The Secrets of Darkling Manor

Eleven: Aleksander Morozova

Eleven

"Aleksander!" he froze at the sound of Alina calling him again. He was in Genya's room, trying to clean up the mess of the blood on the wall before she could see it.

"What happened?" Alina asked. She was standing in the doorway, looking from the wall to him with a sponge in his hand.

He dropped it. "The blood came from the birds that Genya killed. She wrote some weird message about it."

Alina shook her head. "Aleks, I don't know that the birds were entirely Genya's fault. At least not in the way that you're thinking. I don't.....I don't think she killed him."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I went out to the pond, to go sketch like you suggested. There was an old grave out by one of the trees that I stumbled upon, and I found something next to it. I think you should come see it with me."

"Alina, what is it? Just tell me," he said.

She took a deep breath. "Aleks, please just come with me."

He sighed. "Alright, alright." She grabbed hold of his hand and dragged him through the house, not stopping until they reached the pond. Alina holding his hand was the only thing that he could focus on. He couldn't remember the last time that he had held someone's hand. "What is it?"

She pointed to something in the leaves. It was black and gold, and Aleksander already knew what it was. It was a dead darkling. He frowned. "What in the hell?"

"That was my reaction exactly," said Alina, "do you think it could be something in the water, maybe?"

Aleksander glanced at the pond. "It doesn't matter."

"Didn't you say they were endangered, or something? Shouldn't we tell someone about it?"

Aleksander shook his head. "They'd just dry the pond and run tests."

"But what if something happened to the water? What if Genya fell into it and something happened to her?"

"I'll make sure she doesn't come out here," he said, "and you shouldn't either. Hell, I'll fill the pond up with cement. It will make everything fine!"

"You can't fill the pond up with cement!"

"It's my damn mansion, isn't it?" he snapped at her. "I want to keep my wife and my ward safe then I will fill up any pond that I so choose."

"The ducks," Alina said.

He stared at her. "Ducks?"

Alina nodded. "There's a family of ducks that live in the pond. It's their home. You can't fill up the pond because they live there."

He heaved a sigh. "You're going to torment me about this until I do it, aren't you?"

She nodded. "I know it's weird, but it would be better if we just had the water tested. Think of the ducks."

"It could be a fluke thing," he said, "look, we'll wait and see if there is more of them. Then, if we find more dead darklings, I'll contact someone about the water."

"Alright," she said, "because we don't want the ducks harmed, either."

"Right." He took a breath. "You're impossible, you know that?"

She smiled. "You wouldn't have me any other way."

"This does make me feel better though. That means Genya wasn't lying when she said she didn't kill the birds, she just found them and decided to make a creepy decoration for us."

"Is she alright?" Alina asked. "You weren't too hard on her, were you?"

He ran his hands through his hair. "I was a little harsh. But she's been doing strange things ever since her parents died. I don't know how to handle it, really."

"Perhaps a psychologist," Alina suggested, "someone she could talk to."

"Perhaps your right," he said, "you don't think she's too young for it?"

"I don't think you're ever too young to start learning how to process your feelings. And I'll start lessons with her soon. It will give her some structure. Is this why you haven't placed her in school yet?"

He nodded. "I didn't want to push her into anything until she was ready."

"Well, that's good," Alina said, "but don't be too harsh on her.... losing your parents isn't anything easy to get over."

He glanced at her. "How long did it take you?"

Alina sighed. "I didn't really know mine. I was three when they died. Car wreck, of all things."

He furrowed his brows together. "Really?"

"Really," she said, "and we didn't have any living relatives, so I wound up at the orphanage. I was there until I was eighteen. Then I went to college and well...now I'm here. With you."

"So you are," he cupped her face in his hands, "and here you shall always be."

She smiled. "And here I will always be." Alina stood on tip toe and kissed him. "Do you know that Darkling Manor is my first, real home? I mean, there was the apartment with Mal, but.... that's not the same thing as a home. It was a place to live."

He smiled down at her. "I was thinking just the same thing today. When I lived here with my parents, we didn't really have the money for renovations. But money's not a problem now. I thought that maybe we could renovate it, together. Make it less of a haunted house. If you would like?"

"That would be wonderful!" she said.

He hugged her tightly, wrapping his arms around her. "Good. Then we'll do it together. We'll make it a home."

"I like the sound of that very much."

"You know what I like the sound of?" he said.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Fucking you in our bed because I got us new sheets."

She blushed. "Oh, I like the sound of that too."

"Come on. Let's go back to the house...our house."

"Yes," said Alina, lacing her hands through his, "let's go back to our house."