Our Haunted Hearts (Ch. 4)

Chapter Four

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            Emma was sitting across from Elias as the grandfather clock rang six times from the adjacent hallway. The dim light of the morning cast dancing shadows between them. The old, leather chair she chose to sit creaked under her weight, interrupting the silence that stretched in the air.

            “So,” Elias started in his quiet but hesitant voice. His gaze shifted, not meeting hers directly. “Tell me about your family.”

            Family. The word echoed in her mind, heavy with what it used to mean and hollow with what it meant now. Emma hadn’t thought about them in any real way for so long. It felt like someone else’s life, someone else’s story. She swallowed hard, her throat dry.

            “My family?” she repeated, trying to buy herself a moment. Her eyes wandered to the window, where the mist still clung to the outside world, thick and consuming. “There’s not much to tell.” Her voice was quieter than she intended, and she wasn’t sure if she believed the lie herself.

            Elias shifted in his seat, the leather groaning softly. “Everyone’s got something.”

            Emma huffed a humorless laugh, leaning back in her chair. “Yeah, well, mine’s not exactly a Hallmark movie.” She could feel his gaze on her now, watching, waiting, but didn’t look at him.

            “I didn’t exactly get along with my parents,” she admitted, her fingers tracing the edge of the armrest. The fabric was a rough texture that grounded her just enough to continue. “They weren’t too thrilled with my life choices—dropping out of school, moving in with Alex. They thought I’d thrown my life away.”

            A bitter smile tugged at her lips, though it didn’t quite show. “And maybe I did, in some ways. But Alex… he was the only one whoever made me feel like I was worth something, you know?”

            Elias nodded, the silence between them softening. His presence was different from anyone else’s, unhurried and patient. It was a strange kind of comfort, though she couldn’t quite place why.

            She sighed, waiting for Elias to ask about Alex but to no avail. Her mind drifted to Alex and Ava. “When Alex met Ava, things… changed. We all kind of drifted apart, but I think a part of me was always jealous of them. I mean, she was this whirlwind of creativity and confidence. She made me feel small, like I wasn’t enough. But it wasn’t her fault—it was mine.”

            Her eyes stung, but she blinked quickly, pushing the feeling away. The air in the room felt thick, suffocating, as if the weight of the past was pressing down on her chest.

            “I didn’t hate her,” Emma continued, her voice softer now. “She was kind. She brought out the best in Alex. But I never quite figured out how to fit into their picture after that.”

            Elias was quiet for a long moment, his brow furrowing as he considered her words. Then, with a subtle tilt of his head, he asked, “What about now?”

            Emma blinked, caught off guard by the simplicity of the question. What about now?

            “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I think I’ve just been… existing. Like I’m walking through this fog, and everything around me is still moving, but I’m stuck.”

            Elias nodded again, more to himself than to her. His fingers tapped lightly against the edge of his chair. “I get that. It’s easy to feel stuck when everything else is gone.”

            There was something in his voice—something that hinted at his own struggles, his own losses. Emma couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was a shared understanding between them, even if the details were different.

            “So, what’s your deal, Elias?” Emma asked, leaning forward a bit, trying to shift the weight of the conversation. She wasn’t ready to drown in her own self-pity just yet. “What’s with all the death talk?”

            He gave her a sideways glance, one eyebrow raised. “You really want to know?”

            “Why not? I mean, I came all this way. Might as well get my money’s worth,” she quipped, trying to inject some levity into the room. But her laugh felt hollow, like an echo bouncing off empty walls.

            Elias smirked, though it was faint, more in his eyes than his lips. “Well, let’s just say people like to talk. And when people talk long enough, they start to believe their own stories.”

            Emma tilted her head, intrigued. “So you’re not cursed?”

            He shrugged. “Depends on your definition. I’ve lost people, sure. But haven’t we all?”

            There was a heaviness in his tone, but also something lighter, almost sarcastic. It was as if he was mocking the very idea of the curse while acknowledging it all the same. Emma’s lips twitched into a small smile.

            “Okay, so maybe we’re both a little cursed,” she said, her tone lighter now. “Just not in the way everyone thinks.”

            Elias chuckled softly, the sound low and almost foreign in the quiet room. “Yeah, maybe. But hey, at least we’ve got that in common.”

            The room felt different now—still quiet, still heavy with memories, but there was something warmer between them, a mutual understanding that hadn’t been there before.

            Emma looked around, her gaze landing on the old bookshelf in the corner, filled with novels worn from years of neglect. The smell of dust and old paper hung in the air, mixing with the faint scent of pine from outside. It grounded her in the moment, pulling her back from the edge of her own spiraling thoughts.

            “So what now?” she asked, her voice quieter, more tentative.

            Elias didn’t answer right away. Instead, he glanced at the window, where the mist outside had thickened, turning the world beyond into a blur of shadows. “Now, we figure out what comes next. Together.”

            The idea rippled through Emma’s body like a jolt of electricity, bringing a multitude of feelings at once—hope, fear, love, relief, sadness… Her heart raced. “I need to go,” she said as she stood up quickly.