Wicked Games

34 - Eliana

Chapter Thirty-Four | Eliana

My steps are slow as I approach the man tied up, thrashing about, his eyes wide. I'm in disbelief at what I'm seeing right now. Why the fuck has my mother got my father beaten and tied up like this?!

"What is this?" I question my mother calmly, keeping my eye on the man in front of me.

"You see, baby girl, there are a lot of people in this world who cannot be trusted. You think you know them, but deep down they're fucking devils in disguise. Just like this man in front of you." She snarls, and I look at her over my shoulder to see her glaring at him.

"I don't understand." A nervous laugh leaves my mouth and for the first time in a long time, I feel a sense of anxiety. Standing here, it feels like when I was younger, I was unsure of what was going on around me. I don't like being confused. I like to know what is going on around me, and what people's intentions are, and be able to deal with it accordingly.

I can't do that now and I really don't like it.

"This man, Eliana, your so-called father is the reason you ended up in that orphanage." All my breath escapes my mouth and I stumble back slightly. "I found out last night. He knew you were arriving, and I caught him trying to destroy documents with proof. Isn't that right, my love?" She smiles sickly at him, picking up a knife and I watch in horror as she begins to carve his skin.

"Mum, stop!" I whisper but she doesn't hear me. "Stop!" I cry out and thankfully she listens.

"Don't be weak now, Eliana. I know how many fuckers you've killed in your lifetime, my sweet daughter. This is nothing compared to the shit you've done." She points the knife in my direction, and I flinch. I fucking flinch.

"Take the tape off his mouth, I want to hear what he has to say," I order, and her brow raises. "Do it."

She sighs like it's a huge inconvenience for her and rips the tape aggressively from his mouth.

"Eliana, do no listen to her. I swear I did nothing!" He cries out and my mother leaves him no more room for him to speak and slaps the tape back on his mouth.

"Don't lie to our daughter now, Jerry. I caught you, trying to destroy evidence with my own eyes. Manipulation is not the way to go about this. Own up!" She shouts and I look between the both of them, a bad feeling fluttering in my belly.

I take a step back. My mother catches onto my reluctance and her face softens.

"I'm sorry." She whispers gently, making her way over to me and cups my face in her warm hands, her thumb brushing under my cheeks. "I'm sorry." She repeats.

Her eyes are warm and motherly, and the child in me is crying out to her, but the adult me is trying to protect her from any more heartbreak.

"You're lying," I whisper. Her face falls and her hands drop from my face. "You're lying to me!" I shove her back, taking her off guard and she falls.

I rush toward my father and take the tape off and he inhales deeply. "I love you, Eliana. You can't trust her, baby girl. Do not trust her pl—" A bullet flies past my head and goes straight through his head. I shriek and stumble back, covering my mouth with shaky hands.

"Lies, lies, lies. All men do, is lie!" Evelyn throws her hands up, one hand holding the gun she just killed my father with.

"You didn't even give him a chance to speak properly!" I hiss at her, and she shrugs a shoulder, not an ounce of sympathy on her face.

"That man, he sold you, Eliana. He hurt you all those years ago by giving you to that awful fucking man. And I spent years grieving you, I couldn't find you!" She cries out, tapping her chest with finger. "I couldn't find you! I tried and I failed!" For once, her hard exterior falters and she turns her back to me.