Blood Lineage(2015 Revision)

Chapter 15

It was three weeks into my new relationship with William and things so far had gone pretty smoothly. I found a nice balance between school, work, friends and William. I was keeping myself busy to avoid thinking; if I didn't think then the pain wouldn't rush in. I left my phone turned off most of the time because I didn't want to know if Marcus was trying to reach out. I blocked him out pretty well during the day, but at night was a different story. He appeared in all of my dreams, and they were seemingly more realistic then ever. We talked about things that were going on in everyday life and Marcus would tell me how much he missed me and couldn't wait until he saw me again. Every night, it ended the same, he kissed my cheek and told me he would see me tomorrow. It was as if we had our own private world, one that no one could take away.

Christmas was now just a week away and I hadn't done any shopping yet, and I was clueless as to what to get everyone, so I settled on getting them all gift cards. It was the best option I could come up with. Aunt Cindy didn't have much on Christmas decorations, so I picked some up while I was out. She decided since Thanksgiving went pretty well to have dinner at her house again. I didn't mind Phillip, especially now since Aunt Cindy finally came around and they were dating, but with Heather and Trevor, I needed a miracle. William was out of town with his family until the thirtieth, and Gwen's parents were actually home so she would be spending the holiday with them. I would be flying solo that night, so I would have a better chance of excusing myself from everyone.

I made sure everything was ready to go by Christmas Eve. All the decorations were up, my gift cards addressed, and the few things I got for Aunt Cindy were wrapped and neatly stacked underneath the rather large tree. Aunt Cindy was at the store all day until seven, so I was fortunate to have the day off again. She thought that since this was my first job, she would spare me what she considered the two worst shopping days of the year. So as a huge thank you, I told her not to worry about dinner. I was going to make stuffed flounder with white rice in a butter and garlic sauce. I slid the tray in the oven at six thirty then ran up to take a fast shower and get ready before the guests came for seven-thirty. I picked out my nicest dress for the evening, even though I was on my own and didn't care for half the guests, but I still wanted to look my best. My dress was long and black with clear bead work at the empire waist line. It had a halter style neckline and a diamond cut out in the back. The skirt hugged at the hips but then fell loosely to the floor at my feet. I gelled my hair into a ponytail then snugly fastened it into a bun. I kept my make up more natural looking, and put in a pair of mom's diamond earrings.

When I got downstairs, Aunt Cindy was just walking in the door. She said hello and briskly jogged up stairs to get herself ready. I went into the kitchen and opened the oven, carefully taking the aluminum foil off the tray then closing the door again. I sat down in the living room and stared at the multicolored twinkling lights adorning the Christmas tree when my mind suddenly went blank, I couldn't focus on anything but the lights, but ten minutes later the sound of my oven timer startled me back to the planet.

A short time later, everyone arrived, so I started placing things on the dining room table and I heard my cell phone ring. It came up private number. Now, I usually don't answer when it says that, but something told to me answer.

“Hello?” No answered. “ Hello? Who is this?” And I finally got a response.

“Hello, Elianne.” The voice said back.

“Marcus?”

“Yes, you silly girl. What are you doing?” He sounded happy.

“Nothing really, my Aunt has some friends over for dinner. What do you want?”

“I wanted to talk to you, is that wrong?”

“Marcus, I haven't seen or spoken to you in weeks, why now?”