Caged

3

The following day, I stood outside of Elijah's room, my mind and heart at war on whether or not I should head inside or not.

After I'd left Sophia's room, I'd gone straight to bed without talking to my brother. I didn't know what to do. The note seemed insignificant enough because all that was legible was the name, but I didn't want to totally brush it off. Plus, there was more on it, even if it was too faded for me to read, so it had to be worth something.

Before I'd gone to bed, I had looked it up online, but I'd found nothing. Despite the fact that I didn't recognize the first name, the last sounded vaguely familiar. Like I'd heard it at some point in my life, but it was something casual and meaningless that happened to be brought up in some pointless conversation.

So, I figured maybe my brother knew who Elena was, but I was hesitant to ask.

I debated keeping what I found to myself for two reasons. First, I didn't know if it was as of a big deal as I was making it. And I was afraid of their reactions. I didn't know if I wanted to reveal that I'd gone into her room, and I didn't know how my brothers would feel about that. Even though I had just as much of a right as they did. I didn't want old feelings to be brought back up.

In this house, it felt forbidden.

Deciding against it, I began turning around to head back to my room, when the door opened and revealed my brother. He paused at the door, his gaze locking with mine. I figured he was probably about to head out considering he had his car keys in his hand.

"What's up?" Elijah asked casually, shutting the door behind him. I backed up a step as he moved around me to head towards the stairs, before I started to follow.

"Nothing much, I just..." I trailed off as we reached the main level of our home.

When he realized I was still behind him, Elijah paused and spun around, raising his eyebrows in question. "Is everything okay? You need something?"

I drew in a short breath, hesitating before I finally looked up at him, meeting his granite colored eyes. "Yeah, I need to talk to you about something actually."

He held my gaze for a few seconds, like he was studying me and deciding if this was worth his time. He took a quick glance at the time. "Can it wait?"

I shook my head. "No. It's important."

Elijah sighed but gestured for me to lead the way. I whipped around and led us to the living room, plopping down on one of the plush, white couches. Elijah took a seat next to me, his attention falling on me.

I brushed a dark strand out of my face and turned slightly to face him. "You have to promise me first, you can't get mad."

Elijah's lips twitched into a small smile and I watched the amusement flash across his eyes as he relaxed back against the couch, throwing an arm across the back of it. "Good start," he commented flatly.

I stared back at him wordlessly and raised an eyebrow. He watched me impassively for a few moments before rolling his eyes. Nodding, he signaled for me to continue. "I won't. Go on."

My mind raced as I struggled to put together my thoughts. Eventually, I decided to just face the matter head on, forcing myself to meet his gaze as I spoke.

"Yesterday, when you were gone I went into Sophia's room and I found something." The words spilled out of my lips quickly; my rushed sentence almost incoherent even to my own ears.

In the moments that followed, I could have sworn I heard my own heart hammering against my ribcage. The soft tapping of the rain dropping against our roof, along with the ticking of the clock, filled the silence between us. When I mustered up the courage to look at Elijah's face, I found him staring at me with a completely unfazed expression. I watched as he glanced away, his cold eyes shifting towards the window as he gazed outside.