Seraphine

twenty four

Seraphine

The bright screen stares up at Seraphine from her position on the couch. Loud rock music filters in and out of her ears, the lyrics lost upon her. She taps her foot to the beat and brushes her thumb across her bottom lip.

Seraphine,

I must request your presence today in my office, located in Willis 204. Feel free to show up anytime. I have some work for you to do.

Thank you,

Dr. Enzo Wern

Seraphine bites her thumb as she rereads the email. She can hear Dr. Wern's voice reading the words to her, can see his green eyes regarding her with sincerity.

Show up anytime? Does that mean...he'll be waiting in his office all day? For me?

She curses her heart when it skips a beat at that thought. She looks to the side, where Derek's head is resting against her thigh as he scrolls through his phone, uninterested in her.

After she woke him up this morning, he'd given her a dazzling smile and caressed her face gently, careful to avoid her injuries. He'd told her how much he loved her, how perfect she was for him. They sat on the couch together and watched The Notebook, one of Seraphine's favorites. She admired the love story, the dedication and adoration between the couple.

She'd leaned into Derek with the uninjured side of her face, and he'd wrapped his arm around her.

Chewing her lip, Seraphine brings her eyes back up to the screen and types out a reply. When she's done, she closes her laptop and rests back against the couch, her hand lifting to play with Derek's hair. He makes a sound of appreciation, and she smiles.

~~~

Enzo

The four of them crowd around Enzo's tiny desk in his cramped office. He would never understand why the Philosophy department was the least funded out of all the departments offered by the school--he adored philosophy, so much so that he was the Department Chair. One of his projects this year was getting more funding for the department so he could organize a study abroad program for students.

A ping draws Enzo's attention back to his laptop, and his eyes slide across the screen to the email that just arrived in his inbox. He holds his breath as he sees Seraphine's name and ID.

He clicks on it, and the four of them lean closer to the laptop.

Dr. Wern,

I apologize but I am unable to come to your office today. I will be in Dr. Reeves' class on Monday, I'm sure he will give me the work I need.

Seraphine Thatch

Luca breathes out slowly, the calming motion betraying his anger. Enzo knows he's counting in his head.

Nico's fingers tighten on the edge of the desk, his olive knuckles staining white.

Damien is the only vocal one: "Can we go to her apartment?"

When no one answers, the three younger men look to Luca, who breathes out once more. "I'm debating it."

Nico scoffs. "We can't just go to their apartment, Luca. We don't even know--"

"Suite 206, First Street Apartments, First Street. Ten minute walk." Enzo swivels in his chair, revealing Seraphine Thatch's student information page. Nico's jaw ticks.

"We still can't just show up. Do you know how pissed she would be?"

Damien laughs humorlessly. "She should have thought about that before she ran away from us."

Nico pushes off of the desk with a huff, shaking his head. Enzo stands and grabs his jacket, slipping it on over his shoulders. Damien fiddles with the cuffs of his shirt, and Luca tugs on the collar of his button-up.

"So, are we doing this?" Enzo asks, green eyes flashing to his partners, lingering on Luca for approval.

It takes a few seconds for him to answer, and Enzo sighs, sitting back down in his seat. "We're not doing this."

"No." Luca shakes his head, and Enzo drops his head on his desk. "We can't invade her privacy; we have to let her come to us."

"At least she said she'll be in your class on Monday," Nico offers, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't know if I can wait that long," Luca admits, his face twisting in pain ever so slightly. Damien chuckles, patting Luca's shoulder.

"You're an enigma, brother. One second you're telling us we can't have her, the next you're carrying her out of the club and keeping her hostage in your arms. Now, you're saying we can't go rescue her, but you might break before Monday?" Luca glares at Damien and shrugs his hand off.

"I'm...trying to be logical, but she makes it hard. This whole situation is just--"

"Fucked." Enzo offers, and Luca nods, tugging at his hair. It's not gelled down like usual, only showing how distressed he is.

"I still don't understand why she doesn't just leave him," Nico grinds out, pressing his knuckles to his lips and looking to Luca for an explanation. The other psychology professor sighs.

"Relationships like this are tough. They're...the dynamic is complicated. One of them has complete control over the other, and the other might not even know. We know Seraphine is being manipulated by him, and some part of her knows it too. But there's a larger part, a much more significant part, that is holding onto some old version of them, one where he loves her and would never lay a hand on her, wouldn't dream of emotionally trapping her. She's grasping at straws, and they're thinning out the more she disobeys him and he gets angry."

"So, what, we just wait for him to kill her? Then what?" Damien's voice is low, hoarse. Enzo sucks in a breath at the image of Derek's hand wrapped around a limp Seraphine's throat.

"Nobody's killing anybody."

"Not yet," Nico chimes in, and Luca glares at him.

"No, we're not killing Derek. As much as he hurts her, it would break Seraphine. I have a hunch she's been kept on a tight leash for a long time--she wouldn't have any friends, probably doesn't talk to any family..." as Luca goes on, he grunts and tugs at his hair some more. Enzo shakes his head, rubbing his eyes.

"She has one friend--another student of mine, Liliana Howard." Nico offers, and Luca swings his steel gaze to him.

"That's...good and bad," he muses.

"What does that mean?" Enzo asks, thinking that a friend could only be good.

"Well, if Derek's cut off all of her communication with family and friends from the past, he probably hasn't let her make any new friends. Befriending Liliana is extremely risky for Seraphine." Enzo lets out a breath--he didn't know one man could be this controlling, this monstrous.

"At least we know a part of her is fighting against him." He says, tapping his chin. Enzo mulls over his thoughts, recalling last night's events. "If she was completely under his control, she would've fought more when you took her out of the club." He turns to Luca, who snorts.

"Oh, she fought alright. And you forget, she ran back to him."

"Yes, but not right away. She stayed with us until we gave her an opportunity." Luca's gaze hardens, and he lets it drop from Enzo's face to the ground.

"We had her, and we let her slip right out of our hands, right back to that monster. I just..." he shakes his head.

"I just hope we're not too late."