Monster Girl (pt 3)

Monster Girl (pt 3)

It takes me awhile to straighten everything out, and I stand up and sit down at the kitchen table, thinking. Bertram told me of Ezrus having suitors before, but he really only kept them for a day or two before he got bored of them and broke up with them, and went on with his life. But I don't want to be like one of those girls, I don't want to date him at all. Maybe he'll just forget about me for a better girl, and if I have to go see him, then I'll just make him not like me, or I'll make it very clear I'm not looking for a relationship. I start looking through a map of the town that was in one of the bookshelves, and start planning a tour of the village for tomorrow. I start getting a little excited, maybe I can get Lewis to help me tour around. I leave the plans on the table, and I go around the house, dusting and cleaning, and making the house cleaner. I want the neighbors to think I'm a normal person.
When it gets to be about evening, I had almost completely forgotten about Ezrus, and was feeling pretty good about myself. I had cleaned the whole house, planned a little self-tour and planned some redecoration. Most things in this town are free or super cheap since they believe this is a holy town representing Ezrus. Its about six when I start to get hungry, and before I can start cooking something, I hear loud knocks on the door. I open it to see two large guards in armor at my door, looking down at me slightly, one of them shoves a dress in my hands.
"Change into this and then come out, and we will escort you to your date with Ezrus."
Date? I was afraid it was going to be a date, but are they really forcing me to change? I go upstairs, and change into the dress and look down at it. Its a dark purple dress, and is a bit tight against me, which kind of hurts. I brush my hair in hopes that will be enough for the guards, luckily the dress is long and covers my feet so I can go barefoot which is a lot more comfortable than any of the shoes that were in the house. I go downstairs and the guards lead me to the castle, up the path. They lead me inside, and into a room with a fancy table and chairs, with Ezrus sitting in one of them. The table has two plates of food, and a candle in the middle of the table casting a  strange glow in the room. Their are some stained glass windows as well, which look extremely pretty, and the floor is wooden and feels very nice on my feet. I sit down at the table, and Ezrus nods at the guards and they leave the room, only leaving the door slightly ajar. I kind of hoped they would stay in here so I wouldn't have to be alone with Ezrus, but I cant really do anything about it.

Me and him talk for awhile, about normal things really. Sometimes he tries to lead the conversation path astray, about relationships, marriage and kids and such but I manage to get it back on track as best I can. The food is the best I've ever had, and is absolutely perfect. It takes me all my will not to practically shove it down my throat. After a life of two prison rations a day, this is a miracle. But I have to look as normal as possible in front of Ezrus, so I eat carefully. Finally we both finish eating, and I stand up.
"Well this has been a nice occasion, but I better get home now." I start to get to the door, but out of the corner of my eye I see him wave his hand slightly, and the doors in front of me close, and then I hear guards moving and a "Click!" of a lock. I turn to see why he did this, but when I turn hes suddenly right in front of me, standing over me and looking down at me, with a slightly smile across his face.
"Leaving so soon Tori? But the night is still young."
"Well I don't want to stay up too late and its a long walk home from here." Man I am a really good liar.
"Well can I at least walk you home?"
"No that's fine, I can get home perfectly fine on my own."
"Alright then goodnight." he suddenly leans in, holding my face and forcing me into a kiss. I figure this is what people call a "goodnight kiss" and I'm just not accustomed to it, and somehow this is normal, I hope. He suddenly wraps his hands around me, as if he was trying to keep me from going away and then he moves his hands... down. Out of natural instincts, I slap him right across the face when he does this. He lets me go and takes a step back, not out pain it seems, I don't think I'm strong enough to hurt him, but out of surprise. And then he looks up at me again, with a strange, almost haunting, smile.