A bad romance

A BAD ROMANCE

March 29^th 1999

It was a dark rainy night in Fiction state, a small town with few people. Everyone knew everyone. The sheriff’s office was besides itself with chaos. A young brunette, with eyes as blue as turquoise, Eleanora Michaels, stood in the rain with the Sheriff under an umbrella. “I will burn down everything you love one day!!!!” the blonde haired aggressive young man threatened as the county officials carried him away into jail. He was Eleanora’s husband. He was a drunk and had attempted to kill her that night. Luckily, Eleanora escaped and called the sheriff who then came to her rescue. “He will be going away for a long time,” the Sheriff assured her, “He’ll be sober and well-mannered by then.” Revenge hath no fury like a beast denied its prey, Eleanora thought. She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. She knew her husband and right then, she knew she had to get away from the town. The last thing she saw before getting back into the house was her husband’s face as he was driven away. A cold icy stare. One that would haunt her till her last breath.

Present day

“Mummmm!!!” Ethan shrieked. “Knock on the bathroom door, I’m thirteen now,” he moaned. “Sorry Ethan,” Eleanora laughed. “But you are running late and the bus is almost here.” Ethan scrambled out of the shower. “Mama,” Elly mouthed, stretching his hands up for a hug. “Well, good morning to you too,” Eleanora smiled as she carried her out of the buggy. Ethan was 13 and Elly was 1. She had met a traveler along the way who had brought her to a small village far from Fiction state. She was determined to get as far away from her past as possible so she had told anyone she met that she had no living relations.

The traveler had fallen in love with her and soon after they had married and Ethan was their firstborn. Unfortunately, on Ethan’s fifth birthday, the traveler had succumbed to African Trypanosomiasis (African Sleeping Sickness). She and Ethan had buried him quietly as they knew few people in the village. After that, they had moved to New York. Ethan had enrolled into public school and his grades were always the best. “Time’s up Ethan,” she called out as the bus parked in front of their lawn. Ethan rushed down the stairs, barely grabbing his lunch and hugging his mum at the same time. “I love you mum,” he shouted. “I love you too Ethan,” she waved back.

Eleanora was a writer and baker. She would bake cookies, cakes and all kinds of pastries and then they would be transported all over bakeries in New York. It was a blooming business and it helped her stay home with Elly. When Ethan started going to school, she had become lonely and so decided to adopt Elly from an orphanage. This was his first year with them and so far, Ethan had not complained. She loved him dearly and always held his cheeks as they were so chubby. Whenever Ethan left for school, she would clean around the house, Elly strapped to his chair with some toys, as she prepared to start writing. For lunch, she would cook something up and dinner was always in as well except for Saturdays when they would go out. It was a beautiful routine and she didn’t mind it at all. She loved her neighbors as well and their children would come over some evenings to play and carry Elly.

The days were beautiful. The nights, however, were a different story. She always saw his face. Him, who had caused her so much pain and torture. Him, who caused her to regret her birth. Him, the bane of her existence. It was always the same nightmare. He looked at her as her house burned, dragging her away as her children’s screams and cries echoed throughout the night. She always woke up in sweat, terrified and breathing rapidly. Like it was almost reality. As the years went on, the nightmares became worse. One particular night, it was different. She felt him, like he was close. He was coming for her.

Ethan knew something was always bothering his mother. But he didn’t know what and never had the courage to ask. The only memories he had were his mother and father, living happily in the small village. He understood why they had to move and he had thought his mother would be happier. But she had become worse. He was at a loss on what to do for her. He made sure he got good grades, never got into trouble, just so his mother could have some peace. But it didn’t seem to work either. As he grew older, he worried more about her. He couldn’t help but fall in love and get married. Maybe grandchildren are the answer he thought to himself. His first born was a girl. Pretty like her mother. But Eleanora only got worse. One day, as Ethan looked in the mirror, he suddenly noticed his hair for the first time. It had blonde streaks. Not so noticeable, but if you looked for a long time, they were evident. “Huh?” he thought, “I never dyed my hair, mum’s a brunette and da had black hair so what in the world?” He held his daughter and saw them as well. In her hair, blonde streaks. He was confused. “Honey,” he called to his wife, “did you put something in my shampoo or the baby’s?” “No,” she replied from the kitchen, “why?” “No reason,” he replied. He rushed off to find his mum and Elly.

When he reached the house, it was locked. “She must have gone out,” he thought. After hours of waiting, he suddenly got goosebumps, the feeling that something was wrong. Weird, he thought. I left everything fine at home. He told himself to wait a few more minutes before he went back home. His mum drove into the driveway five minutes later, panicking and in a rush. “Ethan!!!” she wailed, “He’s back. He was released for good behavior.” Who was she talking about? “Calm down, mum, who are you talking about?” He thought she was hysterical. The bad feeling that he had placed at the back of his mind, was now gnawing at him. She looked him square in the eyes and said it. “Your father” Ethan felt shock hit him in the chest like a tackle to the ground. And she bared it out. The entire story. The night he was arrested, how she managed to hide her one-month pregnancy from him and also lied to the traveler who he thought was his father. Elly was speechless. Ethan on the other hand could only think of one thing. My wife and daughter. He entered the car and drove to his house with only a prayer in his heart. But it was too late. He could see the smoke from a distance. His heart thumped louder, adrenaline rushing through his veins. He couldn’t drive faster. All this while Eleanora was crying in the backseat repeatedly apologizing. Ethan run into the house without hesitation, leaving his mother and Elly in the car.

A knock at the window, a face then blonde hair. Eleanora screamed. It was him, right at the window, staring into the car. “I warned you, didn’t I?” he rasped. “Now I have come to finish you off.” At this time, Ethan was coming out of the flames with his wife and daughter. The night was cool and everything was happening so fast. He had found them covered in a wet blanket in their bedroom. He hurriedly took a sheet, wet it and brought them out of the house together. The baby was unconscious and had to be rushed to a hospital. It was then that he met the sight of a blonde man strangling his mother, Elly lying on the ground, seemingly lifeless. He moved on instinct ripping the man’s arm off his mother’s throat, breaking it. His mother gasped, inhaling the air that had been denied to her for the past 20 seconds. Ethan then went into a full-on brawl with the blonde man. Fists met faces. Ribs cracked. Teeth flew. This went on for 3 minutes, but it seemed like forever to Ethan. Somehow, the man was stronger than him. He felt it, just like prey feels the strength of its predator. “He’s your son!!!!” Eleanora screamed as she saw Ethan’s face getting bloodier. The blonde-haired man stopped his fist midair. Ethan slumped to the ground.

He woke up in a room with white-washed walls. A tube in his arm. He was in a hospital. The events from the night before were a blur. “Ethan.” He turned his head, painfully, to see who was calling him. The blonde-haired man. “Are you okay?” He was speechless. The same man who had been hitting the life out of him, was now genuinely concerned about him. “I’m so sorry. Let me introduce myself. I am Dominic Michaels, your father.” And he told his story, how jail was difficult ad the hatred for Eleanora drove him to survive and get out on good behavior. “But after seeing you, my heart has broken. I have always longed to be a father. My own father was never good to me so I promised myself I would grow up and be a better father,” he sighed. “But things didn’t go as planned. The anger I harbored towards my father, I took out on your mother. I really am sorry, but I do not know if she will ever forgive me.”

Eleanora, Elly, Ethan’s wife and daughter entered at that moment. “I forgive you, she said.” Dominic hugged her with tears in his eyes. A family reunited. Two lives saved.

Revenge might drive you, but when it parks, you are left all alone.

~Anonymous.

THE END.