Chereads / Dystrophy of the Heart / Chapter 23 - Chapter Twenty One

Chapter 23 - Chapter Twenty One

Since the nightmares began Elijah became overly attached to my wellbeing. The ban on the room was still placed, but it seemed more for my protection than a punishment. More nightmares began to come. Brutal battles where men and monster tore each other apart, splattered of blood and bodies mangled beyond anything even humanoid. Everytime I woke up in a cold sweat and crying, and everytime Elijah was by my side in a flash. It came to tbe point that when I would sleep for the night, he would come into my room with a red velvet armchair and his cream papers and did his paperwork at the remained nightstand while I slept. When I would toss and turned he would curl his cold fingers down my spine to sooth me. In an instant it would work, calming me whether I was asleep or just stirred. We still barely spoke to each other, remembering the traumatic fight we had weeks prior. Even thought I was being haunted by the screams of the dead and the damned at night, Ziva tried her best during the day to wipe those memories away. Today she was spinning around me, chatting as I smiled at her. My fingers were crossed as she dusted around the room, the fireplace and candlelight the only light illuminating the room almost eerily.

"Elijah was such a troublemaker in his early days. Always causing havoc and making a mess if things." She would tell me stories about the stupid things Elijah did in his life. Ripping his pants during the Hundreds Year War, throwing a grenade in the trench he was in with other vampires during World War One, accidently sending a wave of cattle in the streets of early London, and breaking an ancient statue if Anubis when it scared him rounding a corner.

"When I met him, he was just over five hundred years old. Just a small little thing that was spooked by his own shadow." I screwed my mouth shut at the thought of Elijah, nervous and fidgety as a fawn instead of the cold and mature man I knew today.

"You mentioned that you and Sara were rescued from him. Is that how you met?" As soon as the words left my mouth I felt instant regret. I thought that Ziva's bright face would darken like a stormy sky. Instead her face softened instantly, as if recalling something fond and warm.

"I can still remember that day like it only was a decade ago and not over three thousand years." Her voice was soft and full of love and her eyes glistened with a softness that would melt the coldest of hearts.

"Elijah and his brethren were revered as gods to the Egyptians. He was sent by his father to meet the reigning Pharaoh Hatshepsut at the time. Sara and I were slaves sent to work on paintings and other detailed work. I saw the exact moment he looked at her and fell head over heels. His confident walk through the sand, towering over the Egyptian guards like a god amongst men quickly withered and he looked like a lost little boy trying to find his mother." She threw her head back and laughed loudly, almost wheezing as she seemed to remember something so funny she began to convulse. She sat down next to me on the bed, and I couldn't help but smile sweetly as my chest burned with happiness as she smiled and laughed instead of cried and sobbed. I sat patiently, her hands on top of mine. She managed to calm her laughter down long enough to continue speaking in the dying light.

"They got married only weeks after they met. I remember Elijah would constantly go from a ecstatic and anxious little boy, to a cold hard vampire in an instant. Around Sara he was so shy and loving, while around anyone else he was like a pale gem-- cold and unfeeling. On their wedding night Elijah was so afraid to hurt her that she--" She let out a sound close to the sound that a strong wind makes down a valley. Her face was turned red and tears were running down her face from laughing so hard. She fanned her watering eyes with her hands, the light from the candle next to me was dancing from the wind she generated, making the room dancing wildly with light.

"Oh dear I am so sorry," She said as her laughter calmed down.

"No its okay! I am glad to see you happy!" She looked soothed by my words and grabbed my knee tenderly.

"You would have liked Sara and she would have liked you. Despite growing up as a slave she was as sharp as a needle, with a tongue like a whip and cashmere. She was super sweet and could make anyone cry from laughter. She also could give one hell of a tongue lashing." She eyed me up from top to bottom, her smile flickering a bit as she did so. For a moment she looked a little melancholy, like she was imagining me differently. It didn't take a genius to know she was seeing me as Sara. All the clues were there in the dreams and in their words to let me see that Sara and I shared the same face, and supposedly the same personality. I couldn't change my face, but I felt guilty for having the one that I did have.

"Anyways I was speaking of their wedding night. He was so nervous that Sara had to--"

"What are you going on about?" The sharp and coarse voice made the two of us jump and turn to it in a panic. There stood a very annoyed looking Elijah, frowning and scowling at us. He had a stack of papers in his one arm and his trusty red arm chair in his other. Both of our faces flushed, mine pale in horror but Ziva's red in embarrassment.

"Oh nothing at all!" She jumped up, her black dress swaying in the candlelight making it look like shadows were climbing up her skirt. She scurried over the marble, clicking her heels as she ran. She winked one doe eye at me before bowing to Elijah and scampered out. Elijah was still annoyed and rolled his eyes at her before walking over towards me gracefully. The way he walked after hearing her was almost predatory in nature, long strides each with meaning. He set up shop on the cloudy nightstand, sitting himself close to me with his starlight inkwell the closest thing to me.

"And what were you too talking about?" He hummed, eyeing me warily. He was clearly aware of what Ziva was telling me and had a small smile cracking his lips. I felt my face burn with a unholy fire as I imagined just what Ziva could have been telling me, and even redder at the things she did.

"She was just telling me about your grenade fiasco." It wasn't a lie just not the whole truth. He scoffed and pulled at his black turtleneck. He would have been invisible in the dark with his black attire and hair if not for his pale skin.

"That was over a hundred years ago, and it wasn't even my fault. Gideon Collins bumped into me and I dropped it. He tried to catch it and missed, henceforth not my fault." He seemed fidgety and frustrated as the memories flooded back. I couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up in my throat. The noise seemed more like a gurgle to me, but Elijah looked over to me and relaxed a bit.

"I'm glad you find that so funny." He smirked devilishly and scribbled down his dark notes fiercely. We sat there in silence for a bit as I settled down, drowning myself in the soft blankets with a soft smile of content. I felt lazy, barely moving from this bed unless needed such as small walks to stretch my legs and baths.

"Comfortable?" He reached out to me and his finger lazily drew down my cheek. He was unaware of what he did until my heartbeat up ticked and he looked over to me with worry. He pulled his hand back right away and shook with embarrassment before trying to hide his face. I just made a small squeak to indicate that I was indeed comfortable, but the action taken prior had made us both a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and kept scribbling, my eyes shutting a bit as I fought to stay away a little longer.

"You've been too lazy lately," He sighed and tapped his razor nails over his desk. I just made another noise, the world being drowned out a little bit as sleep was trying to overtake me.

"Tomorrow you are coming over to my study to get some exercise." His words shook me awake a bit as I glanced over to him, the darkness nearly consuming him fully.

"Really?" I was excited at the prospect of leaving the cage but I was also sleepy and as he mentioned before-- lazy.

"Yes. Now get some sleep, before you stay awake all night and become stuck to the bed like a moss to a stump." I reached over to him and smacked his leg sleepily. The relationship between us was far from perfect or mended, but with time and energy I was willing to forgive and forget the anger.

I was just wondering if Elijah could forgive me, or himself.