An Eye For An Eye

Chapter 2

I open the car door for Nyx as we approach this 2 story mansion, lit up beautifully with golden lights. She wraps her arm around me and holds her purse to her side. We enter with the crowd of sophisticated couples and families. They all have their own unique businesses, careers, standings, salaries, connections to every major company imaginable, everything you can imagine at the tip of their fingers. A waiter comes over and hands both of us full wine glasses. "What are they trying to do? Make us overdose? This could override anyone's liquor holding skills, man. I'm gonna need a drink after this." She exclaims. I chuckle. "Look, there's the Hendrix family. Their son is one of the two I invited, so behave yourself." I jokingly demand towards her. She glares at me, but proceeds to follow me over to them. "Ah, Elijah Sterling and the beautiful lady, Nyxie Hills. What a pleasure to see you both." Mrs. Hendrix greets us both with welcoming grace and formality. Her son, Archer Hendrix, walks up behind her. My sister locked eyes with him. He reaches his hand out for hers, "May I ask you for this dance?" He offers it to her. They both walk off together in happy spirit. I down my drink and shake hands with Mr. Hendrix. "So how's the business?" I ask. "Well, Mr. Sterling, it's rough, but we're making exquisite money off of the profits." He explains. I nod and glance my eyes around the room to find my sister in Archer's arms, drinking with him in the corner. Nobody is paying them any mind, except for a few of the younger children hiding behind the pillars surrounding the room. I don't mind them and meet eyes with one of the ladies from the Prescott family, who owns a franchise of hotels and restaurants across Europe. "Hi there, Elijah. Delighted as always." She says, clearly drunk. It sounds like she might benefit from an overdose of Ibuprofen any minute now. "I'll see you later, Ms. Prescott. I have to attend to my sister." I wish her goodbye and kiss her hand. I rush to the corner of the room and grab my sister's wrist, mid-kiss with Archer. He was so close to getting into her pants that it angered me more than I can believe. "Get your fucking hands off my sister, dude. We talked about this." I exclaim. He glares at me and pulls her back into his arm to pin her against his chest "Guys, let's not fucking do this in public, right in the middle of the public eye. Nyxie, we can't afford one more rumor about us." I demand. He continues to do as he wishes, but she seems emotionless and frozen in time. I push him off of her. "Nyxie, wake up!" I shake her body. She seems motionless. She finally regains consciousness. I cover her mouth to muffle her small screams. "Relax, Nyxie." I calm her down. Archer just stands there, confused. He's apologizing at every chance he can. He knows he won't be able to go near her unsupervised. I finally get her outside in the midnight garden, centering around a beautiful waterfall fountain in the middle of the room. "So what's wrong now? I do this shit all the time. Now you're all up my ass about it? You've been like this ever since Mom passed." She screams in my face. My hands grow into fists at my sides. "You don't know that, Nyxie. I'm trying to fucking protect you. You deny it every time. The one time I'm not there, you're going to end up dead in the bottom of a damn river. I had to change my last name, so I wouldn't be recognized outside of my own home, just to be immediately connected to Mom's murder and Dad's suicide." I argue. Her eyes now radiate this sense of watering pain. She walks around the waterfall fountain and sits on the ledge. I sit down with her, glancing into the crystal clear water. There's a beautiful coy fish, circling around the fountain centerpiece. "You know, I never learned anything from Mom as the younger sister. You had 2 more years with her than I did. It would have been nice to know who she was and what she stood for." She explains. I sigh. Archer walks in from the outside garden that's connected to the midnight garden. "Why the hell were you outside?" I ask. "Just gardening... Anyways, Nyxia I-" He gets interrupted. "It's Nyxie, thank you." She corrects him. "Nyxie, I owe you an apology, and specifically your brother too. I got carried away with myself, please forgive me." He begs. I whisper "Pathetic" under my breath. He leaves the room in a panic when his mother calls for him. "Let's get out of here. We're staying at my house tonight, Nyxie." I demand and stand up. "But why? Why can't I stay in my own apartment?  I'm 24 years old, god-damn it Elijah!" She breaks into tears. "Come on, we'll talk about this later." I convince her, and she walks away in front of me. I follow her out to the car and open the door for her to get in. She pushes my hand off the door, gets in, and slams it close by herself. This is fucking insane, even though I think this is the first time I'm going to admit I'm the one in the wrong here. I walk around and start to drive us home. About half the way into the drive, I look over at Nyxie asleep in the passenger's seat. Shoes were thrown onto the floorboards, gloves were thrown along with them. She's curled up like a baby, facing the window. The radio is silent. It's darker than midnight out here and no one's driving. I pressed on the gas all the way down on Highway 9 towards George Washington Bridge. My hands tightened on the wheel. I started to hyperventilate. I start breaking out in cold sweats. The car starts to get really hot. I pull over and get out of the car. I walk over to the steel railing of the bridge, looking over the Hudson River. The new moon reflects on the river. My breathing continues to not steady. My ex-girlfriend is on my mind. I can see her hot breath on my neck. I can feel her fingertips grazing my skin, but she's not there. I can envision her hands all over him in her bed, cheating on me, and moaning his name in her luscious voice. My hands grip the railing until my knuckles turn into a snowish white, cutting off circulation to the rest of my hand. I take off my suit jacket, leaving me in my white collared dress shirt and black tie, strangling my neck. I finally catch my breath. The lights of New Jersey and New York were clashing. New Jersey reminds me of my childhood, dark and abusive. My dad beat me in the head with a glass bottle until it broke. That ended in bad stitches and a mental realization that my dad was a fucking piece of shit. New York gives me a new sense of reality. It feels like I can and will do anything that I've ever wished for. I grab my suit jacket and sit in the driver's seat, hearing the sound of Nyxie snoring her night away. I start the car with a twist of the keys that startled Nyxie, waking her. She looks at me, staring into my eyes. "What were you doing, Elijah?" She asks, concerned. "Nothing, Nyx. Let's go back to Inwood." I suggest. She nods and falls asleep. By the time we reach our house, she's asleep again. I drive up the 20 minute long driveway to the Sterling Mansion. The long driveway is decorated with golden garden lights. Red roses are cascading along the path up to the dwelling I can call home. The house is full of dark coloring, but lit from the inside. The pillars holding up the roof of the garage are wrapped with twirling vines of jasmine flowers. I planted them myself in honor of our murdered mother, Amelia Hills. My sister is still upset over her passing, but I honestly have forgotten mostly everything. I tend to forget things that have trauma involving me. My hands, laced with silver rings, turn cold as I pull into the garage and make sure to close the garage from the car itself. I feel a dark presence and shake it out of my head. I have to be drunk. "Nyx, wake up." I shake her hand to wake her. She awakens and looks at me. She rubs her face in her hands and looks annoyed as her makeup smudges in the creases of her palms. She grabs her shoes and throws them at me. "Are you fucking kidding me? Just because I woke you?" I exclaim. She nods with that petty smirk on her face that she inherited from our mother. Her and I exit the car to go outside. We walk straight into the living room and find our aunt on the couch, sipping on a glass of red wine. All dressed up, even though it's as if she's been here for hours. "Mrs. Wilson." I greet her. "Ah, Mr. Hills and Ms. Hills, thank you for finally joining me. I've been waiting years to come back. I couldn't bare to be here after your mother's death. After I heard about your father's unfortunate passing. He was a good man, terrible with money." She explains. "Also, incredible in bed." She whispers under her breath. "Mrs. Wilson. You're in my household. I hope you mean to act like it. You may have had an affair with my dad while he was married to my mother before her death, but that doesn't mean that you get to act like I have no power as the firstborn son in the Sterling household. Also, it's Mr. Sterling, for the fucking record." I return. I forgot how fucking annoying my aunt is. She may not been related to my mother by blood, but it doesn't mean she gets to act innocent in the affair. "I'm going to bed, you all are making my head hurt." Nyxie mumbles. I nod. "Goodnight, Ms. Hills." Mrs. Wilson farewells. "So what do you want now? A check? A life? A thirteenth husband? Perhaps nutrients from food for those bones that crack the second you spread them because you've opened them to prostitutes who live on the streets next to gay strip club bars?" I spiral in anger. I walk and sit on the couch across from her. The fireplace is to my left and her right, against the wall 25 feet away. The wood needs to be turned over, but if I take my eyes off of her, she'll try something in another place inside of my own home. "Mr. Sterling, don't be so hasty now. I've come in peace. I just need a bit of money and I'll be out of your hair." She proposes. "You disrespected me and my family in my own home. Since my mother's passing, you have had no place in our family for quite some time. How and why would I ever give you any money for the forever pain and mourning you have caused me? You cost me my entire fucking childhood and pried me of my own father for years. He fucking killed himself because of you. It was even said in his death note he left for me when I was fucking fourteen years old. Who would do that to a happy family? How could you ruin your own sister's happiness, only for your sexual needs because you couldn't get laid in a prostitute's strip club?" I shout. "It's either that or you hand over the estate in Venice, Italy. I know your father passed all the vacation homes down to you as a birthright when he died. You can at least spare one of the 195 estates, Elijah." She complains. "Get the fuck out of my house, Ashley. You have no right to be here. I'll send your husband the money and he'll take care of it for you." I demand. She storms out of my house. The second I hear her car start and leave the front of the house near the water fountain, I finally get up and grab a drink from the kitchen. Why is it always me who has to deal with this family shit? Of course, I just had to be the heir to the name of Sterling. Jesus Christ. I drink bottles of beer until I can barely comprehend my surroundings. I look at the clock. It's already 4 in the morning. I walk up towards the front of the house and take steps up the stairs until my eyes go completely black and my legs quit out on me.