The Watcher
1166 Words
Chapter 12: The Watcher
Elara
I couldn't move.
The figure stood at the edge of the cemetery, half-hidden in the shadows of the trees. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Motionless. Watching me.
My heart hammered against my ribs. My breath came in shallow gasps.
"Kael," I whispered.
He was already moving. Stepping in front of me, his body shielding mine. His hand went to his waistband where I knew he kept his gun.
The figure didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Just watched.
"Who are you?" Kael's voice was sharp, cutting through the silence.
No answer.
"Show yourself."
The figure stepped forward.
I saw his face.
He was older than I expected. Mid-fifties. Silver streaking through dark hair. His face was lined with age, but his eyes were sharp. Piercing. Familiar.
I'd seen those eyes before.
In the photograph.
Dorian Cross.
He stopped a few feet away, his gaze fixed on me. His expression was unreadable. But I saw something flicker in his eyes. Recognition. Or maybe regret.
"Elara," he said. His voice was low. Rough. Like he hadn't spoken in days. "I've been looking for you."
I pressed myself closer to Kael. "Stay away from me."
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"Then why are you here?"
He was quiet for a moment. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and silver. A locket. Old. Worn.
He held it out to me.
"I'm here to give you this," he said. "Your mother wanted you to have it."
I stared at the locket. The same one I'd seen in Elena's shoebox. The one with the faded picture of my mother and a man I didn't recognize.
Dorian.
"What is it?" I whispered.
"Something your mother asked me to keep safe. In case anything happened to her."
I shook my head. "I don't want anything from you."
"Elara"
"You're the one who's been hunting me. You're the one my mother warned me about." My voice cracked. "Why would I trust you?"
Dorian's jaw tightened. "Your mother was protecting you. From me. From the truth. From everything." He stepped closer, his eyes burning. "But I'm not the enemy, Elara. I never was."
"Then who is?"
He didn't answer. He just held out the locket, his hand steady.
"Please," he said quietly. "Just take it."
I looked at Kael. His grey eyes were hard, watchful. He didn't trust Dorian. Neither did I.
But something about the locket drew me in. Something familiar. Something I couldn't name.
I reached out and took it.
The metal was cold in my palm. I turned it over, studying the worn surface. It was old. Faded. But the image inside was still visible.
My mother. And Dorian. Younger. Their arms around each other. Smiling.
I looked up at him, my heart pounding.
"Who are you to my mother?"
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he spoke, his voice barely a whisper.
"I was her best friend. Her protector."
"Protector from what?"
He shook his head. "Not here."
"Tell me."
He looked around the cemetery, his eyes scanning the shadows. "This place isn't safe. We need to leave."
"Not until you tell me who you are."
He met my eyes, and I saw something flicker in his expression. Conflict. Pain.
"I was someone your mother trusted," he said slowly. "Someone she loved."
"Loved?"
He was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke, his voice low. "Your mother and I had a history. A long one. Before Michael. Before the Nacht family. Before everything."
I stared at him. "What kind of history?"
"I can't tell you that." He looked at Kael, then back at me. "Not here. Not now."
"Why not?"
"Because if they find out I told you—" He stopped, shaking his head. "If they find out I found you, they'll come for both of us."
"Who will?"
He didn't answer. He just looked at me, his eyes burning with something I couldn't name.
"Your mother lied to protect you," he said finally. "She lied to keep you safe. She lied because the truth was too dangerous."
"Dangerous how?"
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he shook his head.
"I can't tell you. Not yet."
"Then why are you here?"
He looked at me, and I saw the weight he was carrying. The guilt. The fear. The love.
"Because I made a promise to your mother," he said. "A promise to keep you safe. A promise I intend to keep."
I stared at him, my mind racing.
"Who are you to me?" I whispered. "Why does my mother keep leading me back to you?"
His jaw tightened. He looked away, his eyes glistening.
"Tell me why she hid you," I pressed. "Tell me why she never mentioned your name. Tell me why I feel like I should know you."
Dorian was quiet for a long moment. The wind rustled through the trees, carrying my words away.
Then he spoke, his voice barely a whisper.
"The man who raised you died because of me."
The words echoed through my head.
"What does that mean?" I whispered.
Kael didn't answer. Because neither of us knew.
Dorian met my eyes, and I saw the pain there. Raw. Unfiltered.
"I'm sorry, Elara," he said. "I'm so sorry."
"Why would I believe anything you say?"
He didn't answer. He just looked at me, his eyes burning with something I couldn't name.
Then he turned and walked toward the trees.
"Wait," I called after him. "Dorian."
He stopped. He didn't turn around.
"You said you'd tell me everything."
He was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke, his voice barely a whisper.
"Tomorrow. I'll find you tomorrow."
"Promise me."
"I promise."
He walked into the trees.
And then he was gone.
The silence settled around us.
I stood in the cemetery, the locket clutched in my hands, my heart pounding. My mother. Dorian. The secret they'd been hiding. The words he'd left me with.
"The man who raised you died because of me."
Why had my mother trusted him enough to leave him the locket... yet feared him enough to warn me about him?
I looked at Kael, my eyes burning. "We need to find out who he really is."
Kael's grey eyes were dark, unreadable. "Then we find out."
I looked down at the locket in my hands. My mother. Dorian. Their arms around each other. Smiling.
"Elena's box," I whispered.
Kael looked at me.
"She kept my mother's things for years. If Dorian left me this..." I tightened my grip on the locket. "There has to be more. Letters. Photographs. Something she never showed me."
Kael nodded once.
"Then that's where we start."
I closed my fingers around the locket.
Whatever my mother had died trying to protect...
It had finally found me.
I slipped the locket into my pocket.
Tomorrow, Dorian promised me answers.
For the first time, I wasn't afraid of the truth. I was afraid of what it would cost me.
- Writer
