The Heiress's Revenge - A Bloody Affair - Chapter 36

[36 – Fragments of Innocence and Memories – II]
Elijah did not realize when he started crying, shedding silent tears while telling Seraphina about his memories that centered around Caroline. It might sound ridiculous to many but since Caroline was born, Elijah had always felt a strong connection with her.

It was not a simple fascination or attachment but something deep and unknown. Amongst all of them, Elijah felt the most happy whenever he was in baby Caroline’s company. Being with the young girl always made him happy and feel a sense of contentment.

Even after he left to live with his grandfather at the age of ten years, Elijah tried his best to remain in contact with Caroline. He would often write her letters, and try to talk to her on phone after an year or so, they simply lost contact.

Elijah’s grandfather had enrolled him in a number of classes from which he rarely got some time for leisure. His strict schedule left with with a little to none time to keep contact with anybody, not even his parents.

When Elijah came back three years ago, he was surprised by the change in Caroline. She did not feel like his sweet Caroline anymore. perhaps, it was because she fell in love with Ethan and the two of them entered in a relationship, or may be it was simply because they all grew up but Elijah could not feel the same connection with the adult Caroline that he felt when they were younger.

Surprisingly, and for some strange, unexplainable reason, Elijah felt the same kind of connection with Seraphina. But what he felt for Seraphina was stronger, deeper, and extremely strange.

He still doesn’t know where they met for the first time but he stopped asking because it didn’t matter to him now. He wanted to explore his feelings for Seraphina but the recent developments had him push his feelings back for some time because his family needed his complete and undivided attention at this point despite him being troubled about it.

Letting out a deep sigh, Elijah took a large sip of the hot chocolate, chewing on the mini marshmallows that he had gotten added on the top.

“Elijah?” Seraphina’s voice and her hand on his cheek brought him out of his thoughts. She looked concerned and anxious, her hand feeling hot on his skin.

Elijah smiled trying to ease her anxiety, “I am fine.” he covered her hand on his cheek with his own and added, “Just got lost in the memories.”

“You are not bored, right? I am sharing my memories with another girl, so -”

Seraphina chuckled and removed her hand from his cheek. Holding her mug of hot chocolate with both hands, She took a large sip before replying, “I don’t mind. In fact, I am glad that you felt like you could share those memories with me.” she smiled shyly.

Elijah stepped close and raised his hand to push a loose strand of her hair behind her ear making her look up at him with those stunning bluish-grey eyes, that sometimes looked too blue, and sometimes too grey depending on the light.

Unintentionally, he started leaning closer and closer to her face, the hearts beating with the same rhythm and pace. But before anything could happen, the shrill ringtone of Elijah’s cell phone broke their moment bringing both of them back to reality.

“I am sorry.” Elijah mumbled and walked to the other side of the counter where he had placed his cell phone.

“Hello -” while he talked to the other person on his phone, Seraphina quickly drank her sweet beverage in one go and turned her back towards Elijah not wanting to let him see the vulnerable expressions on her face.

One weak moment could essentially ruin everything and Seraphina was not the one to fall weak this time.

══════ ∘◦♛◦∘ ══════

It was Marcus who had called Elijah asking him about his whereabouts. Elijah informed him that he was at his friend’s place and would be back tomorrow, early in the morning.

After ending the phone call with his father. Elijah walked closer to Seraphina again. Finishing up his hot chocolate drink, he handed the mug to Seraphina who looked back at him with a hesitant smile curved upon her lips.

“So, do you want to hear more?” he was talking about his childhood stories that centered around Caroline. It was his lame effort at trying to distract them both from the moment that transpired between the minutes ago and what could have happened if his phone hadn’t rang.

“Sure.” Seraphina replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Elijah took a deep breath, and went to lean against the kitchen counter, “When Caroline was three, we had a picnic at the Sullivan mansion. I was there along with all the other kids in our families but it had always been Nate and I who had to sit and play with her.”

Elijah’s fond smile turned somber as he recalled Nate, Caroline’s eldest brother who they lost in that fire incident 18 years ago. Though Nate was 5 years older than him and 10 years older than Caroline but he still played with them. Elijah always viewed Nate as his idol, his inspiration and it hurt him a lot when Nate and his family passed away so tragically.

On the other hand, Seraphina was also lost in her memories, recalling how Nate would always give her all the time that he could, and play with her even when they games were too childish or too girly.

“Caroline insisted on bringing this tiny basket of her favorite toys, little dolls and stuffed animals whom she used to pretend that they were real and host tea parties with. Nate always played the role of Mrs. Appleblossom while I was always her Mrs. Bailey.” Elijah chuckled recalling how Caroline used to make them wear tiaras, and pink tutus to pretend that they were noble ladies.

Seraphina’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. She might not have a lot of Elijah’s memories but she did have many of her with her brothers and parents. Nate would always be her Mrs. Appleblossom but she did not remember Elijah being Mrs. Bailey. The name felt familiar and foreign to her at the same time.

“And then there was her birthday,” Elijah continued oblivious to the chaos that he had unleashed in Seraphina mind and heart.

“It was her fourth birthday and she had wanted everything to be underwater themed. her brother, Chris, as in Christopher, played a prank on her along with my brother Ethan. Both of them dumped a bucket full of water on her, soaking her wet in the name of the theme of her party.” Elijah shared his fond memory with Seraphina.

“But instead of crying about it, Caroline grabbed the water hose and chased both them around the yard. She didn’t rest until she doused both of them in water.”

A tear slipped down Elijah’s cheek as he continued to share his fond memories of his childhood with Seraphina. Though Seraphina recalled almost none of them but she couldn’t help but feel a deep connection to the memories he was sharing.

“It was absolutely devastating when I got to know that we lost Uncle Michael, Aunt Emily, Nate and Chris. I wanted to run away and be with Caroline to comfort her but I could not come. My grandfather did not let me.”

Elijah raised his hands to wipe his tears but stopped when he noticed that Seraphina was crying as well.

“Hey -” he murmured softly and cradled her face in his hands, “What happened?”

Seraphina sniffled, “Nothing.” she thought of the perfect excuse to cover this up without raising Elijah’s suspicions, “Actually, when you talked about the Sullivan family’s tragedy, it made me remember the accident in which I lost both my parents and my younger brother.”

This time Seraphina did not control her tears and let them flow for she had the excuse and also couldn’t hold it in, “Only I survived the accident.” which was not a complete lie, “Without them, my life -” Seraphina burst into sobs.

She placed her hand on her chest, right over her heart as the painful memories flashed behind her eyes. Even though she had mastered the art of not letting her true emotions show but she was still a human being.

She had the heart and soul of that little Caroline who witnessed her family being murdered mercilessly, who suffered a lot of abuse and torture, who was left on the streets to die.

Hearing about all those memories was like rubbing salt on open wounds. Seraphina could not control herself and started crying. Elijah immediately pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

He began rubbing soothing circles on her back with one hand while caressing her hair gently using his other hand as he kept on murmuring comforting words in her ear. Tears filled his eyes as well on seeing her cry. He had come to seek solace in her but ended up hurting her unintentionally.

“it’s okay. It’s okay.” he kept on whispering in her ear while Seraphina took advantage of the situation by not only letting her true feelings show but also emotionally manipulating Elijah into making him feel like that he was her source of comfort as well. This was only the first step at that.

Seraphina wrapped her arms tightly around Elijah’s waist letting him feel the heat being radiated from her body, letting him know of how it feels like to hold her in his arms. She planned on making him addicted to her, so much so that he would not hesitate to even end his brother’s life on her command.

Her reddened eyes not only reflected the pain that she suffered through but also her determination to make each of her enemies go through even worst pain. Rubbing her cheek against his chest, Seraphina snuggled closer and mumbled a delicate, “Thank you.”

Elijah broke the hug and cradled Seraphina’s face in his hands. He wiped her tears away and leaned closer to place a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead. His heart and soul hurt seeing her in this condition.

As Elijah pulled back only to gather her in his embrace again, he was reminded of the particular nightmare that he saw days ago in which she was crying and had screamed for help. He couldn’t help but wonder if that nightmare was something more than just a dream.

Was it real? It certainly felt real.

It felt as if Seraphina’s soul was calling out to his, begging him to help her, to save her.

But save her from what?