My Crimson Wedding

Chapter 3

Eleanor’s POV:

The eerie silence of the night broke with an ear piercing sound. I closed my ears with my palms and shut my eyes real tight but the screams didn’t stop. There were footsteps of the man I dreaded the most, echoing in the silence. It had to be a nightmare, this can’t be true. I shook my head in denial and soon my parched throat made me realize that I was the source of those screams.

I opened my eyes with my lashes drenched in tears and took in a deep breath. It must have been an hour since the detectives had left. The broken window was staring at me as the sole evidence of his return. I couldn’t let him get me. I wanted to evade this place at the earliest and with that thought, I began packing my things.

There wasn’t much that I owned and this place was given to me by the social services for providing a roof over the head of a widow like me. I knew this wasn’t a safe place for me to stay. I’d been on the news for one month. Although, my name wasn’t given away, I could have been easily identified by the reporters and detectives as they had been frequenting my place.

It was tiring but the fear of his return was much worse than death itself. I couldn’t stay back to live through the same trauma and so, I decided to pack my belongings, which included a pair of clothes, a tooth brush and my diary. I wished to be gone for good and never to be seen or identified by anyone.

Not even him…

Detectives had asked me to file a complaint but, that would make it worse. I’ll have to stay here for longer time and reveal everything to the police which I was not ready for. I evaded their persisting request to file a complaint by postponing it to today morning and they’d promised to accompany me to the police station to file it. I had no time, I had to be gone before they are back here.

It was 4 am and there was not a soul on the streets. It would make sense as it was winter and the cold biting winds would make anyone want to snuggle in their beds and dose off in the warmth of a lovely home. Home…, the very thought of it brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me of my safe heaven. Ethan.

I walked aimlessly for hours with no intention to stop or look back. There was no one on the roads and the earliest bus would start at 6 am. Which meant, I had to walk for two hours in this cold winter morning before taking a bus. I was willing to do that. No cold wind was harsh enough to freeze me as I had lost the sense of my own body but the will to evade this place and the heart breaking memories was stronger.

After walking for quite some time, I reached a bus bay and that’s where I saw the counter of tickets open. I rushed towards it and punched the bell to check if someone was there at the counter. An old lady rose from her chair and looked at me through her conspicuous glittery glasses. They looked way too odd on her but, I had no intention of making a remark on them.

I leaned closer to ask if she could give me a ticket to any place possible, anywhere but here.

“Good Morning, I’d like to take a ticket of the first bus leaving this place” I said and slapped myself mentally for uttering such ridiculous words. I couldn’t make sense out of my own words, I wonder if she’d understand.

“The first bus is about to leave in five. It will be leaving to Yorkshire with two mid-way halts.” she said nonchalantly with a monotonous voice which was used to dealing with lost and clueless people like me.

I looked around and then back at her. There was no crowd and I could easily leave this place with no hopes of being traced.

“I’d like one ticket please” I said with a curt smile.

The woman at the counter was quite rude, she never reciprocated my courtesy and only looked at me from her gigantic glittery framed glasses that were way too big for her face. There was a chain dangling around her ears to hold the glasses around her neck if they slip from the short bridge of her nose.

“that would be ten” she said once again. This time she didn’t lift her head to look at me.

I shuffled my back and pulled out a ten dollar note and gave it to her. She took it and then punched some holes in a piece of paper and then stabbed with it a stamp and handed the ticket to Yorkshire.

“Here, take platform number two which is on the left. The bus leaves in five” she said as she adjusted her glasses and looked at me with those suspecting gaze.

I collected my ticket and pushed it inside the bag as I began to rush towards the platform. I walked towards the platform and waited for announcement to be made.

The bus arrived and it was on time. I jumped in with my bag and took the first empty seat that I could lay my eyes on. The journey form then was a complete burr. I had no idea where Yorkshire was but, I believed it was somewhere out of the city premises. I had no idea where I was going and I wasn’t sure if I’d continue on this journey by myself.

When the bus began to leave the station, I looked out of the window and stared at the ticket counter and the ghost streets that I had once walked. I had never imagined to evade Brampton with such painful memories. This was the place where I had decided to plan my future then how did it become such a nightmare?

I looked out of the window to stare at the trees swaying in the cold winds of winter as tears flooded down my cheeks. Was I evading Ethan? But he was long gone… I had no one left to call mine. He lived in my memories and yet, I was a coward to run away.

Forgive me Ethan.