2023-02-14 13:25:39Elaine hummed to herself as she flipped the pan over, avoiding the utensils that would no doubt make clanging sounds and wake the entire family. Eden had been occupied recently with trying to find a good job and while he never spoke of his troubles to Elaine, she knew it bothered him a lot. The constant sneering and mistreatment from her family was beginning to wear him down.
It had taken her pleas and cries to even get him to move in with the family and that might have been the biggest mistake ever.
The least she could do was make him a hot meal. He’d come back so tired, he fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. She sighed and started to lift the plate off the counter, but it slipped from her oily hands and crashed into the tiled floor, shattering to bits.
Her eyes widened and she fell to the floor, gathering the broken shards of glass. Shit, shit, shit! They couldn’t find her in here. They couldn’t find herhere. . .
The sound of slamming doors and shuffling feet filled the air and Elaine’s lips quivered as fear filled her. She recognized the light, steady steps her grandmother usually walked in and when she raised her head to look at the door, Grandma Mia was observing her with disdain.
“What, pray tell, are you doing there, scraping the floors like a scullery maid? Has your useless husband put you up to this?”
Elaine bit down on her lower lip to avoid retorting and yelling that Eden wasn’t useless, but she knew it wouldn’t end well. The last time she did that, they had accused Eden of brainwashing her and they had made him sleep outside, in the snow, just to punish her. So she said, “I—I was hungry. I thought I’d make a toast. . .”
Annabel, Derek’s wife, appeared in the door way, peering over Grandma Mia’s shoulder at the mess and she scrunched up her nose in disgust. “She’s lying. She already had dinner. Must be the lazy fool’s dinner.”
Elaine shot to her feet, ignoring the fact that her brothers were now in the kitchen. She could take it from her family. She could take the insults from them, but not from Annabel. Not from an outsider who knew nothing about Eden and the things he went through, just to be with her. Gold digger, they called him, among other vile things. They hit him, starved him, tortured him, threatened to kill him every single day. Still, he stayed for her.
So, for the first time in a while, she stood up to them.
But she should have known better.
*****************
The sound of shattering glass jarred him away.His hands instinctively dove for the left side of themakeshift bed where El favored, but it was cold and empty. He instantly knew that she had gone to the kitchen, and from the sound of shuffled feet and muffled tones, he could tell they were at it again.
His in-laws.
He sighed and rolled off the bed, kicking off his shoes and pushing his feet into the flip-flops. He hated this house, and if El hadn’t been so persistent, he would have preferred living in his one room apartment with her. He would work and ensure he could feed her and they would be happy.
But El would not have it. He understood why she had been persistent. Had he taken her with him, they would subject his life to a living hell and make sure he didn’t get a job anywhere else.
Well, his life was already just that. A living hell with only a brief moment of reprieve. El was his moment of rest and reprieve and from the looks of it,his wife was being insulted again.
It was unusual to hear her voice raised. El was usually calm. But he could hear her yelling at someone from where he stood and he rushed down the stairs and across the vast hall.
“You do not take Eden’s name! You do not insult him. I do not bloody care that Derek is my brother.The next time you insult my husband is the day you wake up to a knife in your gut!”
Eden stopped by the door of the kitchen and peered over the teeming crowd of antagonistic family members and something gave in his chest when he gazed upon El. Her chartreuse green eyes were bright with fury and her chest rose and fell rapidly as she pointed at Annabel with a deathly glare. He shivered slightly. He had not seen this side to El in a while. Not since they had taken everything from her—her car keys, her private residence, her paychecks she had worked hard for and finally, her job—for getting married to him. He had forgotten how scary his wife could be when she gave in to her fury.
Annabel shifted uncomfortably, gravitating toward her husband for protection.
“Elaine!” Derek loud voice boomed across the kitchen and he moved, raising his hand to hit Elaine.
But Eden was faster. The broken glass pieces on the floor tore through his flip-flops and he ignored the pain that seared through him as glass broke skin. He hand was instantly there, intercepting what would have been a blow to his wife’s face.
“Don’t touch her!” he bellowed.
Derek blinked, and his green eyes that were very much like Elaine’s widened. Eden glimpsed the fear that flashed in them for a split second. Derek was a coward, and he knew he could only bully Eden because he had a weakness. They could take Elaine from him whenever they wished it, and they would go to any lengths to keep her away from him, even if it meant locking her up in a caregiver home. Her grandmother had told him that when he had beaten Derek up the first day he had set foot into the house.
He couldn’t act out. For his wife, he would bear it.He had to.
Derek yanked his hand from Eden’s grip and pain exploded in Eden’s jaw as Derek punched him, hard enough that he fell over, atop the glass shards. His vision blurred and as he struggled to get out of the daze, Derek sent a kick into his belly. Eden groaned, curling into a ball to dull the effect of Derek’s kicks.
“You seem to have forgotten where you stand!” Derek yelled, and his foot met with Eden’s jaw.Another blow to his stomach had the taste of blood filling his mouth.
He heard the sound of Elaine’s pained sobs as she begged them to stop. He heard her scream when her brother’s joined Derek in battery his body with kicks and blows that had him rolling into more glass shards. It hurt everywhere. It hurt terribly.
And then, there was water trickling down on him, falling on his cuts and his wound. He cracked an eye open for long enough to see Annabel standing above him, pouring a jar of salted water on him, and by God, it hurt so much that he cried out.
“You are a nobody! A bloody gold digger, Eden ‘Maguire’(Insert preferred last name),” Daniel grunted, landing another blow in Eden’s face.
“I think that’s enough,” he heard Laurel say.
Gregor laughed maniacally. “Shut up, Laurel, and go to bed if you won’t help us put the fool in his place.”
“Eden—stop it Derek! Please! You’ll kill him—he’s bleeding! Please—Eden!” Elaine cried, diving for him and placing herself over him. Not wanting her to get hurt, Eden pushed her from him lightly, before Derek or her brothers would hit her.
“If he dies, good riddance. He doesn’t deserve to be in this family anyway. We’ll do the world a favor by wiping him off the surface of the earth,” Daniel said to Elaine.
Eden could barely hear them above the thundering of his heart and the excruciating pain coursing his body. Blood seeped from his lips and from cuts everywhere on his body. His head throbbed terribly and he felt his consciousness begin to slip from him. He’d seen worse. They’d done worse things to him. He could withstand and persevere. He had no other choice.
“Derek, Daniel, Gregor, that’s enough now,” Grandma Mia said, granting Eden release from his tormentors. As one, they stopped, turning to face their grandmother. Daniel snickered before stepping over him and exiting the kitchen with the rest of the family.
Derek lingered, the last among them to leave.“Touch me with your filthy hands again and I will kill you and make sure no one finds your body.”
He stomped out and Elaine was instantly by his side, taking his face in her hands. She was crying and he hated seeing her cry. He could hardly form words, so he muttered, “Don’t.”
But she didn’t. She cradled his face to her chest and began to sob profusely.
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105
Eden and Arnold were consumed with grief and anger after Elaina's death. Eden's thirst for revenge kept him going and he vowed to stop at nothing till Vincent paid, even with his blood.Arnold sighed,"Eden, I know how much this hurts you, I want you to…""I did not solicit any advice from you Arnold… It's my wife in question here, you don't know what it feels," Eden said, slightly raising his voice.Arnold stared at him in silence for a while, "Maybe I didn't lose my wife Eden, but I know what pain is,""Then you should help me fight this course Arnold, fight with me, let's avenge her death and get the treasure," he said in a shaky voice.Arnold walked over to his friend, "I'm here for you and you know it… let's go,". Eden's face lit up at Arnold's words and they set out to find Vincent.Their journey was filled with danger and challenges, but Eden was too focused on his revenge to stop. He pushed through every obstacle and danger they faced, determined to catch up with Vincent and hi
104
Eliana's heart was pounding as she ran through the dense jungle, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and Vincent's men who were fast catching up with her. She could hear their footsteps pounding behind her, their harsh breaths sounding like growls in her ears. She couldn't afford to stop, else the key got to Vincent."Stop running, Eliana!" Vincent's voice boomed behind her. "It's pointless. We'll catch you eventually." Vincent growled as he increased his pace.Eliana didn't dare turn around, she could feel his eyes on her back, burning into her like hot coals. She knew he was right, knew that she couldn't outrun them forever. But it was better than giving in to his callous threat. The key had to be protected at all cost, let it get into the wrong hands and Vincent isn't the best option to be in possession of the keys.As she ran, she noticed a flowing river through the trees and increased her pace. Without giving much thought to it, she changed course and ran t
103
Vincent stood at the edge of the cliff, scanning the vast expanse of jungle below him. His eyes narrowed, and a fierce look crossed his face as he thundered at the top of his voice,"We've just been outsmarted by that serpent Eliana! She's stolen the key from me! And we're not going to let her get away with it!""We're going to find her, and we're going to get that key back. And we'll do whatever it takes, even if we have to kill her!". He thundered as his men looked with trepidation at his outburst.Vincent knew that it wouldn't be difficult to track Eliana down. She was alone, vulnerable, and didn't have anyone to protect her. He gave orders to his men, "Spread out and search every inch of this jungle until you find her. And if you see her, don't hesitate to bring her to me.""We would do as you have instructed, Sir" one of his men answered as they bowed in terror and scurried off into the jungle.Vincent took a deep breath and clenched his fists, "I don't care what it takes," he mu
102
Days turned into weeks with no clue on how to find the treasure or anything relating to the note. Despite all of these, Eden and Arnold continued the journey,trekking through the thick jungle that housed tall trees and harbored wild animals .They kept on searching for any hint or meaning behind the mysterious number "27". Still, they had yet to come across anything that could offer them a clue. Eden was growing increasingly frustrated and discouraged, feeling like they were going in circles without making any progress."I don't know what we're supposed to do, Arnold there's no hope!" Eden said, kicking a stone in frustration. "We've been at this for weeks and we're no closer to finding the treasure."Arnold sighed heavily. "I know, Eden. But we can't give up… not so fast. We have to keep searching.""What in heaven's name are we even searching for? At first the note seemed like it had some kind of message embedded in it and now… now it's like there's no hope.We don't even know what
101
Arnold and Eden trudged along the dirt path, their feet heavy and weary from the long journey they had been on. The sun beat down on their backs, making their clothes cling to their skin with sweat. Arnold's face was dripping with sweat as gasped for air.He let out a deep sigh and rubbed his eyes with his fingers, trying to shake off the fatigue that had settled in his bones. "Man, I'm starving," he groaned.Eden stared at him equally feeling exhausted, but he wouldn't stop till he found Eliana… and the key. He chuckled. "Yeah, me too. We should have packed more food.""I didn't think we'd be on the road this long," Arnold replied.Eden sat on a small rock and rubbed his forehead slightly, "I know we didn't bargain for this but we have to keep moving,"Arnold scoffed, "Keep moving? Keep moving, you say, if that woman didn't steal the keys to the treasure we would have been at home, and none of all these would have even come up in the first place!" He said, his voice slightly raised.
100
The journey was beginning to get the better part of Eden. Not only was he frustrated with the fact that they weren’t catching sight of Eliana, he was sad that she had the strength to run away from him without returning. The depth of the betrayal was heavy on his soul and that prompted him to start behaving in an erratic manner.Earlier, he and Arnold stumbled across a pack in the city. They successfully stole some meals that was brought in my people in the pack. It was a crazy experience for Eden since the last thing he wanted was stealing from innocent people, but they had no choice. Once they showed their guns to them, the people gave up their food and even, some of their money immediately.“We shouldn’t have collected any part of their money”, Eden suggested the minute the left the are where the people were.Arnold scoffed and chuckled calmly, without an iota of guilt in his eyes.“We did what we had to do to survive! I hold no remorse”, he said and immediately, Eden stopped right
99
Eliana rushed into a small hut that stayed at a hidden part of the city. She looked behind her as she tried to confirm that she was not being followed.“Who are you?” A man in his late fifties asked as he blew a whistle, prompting some guards to rush over to him.They all stared at Eliana, like a threat who must have come to wipe them out.“I’m not threat! You have to believe me”, Eliana said as she gasped heavily, trying so hard to catch her breath.She looked back again while the men tried to monitor her closely and ascertain what she was currently up to at the moment.“Why are you running?” One of the men asked, walking closer to her and looking into her eyes as though the answer to her question laid there.Eliana took in a deep breath and sighed heavily. There was no way she would open up her mouth and tell the men that she was running because she had a key which would unlock a great treaure. That would only mean putting her life in trouble.“Some men were chasing me! I did nothin
98
The ravine walls were steep and slippery, making it impossible to climb out. The river flowed rapidly, making it too dangerous to swim across. They were trapped, with no clear way out. Eden's frustration and desperation grew as he realized that they may be stuck in this ravine for days, or even weeks. He worried about Elaina's safety and the possibility that someone else may find the key before they do.“What are you thinking of?” Arnold asked as he tapped Eden’s shoulders lightly. Eden took in a deep breath and forced a smile to his face. He was deeply worried and despite how hard he tried to conceal it, it still showed on his face. “Are you worried about her?” Arnold asked as he gazed at Eden who nodded his head in affirmation.A small scoff escaped his lips the moment he took note of Eden’s response. He couldn’t say why Eden was more worried about his wife than himself.“We are the ones lost in the middle of a ravine. We have no idea of how we are going to survive and if we are
97
After the encounter with the strange people, Eden and Arnold became stranded in the middle of a ravine. They had been following a long river, in hopes that it would lead them to Eliana and the key. However, they didn’t expect the drop in the terrain.“This is all your fault! You picked this location and now, it seems like we are lost”, Eden suddenly said as he turned to look at Arnold who was looking around and trying to decipher the next part to head to. “My fault? You would have stopped me when you saw me walking towards here…but instead, you supported me and walked with me”, Arnold scoffed and rolled his eyes at Eden who was now beginning to get enraged with the way and manner things were beginning to turn.“This is all your fault! Tell me…are you trying to see that we suffer?” Eden asked and for a minute, Arnold thought that he had heard wrongly. He took a step closer to Eden who was looking at him with a dead glare, not batting an eyelid.“And what do you want to do?” Arnold a
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