to her. For the first time she was here, she felt a bit threatened. Then she thought a moment. Why should she be? Her life was practically eternal; she shouldn't have to fear anything mortal or beast.

She summoned all her courage up to open the door and right in front of it she found the cause. Once she tried swinging the door ajar, she found that something metal, or extremely heavy for that matter was set in front of it, making it nearly impossible to open it more than a thick crack. A window, the only one in the room, was open as well. A small breeze was swimming to and fro from the four corners of the room. The entirety of it was red. Moving the door open the slightest bit more, she found what was making the noise.

Nausea swirled through her stomach and she felt lightheaded. The breeze was whipping around the room to a metal cage with its door swinging back and forth from the opening up against the wood of the door.

**A/N: (: Please don't hurt me… :)