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Finally, it was time to leave. Mikey took Paulina by the hand, kissing her knuckles, before waving goodbye to all the people they'd met and walking out.

"What did you think of the sermon?" Mikey asked once they were back in the car, and the blindfold was back over Paulina's eyes.

"Well, I'm not Catholic, so I didn't agree with all of it, really. But I got the basic message. It wasn't awful." Paulina was back to chewing on her fingernails.

"Don't spit your nail-bits out in my car, please. Why don't you like Catholicism?"

"I don't like all the rules. You always have to follow rules, or feel guilty, or ask forgiveness for things you haven't even done. In my opinion, religion is something that should offer you comfort when you're at your worst, and support when you're at your best. I don't need my faith to be just another thing to worry about in my life. But, you know, if rules and forgiveness are what get you through the night, I can respect that."

"You put a lot of thought into these things, don't you?" Mikey asked.

"Well, I've had a lot of time on my hands these past few days. Especially to contemplate my beliefs about death." Paulina was done chewing her nails, and was instead fiddling with her hair. It was very soft from being washed and combed, and lovely to touch. She had never really taken the time to do her hair or makeup. Who did she have to impress?

For some reason, Paulina realized that they had been driving for a very long time. Forty-five minutes, at least. They were probably many towns away from Paulina's home, or the house that she now resided in, if they were even in the same state that she had been kidnapped in. All in all, Paulina reasoned, it was very possible, and even likely, that she was further away from home than she'd originally thought.

"You know, Paulina," Mikey said after a long while. "Maybe you don't completely disgust me." Paulina looked at Mikey (or, the direction she thought Mikey was in).

"Good to know," she said quietly.

"Oh, and Paulina?"

"Yes..."

"A word of advice," he said, pulling the car to a stop and turning it off. He sat for a moment, and Paulina thought that he was thinking of what to say. "Don't ever think that we don't know what we're doing."

Paulina was led back up the driveway and into the house, and only once she was inside did Mikey remove the blindfold around her eyes.

"Better?" he asked. Paulina nodded. "Good." He turned back towards the door, shoving a key into a lock. A lock on the inside, Paulina thought to herself. Well, she didn't figure they would be taking any chances for her to get away. "I," Mikey said, sauntering toward the stairs. "Am going to sleep. I was up far too early for my liking." With that, he started up the stairs, ready to catch up on the sleep robbed from him by church. Paulina stopped at the foot of the steps.

"What--I mean, am I supposed to--I mean--" Paulina was completely unsure of how to pose this question as a statement. What was she supposed to do? Mikey hadn't made any indication that Paulina should follow him, and no one else was coming along to take responsibility for her..."I don't know what to do." Mikey stopped on the fifth stair, pausing, before turning back to the young girl standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's a big house," he told her, turning once more and continuing up the stairs. "Find something to do." Soon, he had turned a different flight of stairs and disappeared. Paulina was baffled.

Find something to do? Like what? Without realizing it, she began meandering through the various rooms on the ground floor. A bedroom, a bathroom, another bedroom, another bathroom, a...ballroom? Paulina ventured further into this room, looking around with her mouth slightly agape. It was very large, very beautiful, and very empty. The artwork on the ceiling was comparable to that of the Sistine Chapel, and the architecture reminded Paulina of an old cathedral, much less modern than the one they'd been to that morning. There were large, open windows lining the tops of the walls, flooding the ballroom with golden sunlight.

Then, out of her peripheral vision, Paulina noticed a large object in a corner of the room. Upon closer inspection, it was a baby-grand piano. It was almost like new, every key shining brilliantly in the bright light from the windows.

Paulina sat down on the black, wooden bench, her hands instinctively falling to rest on the keys, palms up. She first plunked out one note, then another, then, out of pure habit, she began to play. The first song that came to mind was the first one she had ever learned to play.

"How gentle is the rain that falls softly on the meadow," she sang softly, under her breath. "Birds high up in the trees serenade the flowers with their melodies."

On her first day of freshman year in high school, Paulina had walked into her chorus class early. The teacher had been sitting at the piano, his back to the door, playing A Lover's Concerto. It was a very pretty song, and, at first, Paulina had mistaken it for it's classical counterpart, Minuet in G. But then, she'd heard the teacher singing, and she had been able to pluck up the courage to ask him what he was singing. He had taken the time to explain how one song was based off the other. He had taught her the words, and then, how to play it. Eventually, Paulina had taught herself how to play other songs, either by ear or from sheet music. She remembered her fleeting aspirations of being a famous piano player, someday. Oh, that all seemed like such a very long time ago...

"You'll hold me in your arms, and say, once again, you love me. And, if your love is true, everything will be just as wonderful..." she finished. She'd been so wrapped up in old memories that she fumbled the last few notes of the song. Suddenly, two hands came from behind and rested atop her own. The fingers were heavily tattooed, but even before she noticed those, Paulina knew who had joined her.

"No, no," Frank said quietly. "Not sharp. Just a pure G. No fancy effects on the last note. It's completely classical, see?"

"Yes, I see." Paulina went back and replayed the last bit of the song, getting the notes right this time. Frank sat down beside her on the bench, also placing his hands on the keys.

"Can you play fluently, or just the one song?" he asked Paulina. He began to play Christian Petzold's real Minuet In G, fingers flying effortlessly over the keys. It was almost as though they weren't even touching, his fingers and the keys. As though just the energy of his hands were sounding out the keys of the classical composition.

"Pretty fluent," Paulina answered, watching him play. Frank wasn't even looking at the piano. He was staring straight ahead, as though he were off in a completely different world, but still tuning in to the real one every now and then so he wouldn't miss anything.

"I see. What else can you play?" Paulina thought for a moment, then began to play.

"Papageno," he said knowingly, nodding. "I'm not much for operas, but ‘The Magic Flute’ does have pretty music. Anything a little more...recent?"

Paulina bit her lower lip, thinking. She knew plenty of classical songs on a whim, but contemporary? She finally picked one she knew and began playing it. It had been quite a while since she'd last played it, so she was a bit shaky, at first. Soon, however, she was able to play it well. Frank chuckled.

"I almost didn't recognize it as Louie, Louie," he told her. "Good song, I guess. Isn't it a bit before your time, though?"

"Judging by your looks," Paulina said, not taking her eyes off the keys. "It was before your time, as well."

"You'd be right about that."

"But it's still good. I don't disregard things just because they've gone out of style." Paulina finished the song and set her hands lightly in her lap. "It's amazing. There are maybe five notes or so in the whole song. But it was insanely popular in it's time. Unfortunately, if you were to play it for someone in my generation, they probably wouldn't know it."

"You're probably right about that," Frank said, flexing his fingers over the piano keys. "Let's try something a little more timeless." Paulina knew the song before he got to the third chord. She'd used to love that song. It was so long ago, though. In fact, she even remembered listening to it with Laura and gushing about how cute it was.

"You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you. You'd be like Heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much. At long last, love has arrived, and I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you," Paulina murmured, carrying the tune under her breath. She continued the lyrics until the melody change in the song came up.

"I love you, baby!" Frank jumped in with energetically. "And if it's quite alright, I need you, baby, to warm the lonely night. I love you, baby. Trust in me when I say: oh, pretty baby! Don't bring me down, I pray. Oh, pretty baby, now that I've found you, stay and let me love you, baby, let me love you." Paulina laughed lightly. It was quite strange to see Frank act like that; her only impression of him prior to this point was of someone cold and apathetic. He seemed very different now, however.

"You're right," she told him. "Timeless." Frank smiled down at the piano.

"My dad used to--" he began, then stopped. He looked sharply at Paulina, who flinched. Without a word, he pushed back the bench from the keyboard and stood. He walked out of the ballroom, footsteps echoing around the empty hall.


Hey...so, sorry about the near-week wait for this. Once again, the fact that I've got classes and real work and now working on the musical has all gotten me mixed up in the head with my dates. But here it is. So...yeah. Review, please. It makes me much more excited to write when you all leave lovely comments. So yeah. Go subscribe, if you haven't. OverAndOutxx