Brighter Than The Stars: Book One

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝐸𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉: 𝒩𝑜 𝒫𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝐿𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝓂𝑒

The hotel was in the same town they'd both gone to high school, about fifteen miles away from her home. It didn't seem like much of a drive back then, but that was the thing about small towns. You had to drive at least ten minutes to get anywhere, and if you didn't have a license, you were in for a long ass walk.

It seemed the snow made it into this area, though they missed the brunt of the storm. Snow piles were half a building tall and took up much of the parking in all the downtown areas.

Elijah checked them into the hotel, and together they dropped the bags off in the room, only to leave right away. Since they'd slept until past noon, and Elijah still had some packing to do, they hadn't gotten an early start, and probably left later than they would have had the storm not happened, and he'd gone to work.

With her parents expecting them for dinner soon, they got back on the road, and Elijah's eyes seemed glued to all the buildings. Even if he had stayed, he wouldn't have graduated from the high school. The local library and movie theater. The old coffee shop that closed down, which was now a tattoo parlor, while a new coffee shop opened down the road. The old diner where a lot of teens hung out after school.

As they reached the town they'd both grown up in, the speed of the truck slowed as he took every detail in. The t-shirt store, the ice cream parlor, the local artist gallery. The fishing shops, the tourist knick-knacks, the jewelry store that should have gone out of business ages ago. Then there was the drugstore, the grocery store, the dry cleaners, and movie rental place.

That was about all her small town offered. It felt almost suffocating when she was a child. So few things to do unless your parents were willing to drive you to one of the other towns. Now, it just felt like home. Madeline couldn't imagine living here full time anymore, but loved coming home to visit. But it ruined most visits in little time once she caught sight of Harrison Fox; something she was now free of once and for all.

When they pulled onto her parents' street, Madeline noticed Elijah's grasp tightening on the wheel, his knuckles going white when his father's house came into view. He drove past, trying to keep his eyes forward, and parked in front of her parents' house, turning off the engine.

"You okay?" It was a stupid question, since Madeline could already tell he was absolutely not okay.

Elijah shook his head, released the wheel, and clicked on his seatbelt. "I'll be fine." He didn't say another word before he got out of the truck. While she didn't doubt he'd be fine at some point, the way he slammed the truck's door proved he wasn't now.

Elijah placed his palms against the bed of the truck, removed one to smash it against the metal, his head turning just enough to look over at his father's old home. "I'm going to need you to go inside, M&M. Please."

"Why?"

A heavy breath released from Elijah, but he wouldn't look over at her. "Sometimes I can control it. This isn't one of those times."

The anger. The darkness. Whatever he called it, Madeline knew that's what 'it' was.

"It's just a house," he muttered. "When I saw it last time, my father was home. I had a gun under my seat, and I knew if I walked onto that porch and knocked on the door, I would have pulled the trigger without a second thought. I wouldn't have grieved, or felt sorry. Truth is, I don't think I would have felt shit. The reason I didn't walk up to that porch was because I didn't want you or your parents visiting me in prison. That's the only thing that fucking stopped me.

"Now I'm looking at that house, and I should feel relieved. He isn't there anymore. He can't hurt me ever again. I know that, but it doesn't make me feel any better. That fucking house is the setting of every goddamn nightmare over the last twelve years. It was my fucking hell on earth, and I thought that feeling would go away once he was dead."

Madeline saw her father standing in the open doorway, and shook her head at him, telling him silently to stay put. But she couldn't. Instead, Madeline took her time walking over to him, seeing his body tense as he stood facing his truck. "You told me in the letter that I calmed you. That thinking about me brought you back from whatever anger you were feeling."

It was a lazy laugh that left Elijah's lips as he shook his head and pinched his eyes shut. "It didn't always work, and I don't think it will work now."

Except Madeline could already feel it working. His voice lost its edge, his tense body had slumped just a fraction.

"Before, you just had my memory to bring you back," Madeline told him. Her body lowered beneath his arm to stand between Elijah and the truck. "Now you have me. I want you to look at me, Elijah. Open your eyes and look at me."

When Elijah did as she asked, the green looking almost grey, and cloudy, Madeline continued. "Put your arms around me. Hold me. Turn that hatred into love. That's how you win."

Elijah dropped his forehead against hers, and his hands left the truck to circle around her waist. "Do you know how many times he used you against me?" He asked, not waiting for a response she didn't have. "Sometimes I wouldn't engage him. I wouldn't scream or cry. I wouldn't say a goddamn word. It was the mental attack that would fuel him, so if he saw me go somewhere else in my head, he'd tell me how easy it would be to break into your house, sneak into your bedroom, and make you disappear. He used the love I had for you against me."

Madeline's eyes closed, tears dripping down against her cold cheeks. He'd told her there were things she never knew about; things he couldn't bear to tell her. "And now I want you to use the love you have for me against him."

His lips pressed against hers, chilled and trembling, and his hands dug into her sides. Madeline kissed him back with everything she had, until she felt Elijah return it, kissing her back with every ounce of love within him. One hand moved up, laying flat against her back as he pulled her in tighter. Needing her as much as he needed air to survive.

Elijah's tears fell against her face, and he stepped back from her, removed his glasses to rub his arm against his eyes, and took a long breath. After he took the time to regain his bearings, Elijah spoke. "How the hell did I survive so much of my life without you, Madeline?" Again, he didn't wait for a response. "If I ever have to step foot in that house again, you keep your distance. There's going to be too much anger not to let out, and I don't need you seeing it."

"Okay," Madeline agreed quickly. Before, she'd known she could bring him back. Elijah was only on the brink, and in the early stages of something brewing. But although she once had the grandeur of being his own personal superhero, Madeline also wasn't stupid. She knew there was only so much she could do and also knew there were things Elijah had to face alone.

His hand reached out, taking hers and pulling her against his once more. After placing the softest kiss against her lips, he wiped her own tears from her face with his sleeve. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After one last heavy breath, Elijah linked their fingers together and turned toward her parents' house, seeing her father still standing in the open doorway. "Come on inside, you two. It's cold as hell out here."