Beyond the Sinister (COMPLETE)

XIII. Christmas creeps

Blue eyes following the broken doll who now lies on the floor, arm broken, Zachary's face persisted emotionless. It was as if he anticipated that to happen.

Frankly speaking, Seraphina expected him to get furious at what she just did but the movement Seraphina only caught him doing was lifting up his brow for a second.

And before Seraphina could remark about it, Zachary draped his arms around her, both his slender legs trapping her, the blanket's the only one separating them. His head tucked between her bare shoulder and head.

She could feel his chilling breath on her neck, tickling her. For an unknown reason, Seraphina found herself wanting to return the man's embrace for a second.

Confused and furious at herself, Seraphina shook his arms around her yet he remained persistent. She knew she had to flee this warm hug of his before it's too late. She just can't disregard all the anxiety he gave her when she was a child and what he just did the last time he was here.

"Please leave, Mr. Canning," spoke Seraphina in such a defeated voice but as usual, Zachary remained in his spot, his arms still around her, his slender fingers twirling the ends of her hair, his head in the crook of her neck, his long legs enveloped around her.

Closing her eyes, Seraphina cannot deny how all this makes her drowsy even more yet she knew she had to get the man off her.

Gripping his arm hard, she whispered the words, "You're not Dorian so get off me, you psycho,"

Honestly, she felt bad for speaking her dead friend's name just so she could get rid of his brother. In the first place, Dorian doesn't do such a thing as this.

The two of them are not practically lovers and that's that.

However, at what Seraphina just uttered in his ears, that alone made him look at her. Suddenly, he faced her, his eyes turned dark, as if ready to hurt her but the next second, his eyes turned soft, his expression filled with sadness she rarely sees him make, and with that, he climbed out of the bed and left her chamber through her window.

For some reason, Seraphina's heart began to ache. Why in the hell does she even care about his feelings?

Shouldn't she be relieved that Zachary already left? I mean, that man is good riddance.

All this while the rain was still pouring down hard. What made Seraphina feel even worse was when she found herself worrying about Zachary being all alone outside, cold and wet from the rain.

Letting out a groan, Seraphina's frustrated emerald eyes travel to the broken doll on the floor. With that, she hid under her cover, forcing herself not to think more of Zachary who is probably shivering in the rain right now.

This is not the first time nor the second time she had called him such names. It was Christmas eve, the year of Mrs. Jane Canning's death. Aunt Veronica and her decision to spend their Christmas week in the Canning manor.

Everyone was so happy the past few days despite it being the first Christmas without Mrs. Jane especially Seraphina who hasn't seen Zachary for the past few days aside during breakfasts and dinners.

It was Christmas eve, the night where everyone began to open their presents one-by-one.

After Aunt Veronica, it was her turn to explore her presents which she mostly is excited about.

Sitting on the ground wearing a maroon frock Aunt Veronica purchased last week, Seraphina let her eyes travel around the sitting room.

Dorian was crouching a few feet away from her in the red carpet, cookies in his hand and mouth, Aunt Veronica sitting in the chair, smiling while there stood Zachary in the corner of the room, arms crossed, sending her such serious looks which Seraphina acted not to notice.