The Secrets of Darkling Manor

Sixteen: Alina Starkov

Sixteen

 She woke up in the middle of the night again. Aleksander wasn't there. It hadn't been that long since they'd been married but Alina had grown used to having him sleep next to her. She didn't like the idea that he wasn't there next to her. Even though she knew he was lying to her. Even though she had realized that she hadn't really know her husband at all. She needed to get to know him. Alina got up, grabbed her jacket, and she checked the time on her cell phone. It was midnight.

She went walking through the house, using her cell phone as a flashlight. "Aleks?" she called out as if he might appear out of thin air. "Aleks where are you?"

It was late, but she decided to give her cell phone a try. She took out her phone and scrolled through. Aleksander's number wasn't in there. She frowned. How was it she was married and she didn't have her husbands number in there with her? But Mal's number was.

She tried calling him.

"Alina?" he sounded wide awake. "Alina, is that you?"

"Mal!" she said. "Of course, it's me."

"Where the hell are you?" he demanded. "I haven't heard from you in days. You never called me when you started your new job."

Alina winced. "I'm sorry. There's been a lot that's happened."

"Like what?" Mal said.

She paused.

"Alina, is everything okay?" Mal asked. "Morozova's my cousin but we're not exactly close. Our parents never really interacted with each other outside of the holidays. It's okay if there's something wrong or you don't like him. You can tell me."

Alina hesitated. "There's nothing wrong um...."

"You're calling me at midnight," he said, "there must be something wrong."

"So.... there's something else that you need to know about your cousin."

There was a long pause. "Alina, what did he do?"

"We got married," she said.

"M-m-married?" he stammered. "What are you talking about, Alina? You can't have gotten married. You would have told me about it or had me there at least. We grew up together. We're family."

She sighed. "It all kind of happened really fast. I met him and I just....knew."

"Alina, you need to be careful around him."

"Why?"

There was a long pause. "He was married before, when he was in college. I don't know much of what happened. The girl was an employee's daughter. The groundskeeper family. They were married for a long time, and then a few years ago..."

"A few years ago what?"

"Luda was found out by the pond on the property. She wasn't even in the water; her body was completely put the police ruled that she had died by drowning. Up until then, Aleksander had been flat broke. Him and his partner Harshaw Safin had been having trouble getting start up money for their app business. Luda dies, and suddenly---"

"Aleksander is one of the richest men in England," Alina finished.

"Be careful," Mal said, "how did you even get together anyway? You told me that the interview went horrible, and that you hated him. And when he offered you that babysitting job you ranted about it being demeaning but you thought the pay was good."

"Babysitting job?" Alina asked.

"Yeah," he said, "don't you remember?"

Alina took a breath. "Well, that's the other thing. We were in a car accident when we were coming home. I hit my head on the dashboard. I've got a bit of a concussion. I don't really remember much before coming here or in between."

"Car accident?" he said. "And my stupid cousin didn't call me? I'm one of your oldest friends. I'm your roommate. I should have known."

"We're married," said Alina, "we've been a little caught up with each other."

"Alina," said Mal, "I don't think you should be alone with him. He's not exactly the most trust worthy of people. He's dangerous. Why don't you come back and live with me and I can get you a different job----"

Alina shook her head. "No, Mal. You were lucky. You got adopted from the orphanage we grew up in. You've got a nice family. You've got money. Before this, I didn't have any of that. Aleksander might have his secrets, but everyone does. This is the first place I've ever called home. I'm not losing that."

"Alina, you used to say that I was your home."

"I used to say a lot of things," said Alina, "and if you recall, you never responded to any of them."

"Alina..." he paused for far too long.

"Yeah, exactly," she said, "I found someone that wanted me and wasn't afraid to show it. Or maybe you were just afraid people would remember that you were an orphan too if I was around."

"Alina, it was never about that," he said.

"Sure, it wasn't," she said, "look, I just called to tell you I got married. I got to go."

She heard him shouting, "Alina, be careful," as she hung up the phone.

Alina figured that she wasn't going to find Aleksander by wandering around the giant house in the dark, so she went back to her room. To her surprise, she found Aleksander in there, getting dressed in his pajamas.

"Alina," he said, "I'm sorry. I got caught up with work and fell asleep in my office. What are you doing up and wandering?"

She sighed. "I couldn't sleep. I....I woke up without you next to me."

"Well, I'm here now." He put on his t-shirt. "Come back to bed, Alina."

She crawled into the bed again, and Aleksander wrapped his arms around her tightly. She should have asked him questions. Mal had confirmed everything for her. But she didn't care about Aleksander's past. She only cared about her and Aleksander's future.