The Past Never Dies

Twenty two years earlier

"These are our daughters" my mother introduces. "Abigail" she says my name as I smirk in his direction. "And Lena" she introduces my little sister.

"Isn't Lena the most beautiful?" My father ask Elijah as he nods.

"Simply" he replies as his eyes meet mine. "Would you care to dance?" Elijah ask Lena as she eagerly nods her head yes as he leads her to the dance floor.

My blood boiling at his choice. I kissed him and here he stood, using my sister as his pawn. But I understood his decision. She was after all the best choice. I was a damned weed and she was the most beautiful orchid. Her eyes were topaz blue, shining like the most precious gemstones in the land. Her hair was golden, falling to her stomach, matching her pale skin. She was the ideal woman, a porcelain doll. But here I was, a outsider trying to live a life of a inside. My hair was riddled with tight curls, boring brown eyes, the color of driftwood, made their due. And skin of dirt. My parents always said they never cared about the color of my skin, but I could see it still mattered, when they looked at Lena they saw gold, but when they looked at me they say a simple fools gold.

"Abigail?" My father beckons me as I get ready for a lashing. "Your mouth is going to get you into so much trouble" he says as I nod my head.

"Flattery is for the weak" I reply as he sighs, nodding his head at me. "You taught me that" I remind him as he drops the facade of the upright father and just hugs me.

"I hate how much I love you sometimes" he whispers into my ear as I just smile. "This is why this is going to hurt so much" he says as I pause as he pulls away from me and hold my mothers hand. "The Knight's offered to take you girls for the summer." My dad admits as I stop.

"It's even better now that Lena is so taken with that young fella" my mom adds as I nod.

"Okay" I accept it, because that all you can do, accept. "I'll look after her" I promise them as she smiles.

"Good" her eyes said it all, I know, they whispered it to me.

Two days later

"Come on!" Lena hurries me as I keep walking. Why was I so destined to be the one place I hated the most?

Walking in the mansion again was the opposite of nostalgic, it looked magnificent but different from the banquet. Diamond draped from chandelier, captured tears of the angels. Flower littered the house as I entered behind Lena, walking ever so carefully, waiting for the serpent that lingered.

"Why, hello" I hear as I look to see Lena talk to a older man.

"Hi" Lena answers as I walk to her.

"And you are?" The man ask Lena as I beat her to the punch.

"She's Lena" I answer as he quickly turns to me and sighs.

"Why darling? You didn't have to bring your maid, we have more than enough here" he says as he snaps his fingers and I snicker at his snide assumption.

"I'm Abigail" I say as I hold my hand out to him. "Abigail Stephenson" I reply as he smiles and put his hand into mine, shaking it.

"Your the adopted daughter!" He says proudly.

"And your Mr. Knight?" I ask him. "The one who made that ridiculously large donation to the men in blue?" I question him as he squirms. Fixing his suit.

"Why yes" he quips, "We must take care of our boys in blue" he says as I nod my head.

"I just thought the timing was quite suspicious" I remark as Lena steps in.

"Thank you so much for allowing us to stay in your home for the summer" Lena thanks the man as I nod my head.

"Yes" I agree, "Thank you" I admit.

"Let me show you two to your rooms" he offers as I nod

The first few days at the Knights estate nothing happened. I knew saw or even spotted Elijah. But I knew he was around, a serpent waits, striking when the prey least expects. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to see him again, I knew he had chosen Lena, but I couldn't be mad at my sister, her beauty wasn't a choice, but it was her greatest weapon. Mom always told me it was my wit, my mouth served a gun, loaded at all times.

"How has the staff treated you?" Mrs. Knight ask me as I smile at her question.

"Nothing short of pleasant" I complement as she smiles.

"That's amazing" she comments as I smile.

"How has Elijah treated you, Lena?" Mr. Knight ask Lena as I squirm at the mention.

"Amazingly" Lena answers, "Where is he?" She ask as I like her under the table, hoping she can feel my anger.

"He should be here any minute" Mr. Knight responds as I nod my head.

"Will you excuse us for a minute?" I ask as I stand up, taking Lena by her hand and leading her to the hallway.

"What are you doing?" I ask her as she looks confused.

"Nothing, Abigail!" Lena says defensively.

"What has been really going on Lena?" I ask her as she remains quiet. "Tell me!" I urge her as she sighs.

"Mother and father want this" she speaks as I nod my head at her in detest.

"What makes you think you know what mom and dad want?" I ask her angrily. "Mom wanted me to keep you safe" I tell her as she nods her head.

"They want me to marry Elijah" Lena finally confesses as I snicker at her words.

"They would never!" I say, rebuking her answer.

"You wouldn't understand because you are not their daughter!" She yells as I stop, frozen by her words. "I didn't mean that" Lena says as I just shake my head at her.

"That boy is trouble, their whole family is" I say with tears in my eyes. "And I am your sister" I tell her, "And even if you don't deem me as yours I'm only looking out for you" as I run off.

I couldn't take it anymore, this was the first time Lena every said something like this. But, why? She was my sister, but did blood really mean that much to her? Could I never be as valuable to her because of a simple certificate that said I was there's.

As I ran to the gardens, sitting on the bench. Weeping into my hands, hoping maybe the pain would dry like the tears would.

"Abigail" I hear someone call my name as I don't care, my tears still flowing, stronger than ever.

"Please" I whimper out through my hoarse voice. "Go away" I ask of whoever I there, I wanted the comfort of silence.

"No" the voice coldly replies as I can't. Anger flooded my veins.

"Why are you here?" I ask as I take my hands away from my eyes, seeing the one and only Elijah Knight. "Why don't you go win points with my sister, the only real Stephenson" I tell him as sadness radiates in the form of anger for me.

"Because I don't want Lena" he say as I nod my head in disgust.

"You don't want me, I'm just the charity case of a daughter. Lena has the blues eyes, the blonde hair the-" I say as suddenly he cuts me off. As he kisses me, and the answer was those sparks never really went away. Fireworks exploded as our tongues danced.

"Don't ever say that" He says as he pulls away. "Your sister is beautiful, but I'd would have to blind to not see that spark in you" he says as I smile.

For weeks there we were. Holding hands under the table. Sneaking out and falling madly in love, summer was a godsent. And then it ended and Lena was more madly in love with Elijah than ever. And I couldn't help but see those start every time she looked at him.

"I don't know about this, Adam" I overhear as I hide behind the wall of the stairs.

"Lena is head over hills with the boy, this is what she wants. This is what the Knights want" Daddy says as my smile is wiped clean off my face.

"But is this what Elijah wants?" My mother ask as I wait, my breath hitched in my throat.

"Our whole family name lies in the hands of Lena" my dad says as a single tear streams from my eyes at his admission of guilt. "I love Abigail to death but she won't be accepted into the society like Lena will" he says as I run back to my room.

As I hop out the window, running as fast as I can to the Knights estate as I catch him in the garden.

"Abigail" he calls my name as he sees me. "Where are your shoes?" He ask me as I jump into his arms.

"Are you marrying my sister?" I ask him as he goes silent. "So this was for nothing, us?" I ask him as he shakes his head.

"No, it wasn't" he says as I sigh.

"THEN WHAT WAS IT FOR?" I yell as tears well in my eyes.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" He yells as I step back from him. "And I want you to run away with me" he admit as I shake my head at his plan.

"Why would I want to be with someone who is ashamed to love me?" I question his love. "Marry her" I says as I pull out a white rose from the rose bush. "For luck" I say as I run. Running back to my sanctuary as I climb back into my room and sitting on the bed.

"I want to leave" I mutter to myself as I know what to do.

"Abigail?" My mother calls as she opens the door.

"Mom?" I say with tears in my eyes, the pain of a broken heart still throbbing. "I need your help" I tell her as she closes the door behind her as she nods, sitting beside me on my bed.

"Tell me" she says as I put my head on her shoulder as she caresses my hair.

"I fell in love with Elijah Knight" I say as she sighs. "And I know he's getting married to Lena, he never told me." I tell her, "And I just want to leave. I don't want to be there when the man I love marries my sister" I says as she pats my head.

The next few years I spent away. Living abroad on a art project, I never enjoyed paintings. But it brought solace to my broken heart.

"Mom!" I answer the phone.

"Your sister just gave birth" she says as I smile. A smile that hurt.

"I'll be there" I tell her as I was, while the person that fixed me sat next to me.

People always says that soulmates make your heart flutter, they make you feel something. Truth is at first he didn't. But he picked up the pieces that Elijah Knight trampled on, and he built that up so I could feel again. My heart fixed so that it only beat for him.

"Lena?" I called as I entered the Knights estate again. The walls didn't feel like the entrapping, sadistic ones they used to. Now they felt lively.

"Abigail" she says as she shows me the baby. "Nathaniel, that's his name" she proclaims as I smile.

"He looks perfect." I compliment her as she smiles.

I didn't spend the night. The silence was overbearing between me and Elijah, and the looks. Me and Alfred came home.

Years after that we settled down. Settling in Oregon, Alfreds job as a car sales man and mine as a detective. With two beautiful daughters. Newly born, two years apart. And then came the dreaded call.

"She's dead" My moms says through the phone and tears.

"Who, mom?" I ask her though panic. "Lena, she killed herself" my mom says as I can't. Tears dropping from my eyes.

"The funeral was a wretched blur. Words couldn't describe how it hurt" she cries.

*****************************

"So you and my father?" I ask her as she nods her head, accepting the blame.

"But I came back for you Nathaniel, ever since your mother died I knew she would have wanted you to have a mother figure" she justifies as I can't with her.

"What makes you think that you knew what my mother wanted when you led her to her death?" I ask her as she stands up, solemnly.

"I let her be with your father. Not because I wanted her to, but because she loved him. Her eyes lit up by his side, I sacrificed my happiness for her, I didn't know it would end up like this" she argues as I snicker at her excuse.

"If you loved my father why wouldn't you have stayed with him?" I ask her the million dollar question. I knew the answer, and she knew it to.

"Because he was ashamed of me." She admits, "When you love somebody Nathaniel you would give them the world, to hold them, kiss them, even be there friend. He let me go, and that's how I know he didn't love me as he said he did. Nathaniel" she says as she walks to me, putting my hands in hers. "I lost my sister and my husband in the same month, I know about love." She says through her glassy eyes. "When you love someone you fight for them, they stay on your mind, you would do everything to see them happy and with you. You father was too much of a coward. It was lust, not love for him." She explains as I nod my head. Knowing the beautiful women from the gala was more than lust, and I couldn't make my fathers mistakes.