Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 576: Many reflections

The candles igniting of their own accord upon entering their room was something she had oddly missed, and quite a lot at that.

The canvas that Silas had been working on still lay there against the desk. His carving tools and every other sculpture he ever finished greeted them like nothing had happened. Not a speck of dust had settled over the wood or the furniture either.

Persephone must have had the room enchanted just like the legacy and trophy room to remain clean. It was as though they had never left.

The young woman stood by the door even after her husband moved past her.

Was it cold or not? Her nerve endings failed to tell the difference. Her memories in that space beckoned her to reach for them but... They held themselves so far that her arms couldn’t touch them for all they tried, pushed to the side by more recent memories and feelings.

"Should I run a bath?" Silas’ voice ripped her attention out of the deep crevices of her mind.

"Yes, please," she answered quickly.

The vampire kept his eyes on her for a good few seconds before turning to walk towards the bathroom, his expression a bit of a mystery since she avoided his gaze at all costs.

The air around her had somehow gotten thicker and heavier on her fatigued lungs. Physically, oh, they were at their very peak of health thanks to Silas’ blood, but as her emotions continued to get the better of her, inhaling became more and more difficult with every huff.

Her feet led her over to the sculpture of her mother. The one she dubbed the best wedding gift to be bestowed upon her... A wedding that strayed further away from her present with every second that passed.

She allowed her fingers to graze no surface in there and held her hands together as if subconsciously protecting those prized possessions from the dirt and curses her skin carried.

There was blood on her hands too, wasn’t there?

Every word she ever said in limbo still resonated in her head, echoing across the inner walls of her skull.

Reubon would have survived, wouldn’t he?

And... Perhaps her mother would have lived to see another day if only Arabella smiled more instead of crying and whining about the life that had been forced upon her.

Maybe if she was better at pretending that everything was dandy, her mother would have felt less of a strain on her back... Maybe...

"What are you doing?" Silas’ voice yanked her back into reality once more.

"Nothing... I... Why?" she stuttered.

"You were staring at your hands. Are they hurting you?"

True. Her hands had been up, in front of her face all that time as she drowned amongst the inner voices that screamed obscenities at her.

"No! No! I don’t know why I was doing that," she chirped, plastering the best smile her features could muster, "Is the bath ready?"

"It is," his lips parted again after those words but nothing else came. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Great! Thank you!" she whooshed past him like a ghost.

But the hardest part was yet to come.

Indeed, in the bathroom, the young woman faced her reflection in the mirror, eyes refusing to blink as the realization that she needed to undress hit her.

"Let me help you with that," Silas walked behind her, allowing his hands to work with the clamps holding her dress together.

Her first impulse was to scream a firm no, to turn around and keep those clamps as far away from his hands as possible.

However, she did none of that and just let it happen instead.

"Are you alright?" he paused, his voice had completely shed its harsh edges, "Your body has gone stiff, and your heart’s been racing since I laid my hands on you,"

If only his blood had the power of erasing memories. Alas, it only made physical scars vanish.

"Yes, I am alright," she murmured, her head hanging lower.

Silas stood silent for a moment but then continued on peeling the layers of clothes off her skin.

Not once had his hands grazed her throughout it all and aside from breathing, Arabella made not a single peep... Not the slightest movement, just staring down, empty eyed at the dress as it slowly came off.

Eventually, the thud that resulted from the gown colliding against the floor was what got a flinch out of her, snapping her back to reality yet again.

"Do you need help with the rest?"

As soon as the words left his lips, her hands instinctively wrapped around her arms as she shook her head, "No, I think I will be fine. Thank you," she cheeped.

Ever so grateful that he did not argue, Arabella hastened and sank her entire body up to the very chin underneath the bubbles making that warm bath.

By then Silas had already left the room and as much as it ached to watch his face fall apart every time his eyes lay on her, it was the best she could muster right then and there.

She vowed to learn how to smile better in the face of tragedy and pain. She would do it.

She would do it! She would keep everyone happy and most importantly safe.

Unfortunately, the tiles covering the wall that faced her were just as reflective as the ones back in the bathroom of that cursed chamber... The same in which she was made to serve Atticus.

To look away was the best course of action, but oh, how hard it was to simply turn! Her eyes too refused to budge! Refused to obey!

He was there, wasn’t he? Right behind her! And soon his hands would come around to touch, toy with and feel her to his heart’s desire.

He was right there, seated behind her! At any moment his reflection would appear to prove it!

There was no running from the past. No running from the truth. No escape from fate...

Arabella clung to the edges of the tub as though there was no tomorrow, muscles contracting until her entire body trembled uncontrollably, bracing for the worst to come at her. The worst that just wouldn’t leave her be.