His Imprisoned Queen

Chapter 3 Flashback

*Flashback: when Elina was 17

"Elina! Come clean up!"

Carl was shouting downstairs again. I sighed and put down my pen. It was Sunday, and I was cramming for my biology mid-term, which would be happening tomorrow. My mother had been sick for a week, so all the chores were on me, which included cleaning up s**t after Carl. Most of the time, it was his vomit on the floor. I wondered why he'd never choked on his own vomit and died.

When I finished cleaning up the mess, Carl pointed at the house across the street and said, "Look, that cunt is moving out."

I looked through the window. I knew the family lived across the street. A single mother lived with her daughter. The daughter's name was Hannah. She went to the same high school as me. However, we barely talked. In fact, nobody talked to her at school; they called her a freak in the back because her mother was a Tarot card reader. I knew little about this profession, but I bet her mother was good. I always saw people coming to her house and walking out with grateful looks on their faces. I guessed some of her clients were celebrities because not everyone could afford a Lamborghini or a Bugatti. And Hannah always wore fancy clothes and shoes that were very different from the rest of us. I wondered if those bullies called her a freak out of pure jealousy.

Hanna never gave a f**k about people in school. She always tilted her head up with an aloof facial expression. Sometimes she took out a deck of Tarot cards and placed them on her table, murmuring stuff no one could understand. She had that mysterious and creepy vibe around her when she did that. I guessed that was why no one ever dared to talk s**t in her face.

All of a sudden, I felt terrible about not speaking with her. I walked over to their house. I wanted to say goodbye.

"Hey Hannah, I heard you are leaving?"

Hannah was busy putting her huge suitcase in the trunk. I helped her with that. She gave me a little smile.

"Thank you, Elina."

Feeling a bit surprised that she knew my name, I smiled back.

"Where are you moving?"

Hannah didn't reply. I realized I had probably crossed the line. After all, I never stood out for her when people at school said bad things about her. But come on, those people hated me too, and they called me a nerd in my face. Hannah shrugged and said, "this place is no longer safe."

I couldn't help but started panicking. She looked at me and quickly added, "I mean, it's not safe for my family."

I let out a sigh of relief but soon felt sorry for her.

"Are you all right?"

"We will be fine as soon as we leave here. Thanks for stopping by. Goodbye, Elina."

"Bye. Hope all goes well. And—" I pulled out my flashcards and a small pen from my pocket, then scribbled down my phone number on the card I had ripped off, "if there is anything I can help with, let me know."

She looked at me for a while before she took the card from me. Then she opened the back door and said in a serious tone, "Elina, don't ever approach the family that is moving here. They are charming but dangerous."

Before I could ask a single question, she hopped in and slammed the car door. I watched the car speeding away, then turned to the empty house. For some reason, looking at it gave me the creeps.

***

It had been a week after Hannah moved out. My mother was busy in the kitchen, humming her favorite song. Thank god she had recovered from her sickness. What's better was that Carl wasn't home today.

The air was filled with the smell of baking. I inhaled deeply as I walked to the kitchen, wanting to take a look at what my mother was making.

"Here you are, Elina. Give this pumpkin pie to the new neighbor."

I shouted uncontrollably, "why did you make them a pie?"

Mom frowned, "now, what's that attitude?"

"Mom, you have to keep away from that family. They are very dangerous!"

"Where did that come from?"

"You remember the Tarot card reader's daughter, Hannah? She warned me about that."

My mom gave me one of her epic eye rolls. She sighed and said disappointedly, "I never know you are so superstitious, Elina."

I felt a little ashamed but still tried to find a way to convince my mother. Mom wrapped the pumpkin pie nicely and handed it to me, "Anyway, it's too late. I've already talked to their hostess."

"What?"

"Last night, she helped me with the grocery bags! There were too many, and she happened to pass by and give me a hand. Elina, she seemed very nice, and I want to thank her for that."

I shut up and took the pumpkin pie. Yeah, mom's right. It would be stupid to judge someone by some baseless and superstitious comments.

It was Mrs. Sanchez who opened the door. I gave her the pie, and we chatted for a little while. She told me her son, Bryce, would be transferring to my high school next week, and he was the same year as me. Mrs. Sanchez was very friendly. And beautiful. Her hazel eyes reminded me of the forest on the first days of autumn. However, I couldn't stop staring at the strange mark on her neck. In the beginning, I thought it was a tattoo, but as I looked more at it, it looked like someone had sunk their teeth deep into her flesh, really really hard. The color of that bite was bloody red. And I could see a faint glow surrounding it.

"Oh, I have to start making dinner. Thanks, Elina, it's great to meet you."

Mrs. Sanchez smiled uneasily as she spoke. s**t, she must have noticed me staring. I waved her goodbye and walked back to the house.

***

It turned out that the transferred boy, Bryce Sanchez was a recluse. He was neither in any sports team nor any club. He probably didn't come to school every day. I only bumped into him in our library once and saw him signing his name down at the front desk. He looked like his mother, especially with those hazel eyes, but he was unnaturally pale. I patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh, so you are Bryce! Hey! I'm Elina Jones, live right across the street."

He looked at me and nodded his head curtly. Then he just left without another word. Okay, that was embarrassing. Fortunately, there was no one around.

After lunch, Alice and I sat on the lawn and relaxed. That was when I saw Bryce taking quick steps toward the science building. He was pulling a long face. My eyes followed him and Alice followed my gaze. She put on that gossip smile and put her chin on my shoulder.

"Woo~ Who are you looking at?"

"Oh, that's my new neighbor."

I told her about the embarrassing library encounter.

"That was so rude! No, he is obviously below average. Honey, you have to find a man that is AT LEAST above average, or your life will be a disaster."

I laughed and asked, "Then who do you think is above average in our year?"

"Well…" Alice thought for a while and said, "Maybe Derek? He's handsome, from a rich family, and the football team captain. But he is a playboy. As far as I know, he has slept with six different girls in our school. And most of the time, he speaks like an idiot."

I laughed again as Alice shook her head disapprovingly.

***

It was soon application season, and I was busy as f**k. The last thing I needed now was getting disturbed by Carl, so I asked Alice to let me stay at her home after school, where I could finish all my admission essays. It was around midnight when I came out of Alice's house. Luckily my house was only three blocks away. It wasn't until I reached the porch that I heard screaming and smashing sounds. I pushed the door open.

I felt the last blood drain out of me when I saw what was in front of me. The house was wracked. Glasses and plates were shattered on the kitchen floor, along with some dishes that had been destroyed, so I couldn't exactly tell what it was. My mother was unconsciously lying on the floor, and she was bleeding. Carl stood in the living room with a monstrous look on his face, with a broken glass bottle in his hand. I started dialing on my phone but was only a second late. He lunged at me, and I rolled. That was a close escape. He pointed his glass at me.

"Elina, don't you dare call the ambulance."

I reached for the door and started running for my life.

"Help! Someone help! Call 911!"

I couldn't tell if my voice was loud enough for the neighborhood to hear, but Carl was chasing me, and from the level of his drunkenness, I knew if I slowed down to make a phone call, I would one hundred percent die.

Suddenly, I was delighted to find that someone was walking in this direction! And that person looked like a tall and strong man. Thank god! I started waving madly at the stranger and froze in death when I found the stranger was Bryce Sanchez.

Oh no.

No one at school, except Alice, knew I had an abusive stepfather. And I had no intention of spreading this piece of news.

"Got ya, little bitch."

The voice from hammered Carl rang behind me. Without a second thought, I ran and hid behind Bryce, then whispered desperately, "please help me. My mom is dying in the house."

Bryce did not move as Carl got closer. I reached for my phone in my pocket, but it was not there. Crap. I must have left it in the house because I was in a panic. Oh, how could you be that stupid, Elina!

"Found yourself a protector, huh?"

Carl was getting really close now. He let out a dismissive laugh, but next second, his broken bottle dropped to the ground, and he started to… stagger. Actually, it seemed like he had lost his balance completely and was about to fall any second. I no longer hid but looked at the useless Carl in shock.

What happened next was better (worse for Carl, though), instead of catching Carl with his arms, Bryce stepped aside swiftly when Carl finally fell, so Carl fell flat on his face. When his flesh crashed into the ground, it made a huge disgusting sound. My jaw dropped.

"What's wrong with him?"

Bryce seemed very calm, "I think he drank too much and fell asleep. And he wouldn't be awake for… another twelve hours, I think. You'd better do whatever you need to do now."

"Oh, right."

I started heading towards home, then turned around abruptly.

"Thank you so much, Bryce. I have to go now, but next time, I will—"

Bryce looked at me innocently, "No, Elina, I didn't really do anything."

I knew it was him who put Carl to sleep, not sure how he had done it though. Anyway, I didn't nail his lie.

"Thanks anyway."

I smiled. Right before I turned around, Bryce staggered. He clenched his shirt, both knees fell on the ground all of a sudden, and let out a painful howl. A howl sounded like it belonged to a wolf. Then he looked at me, staring at me straightly in the eyes.

That was when I saw it. It lasted only for one second, maybe two, but I saw it.

His eyes turned from hazel to pure gold.