Passionate Vengeance

Chapter 6

Should We Tell Him?

For the next few hours, Elsa paced back and forth in her room, wondering if Thomas was going to be alright. The thought of losing her youngest child was sickening to the very core, and even more damaging since it was her eldest son who caused it. Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and Paul walked inside. Elsa ran over to him, and wrapped her arms around him. Behind him were Anna and Kristoff who also came in. "Well, how is he?" she asked, anxiously.

"He's fine," Paul reassured.

"Grand Pabbie took care of him," Kristoff added. "The damage wasn't too significant, but he did urge us to be more careful."

Elsa gave a sigh of relief. Her baby boy was safe. "Where is he now?"

"I just tucked him in," Paul said. "He's sleeping."

"I'd like to see him."

"Of course."

Elsa went to Thomas's room, and slowly walked inside. She took a seat on the edge of the bed, and looked at her son, sleeping soundly. Thank the Lord he was alright. She didn't know what she would do if anything were to happen to her children. Elsa leaned in close, and kissed Thomas on the forehead. The young boy stirred a little, but otherwise did not wake. When Elsa returned to the bedroom, she found Paul explaining to Anna and Kristoff what had happened.

"That's pretty serious! He could have been really hurt," Anna said.

"I know, I'm just glad that he's OK."

"What on earth would cause Eric to do such a thing?" Anna asked.

"I have no idea. Eric has always loved Thomas, the two are more than brothers, their best friends. Lately, he doesn't seem to take much interest in him.

"Did you tell them what he said to us?" Elsa asked, jumping into the conversation.

Paul looked at her, knowing exactly what she was referring too.

"Eric asked Elsa where she got the scars on her back?" Paul explained. "And he mentioned that Aaron had given them to her."

Kristoff and Anna gasped; they too had always tried to keep Aaron's terrible deeds a secret. They never expected Eric to find out.

"How did he know about that?" Anna asked.

"I don't know," Paul answered. "But I can tell you how shocked we were to hear it. We all vowed never to discuss Aaron until our children came of age, but it seems that those secrets have emerged from the shadows."

"Well, now that he knows, are you going to explain it to him?" Kristoff asked.

Paul and Elsa looked at each other, both uncertain of what to say.

"I mean if he knows about the scars, you might as well," Kristoff added.

"I agree. Let him know the full story. He's fifteen years old, he can handle it," Anna said.

"But what if he tells Thomas? He's still too young to know the truth!" Elsa said.

"Then you can explain it to him as well. I'm sure both of them will understand."

Elsa bit her tongue; she didn't want to think about exposing her children to that vile man who long ago had lusted after her. To this day she still had nightmares of fighting him in the castle. She could still hear his taunting voice as he shot one blast of fire after another at her. When Aaron died, Elsa thought all the problems would go away, but she didn't count on the memory haunting her. It was just like it was with the incident with Anna, many years ago. She wanted to forget it, but couldn't. Aaron had left both physical and mental scars on both her and Paul.

"I just don't know how were going to explain this," Paul confessed.

"It's not something you casually bring up. And Lord knows what they'll do when they hear that I'm the one who killed him."

"You had to do it," Anna said. He would have killed Elsa otherwise."

"I know, but that still doesn't take away the fact that I murdered my own brother. As evil as Aaron was, he was still my brother."

Tears fell from Paul's eyes as he reminisced on that night fifteen years ago, when he pulled the trigger of his gun, and fired the fatal bullet that struck Aaron in the head—killing him instantly. It was true, he did it to save Elsa—the woman he loved, but it was still murder nonetheless. In a way, he had sunk to Aaron's level, and had become the killer that he was. Though Elsa, and the rest told him it wasn't like that at all, he still couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Paul, you're a hero," Kristoff said. "If it weren't for you, thousands of people would be dead right now. I know Aaron was your brother, but that doesn't excuse what he did. He murdered your parents, stole the throne, blackmailed Elsa, and banished you from your own kingdom. He wasn't a good person, Paul. That's something you can't deny."

"You're right," Paul agreed. "Aaron was a monster, and he did terrible things. Nonetheless, he will always be my brother, no matter what."

Kristoff didn't bother arguing with him. He knew that Paul only meant the best, even if he couldn't see the truth in everything. With that, Anna and him bid Paul and Elsa good night, and returned to their room.

After they left, Paul came over, and kissed Elsa on the lips, all the while running his hand through her hair.

"It's going to be OK," he reassured. "We'll explain it to him together. He's a smart boy, he'll understand."

Elsa wiped her eyes, and looked at him. "I hope you're right," she said.

"I am. You'll see! We'll tell him tomorrow. Now let's stop all this worrying, and go to bed." Elsa nodded, and the two scooted under the covers together, holding together throughout the night.

Unbeknownst to his mother and father, Eric was out on the streets, taking a walk with Isabelle.

"Now are you convinced that your parents murdered your uncle?" Isabelle asked him.

"Yes. Yes I am," Eric said with confidence.

"And are you ready to avenge him, and bring them to justice?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now let's begin the first step in our plan."

A/N: Killer cliffhanger I know? Next chapter will be a fun one to write. Eric is slowly being brainwashed by this woman, and being turned against the people who love him the most. What will he do? Stay tuned.