Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 18: Anger

Chapter Eighteen: Anger

It happened unexpectedly.

A good dream.

From when he was a small child.

He could see a woman with jet black hair standing in front of a well-kept stove, happily humming a little tune under her breath. His father, sitting across from him, reading the paper despite his hulking size. The man's unique teal eyes were mellow beneath his mop of curly black hair, and even though his face was expressionless, he was visibly happy.

"Mama," Xaphile called, happily lifting his arms. "Mama... hug!"

His mother's long black ponytail swirled when she happily turned and looked at him, sweeping forward with her arms stretched wide. Those arms... those warm, loving arms... they were going to -

"Big brother... help me..."

His eyes flew open wide and his mother's smiling face abruptly vanished like a cloud. His clawed hands were outstretched towards the ceiling, and that strange whisper echoed, almost seeming to linger in his ears.

"Big brother... help me."

Confusion made things fuzzy for a second, but when reality finally came back... it did so in a slow, painful manner. Taking a moment to sit up, he pressed his palm against his forehead and looked around the room... but his mother wasn't there.

Feeling a little sick, he lay back down, thinking about the dream with glazed eyes.

As sad as it had made him feel, it was a nice change from the usual nightmares, and he almost wished he could fall back into it.

Amelia brought him back to his senses, however, by opening the door of his room.

"Phil?" she called, peering at him with hesitant eyes. "Breakfast is ready... if you want it."

"What time is it?" he sleepily mumbled, rolling over and slowly stretching like a cat.

"It's very early in the morning," Amelia admitted, drawing his gaze. "I'm only waking you up because you haven't eaten anything in two days."

With a sigh, he slid out of bed and slinked over to the trunk resting against the wall, dragging out the first top he could find. It happened to be a hooded robe of some sort, but he didn't really care what it looked like.

Tugging it on, he fluffed his hair out before folding the blanket he'd been given.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Are we having guests today, too?"

"Yes," she mumbled, averting her eyes when his face darkened. "I understand that the news probably makes you uncomfortable... but, please, at least eat breakfast today. You can't neglect your health."

He was silent for a moment.

"Fine," he eventually said. "Don't expect much social interaction from me, though."

"I won't, but thank you," Amelia sighed, smiling in relief. "Feel free to join us once you're ready."

Xaphile kept his face bland when she quietly closed the door but scowled the instant she was gone.

Shoulders tense and mouth pulled tight, he contemplated his situation.

Ellameira Rochard didn't seem to respect him, because if she did, she'd have kept her distance since it was obvious that he wanted to be nowhere near her.

Five days had passed since she'd informed everyone that they'd be going on a trip, but since then, she had been looking for little ways to get involved with Amelia's household and daily processes and she'd succeeded every time, too, to the point where she was there nearly all day.