Elias took a slow step forward as his body trembled. Even after knocking down so many people, he did not feel exhaustion, but he felt rage.
His bloodied hands clenched and unclenched at his sides as he tried to calm his breath, but the sight of his sister trembling in the corner, her dress torn and eyes wide with fear, made him feel like the true monster they had just called him.
"Lina." his voice cracked as he knelt in front of her, trying to make himself smaller, but it was hard with all the anger he was feeling. He wanted to burn his mistress's house! "Where… where is Mother?"
Her gaze flicked up to him at the word. Her lips trembled. Then, without warning, her small body collapsed into sobs. Her fists beat weakly at his chest as she cried.
"You weren't there." she choked between her tears. "She… she died, Elias. Mama died a long ago."
The words felt like a blade to the chest. He staggered back with his breath caught in his throat. "What… How?"
"I came to tell you," she sobbed harder now, her face buried in her palms. "I came all the way to the manor where you worked. I begged the guards, but they didn't let me see you. They said you belonged to the mistress now. That I shouldn't bother you with… with such petty things."
His fists clenched again, the dried blood on his knuckles cracking. That woman! she had known. She had always known.
"I didn't want to cause trouble for you," Lina whispered in a hoarse voice, "So I left a message with one of the kinder maids. She had assured me that they would inform you so I waited. I waited so many days for you to come."
Elias stared at her. his lips parted but he was unable to speak.
"When you didn't come… I.. I had to bury her myself." Her voice broke again as the weight of everything poured out of her. "We didn't even have a proper coffin. Just a wrap and the ground behind the house. I was so scared. But I had no one."
Elias felt the tears sting his own eyes but he blinked them away. He didn't have the right to cry now! Not when he had failed her.
"And since then, I have stayed here. I picked up wild fruits and herbs and sold them in the market. It did not earn much, but I survived until today. I have some savings too." Her eyes flicked to the ruined doorway. "When I returned home today, they were waiting for me. They said they owned the area now. That I needed to pay for protection." She hugged herself tighter. "I gave them my savings but they still did not leave and attempted to..." she did not know how to continue but she did not need to. Because he knew they were not here for money!
Elias reached out and pulled her gently into his arms. She resisted at first, just for a second but then collapsed into him, sobbing into his blood streaked shirt.
"I'm so sorry, Lina," he whispered into her hair. "I should have been here. I should have protected you. I let you suffer alone."
She didn't respond. Her arms just curled around his waist, holding him tight like she never wanted to let go again.
Elias stared at the broken door, the crumbled walls, the blood on the floor and the fire in his heart reignited. They all would pay, he would make sure of that!
"You will never be alone, Lina. I will make sure of that!" He waited for Seraphina to return. He wanted to tell her that her sister would either come with them or he would stay with her no matter what.
But she did not come as he had expected. Elias worked with blistered hands and aching shoulders, repairing the shattered remains of their home piece by piece. The shattered door was replaced with thick scraps of wood salvaged from a broken cart.
He re-nailed the cracked walls, patched holes with tattered fabric and mud, and made sure there was always a fire burning at night to keep Lina warm.
She didn't speak much neither did he. Grief hung between them like a heavy curtain, but she stayed close, watching him with wide, quiet eyes. She was still unsure if the brother who had returned was the same boy who had once tucked her in at night.
Elias didn't press her. He simply worked to make sure she never suffer again. Most of the time he travels in the slums. He would beat every thug he would find nearby! Soon, he was their hero. But he never felt satisfied, that strange hunger in him kept increasing. He wanted more attacks so he could kill more of them.
Elias stared at his hands as he sat alone in the corner as if he was trying to search for answers. He was sure Seraphina wanted something from him. Then why did she leave him now?
In the mornings, he would walk to the outskirts of the slums where the workers gathered. men from the slums wait there for any kind of labor offered to them. Elias took whatever he could find. Hauling sacks of grain, digging trenches, lifting barrels, even helping mend roofs in the richer districts. He barely wasted time sleeping and eating.
Every coin he earned was placed gently into Lina's hands before nightfall.
"It's enough to buy dried food for a month." he told her once. "Get some new shoes too. Your feet are bleeding."
She nodded mutely. He didn't need thanks. But even as he rebuilt her world, Elias's mind remained somewhere else.
Not a day passed when he didn't think of her. The way her cold fingers had touched his chest like she owned every piece of him. He didn't understand her game. But he was determined to play it well.
Still, by the fifth day, doubt crept into his mind. He stood on the edge of the slum's border, where the broken fence overlooked the hills. He could see the carriages leaving for the noble district from there. He wanted to take one and meet his mistress but at the same time he wanted to wait for Seraphina. What if she ridiculed him for his decision?
"Ha! Why did it even matter when the vampiress had left and did not return!"