They smiled and nodded, and Helena watched in amazement as he got down on one knee and began rubbing the pooch’s fluffy body with a grin. The dog wagged his tail and chewed on his hands, with Xavier… laughing. She had only seen him like this three times: when they were in the pool together, when he was flirting with her… and in that photo album. He was actually finding joy in something other than torture. She didn’t know why, but it made her smile, the last smile needed for her to lose the bet.
Xavier thanked the couple returned to Helena. Once they left, she turned to him. “I’m surprised to see you like that. I never thought that you of all people would be a dog lover.”
“Hey, even I’m not THAT evil. Of course I love dogs.” This only heightened her confusion and amazement. “Well I am half-human after all. There is a touch of good in me.”
“But when you bring about the End of Days, won’t that cause a lot of dogs to die?”
“I don’t want to destroy the world, I simply want to rule it. World domination, just hearing it kind of makes your heart skip a beat.”
“Why do you want to rule the world?”
“Because I’m bored. I’ve seen the world and I want to finally settle down on a throne with the earth in the palm of my hand. I have the ability to conquer, and besides, wouldn’t a new world order be interesting? Don’t you think mankind needs a new shift?”
“Not like that!”
“Well what do you want?”
She stepped back. “Huh?”
“What did you think I meant when I asked you to be my queen? We’d take over the world together. If there is something you want or a change you’ve always wanted to make, go ahead. Want to break Ireland from the UK? You could do that in an afternoon. You want to end world hunger? There will be nothing stopping you.”
She grasped his hand and stopped him, a surprising act for her. He looked into her eyes, beautifully blue and trembling in uncertainty. “You have good in you, so why can’t you just be good? You haven’t done anything cruel or evil today. You even healed Father Hauser and saved my life. I’m willing to admit that even before today, you’ve been kind and charming, so please, tell me, why can’t you treat others the way you treat me?”
Xavier chuckled. “Now this is curious. Are you trying to save me? Trying to redeem me and turn me on to the path of good? Have you completely forgotten all the horrible things I’ve done to you and your friend?”
She pulled away and turned around, flushed with embarrassment.
He stood behind her and grasped her arms. He whispered in her ear, relishing the way it made her shiver. “The only reason why you would ask is because you either forgive me for everything I’ve done or you want to forgive me. You want to forget that I’ve hurt you, that I’ve hurt the people around you, because you have feelings for me but you need a way to justify them. If you can change me, then you can forgive me, and if you can forgive me, you won’t have to ignore your feelings out of guilt. Why is it so hard to for you to listen to your heart? To your body? You want to be my queen. You want to rule the world at my side. You want to share my bed and feel our bodies become joined throughout the night.”
She pulled herself free from his grip, her eyes wet with angry tears. “Take me home. I don’t care if I have to get back on that red deathtrap, take me home right now.”
The sun was setting as they rode back to the university. Helena was exhausted from the day, both physically and emotionally. She hated Xavier, but as he drove, she leaned against his back, wanting to simply fall asleep. She was strangely comfortable, feeling his coat to her cheek. She didn’t expect him to return to the scooter, but she honestly didn’t care. During the ride, she was able to calm down and let her anger settle. Arriving at the school, he walked her back to her dorm.
“If people see you with me, they may get the wrong idea.”
“Relax, I’m cloaking us so that we’re invisible.”
They went inside and he followed her up to her dorm room. They stopped at the door and she turned to him. “You aren’t coming inside.”
“I know. I just wanted to say goodnight.”
She placed her hand on the doorknob, but stopped. “Thank you… for everything today. You saved both Father Hauser and me. So thank you.”
“Well if you really want to thank me, do you know how many times you smiled today?”
Helena clutched herself and cast her gaze to the ground, unable to look at him. She had made a deal that she would kiss him if he got her to smile ten times, and she had. She had to follow through. But… it was her first kiss, and with HIM. But a deal was a deal. She looked up at him, hoping he wouldn’t see her terror and humiliation. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, waiting to feel his. Instead, he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.
She opened her eyes, utterly lost. “I thought I had to kiss you on the lips.”
“Don’t get me wrong, your first kiss will be with me. But like your virginity, I’ll claim it when you happily give it to me.” He then cupped her cheek, wiping away her tears. When did she start crying? “Body, mind, and soul; you will be mine and you will give yourself to me, and in turn, I will give you a future of happiness.”
He gave her another kiss, this time on the cheek. He walked away, leaving Helena standing alone in the hallway. As soon as he was gone, she fell to her knees, her body devoid of strength.
‘Oh God, what the Hell is he going to do to me?’
A month ago, had Helena woken up the way had she was now, she might scream, thrash, and likely have a panic attack. Now, she was just little scared but mostly annoyed. She was kneeling on the floor, tied up with binds stretching from her collar and securing her wrists and ankles behind her. She was wearing nothing except a strip of cloth over her eyes and some kind of gag. Instead of a ball, it used a metal ring that held her mouth open.
She was certain she was still in her dorm room from the feel of the carpet, and while she instinctively wanted to scream, she knew that of course, Xavier was using his powers to soundproof the room. Hell, she couldn’t even wake up Sophie if she wanted to. She didn’t know which was worse: the binds, her nudity, the mask, or the gag. With the binds, she couldn’t move or fight back; with her nudity, she felt nothing protecting her from Xavier’s eyes; with the mask, she couldn’t tell where he was or what he was doing; with the gag, she couldn’t stop herself from drooling with her tongue hanging out and there was no telling what he would put in her mouth. Plus the posture wasn’t very comfortable.
A shiver ran through her as he lifted her chin, feeling his breath on her face. “My, my, your heart is so calm. Your pulse is racing, but it’s not nearly as erratic as it would have been a while ago. You aren’t excited out of fear, but out of arousal.”
Helena angrily groaned, unable to form any kind of words. Without her gag, she would have let loose a stream of swears that would have even made the Devil blush.
“Relax, I’m not going to do anything terrible to you. Remember that conversation we had at lunch? You really should be eating more.”