"There are things in this world that people know they can believe in, even with no proof. And if such things exist, then surely there are things of the world that people don't assume to exist that much. I come from a family of so many people killing each other and licking the floor for power. There are family heirlooms which were once used to actually carve the backs of people who were once devoted to each other.
This world may think that people like us do not exist anymore or at least are on the verge of extinction. That just shows how needle-sharp our camouflage is…"
Nathaniel relaxed into the couch. Heavy eyes drifted away to what seemed like the high roof, but was actually to a time years and years ago.
"I was the only child in my family, Ette. A family complete of three happy people. Apart from my mother and my beloved father, I had a special person whom I will always carry in my heart…"
Birds chirping outside, the wind blowing through the windows. Even the sound of her heartbeat could be heard. Odette thought to herself that she currently had no reaction to what has been said to her. She needed to know more…
"My aunt." Nathaniel shifted his gaze towards the other. For a second, he gently smiled before looking away. "Melita was my second mother. Her heart had so much love for children, and I always had the blessing to feel it from her. She was my godmother and… the woman who gave birth to the abomination that would take her own life later…"
She noticed the shift of his emotions very clearly from the stern gloominess overshadowing his sharp face. He tightened his jaw in anger… seeping into his tight chest.
"She was married into the Constantine family by force. A white crystal in a pot of pig's blood. My uncle did not love her right, bedded her, and just gave her a child to raise, but she loved that boy so utterly… so desperately. Because it was her only hope.
Caius, that lucky bastard. He did not deserve to be born out of her womb. A devil like him certainly took every ounce of nutrient in her body to fester inside her and came out bearing the bloodlust my uncle had… Soon after he was born… my aunt passed away."
Now she had a reaction. Eyes unwavering from the man who was talking to her. There was a pull at her chest when she heard about Caius's mother.
"Oh…" what else could she say?
Odette could not believe how despairing and pessimistic Caius' life was from the beginning of his childhood. This could not get any worse for him.
"She died when he was around ten years old. I remember that day… very well. He was not even given the chance to see his mother's burial… my uncle, Osman Constantine, dragged him in a fit of rage and locked him down in our dungeons. A place that was meant to train our underdogs, and torture and hide people from the world that were a threat to our bloodline…"
The prior thought that was still fresh in her mind shattered. The woman who was looking away in grief snapped her head back at Nathaniel.
"What do you mean he locked Caius up?"
"I mean exactly that, Odette," Nathaniel stated with no emotion. "Like a dog dragged away to its cage, he was dragged into that dark place."
"Throughout his life, Caius never received any love from his father… he was beaten to unconsciousness, spat at, and humiliated by his father. When Osman's only hope withered away, he had no one to stop what he did that day. The entirety of the Constantine mansion heard his screams, begging his father not to do it, wailing for his dead mother, crawling and latching onto the floor until his fingers bled. But he was dragged into the cell and was thrown in with only one way to escape it…"
A morbid foreshadowing slithered into the room as she listened…
"He was to kill every remaining person in that basement and free himself off the cell…"
Hearing these words brought a strange type of fear into her heart. She was shaken to her core. The man that she danced with, the one whom she had sat together and talked with… was this the same Caius that Nathaniel is speaking about?
Gulping down a lump, she asked him the question needing the most answers.
"Did he… do it? He… killed?"
Nathaniel drew closer to her a little. With a low-hanging tone and a dark sense of cruel fate, he continued,
"There were many individuals locked up and kept there. Criminals, traitors, men who were not fit to fight, people from other factions that fought and lost to the Constantine heel. For twelve years… twelve years without a stop… Caius was never more. There was no heir to the family and no son left for my uncle. Until one day… it was the Christmas season… the December of the twelfth year… a couple of maids who were trimming the garden near the underground entrance heard a loud bang, one after another. It was as if some creature was kept inside and was trying to pounce out of the door. Caius came out of the dungeon on his own… crawling out, body splattered in blood…"
The beating of her heart stirred.
"He had a knife with him. With that, he murdered the two maids then and there, slashing across their throats. When the bodies were found, their skulls were crushed by what seemed like a strong foot. For twelve years, he had done nothing but kill and try to escape…"
She was speechless… all Odette could do was stare at Nathaniel and listen while taking deep breaths. She was not a weak woman who now feared Caius. Even with a newfound sense of horror, she wanted to remain calm.
"The news of his escape reached my parents and… they left me at home. That was the last time I saw them…"
A huge blow on his heart… Nathaniel sensed his fingers clench into a fist. Affliction poured unto him like a never-ending river of burning memories.
"That night, Caius murdered every maid and butler that was in his way. There was a woman from an influential family who had a marriage alliance with Constantine. Everyone thought that he would at least spare her, but right after he killed my uncle, he killed her as well.We found their bodies…"
Odette met Nathaniel's gaze while he slowly spoke.
"Uncle Osman's body was cut in so many places… we recognized him by his ring that he only wore as the head of the family. His eyes were gouged out, teeth pulled out, and his jaw was shattered in two places."
Hearing this made her flesh creep. She shook her head visibly.
"You can't possibly be telling the truth, Nathaniel. A human cannot get away with such a big thing like a massacre. You are trying to scare me."
"Think what you want… you can ask anyone from the Constantine mansion, and they would know, Odette."
"He killed his bride-to-be with an axe. My nephew… Gideon. Toby was the man who hid the baby and later presented the child to Caius. From then on, Caius raised Gideon with spite."
"Why did he kill his bride-to-be too?" a question Odette dreaded. Was this man someone who was beyond saving? Was he a person who could never be an ordinary man who can love, laugh, and live without hurting anyone?
"He claims that she slept with his father, my uncle. That is also why he never calls Gideon his son, but his brother."
Nathaniel gave a slightly triumphant look when he saw how Odette was after all this information. "You see how he is entirely different from what you have seen?"
She could only blink and let herself not sink into self-blame. She felt like a fool… not seeing the entire story behind the tall man. She felt defenseless and strangely relieved that she was not in that haunting mansion anymore. A place where so many souls were taken within one night.
"This is why…" the other drew closer. "I shot him twice." He kept a reassuring hand on her shoulder and waited for her to process this. "I would never hurt an innocent person, Odette."
When she looked at Nathaniel, she felt a disinclined sense of relief and gratitude that was so slight it bothered her. All the memories that were good, which were a few… all the words exchanged and the moments spent in the kitchen, in the garden… all of these memories felt like a thin sheet of glass covering a large rotten blood clot. For her, it was too much to take in, and with that she felt more determined to leave this family for good, as she should have originally intended to.
"Nathaniel…" Odette looked at his hand on her shoulder and did not like it. "I want to go home with Gideon…" her eyes demanded from him. "As soon as possible."