by K L Rymer
As far as I’m aware, Uncle Roger never used his thrall on Keiko. They’d fallen in love naturally, but you can see it from the expression on her face that she regretted marrying into this family.
She moved back to Japan just five years after we posed for that painting.
It was a surprise such a decent couple had produced a conniving little bitch like Misaki.
And there’s the little she-devil sitting on her mother’s lap, looking cute as a doll. Misaki was a beautiful three year old with large, shiny eyes and rounded cheeks. Her hair is tied up in pigtails as she wears a black and white polka dot dress, which I find amusing since Misaki hates polka dots.
Last but not least is my mother. Her kind grey eyes regard the painter as if he’s an old friend, and it’s like looking into a mirror. She has the same fair skin and black hair as I do. A few strands even fall over her eyes as she lays a tender hand on my shoulder.
I can’t look anymore, feeling a clog forming in my throat, and turn away. That’s when I see Crystal watching me.
Our eyes meet for the first time since we left the car, and hers are swimming with tears.
But I see that they’re only tears for me.
Shit.
My heart.
Slowly, she reaches out and takes my hand, and I jolt when that magnetic force runs between us.
My father watches us carefully, and I give a smug smirk.
I knew on the phone he didn’t believe I was really in love with Crystal, but there was no denying the tender moment that just passed between us. Even a cold-hearted bastard like him could see that, a man who’d never known the true love of a woman.
Crystal’s hands remain in mine and I sigh. I don’t even think it would take a whole universe to make me forget her.
“So,” my father says, his tone menacing. “How did you two meet?”
He sips his scotch as I try to recall. It had been at the café. “We—”
“Eli visited the café where I work, and that’s how things developed from there. I knew the instant I saw your son that he was the one.”
She looks up at me, smiling.
My father almost chokes on his drink. “You work in a café?!”
Crystal’s breath shakes, and I close my eyes. Why did he have to be such a snob?
“Well, whatever pays the rent,” she replies, taking a sip of her tea, and I stifle a snort.
Misaki, however, bursts into laughter, and my father shoots her a glare. She stops, and takes another sip of her tea.
We continue in silence. Jackdaws squawk outside as I cast my eyes out the window.
A permanent cloud blankets the sky. At least above the Black Estate.
Everywhere else in England shines.
My father rises from his chair and takes his leave. “Milo will show you to your rooms.”
Then he slams the door, and we all release a collective breath.
“I forgot how much of a grouch Uncle Randall really was. Thank god he’s not my father. No offence, Eli.”
I give Misaki a pointed look. At least mine didn’t desert me for a life in the Arabian Desert.
“What if he never warms to me?” Crystal cries.
I don’t know what to tell her. We had come here in the hopes of getting married this week (well, she did).
But the moment I stepped out the car, I knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. My father will do all he can to stop our marriage. I know he doesn’t approve of Crystal.
Not to worry. We can all live here until he finally comes around (if he ever does come around). If not, then we can marry on his next business trip.
Then I can ransom her father.
“Maybe it’s best we hold off the wedding for a while,” I suggest.
Her eyes shimmer but I can’t look away. They pull me in, turning me inside out.
Finally, she looks away, sucking in a deep breath. “All right. I think that may be best too. At least then I can invite Babs to the wedding. It should give us enough time to do the paperwork.”
My eyes widen and I glance over at Misaki. She’s the best at bullshitting after all, though there was some truth to her words in the car earlier. Her friends do have contracts, well, their fathers do. They all work directly under my father. So at one point each of them has spent some time at the estate.
My father could destroy their father’s livelihoods in a heartbeat if they so much as ratted out our family’s location. And they’d be left for dry or worse, dead.
It’s not unlike the contracts our employees have to sign.
My father was all about contracts, after all, being the shrewd businessman he was (and yes they’re signed by blood).
Misaki gives a theatrical sigh and places her teacup down on the table.
“Actually, sweetheart... I should have elaborated earlier. You see, my friends, your bridesmaids, all have fathers who work for us. The contracts are specially designed for members of our corporation. They don’t just hand them out all willy nilly. Lord Black is a very, very private man. The reason we had to take your phone away. We couldn’t risk you calling your friend in London. It could be dangerous for the both of you.”
“But I would never reveal the location of the estate. Ever. I promise.”
Crystal looks my way again, hopeful. I brush my hand through my hair, letting it fall over my face.
“I’m sorry, Crystal. It’s just better this way,” I say. “Besides, you wouldn’t want to put Babs in danger. She has a family. If you truly care about her, let her go.”
I just knew that sentence was going to come back and bite me in the arse. It’s like some creepy foreshadowing at play.
I see the anger bubbling up inside Crystal’s eyes, and I feel terrible to admit, but she has the most adorable angry face. Like a toddler when it doesn’t get its way. Her face turns all red, and a little vein pops on her forehead.
“Don’t you trust me, Eli?”
Her words cut me like a knife.
I open my mouth, but my words fumble. “I... erm...”
Wow, I am truly lost for words. I’m always the articulate, cold and analytical type.
But this was something new.
Was this what it felt like to be normal?
She rises to her feet, and now my eyes are level with her breasts. That stupid suit brings out their perky shape, and I tug on my tie, building up with sweat.
“Well?” she demands.
I stare up at her blankly, and she folds her arms, arching a brow.
I swallow. “Wh-what was the question again?”
What the fuck.
She pinches her lips, and her face turns even redder. “I would like to go to my room.”
“Milo hasn’t arrived—” Misaki starts.
The butler enters the room, looking startled as Crystal marches right up to him. “I would like to be taken to my room, please.”
Misaki and I watch her speechless. She’s already bossing around my father’s staff like she’s lived here for years. I don’t know whether to be affronted or impressed.
“At... at once, my lady,” Milo says. He glances at Misaki and me.
“We remember the way,” Misaki replies, waving him off.
He nods and leads Crystal up to her room.
We both stare after her, too shocked to speak.
“I never thought she had it in her,” Misaki says next, looking my way. “Your first fight. You must be so happy, Eli.”
I shoot her a vicious death glare, and her laugh dies in her throat.
My face won’t stop sweating, and I yank off my tie, using it to wipe my forehead. Then I toss it into the fire and watch it burn.
I hate ties. Too formal.
So I pull out my cravat and tie it around my neck, and it feels like a hug from an angel.
No surprise who that angel may be...
“I need a cigarette.” I take one out from my pocket, but then I spot my father’s cigar box.
I walk over, snap the clasp, and take my pick.
When I make my selection, I slice off the cap, create a small flame at the tip of my finger, then get to work.
First, I toast the foot, turning it evenly until the outer layers burn. Then I place the cigar between my lips, holding the flame closer, and draw. The cigar flares up, and then the smoke fills my mouth, and I lean my head back and relax.
It was actually Uncle Roger who taught me to light a cigar with my own flame. Not my father. Funny that Misaki’s own father was the only positive male role model in my life (probably why he preferred me).
Finally, I lounge in my father’s chair, blowing smoke leisurely from my lips. “This day couldn’t get any worse.”
“Careful now, Eli. It still could...” Misaki turns her head towards the door.
“It’s a figure of speech, dumb arse.”
“But still... you don’t know what’s around the corner.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about. So I ignore her and take another draw of my cigar, blowing smoke rings up at the ceiling. “Maybe bringing her here was a mistake.”
Misaki smirks. “Why don’t you say that a little bit louder?”
I raise a brow. “What are you blathering about?”
“Go on... say it again. How you regret bringing her here.”
Finally, I peer up, but I can’t see tit for tat with all the cigar smoke.
Well, if that’s what Misaki wants to hear. So be it.
“You’ve got me, Misaki,” I sigh, blowing smoke from my lips. “I regret the day I ever walked into that dirty little café and swindled that gullible girl. I regret the day I tracked down her scumbag father and found out that he sired a bastard, and then that bastard turned out to be her... But worst of all, I regret that she’s White’s fucking daughter, and I regret that I’m falling head over heels, crazy in love with her... There, you happy?”
The door opens and I nearly drop the cigar.
Crystal stands in the doorway, a look of horror on her innocent face.
Misaki stares at me with a mouth shaped like an ‘O’, and I curse the day she was ever born. If only I could burn her face off the painting with my cigar, but it cost hundreds of thousands.
I bet she never expected me to say so much. Just enough for Crystal to hear on the other side of the door.
But I only went and blurted out the whole plan with her father.
What an idiot.
16. Crystal
I feel the ground sink beneath my feet.
That voice... it sounds like Eli’s, but those words belong to someone else. Someone cruel and sinister, and I open the door.
I open to a room of hazy smoke and cover my nose, but it’s too late. It seeps through my nostrils and down my throat, and I let out a racking cough.
Tears drip from my eyes as I peer back up. Eli finally materialises through the smoke, a remorseful expression on his face.
He holds a cigar, and I start to back away, feeling my heart breaking piece by piece.
That’s not my Eli. That’s a stranger spouting cruel words like scumbag and bastard, and I grip my chest.
And White... I never missed that word...
He was talking about my father.
Eli puts the cigar inside an ashtray and rises to his feet, his frozen exterior cracking at last. “Crystal...”
Heavy gasps leave my lips and I stumble out the room, running down a random hall to escape that stranger.
My feet move of their own accord, their direction aimless as I speed through dark, shadowy corridors, then up a set of stairs.
I have no idea where I’m going, so long as I get as far away from that man as possible.
He’d tricked me; I’d been a fool to think he’d ever love a girl like me.
His other words echo through my mind, something about him saying he was in love with me, but they fade to black, forgotten in the painful aftermath of his betrayal.
Now his true colours shine through at last.
I need to get far away from here. There must be a way out of this awful mansion.
I trot down one long corridor, the sound of my ragged breaths bouncing off the walls.
My heart races when I see an open window and I rush forth, gazing over the grounds.
It’s not too far down below. At least fifteen feet. If I try to roll when I land, then I may make it.
So I climb up and place my legs over the window sill, count three Mississippi’s, then haul myself down. My arms shake as I hold onto the ledge, hoarse breaths escaping my lips.
It’s too late now, I’m stuck. Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t pull myself back up. My arms are too weak, shaking with the pressure of my body weight, and I grind my teeth.
My sweaty hands start to slip from the ledge, and then a weightless sensation takes over.
I’m falling.
Someone grabs the scruff of my jacket next, yanking me back up to the window, and I come face to face with Eli.
“What the fuck, Crystal?!” he snarls close to my face, and I wince, squirming.
He’s the last person I want to see.
“Get off me!”
Eli grips my jacket tighter, cutting off my airway, and now I’m forced to look into his furious grey eyes. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
I get a whiff of that awful cigar on his breath and push him away, my hands against his chest. “I said, get off!”
He growls then throws me down on my feet, and I stumble several steps, hitting the wall on the other side of the corridor. Then he slams the window shut with a bang, and whirls around, his eyes ablaze.
“Don’t. Ever. Do. Something. So. Reckless. Again.”
His voice is too deep, inhuman, and I definitely know I’m not imagining things anymore.
Was this what Olga had been warning me about?
There was something dark and evil about Eli. Of that much I was certain now.
I’m tempted to run, but Eli stands guard like a snake waiting to pounce on its prey.
I have nowhere to run.
So I take a deep, trembling breath and meet his blazing eyes, and they soften when the tears fall down my cheeks.
“Is... is it true? Everything you said?”
Eli falls silent, keeping those conflicted grey eyes on me. His face is hidden in shadow, but I know the expression all too well.
It’s a look of regret, and now I finally understand its meaning.
But nothing he could do or say can change what he did. He was a liar and a manipulator, and he deserved to feel all the misery the world has to offer.
“Well, answer me!”
My shouts echo through the hall.
He just continues to watch me, and I scream, running forward to slap him across the face.
His hand shoots up, catching my arm with ninja-like reflex, and I pull away, horrified.
“L-let go! Or I’ll call the police!”
“No one will come for you, Crystal...”
A cackle bursts from my lips, and it’s a crazed, frantic sound. Not my usual laugh at all. “You can’t keep me here forever.”
“No. Just long enough for me to threaten your father with your life.”
My whole body turns numb. “You’re... going to kill me?”
Eli doesn’t meet my gaze, and my heart pounds at the deadly expression on his face. He’s never looked so cold.
“No.”
My blood boils and I snarl, clenching my teeth. “Liar!”
I squirm in his grip, trying to pull free, but he’s too strong. Next, he yanks me away, dragging me through the halls like a naughty child, and I start to get desperate.
So I call out to the only person I can think of in that bleak moment. “Misaki! Help me!”
“She won’t help you. In fact, she’s the one who’s been helping me this whole time. She’s not your friend.”
I knew it, but it was still worth a shot. Was it wrong to still think I had one friend left in the world?
Wait, Babs! But I have no way of calling her. They took
my phone, and I squeeze my eyes, wishing I’d never left her house.
I should have stayed well enough away from Eli.
Eli continues to haul me through the house until we reach the third floor. He pulls me up to a set of wide black doors and throws me inside. I expect him to leave me and lock the door, but he sweeps in after me, going straight for the window.
He has his back to me, so I don’t see what he does with his hand, but I smell burned metal and stagger away.
He... he’s burning the window. With his hand...
My heart pounds next, and I stumble backwards. “W-what are you?”
Eli stands straight once again and gazes out the window. Rain patters the glass outside and I shiver, feeling the cold seeping into my veins.
Something sprouts from his forehead, twisting up like corkscrews, and I gasp, backing up to the door. My fingers fumble for the handle, but I only grasp air.
Finally, he turns, and his eyes glow bright crimson. A pair of black horns protrudes from his hairline, and I drop to my knees, crawling back to a corner of the room.
Eli stalks closer, and I whimper. “P-please... d-don’t hurt me!”
He freezes at the sound of my voice and I cover my eyes, hoping that this was just some horrible nightmare and I would wake in Bab’s house.
Cold air sweeps up beside me and I shudder. Next, he removes my hands from my eyes, holding them against my sides.
I pinch my eyes tight shut, trying to will myself to wake up.
“Open your eyes.” His voice resonates deep in his chest, a terrifying, animal-like sound.
He’s not even human anymore.
“Crystal...”
My whole body trembles, but being the stupid, naïve girl that I am, I open my eyes, and stare straight back at that monster.
He has Eli’s handsome jawline and nose, but I don’t see any hint of the man I loved. The lips are different, pushed up to accommodate a large set of teeth.
It looks as if I finally got to see him smile. Though it looks more like a snarl.
Now he’s just a beast. A thing to be feared.
A demon...
Those red irises watch me for a while, and I can’t look away.
They’re not just red. They’re pitch black too where the whites used to be, and I shiver, wishing I could see those storm cloud greys again.
