Dark Layers (Volume 4)

by Gray, A L

  "Elijah, I-"

  "Anile, you now have your Mother. You can be happy, you can forget all this, move on. You never have to be alone, ever again." His eyes are dark, darker than usual. This is tearing him apart inside, I can see it.

  "I will die before I leave you." I snap, clutching harder at his hands.

  He steals one hand away from mine and cups my cheek. "That will never happen, I would never let that happen." He whispers.

  "Losing your life isn't the only way you can die, Elijah. I will die inside." I start to cry.

  "Your Mother will take care of you." He tries to assure me.

  "No, I'm not leaving without you. I won't go anywhere without you!" I sob.

  "Anile, Derek agrees also. I called him after I called Amin."

  Derek agrees? What the! "Fuck Derek! He doesn't know how this feels!" I scream.

  I break free of all physical contact with him and impulsively act. I collect my phone from my jacket pocket and immediately dial Derek.

  "Hey Sweets." He says tenderly, answering after the first ring.

  "Don't Sweets me! Why would you tell Elijah to make me leave him?" I snap.

  "Anile, put the phone down, now!" Elijah orders.

  "You," I narrow a firm finger at him, "don't you even dare try to order me around!" I warn. "You relinquished your right five minutes ago!"

  He stares open-mouthed and just gazes at me with sorry eyes.

  "Derek, you there?" I snap.

  "Yeah, Anile, I - I don't know what to say."

  "How about the reasons why?"

  "Anile, you know we cannot speak about this over the phone. Be careful what you say!" Derek warns, and a light switches on inside my brain. The freemasons, Elijah's father - I have that dvd! If I can get his father to sign over Darks Lawyers and insure our safety, Elijah won't have to worry anymore, we can stay together. I will accept him in the cult - he promised me he wouldn't let it rule him. I will do as I'm bid so his cult are happy with his actions. We can go back to normal - whatever our normal is. I shut down the phone and stare into space. I start to walk past Elijah, towards the archway that leads to the front door.

  "Anile," he takes me by my arm, "where are you going?"

  "I have to go." I say in a daze.

  "Where?"

  "Don't worry. I just have to go."

  "I will not let you go until you tell me where."

  I snatch my arm free. "I need to think, God damn it Elijah, I need to think."

  He doesn't fight me on this, he just watches me leave. So with my converse already on, I continue walking out of the house. I collect the car keys off of the lamp table beside the front door, grasp my leather waist jacket off of the coat rack, and slowly drag my feet out of the front door and across the stony driveway. I unlock the car and get in. If Elijah has confirmation that my Mother and I will be safe, he will stop all this nonsense. If he has his company, he will go back to being himself. I have to do this, I have to do this if I have any chance of saving us.

  I'M AT THE DARTFORD DOCKLANDS, just outside of London. I stopped off at my apartment before coming here and transferred a copy of the dvd onto my phone, using my laptop. I'm going to blackmail Elijah's father, and I needed a backup of the dvd - insurance. I'm going to use it to try and get Elijah back his company, and I'm going to insure all our safety at the least, for Elijah's peace of mind. I have no idea when I became this strong, this cunning. I suppose my life has forced me to be like this. I'm going to call Elijah Darks Senior and ask him to meet me here tonight. I'm not completely sure how this will go down but I plan on forcing the situation to land in my favour.

  With trembling fingers, I dial Mr. Darks.

  "Anile," he purrs, "what an unexpected surprise."

  I'm not all that shocked by the revelation that he has my number, he probably has my university grades too, and my blood type, and my date of birth, anything and everything that would be linked to me as a person.

  "Yes, it must be." I nervously lick my lips. "Mr. Darks, would you be so kind as to meet me... now if you can? It's very important."

  "Hmmm," he breathes, "why not, I have a few things that I'd like to discuss with you. Where are you?"

  "I'm at Dartford Docklands, already waiting."

  "Wow, this has to be serious if you are already there and waiting. What if I had said no to your meeting?"

  "Then I would have come to find you myself. Are you going to meet me or not?"

  There is a brief pause.

  "You have grown some balls, I'm impressed." He jokes, I can sense the humour in his voice.

  "Fine, I'll come find you." I snap and almost hang up.

  "Stop your pouting girl, I'll be, at the most, thirty minutes." He shuts down the phone without saying goodbye and this sets my tummy in motion.

  Right, he's meeting me, that's the first part of my plan working out, now for the nitty gritty stuff. I pace the dirty, stony grounds, walking around my Mercedes ten times. It smells here, like soot and ash, the scent is harsh on my throat. The Dockyard is dark and dingy, scary even. I've heard stories about this place and gangsters - need I say more. It's ten at night and the sky is black, I can barely see five foot in front of myself but I think the location is private enough to do what I have to do - it's fitting. To mentally escape the darkness, I cast my eyes out over the River Thames. The water is black, reflecting the nights sky, but it's so beautiful. It catches every light from Dartford to London and trickles them throughout the rippling water. My attention is stolen when I see bright headlights coming my way, gliding slowly through the old, broken gates. I tug at the hem of my leather jacket and try to collect myself - I'm beyond nervous. A Bentley 4x4 pulls up next to my car. Mr. Darks is driving himself, I'm surprised. He elegantly steps out of his car and makes his way over to me in a powerful grey suit just beneath a long, knee length, black coat. His suit is classy, matched with a white neck scarf that's tucked into the collar of his shirt.

  "Thank you for seeing me at such short notice, Mr. Darks." I say cool.

  He extends a long hand. "It's my pleasure, Anile."

  I take his grip and expect a handshake but he pulls my hand to his full pout. He kisses my knuckles, one by one, the dust of his black stubble grazing my skin horribly. A feeling of cheapness thrashes throughout my system, he makes me feel like a cheap tart by the way he's eyeing me. I pull my hand back before he finishes, I cannot stomach this man! He takes a steady walk around me, circling me slowly.

  "Anile, I understand you and my son still have not made any plans to marry. Why not?"

  I immediately gather myself, casting my hands over my jacket. "Mr. Darks, that is not why I called you here." I say and he tries to cut me off.

  "With all due respect -" he sniggers. I interrupt him, I raise a firm hand to silence him.

  "Tut, tut, tut." I mock him. I inhale a large breath. "I have a proposition for you."

  He immediately stops just to the right of me and stares at me with intense eyes. "Ha," he laughs, "a proposition. You?" He frowns.

  I nod efficiently. "Yes." I start to circle him, using his own mind control.

  Once I reach him closely, he grabs my arm and tries to force me still, his teeth gritted.

  "Mr. Darks. I have spent many months with your son, I have been through the most heartbreaking, painful things no one should ever have to suffer, you don't scare me." I sneer.

  "You should be scared of me." He snaps. "My son is the tooth fairy compared to me."

  "Ah, see, that's where you are wrong." I smile viciously.

  He releases me slowly. "Oh? And how so?"

  He leans back against my car but he's still taller than I am, he's colossal. I try to exude power through my tongue, it's all I have.

  "You may be worth a lot within your cult, but I'm assuming that is where your value and power ends. It seems Elijah is the most desired from your cult, most powerful - even over you. I have begun to work this out by how you all desire to control him. What would be the point in forc
ing someone to be a specific way if they were worthless?" I raise my eyebrows at him, and expect him to say something. He doesn't. "The public fancy Elijah, your company takes their orders from him, many fall in love with him, you all seem to panic when he steps out of line." I laugh sarcastically. "Elijah is the influential one, the one with all the power - not you." I point a perfectly long finger at him. "You don't have the ability to achieve what he has, otherwise your cult would have used you, instead of a young, inexperienced, man."

  "I taught him everything he knows!" He growls. He crosses his arms and looks annoyed and uncomfortable.

  "And he has bettered you. Oh how that must feel." I laugh. "I'm more frightened of Elijah than I am of you, and he loves me."

  "You had better watch your mouth, little Anile. You may find it... deemed useless."

  "By who? You?" I point at him again. "Like I said, you don't scare me, Mr. Darks."

  "Then you are a stupid girl."

  "You may be right, but you see, I have already insured that if something terrible were to happen to me, you will suffer more than you know."

  I'm prepared for him to get nasty, he's a dark, jealous, evil Bastard. I knew what to expect before I even called him.

  He bites his lower lip and shoves his hands deep into his pockets.

  "How so?"

  I pull my phone free from my inside jacket pocket and scroll to my videos and play him killing Elijah's Mother. I pass him the phone. He takes it with a cautious hand and my tummy doubles over in hysteria at the sound of Helen Darks pleading for her life. Tears threaten my eyes but I somehow manage to fight them back. Unexpectedly, Mr. Darks lunges at me and pushes me up against the car. He crushes me between the car and his hard chest.

  "You think you can use this against me?" He screams in my face.

  He throws my phone onto the floor and stamps on it, smashing the screen - but Helen's voice is still chanting through the speaker.

  I swallow hard, I try desperately not to shake. My heart is pattering like a machine gun, my hands sweaty.

  I somehow manage to smile at him. "If you do anything to me, that video will be e-mailed to every reporter in England and America." I lean my face closer to his. "I told you, I have insured my life - and it's at the cost of your freedom."

  He instantly releases me. I pull at the hem of my jacket, ordering it to sit properly on my body and I move one step forward and eye him.

  "I want to play a game." I swallow hard. "Truth or dare."

  "You want to play a fucking game?"

  "Oh yes. There are two ways out for you. Do you want to play?"

  He turns his back on me and paces for a few seconds, his feet scraping against the dirty floor.

  "Fine! But be warned, if you send out that video, you will be killed. I am not going down alone."

  "I could be killed before it goes out, so to me, there is only one way out of this mess for me."

  I am ready to die for Elijah. I love him, I love him with every inch of me. He has taken care of me and my Mother, and now it's time for me to return the favour. I need them both to be safe.

  "Such a brave young woman." He shakes his head. "Why would you die for my son? He's a low life."

  "You don't know anything about him." I scream. "He is not a low life, he's a kind, generous, loving man. He's everything that you are not!"

  He laughs to himself. "You know, you would have made a great addition to my family, you are a true Darks at heart."

  "Actually, I am not." I snap. "Elijah will no longer be a Darks soon, either. We will be married and he is taking my name." I lie to annoy him further.

  "Over my dead body!" He screams.

  I laugh. "That can be arranged, I'm sure."

  "Stop playing games, Anile. Get to the fucking point!" He snaps.

  I smile at my achieving to rile his perfect Darks feathers. "Very well. You get one truth and one dare. If you forfeit, I will leave now and send out that garishly video. Trust me when I tell you that I have plenty of backups dotted all over the place."

  "Oh, I don't doubt that, Anile." He sneers.

  "You can ask me a truth and a dare if you wish, I am not about to have all the fun."

  Fairness is the key to this game, I must be fair in order to gain maximum affect.

  "Who goes first?" He asks serious.

  "Let's make this interesting, you can go first." I hold out my hand to him as a gesture for him to proceed.

  "And what do I have on you, huh? Nothing, I have nothing to use against you. How can I trust that you will keep your word after today?"

  I swallow hard. This was always going to be the hardest thing for me.

  I take a large breath. "Elijah does not know that I am here, and he has not seen this video. If you follow through, I will never tell him the truth - he will live to always believe that he killed his Mother. You can go on living your miserable life and I will help Elijah to keep living his as he is now, none the wiser."

  He claps his hands while lightly laughing. "Jesus, I have never in my life met such a brave woman who is willing to sacrifice truth for a deal." He shakes his head. "You are one, magnificent woman."

  "Enough with the compliments, I have not long eaten." I snap.

  "Very well. A truth is in order to go first." He takes off his long black coat and tosses it over my car bonnet. He stands right in front of me and forces me back against the car.

  "Fire away - no pun intended." I say deadpan.

  He laughs. "Has my son mentioned anything about the Freemasons or the Illuminati?"

  "What?" I gasp.

  "Anile, you must answer truthfully, otherwise your forfeit will be too..." he rubs his stubbly chin, "disclose the fact that my son has told you everything about our cult to our leader." He laughs loud. "You know, our leader really is quite scary - even to me - and full of punishments. I will take you there tonight if you don't answer me truthfully."

  Shit, I should have thought about this!

  "Um..." I blink rapidly. "Yes." I breathe.

  He inhales sharply. "Well, he will be punished for his sins."

  "No!" I take a step towards him. "You cannot tell them!"

  "But Anile," he pulls his phone out of his trouser pocket. It's lit up but I cannot see the caller's name. "Our leader just heard you confess."

  "NO!" I scream.

  I lunge at him and try to take the phone out of his hand, but he forces me against the car, face forward. From behind me he quickly seizes my neck and squeezes my windpipe. I can barely breathe, my throat is tight under his grip. I try to steal his hand away but it's hard, he has full control of me. I can feel his entire body flush against my back, it makes me feel sick to have him so close to me.

  "You played me!" I gasp.

  "You shouldn't play with the Devil, Princess." He whispers into my ear.

  He releases me, slowly, and I grasp my throat to soothe myself and cough a few times, desperately trying to inhale as much air as I can. He runs his hand down the back of my wavy hair. I want to scream, get the fuck off of me, but I know he will deem that as weakness. I turn to face him, tears in my eyes, and he shuts down the phone, clear enough for me to see what he's doing.

  "Now for your dare." He smiles.

  "No, it's my turn for a truth!" I snap.

  I'm trying my very best to gather myself, but my heart just won't settle. I cannot believe I have just tucked-up Elijah! Once this is over with, we are leaving - for good! We now have no other choice. Elijah has to see reason, he has to.

  I swallow steely. "Why have you raised your children like this? Why did you kill your wife?" My curiosity has always been there, since I found out everything.

  "That sounds like two questions, Anile." He says, one perfect eyebrow raised.

  I don't say anything, I'm thinking for what to ask as one question. What is more important to know? Elijah's Mother's death or why Mr. Darks raised his children to be monsters?

  Mr. Darks casts his long finger over his lower lip in question. "You k
now what, you can have the two, if I can have one more?"

  "This is not up for negotiation." I snap.

  "Fine, pick one question."

  I swallow hard, I feel like stupid Pandora. "Why have you raised Elijah and Castor the way you have?"

  I need to know his motive, I need to know why he is so evil.

  He walks to the front of the car. He turns his back on me and leans against the bonnet.

  "I was raised this way. My Mother and father were both committed Freemasons. I had no choice. Once they died, I had to follow in their footsteps, otherwise my entire family and I would have been killed." He lowers his head, I think in shame. I walk around to him and stare at him in dismay.

  "I never wanted this life for my family, I never wanted to kill Helen, but I had no choice. It was her, or my boys."

  I sharply inhale - holy fuck! There is a reason, it was not just because of the sacrifice! I cannot get my head straight, I just cannot digest this!

  "Why have you allowed Elijah to believe he killed her?"

  He shoots his eyes at me. I almost jump back because he looks scary.

  "That was his last sacrifice, to kill his Mother and create his own family. How could I let him kill her? How could I let him live with that look in Helens' eyes that would haunt him for the rest of his life?" He shakes his head. "And anyway, he would never have done it, and then he would have ended up dead. You may think I am an evil Bastard - and I'm not saying that I am not - but I would never kill my boys. I will always keep them alive at any cost." He shrugs his shoulders. "I did the deed for my son to save him from the Gods - but, he had to believe he killed her, otherwise his sacrifice would have been null and void in the eyes of our leader."

  "You hypocrite!" I scream. "You just had me confess Elijah has told me everything to your fucking leader."

  He rises to his feet and slowly, he comes closer to me. I heed his intense gaze, I'm too angry to look away.