the beautiful cover above, displaying Vanessa, was made by Treasure_incave . thank you so much! ♥
THIRTY-THREE
eclipse
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The wind was howling so loud it hurt my ears. If not for the unearthly hour, I could have easily met an accident. The highway was deserted. I wasn't technically rash driving, as I had been doing frequently for the past few weeks. In fact, I didn't even cross the speed limits but the point was --- an unstable mind would never let the forelimbs coordinate perfectly with the steering wheel. And as my Audi screeches in front of the Adelaide Gen, the multi storeyed building glowing eerily in the dark, I felt a familiar pang in my chest.
This was the second time I was standing in the corridor that lead to the ICU. But Iris wasn't in there. She was in a cubicle to the left, still under treatment.
My eyes dart across the hall, almost everyone was present. Stefan leaning against the wall with his arms folded, Jae-Hwa and Audrey seated in the steel arm chairs and Mrs. Eastwood standing by the cubicle door looking like she's close to a nervous breakdown.
I couldn't see Ian.
Audrey spots me first, getting up on her feet and managing a ghost smile that disappears with the blink of my eye.
"How's Iris?" I ask, my voice hoarse.
"The doctor said its trauma. First, she heard about her father being in the hospital in Paris and then... well, you know what I mean." She shakes her head, looking distressed.
"Then why is she still inside? What are they doing?"
"Vanessa, she is sleeping. Calm down. They'll call us when she's awake."
"And where the hell is Ian Eastwood?" I hiss, blinking back tears.
"That's the reason I called you here. When Jae and I reached an hour ago, Ian was about to burn the entire world down. I had never seen him that furious." She explains.
I looked over Audrey's shoulder to see Jae-Hwa talking to Mrs. Eastwood, probably trying to comfort her. She has always been good at that job.
"We don't know where he went, his mother tried to stop him but he said he has some things to get straight..." Stefan shrugs, raking fingers through his dark, curly hair.
"I have one person to confront right now. Thought I would face him later but, given the situation --- I guess its now or never." I gulp and turn on my heels, the storm raging inside me.
"Vanessa wait, I'll come with you. Where are you even going?" Stefan calls out and I raise my hand in denial.
"It's fine Cahill. You should stay here with the rest."
"No, I can't let you go alone. Stefan will stay here. I'll accompany you. You're already a mess. I can't let you drive alone." Audrey says in a stern, motherly tone.
She was right. I was a complete mess. My insides were churning, the last time I ate was in the morning when Gabriella forced me to swallow a green smoothie and my brain felt like it was about to explode. How much can one person take in at once? What is my limit? I suppose it has been already shattered long ago.
"Fine. And let us know when Iris wakes up, Stef." I say before staggering out of the Adelaide Gen Hospital.
The temperature was dropping with each passing minute, I pull my green hoodie closer to restore some warmth. My wrist watch said it was past midnight. Audrey insists on driving and I hop in to ride shotgun.
"I don't know what you're going to do Vanessa. But I trust you, just don't end up getting hurt." Audrey says, giving a small pat on my shoulder and I nod, because 'hurt' has become too bland a word to describe my feelings.
"28, Cypress Street." I blurt out and she flinches.
"You really wanna do this? Don't you think we would have better mental states in the morning? Besides, we should look for Ian..."
"Rey, I know exactly what I am doing. I have a gut feeling about where Ian might be." I whisper and Audrey starts the engine without another word.
✵
Cypress Street was crowded with vanity stores and a lot of two-storey houses. One of them belonged to Ezekiel's family. His parents lived back in Melbourne, where they had a farm business of sorts. Although Ezekiel lived with four other boys in this building, he could never fit in and I guess that's why he bonded so perfectly with me.
We were seven year olds when we met on our way to school. Zeke was speeding away on his new skateboard and I had gotten in his way. We had bruised our knees together, shed some tears and after a while, a new 'friendship' was born.
The fact that I had known Zeke even before I met Audrey and Jae stung me deep in the pit of my heart. Today, everything was collapsing down to dust. As if it had been a sweet lie that eventually leads to a disaster. And all these years worth memories were meaningless now.
"We are here." Audrey says in a barely audible voice.
"Mhmm. Do you wanna come with me?" I ask, shivering.
"Do you want me to?"
"What do they call it --- moral support?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Sure."
The obsidian sky looked ominous and the red moon above looked as if it was giving hints of an impending tragedy. It was a partial lunar eclipse. Audrey gives my hands a squeeze as we walk down the asphalt. The door to house number 28 was wide open.
"How could you even dare to do that, bastard?!!!" Ian's voice growls angrily.
The first thing I notice is Zeke's eyes as dark as the storm, looking directly into Ian's as he pins him down the wall. His hands were clawed to Zeke's light blue flannel shirt and I flinch as he receives a sharp blow.
"Ian!!" I shriek as he continues to punch Zeke in the stomach.
Ezekiel Cleveland could never win a duel against Ian. He was lanky and his bone strength was way too weak to fight back Ian's athletic self. Ian looks back at me for a moment, his jaw twitches but he turns his gaze back at Zeke, who was withering in pain down on the tiled floor of the living room.
"Stop it Ian!" Audrey warns from behind me.
"Wow, I can't believe y'all are still trying to save him!" Ian shakes his head and then speaks again, "This son of a bitch has ruined my sister, she isn't the same girl I knew!! Y'all weren't there when she first started hyperventilating in the car....she...she is just an innocent girl who fell for this arsehole!" he barks, "What was her fault, Vanessa? Do you remember when I told you that I didn't want her to break her heart? This is what I meant." Ian pauses to draw a breath and I felt the knots in my stomach grow stronger.
"You know what Vanessa, I gave him a chance just because you wanted me too. You told me that I couldn't control with whom Iris falls in love with...but the truth is, I could have at least saved her. Sure medicines taste bitter, but it only cures you in the long run," his voice had become rough and dry but he continues, "You know when my father left us for that woman back in Paris, I promised to my mother that I would always protect Iris, no matter what it would take me...but I couldn't. I couldn't protect her heart."
A tear slips down his eyes as he stops, looking down. All I could see before me was a young boy, burdened with responsibilities that were too heavy to carry and yet, trying to stay strong.
"It wasn't your fault Ian...and beating him up right now won't change anything. But I can't understand why didn't you tell us before? And when did you find out?" Audrey asks, stepping forward.
My legs were about to give away. I had lost all powers of speaking. My ability to 'trust' lay in shreds.
"It isn't anything extraordinary. I just happened to find him in a bakery, wearing that same hoodie that he wore when he hit Connor...and I just confirmed from the footage for a second time," he shrugs, "I thought I would just report it to the authorities. I don't even know what was going on within Winston... And before I could tell Vanessa, she had already heard Hannah."
"How is Hannah involved in this?" Audrey asks, pushing back her hair.
"Just a minion I guess." I laugh bitterly, feeling like all the oxygen inside me had been drained out. "Why did you do this, Zeke?" I cry, my back hitting the wall.
"Have you ever tried to listen to my reasons Vanessa?" Zeke asks with a forlorn look on his face. His lips was bleeding.
"Well, whatever your reasons are, we are going to the police. Connor could have died because of you and I believe that was an attempt to murder." Audrey flares her nostrils, visibly loosing her cool.
"Wait, Audrey. I wanna hear what he has to say." I whisper, my voice quivering.
"Oh, finally Miss Vanessa Davenport will lend me a ear, huh?" Ezekiel says, getting up on his feet slowly, a painful emotion flashing across his eyes and his lips curled up slightly into a smirk, as if mocking me.
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A/N : This was perhaps the toughest chapter to write. Phew! So what do y'all think might be Ezekiel's reasons for such recklessness?
Don't forget to vote and comment!
Chapter dedicated to -VINTAGESKY . ♡
- Mia.