Eternal Veil

Chapter 2

Alices House                                                                                                                                                                                               July  4th, 2023

I slam the shot glass down onto the table.

Alice, Cory, and Char do the same in scattered unison, the sound of glass striking the wood. My body convulses as the cheap tequila makes its way down my throat, but the burning sensation evaporates when Alice wraps me and Cory in a hug, her laughter echoing around us.

"Come dance!"

Before I can respond, she grabs me by the hand and drags me into the dim-lit living room where some other kids from school are sloppily dancing.

As we're heading over to join in with the crowd of roughly 15 other kids, I start to feel the drinks I've had throughout the night catching up to me. Alice starts scream-singing lyrics at me, but my attention is taken away when I feel a tap on my shoulder. When I turn to see who it is, I find myself staring up into the eyes of Carson Mills.

"Hey Ellie", he says looking down at me with a smirk on his face, handing me one of the two drinks he was holding.

"Well look who's being generous tonight!", I say, accepting the drink. One more can't hurt...

His tall frame leans in closer, his green eyes glinting. "Only for you," his low voice rumbles.

I laugh off the remark, but still take a slight, and wobbly, step backwards. "Thanks, Carson," I say, taking a sip from my drink.

He moves in, closing the gap I attempted to create, his expression softening."You know, Ellie, I've always kinda had a thing for you."

I begin to drunkenly shift backwards again, laughing off the remark, and glance around the crowded, dark room to look for Luca. My vision is blurred from the alcohol, making it difficult to focus.

"Thanks Carson, but you know I-",

"I know, I know, you're still with Henderson..." He again closes the space between us, but I avoid his piercing eye contact and continue scanning the crowd for my boyfriend.

"Cmon, just give me a chance babe." His hands grab my hips, forcing me in closer to him, when all of a sudden I feel someone from behind grip my shirt and pull me out of Carson's grip.

"What the hell is this?" I hear a familiar voice behind me. Luca.

I look up to see his brown eyes flaring with anger, his fingers still gripping my collar.

"Luca it's-"

"Not what it seems?"

I look back to where Carson had been standing not 2 seconds ago, but he was already weaving away through the crowd. For some reason Luca doesn't care to follow him, but he moves his grip to my arm, guiding me to the hallway around the corner. Is he serious right now?

"Luca, I didn't do anyth-"

He cuts me off and stops in his tracks, turning to face me. "Here's what's gonna happen, hun, you're gonna tell me what really happened."

I look into his eyes, but– his eyes. They're not what they usually are. The kindness usually laced in them just...I can't find it.

"I told you Luca, nothing happ-"

Before I can finish my sentence, his hand flies through the air and collides with my face. Hard. I stumble back, more stunned by his violence than the pain itself.

I stare at him in shock, not able to move or fully comprehend what he just did to me. I shakily lift my hand to my cheek feeling a raging heat radiate onto my fingers, almost able to feel the outline of his hand etching itself onto my skin. He just stares. Right into my eyes. And I stare back, tears forming in my eyes, looking– no, hoping to see any sign of remorse. Not a flicker.

I step backwards, my heart pounding as if it's trying to escape my chest. As I begin to turn around to get away from him, I feel his hand latch onto my wrist, spinning me back around and drawing me right into his arms.

"Luca, let. GO."

But his grip only tightens around me, and he whispers in my ear, "Or what, babe?"

I look up to see the drunken grin crawl onto his lips and smell the vodka radiating from his breath.

I jolt awake, my sheets drenched with sweat and my heart racing. The light in my room is still on and– fuck. I glance around at the mess of my room, seeing my unpacked bags and clothes still strewn everywhere, realizing I accidentally fell asleep after Alice left. No, no, no. Please no. I scramble for my phone praying it's not morning yet, hoping I didn't miss my alarm or worse, my flight. I feel around my bed and finally find it wedged between my mattress.

6:05 a.m.

Just under two hours to fix this mess before we have to leave.

I jump out of bed, and begin frantically throwing clothes in my suitcase. I'm interrupted by a knock on my door and turn to see Alice at my door holding two coffees.

"Thought you could use some help," she says with a smirk.

I let out a huge sigh of relief, "What would I do without you?"

For the next two hours, right up until the last minute, she helps me pack my life up. When we're finally finished we both look down at my suitcases which are both bursting at the seams.

"Well," she laughs, "Looks like you'll be fine in the clothing department."

"Yeah if my suitcase doesn't erupt on the way there."

We haul my luggage downstairs and find my aunt waiting for us at the bottom of the steps, her face a mixture of concern and warmth. "Ready Eleanor?"

I look at my aunt, and then at Alice; both looking at me with such love-- such hope for me. Seeing them in front of me, my answer is no; no I'm not ready to leave them. Not ready to say goodbye to the life I have here with them. But then my mind wanders to my recent nightmares, to the past that's been weaving its way back into my thoughts and threatening to drag me back down to that dark place I fought so hard to escape from. Somewhere I cannot let myself go ever again.

So with a deep breath, I think towards the future– my future – that now lies in London, and know with certainty that I'm ready.

I smile and nod my head. "Yep."

Saying our final goodbyes at the airport resulted in tears all around, but that was to be expected. Only 9 months until I'd see them again. 9 months. 9 months.

It'd be okay.

As the plane took off, I looked down at my beautiful home one last time and a tear, just one, fell down my cheek. But its root wasn't sadness or even fear; it was something that hadn't revealed itself to me in some time. Hope.