Betrayed: Dark beginnings (9 page)

Her head went dizzy and she sat herse
lf back up. She felt like an idiot for saying that in the heat of the moment. She looked away from him and stood up.

“I’m going to go for a shower.” She said shyly as she pulled her top back on.

“Lizzie, wait.” She turned slowly and prayed he would not bring it up.

“I love you too.” He said gazing up to her. If she could have blushed she would have. She ran up the stairs and turned on the shower. She jumped in the shower and sat down, letting the water glide down her back and hair as she sat thinking. She buried her head in her hands and wept silently.

              She heard a knocking on the bathroom door.

“Come in.” Elizabeth sniffed. Jordan walked in, dressed.

“Are you ok, you seemed a bit off?” he said looking worried.

“No everything’s fine.” Elizabeth said convincingly, and pushed out a forced smile.

“Ok if you are sure, do you want to go out for a bit?” he said brightly.

“No it’s ok; I need to get the house sorted for when my aunt gets back.” She lied.

“Do you want some help?” He asked.

“I’m ok; I need to get it done myself really.” Jordan walked over to the shower and stared down at her magnificent body.

“Ok, well do you mind if I pop home have a shower and come back later?” He was talking to her breasts, she laughed.

“Yeah that’s fine, I’ll see you later. I’ll text you” Jordan leaned over and kissed her.

“Bye baby.” He said as he walked out the door. She slumped back down and felt sick. She reached for the shampoo and massaged it into her hair. She grabbed the shower head and washed it out.

She sat in the bubbles and half-heartedly washed herself. When she was done she lazily got herself out of the shower and walked into her room. She didn’t bother getting dressed and slumped on to the bed falling asleep.

Lorcan let himself in, Elizabeth could hear him walking into the living room and quickly got changed. She wondered how long she had slept for. Running downstairs to greet him she noted he looked anxious.

“What’s wrong, not going to turn your back on me now?” She said jokingly. He walked over to her and stroked her cheek.

“Elizabeth no matter what happens; you know how I feel about you. That has always been true and you know that.” He said not answering her question. He still looked anxious but she shrugged it off.

“Right, so fancy a drink?” She said lifting her eyebrows.

“Yes.” he said brightly.

They sat on her bed for hours drinking and talking, the drink of course did nothing to Elizabeth but Lorcan looked disoriented and happy as he made her makeup dance around the room with his hands. They both laughed falling back on the bed.

He turned to her and grabbed her hand. She squeezed back. He saw an opportunity; he jumped on top of her and tried to kiss her. She pushed him off and he landed on the floor.

“You’re drunk.” Elizabeth said sternly

“It doesn’t matter; you have always known my feelings for you. Just let me kiss you!” He crawled back on to the bed.

Elizabeth thought about it, she had always found him attractive but she could not do it, it just didn’t feel right. She knew she needed to keep him in a good mood, so played along the best she could. Jordan would be coming over later and she needed Lorcan now more than ever, she needed to keep him happy.

“Maybe later, after the ritual.” She said seductively.

“This is because of that boy who has been coming over isn’t it? I’ve seen him leave your house!” He sneered. Had he been stalking her, watching her house? She thought.

“No, I’m just using him so tonight I can use him as bait!” she said defensively.

“So you’re happy to let him die?” His expression changed from angry to curious
.

“Yes,” she laughed “When have I ever cared for hum
an men?” Lorcan mused over this.

“True.” She breathed deeply and looked at her phone. Jordan had text her ten minutes ago.
On my way over, love you baby xxx
.

“He is actually going to be here any minute.” She looked worried
.

“Ok well I best hide whilst bait boy comes over.”

Elizabeth snarled. She did not like that he was making fun of Jordan, even if he was going to die. Luckily Lorcan hadn’t seemed to notice her snarl and walked out of her bedroom stumbling over the makeup that lay sprawled across the carpet.

Jordan knocked on the door and walked upstairs. Elizabeth gave him the best smile she could muster.

“Hey baby, are you ok?” His voice was so gentle.

“Yeah I’m fine, just happy to see you again.” She pulled him into a hug, kissing him gently; she could hear something tip over in the next room.

“What was that?” Jordan said abruptly. She panicked; She couldn’t believe Lorcan was about to blow her cover just because of his jealousy.

“It’s nothing, just the cat.” She said laughing; it was the best thing she could think of.

“I didn’t know you had a cat.” He looked suspicious.

“I swear you’ve seen him, his name is Clover.” Elizabeth said smiling. He smiled and believed it, she felt relived.

“Do you want to go for a midnight dip later?” Elizabeth winked at him. He laughed.

“Lizzie its freezing, I’d rather be in bed with you.”

She felt aggravated

“But please Jordan, I really enjoy swimming in the lake, I’d love it if you came with me and kept me safe.” She spoke sweetly. Elizabeth felt like a teenage girl again, playing the damsel in distress and she needed a big strong man to protect her.

“Ok, give me a kiss first.” He said holding out his arms. She welcomed his hug. He held her tightly and she embraced every moment. She could feel his heart beat fast in his chest.

She could smell his hair, feel his body against hers, for this would be the last time she would feel him. They were hugging for what felt like hours. She laid her head on his chest, until he moved, waking her from her daze.

“As much as I would love to stand here and hug you all night, shall we go? It’s almost midnight.” He said gesturing to the white clock on the wall.

“Yes, of course, let’s go,” Elizabeth said whilst she pulled herself together. They ran down
the stairs like two excited teenagers. Elizabeth looked back to see Cecile’s suspicious expression follow them out the door.

They ran down to the bottom of her overgrown drive until they reached the old blue rusty car, Jordan was panting.

“You’re not saying I can outrun Mr. sporty?” Elizabeth said smirking.

“No, I only stopped so you could get your breath back.” He said breathlessly.

“Ha I’m sure.”

They both laughed and walked until they reached the edge of the lake. The water was calm and there was no sign of any Limnades. No matter, she thought. They will come to the surface soon; she knew they were attacking more frequently due to the new child in their clan. Jordan pulled off his top, swinging it around like an idiot pretending to do a strip tease.

“Your turn.” He said seductively

She kicked off her shoes and pulled down her trousers, then peeled off her top leaving her in just her French lace pants. Elizabeth could feel his
eyes bore into her, she hadn’t worn a bra tonight and now he was staring at her breasts. He got an erection; she could see it in the soft moonlight, long and hard.

“Down boy.” Elizabeth said laughing
.

“I can’t
help it.” He said embarrassed.

“I’m joking, right go on then, you jump in first.” She said challengingly. He walked into the water and shivered.

“Don’t be a baby.” She laughed.

He looked back and flashed her that charming smile that she loved so much. He delved further and further into the lake until he was swimming, he turned around to look at Elizabeth.

“Are you coming in? The waters lovely and cold.” He said shivering then laughed.

He was funny; she had always liked that about him. She pushed away the thought and could hear someone moving through the trees behind her, she turned and could see it was Lorcan.

He was hiding behind a trunk of a tree. Elizabeth could see a tail behind Jordan; he looked around nervously as the water rippled. Then it turned into a big orange fish, it just stayed in front of him, deathly still. He was about to shout something when the Limnade turned back into her true form and grabbed him; he swore loudly.

He shouted for Elizabeth to run, he was getting attacked and the last thing he did was shouted at her to run. Even in death he just wanted to protect her.

What Elizabeth did next she never imagined she would do. She broke into a run towards the lake; she could hear Lorcan running behind her.

She ran at Jordan, but got thrown back. Something was stopping her; she could not reach the edge of the lake for some reason.

She saw Jordan getting dragged under the water, he was gone. Lorcan had grabbed one of the Limnades already and was struggling to pull her onto the stones, she was massive, the size of a small whale. He shouted to Elizabeth to help him but her head had gone numb. Elizabeth got more frustrated screaming, trying to get past the barrier.

“FUCK SAKE!” she screamed.

She put her hands over her face biting down hard on her teeth. She tried to gather herself, but she could not. She felt hurt, as if someone had plunged a knife through her heart. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She sat on the ground and sobbed hysterically, she could not bear to look at Lorcan as he shouted for her. It was Matthias all over again.

chapter seventeen

Elizabeth quickly redressed and looked over to the lake.

The Limnades were hissing at them, shooting spells from their webbed hands, but the spells just hit the invisible wall, the same wall that had prevented Elizabeth from saving Jordan.

She did not want to see them, Lorcan or Cecile. She only wanted to run and escape this nightmare. She pictured Jordan’s face as he was dragged under, his last words echoed in her thoughts as she got up and ran. Lorcan shouted after her, but his pleas got fainter as she whisked through the trees, scaring the animals.

She reached a road at the edge of the woods and ran out in front of a car crying. She flew onto the bonnet with a thud and was thrown into the air. Pain seared through her back and arm. She was grateful at that point that she was immortal.

The woman in the car frantically got out and ran over to Elizabeth. Blood trickled from the woman’s eyebrow.

“Are you ok? Don’t worry, I will call an ambulance!” The woman said hysterically and fumbled for her phone in her bag. She looked up from her bag and saw that Elizabeth was no longer there.

She looked around confused and saw Elizabeth stood next to her. Elizabeth pushed the woman to the ground, smashing her head against the concrete. She jumped in the car and sped off.

She only drove for about half an hour until she pulled into a layby, crying. She found it difficult to drive as she blinked back tears. She sobbed hysterically at what she had done.

“I mean I talked of killing him but I did care for him. I didn’t love him but I did enjoy him, he made me smile, and yes at the time I hated him for that. I never thought I could care for anyone again.” She said aloud as she tried to make sense of everything.

“I was supposed to kill him. I need to forget him. That was the plan.” She said trying to convince herself. All she could think about now was how Jordan is dead. It was all because her and her selfishness. He trusted her, and she used that.

And now he is dead, gone and there’s nothing she can do to bring him back. The thought made the pain ten times worse. He really was gone forever. She thought of Lorcan and his petulant screaming as she ran.

She thought it would have gotten easier- after all, how many people had she cared about who died? Countless times she had felt this pain and how many of those deaths had she been responsible for? There is no list big enough.

But with every death it took away a part of her and soon there would be nothing left. She thought to Cecile and how she had stupidly run, she knew she needed to go back. She just needed to vent, but now she felt embarrassed, like a child again.

Elizabeth wiped her tears, smudging her mascara, and drove back to the house, not concentrating on the road. Raging drivers beeped their horns as she kept swerving to the other side of the road, but she did not care. She reached the edge of the woods and dumped the car on the side of the road.