Nefarious

⚜ Chapter Two ⚜

"Elle, let Damion finish." Sev patronized. Elle shot Sev a glare, but sat back and let Damion continue.

"I suppose in order for this to make sense, I'll have to go back a little farther," Damion got up and walked over to a miniature refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He leaned against his desk and popped the top off the beer as he continued.

"Your father, Ferris, had a best friend since childhood. They did everything together, but Ezekiel always was fiercely envious of Ferris. Whenever they would play, Ezekiel would compete, always resentful when Ferris did something that he himself could not.

Ezekiel had no parents or siblings, while Ferris had both parents, and his two siblings. Slowly, as the two got older, Ezekiel's envy began to consume him. He couldn't reign in his rage, and then suddenly Ferris' parents became the victims of murder. Ferris never once suspected Ezekiel to be behind the demise of his parents. He always looked for the good in Ezekiel which only enraged him further. Ferris loved Ezekiel as if he were his own brother, but Ezekiel only wanted Ferris to know how if felt to live the way he had— with nothing.

A little after that, Ferris met a girl named Vera. Ezekiel had himself married a girl, for the sole purpose of achieving something before Ferris. Vera became pregnant-"

"Pregnant?" Elle exclaimed. "But I-" The sad look on Damion's face silenced her and allowed him to finish.

"But Ezekiel's wife, come to realise, was infertile. Once Vera became pregnant, they tried and tried but Ezekiel quickly became furious. In rage, he had abandoned his wife and killed Vera, along with her unborn child."

Elle didn't know what to make of what she was hearing. "And then what happened?"

Damion took a breath. "Ferris was apoplectic. Even when people suspected Ezekiel of murdering Ferris' parents, he never once listened. He believed his best friend— his brother couldn't possibly be capable of something so evil. But the moment Ferris watched Ezekiel kill Vera, along with their child, he realised who Ezekiel truly was. An imposter with sick intentions. He was never Ferris' brother. He was a monster, consumed with rage and envy.

It took Ferris many years before he found himself again. It was hard for him to recover from the loss of who he thought to be his one and only true love, and a baby boy whom he loved, but never knew."

"And what about Ezekiel?" Elle asked. "Ferris had to have made him pay for what he did." A part of Elle wanted to believe that the story she was hearing was just that— a story and not a part of her own family's history. She was intrigued, but unsettled.

"Ferris feared becoming like Ezekiel." Damion answered. "After all, in his innocence he once believed he was exactly like Ezekiel. Free of malice, just two children he found each other in a time of need. Ferris surmised that Ezekiel could never have been born envious and mad. Ferris, for a long time, blamed himself for making Ezekiel the way he was. When Ezekiel killed Vera in front of Ferris' own eyes, he was paralyzed with grief and shock, allowing Ezekiel the time to vanish. Nobody has seen or heard from him since."

Sev cleared his throat and looked to Damion. "That was a great history lesson and all," He said. "But let's fast forward to the part where you tell us how you know Eleanor."

"I'm getting there." Damion said, irritated. "It wasn't until many years later that Ferris reemerged, and that's when he met your mother, Elle, Cassandra. Though, at the time, people knew her only was Sera.

"It was love at first sight, and not long after they gave birth to a little girl. They didn't tell anybody of you in fear that Ezekiel would come for you as he had Vera and his child. For a long time, I was the only outsider trusted with knowledge of your existence. I was not allowed to know your name, only that you were Ferris' second child, and that nobody should ever be allowed to know of your life. Ferris was terrified at the thought of losing you."