Till The Clock Strikes Gone

16 | gone forever

"How's she?" Lorna asked.

"Huh?"

"How's she in the future?" Lorna clarified.

"Oh..." William searched for words. "She is...she is okay I guess?"

"Oh..." said Lorna. "She is such a sweet girl. I adore that little thing. She has suffered so much. The poor girl never even got to be in her mother's arms. Cassandra died without even seeing her face. It was such a tragic day. I was there. Harvey went into hysteria when they told him the news and her grandparents..." She stopped staring blankly at a wall ahead.

"What about them?" William questioned.

"They cursed her and didn't even see her face. They cut off all relations with Harvey and the newborn baby. They were quite shocked when they later found out that Cassandra had written a will naming her daughter...her heir," Lorna narrated.

Lorna's eyes shone with tears and William's chest tightened. He felt very uncomfortable.

Grief, despair, guilt, shame — he couldn't name but he felt it. He had never known about that. He had never bothered himself with Eliza and left her alone. She had been there for him but he didn't care to be there for her...ever.

He stood up, unable to keep his emotions in control anymore.

"I have to go."

"Are you okay?" Lorna asked, placing a hand on his arm. He jerked away from her.

"I...I just need to go, please," he murmured. His entire body shook and his heart felt hollow.

"Sure. I will let my driver know. He'll drop you."

"Thank you," William said meekly as he followed her quietly out of the door.

***

The driver dropped William home and he checked his watch. 9 pm.

He had been gone for long. His mind was filled with Eliza and all the cruel things he had done to her. He cursed the day she ruined her life by entering his life.

William walked to the door of his shelter with heavy steps. His hands were sweating as he took out the key from his pocket and put it inside the lock with shaky fingers. When he heard the familiar click, he pushed the door open.

It was dark and he stumbled upon something and felt liquid drench the bottom part of his jeans. He flipped the switch on and was taken aback.

'This town doesn't want you.'

His bedroom walls were filled with the same sentence scribbled all over his room in red, black and blue. The walls were filled with these markings and on the floor, paint buckets were lying around. He had stumbled upon a red one.

Rage filled all the other emotions and he processed all the things that had happened to him ever since the night Eliza told him she was pregnant. He was filled with torment and too much pain to bear. All he wanted to do was go home and correct his mistakes but fate was being a bitch.

He turned around to look at the house across the street. The house where his future wife stayed. The house where the man who created this mess in the first place lived.

Harvey Scott.

He rushed out, his steps hurried as he opened the gate to Harvey Scott's house. However, instead of going to the front door, he climbed over the fence to move towards the workshop. He reached the door to the workshop and didn't knock before entering in.