Arabelle

Chapter 25 - Mother

Derrick’s POV

I couldn’t sleep all through the night, I had spent the whole thinking about what had happened during the day, it was obvious that my mother was responsible for Ruth’s death and Arabelle also wasn’t safe, mum was dangerous, she wasn’t in a stable frame of mind and she had too much power at her disposal, she could hurt and even go as far as killing to satisfy whatever feeling of loss and obsessiveness she had, she would go crazy whenever anyone tried to divert my attention away from her, so the key to keeping Arabelle and everyone safe was to make sure mother had my attention all the time, that was the best I could do, if the past had taught me one thing, it was that I wasn’t safe from mum’s manipulations, I didn’t want to provoke her and have what happened in the past repeat itself,

Many thoughts kept running in my mind, before I could even catch a wink of sleep, it was daybreak, I stood up from the bed feeling tired and drained out, I walked to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face, i exhaled when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I could consider myself haggard, my mind drifted back to my mother, after yesterday display of madness, I had managed to convince her to take her bath and get herself cleaned up, then I had asked the maids to bring her a cup of chamomile tea, after she had drank it, she fell asleep and I left her in her room, that was the last I saw of her since yesterday, perhaps I should check on her, taking a deep breath, I turned around and walked out of the bathroom, I headed toward the direction of my mother’s room, but I didn’t need to go that far, I was stopped by a maid on the way,

“Good morning Sir, your mother wishes to see you, she is at the breakfast table” the young girl said with a smile,

I nodded and said “Thank you”

The young girl smiled and walked away, I headed for the dining room where I found mother looking like the normal regal queen she usually behaved like, she was casually sipping a cup of tea, she looked nothing like the woman I had seen the previous day, she looked up when she heard my approaching footsteps, a smile lit up her face,

“Good morning Derrick, I hope you slept well?” she said with a smile,

I felt sick to my stomach, how she could she smile so easily, she had killed an innocent woman for heaven’s sake, I didn’t know how she might react if I just brought up the issue like that, I needed to thread gently with her now, I normally felt like I was on egg shells whenever I was around her but now, I felt like I was walking on broken glass,

I pulled out a chair and sat down on it “I didn’t get to sleep at all, my mind was filled with disturbing thoughts” I said,

Something flashed in her eyes but it was gone in an instant “Well we didn’t get to properly celebrate yesterday, your victory against the board members that is, so I was hoping we could have breakfast together,

I looked at the breakfast table, it was filled with an array of delicacies and assorted drinks, the sight was sickening to me, how could eat so comfortably when she had killed a person yesterday, I exhaled deeply and remained quiet,

“You look tired Derrick, I suggest you stay home and rest, a few days won’t hurt anyone I am sure” she said,

“Why Derrick? Why not Richard like you called me yesterday? We are the only here right now, no need to continue the charade, don’t you agree mother?” I asked,

I watched as the smile slowly bled from her face, she took her napkin and gently dabbed her lips “We will not speak of yesterday ever again” she said and made to stand up but I quickly reached for her hand, she turned to look at me sharply,

“I am willing to pretend yesterday never happened, I am willing to forget everything you did in the past, I am even willing to forgive you for ruining my life but I want to ask you two things, if you answer these two things , I promise you that I will forget everything and I will stay by your side and never leave you alone, that’s what you are afraid of right, being left alone, well I am willing to stay with you for the rest of my life, I will do it willingly this time, you don’t have to result to the use of manipulative magic, will you answer me?” I said,

for the first time in my life, my mother’s eyes were not hooded, her feelings and emotions were not hidden from me and in those eyes, I saw the last thing I expected from my mother, I saw vulnerability and fear, the fear of being left alone,

She nodded slowly urging me to ask my question,

“I will not ask you about Ruth Grant because I already know it was your doing, but I still want you to hear it from you, tell me it was you who killed her” I said, I was surprised to find that my heart was beating madly in my chest, somehow I was hoping that she might say she was innocent, fool’s hope you might call it but no one could fault me for hoping my mother was not a murderer even if I knew better,

“It was me” I heard her say, I felt sadness and pity overtake me, I had expected anger but there was just pain and sadness, I nodded my head and struggled to fight back the tears that threatened to escape the borders of my eyes, I had known the truth already but it still hurt to hear her say it,

“Okay, for the next thing, I want to ask that you leave Arabelle alone, you hate her so much because she had taken my attention away from you, but that won’t happen this time, I promise you” I said and hoped that she accepted to do this so that I may draw comfort from the knowledge that Arabelle will be safe no matter what while I condemn myself to a life of eternal misery,

The shutters she usually put over her eyes closed and all the emotions I had seen were veiled again, I knew she will not be giving be a favourable answer,

“Arabelle must die” was all she said, her voice was ice cold and in her eyes, I saw that one feeling wasn’t veiled, it was strong and visible enough for me to see, hate reigned in her eyes,

I felt my heart break all over again “Then I can promise you nothing” I said and stood up, I took her hand to my lips and placed a kiss behind it, then gently placed it on the table and walked away with pain and sadness in my heart.