Chapter 65: Chapter 65

It couldn’t have been far from 4:30 am when Johnny and I took the path that led to Johnny’s place. The moon had disappeared under thick clouds, so I took a flashlight. To our surprise, this small whitewashed house overlooking the surrounding vineyards was still lit. The Forbes, Johnny’s father and brother, had therefore also been late in going to bed. When I entered, I discovered them seated around a coffee and a tray of pastries, in the company of Sam. Sam got up immediately and came to hug me.

“Oh my Eve, I barely had time to approach you during the ceremony. How are you?”

“Like a woman married forever,” I replied wearily.

“Uh… indeed,” he stammered, “but your eyes look like they’ve been crying, what’s going on?”

“I’m married, Sam!” I said, trying to find a way to reveal what Ethan had done without causing him to be totally outraged, an impossible task given the context and his aversion to my brother. “And if I hadn’t made this decision, we wouldn’t have had a chance to unite the castes against the approaching evil. Guess it’s not quite the romantic wedding you and everyone were expecting.”

“You’re very brave,” said Papa Forbe in his strong West Indian accent, as he walked towards the coffee machine.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Sam continued, looking worried.

“Yes… unfortunately,” Johnny said, wanting to spare me the answer.

“Come sit down and have a coffee,” Papa Forbe suggested, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “Come on, darling.”

“In any case, I’d never seen such a ceremony,” said Elvis while he stuffed a cake that I assumed had been stolen from the Pomona room.

“You did a good job, my son,” confirmed Papa Forbe to a smiling Johnny.

“What happened then for you to make such a face, Burberry?” asked Elvis, who had also understood that I didn’t look like a fulfilled young bride.

“If I tell you about it, I hope it stays exclusively between us. It will go around the castle shortly, but I would like it to be as late as possible.”

“You can count on us,” said Papa Forbe.

“Ethan tried to kill himself,” I said, before several pairs of horrified eyes were fixed on me.

“He did that tonight?! During your marriage?!” Sam exclaimed, his tone hesitating between sadness and anger. “How is he? And why?!”

“He left me a letter,” I say, taking it out of my jeans pocket. “I... I’m afraid you don’t understand…”

“It’s been a long time since we knew that your brother had a problem,” Elvis cut me off, patting my back with his bearish hand, “but he loves you more than anything, there’s no doubt about it.”

“He has his own way of showing it,” I said as more tears clouded my eyes, “Johnny, I don’t feel capable of it. Could you read this letter?”

“Okay.”

Johnny clears his throat, before starting:

“Everliegh, my dear sister,

I never thought you would go all the way and marry Carmichael. The responsibilities it entails go beyond what you are capable of assuming. But this is now your business and since you didn’t consult me to find out what I thought about it, I tell myself that you no longer need me, nor my opinion, and that breaks me. Because I lost you, my sister, forever. Since that sad evening when you died, I have lost you. Did you think I wouldn’t miss the bond that united us? This telepathy and this complicity that we had were my only source of comfort, my only source of happiness, if indeed happiness exists...

Blake told you we don’t have the same mother. I know he was lying, and if I come back from the dead, then I’ll prove it to you. When I die, I will be like you, and we will be united again.

Maybe after my death, I’ll feel what you feel today for our fellow human beings? Maybe I’ll become good? Can you still love me?

The future or nothingness will tell us.

Hope to see you later, sister.

I love you and I hate you, but most of all, I love you.

Ethan

The silence was heavy, the faces serious. This time, I didn’t cry and managed to stay dignified. Every word of that cursed letter felt like a knife stuck in my heart. My brother’s absence had never been so present. Papa Forbe had risen. From behind, his hands resting on the kitchen worktop, he hadn’t moved since. Elvis took a wide-eyed sip of coffee, while Sam seemed to have taken quite a hit. Nobody made a sound for quite a while, and every second the guilt assaulted me more. My brother did this because of me.

“Where is he now?”

“He’s locked up in a cell in the castle.”

“You think bars are going to stop your brother?”

“We put him in an artificial coma,” Johnny said, before a new silence settled. “He didn’t have time to die, he was saved by Eric and Caleb. Eve decided not to wake him up.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Eve?” Sam asked me, puzzled as to why I had made such a decision.

“Papa Forbe,” I called him without answering my cousin because explanations could wait. “I know that you’re not aware of everything and that you would like me to leave you out of our business. I’m ready to give you all possible explanations if you wish. If I’m here, it’s not to embarrass you. In fact, I came for two reasons.”

Papa Forbe turned around, a slight smile on his lips. His eyes turned to me.

“What are those reasons, Everliegh?” he asked.

“The first is that I want you to know where you and your son are. I know Carmichael didn’t tell you everything when he asked you to work here.”

“Indeed,” he said, “but when he gave me the advantageous terms that this decision would entail, I knew something was wrong.”

“Yes, it’s true,” I said with a hint of a smile, “and you must have realised that my peers are a bit strange…”

“Your subjects, you mean,” he replied.

“Uh… yeah.”

“You’ll get used to it. So, this second reason?”

Before answering him, I looked at all four of them. It came to my mind all the events we had gone through.

“When I needed you, you were always there,” I continued. “I’d like… well… I thought about it, and if you agree… I’d like us to form a family. A real family. My family.”

They all looked at me like I had a pimple in the middle of my face. Only Sam was smiling, and he encouraged me to continue with a knowing wink. I needed to say those words. My family was limited to Sam, and a murderous, suicidal brother. Was it wrong to want to enlarge it?

“Last year I tortured a man who had done me a lot of harm and who deserved it,” I continued, observing Papa Forbe. “But I was slowly losing my soul, and it was only thanks to your sons that I was able to regain my senses. When I was at my lowest, when it was necessary to protect me, each of you didn’t hesitate for a second to come to my aid. I owe you so much… So yes, I wish I could confide everything to you, even what you may not be able to understand, because you are my family and I need you.”

For a few more seconds, not a fly flew. Then Johnny started laughing, followed by Elvis, then Sam. And finally Papa Forbe, who came over to hug me.

“You’ve been family to me for a long time now,” he said.

I snuggled up to him, and this time my tears were no longer silent.