The next month or so had gone by pretty routinely. My life followed a pretty regular pattern of work, training, and babysitting the guard since their immaturity and childishness made them a little risky to be left alone.
Before I knew it, September became October and the trees which had once been green had faded out to brilliant orange hues. Halloween was only a few weeks away, Christmas just a few months away, and soon enough the snow I'd so much been looking forward to would be back.
I pushed open Marcus' door and sat on his sofa with my legs up opposite his in a split second. "Hey, babe."
He placed his book down on his coffee table with a warm smile. "Hello, tesoro. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
I shrugged. "Bored, the guard are all preparing for Halloween for some reason, I needed someone to irritate, and Aro and Caius are both in meetings so you seemed like the perfect option."
"That is a valid excuse if I have ever heard one," he chuckled. "Go on then, irritate me. I am intrigued to hear your attempts."
"What irritates you?"
He playfully thought about it for a moment. "I dislike talking in general. Silence is much more blissful."
"That's easy enough then, let's have a conversation," I bounced in my seat, "What should we talk about? Ooh, I still haven't heard your back story!" I squealed.
"My back story? It is not nearly as interesting as you are expecting, bellissima, I can assure you," he laughed.
I nestled back into the cushions. "I'll be the judge of that."
He rolled his eyes. "Okay, if you wish. I was born in what you would consider ancient Greece in approximately 1350 BC, rendering me the eldest of my brothers. My human memory may be the worst of my brothers, but I was a well respected warrior in Greece, and I do believe I was given a title as well, although I cannot recall what. Marcus the…I truly do not remember."
"You were a warrior?" I asked in disbelief. Marcus was just so—soft and gentle.
He nodded in confirmation. "For a long while, I was considered the most deadly immortal of our race, to be avoided and feared at all costs. Many still fear me to this day. Alas, I am not quite the fighter I used to be."
I snorted in laughter before quickly composing myself. "Sorry, sorry, you're just so nice, I can't imagine you like some kind of deadly warrior guy. In fairness, you did kick my ass in the training room that one time."
He shrugged with a smug grin. "Well, it is true. I very vaguely remember my transformation. I was travelling alone very late at night, maybe slightly too late to be alone in the first place, when I was attacked by what I now know to be a vampire. When I awoke several days later, I continued a nomadic lifestyle through Europe until my path crossed with Aro which was when our coven was first formed."
"So you have not a Scooby-Doo who transformed you?" I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a cartoon dog?"
"Yeah, but the term is also used as a substitute for the word 'clue'," I told him.
"In that case, no, I do not have a 'Scooby-Doo' who my creator was. There is no creator bond extended from me so I can safely assume that either the bond was destroyed or they themselves were destroyed."
"Creator bonds? That's a thing?" I questioned.
"Yes, vampires will automatically have a bond attaching themselves to their creator. In most cases, said vampire will look up to their creator, protect them with their life, idolise them. However, in your case with the Romanians," he snarled that word hauntingly, which would've given me goosebumps if I could get them, "your bond was so weak in the first place that it was broken mere days after you initially awoke from your transformation. I don't believe you noticed the removal of said bond really, since it was so insignificant. You may have felt a temporary ache but that will have only lasted for a second at most."
"Huh, didn't even notice," I giggled.
"So what about you, bellissima? What is your 'back story'?"
I laughed. "Okay, back story time! Eliana Sofie Arrowood was born on the 7th of August 1988 in Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, England, to Sarah Arrowood and Joseph Arrowood," I giggled. "My upbringing was nothing special to be honest. I never had any siblings and my parents and I lived quite comfortably in a nice house, which you've seen, in a nice suburban neighbourhood.
"My parents used to work abroad a lot. They'd be gone for…weeks really, and I'd be left in the UK with my great aunt Bertha. She died of cancer actually, which was a little sad to be honest, but anyway, she used to take care of me and I spent a lot of my childhood in her depressing little house. She was a just little scary and very strict, but she cared about me in her own twisted and senile way I guess," I shrugged. "One time, I must've been maybe six years old, and I accidentally dropped a glass jar of…I think pickles maybe on the kitchen floor. The whole thing shattered and made a giant mess, and I wasn't allowed any form of entertainment for the remaining weeks of my stay with her as punishment. No books, no TV, no games, no drawing, literally nothing. On the plus side, I took a lot of naps."
"Oh, tesoro," he sympathised, tugging me over into his arms.
"It's no big deal," I assured. "Anyway, I had very few friends growing up. I was always considered the weird kid at school. I was bullied a lot, mostly just because girls are horrible and I didn't really 'fit in' per se. Just the basic name-calling, taunting, spreading bullshit rumours etc. but I got used to it after a while."
"Tesoro, you should never have to 'get used to' bullying. I wish I had been there to defend and comfort you when you were so small," he tightened his grip on me. "And your parents did nothing about this issue?"
I sighed. "They contacted the school but nothing ended up happening about it. Schools in England are known for their terrible anti-bullying policies. One girl, Polly was her name, literally pushed me over in front of a teacher and that teacher did nothing about it. I simply got up, picked up my bag which fell on the ground, and carried on with my day as usual, saving the crying for the car ride home."
"That is awful, il mio amore. I am sorry you had to go through that."
"I…I've been through worse," I insisted.
And it was true. I had been through worse. Now I'd been through much worse. If I thought my life was hard before.
Memories consistently began to replay in my head of that dark room, that metal bed I was strapped to, those men, and what they did to me, the way they were all over me. It felt like I was being choked and I felt myself beginning to physically tremble.
I didn't even realise when I began dry sobbing uncontrollably into Marcus' chest, or when he moved me to his bed, or when Aro and Caius entered while I continued to wordlessly bawl my eyes out, or their soothing words whispered into my ear.
There was no escape. I was being suffocated, like heavy stones weighing down on my chest. The way they touched me, the things they did to me, I felt like I was back in that torture chamber all over again.
The kings' muffled voices were trying to soothe me, but my mind was too trapped and encased. I'd been trying to push down everything, to distract myself with work and training, allowing every memory to inevitably bubble up to the surface like an open floodgate. Every burn, every touch, every stab, it was like I could feel it all as if they had their disgusting hands all over my weak body again.
"Hush, we are here now, you are safe, hush now my little Eliana…"
As quickly as the flashback appeared, it disappeared again and I was dropped carelessly back into reality. My face was pressed into Caius' chest and I nuzzled further into him while gripping onto the lapels of his suit. Aro and Marcus were both curled around me comfortingly as the sobs continued to roll out of me in waves.
"That's it, carissima, cry it out, you are okay, you are safe, we are here, no one can hurt you anymore," Caius whispered tenderly.
The dry sobs began to die out again slowly until I was lying in silence once more. My breath was still quivered and I could still feel my limbs trembling, but the consistent purring from all three of them at once began to numb my senses once more and made it easier for me to focus and calm myself again. And then there was silence.
"Tesoro…," Marcus began.
No words would come out of my mouth even if I willed them to. Instead, I curled up tighter into Caius and he gathered me closely in his arms.
Marcus pressed a kiss to my temple and continued. "You mustn't allow these emotions to accumulate in this way. None of this is your fault, you are never to blame. We love you and we are here for you, please remember that."
I took a sharp intake of breath and nodded, inhaling their soothing scents in an attempt to ground myself again. Caius sat up a little against the headboard with me still curled up delicately in his arms sideways on his lap.
Aro held my hand in his and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. "I know what you went through, what you saw, what those filthy bastards did to you. You are safe, I promise, we will always protect you at all costs, il mio amore. Never will anything like that happen again. You are not to blame at all, do you understand? You are not at fault, you never were. This was unpreventable. We love you, okay?"
I physically felt unable to say anything, frozen in a mixture of overwhelming shock and sadness. The three of them sat with me in silence for a few hours, not a word spoken. Caius softly purred into my hair and cuddled me to him protectively.
The road to recovery was going to be a long one.
And this was only the beginning.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: Okay so I know this chapter's a little short but intense, but it's been a long time coming. Basically, after everything Eli went through, she'd been trying to distract herself from the stress and trauma, and it all bubbles up to breaking point in here since of course, no one can just recover with a click of their fingers, especially after an experience as traumatising as what she went through. I think I cried a little myself while writing this if I'm honest…
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love to know what you think, stay safe, and ily lots!