Obsession (1) ✔

E P I S O D E - 41

"Episode 41 -  Some abandonment issue."  

I waited outside the room with my phone in my hand. The door adjacent room was locked but Lydia's room was always open for her home nurse to come and go whenever she was needed. Therefore, I entered that room. It was dimly lit, the lamp next to her bed illuminated the book in her hand. Calmly, she lifted her head. The concentrated yellow light slashed across her face turning her eyes white.

I'd never seen eyes so stark white in my life before. Her leathery skin hung from her neck, wrinkles being pulled by gravity. She looked frail, thin and an I.V. was attached to her arm. She turned the book over, placed it on top of the blanket that covered her thigh.

Using her bony finger, she signalled for me to approach her. Her thin red lips matched the fake nails. No matter how sickly she looked, her hair was persistently framed around her face. I looked to my right to find an extra door that I gathered lead to where Elena was staying. I wanted to see her but I entered this lady's room for the first time ever and from her friendly expression, she seemed to know who I was.

"Ma'am." I stood beside the bed, waiting for her to say something.

"Sit." It wasn't much of a command than a suggestion. I complied, somewhat awkwardly.

"My, you are even more handsome than she described." The uneasiness evaporated when her eyes glistened giving her ghostly completion some life. "She talks about you all the time." Lydia tried to smile but she seemed so sad, that looking at her, was depressing me.

"It's good to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh, what non-sense." She dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Please, call me Lydia." I only nodded, waiting, counting the seconds until I could finally speak to Elena.

"You're here to take her away?" I was somewhat taken aback by her question. Did Elena really tell her? My stomach pummelled. "You should. You take her far away from here Gabriel." She reached for my hand and when I reached for her, she felt so skeletal in my hand that I was afraid to break her.

"Do you know about her?" She shook my hand.

"Yes." I didn't want to reveal too much. It could jeopardise both mine and Elena's lives. She sighed, leaning back. She paused before carrying on.

"I remember when Jude brought her home." She looked off into the distance. "She was so small and so scared. I didn't know where she was from or who she was when he handed her to me. I was sick back then." She shook her head.

"Probably all the years of sin catching up to me. So, I hired Daniella to look after her. She was an escort." She looked at me. "Did Elena tell you that I used to run one of the biggest escort services in Chicago back in the days?" Once again, she shook her head. "Once I got sick with liver cancer, it just seemed like no matter how many times I beat cancer, the bastard just kept returning." She gave a cynical laugh.

"I knew what my son was capable of, after all I raised him. But I never raised a paedophile." She seemed disgusted and I mustered every power in body to not squeeze her hand and break her. "When she was young, I could hear her scream through echo through the mansion..." I ripped my hand away from her and stood abruptly trying to get my breathing under control. "As time went by, the screams stopped. Daniella tried. She actually bonded with the little girl. "I tired."

Not fucking hard enough.

I kept quiet because I knew if I opened my mouth, I might just choke her to death. "So, when Jude killed that man, I blackmailed his accomplice to testify against my son. I didn't know Dex would send him away."

"They are dead, Jude's coming back."

"I've been told." With a shaky hand, she took a swig of water before continuing. "Why do you think I'm telling you this." She pressed a palm to her face, slid it up taking her hair along with it. That's when I realised that her hair was a wig.

"I'm paying for my crimes now, the only repentance I have is saving that poor little girl, I should have saved before he even touched her." She put her wig back on. "This is my last chance. I'm sick again but this time, I know I won't survive so I need to do this. I need you to get her the hell out of this place. Run, just go." She pointed towards the door and I didn't waste her a second glance before I strode across the room to the white door with golden border all around it.

Her room held an old-fashioned feeling that the modern mansion lacked. When I pulled open the double door, I was met with Elena's surprised face from the other side of the room. It was fully lit. White walls with soft golden swirls covered the room, instead of marble, the floor was covered with plush carpet and the table, chair, dresser and bed all had a Victorian aesthetic to it.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah!" Closing the door, I sagged against it. Her voice doused a fire in my soul. "I couldn't stay away any longer." I confessed.

"No, you must leave. When I say leave, I mean this job. They will hurt you." She strode towards me, her eyes finally alive after what seemed like months.

"I'm not going without you." Reaching for her, I took her into my arms, tucked her under my chin, where she belonged. Greedily, I roamed my hands all over her body until she pulled away.

"Gabriel..."

"Lydia told me everything." I brushed her hair back with my fingers. The dark circles under her eyes indicated that she hadn't slept well either, if not at all. "It feels so good to hold you again." I tried to ignored the raging storm swirling inside my body.

"You don't understand..."

"No. I'm not leaving you here. You mine, you're my responsibility Elena. It's time for you to be free. Don't take that away from yourself." I interrupted her.

Tears filled her eyes, her body language almost softening at the quiver of my voice. "I'm doing it to keep you safe. I can't watch someone I care about get burned alive in front of me." She felt so defeated.

Honestly, if it came to, I'd gladly, sacrifice myself if it meant Elena was going to go free. Instead of voicing the truth, I rested my head against her forehead, salivating the feeling that her touch brought. Like I could breathe again without a knife being stabbed in my chest every time my lung expanded.

I didn't feel sick anymore.

"I heard back from him, he's figuring a way out for us and Jake is trying get us some I.D.s. Don't worry Elena, we will be alright." I placed a kiss on her forehead.

"When is, he coming back?" She asked again. "Is there any update."

"I tried to get Capone to tell me, but he was so hopped up on medication and alcohol, he passed out before that." I kept pulling her closer and closer when she deliberately didn't reach for me. Honestly, it stung a little considering I'd been pining over her like heartbroken puppy.

"He's a maniac. He puts the Zodiac Killer to shame. You don't know him." She shook her head, hyperventilating. "No."

"You have to go." She started pushing me towards the door. Her eyes kept shifting from side to side frenzy. That's when I realised when she was having flashbacks. Sometimes, the suppressed memories are so strong that once it gets overloaded, they will erupt like a volcano at times. Her breathing became erratic, movements void of purpose. I didn't know what to do.

"Elena, stop. Okay. I'm not going anywhere." I grabbed her by her shoulder and shook her until she finally looked at me with some clarity.

"I'm going crazy." She pushed her fingers into her hair, fisted them at the roots in frustration with a wild look on her face. My heart pounded in my throat, nauseous at the fact that she wasn't losing her grip on reality. They did this to her. They took her innocence and made her think that she was going crazy when in reality, she was the strongest person I knew.

She had fought and managed to survive until now. I wasn't going to let her fade away that easily. 

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