CLAIMED // 18+

Chapter Twenty-Three - Sebastian

I haven't been able to spend much time with Elaine lately, and it's killing me inside. Outside too, honestly. 

Not being able to handle it anymore, I toss aside my piles of work and ring up Elaine's phone. I tap my fingers against the table, hearing the dial tone. She doesn't seem to pick up. I call her again, and again, but alas-- no answer.

I shouldn't be becoming this impatient. Maybe she just went out with Paulina? Or, she went out for shopping or such? But, I can't help it. My body is practically itching to just drive back to the manor and see my wife in person. I only got to see a glimpse of her last night before dozing off to bed.

I'm going to become a father very soon, and not being able to spend time with Elaine and take care of her while our babies are on the way is wrecking me. I didn't imagine this would be so hard, but this time of the year for the family business is rendering a lot more hectic. I just want to be a husband and a dad-- is that too much to ask for?

"I can't do this," I grab my blazer and call up Leon to handle the work and clear my schedule. I head down to the parking lot and drive my car immediately back home.

I keep calling Elaine, but she just doesn't seem to pick up any of the calls. My heart's racing under my chest, throwing me almost into a panic. I'm sure she's fine and maybe she just doesn't have her phone with her right now-- but I can't feel at peace, at all.

"Goddamn it, Elaine..." I mumble, yet another call being directed to voicemail.

As soon as I reach the manor, I rush out of the car and into the house. Seeing me enter, Blanche runs over to me, her expression clouded with concern.

"Is Elaine home?" I ask Blanche, but she nods negatively.

She tells me "ma'am told me she went out for a walk, and would be home in half an hour. I asked if I should get a car, but she refused and went out on her own. It's been three hours, sir. I'm incredibly sorry, I should've told you."

"It's okay," I swallow "you can get back to work."

As Blanche turns away, I run upstairs. I constantly keep calling Elaine, but she just wouldn't pick up. Where the hell could she be? It's not like her to just leave on her own for so long and not pick up any of my calls.

I finally decide to call Paulina, praying internally that they're together.

"Paulina? This is Sebastian." I say as Paulina picks up the call.

She responds "Hey, Sebastian. How are you guys?"

"Is Elaine with you right now?"

"No, she's not." she tells me "wait, is everything okay?"

"I don't know," I gulp my throat "she hasn't been picking up any of my calls, and apparently has been out for three hours on her own."

"Oh my god..." Paulina says.

I immediately tell her "do you know where she might've gone to?"

It takes a second for Paulina to reply, as she then says "I'll be over in a couple minutes. There's something you need to know, Sebastian."

"What?" I ask, but Paulina hangs up.

I think I might be losing my mind right now.

Pacing the entire corridor, I then notice that the door to my study is slightly open, with the light still on inside. My study has been mostly unoccupied these days, since I've been barely home. The door to it is usually always closed, too.

I quickly run over to my study, and open the door. Nothing seems out of place, but someone must have been here some time ago. Looking around the room, I pause when my eyes fall on the bottom left drawer of my desk. I see that the drawer is half open. There's absolutely no way that a thief had been here.

I rush over and open the drawer, to see the blue box inside also slightly opened. The thoughts in my head right now are thoughts I wish I wasn't thinking of. I hate to feel like this, at the sight of this particular box.

My trembling hands take out the box from the drawer. I open it carefully, and taking a deep breath, all my worst thoughts combine into one.

The revolver's gone. The very same revolver that belonged to my dad.

The very same revolver... that my mother had stolen from my dad's desk when she fled with her lover.

It was a story my dad told me when I was way too young to even understand half the things. My mother found herself another man, and betrayed my father, taking his revolver so she could defend herself in case anything went wrong.

And then, to her biggest fear, everything did go wrong for her. Father located her in a hotel, and she woke up to find her lover's blood all over the place, his corpse completely cold on the floor as he got stabbed fatally in his chest with a knife.

She also realized that the revolver she'd stolen, was gone. Father took it back from her, and left after getting his hands dirty as he killed his wife's lover.

Father asked me, an 8 year old, on how he found her. Naturally, I could not answer because I had absolutely no idea. My father then told me about the specialty of his revolver-- a detail that mother wasn't aware of. 

"There's a tracking device attached to this revolver, which means that I could spot her even if she went to the other side of the world. As long as she had this with her, I could find her anywhere. And that... is something Teresa failed to assume."

He gave me the gun, even though I was only eight years old. He told me that I would need it someday, although he hoped not.

And I... told the entire story to Elaine a few months back, when we had just gotten married.

"Fuck..." I mutter to myself, pursing my lips and trying to understand the current situation.

However, I notice one thing that's different from what my father told me about mother.

She did not know about the specialty of the revolver. However, Elaine knows.

I immediately grab my phone and call Leon.

"Leon, come to the manor right now!"

Elaine is in trouble, and that's one thing for sure. But, why? Did someone take her away? Someone I know?

No, this all seems like it was planned to me. If Elaine knew she would be in trouble, why didn't she just tell me? Why would she go on her own?!

I pause when Paulina suddenly appears at the doorway "Sebastian! Elaine must be in deep trouble right now."

"I know," I gulp my throat "but first, we have to find out about her location. Paulina, did she tell you anything about this? About someone, maybe threatening her or blackmailing her?"

Paulina exhales, and then in a serious tone, she tells me "there's something that you should know, Sebastian. She told me to keep it a secret from you, but I can't do that anymore."

[To be continued]