A Penny For Your Tears

Nine

"Previously on The Vampire Diaries," I groaned,throwing the a pillow at the tv before turning it off. It had been about twelve hours since I locked myself in my room and hunger was finally starting to catch up with me. Eight of the twelve hours I spent sleeping, and the other four I spent watching episode after episode of The Vampire Diaries. I had a few water bottles laying around so I had managed to subdue my hunger by filling my stomach with water, however, the effect had long since worn off and now, not only was I starving but I also needed to pee, badly. I considered jumping out the window and making a run for it but I wasn't in the mood to be breaking any bones right now. I made my way to the door and placed my ear on it, I heard nothing which was a good sign. I mean, it's not like he stayed here for twelve hours,he's crazy if he did. I slowly opened the door and peered out in the hallway, nothing. The coast was clear. I closed the door, taking in a deep breath before opening the door again. I closed it softly behind me and tiptoed through the hallway. What was I doing? There was no way he was still here. As if reading my thoughts, Elias popped out of nowhere and said;

"Goodmorning to you, love." I jumped back in fright, holding on to the banister to save myself from falling. Elias quickly held on to my arm and pulled me into his embrace. "You really thought you did something by locking me out didn't you?" I looked down out my feet, a red tint finding its way to my cheeks as awkwardness filled the air. "Come downstairs, join us for breakfast." He ordered before marching down the stair as if he owned the place. I rolled my eyes and stuck my middle finger up behind his back. "Olivia, don't be childish." He spoke without even turning around to face me.Wait a second, did he say us? What did he mean by us? Reluctantly, I followed his lead and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen; where a pleasant surprise awaited me. The table had been laid out with pancakes, almost every kind of egg, fruit, juice, yoghurt and granola. I didn't even know we had all this food in the house. Seated around the table, where the young men and woman I had seen outside of his house before, including Adam who smiled at me. Elias held out a seat for me and I stared at it with defiance. Would I really allow him to woo his way into controlling me? However, I needed him on my side. Not only did he know about Luca, Luca was his sworn enemy and I'm pretty sure that meant Elias kept an eye on him in order to always be one step ahead of him. And I needed to be one step ahead of Luca, so, all I needed was to gain his trust. With newfound confidence and a fake smile plastered on my lips, I graciously sat down on the chair and watched him as he sat opposite him. He didn't waste any time and began eating, I followed his lead observing his every move. I had to get to know him, use his weaknesses as my advantage. I didn't like this part of me, the person Luca had made me become but I could not go back there. I could not let Luca find me, I had to stay hidden and I was prepared to go to the extreme to ensure my safety and that of my loved ones.

"So, where'd you get all this food from?" I asked and he looked up at me, surprised. He was surprised that I was actually adressing him and even more surprised that I was talking to him without fear.

"I ran over to my house to get some, your pantry is practically empty and I asked Sander to bring some over. " The blonde-haired smiled at me so I gathered that he was Sander. He was young with a baby face so I wasn't sure if he was a teenager or an adult. I wondered why Elias had gone through all trouble, perhaps he was sorry for his behavior last night? We continued to eat in silence for a while, and I built up the courage to ask my next question.

"So you're the leader of a gang, that's got to be fun." As soon the words left my mouth, I could feel the atmosphere change. The boys stopped eating and looked at each other anxiously before looking at Elias whose body had tensed up and the grip on his fork had tightened.

"It's nothing special." He seethed through his clenched teeth.

"Really?" The words unconsciously leaving my mouth as I shoved food into it. " I thought it would be exciting and dangerous, and I- " Elias slammed his fists on the table, shutting me up instantly.

"Enough with the questions, Olivia. Why the sudden interest? Yesterday, you couldn't look me in the eye without shitting yourself and now you think gang life is exciting?What's your game?" He grabbed my jaw forcing me to look up at him.

"I was just trying to start a conversation. You're the one that won't leave me alone! You started talking about your gang so excuse me for trying to understand what the fuck you want from me" I shot back, using all my strength to push him away from me. Meanwhile, the others had taken the cue to leave and had long since filed out of the kitchen. I moved to the other side of the room making sure there was a sufficient amount of space between us. Things were going south and I was rapidly losing the little trust he had in me.

"Olivia, I don't trust you!" He shouted, throwing the table to the side. All the dishes and food came crashing to the floor and I jumped back in shock. Fair enough, I might've crossed a line but this reaction was unnecessary and uncalled for.

"Ok, look Elias I'm sorry, you need to calm down-"

"Don't tell me what to fucking do!" He screamed, slamming his fist into the wall next to me. I trembled in fear under his anger gaze and I just couldn't understand what had warranted this reaction from him. He was fine like five minutes ago. Before he could do any more damage, his phone rang and he answered it angrily.

"What?" He seethed and was quiet as the person on the other end of the phone spoke. He sighed, rubbing in his frustration.

"Alexia, this is the third shipment we've lost in two months. Where the fuck are they? They don't just fucking disappear into thin air." Elias paced around the room angrily, clearly, these lost shipments were very important because he grew tenser and tenser with every minute. Perhaps this was what triggered him earlier when I mentioned his gang he was reminded of whatever it is that was in the container. I wondered what was in those shipments that was so important. Money? Drugs? No, Olivia, I had to stay away from all of this, none of this concerns me. All I needed was to find out more about Luca through Elias, nothing more and nothing less.

"You caught someone? An Italian?" My head snapped towards Elias and I discreetly moved closer to see if I could catch something. I felt his gaze on me and I looked up to meet his eyes, he furrowed his brows observing me as he continued speaking.

"Contain him, I'll be there soon." With that, he ended the call and placed his phone in his pocket.

"Olivia."He started slowly approaching me, I took several steps backward, stopping when my back hit the wall. "I saw the way, the phone call captured your attention. Why were you so interested?"

"What, what are you talking about?" I stammered nervously, he rolled his eyes.

"I left something upstairs." Just like that he disappeared from view, I let out a breath, running my hands through my hair in frustration. I needed to be strong, stronger than this. Luca broke me, he weakened me but he was nowhere near me now and I needed Elias to ensure things would stay that way. Part of me felt bad for deceiving him but another part of me remembered that this man had probably killed someone before, my deceiving him was nothing in comparison. I slowly made my way to the stairs, noticing that Elias was taking a long time, too long in fact. I moved to go up the stairs but he came in to view holding his jacket.

"I have to go." He muttered, walking past me, slamming the front door shut behind him. I walked back into the kitchen sighing as I looked at the mess. I began tidying, packing up the broken plates, cleaning all the food from the floor. It took me almost an hour and by the time I was done, it was almost noon. I walked back into my room, I stopped in my tracks as I entered it. It was completely trashed, all my clothes had been pulled out of my wardrobe, the drawers overturned, my jewelry and make-up thrown to the floor. Clearly, Elias had ransacked the place looking for even a shred of evidence that I was playing dirty. I sat on my bed, chuckling slightly. He was smart, I'll give him that. He was so close yet so far to knowing the truth about me. I looked around my room, assessing the damage done. I realized that he was also more dangerous than I thought, if he could do this in my own house while I was right here, he wasn't afraid to do anything. I began doubting my plan, was it worth it. Playing with fire, for my personal gain? Was putting my grandparents in danger really a risk I was willing to take? I thought of the message Luca sent me yesterday, I needed Elias, I needed him. The answer was simple, not only did I have to be one step ahead of Luca but also Elias. I needed to get him to trust me and little by little he'd reveal all he knew about Luca. I could not go back to Luca and I was prepared to do anything to stop that from happening, even if it meant playing with fire.