A/N: Hey guys! So I just wanted to explain something about my plans for the story and the structure of it. For any of you who might be wondering, where is this story going? This story is strongly driven by Eliza's memories. By giving her a much different past, I think it changes her character a lot from the original. The events that take place in this story are influenced by the choices that she's made in the past. Just clearing it up for anyone who might have been confused!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Hamilton.
Alexander tossed and turned in his bed sheets, willing himself to sleep. He simply couldn't, listening to the eerie sound of the wind howling. Whistling. Taunting him. Alexander hated storms with a passion and his anxiety always seemed to come out to play during them. The way that the rain would tap against the roof made it seem the world would cave in around him. The way that lightning would eerily light up the surrounding world, but only for a split second. And the worst was the thunder. How it shook the ground he walked on and seemed to shatter his ears.
It was also incredibly cold and the chill seeped in through the walls and chilled the very bones that made up his body. A shot of guilt went through him as he thought of Eliza. If he was cold, surely she was positively frozen by now. However, his father was currently in the kitchen, even at this ungodly hour of the morning, finishing some last minute paperwork before leaving on a two-month long business trip.
Alexander wished to bring Eliza blankets or tea, or something, but it would be highly suspicious if his father were to see him leaving and heading to the mill at this time. So he was forced to just lie there and suffer. Suffer, he thought to himself. I haven't suffered a deal of anything in my life. I suppose if Eliza has been through all of that before, she could deal with the cold. Alexander longed to just go and defy his father, but God knows what happened the last time he did that. Alexander couldn't wait until his father left on his trip. Alone with his thoughts, Alexander thought,
This is going to be quite a long night.
Eliza shivered under the thin woolen blankets. The tin mill rattled fiercely in the harsh winds and the frigid air somehow made its way even closer to Eliza. She had been staying in the mill for about a year now. Summer had come and went in the blink of an eye and took its pleasant nights with it in its flee.
Eliza remembered staring up at the roof with Alexander on many occasions, both of them groaning and grumbling and wishing for it to be cooler. It was like a sauna in the mill as the tin walls absorbed the heat from outside and trapped it within. The sweat had dripped down Eliza's face and made her feel sticky and in need of an urgent bathing. She recalled saying to Alexander; What I would give for it to be winter again. She chuckled now, remembering this as she lay in the blistering cold. "What I would give for it to be summer again." She said to herself quietly.
After quite a long while, the wind became almost like a haunting lullaby to her, and thoughts became muddled as her body allowed itself to be succumbed to sleep.
"Eliza please!" Her mother called after Eliza, who had skipped too far ahead to be easily seen. "Stay where I can see you darling!"
With a groan Eliza slowed down, but could not stay glum for long. The sun baked down on her and the breeze was just pleasant enough that she did not feel overheated. What surrounded her was a lush canopy of emerald green trees, brightly coloured birds chirping and swooping above her, and wild mushrooms growing on the sides of trees and rocks. The way that this section curved into almost a sheltered tunnel made Eliza feel as if she were some sort of fairy that she had read about in a favoured story book of hers. She hummed a tune to herself as she merrily walked along one of the trails of the Białowieża Forest. Her parents had decided to vacation there, knowing how much their children loved the outdoors. To say that Eliza was enjoying herself would be an understatement. To have her first vacation here! She was filled to the brim with joy.
They had already seen so many amazing things in their short time there. Many different animals, but mostly the bison that abundant there, and fascinating insects, including dragonflies, which Eliza was especially fond of. But what Eliza loved most of all was the scenery. The massive boulders and tress accompanied by the massive fields of wildflowers that Eliza would have happily immersed herself in all day.
She especially loved the willow trees that they had seen when passing through a swampy part of the forest. Most of the family had walked right through the swamp, claiming that there were too many mosquitoes and gnats for them to handle, but Eliza had wanted to see the weeping willows up close and had wanted her father to accompany her. He had hoisted her up on his shoulders and trekked through the mud. Eliza grabbed the hanging leaves off the trees and tied it around her hair, creating a bow.
"Papa, look at my hair!" She giggled, tossing her hair dramatically. "Do you like it?" She said leaning down so that her face was at level with his, and holding the willow dramatically.
"You look beautiful, darling." He cooed, placing her back on the ground. She laughed, hiding her blushing face and running farther ahead, past the rest of her family and onwards down the stream side path.
She felt strong arms wrap around her waist and spin her in the air from behind. She playfully shrieked, a huge smile evident on her face, knowing that she wasn't truly in any danger. She turned her head slightly and saw a familiar mass of dark curls. "Angie!" She laughed. "Let me down!"
She was brought to the ground and Angelica turned Eliza to face her. "There you are, silly!" She said, tucking a stray group of hairs behind Eliza's ear. "We can't have you running off like that, monkey, okay? You're going to scare mama and papa!" She said playfully.
"Okay, Angie," Eliza said, not really listening. "But you have to see me!" Eliza tugged Angelica forward, holding her hand. She dragged her around a curve in the path to where an archway of trees stood. "Angie look!" She turned to Angelica and slowly fluttered her arms, standing on her tiptoes.
"My name is Elizabeth, and I live in 'The Valley of Color Days'." She said in an airy high-pitched voice, pretending to be a fairy from one of her books. She moved up and down slowly, still fluttering her arms extended outwards from her, trying to create the illusion that she was flying.
Eliza saw that Angelica wasn't really looking at her and was curious why. She always played make believe with her. Instead, Angelica was looking at a magnificent dragonfly that was perched on her wrist. Eliza slowly 'fluttered' over to Angie to also look in awe at the insect. Angelica saw her interest and smiled, deciding to play along with Eliza.
"Why look what we have here! One of my beautiful dragonfly friends! He must want to go see a lovely fairy, like you, Elizabeth. Here, stretch your finger out."
Eliza giggled and reached out her hand, with her pointer finger extended. Angelica slowly moved her wrist closer to Eliza's finger. The dragonfly cautiously moved from Angelica to Eliza, and once inspecting the environment, it decided to rest there.
"My goodness, Elizabeth, it loves you!" Said Angelica. "Well, I suppose it would love a beautiful fairy much more than a simple commoner, like me." She said, playing into the game, and tugging at the willow leaves that had formed a bow at the back of her ponytail.
"No!" Protested Eliza, flinging her arms down to her sides, causing the dragonfly to fly away. "Angie, you can be a fairy too! Just wait here!" And with that, she headed out into the field of wildflowers and quickly got to work. Angelica watched her with an amused smile on her face. The look of concentration on her little face was adorable as she focused on picking what she viewed as the best flowers. Once she had her bouquet, she set to twisting them all elaborately together to form a rather large flower crown.
She skipped out of the field and down to the path, proudly displaying her newly made crown for Angelica. "Angie bend your head down!" Angelica smiled and bent her head.
"I hereby declare thee, Angelica, fairy of 'The Valley of Color Days'!" Eliza announced in a very serious sounding voice, placing the crown of pink and white wildflowers onto Angelica's head. "Angie now you're a fairy too!" She exclaimed.
"I am indeed, Eliza." She chuckled, fixing her curls and bringing her hair in front of her shoulders. Eliza turned away from Angelica to explore further down the path, but Angelica harshly tugged her back to face her. Eliza noticed that Angelica's smile had hardened quite a bit, instead turning into a cold grimace. "Now we can't have you running off like that again, can we?" She asked pointedly, grabbing Eliza's chin roughly and forcing her to look Angelica in the eye.
Eliza squirmed a little in Angelica's hold and physically shrank back a bit. "Ow, Angie. That hurts," She mumbled and turned her head away from Angelica's cold stare slightly, quite embarrassed that she was getting reprimanded in this way. Her pale cheeks noticeably flushed a dark pink and the rest of her face and neck followed suit.
Angelica dug her nails into Eliza's chin sharply and turned her head towards her again. "Eliza. Look. At. Me." She growled, announcing each word separately. Her face impossibly blurred and became unrecognizable for a moment. Eliza shivered as Angelica seemed to grow larger and tower over her.
Eliza's eyes went wide. "Angelica, you're scaring me." She said, brows furrowing and frown deepening. She turned away and tried to sprint away to her parents, but a strong arm harshly clamped down on her arm and roughly pulled her back.
The scene changed around dramatically to not the middle of the Białowieża Forest, but a large bedroom, and was met face to face not with Angelica, but Thomas, yanking the thin night dress off of her body.
Eliza woke up gasping for breath, the world around her spinning. She sobbed into her hands, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She frantically looked around at the surrounding dark aluminum walls. Real, she tried to reassure herself. This is now, and this is real. That was a long time ago. She thought that she was safe from everything. The outside world seemed so far away. But this had reminded her that she couldn't escape from the demons that dwelled inside of her. The demons that were trying to crawl out and were threatening to destroy everything she once knew.
The official looking paper stuck to the only bulletin board in the drafty train station. It warned to be on the lookout for 'the troublesome Jew'. Suspected criminal's names and sketches accompanied the notice.
A man stood in front of that list, concentrating so hard on it that it seemed like he was studying it. His dark eyes raked down the list and stopped dead when they saw a specific name and face to match. He briskly marched out of the ticket office and into the storm, rain boots splashing in the shallow puddles that filled the potholes on the abandoned street. He marched up to the only thing resembling a decent place to stay in the small town.
His intense stare frightened the girl sitting at the desk. Her nametag read Maria. "Is there any room available?" He asked with a cold chill in his voice.
"Um, y-yes. There's room. Um n-name?" She stammered, obviously uncomfortable.
He gave his name and was given the key to his room straight away. He dropped his tattered rucksack onto the floor and flopped onto his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. No coherent thoughts ran through his head except for one phrase that he seemed to repeat like a mantra.
But is it her but is it her but is it her but is it her
She had to be in town somewhere. She couldn't have gone far. He needed her. He needed her back in his control and he would not let her get away like that again. Never again.
A/N: Please review! It helps me get through writer's block and gets chapters out sooner. I always want to know what you think of the story! Love you all!