Eternal Love

Part Five

Alexander" you sigh, "Oh thank god. You have to help me. It's Bucky! He's-"

"Different than you remember?" he finishes.

"What? No. He-"

"That's to be expected when someone's waited as long as he has."

"Not you too" you groan, "I swear, you're all delusional! For the last time, I'm not her! My name is-"

"Y/N. And before that it was Betty. Before Betty, you came back as Catherine, and before Catherine do you know who you were?" Alexander asks you.

"I don't know...Josephine..?" you guess, throwing your hands up in exasperation.

"Good girl. You see, I've always known who you were, even when you didn't. Every time you came back, I found you. I always knew where you were, what you were doing."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious, dearie? I had to make sure you stayed away. I couldn't let you be with him. It would ruin all the hard work I've done."

"What are you talking about?! I'm not her! I don't-"

"You do. It's hidden but it's there. I know it is. You're a good girl, don't get me wrong. You're just not good for James."

"You're not good for James."

"How do you know what's good for him?" you seethe.

"I've known him his whole life. I am the only person left who knows what's best for him." Alexander says as he walks towards you.

"This relationship, it cannot happen Josephine. I won't let it."

"Why not?" you asked, tears gathering in your eyes.

"You know why...don't make me say it."

When you stare at him silently, he sighs.

"It's because you're a nobody, Josephine. You have no family, no home, no money to your name. You would tarnish his name, the family name, ruin his legacy. I can't let you do that."

"But I love him." you tried desperately.

He tuts and caresses your cheek affectionately, "I know dear. But if you love someone, sometimes you have to let them go, yes?"

You nod your head solemnly as the tears start to fall.

"He asked for my hand" you tell him, "I said yes, I wrote him."

"Don't worry dearie." he says as he empties the vial into your wine glass before turning to you, "I'll take care of it. For now, a toast." he says as he hands you the glass, "To love."

"To love" you repeat before raising the glass to your lips and taking a sip.

As you fall to the floor, cup slipping from your grasp, the last thing you see is Alexander standing over you before your vision slowly fades and your breathing stops.

"It was you." you say as you move away from him.

"What?"

"Josephine didn't kill herself. It was you! You killed her because you didn't approve of their relationship." you gasp, "Does Bucky know?"

"No, and you sure as hell aren't gonna tell him." he says as he stalks towards you. Alexander pulls a knife out from behind him, "Last time was quick and painless. I am so gonna enjoy killing you this time around."

Suddenly he lunges at you, swinging the knife down quickly. You shriek and back away, bumping into an end table. The vase sitting on it falls to the floor and shatters, the glass crunching under your feet as you try to put some distance between you two.

You crawl over the large bed so that you're now standing on the other side, and grab the lamp from the bedside table, launching it in his direction.

Alexander covers his head with his arm as it hits him and you take that moment to make a run for it. You head to the door and reach out for the doorknob, only to be pulled back by your hair at the last minute.

Alexander changes his grip from your hair to your neck. He bangs your head against the wall twice before throwing you down. Groaning, with your head pounding, you roll over onto your back and weakly crawl away,  trying to put some distance between you two. Shards of glass are getting embedded into the palms of your hands but you don't even notice. Alexander pants and throws the knife down before stalking towards you once more.

"You always were a spitfire." he says, still walking towards you slowly, taking his time, as if he's teasing you. "I hated it then, and I hate it now."

By now, you've backed yourself up into a corner. You use the wall to assist you as you shakily stand up.

"I really am sorry about this. I want you to know that it isn't personal."

"Then why are you doing this? Why can't you just let me go?" you ask him.

"If only it were that simple. You see, when I was first brought on, Master Barnes promised me the house. He said if something were to happen to him, he wanted to be sure the manor wouldn't sit abandoned, gathering dust. I thought 'Alexander, this is easy. Just wait until he gets old and passes' But then he got married, had children." Alexander sighs, as if that annoys him.

"I knew if I wanted to be able to enjoy the house, I had to speed some things up. Rebecca was easy; I took care of her while she was sleeping. George was too. Just paid some local hoodlums to do the job. Winifred though, she was trickier. I believe she had a feeling it was me. She stopped asking me to do things for her, and left the room whenever I was near. I knew I had to act fast before she told Master James what she thought. I pushed her down the steps and didn't lose a second of sleep over it."

"All that was left was James. But of course, things aren't all that simple. Along came a lowly baker, Josephine, and everything was ruined. Master Barnes always talked about leaving and suddenly this- this nobody comes alone and he wants to lay down roots? After all I've done to ensure my future?!"

"I did what I had to do. I didn't know we'd all be cursed. Trapped here for years and years. But it's so simple. Killing you is what trapped us here, so killing you again is what will set us free."

"You're fucking mental" you seethe, trying to push past him. He pushes you onto the bed and gets on top of you when you roll over. Alexander grabs a pillow and places it over your head before applying pressure. Your arms flail about as breathing gets harder and you start panicking. You try hitting his arms and pushing him away but nothing seems to work.

"Don't fight it." you hear faintly, "You'll only make it worse for yourself."

You feel your body getting weaker and eventually stop hitting him, your arms laying limply on the bed.The world starts fading out and Alexander finally loosens his hold on the pillow. You think you hear the bedroom door being kicked open but you aren't sure. Everything fades to darkness after that.