Dark Layers Volume 2: Dark Layers (29 page)

"Sorry, what did you say?" I ask.

He smiles as he glides towards me, revealing all his gleaming white teeth. He takes my hands in his while peering down at me. Desire, fuck! The desire I feel for him is too much! I flush on cue.

"I asked, are you okay?" He whispers.

Returning his smile, I tip my head to the side and look up at him, taking mental inventory of his gorgeous blue eyes.

"I am, I think." I whisper. "Elijah, where is Cast?"

"Do not worry about him."

"Is that a joke?" I snap. My anger builds quickly at his not so bothered attitude. I snatch my hands back from him.

"He fucking kidnapped me! Where is he? I am calling the police." I try to find my bag. I search the bed and the bedside cabinets but it's not here. "Where is my bag?"

"It is downstairs. I found it in the road while I was looking for you."

I try to walk past him but he grabs my arm, "Anile, stop this, now." He warns.

I snatch my arm back from him. I tense my entire body.

"He fucking kidnapped me; I am not going to let this go! Neither should you! He is sick, sick! He should be locked up!"

He says nothing, he just gazes at me with sorry eyes.

"Truth, I'm calling a truth."

"Now?" He snaps wide-eyed. He flexes his hands out, they tremble terribly. Fuck he's pissed off.

"Now is a better time than any. Why won't you let me call him into the Police for what he did? Don't lie to me Elijah." I say pointing a stern finger almost in his face.

"He is my brother!" He shouts right in my face. His voice is harsh; his warm breath thrashes right into me.

I screw my mouth up. "I do not care! That's not a good enough reason. You should hate him as much as I do. All he does is try to fuck you over!" I shout back at him.

He starts pacing back and forth. "You are so fucking annoying Anile! He is my brother, and I almost shot him for you. Is that not enough?"

I look at him in confusion, "Elijah, this is not about us. He is crazy, he wanted to take me back to his house, he fucking kissed me in front of you, he grabbed my -" I cannot finish, the words are just too painful. I cup my face as my memory tortures me.

"I do remember Anile, I was there." He says cold. He stops pacing; he gazes down at me. Fuck he looks tired, his eyes are sort of sunken into his head.

"Why won't you teach him a lesson? What does he have over you Elijah? Don't lie to me!"

"I have never lied to you. Why do you keep saying that?" He frowns.

"Don't go off beat. Tell me why, please?"

"I have my own personal reasons. I don't want to discuss them Anile."

"That is not fare." I say in a croaking voice. "Whatever he has on you, is that why you are so dark? Please tell me."

"I will not tell you. I don't want to re-live it Anile - why are you doing this to me?" He looks pained. His eyes turn red and rimy. His mouth has a frown.  

I know whatever Cast has on him is the reason he is so dark, I just have to find out what it is.

"So what do you expect me to do about Cast?" I snap. I start thrashing my hands through my hair. I feel bad for Elijah, I feel bad for us. Will this craziness ever end?

"I expect you to let me deal with it. He will not come near you again."

"How can you be sure?"

"Do you trust me Anile?" He says quickly.

I test his words. I look up at him while mentally sorting my own shit out.

"Well, do you?"

"Yes!" I snap.

I *sigh*, annoyed and baffled by his change in direction - he was going to fucking kill him, but my going to the Police is in his opinion - not an option.

"Can I cuddle you?" He says tenderly.

"Elijah." I gasp.

"Please, please let me make things okay Princess - I need this."

I want to cry for him. I know what he's trying to do and I sort of understand his desperation.

"You don't have to ask Elijah." I say weakly.

I deflate. I walk towards him and hug him with everything I have. Hmmm, he smells so good like always. I inhale his spicy scent while closing my eyes. His cuddle is tender, strangely so. He pushes his head between my shoulder and cheek and breathes slowly.

"Are you okay Princess?" He whispers as he cups the back of my head.

I nod for confirmation that I'm okay - but I'm not.

In no time at all he pulls away from me.

"Stay put." He motions his index finger to keep me in place.

"Why?"

"Just stay put, I have something for you."

I stand still as he glides out of the room, pacing my foot, tapping away with my curiosity. After only a few seconds, he comes back into his bedroom with the most beautiful flower in his mouth. I mentally capture the flower in shock - mouth wide open.

"Oh, wow, what is tha... I have never seen..." I'm astonished beyond belief. He has a multi coloured rose in his mouth, just one single rose. The petals are bright yellow, electric blue, blood red, pretty pink, and white! Holy... it's stunning.

He leans his head towards me for me to remove the flower from his mouth. Once I take it, he flashes me an affectionate loving smile.

"It is a rainbow Rose, it is stunning and full of possibilities - like you."

"Elijah, you cannot change what is happening with beguiling gifts." Huffing to myself, I wonder, "how are you going to take care of things - Castor?"

"Just stop thinking about him. That is not for you to worry your pretty little head over." He stares down at his knotted fingers. "I never meant for all this to happen to you. Please just let me fix it."

His eyes are hooded, dark. His body looks unbelievably tense. His lips are in a firm line. Tears almost glaze my eyes at his desperation.

"Elijah..." I have no idea what to say. "I cannot believe you brought this for me - where did you find it?"

He smiles at my change in direction. "I had my new PA search the internet." He's referring to Hester. "Thankfully she arrived with it only ten minutes ago. I would have gone and got it myself but I did not want to leave you alone. I know how you love flowers Anile, and after today, well, I just wanted to try my very best to erase today from your memory."

Today floods my mind once more; the body, the cushion cover, the prospect of Elijah being a murderer, Cast... the list is endless.

"Elijah, we need to talk about that body." I mutter, lowering my head as I brush my fingers across the colourful soft petals. He stands silent for a few seconds and as I look up at him, he lowers his head - in shame I think.

"I know, I just do not know how I am going to convince you that it was not me. I know you had the same thought I did when you heard of the pillow case. I am not a murderer Anile, how can I prove it to you?"

"Elijah, you have a gun."

"I have it for protection."

"Protection from what, who?" I frown.

"There is so much you do not know, so much I want to keep you away from Anile."

Castor's words flood my mind, "do you mean the ritual thing Castor was talking about or what he has on you?"

He nods his head, "both, and so much more."

I motion my hand for him to stop, and it's not like he's going to tell me anything anyway.

"I do not want to know anymore, Elijah. I am fucking sick of this shit, I am sick of everything being a rollercoaster for us. It's as though something does not want us to be together!"

I turn away from him, trying my very best to measure up the situation mathematically. I suddenly miss my boring old life with Derek.

I peer around at him. He's standing motionless. His eyes are dark, darker than I have ever seen before. His breathing is ragged. His hands are flush against his legs, they seem as though they are made of steel.

I look around his room to busy myself from the growing tension and something grabs my attention. I wonder why he does not have one Greek God painting here. He has every single one at his office, but nothing here. Strange.

I decide to break the ice knowing I cannot take this silence.

"Elijah, why did you pair all the Greek God paintings in your office?"

He licks his lips and smiles - thank God. He's coming back to me mentally.

"When I saw you for the first time in the cafeteria, I saw myself, and knew I did not need to hide the other half of me anymore."

"Elijah, that is..." I stand, shocked, speechless, captivated by him, "that is beautiful," I frown, "did you really see yourself like that, like you were not whole?" I whisper in pain for him. I was not expecting him to say that.

"I do not want to talk about this Anile." He warns.

"If you do not open up to me, I'm leaving. I deserve to know who you are."

If I have to succumb to my weakness of him, he can accept that I need to know who he truly is.

"You just said you don't want to talk about all this shit anymore. God you're so frustrating Anile." He says, as soft as he possibly can but I hear anger in his voice.

"I meant the dead body and your brother." I say calmly.

He shakes his head. "You know me better than anyone Anile."

"Elijah, come on. I haven't known you that long at all - and before you give me your beautiful speech on how time does not matter, it does to me. I care for you, so much, and I want to know who you really are."

He looks annoyed, "have you not been paying attention? I am different with you. I am not a Bastard all the time, I have changed, somewhat, but only with you because I want to make us work. Why can't you just let me be, let me open up in my own time? Why are you forcing this?"

"I am forcing it because I care."

"Okay, tell me about you." He asks sarcastically.

I make a hasty retreat. I turn away from him and walk towards the bed.

"Elijah," I'm lost for words and wounded by how right he is - I never talk about myself.

"See, you will not talk about yourself. I hardly know anything about you Anile. Everything I do know, I have had to dig up because you are so reticent. But the difference between you and I is, I do not badger you for information, I hope you will tell me in your own time."

"What do you mean, 'dig up'?"

He throws his head back in an irksome manner, "please, do not start an argument on another subject, we have barely gotten over the last one!"

I stare at him dazed and agree for once. We will get nowhere if we keep going over all this. I have officially given up.

“Do you mind if I go have a shower please?”

He nods his head, “I will get you some clothes from my maid; I think you are around the same size.”

"Your maid?"

"Yes, she lives here. She is tiny like you, I think her clothes will fit you. Go have a shower, I will have everything sorted by the time you come out."

I smile at him in hope that we can somehow get past all this.

"Anile," he whispers, "do you believe me? Do you believe that I did not kill that person?"

I stare at him, trying to read his body language. I think he is telling the truth, I don't think he's lying. I feel his desperation in the air - he's desperate for me to trust him.

"I do believe you, Elijah." I whisper.

I breathe a huge *sigh* and walk past him but quickly stop to watch him leave the room. A sad feeling washes over me. I need to pull myself together, for us. If I don't, who will save us?

I MAKE MY WAY
to his bathroom to get cleaned up - I'm still in yesterdays clothes and I have dirty teeth and dirty hair. The handle to his en-suite door is beautiful - gold and in the shape of angel wings. It's bizarre; I have never seen a handle like this before. Once the door is open, I relish in the beauty of his en-suite and the smell of fresh strawberries. It's grey marble from floor to ceiling with hints of white blended into the soft stone. Soft white towels hang on the huge towel warmer to the left of me. There are frosted Juliette doors with no curtains; they flood the room with so much light. No bath again, which I find strange given his weirdly placed bath in that house of hell. His sink basin is white - his and hers. I smile fondly.

I make my way to the open glass shower. It's just out of this world. Big enough for ten people - easily; a bright white basin and a chrome square shower head fitted to the ceiling. I could get used to this.

I pull down the showers water leaver and the hot flow caresses my hand, almost scolding me. I move the nozzle to create some balance between hot and cold and welcome the beautiful rush of water that will soon clean me. I drop his crisp white shirt to the floor and step into the vast shower. The water is fresh and divine. I stand flush under the flow and relish in the refreshing sensation that cannot be beaten by anything other than a shower. I clean every inch of my body with his expensive shower gel. Once I'm satisfied that I'm clean enough, I step out of the shower and into the coldness. I quickly grab a towel to dry myself. Oh my bloody God! The towels have mine and Elijah's name on them. I cannot help but gawp while clutching at the cotton soft material.