A journey to freedom

ChapterTwo

"Elope?" Selene exclaimed. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm not," Seraphina replied. "I just can't imagine being stuck with Tristan for the rest of my life."

"The rehearsal dinner's tomorrow and you're going to run away with Jackson of all people?" Selene asked. "He's trouble, Sera. And you know it."

"No, he's not. He's just misunderstood. I'm the only one who gets him."

Selene shook her head. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing," Seraphina got off the bed and walked towards her stepsister. "You don't have to do anything. Look, Mom and Dad are going to forgive me, okay? They love me too much to be angry forever. I just need to get out of this."

"If you knew you didn't want to marry him, you should never have gone along with it," Selene said angrily. "Do you know what position you're going to put us in with the Vortexes?"

"Chill, Selene. It'll work out. I haven't decided to elope. Jackson just told me to think about it." "And are you?"

Seraphina looked up, confused. "Am I what?"

"Are you thinking about it?"

"Maybe?" She took Selene's arm. "Look, forget I said anything. Let's chalk it up to a minute of madness. Of course, I'm going to marry Tristan. Let's go to the kitchen. I want to taste the cakes."

They walked down the stairs hand in hand with Seraphina chatting a mile a minute like she hadn't just dropped an atomic bomb on her sister. Selene struggled to push Seraphina's words out of her mind, but Seraphina's constant attempts to draw Selene out of her thoughts eventually succeeded and Selene soon forgot Seraphina's news of eloping with Jackson.

***

The night before the wedding

Selene was sitting on a stool at the bar, nursing a glass of wine when Helen approached. "Where's Seraphina?" Helen asked.

Selene's brow furrowed. "What do you mean where is she? She should be getting ready to come out."

"And why aren't you with her?"

Selene shrugged. "She told me to leave that she could handle it."

"And you left?" Helen questioned. "I knew you were low but I didn't think you were this low. Go and get her now. Tristan and his family are starting to get antsy."

"Okay, okay," Selene said as she slid off the stool.

"And please drop the wine. Don't embarrass me tonight."

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of it, Helen."

Selene entered the mansion and made for Seraphina's room. After knocking for several minutes with no response, she pushed the door open only to find the room empty.

"Sera?" she called. "This is not funny. Your mom wants you to come downstairs now." There was no response. A cold breeze filtered in through the open window.

"What? Why is this open?" Selene shut the window and glanced at Seraphina's desk. There was an envelope with the words "I'm sorry" written on the back.

With shaky hands, Selene tire into the envelope and read the contents. It was a note from Seraphina. It read:

Dear Mom, Dad and Selene, I'm really sorry to put you in this position. I don't feel anything for Tristan and there's no way we could work. I'm running away, please don't try to look for me. I'm safe, I promise. I love you and I'm sorry.

Grasping the note in her hand, Selene ran back down the stairs, meeting Helen at the landing. "What? Why are you running? Where's Seraphina?" Helen bombarded Selene with questions.

Selene handed Helen the note. Helen pulled it open and her eyes went wide as she read its contents.

"When did this happen?" Helen asked Selene, her voice shaking. "How could you let this happen?"

"I didn't know. I didn't know she was going to do anything. You told me to go get her and I did just that. When I got to her room, she wasn't there. I found the window open and a note on her desk."

"You should never have left her alone!" Helen yelled. Murmurs rose in the hall as the guests glanced at them. Helen grabbed Selene's hand and dragged her into another room.

"What are we going to tell people?" Helen whispered to herself. James entered the room, news of an argument between his wife and daughter having reached him.

"What's going on?" he asked, shutting the door behind him. "Where's Seraphina?"

Helen gave James the note and he read it, his expression morphing into shock and a unhealthy dose of fear.

"Where did she go?" he asked Selene. "I don't know!"

James sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Look, there's no time for this. How do we keep other people from finding out?"

"There's only one thing that can be done. We lie," Helen began, her face whipping into a slight smirk. "We'll tell them Seraphina doesn't feel too good. That she's on her period. So she won't be able to attend the rehearsal dinner. Selene will take her place."

"f**k, no!" Selene said emphatically. "I'm not doing that shit." "Language, Selene," James chided her.

Helen faced Selene. "No? You should have thought about that before. You should have kept an eye on her. But you didn't and that's on you. Whatever happens now is entirely your fault. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"That's not fair," Selene said.

"Well, I'll tell you something for free. Life's not fair. So suck it up, buttercup. You're going to stand in for Seraphina tonight and you're going to buy us the time we need to find her. She can't have gone far. And you will not embarrass me."

"Okay," James said, nodding. "That sounds like a plan." He glanced at his daughter. "I'm sorry, Selene."

"Now, let's go and tell people of the new developments," Helen said, making for the door. "Chop chop, people. Let's get to work."

Helen walked out of the room, James on her heels. Selene took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself before walking out of the room.

Helen and James were already herding the guests towards the garden where the rehearsal dinner and the wedding was to take place. Selene felt trepidation rise in her chest but she choked it down and smiled widely at the guests. Someone handed her a bouquet and soon, Selene was walking down the aisle towards Tristan.

At the end of the aisle, Tristan stood. He wore a pair of dark wash jeans and a tee that stretched across his wide chest. His hair fell in soft and silky waves over his forehead and a dust of stubble coated his chin. A tingle of something she couldn't put a name to ran through Selene.

When Selene reached Tristan, she didn't meet his eyes. The priest walked them through their vows and the necessary cues they needed to know and soon, everyone was eating and chatting away.

Selene was helping herself to some of the devilled eggs when she heard a voice behind her.

"So where's your sister?"

Selene turned to find Tristan standing there.

"Oh, hi," she said, wiping her hands on a soft towel. "She's not feeling the best. It's that time of the month, you know?"

Tristan c****d a dark brow. "No, I don't know and you better not be lying to me. If I find out that you and your family are trying to screw me over, it won't go down well for you."

Selene raised her brows and shrugged. "Um, okay?"

Tristan shot her one last glare and walked away.

"What an asshole," Selene said to herself. "Seraphina better come get him off my hands."

Things pretty much died down after that. But Selene's fear kept rising. They still hadn't found Seraphina. Apparently, she'd broken into James' study and made off with a lot of money as well as Selene's Anton Chu necklace. It was pretty clear that she wasn't coming back. The question then was, what the hell was Selene going to do?