What's Said in Silence

Vessel-XXXXXXIX

The click of the door echoed in the small hotel room. As much as I enjoyed the close proximity the bus forced between Sera and I, a larger bed sounded so much better tonight. We weren't due for the next city for another two days. Although, I feel like the next forty-eight hours were not about to be very restful, or peaceful for that matter. 

"How are you feeling after... that?" I asked as she fumbled with her suitcase, there really wasn't any point in putting our clothes into the drawers but I let her make herself busy. 

When I had seen a man staring her down, flash backs of the night she was taken had flashed through my mind, kicking my instincts into overdrive. I had gotten the sense that they knew each other, but I hadn't expected her to say that he was her father. They didn't bare much resemblance to one another, and judging from how they had reacted upon running into each other, that had possibly been a good thing.

I never knew it was possible for a parent to look at their child- especially one that they likely hadn't seen in a while- with such disdain, near hatred. Thinking back to that night with Jessie, he had told me about her sister, but had left any conflict with her father out of the details. I was beginning to gain the sense that what information I'd gathered was just the tip of the iceberg, and it was melting fast. 

She pulled her travel camera from her back pocket and set it on the tall dresser that doubled as a T.V stand, only for it to fall over. She set it back up right and it toppled again. Her growing frustration leaked through the room as she gripped the small camera and held it to her forehead, bracing her forearms on the dresser and shutting her eyes. Her lips pursed and she heaved a heavy sigh.

"I- He- It's just," She sighed running a hand through her hair, fighting for the words. As badly as I wanted her to spill everything that's been locked in that mind of hers for years, I had grown to understand that simply getting the words out had become difficult. Perhaps there was just so much that it was hard to find a starting point. 

"How long has it been since you've seen him?" I coaxed, hoping that would help her sort through the muddled mess in her mind. I walked up and gently took the camera from her hand and set it on the dresser, with some luck it stayed upright this time. I took her hands in mine and turned her towards me, my thumbs rubbing against the backs of her hands. 

"Years. The last time we'd spoken to one another," She swallowed and chewed on her lip, as if debating her next words carefully. "He blamed me for my sisters death." My stomach rolled at the thought of her carrying that around with her for the past couple of years. What kind of parent places that burden on their child? 

"You weren't responsible for that." I stated, bring my hand up to stroke her cheek. A single tear slipped down and coated my knuckle.

"I was." She whispered, the words cracking as her lip trembled. She'd been convicted by her father and had let his words embed themselves into her as truth, when in fact that wasn't true. Jessie had told me himself that it was Preston who had murdered Evelyn.

Crimson stains her hands.

The deity's words echoed in my mind, forcing me to wonder what her involvement had been. I couldn't see her intentionally putting her sister at risk, or at least the version of her I had come to know. Perhaps it was survivors guilt. She had survived that bastard's wicked intentions two-fold while Evelyn hadn't made it through the first. 

I pulled her to me, letting her heartbeats absorb into me as my own. I brushed my fingers through the silks of her hair until her breathing returned to normal. I tilted her chin up towards me and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. Whatever guilt she carried, I wouldn't force her to relive it tonight.