13

I awoke to no Elijah, not that I was surprised. I dressed in blue jeans, a loose black shirt, and a grey cardigan. I tied up my hair, wanting it out of my face, before heading down stairs. Elijah was sitting out on the patio with Faith but to my confusion they were not alone. As I got closer I was able to make out the person with them.

Eli was sitting there talking with Elijah. They stopped speaking when they caught sight of me. I looked between them, not understanding what's going on.

"Sit down Gabrielle." I did, only so I could figure out why Eli was here. He did not glance my way, it was like I wasn't there. "You remember Eli don't?"

"What is he doing here?"

Elijah's smiled. "Sweet heart did you think I would actually send you to that bastard unsupervised."

"I don't understand..."

"Eli here works for me." My eyes widened in disbelief. "He and half of Garrett's men."

I shook my head, turning to Eli who sat silently. "How could you betray him?"

He raised a brow much like he did before, I knew he was not going to answer. Elijah leaned back in his seat and eyed me out. "You still think to take up for him? He was using you Gabrielle. He let you see what he wanted you to see. Get your head out of the fucking clouds."

"It wasn't your choice to make."

He grabbed my jaw before I could blink. "You see, it was my choice. You belong to me... I am your god. I will kill every fucker that looks at you. Don't fucking test me." With that he roughly let me go.

I glared at him, hoping to cover up how much he scared me. I was sure my heart was going to pound out of my chest. This obsession was becoming too severe. I thought maybe Elijah would soon get over it, but it only became more serious the longer I was with him. It was dangerous... Elijah was not letting up, if anything he was worse then before.

As the day went on I couldn't help but think about Garrett... poor Garrett. Although his intentions were not the best, he was very compassionate to me.

Never did he speak bad about me and only did things to keep me happy. He was only ever good to me. Maybe he was not the perfect person but Elijah had no right to take his life. No one had the right to take another's life.

"What are you doing?" I followed the voice to see Elijah leaning against the door frame, his deep blue eyes were so intense. I found myself staring at him longer then usual. His looks were out of this world... I did not understand how so one so beautiful could be so cruel and cold.

"Thinking," I mumble when I realized he wanted an answer.

He raised a brow. "About?"

"Everything..." There was a long silence. "Where's Faith?" I don't know why I asked, it somehow slipped out.

"Faith?" He walked fully into the room. "Why would I know?"

I shrugged. "You are both always together."

"Is that a problem?"

I shook my head. "I was only curious." He sat beside me. I kept my eyes on the pages of the book on my lap, though I could not seem to get into what I was reading. Elijah's close proximity was making me nervous.

My heart skipped a beat when he grasped my chin gently and turned my face towards him. He did nothing but stare at me, his eyes boring into mine.

"You are so fucking beautiful. Maybe I should hide you from the world... keep you locked up here. That way no man will ever set eyes on you" Oh god.

"Stop..." I whispered.

"Stop? You don't think I tried to stop? You don't think I tried to forget you when I gave you to fucking Garrett. I can't fucking stop. The thought of you with another man does my fucking head in."

"Elijah... please stop. You're scaring me."

He smiled and I wondered how could something so beautiful be so scary. "I'm scaring myself." He kissed my head before letting me go and walking out the room. I stared at his retreating image until he disappeared from sight.

The days went on plainly. Elijah did not mention what took place the other night and neither did I. It was as if the entire ordeal never happened. I tried not to think into it, but I would always find my mind repeating his words.

Somehow I was able to sneak into the kitchen and distract myself. Some of the cooks would see me but they did nothing to stop me. I was sure Elijah had something to do with it, and for that I was thankful.

One afternoon as I was eating lunch, both Faith and Elijah entered and joined me. Faith was trying to get Elijah's attention for the last few days but his mind was else where. Today she seemed fed up and looked over at me, assuming I had something to do with Elijah's lack of conversation.

"So Gabby, you knew Garrett?" Um...

"I did... you knew him?"

She smiled. "Yeah... he was a very handsome man. I can see why you are fond of him." What?

I shook my head. "You got it wrong. We were only friends."

She looked confused. "You were with him for about two months right?" I eyed her out... what she was suggesting. "And nothing happened? That's a long time to be with a man that is obviously attracted to you." Oh god, she needed to stop talking.

I took the chance to look over at Elijah and I knew instantly he was not liking what he was hearing. The wheels in his head was spinning and I could see he was believing Faith's words.

"If you are assuming me and Garrett were more then just friends you are mistaken. He never tried anything within the three months I was with him."

She shrugged. "It's just seems a little suspicious how he was planning to marry you and you had no idea. Yet you still call him your friend, why is that?" I stayed silent.

"Answer the fucking question Gabrielle." Elijah said sounding deadly. I drew in a deep breath, knowing this was not going to end well.

"He was good to me..."

Faith raised a brow. "You speak of him as if you felt affection for him. For such a short period of time you sure did fall for him fast." I stood abruptly.

"You are assuming things you know nothing about. I already told you, me and Garrett were only friends yet you continue to imply there was something more. I don't know what you want to get out this but me and Garrett were never more then friends. I had no idea about the wedding. I would have never saw it through if I did. Now if that is all." I did not wait, I walked up the stairs and to my room.

I was exhausted, mentally and physically. With everyone's attacks, it was hard not to let them get to me. It was tiring and downright humiliating. Everyone assumed because of my looks I was a 'whore', as Elijah kindly put it.

I showered and dress in my night gown that stopped right above my knees. As I walked out of the bathroom I stopped dead in my tracks, not expecting to see Elijah sitting on the bed. He looked up at me upon my entrance, his dark eyes giving away his true emotions.

He was mad, Faith's words had gotten to him.

I stepped back on instinct when he stood. He raised a brow seeing this. Hugging myself I waited for him to make his move. His silence had me tense with anticipation. He was so intimidating, it was hard not to cower from his gaze.

"Did you enjoy living with Garrett?" He finally spoke. I bit my lip out of nerve but did not say a word. "Did you enjoy his company? Did he promise to keep you happy?"

"What do you want?" I whispered. He stepped forward and I took another step away from him.

This continued until my back made contact with the wall, forcing me to stay put. Elijah on the other hand did not stop, he continued to walk towards me until he was standing directly in front of me. He put his hand on the wall beside my head, trapping me.

"I will kill you Gabrielle."

I swallowed. "How is this fair. Faith is allowed to do whatever she want... and Ruth and Madison was also allowed to do as they pleased. You never once treated them the way you treat me."

"Your not them Gabrielle. Get that out of your fucking head. Unlike you they don't pretend to be something they not."

"And what is that?"

"A good for nothing slut."

"How am I a slut? What have I done for you to think so bad of me?"

He moved away from me, I knew he was trying to calm down. "Did you fuck him Gabrielle?" Oh god.

"No..."

"See, that's hard to believe. Not too long ago you were all but begging me to fuck you. Did he teach you new tricks Gabrielle?"

"I already told you, we did nothing."

"How the fuck am I suppose to know that! You were all but dressing like a hooker when you were with him. What the fuck were you hoping to achieve. To get him and every fucker that looked at you a hard on. Did you thrive off of the thought of him wanting to fuck you." I shook my head.

"Stop..."

"You don't like the truth Gabrielle? You don't like what you hear? You don't like that you were parading yourself around Garrett then begged me to fuck you. Funny how you are more like your mother, like mother like daughter." His words hurt... they hurt more then I expected them to.

I nodded, swiping at my tear furiously. "You're right... you proved that I am just like my mother. But you are the reason I am the way I am. You hold on to so much hatred and anger that you want everyone else to suffer for it."

"You hurt Eugene because you are afraid... afraid that he will also disregard you just like your mother did. You hate that he's not your true father and instead of just accepting it you lash out on him with your hurt-"

"Stop talking." He said lowly.

"I will not." I wanted to hurt him how he hurt me. "You want to know why you hate me so much? Because you did not want to believe that there are actually good women out there."

"Gabrielle." He warned.

"You hated that I was the exact opposite of your mother and how she portrayed every women in your eyes. You wanted to prove to yourself that I was was no different from those women and forced me into acting the way I did."

"You ruined me for your own satisfaction and selfishness. You did not care how it would affect me along the way, as long as you got something out of it. I am nothing like you Elijah, and you hate it and blames me for it.... you blamed for being better than you and wanted to bring me down. You should be satisfied... you were able to succeed. My soul is just as tainted as yours." I was breathing hard, glaring at him fiercely.

Elijah only watched me with deadly eyes, I knew I had hit a nerve. His eyes flashed with so many emotions, it was hard for me to keep up. He suddenly walked towards me and I flinched waiting for the blow. To my utter surprise he walked pass me and out the door, not once glancing back.