Till The Clock Strikes Gone

31 | drug of the night

Eliza was still. She hadn't moved an inch since her father had started telling his story. Now, he was once again asleep. Slumped against an arm of his chair, he was snoring softly and it was pretty sure to Eliza that even the loudest of sounds wouldn't wake him up. He was wasted.

She looked around and spotted William who was saying something to her but she couldn't hear because she was breathing too fast and her ears kept ringing with her father's words. She kept looking at William as he held her hand and gave a slight shake.

She got up in a swift motion and stumbled but William held her. She looked at him and yanked his hand off to get out. The room was suffocating her. She didn't want to stay close to her Papa. He was a liar. All this time, she thought of herself as the reason for her mother's death but now, everything had changed. Everything was broken now. She was broken. Her head spun as she climbed up the stairs to her room in a hurry. She needed it. She had promised she wouldn't but she needed it.

She threw open the door to her room and ran towards her cupboard. She opened it, not noticing the figure that had crept up behind her and was calling out for her. She rummaged through her entire cupboard but it wasn't there. Her stash wasn't there.

She tried to calm down and took long, deep breaths.

One...two...three

She relaxed a bit and she heard William. He was kneeling beside her.

"Love, please calm down," he said.

His voice was so soft and concerned that Eliza felt more and more devastated. He was feeling sorry for her. She didn't like people feeling sorry for her.

"Leave me alone!" she said, raising the palm of her hand to him, signalling him to go.

She was rummaging through her entire room. She checked under the bed, on her desk and even under her carpet. Where had her father kept it?

Suddenly, a horrific thought caught her mind. "No!" she exclaimed and rushed out of the room to go towards the bathroom. William rushed behind her.

She opened the toilet cover as if to find a clue but closed it shut again, feeling stupid. She looked around, clutching her head between her hands as a sick feeling crept inside her.

Her father threw them.

She knew it. There was no denying. She felt hotter and hotter with each passing second and she walked towards the shower to turn it on. William caught hold of her hand and turned the shower off but little droplets of water had already drenched Eliza and she pushed him away. He stumbled at her sudden show of strength but was right next to her once more, just as quick. She turned on the shower again. She wanted to drown herself but right now, the shower was the only thing available.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed when he grabbed hold of her wrist but now they were both under the shower, getting wet.

"Love, please don't do this. He was drunk. He didn't know what he was talking of," William said but Eliza pushed him again and this time, he must have gotten upset because the next moment, Eliza was pinned against the wall. His one hand was holding her wrists above her head while the other pressed flat against the skinny, wet material of linen covering her body, preventing her movement. One of his fingers touched the bare skin of her abdomen and she shivered at his touch.

"Eliza," he said as he looked down on her. She could feel the intimacy in his voice and as he looked at her with a questioning glance, she took the time to study him.

Distraction. She needed a distraction.

She scanned his blue eyes which were getting darker as the clock ticked somewhere and she could feel the heavy rise and fall of his chest against her bosom. He felt more attractive to her now than he had ever done before and she wanted to know how he would feel with his head between her legs.