Where The Shadow Ends

Chapter Eighteen - Exile

Chapter Eighteen - Exile

*1949*

Elayne woke a few hours later, covered in sweat. Her hair was sticking to her face and neck. She slowly sat up, eyes searching for Tom.

She whimpered when she didn't see him anywhere in the room. She wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing her eyes shut.

"You're awake." Tom said softly as he entered the room.

"You were supposed to stay with me!" Elayne cried, her eyes opening.

Sighing, Tom walked over and sat down in front of her. "I had things to take care of. I'm sorry I wasn't able to stay with you."

"It's always something." Elayne whispered, shaking her head.

Inky black eyes narrowed in on the red head. "You think I don't pay you enough attention?"

"I never said that!" Elayne huffed, angrily running a hand through her hair.

Tom stood from the bed, crossing his arms. "But you're insinuating."

Turning away from Tom, Elayne said, "Just go back to whatever it was you were doing. I guess I don't need you hanging around anyway." She moved to stand up but was stopped by one of Tom's hands.

"Sit down and stop being so ridiculous, Elayne." He hissed.

"Or what? You'll use one of the unforgivable curses on me?" Elayne shouted at her husband. "Go ahead, Tom! Do it! You are the one in control here, right? Wouldn't want your followers to think you can't even control your wife?"

The silence that followed was almost unbearable.

Elayne drew in a shaky breath. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean..." She shook her head.

Sneering at his wife, Tom held up a hand. "Enough. If you think so little of me, that I would use such a curse on my own wife, then you can just stay up here for the rest of the night." Tom turned and stormed out the bedroom door, slamming it shut. The door then disappeared, leaving Elayne to sigh.

Quickly, Elayne stood up and walked to the fireplace. She figured it would be a long shot for Tom to have left the floo network open in their fireplace, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Grabbing a small handful of floo powder, Elayne threw it into the fireplace and watched as the flames burst to life and turned an emerald green.

"Yes!" Elayne cheered quietly. With a glance over her shoulder, she stepped into the flames. "St. Mungos. Fifth floor."

In the blink of an eye, Elayne was stepping out of the fireplace and into a tearoom. There were tables lined up all around the room, some of them occupied by witches and wizards dressed in various forms of St. Mungos uniforms.

Swallowing, Elayne walked over to a table and sat down. She glanced around, hoping to see Olivia. It was around four in the afternoon, and she knew Olivia was about to be done with her shift for today. Elayne also knew that Olivia came up to the tearoom to have a bit of a break before heading home.

After several minutes of looking around at the room, Olivia walked in.

Smiling, Elayne stood up. "Livy!" She waved at her friend once their eyes met.

Olivia walked over with a smile. "Elayne! What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you of course!"

Elayne gestured towards a chair, inviting Olivia to sit. Once they were both sat down, Elayne spoke up. "I needed to leave for a bit. Tom and I had a bit of a tiff."