Chereads / The Haunted Night / Chapter 6 - The Listening Ear

Chapter 6 - The Listening Ear

Mia become curious now more than ever. She had seen the worst and wanted to know all about Elijah. Completely healed and calm, Elijah held Mia by the hand while doing all he could to avoid eye content and apologized for his violence behavior.

"There is no need to apologize", Mia retorted. Standing up, Mia walked to the window. It was almost as if no one had lived in the house for ages. There were cobwebs everywhere. The windows looked like they had not being cleaned for years.

"Where are we", Mia asked curiously trying to start a conversation. "This is my family house. I used to live here with my entire family", Elijah replied. Mia wondered, she couldn't imagine how scary an entire family of vampires, beast or whatever Elijah was would do to her given the chance. "I wasn't always like this", Elijah responded. He could hear her thoughts loud and clear. Mia grew more curious. "What happened to you then? Where is everyone?", she quizzed.

Mia turned around, facing Elijah who sat on the wooding floor with his head bent down. It seemed Mia had hit the nail right on the head. His emotions had being triggered by her questions. She sat down beneath the window, still facing him with hopes of getting some answers. Elijah begun what seemed to be the never ending story of his life before he encountered Mia and her friends.

"Long long ago, I lived with my family in this same manor. We were a happy family not too rich but we lived here peacefully away from civilization. I don't really know why my family moved away from society to settle here." As Elijah continued narrating his story Mia could see drops of tears falling freely down his cheeks.

He continued, "My dad was a very skilled hunter. We thrived on the game he brought home from hunting from this same forest. My mom spent most her days on the small garden behind the house where she had planted various vegetables."

Elijah could hear her stomach rumbling by the sound of vegetables. Elijah knew she was hungry. It had being long since she last ate. She had to eat something if he had any intentions of keeping her alive.

He invited Mia to follow him to the inner rooms of the house. "After you", he courteously said as he led her into one of the finest rooms she had ever seen in her life. Her dress had being tainted with dirt from sitting on the ground. "Find something in the closet and change.", he said as he walked away.

She looked around the room and admired the sculptured artefacts that was used to decorate every inch of it. She opened the closet in front of her. It was filled with clothes of all kinds. She spotted one that caught her eye. "This should fit" , she said to herself. She changed into the dress and made her way back into the hall.

Something seemed a little different in the house. Elijah was nowhere to be found. She wondered where he could have gone to. She called out her name over and over again but there was no reply. Mia decided to take a little tour around the house.

She continued admiring the artworks that seemed to be everywhere in the room. It finally dawned on her what the change in the house was. "It's the smell". She could smell a sweet smell coming from somewhere in the house.

She followed the scent, sniffing as she went on to find exactly where it came from. Mia chanced upon Elijah in the kitchen wearing an apron. He had made a little fire from wood. He continued his story as he prepared breakfast for Mia. It was already day break. Mia wondered where he had gotten the food stuff from. Elijah smiled. "Don't worry about that".

"I used to be a happy lad. I would walk with my dad and brother back into town every morning to school. He always picked us back home after school. But one day after taken me to school alone. He never came for me. I waited and waited till everyone left. I walked through the lonely bushes to the house". He served Mia a cup of tea and some steak he had roasted on the fire

"I wondered what could have made my dad not to pick me up. My world came crashing on me as I entered the house. My entire family had being slaughtered including my baby brother who was just months old".

Elijah gave out a loud cry as he continued telling his spine chilling story to Mia. "What could have happened to them?", Mia asked as she sobbed. She was touched by his story.

"I cried as I called my mom and dad to wake up but I was too late. They had been died for may hours. I had nowhere to go to, nobody to hold on to. I heard some noise coming out of the basement. There were traces of blood leading into the doorway through to the basement.

Mia continued to listen to the gory story of Elijah as she sipped her tea. She felt sad but she was too hungry to deny herself the delicious steak he had prepared just for her.

"I slowly entered the basement with tears running down my face. I wondered what could be making those sounds down in the basement. The noise ceased. There was nothing but complete darkness. I couldn't see a thing. I could sense that there was someone or something in there with me but I just couldn't see what it was. Suddenly something gripped me from behind me. I couldn't breathe, see or hear anything. That is all I remember from that day", Elijah said wiping away his tears from his face.

Mia couldn't help but broke into tears as well. "You were so innocent to have gone through that. I am sorry", She said. Elijah shook his head trying to signal her not to worry. "It's none of your fault".

"I woke up to see my tired. I could here chattering around but my eyes were to blurry to see anything or anyone. Whatever killed my family had brought me there but why, I wondered. Then I heard a strange voice talk to me I couldn't look at his face; I could only hear his voice", Elijah said as he continued narrating his dreadful past to his new found love.