Shadows of Betrayal: A Tale of Revenge and Redemption

Standing on the bridge staring out over the waves of the river below. I was just... listening to the sound of the waves hitting the bow of the fishing boats that were going out to the ocean. Looking out over the horizon, where the sky meets water. The sea seemed endless to Serena, her hair the colour of fresh cherries being whipped out of her deep unfeeling eyes by the wind that was rushing past. Her warm-coloured lips opened slightly so she could breathe in the cold, salty air that immediately hit her inner core. She cast her eyes down to the wedding invitation held between her pallid fingers. Between her thumb and forefinger was the engagement ring, the stone embedded with a blood-red ruby. She could almost hear it laugh at her helplessness, stirring her jealousy. ‘Why!?’ she shouted into the nothingness, not expecting an answer. In the silence above the waves, footsteps behind her caused her to stumble. As if time slowed down, she felt herself begin to fall. Instead of hitting the water below, she felt a warmth as muscular arms embraced her. She held her breath, waiting for the inevitable... ‘Sweetheart,’ a smooth but gruff voice said, trying to get her attention. Her breath hitched as the warmth around her waist slowly left, and a moan left her lips as she missed the security of the person behind her. ‘Are you ok?’ the voice said. Not wanting to see the person who came to her rescue, she took a few steps forward and turned around. Expecting to see somebody that she had never met before but now stood in front of her, towering over her five-foot nine-inch frame was the Uncle of her fiancé. Jonathan Nocturne. ‘Mr Noctrne, what are you doing here?’ Serena asked, timidly knowing what she was just about to do. ‘Miss Lynn, I should be asking you the same question,’ Mr Noctune crossed his arms over his chest which made him look more intimidating than he already was. ‘You don’t need to know’, Serena said, getting the spirited personality back slowly. ‘Harrison did something didn’t he?’ MrNocturne asked. Serena flinched. That reaction told him all he needed to know but he wanted to know more. ‘What did he do?’ he asked rather sternly, realising that he wanted to know what his nephew had done. Mr Nocturne would do something, but she didn’t know what. Being happy that she had someone who would get angry with her made her relax slightly. She wanted to give him, hopefully, the answer he was looking for. She slowly turned away from him, resting her forearms on the guardrails still with her engagement ring and wedding invitation in her hands. He walked up next to her and leaned against the rails resting his elbow on it. She took a deep breath and started to begin the story of the last couple of days, and he just stood next to her and listened. ‘So... Harrison has given me a wedding invitation for himself and Amanda, yet I’m his fiancé.’ Serena said sobbing through the explanation, Mr Nocturne just silently listening. ‘What could be worse than that?’ She looked at Mr Nocturne, and gently handed him the ring that had been cutting into her palm from how tightly she had been gripping it. ‘It is the colour of Amanda's eyes!’ She stated as a matter of fact. Mr Nocturne looked at the ring his eyes slightly widened in shock as they narrowed in concern with the blood that started to appear in Serena's palm. ‘Ella!’ He called out, a voice answered with a simple ‘sir’ as a first aid kit was passed to Mr Nocturne as he gave the woman who looked like his bodyguard the engagement ring. Opening the first aid kit in Ella's hands and taking out the disinfection wipes, he warns Serena, ‘This will sting.’ He gently takes her hand, his colder than she expected. He starts wiping the blood away from her hand while caressing the back of her hand. Through the tears, a small smile escaped her lips. They just stood there on the bridge in comfortable silence. ‘So, Mr Nocturne, why are you over here?’ Serena asked, tilting her head slightly off the one side, intrigued by why he passed over the bridge at this particular time. ‘I was heading over to Harrison’s to deny the wedding invitation that he sent to me, but I now think that we should go together.’ He smirked at the idea and looked over at Serena. Their eyes were red from crying, but the smirk that was on her face said that she agreed with his idea. ‘But I don’t have anything to wear.’ She said a little disappointed. ‘Miss Lynn, I will sort it. Don’t worry about it.’ ‘Let's do it’, Serena cheered happily, ‘And please call me Serena, Mr Nocturne.’ Holding out a scarred hand for him to shake. ‘Only if you call me Jonathan.’ He retorted, taking the outstretched hand in agreement as she nodded. The feeling of being happy, content and safe in another's company she never had when she was around Harrison. ‘Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan?’ the question repeated his name to herself like a mantra; he made a noise, not forming any words to try to get her attention. ‘Oh, sorry, saying your first name after all these years feels weird on my tongue; I was just getting my face used to saying it.’ She chuckled awkwardly, a little embarrassed as his full attention was only on her. After the amount of time, she had to fight for Harrison's attention with Amanda. Jonathan walked to the road to the black car that looked like it was just left in the middle of the road, which it technically was. Serena looked at the car and back to Jonathan, who was expertly avoiding eye contact with her. ‘You... left the car in... the middle of the road to...?’ Serena asked, starting to tear up and having trouble finishing her sentence, but it was answered by Jonathan. ‘To... make sure you were alright.’ A heartfelt expression on his face, like he has gone through this exact situation before. ‘Have you had this happen to you before?’ Serena looked up at him expectantly. He glanced at her like he was debating whether or not to tell her. ‘Yes, it is.’ She looked at him confused about the choice of words that he just used. ‘The woman that Harrison is marrying, Amanda... is my fiancé.’ He finished the sentence with a look of disgust on his face, like just saying her name made him feel sick to his stomach. A cold shiver went through her body like she got run over by a train. Her stomach dropped as she realised that she had just been ranting about the same thing that he was going through. ‘I am so sorry Jonathan, I was inconsiderate. You are going through this too and here I am just ranting on and on.’ She looked at him assuming that he would be angry at her, but he had a small smile on his face. He looked so handsome in the dusk light, it made his emerald green and sky blue heterochromatic eyes even more stunning than they already were. ‘Serena, I’m alright. I was more concerned for you. Besides Amanda wasn't the one I originally wanted anyway.’ He said, smiling at her as he raised his large hand to gently push a loose piece of hair on her face behind her ear. Resting his warm hand on her neck, caressing her smooth, tear-stained cheek with his thumb, making her cheeks redden slightly from the intimate attention he was currently giving her. ‘Jonathan... what?’ she started as he cut her off by pulling her to him. Her hands went straight to try to hide her face from embarrassment and not knowing what to do or what was expected. She couldn’t deny that she was enjoying the undivided attention of the man. Jonathan removed her scarred but beautiful hands from her face. His left hand in the small of her back to stop her from moving away, not that she wanted to. He used his right hand to tenderly lift her chin with his forefinger and thumb. And... what did he do? He kissed her....on the forehead. Chuckled at her bewildered face, she went to the car. ‘Jonathan?! What the hell was that?’ They both got into the car sat in silence for a couple of minutes, looked at each other and burst out in laughter. Serena forgot what happened not even an hour before as Jonathan drove her home.