The Other Side of the Door

Chapter 11

A few minutes, and squeals from Hortense, later, I was walking out the front doors with Elliot, my hand tucked into his... hand. Even though it was fairly cold and snowy outside, I was still warm. 

Breathing in the fresh, winter air made my heart very happy. The smell of the trees and snow filled my nose, making me sigh with delight. 

"Do you like the outdoors?" Elliot asked. 

I nodded my head exaggeratedly. "I love the outdoors. I used to spend all my time outside. I had so many picnics with Marriette and some of my friends in the town. During winter we had many snowball fights. My father used to call me his little snow bunny," I chuckled. 

I hadn't noticed, but Elliot himself had picked up a snowball, and when I wasn't looking, he threw it directly at me. 

I gasped as the cold snow hit my chest. "How dare you?" I scolded him. I was only kidding, of course, but he thought I was really mad at him. 

"I-I'm so sorry. I thought it would be funny. I'm so sor-," I cut him off with a snowball of my own, cackling like a witch as his face turned from sorrow to shock. 

"There's no need to apologize," I laughed. 

Pretty soon the two of us were in an intense snowball battle. It was basically war. 

We were both sopping wet, our hair dripping on the floor when we entered the castle. The servants offered us towels and gave us warm tea to sip as we sat by the fire. 

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before Elliot broke it. 

"Tell me about your family," he looked at me curiously. 

I thought for a moment. What part should I tell him about? "Well, you've met my father," that came out very bitterly. "I also have two older sisters, Danielle and Tatienne. Danielle has been in Vannes for a while, and Tatienne moved to England to stay with an aunt last year. I think she wanted to find an English husband," I chuckled. 

"Do you miss them?" he asked. 

"My sisters? Not too much. They write every once in a while. They weren't the most pleasant people to be around. The distance makes us much more compatible." 

Elliot looked down at his tea. "Do you miss your old life?" 

I didn't know how to respond. I did miss it, a bit. I missed Papa, I missed Marriette, and I somewhat missed having a normal life. I didn't really enjoy my life, though. It was fairly boring, and we had just recently moved. I didn't know the town very well, and I barely knew my way around. There wasn't much I was missing there. "A bit," I answered honestly, "but I have grown very used to life here." 

We were silent after that. I didn't know if Elliot felt guilt, but I do know that it was significantly awkward after that. 

After a few minutes, I stood up and left to my room. I gave a small wave and let out a barely audible, "Goodbye." 

When I got to my room, Hortense seemed very excited to talk about my afternoon with Elliot. I, however, was hardly in the mood. I ignored her and fell right into bed, exhausted from the day. 

I woke up the next morning starving. I woke up pretty early, and most of the servants were not up and working. I walked to the kitchen, prepared to make myself breakfast. I hadn't made myself much food in the past, but I knew how to make myself a small breakfast. 

"What are you doing awake?" a voice sounded behind me. It was Cogsworth. 

"I fell asleep quite early last night, and it made me wake up early," I replied, stirring my tea. 

Cogsworth looked at me warily. "How are you feeling?" 

I didn't know how to respond. My emotions were all over the place. I was angry, frustrated, disappointed, content, and somewhat happy. "I'm an emotional mess, Cogsworth." 

"You're not the only one." 

I looked at him with my eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, you're not the only one with their feelings and emotions playing them," he gave a small smile. 

"Is he alright?" I asked, assuming he was referring to Elliot. 

"None of us are, Mademoiselle."

This spoke measures to me. As comfortable as the atmosphere may have been in the castle, all of its inhabitants were suffering. I had an obligation to all of these people to end their suffering. I had to break this curse for them. I had to fall in love with Elliot, whether I wanted to or not. 

"I wish this hadn't happened to you all," I sighed. 

Cogsworth didn't respond. He simply nodded, then gave me a very sad look. "It's incredibly selfless of you to be here," he eventually said. 

"I've been kept here, Cogsworth. It's not selfless, it's imprisonment." 

Cogsworth rolled his eyes at me. "You know that you could leave anytime, and there would be no one chasing after you. Chip would severely protest, but he's too small to ever catch up." 

He was very right, and I knew it. I hadn't been a prisoner in a long time, and after my conversation with Elliot yesterday, I had a hard time believing he would chase after me. 

"I couldn't, and I can't, leave you all like this. That's a terrible thing to do." 

Cogsworth rolled his eyes at me again. "Over the last two months, how long have you spent with us in comparison to the master?" 

I sighed. Cogsworth was always right. I had spent more time with Elliot, that I've really enjoyed, than I have any of the servants. 

"That doesn't mean much, I've just been-," I began, but Cogsworth cut me off. 

"You've just been what? Teaching him to read and write? That's not all it is to him, and you know it," he strongly stated. I didn't know how to respond, so Cogsworth just left the room. 

Did I have... feelings for Elliot? I barely knew him! He was my capture, he had a strong temper, but he was also very innocent in a way, and very giving. He had a strange sense of kindness, and he loved to make people smile. 

That didn't mean I loved him. Those were simply facts about him. If I loved him, I wouldn't be second guessing myself like this. I wouldn't have been denying it so much. 

Then I remembered something Cogsworth said: "That's not all it is to him, and you know it." Did I know it? Elliot was very kind to me, but it was probably all just related to trying to get me to stay. He just wanted me to fall in love with him so the curse could be broken. He didn't really love me. 

It didn't really matter anyway. When I went later that day to read with him, he wasn't there. I did... miss him a bit, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I told myself that meant that the only feelings I felt for him were strictly platonic. 

The next day Elliot didn't show up again, however, and that concerned me. When I hadn't shown up, he still came. He had never missed a day of lessons, and now he missed two. 

A whole week passed, and there was no sign of him. I began to be worried. How long was even left in the curse? There couldn't have been much time left for me to lie and tell him I loved him. 

Finally, he showed up to one of our lessons. He had groomed himself considerably. He had clearly had a haircut, probably thanks to Lumiere and Cogsworth, and he was wearing a bright blue tailcoat I had never seen before. 

"Hello, Alayna," he greeted me, as if he hadn't been missing for the last week. 

"Bonjour, Elliot," I nodded. 

"Would you care to join me for dinner, please?" 

What a turn around.