Sinful Pleasure

33

THIRTY-THREE

ELLANORE

   "Celia?" Standing outside of the holding cell, I anxiously watched the dark figure hunched over in the shadows. I could tell that it was a woman but i wasn't sure if it was really Celia as the person claimed to be.

   "Ellanore." Sniffling, Celia hastily stood to her feet and rushed towards the bars. Softly sighing in relief once she realized that it was indeed me. "God, I'm so happy I found you. You have no idea." Wiping at the tears that trailed down her face, she smiled. It was nice seeing her, I missed her, but a part of me couldn't help but feel guarded by her presence. The feeling was something new, and it made me feel a little weary. "Could you let me out of here?"

   Briefly looking towards Beau, I sighed. I knew that asking him to do so would be asking a lot. He didn't know Celia, and I could tell that her being here was making him anxious. He wanted to protect his pack, and now that I knew my ranking, I did as well. This feeling was powerful and no matter how much I wanted to fight it, being that Celia was a friend and not an enemy, I couldn't.

   "I think for now it's best that you stay right here. You know it's nothing against you Celia, it's just that with everything going on everyone's a little on edge." I was almost fumbling over my words as I gathered what to say.

   "No, I understand."

   "How'd you find us?" Pursing my lips as Beau asked the one question that we all were thinking, we quietly looked at Celia.

"I.. don't remember." Frowning, Celia seemed genuinely confused as she tried to recollect her thoughts. "Last thing I remember was bringing Mr. Petrovic and the men lunch. After that everything is sort of black. I woke up in the woods... and after wondering around some men grabbed me and here I am."

   "You don't remember but you specifically told my men that you wanted to see Ellanore."

   "Well yeah..." Scrunching up her face, Celia shifted her gaze from Beau towards me. "I just had a feeling that she was here. I can't explain how it came about."

Still skeptical, Beau stood there analyzing Celia from head to toe. What he seemed to be looking for? I have no idea. Besides having no recollection of the past 24 hours she seemed to be okay. "Do you happen to remember what Raphael and his men were discussing?"

"They were looking at a map. Conjuring up plans to..." Letting her sentence trail off, Celia gasped. Her eyes wide and her mouth slightly ajar. "Alec. Oh my god. He-..." Shaking her head, Celia covered her mouth with her hand. "He bit me that night, he... the pain... I was so hungry... I couldn't control myself." At this point Celia was stuttering over her words. I could barely make out what she saying, but from the look Beau gave her I could tell that he understood exactly what she was trying to say.

"Celia I don't understand."

"He turned me, and he watched me kill Roland."

CELIA

"Mr. Petrovic?" Knocking on the door to his office, I patiently waited for his approval to come in before pushing the door open. Darius, Vlad, Vail, and Alec have been meeting with Mr. Petrovic every day since the disappearance of Ellanore and Mischa. They were plotting something, and from their strange behavior, I could tell that it was nothing good. "I have lunch."

Day in and day out I've been slaving in that kitchen by myself. Tending to the family and making sure the house was clean. It was all slowly taking a toll on me. Roland was of no help. He was steadily losing his mind. We were both still devastated about Alice, but with Mischa and Ellanore missing as well it was sort of over-whelming. It's like they were both here one moment and they next they were gone. And no one could think of the first place to look. I missed them...