He put his arms around me. The icy fear clenched my body, but I could see Aiden watching so I hugged him back.
“I want to have fun.” I said while Aiden and my eyes were locked on each other.
Eli was only 2 years older than Caitlin and me, so I knew he would join in. I knew Caitlin would join me as she’s been trying to get me drunk for years. I handed around the bottles, but Aiden wouldn’t take one. Oh well his loss.
I wanted to wash out all this bullshit and be happy at least for a little while.
Aiden
Right now, I regretted what I did on the plane. Maybe then none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t have walked away from me at the car lot, and maybe she wouldn’t be so unhappy now. I watched as she poured bottles of pure alcohol down her throat, but not just her. They were all drinking, but I didn’t care about them. There was an old CD player in the cabin, and Caitlin went out to the car and brought in some club music. I watched as Evelyn was dancing on the table with Caitlin. The way she moved was hypnotic and I couldn’t hide it from anybody. There was no stopping the trance she had me in. I hoped that everybody was too drunk to notice me, but when I looked they were looking at her in the same way. She was perfect. Jake had now gotten up and joined Caitlin. His dancing was awful, but they were having fun. Then Evelyn looked at me.
“Come join me?” She slurred.
She looked free and happy. She didn’t have a care in the world, but I knew if I joined her it would look to obvious. I could see Eli looking at me from the corner of my eye.
“No, I can’t dance.” I said abruptly.
It made my stomach drop when she pouted at me. I just wanted to bite her lip.
“Ugh Caitlin put some trousers on or something.” Eli said with disgust.
He looked horrified. Was this how I was supposed to look at Evelyn? Because I was looking at Caitlin that way; I also wanted her to put some trousers on.
“Sorry bro.” Caitlin said pulling her skirt down, so her underwear wasn’t on show.
I looked back to Eli, but he was watching Evelyn now. I knew he wanted her. I could see the lust in his eyes, but he wasn’t having her. I kept looking at him until he noticed me and was able to pry his perverted eyes off my Evelyn.
I noticed she was starting to sway so I stood up and picked her up off the table. She didn’t even protest. She fell straight into me and I fell back on the couch with her in my lap.
“You ok?” I asked her, but she was mumbling. “What?” I asked her.
“Mmmmm you’re so sexy.” She said poking my cheek.
I just looked at Eli with wide eyes.
“Why do you have to be my brother it’s not fair.” She said this while ruffling my hair. Luckily nobody seemed to hear her but me.
“Errr.” Was all I could say.
“Maybe she should go to bed.” Eli said to me.
“Yeah probably.” I replied.
“Do you want me to take her? I’m heading up now myself. I can’t watch this anymore.” He said pointing up to Caitlin and Jake dancing like idiots.
Wait did he just ask if I wanted him to take her to bed?
“No, I can do it.” I said sternly.
“Want me to show you her room? I’ve been here a lot. I wasn’t sure if you knew where it was.” He offered.
“Her room is next to mine upstairs to the left.” I told him.
“No, it’s to the right. We were never allowed down that corridor.” Eli said confused.
“Probably because my bedroom is there as well.” I said.
“Makes sense.” He nodded.
I remember being here. We used to have a room each, but it had a shared bathroom that we used to sneak into each other rooms when we stayed here together. I guess it was that way, so Evelyn and I could get to each other quickly if we needed to.
I lifted Evelyn up with me off the couch. I hadn’t noticed before, but she was losing weight pretty fast and she looked pale. I had a feeling I was going to be up with her all-night vomiting. She felt so light in my arms. I pulled her tight against me. As I walked up the stairs I shouted goodnight to the others and turned left at the corner. There were only two rooms down this corridor. I wasn’t sure what I’d find in my room. It had been years since I had been here. I went straight into her room and laid her on top of the bed, and then I went into our bathroom and got a basin for her. I put it next to her on the bedside table, and I went through the bathroom to the door on the other side for my room. When I opened the door, it was dark. I walked in and switched on the light. It was exactly how I remembered it. The walls were a pale blue and there were stars on the ceiling. There was a blue teddy sitting on the bed as well. Although a little dusty, at least I wasn’t forgotten. I sat on the bed and there was a picture on the side table, I’m guessing it was Evelyn and I when we were last here together. We were asleep in bed face to face holding onto each other. We looked so serene together. I picked up the frame and looked closer. I could see another photo behind it. I opened the back and found very old black and white photo, but it was our mom and dad kissing. When I looked at the back it said Felicity and Theo 1900.
Chapter 19
Aiden
How was that possible? It was 117 years ago. That’s when I heard Evelyn start retching. I threw the pictures in the drawer and ran into her room. Luckily, she had found the bucket, but she was slumped over it. I carefully pulled her out of bed and brought her to the bathroom. I knelt next to her and held back her hair while she was being sick. She kept pushing me away and telling me to leave but fat chance of that happening. We stayed like that for about an hour. After that she started to sober up. I picked her up and brought her downstairs to the kitchen. Luckily everyone had gone to bed or they were throwing up themselves somewhere. I sat her on a stool next to the counter and got out the bread to make her some toast. She looked so frail and small. She needed to eat.
“Please eat this.” I asked, but she turned her nose up at it.
“I’m not hungry.” She groaned. I stood in front of her and put my hand up to her chin. I lifted her head up to look at me. Her eyes were mesmerising.
“Please eat for me.” I was begging now. I waved a piece of toast in front of her face and she snatched it.
“Fine I’ll eat it.”
I hadn’t realised that I was this close. I was standing in between her legs and one of my hands was resting on her thigh. It felt so right, we fit together. I didn’t want to pull away, but then Evelyn looked down at my hand, so I backed off quickly. I went to the fridge and got her some orange juice but stayed behind the counter this time.
“Do you think we should talk about it?”
“About what?” I started getting anxious. There was tension in the air, and I didn’t want to start a conversation about us. There were too many unanswered questions and I didn’t think we were ready.
“Well for now I want to talk about the car lot.” She looked like she was going to be sick again.
“Well if you want to tell me what happened?” I said to her although I didn’t think I could handle hearing about it.
She shook her head. “No, I want to know what you saw.”
What was I supposed to say? I saw a beautiful goddess exacting her revenge on a monster? That she looked powerful and strong? That she has an amazing gift and she used it rightfully to wipe that scum off the earth?
“When I got there, I saw the dogs attacking that piece of shit.” I said thinking that might stop her asking.
“Was he alive when you got there?” She looked pained.
He was alive. I could have stopped it, but I didn’t. What did that say about me? “Yes, he was.” I confessed.
“Did you try and stop me?”
I took a moment. I knew I couldn’t lie to her, but I didn’t want her hating me for it. “I tried to get your attention, but no I didn’t stop you.”
She lowered her eyes to the floor. “Could you have saved him?”
“Yes, I could, but I didn’t.”
I looked at her. I wanted to know what she was thinking right now.
“Why not?” She asked quietly.
This was going to be tough to answer. I didn’t want to stop her. I thought she was magnificent. “He touched you.”
“So, he deserved to die because he touched me?” I could see a tear fall onto the counter.
“He deserved to die because he was going to rape you, like he did many times before you and probably would many after you. You did a good thing Evelyn. He was hurting people abusing them and humiliating them. You have no reason to be sad or guilty. You only did what others wish they could.” I said. I walked up to her and hugged her.
After she calmed down I walked her back to her room, told her to go to bed and I went back to my room. I was exhausted, but my mind was still running a mile a minute. I pulled out the photo of mom and dad. I wondered if maybe it was a doppelganger kind of family, but I could see in his eyes that that was dad, and I’m sure Evelyn would be able to recognise mom. Though I didn’t want to show her yet. She had enough to deal with. Evelyn had shown me a recent picture of her mother. She looked identical to when she gave birth to us and in the hundred-year-old photo. Was Evelyn and I going to be the same? I kept picturing Evelyn with the dogs. She looked so stunning and it suited her. She was glowing and radiant like she was finally becoming who she was supposed to be. Although we hadn’t spoken about, I knew she had something to do with the tree growing through the house that saved my life. I must have fallen asleep as the next thing I knew I was being shaken and could hear shouting. When I opened my eyes, Caitlin was standing over me telling me to wake up. I sat up then and tried to focus on her.
“What?” I asked her sleepily.
“Evelyn’s gone!” She shouted, and the fear set in.
Evelyn
Aiden had just walked out of the room. He told me to sleep, but I was wide awake now feeling a bit sorry for myself. I hadn’t noticed before, but I wasn’t in my bedroom. Well not the bedroom I used to stay in. looking around it looked familiar, and then I remembered mom never let us down into these rooms. She said they were off limits. I could see why now. There was a picture of Aiden and I were cuddling in front of the lake. We must have been about three years old. Aiden…I felt really embarrassed at my behaviour and then Aiden having to look after me. I’m such an idiot. Lately I just seem to be more trouble than I’m worth. Everybody’s lives have been ruined because of me, but not only me really. It’s also our parents fault. If they told other people in our lives about the danger, why not tell us? Why keep us apart? And why not tell those people what the hell is going on with us? Why are we being hunted? I hated them right now. I hated what we had to go through and how we were left in the dark. I don’t even know where we go from here. Do we just spend the rest of our lives hiding here? Never having a life of our own or do we go out and fight these people?
I needed to get out of here for a bit. I always use to run in the woods when we would come here on holiday. It was the only time mom ever let me go out alone and it’s so beautiful at night. I got up and went to the closet where I pulled out some tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt. I was surprised to find clothes in here that fit; it had been empty for years. I crept down the stairs and grabbed my sneakers, but when I opened the front door I saw something moving in the forest. I couldn’t see what it was, but something or someone was there. I put my sneakers on and started jogging towards the movement. Honestly, I was so fed up of all this, I kind of hoped it was one of the agents and I was heading right for him. I just wanted it all to be over. When I reached the tree line I could see now it wasn’t a person, but the same Rottweilers from the car lot. Terror was gripping my insides and my heart was beating so fast. I started to back away, but they just stepped towards me still covered in blood. It was dried, and the smell was overwhelming. I wanted to be sick. I knew I couldn’t run around them, so I tried stepping back towards the lake and hoped I could swim faster than they could. I was expecting them to pounce on me, but they laid down at my feet now and just looked up at me with sad eyes. They had killed their owner and now had nowhere to go.
I reached down and pulled off my sneakers. It was the middle of winter, but the water was always warm here. The frost didn’t seem to touch this forest. The weather was always the same. I took off my socks and trousers as they watched. They looked up at me, tilting their heads. I was only in my top and underwear, but no one was here so I stepped into the lake. Just as I knew it would be the water was warm and refreshing. I waded further into the lake. I looked to my hounds, and all I could think of when I looked at them was Cerberus the hounds of hell in Greek mythology. The way they sat bunched up together with their heads moving in all directions. I split up the name into three and it seemed perfect for them. ‘Cer’ ‘Ber’ ‘Rus’. I was starting to feel an attachment to the beasts, but they were going to need a bath before anything.
“Come on boys.” I called out to them. One got up and came over to the water’s edge, took a sniff and stepped back. “Come on you need to wash all the blood off.” They started bouncing around the edge now. They looked so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing. As Cer came closer to the water he took a drink, but then Rus came behind him and nudged him in. I nearly went under I was laughing so much. Even Ber looked like he was laughing. “Bath now.” I said to them and the other two jumped in. I wished I’d brought some shampoo now as I was going to have to wash all the blood off them.
I swam over and started scrubbing them with my fingers as they tried licking my face. They were sweet dogs, but when I stroked them I could sense most of what they had seen in their short lives. I was starting to resent this ‘gift’. I almost tried to wash away the memories as well as the blood. They were covered in scars, and with every scar I knew what had happened. I felt so sad for them. They had been beaten a lot by that man, but they never hurt a soul until they killed him. Well when I killed him. I was so busy thinking and scrubbing I hadn’t notice Aiden watching me. He was only about 20 feet away, so I could see the slightly amused and concerned look on his face, He walked over to the edge, sat down and just watched me. I was starting to feel giddy.
“Hi.” I said to him.
“Hi.” He replied.
“I’m washing the dogs.” I said pointing to Ber as he splashed around in front of me.
“I can see that.” Aiden said trying to hide a smile.
“What the fuck you doing?” I heard Caitlin squealing.
She was walking up to the edge now looking horrified.
“What are you doing in the lake in the middle of the night with dogs?” She was so serious it was a bit scary, but Aiden and I burst out laughing.
“Ok you’re both nuts. I’m going back to bed. Thanks for scaring the crap out of me Evelyn. I’ll get in you in the morning.” She said pointing at me, pouting her lips. Then she turned and headed back inside.
“Well they managed to find you then.” Aiden said.
“Yeah I guess.”
Then Aiden took off his shoes and jumped into the water. Cer swam straight up to him licking his face while paddling in the water. Aiden was pretending to lick him back.
“Err Aiden you might need to get me some clothes when I get out.” I said bashfully.
He looked at me and looked down, but the water obscured his view. “Where are your clothes?”
“Well my trousers are over there, and this top is now see through.” I said.
“Oh.” He replied. I could see him trying hard not to look.
“You ok?” I asked.
“Yes of course I’ll get you some. Do you want me to get them now?” He started swimming over to the edge.
“No, I want to stay in here for a bit. At least the hounds are clean now.” I said shooing them away. They got out straight away and started shaking everywhere.
“Wanna race?” I asked him. He smiled at me and my heart swelled.
“You’re on.” He said swimming over to me.
“Okay from here to the end of th
e lake and then back again to the house.” I took off as fast as I could. I felt giddy like we were kids again. I got to the end of the lake and Aiden was behind me, although I had a feeling he was letting me win.
I had a trick up my sleeve though. I’ve been swimming this lake for years and I always swam faster deep under water. I trained myself to hold my breath the whole way back. I pulled myself out of the lake and quickly dived back in, so Aiden wouldn’t see me practically naked. I swam down to the bottom and bolted through the water. I hadn’t gotten far when I felt myself being pulled up to the surface. When I saw Aiden’s face he looked horrified. He dragged me over to the edge where it was shallow, and we could stand.
“I thought you drowned!” He shouted at me.
“Sorry I swim better under there. I can hold my breath for like 10 minutes.” I said looking up at him feigning innocence.
“Well could you let me know next time?” He said now half smiling.
He was so close now and he was staring down at me. Then he glanced down at my chest and back up to my face. I didn’t realise the water was around my waist and my breasts were visible through my top. I quickly folded my arms over to hide my chest. When I looked back at him his eyes looked pure black and filled with desire. I could see as he looked at me, he loved me in that moment. When he touched me, I would tingle all over and I’d just want him to take me and love me, but we both knew it couldn’t happen. It wasn’t allowed so why did we feel this way? It wasn’t just me now. I could see how much he wanted me, and how much he was struggling with the shame and guilt that came with it.
I did wonder if maybe we could stay here together away from everybody. In our garden of Eden and be happy. No one would know, but I had to be strong now. I didn’t want to ruin this. I loved him. He was my family, so I pulled away from him.
“Could you get my clothes now please?” I asked.
I tried to force a smile, but it fell flat. He jumped out of the water. His clothes were stuck to him and the water poured off in sheets. He jogged over to the cabin and went inside. I held my hands over my face as a few tears escaped. I looked over to the hounds. They all looked up at me with sad eyes, although I think they always looked like that. When Aiden returned instead of clothes he brought out a large towel. I could see he had changed himself. He was dry except for his hair. It had flopped down across his forehead with a slight curl, and when he smiled at me again it hurt a little inside. He held out the towel and turned his head away.
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