An Eye For An Eye

Chapter 3

My eyes flutter open. It feels like an entire lifetime has passed. The sunlight shines into my eyes, blinding me through the luscious trees of Sterling Mansion. The morning dew rests on the tall windows next to the front door. I hear footsteps of heels, clicking on the floor behind me. "Well, good morning Elijah. I see how last night treated you." She greets me in an awfully annoyed tone. Her medium sleeved black and red floral dress falls just below her knees. Her neck is adorned with a gold necklace with red accents. The earrings she wears are diamond studs set in gold. The middle and ring fingers of her left hand are wrapped in gold rings. One has her birthstone embraced into the gold band. The other is the Hills family ring. I look at her, confused. "Why are you upset with me now? You've been acting weird ever since earlier yesterday morning." I questioned. Her facial expression drops into a solemn smile. She shakes her head and offers me a hand up. I slapped her hand away. I stand up on my own, barely able to stop shaking, collapsing to the marble handrail. "I received a call this morning, Elijah. Is there a reason you did not tell me a few months ago that you forced me into an arranged marriage? I haven't even met this man. His mother called me in a panic, wondering when the hell I'll be arriving at my dress fitting today." She shrieks. Her hand lays on the marble railing, her nails making that awful screech sound, as if she's dragging her nails across a chalkboard quite literally. "I'm going to bed. I'm not dealing with this yet, it's like 1 in the morning." I guess. "It's actually 9:52 in the morning, Elijah. You have to get rid of this damn alcohol problem." She yells. I fortunately don't have an alcoholic problem, but when I get my first sip of wine or whiskey, I'm out dancing like a prostitute during Mardi Gras and I can't stop drinking. Okay, maybe I do have an alcohol problem, but I don't necessarily mean it. It helps me feel better when the world is dark and quiet. It gives the world a unique shine. The streetlights brighten into this soft golden color. The streets reflect the golden lighting because of the misty rain of Inwood. The dewdrops lay on the leaves of my family's two hundred year old red maple tree that sits in the backyard, growing more and more over the years. My backyard is bigger than the house itself. The tree sits in the center back, being neighbored by moth orchids and navy blue chrysanthemums. My mother grew them both back here in honor of me and my sister's presence for us to remember when we were adults. Truth be told that I still have gardeners come out here and take care of the flowers. I get upset when summer starts to arrive. It gets too warm for the chrysanthemums and they start to wither away like my heart when I see the petals fall to a decay. The first frosts always make the moth orchids die. Once Nyxie is done giving me plenty of lectures that I'll certainly forget in half an hour, I walk down to the back of the house and towards the bench that sits in front of the tree. The fall weather is starting to blow in for the season. The breeze settles on my face, followed by a shiver up my back. When I was little, my mother decided to make me bury her wedding ring in leaves and buried it inside of the tree trunk. I wear my dad's wedding ring as a symbol that what my parents had still existed, regardless if they ever had fought or wanted to quit at the end of the day. They still kept going to raise me and Nyx until our mother was murdered in the unforgiving river by a truly cruel, brutal person. The unfortunate part about me is that I wouldn't even wish death upon them, but I truly hope that they burn in hell after what they did to a successful, beautiful, young lady with a picture perfect family. "Elijah!" My sister yells. I look at her with a curious, soft look. "There's someone here for you." She states. I stand up and undo my tie, only to play with it for a very long two minutes before a figure in an all black suit, brown hair slick back, and his bloodshot red, brown eyes meet mine. "Fashionably late as usual, Nicholas."