What's Said in Silence

Sera-XXXXVI

11:27 pm.

I decided that was the last time for the night that I would allow myself to check my phone for either the time or a text from Vessel. They had been gone for hours and hadn't really said anything before they left. I had to wonder if this was Vessels way of avoiding me, things had been slightly awkward between us at dinner, or at least it felt that way on my end. He hadn't spared a glance in my direction the entire time. 

I did seem odd that he wanted to go out for drinks out of the blue. Come to think of it, I hadn't ever seen him drink. There wasn't a drop of alcohol in the entire house that I was aware of, so he didn't drink at home. With the exception of touring, he rarely left the house, so him frequenting pubs didn't fit his character either. 

I released a heavy sigh. I was exhausted but I hadn't wanted to go to bed until he got home. I hadn't slept in my own room since we returned from Scotland, but I didn't want to just assume I was allowed to do that if he wasn't home. Rather than continue waiting up for him, I decided to just swallow my feelings and sleep in my own room tonight. 

I drug myself into the bathroom for a quick shower and to follow through with my night-time routine, despite my eyelids trying to close on me midway though. Once I was clean and dressed, I crawled into my bed. I tried to ignore how small and empty it felt in comparison to Vessels king size bed. 

I had thought sleep would come easy considering how exhausted I was, but I was beyond wrong. I tossed and turned. One minute trying to get comfortable, the next forcing my brain to stop replaying every single word Vessel said today. 

Growing frustrated, I smacked my pillow a few times, convincing myself that fluffing it would make it easier to fall asleep. I slipped my arm underneath it to get a better angle for my head to lay on. I felt something tickle my forearm. At first, I thought it was a tag from the pillow case but when I moved my arm, it moved with me. I gripped onto it with my fingers, it felt like paper. 

I pulled it out and held it up to the moon light. Sure enough, it was a folded square of paper. There were black markings on it but I couldn't make out what it said. Now more awake and alert I reached over and turned on my bedside lamp,  and unfolded the piece of paper to reveal what it said, and I wished I hadn't.

Welcome back, Seraphine.

I had known the radio silence while traveling had been too good to be true. Now, whoever he'd sent to follow me had gotten into the house, into my room. A sickening thought crossed my mind. How long had the note been here. We'd been home for over a week now, and I just now found it. 

I swung my legs off of the bed and rushed to my window. I pushed on it, only to find that it was still locked. They had to have gotten in some other way, but there hadn't been any signs of a break-in when we returned.  

A loud thud came from somewhere in the house making my heart rate shoot sky high. My door was shut, which made it hard to hear exactly where the sound had come from but I wasn't going to open the door to find out. 

Another loud thud, but this time it was against the door. The knob turned with nightmarish slowness before it finally swung open and a familiar dark figure fell onto my bedroom floor. I let out a sigh of utter relief and tucked the note back underneath my pillow before he could see it. I made a mental note to show it to Jessie first thing in the morning. 

A groan came from the man sprawled out on my floor before he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He lifted a wobbly head to look up at me before he slid himself across the floor. He pulled himself up into my bed and rested his full body weight on me, laying his head on my stomach. The sight was kind of endearing, even if the smell of alcohol and second-hand smoke seeped off of his clothes. 

"You're in the wrong bed." He mumbled, his words slightly slurred but the tone in his voice was full of vulnerability. I placed a hand on his back and rubbed it from shoulder to shoulder. Typically, I found drunk men rather off-putting, but drunken Vessel didn't have that same effect. He slid his arms underneath me and wrapped them around my waist, locking me to him. I was an anchor to the earth and he was holding on tight until he found balance again. 

"I grow tired of hiding from you." His words took me by surprise. What did he mean by that? There was no way he was considering what I thought he was. Adrenaline rushed through my body at the thought of it. If he did, then that would mean our dynamic was way more intimate than I had thought it was, that he placed a value on me I hadn't seen in myself. 

"Do you grow tired as well? Could you imagine a life where we didn't have to?" He rambled on, his questions were strange but not completely unprompted. Truth was, I was exhausted. The weight of my burdens had begun to take a toll on me, but they were my burdens and they would remain so.

"So badly, I wish to know all the things you refuse to tell, Seraphine."

 Everything came crashing down- my hopes, dreams, and feelings- at the mention of my full name. He'd never called me that before, yet he was now? He'd also said refused to tell, not couldn't tell, which made suspicion coil in my stomach. Conveniently, all of this was happening after a night out involving drinks... and Jessie. 

"I'm sorry about your sister, little fox."

It all clicked together. Vessels sudden need for me to go on tour with him. Jessie escorting me out for shopping and telling me I should show Vessel the article. The tense energy between the two of them at dinner while Vessel baited him into going out for drinks. Panic, fury, and contempt swirled together to make the most bitter concoction: Betrayal.

Jessie had told him something, maybe not all of it- there were things even Jessie didn't know-but definitely enough for him to mention my sister. I had never known Jessie to spill my secrets unless it was to Evelyn- which he only ever did if he thought she should know. I didn't want to be angry with him, he was affected by what happened just as much as I was, but I couldn't believe that he would tell Vessel anything involving the past that I was trying so hard to erase. 

Maybe not all the blame was on Jessie.

I looked down at the man who had fallen asleep on me. Vessel had a way with words that could command even the most reserved into doing what he asked. Getting Jessie drunk was his idea to begin with, specifically to 'loosen up'. Jessie may have spilled my secrets that he swore he would keep, but Vessel went behind me to seek out the information first-hand. 

Underhanded and conniving. The same traits Preston had.