I know her
1119 Words
*Aurelia's POV*
The rest of the afternoon passed far too slowly. I spent most of it pretending to read a book while actually thinking about three completely different things.
The first was Kael.
Unfortunately.
The second was Celeste. More importantly.
And the third was the increasingly uncomfortable realization that I had come to the house with a purpose and somehow managed to get distracted from it.
By Kael. Again. I hated that.
By dinner, I was already annoyed with myself. The dining room was quieter than usual when I walked in.
Vivienne sat at her usual place. Marcus was there while Adrian was scrolling through something on his phone.
And Celeste was seated near Vivienne as though she belonged there. Something about that bothered me. I wasn't sure why.
Maybe because she seemed too comfortable. Or maybe because every time I looked at her, I felt like I was forgetting something important.
“Good evening, Eliora.” Celeste smiled warmly.
I returned the smile. “Good evening.”
Her eyes lingered on me a second too long. Then she looked away. The conversation around the table continued normally at least for everyone else.
I felt like I was sitting in the middle of something invisible. Like everybody knew something I didn't.
The only empty seat belonged to Kael. A few minutes later he walked in. The moment he appeared, my stomach betrayed me.
He looked exhausted. His tie was loose and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up. He looked like somebody who had spent his entire day arguing with people.
I immediately looked away. Unfortunately, not before noticing him do the exact same thing.
God.
This was embarrassing.
Dinner began. For several minutes nobody said anything particularly interesting. Then Celeste spoke.
“So Eliora, tell me about yourself.”
I looked up. Her tone sounded casual, friendly, normal.
Yet something about the question made me cautious. “What about me?”
She laughed softly. “Anything.”
I shrugged. “There isn't much to tell.”
“Where did you grow up?”
“Alfriston.”
“Family?”
“Not many.”
“What did you study?”
I paused. “Why?”
The question escaped before I could stop it. For a split second, Celeste looked surprised. Then she smiled again.
“I was just curious.”
“Do you ask everybody this many questions?” I asked.
Marcus immediately looked up from his plate.
Adrian coughed into his drink.
Vivienne frowned.
Celeste laughed. “I suppose that sounded worse than I intended.”
“A little.”
“Sorry.”
The apology came too easily then her attention shifted elsewhere. The conversation moved on. But the strange feeling remained.
By the time dinner ended, I was exhausted. Not physically but mentally.
I stood up. “Goodnight.”
Everybody looked up but said nothing. I made it halfway down the hallway before I heard footsteps behind me.
I didn't need to turn around. I already knew who it was.
Kael. Of course.
I kept walking. The footsteps sped up then stopped beside me. “Aurelia.”
I closed my eyes. There it was again. That name. That stupid name.
Slowly, I turned.
“It's Eliora.”
His jaw tightened. “Right.”
For a moment neither of us spoke. The silence felt painfully familiar. Almost as bad as the silence after the kiss. Neither of us seemed willing to mention it which somehow made it worse.
Finally Kael exhaled. “I wanted to apologise.”
I blinked.
The words caught me off guard. “What?”
“About the other night.”
There it was. The topic we'd both been avoiding. Part of me wanted to run. The other part wanted to hear what he had to say.
Unfortunately, the second part was losing.
“You don't need to apologise.”
Something flickered across his face. Relief. Then confusion then hope which was unfortunate because my next sentence destroyed all three.
“It didn't mean anything.”
The words sounded harsher out loud. But I didn't take them back. “It was a mistake.”
Kael went completely still. I forced myself to continue. “I was drunk.”
Silence.
“And honestly?” I folded my arms. “I don't plan on staying here forever anyway.”
His eyes met mine. For the first time all evening, he looked genuinely hurt.
“I know.” The response was direct. Something twisted painfully inside me. I ignored it.
Good. This was good. The distance was good. It meant clarity. Distant meant remembering why I was here.
“I hope your investigation is going well.” I said.
His expression changed slightly but I noticed it immediately.
Good. Let him think about that. Let him remember this wasn't a vacation. I wasn't here to make friends. And I definitely wasn't here to kiss him again.
Without another word, I turned and continued walking. This time he didn't follow. I made it all the way to my room, closed the door and locked it. Then leaned back against it.
My heart was racing. I hated that. I hated saying those things hurt. I hated that part of me regretted it and most of all I hated that even now I remembered the kiss.
I pushed myself away from the door and walked toward the bed.
Then I froze. A sudden image flashed through my mind so quickly I almost missed it.
Rain. Darkness. The images came without warning. So vivid they stole the air from my lungs.
I gripped the edge of the bed before my knees could give out. Rain hammered against glass.
Not outside. But inside a car. My breathing became uneven. There had been shouting.
A woman's voice. Then another voice who somewhat sounded familiar. Neither of them clear enough to understand. Only anger and fear.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt a sharp pain in my head but that wasn't enough.
Headlights. Someone screaming and shouting and then I saw blood. I figured that could be me. “No….” I staggered back a step.
My pulse pounded against my throat. There was a ring. Silver, it was engraved. The symbol….I knew that symbol. The harder I tried to remember, the faster everything slipped away.
Silence.
I opened my eyes. The room came back to normal. The bed, the lamp, the curtains. I was shaking.
Slowly, I lifted a trembling hand to my chest. “...What was that?”
The question lingered unanswered. Then another thought surfaced. And all of a sudden every hair on the back of my neck stood up.
My heart stopped.
“...I've definitely seen Celeste before.”
- Writer
