The Bitter Silence of Sorrow

January 17, 2022 / emkingston / 1 Comment

She sat staring, out the window

Cold was visible as frost on the glass

She wished to escape this place

The room with the view

To the clouds in the sky

Thoughts circle inside her head

The story, she narrated to herself

The emotion blending with her sorrow

Like a raven‘s meaning, unrest

Ensued upon her psyche

A fist, she clenched it tight

As she began to wear a frown

Her body did a slide, slumping

Against a wall, hard as a rock

Would there be any to save her?

When she chose not to speak?

Bitter silence.

This was written for The Sunday Whirl Wordle #536.

The words are italicized in the poem, and they are:

Sebastian’s Story – Part 27 – Coming to Life

December 27, 2021 / emkingston / 2 Comments

The letter from Davina had Fiona numb and without emotion at first, but she could feel the wetness of her tears soaking her face. My baby knew she was going to die, Fiona kept saying inside of herself as she read the letter. She was appreciative that Lucas did not hover about while she read it because her heart was such a mess after reading words that had become so final.

Cole’s greed and irascible behavior ended her child’s life, and he needed to pay for that. He took more from her than she could ever explain. Her jovial feelings of being a mother to a daughter were taken from her. Stolen. Kidnapped and killed. Davina’s words were power. Sebastian had to be kept safe, which was common sense from the beginning of the fiasco with the Deville family after he was born.

The quantity of quarrels that happened between the Devilles and the Ridings were numerous and often. Megan wanted to keep Sebastian from Fiona from the moment he took his first breath. She had said that Fiona was not worthy of being around “Deville blood”, like it was a pure or something. Pure was never a term that mixed with the idea of that wretched family, and Fiona did not bow down to their wishes then or now. Megan could be as cold as ice, and that was not the upbringing that she ever wanted for her grandson. All the transient people in and out of their lives were scary and worrisome. Sebastian would always be safe with her, and she did not intend for that to ever change. She would walk through fire for him. Megan did not have it in her precious blood to do that for anyone, including herself. Davina was always mindful to not make Megan Deville angry, but Fiona could care less what that woman felt or thought. Fiona could not stomach the personality of her daughter’s mother-in-law all those years, and not having Megan in their lives was the first perk of being on the run from that appalling family. It was that feeling in her stomach, like the one after you had overeaten. That bloated feeling that a person can feel hours later after cramming down their food. It reminded Fiona of Violet Beauregard eating the Magic Chewing Gum on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and her puffing up like a big blimp up in the skies, except Violet was Megan. The thought and the joke of that picture in her head made her laugh, and she must have done it aloud. Lucas came walking in the room.

“Well, you handled that better than I thought you would. Are you good?” He upturned the corners of his lips into a soft smile.

Lucas had a way about him that was graceful and different than other people. He was the one who was pure goodness.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to burst out in laughter. I was picturing Cole’s mother fluffed up like a blue blimp.” She waved her hand in a motion to indicate a signal to disregard her silliness. “It seems like we have a great deal to talk about.” She said it with an inquiring tone of voice.

“Yes, and I hope that you don’t mind that I have invited Finn in on the conversation. Sebastian should hear a few things as well. Dinner is nearly ready. If you three would join me in the dining room in about twenty minutes, I figured it would be a great time to talk, the four of us.” His politeness, along with his candor, impressed Fiona.

“I believe that will be okay. Sebastian is quite advanced for his age, and I can imagine that she…Davina…would be okay with you speaking with him about family business.”

She figured this was affecting his life as much as hers, so she might as well let him listen in and participate. She was not a lone wolf anymore. She was a wolf who must continue raising her daughter’s pup. Now he was her pup, and he was as keen as ever.

“Great! I’ll see you in about 20 minutes then. Can you get Finn and Sebastian?” Lucas started heading back towards his office.

“Sure. Thank you, Lucas.” Fiona smiled at him, and it was the first time that she meant to smile at him.

“That’s what I am here for.” He smiled back and exited the room.

Fiona reflected for a moment on the words that Davina wrote, and while it was heartbreaking for her, it was easier to understand all the hours that Davina picked up at The Verve Night Club and at Boo’s. She was building something. She was risking her life to make sure that her family was safe from harm. She sacrificed everything for us, Fiona considered. She put the letter back inside it’s envelope that read “Momma” carefully before getting up from her seat and heading out of the room with the packet and envelope in hand. For the first time in a few weeks, she could feel hopeful that everything was going to be alright, and she exited the living area to get Sebastian and Finn.

When she approached Sebastian’s room, she could hear him telling Finn one of his imaginative stories that he would come up with on the fly most times. They were always adorably dramatic and fun. Davina spent so much time instilling him with a personality of his own.

“…and then he took a drive to the very top of the mountain, got out of his truck, and looked down to see all the little people…Oh! Hi, Gammy!” He got distracted from his story when he saw Fiona peeking around the corner.

“Hi, sweetheart. It’s time for dinner, so you and Mr. Finn get washed up and meet Lucas and I in the dining room for a family dinner.”

Finn smiled at her when she said, “family dinner”.

“You got it, Gammy! Let’s do this, Mr. Finn!” Sebastian took Finn’s hand in his and tried to drag him to the washroom. He was taking a liking to Sebastian’s friendship with him.

“Okay, big guy! I’m right behind ya!” Finn tickled him and pointed him to the bathroom. “Go ahead and get those hands clean!”

Sebastian giggled and obeyed his new friend with a big smile and a large amount of energy.

“I wish I had some of his energy. I am exhausted.” Finn laughed and slumped down in the chair that sat in the nook of Sebastian’s room. “It’s good to see you not stressed. Your face has pink in your cheeks again.”

Fiona smiled and said, “Davina helped. See you downstairs.” She straightened the bottom of her plum-accented, plaid shirt as she walked out of the room. Why did she feel so merry about Finn noticing the color coming back into her face? She was so happy she could nearly break out in dance as she walked down the hallway. Hmm, she said inside her head. Finn and Sebastian followed out of the room behind her.

For my new readers, this is an ongoing story. I use several prompts to build on my novel, and their word prompts and challenges are linked, bolded, or italicized. Please be sure to visit them and show some love because without them I would not have nearly 40K words written on this novel.

Here are the previous posts:

Thank you to my fellow bloggers for inspiring this novel! This started from Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge (#FFFC)

xoxo, E.M.

Sebastian’s Story – Part 24 – Lucas’s Demesne

December 13, 2021 / emkingston / 4 Comments

Sebastian was like a tiny little Spartan because he was ready for any battle that came at him. He was having the worst time of his life, and he stood so tall and so very strong. Most adults would crumble with everything that had been happening in his young life. He had the heart and strength of a lion. He was like a veteran that had seen all the crimson bloodshed on the battlefield that was able to move on from what he saw unaffected. His mother would be proud of how he was handling all the loss and changes due to her death.

When Gammy and Finn pulled up to Sharon’s house, he was playing outside with Jenna. It startled Fiona a little bit that he was not inside of the home playing with all the Flannery chaos uprooting in their lives. Sharon was busy shoveling the little bit of snow from her walkway leading up to the porch. The pavement still had a shiny, frosty appearance to it where the shovel had scraped by. Fiona avoided it as she walked up to talk to her, as she feared she would slip.

Sharon was surprised to see Fiona so soon after Sebastian left with her, “Hey Miss Fiona! Everything okay?”

“I’m afraid not, Sharon. We are going to have to end the visit sooner than expected…” Fiona felt bad because Sharon and Jenna both had disappointing expressions across their faces. “Is Sebastian’s backpack inside?”

Sharon set her shovel down and head up to her door from the icy steps on her fence-framed porch. “C’mon in Miss Fiona! We will get that bag and get you on your way!”

Sharon was always so pleasant and courteous to Fiona and everyone she encountered. She gave a holler to the kids to follow the grown-ups into the house, and they obeyed peacefully.

“Thanks, Sharon. I’m sorry that we could not let him stay longer. I don’t want to put you in the same danger that we are in, and it’s possible with all the drama going on surrounding Davina’s death. Cole wants Sebastian.”

Fiona saw Sebastian’s backpack sitting by the door when she walked in. She picked it up and was able to certify all his belonging were already packed up. It looked to her like he dropped the bag and went to play, without any hesitation. She kept talking as she inspected the contents of the bag.

“I put some gingerbread cookies in there for him before we left the café, and there’s a few other snacks in there. I know how he likes his goodies!” Sharon said watching Fiona’s meticulous inspection of the bag.

“I appreciate you, Sharon…everything you do for us. You have become a close friend, rather than just part of the wait staff at the café. I am so sad to say that we may not see you for a bit. We are leaving, and I have no idea when we will be back. The last thing I need is Cole grabbing my sweet boy. He’s all I have left.” Fiona trailed off while ending her sentence and directed her attention to Sebastian to change the subject. Sharon realized the shift in Fiona’s mood.

“I appreciate you and that sweet little man too! Jenna will miss him, but your safety is the top priority. I will keep my eye out for you, Fiona. I love you guys!” Sharon developed a small tear in her watery eyes.

“We love you too! We’ll miss you! We will try to see you soon, okay?” Fiona leaned in to hug her easygoing friend. “You stay safe too.” The gratitude exuded from Fiona’s expression and interaction with Sharon.

As they ended their friendly embrace, Sebastian was running around the house with Jenna like a chicken with his head cut off. It was a bit of a madhouse, but the chaos didn’t faze Sharon as she got hit in the face with the ball they were playing with. Fiona stopped Sebastian as he got close to her when he was running about.

“Hey, kiddo! We got to get on the road. Are you ready for an adventure?” Her words were emphasized in an exciting way to prevent him from being worried.

“Yay! I like adventures, Gammy!” Sebastian put his backpack on and started jiggling the door handle to go outside.

“Wait a minute! Give Miss Sharon and Jenna some love before we go, silly boy!” She giggled at his excitement and brought the first smile for a while on her face.

Sebastian giggled too, whipped around to Miss Sharon, and he grabbed a big hug around her neck. Jenna awaited the end of their hug and immediately followed suit. She practically jumped on Sebastian.

“Bye Bastian…I’ll see you,” Jenna said to her blonde hair, blue-eyed best friend.

“Bye Jenna and Miss Sharon…thank you for letting me play.” He turned to Gammy and motioned for her to pick him up. “See you.”

Fiona picked up the little boy that felt like he put on ten pounds overnight, and she walked out the door to meet Finn at the unmarked cruiser. Sebastian wiggled out of her arms and ran towards Lucas.

“Lucas! We’re going on an adventure! Can you come too?” Sebastian tugged at his pant leg happily.

“Of course! I am going to lead the way! Are you good with that?” Lucas smiled down at him, lifted him up, and their eyes came together.

“Yes! That sounds good, Luke!” He fluttered over to the passenger door facing Sharon’s house and waited for Finn to open it up for him to climb inside. “Let’s go!”

Fiona buckled him into his booster seat in the car and proceeded to join him in the car, except this time she sat up front with Finn.

“Gammy needs to sit up here and watch the road for Mr. Finn, okay baby?” She looked back at him through the safety glass that separated the front from the back seat.

“Mhm. It’s okay Gammy. I got snacks. Can I eat them?” Sebastian was always so passive and easygoing. It was good he was so unaffected…for now anyway.

“Of course! Miss Sharon put some cookies and other treats in there for you on our trip.” Fiona nodded in agreement as she pointed out the perks in his bag.

Lucas pulled away, and Finn followed behind him. It was going to be about an hour’s drive to Lucas’s secret spot to hide them. Finn kept looking back in his rear-view mirror to make sure they were not being followed and to check on Sebastian in the back seat. Each time Finn looked back, Sebastian made a funny face at him to make him smile. It worked. Finn could not resist interacting with Davina’s baby boy. He felt like the long, lost uncle. He was growing so fond of Sebastian because he was so clever and resilient for such a young lad.

He looked over to Fiona, who seemed lost in thought while gazing out the window, and he looked back to the road. “You know, I think he’s a good guy. Lucas.”

Fiona came back to reality to Finn’s voice speaking, “Huh, yeah…he seems good.”

“I know you were having a hard time at first, but we had a good talk in front of the café. He loved Davina immensely. He’s hurting too.” Finn tried to win some points for the new guy. Typical guy move.

He was obviously Team Lucas, Fiona thought. She scratched her head that was smothered by a winter beanie. Her locks of hair flowed out the bottom of the beanie in loose curls. “I suppose…I just do not understand, for the life of me, why Davina would keep him as a secret from me. What else did I not know?”

She thought of all the opportunities that Davina would have had to tell her about this new love when they were telling stories between the two of them sitting at their kitchen table or while bundled up in a blanket watching movies on her day off. It would have sparked her interest, and she would have loved hearing that her daughter was in love with Lucas. The relationship with Cole had haunted her after they ran for their lives, and Fiona felt like Davina should have trusted her enough to speak of this man. This…guy… who apparently loved her sweet, dead Davina.

“It sounds like she finally found the real thing. Maybe she wanted to make sure that her divorce would go through first. I don’t know, Fi. You should talk to him. He knows a lot, and he was probably a ranking top 5 person in her life.” Finn had that caring tone in the way he talked to her about Lucas. He knew she was struggling to feel included. He couldn’t blame her for feeling left out in the cold.

“You’re probably right. I think I am just frustrated that my and Sebastian’s lives just keep getting harder behind lies and secrets. All she had to do is talk to me, for God’s sake. I should not have found out like this.” She looked back at Sebastian snacking on the cookies, smiles, and, with a whiffle that she exhausted out of her mouth, “I’ll talk to Lucas. Thank you, Finn.”

Finn gave a nod and continued driving towards their adventure behind Lucas’s black SUV, a Chevy Suburban. “Everything is going to be okay…it has to, Fiona.”

“One can hope…I just want to get wherever the hell we are going.” Fiona looked back out the cold window and held a healing crystal in her hand. She had gathered it from her purse before they left. It was Davina’s. Aventurine…to heal the mind, body, and spirit against erratic behavior. Davina had carved a wing on the surface of the stone for more protection. She said it linked her to her guardian angel. Fiona didn’t argue about it, maybe it did help her heal. Regardless, both Fiona and Davina had that erratic behavior. She wondered; would Sebastian have our temperament? She grasped the crystal tight, and she tried to relax. The reality of the situation told her that it was inevitable that they would never be able to go back to their quiet country home. They had to start over again.

Just then, Finn noticed that the SUV turned into a small drive up the way from where he was driving behind Lucas. They followed him into what would be understood as his demesne. There was a huge and beautiful yard surrounded by a gated area that led up to a big house, and there was a fountain that sat before the front veranda that held the entry to the home in a circle, paved drive.

Finn stopped his police car behind the truck, and Lucas stepped out and walked toward them waving for them to get out of the car. Fiona got out first, and she opened the back door for Sebastian. He popped out of the back seat very ecstatic and ran to Lucas.

“We’re home! Can I go to my room?” Sebastian asked Gammy while sitting in Lucas’s arms.

Fiona was put off again with shock from the question. “Can you…huh?”

Lucas noticed the defeat in Fiona’s lips as they curled up at him a bit. “Sorry, Mrs. Ridings. This all must be a lot to take in.”

She couldn’t help but snap at him, “Ya think? Didn’t you ever wonder about her family? She had me. Her family. This is too much!” She walked towards Finn, white with disbelief.

“Let’s get inside, and then I will tell you everything you want to know. Some of it will make you smile, and other things will not. Regardless, you are safe here. We are all safe here.” He motioned for Fiona to go first up to the door. “Ladies first.”

Fiona smirked at him. “Gee, thanks…” The sarcasm bit Lucas right at his throat.

Sebastian went quiet, and Finn joined him in silence. The tension between Fiona and Lucas was off the charts, and they did not want any part of it.

Finn followed behind Sebastian, “Show me around, kiddo!”

“You got it, Mr. Finn! I’ll show you how to get to your room!” Sebastian ran up the curved set of stairs on the left side of the foyer. Finn followed, and Fiona sat on the bottom stair with the grief consuming her.

“Mrs. Ridings…Fiona…come with me, and I will show you to your room too. Everything will make sense after you have a shower and some food in your stomach.” Lucas tried to show that he cared for her…even with only knowing her for a short time.

When they started walking up the right side of the curved stairs that went to the second level of the mansion, the chimes in the grandfather clock started to ring. She thought to herself, wow, it is midnight again. Fiona was exhausted. The clock reminded her of the bells that were ringing in town, but they were more peaceful and melodic.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Lucas stopped at the first door they came to on the right side. He opened the door and motioned an invite for her to walk inside. There were roses budding in a vase next to the large California King bed. The room was gorgeous, and it seemed to have all her favorites inside of it. It reminded her of her home back in Roland. Davina had to have done this for me, she thought, no one else would have known me like this. She smiled at Lucas, and he smiled back as he backed out of her bedroom suite.

He spoke softly and said, “Dinner is at 7. You will find everything you need in the wardrobe and bathroom.”

Fiona gave a kind nod to him and sat on her bed.

For my new readers, this is an ongoing story. Here are the previous posts:

Thank you to my fellow bloggers for inspiring this novel! This started from Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge (#FFFC)

xoxo, E.M.

Sebastian’s Story – Part 20 – Lucas Adams

November 29, 2021November 29, 2021 / emkingston / 14 Comments

When Finn pulled into the parking lot on the backside alley of Boo’s Crossroad Café, he turned the engine off and took a deep sigh of relief. He looked back through the security glass slider to Fiona, and she was looking at Sebastian with the weight of the world resting in the lines of her face as they sat there in the dark alley. He hated to see her feeling so heavy, and she had been like a mom to him growing up. He adored her, and Sebastian was growing on him as well. Fiona noticed Finn feeling her pain, and she gave him a sad, hopeless fake smile. She hoped her sweet grandson would not remember this phase in his life, but she also knew that was wishful thinking as she looked at their situation and the loss of Davina. Sebastian had fallen asleep during the drive on the dark road that led into town in the seat of Finn’s black police cruiser with Fiona next to him.

“We should go inside and call Jenson. He can send a team out there, but I am sure Flannery is gone by now. Did he get the key?” Finn talked to Fiona through the barrier that separated the front from the back in the police car.

“Can you grab Sebastian and carry him in? I need to see if Sharon is inside. She’ll help us.” Fiona tried to pull on the door handle to open the back door. “Oh, you’ll have to let me out.”

Finn exited the front of the car and opened Fiona’s door, and Sebastian lifted his head up from the lap of his Gammy with tired eyes, “Gammy, don’t leave me.” He gripped on tight to her leg.

“We’re all going to go inside, okay? Let’s see if we can find Sharon and use the telephone.”

Sebastian scooted to Fiona’s side of the car and reached up for Finn to pick him up. He had become particularly fond of the cool detective that played games with him and spent time with them since his momma had passed away. It had been a short time, but Sebastian knew that Finn would not let anything bad happen to him or his Gammy. As Finn picked him up, they smiled at each other, and Sebastian laid his head upon the strong shoulder of his protector.

“Thank you, Finn. He has really taken a liking to you in this short time.” Fiona brushed Sebastian’s bangs out of his eyes and kissed him on the forehead before all three of them walked in the back door at Boo’s.

“He’s a great kid. Davina would be proud of him. He’s a strong little guy, and my new best friend.” Finn patted his back as he finished putting praise on his new friend.

Sebastian lifted his head to look at Finn and kissed him on the cheek, smiled, and he said, “Thank you, Mister Finn…besides Klaus, you are my favorite.”

As they came into the dining room of the café, Sharon was standing by one of the booths taking care of a customer. She noticed Fiona and Sebastian and tossed a greeting with a hand wave and a smile.

“I’ll be right with you three. Just sit wherever you want.” She finished writing the customer’s order, put her focus on the man she didn’t know with her favorite people, and walked the order up to the grill window to give it to the cook.

They looked around for where they wanted to sit, and Finn motioned to a booth in the back of the restaurant. They did not want to draw too much attention to themselves, especially with a guy like Flannery seeking them out. They also did not want to put anyone else in danger. Since Sharon had never seen Finn before, she was eyeballing him a little bit as she walked up to the booth where they all sat down after coming in from the back alley. She had not heard about Davina’s passing yet, and Fiona knew she was going to be devastated by the unwelcome news. This loss would break their friend’s heart, and she was dreading the task of telling her. Finn figured they were safe sitting there at the café…that was his hope anyway. There was the possibility that the hitman knew of all the places they could or would go to in times of trouble, but he wasn’t sure if he knew of this spot. His mind was naturally drawn to dwell in the negative aspects of life and living, and those terrible things in the back of his mind were lingering as Sharon approached the table with glasses of ice water for the grownups and ice cream for Sebastian. It was vanilla with sprinkles, and he was ecstatic.

“Thank you, Sharon. Can I play with Jenna?” He shoved a big bite of the sweetness into his mouth and smiled big at the server that he loved so much.

“If it’s okay with momma and Miss Fiona, I am all for it!” Sharon said in the same happiness that Sebastian had about his ice cream. “Where is she anyway? Your mommy?”

Sebastian put down his spoon and pouted, and Finn and Fiona just looked at each other with pure dismay because they were going to have to break her heart with their news. She was not going to take it well, and the look on her face had already gone from a smile to a frown.

“Oh no…what’s wrong, Miss Fiona? Where’s Davina?” Tears welled up into her eyes as she saw Sebastian lose all interest in his vanilla ice cream.

“Mommy is in heaven with Auntie Brooke…she’s never coming home.” Sebastian blurted out to Sharon.

She looked at Fiona for confirmation that Davina was dead, and Fiona could only nod to her in affirmation. Even though she had never met Finn, she looked to him for an answer as well.

“I’m afraid so…” he said as he exited the booth seat so Sharon could sit for a minute. She looked as if she would collapse.

Sharon navigated her weak legs to sit down next to Fiona. She was shaking. Sebastian could not look up at her because he knew she was sad and upset from the words he spoke. He felt bad for making her upset.

“Was it the guy? The one who had been coming in here on her shifts?” Sharon questioned. She then looked at Finn, who was standing in front of the booth now, and asked, “Who are you anyway? I have never seen you with them before.”

“I’m sorry…I am Finn Marlow. I am the detective that had been helping them get away from Davina’s ex-husband and his family.” He sat down next to Sebastian on the bench across from Sharon. “What guy are we talking about though? Can you give a description of him?”

She heard a ding at the window where the cook placed an order that was ready for the customer that Sharon was servicing when they all barreled in the back door. She rushed over and grabbed it from the heated window, delivered it to the table with a bottle of ketchup and hot sauce, and went back to her seat with the family. Sharon began explaining what the man looked like and how often he frequented the café to see Davina. She described the man as tall with blonde hair. She said he dressed like he was “made of money,” and sometimes Davina would be happy to see him. Fiona and Finn both had no idea who she would have been describing. Cole had red hair like his mother, and Flannery had a darker color of brown on his head.

“Most of the time, she seemed as if she was happy to see him. He was someone from her past,” Sharon remembered, “but she never told me much about him…not even his name. She only said he was from the older days of her life.”

Fiona looked at Finn, and they were both perplexed trying to figure out who this mystery man could be. Finn probed for more answers.

“Have you seen him in here lately, like within the past 24-48 hours, when Davina was not here?”

Sharon shook her head from side-to-side to indicate that she had not seen him since Davina’s last shift. “I’m afraid not…I’m sorry. If I do, I will give him Miss Fiona’s number at the house.”

Fiona responded, “We won’t be at the house…we actually need to use the landline here for a moment if that’s okay?”

“Of course! Anything for you and Sebastian, Miss Fiona. It’s right over here.” Finn followed Sharon to the back where the back office was located. She shut the door behind herself as she walked out. Finn locked the door behind her.

As Sharon arrived back at the booth in the back corner of the restaurant, Fiona noticed she had grabbed a piece of the chocolate pie – her favorite – on a small saucer and placed it in front of Fiona. “Here ya go…it’s on the house. Chocolate pie makes everything better, or so I hope it could. How are you doing with all of this?” She looked into Fiona’s tired and worried eyes. “Would it help if I watched Sebastian for a few days?”

Sebastian popped his head up from the table where he had been laying it since he was still tired. It was late, and he was sleepy still. “Can I Gammy?”

Fiona bit her lip in hesitation, “Let’s see what Mr. Finn says when he comes back to the table, and then we can decide. Okay baby?” Sebastian nodded back to her in agreement.

“He’s always welcome. I am here for you all. You know that right?” Sharon tapped on the table with her order book. “You want some breakfast? It’s nearly morning now. I am off in an hour.”

“Sure, Sharon. We could all use some food energy…I am exhausted. Sebastian can have his little pancakes he loves with some scrambled eggs, and I will have the 2x2x2 over-medium with sourdough toast. Give Finn the same with wheat toast and sunny side up eggs.”

Sharon writes everything down, and says, “You got it! It’ll be right up!” She rushes away from the table and hangs up her order slip for the cook again.

As she is preparing the condiments and silverware for the table, the front doorbell jingles. Sharon looked over to welcome the new guest, and it was him. The blonde guy. The one that Sharon was just speaking about. He was there. Sharon motioned with her neck, pointing her head towards him, and she flashed big eyes that this was the man Davina had been meeting with to Fiona.

Fiona looked at him curiously and watched him sit down in the front of the restaurant by the window. He unbuckled his fancy coat, took it off, and laid it across the bench of the adjacent table. He noticed Fiona staring at him, and he looked back at her, noticing Sebastian with his head lying on the table. Fiona thought that the man recognized Sebastian. She was right because he walked towards her and introduced himself, “Hello, I am Lucas Adams. You must be Fiona, Davina’s mother.” He outstretched his hand to shake Fiona’s shaking hand. She hesitated to put her hand out to him, but she finally did to be polite.

Sebastian popped up his head when he heard the man’s voice, “Luke! I missed you!” He plowed out of the booth and grabbed Lucas’s leg, hugging it tightly. “Where have you been?” He was almost flying around the room from seeing Lucas. You would have thought the boy had grown wings.

“Hey buddy…I had to go back to Arkansas for a few days to do some paperwork. Is Mommy here too?”

Sebastian got sad again. “You better sit down, Lucas…” Fiona sympathized with the expression that Luke developed on his face.

“Oh no…he found her, didn’t he?” Lucas was showing signs of shock in his expression. He had a shudder in his body as he thought about what he knew about Cole and his family.

Lucas acted like he knew the story, but Fiona did not want to give too much information. This was her first time knowing that a Lucas Adams existed, and she did not know who to trust anymore. She played dumb.

“Who? Who found her?” Fiona asked the mysterious man.

“Cole…the monster found her. I just know it. Is she okay?” Luke’s breathing was distressed, and he was in pain thinking about what could have happened to Davina. “Please…is she okay?”

“No…let’s talk about it over here, okay?” Fiona leads the man back over to his table across the room to tell him the horrific news of her daughter’s body being found in the Wabash River. He found it hard to keep his cool after finding out that the love of his life was dead.

He sat silent, and he tried to figure out why they would have her killed in such a brutal manner. His heart was broken along with Sharon who stood over the table shedding her own tears. Fiona was too split on the situation to feel empathy for Lucas.

“Now that you know that, can you tell me how you know my daughter? And, how do you know my grandson?” She was abrupt with him, but he was a mere stranger to her. Davina had never mentioned any Lucas or anyone else, and Sebastian had kept him a secret also.

“I’m…her boyfriend. Dead? Davina’s dead?” He falls back like he had been defeated in a boxing match in the booth that housed his ornate coat with the shiny buttons. “We were so close to being free of that asshole. I was working with the Marshalls in both states to get her divorce papers taken care of and get new identities for all of you. The truth is that she was the love of my life, Ms. Ridings.”

With the illegal doings of the Deville family, Davina and Fiona were both witnesses against them. The relocation to Indiana was supposed to keep them safe, but they never got their new identities. They strived to coast under the radar…or so Fiona thought. It seemed as if Davina had been doing a lot behind her back, and it made her furious. Fiona was in as much shock as he was. How did Davina hide this from her, especially with everything she had given up her life’s work to finally relocate and get far away from the Deville family? The thought of Lucas Adams and Davina sneaking around behind her back annoyed Fiona to the highest degree. Whatever they had been doing and hiding had a price, and that was the life of her daughter. Fiona felt like he was the reason for Davina’s body being a floater in the Wabash. Her face was flushed red with anger, and Finn noticed her just as soon as he came out of the office from contacting the police about Flannery’s invasion out at the farm. He rushed over, and he got between Fiona and the man that he had only seen a few times throughout the years. He figured he would partake in giving Lucas more information with Fiona, but he was a bit of a mess after hearing the news. Fiona was too mad to notice.

“Lucas, what are you doing here?” Finn looked puzzled seeing this blast from the past. “Is this because of you? What did you do?”

Fiona walked away, glaring back at the sharp-dressed man that was one of the biggest secrets that her daughter ever had. Oh, Davina…what did you do?

Fiona sat across from Sebastian as Sharon brought the food to the table, still angry and confused, and she looked into his eyes and felt better. “I love you, Sebastian…Gammy loves you so much. Eat up, and then you can go with Sharon back to her house. My decision is made.”

Sebastian smiled at Fiona with all the love possible in the world and started eating his breakfast. The morning came, and the night was gone. None of them were free from the constraints of the Deville’s wickedness.

For my new readers, this is an ongoing story. Here are the previous posts:

The bolded and hyperlinked words in the story were using word challenges from the Daily Spur, Fandango’s One-Word Challenge, Ragtag Daily Prompt, Word of the Day Challenge, My Vivid Blog, Your Daily Word Prompt, Sunday Whirl Wordle, and Three Things Challenge. This story started from a flash fiction prompt from Fandango.

xoxo, E.M.

Sebastian’s Story – Part 18 – The First Punch

November 21, 2021 / emkingston / 7 Comments

Davina was folding clothes and watching her usual tv sitcoms when the breaking news came across her television about Megan’s arrest. She was folding her turquoise cashmere sweater while sitting on her couch while producing a stack of folded clothes on the oak coffee table. She had her favorite sweater up to her face, snuggling her nose against its soft texture until the story came on. When the words left the news anchor’s mouth, she dropped the sweater onto the table and ran into the kitchen to grab the phone. She thought I need to call Brooke.

She dialed the phone, but there was a busy tone ringing back into her ears. As she hung up the phone, she was thinking that Brooke had probably gone to celebrate after hearing the news that her mom was in trouble. It was a silly thought, but it made her giggle a bit under her breath. She found it a bit funny herself that Megan got caught up, and a little humor now and then was good when it came to the Deville family.

With the afterthought of her amusement still making a smile on her face, Cole walked through the front door of their 3-story home, and the smile faded to a terrified grimace. He was a mess. He had blood on his hands, and his clothes were covered in even more blood and dirt. His hair looked like he had been through a cyclone, and he was crying.

“Cole! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Davina ran to him with a towel from the laundry because she thought the blood on him belonged to him.

“It’s not mine, Davina…” He pushed her away. “I got into some trouble. I’m alright. Can you open the safe and put this in there?” He handed her a revolver.

“I’m not touching that thing, Cole. Jesus Christ, Cole! What did you do?” She backed away from Cole and his gun nervously.

“Take the gun, Davina! Do what I say! You are my wife, and I told you to open the safe and put this in there. Remember who the hell you are married to, Davina!” Cole shoved the gun into her hands. “And Davina, I would wipe it off if I were you…” he said as he threw her beloved cashmere sweater at her face and the bloody gun.

Davina stood there with her arms shaking and her legs feeling like wet noodles. She had never seen him so angry before, but she was never one to back down to a bully.

She speaks out saying, “I won’t. I will not do it…You should do it yourself!” She wiped the gun down to remove her prints and set it wrapped up in her sweater on the coffee table.

As she turns to walk away, he blasts her in the face with his fist. Thankfully she was agile enough to break her fall with the clutter that was resting on the coffee table from doing laundry. The shot from his clenched fist had knocked her back about two feet from the dissonance between his hand and her face. This was the first time he had ever put his hands on me, she thought, I will never forget this… She becomes hysterical, and as she begins to scream out in pain, she hears Sebastian crying in his bedroom. The ruckus must have woken him. Her thoughts wandered to her sweet little boy, and she was thinking, Shh baby boy…Mommy’s okay. Instead, she stood there waiting for Cole to release another punch from his fist. She was so scared of the trepidation building inside of herself and worrying that Cole would go after Sebastian next.

“Please Cole…stop!” She holds out a hand to keep him from charging at her face again. “Let me get cleaned up and get Sebastian. I’m sorry. I am so deeply sorry. Just please…” She pleads to him. He laughs at her.

“Shut up! I recommend you shut your mouth, and go get your kid, Davina…I’m going to take a shower, and you shouldn’t look like that when I get out.” The words “your kid” stung in her ears as much as the punch to the face. He motioned his hand around all the blood that was on her face from him striking her. “Clean you up and get this house clean. You make me sick.”

As he walked away, Davina hugged her knees into her chest and rocked there for a minute. “This is not my life”, she cried out. He was not one that was usually violent or mean, and this behavior was not something normal in the relationship. They were high school sweethearts. There had been tension before, but she didn’t understand why he would hit her after so many years of good times. He had never shown any signs of being abusive. In Davina’s eyes, he was still the same boy she had met in the back yard of her house while swinging on the tire swing that was hanging from the big maple tree. Before now, it had been easy to love him, and this incident made her wonder how long she should stay.

She scuffled to Sebastian’s room and peeked in the crack of the door. He had stopped crying and was playing with the toys in his crib. She backed away from the door and went to the spare bathroom down the hall from his room since Cole was in the master bathroom. When she got to the mirror, she could not look at her reflection right away. She could already feel the swelling in her cheek, and it was throbbing with pain.

After standing there at the sink for a short while with her hands cupping the water to splash onto her face, she tried to build up the courage to lift her head and look at herself. It was so hard for her. She was anxious and scared, and she thought that these things only happened in soap operas. She could not believe that this was happening in her marriage. What am I going to do? What am I going to tell my friends and my momma? What if he does this to our baby? I need to get away.

All these questions and thoughts filled her head as she stood there in pain, emotionally and physically. The sink was running chilly water, and the noise of the sink running was calming her, but those bothersome thoughts engulfed her essence. She could not stop crying. She needed to get her face washed, but she could not imagine what she looked like at this moment. Finally, she lifted her eyes to the mirror. She saw the reflection of a female she did not recognize in the embellished mirror that was resting above the sink, and she crumbled inside when she saw what he had done to her. The contusion on her face had formed a big ball on her cheek that was purple and red. It was bleeding and seeping fluid. This was the first time she had ever felt hopeless. She knew, at that point, that it would not be the last time. His behavior would ossify to a continuous level of fury and brutality throughout the rest of their marriage, she just had no idea those things would now be themes of their remaining connection.

She grabbed a washcloth from the cabinet beside the sink and soaked it in water, as she brought it up to her face, Cole knocked on the bathroom door. She could tell he was using the knuckle of his finger to tap lightly on the door, and she could hear his breath on the other side of the crack of the entrance to the lavatory.

“Davina, I didn’t mean to hit you. I’ve had a really bad day, and your stubbornness infuriates me sometimes…Please open the door!” His body was up against it…hovering…breathing…listening to his abused wife cry behind the splatters of water coming from the sink. “C’mon baby…don’t cry.”

“I still need a minute, Cole. Can I have a few more minutes, please?” She patted her swollen cheek with the cold towel. The blood had started to congeal atop her busted skin. It burned to the touch. Each time she put the cold, wet towel up to her face, her cheek felt like it pounded into the linen of the cloth. Nothing stopped the pain, and it didn’t help that her hands would not stop trembling to take care of her wounds.

“I’ve got something for you, Davina. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.” Cole was leaning against the door. She could hear his body rubbing against it.

Davina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “I’ll be right out, okay? I am trying to pull myself together.”

Cole pressed away from the door and started pacing outside it in the hallway of their home, “Sometimes you just make me so angry. I don’t like being talked to like that.”

Davina thought to herself that he was still being very selfish and mean by saying those things, “Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just did not want any part of what you got yourself into. Plausible deniability…” She tried to rationalize her actions of pissing him off to make him back away from the door.

He could tell that she was not coming out right away. “I’ll give you some time, but I have something for you when you come out, okay?”

She said to herself that he was such a narcissist. How did I get here? I cannot believe that this is now my life. The gas lighting was not working on Davina. She could see through the blinders that he was trying to instill upon her. She wanted to call her mother or Brooke. She was sure that he would not allow that…not looking like she had just been in a boxing match with Jean Claude van Damme.

She turned out the light before she opened the door, and Cole was waiting outside the door when she opened it. Great, she thought, he wants to go another round…I bet that is what he has waiting for me…

She tried to step around his as he leaned against the wall of the hallway, but he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him. As he did, she gasped out in fear. “Cole, I just want to sit down for a minute. Please let go.” She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he held her tighter.

“C’mon baby, let me apologize to you. I told you I have a present for you. Reach in my pocket, the front, over here.” He motioned his neck to the right-hand side of his body. “Go ahead. It’s for you.”

Davina felt her eyes roll a little bit from being annoyed by him not letting go of her and making her dig in his pocket like a little schoolgirl. She hoped he didn’t see her expression, and against her own wishes, she put her hand in his pocket.

For my new readers, this is an ongoing story. Here are the previous posts: