3

“So it’s you.” The man says, his eyes trailing over my body in a scrutinizing manner.

“Who are you and what are you talking about?” I asked. It was a tall man, about 6”2 with dark hair. He had broad shoulders and an evidently toned body. His voice as he said so it’s you, sounded deep and commanding, like the type spillers used. Why had he walked in here so confidently. He didn’t belong here, this was my fathers hospital room.

“I’d have thought if they were placing a pawn she’d be more intimidating, atleast, not so frail and fragile looking.” Giving me another once over the strange man says. “Or maybe that’s part of the plan. I’m more likely to underestimate an innocent looking one than someone who looks like she knows what she is doing.”

“Leave before I call security. You’re not supposed to be here.” I say getting scared. Who is this and what does he want? I’m not sure I could protect myself and my unconscious dad if a throwdown occurred right now.

“You can drop the act now. I know you know who I am.” The man says in a dangerous tone, stepping up to me. I can feel my heartbeat quicken as I get a wisp of his scent.

“I I don’t know who you are.” I stutter. “I’m calling security.” I say grabbing the remote on the bed to call for a nurse or anyone.

The man chuckles. “Security. This would be interesting. For your sake, I hope you know what you’re doing.” With that he turns around and walks out.

Leaving me standing with the remote I actually hadn’t clicked yet in my hand. Something about that man is so familiar but I can’t place my finger on it.

•••

My hands trembled as I held the pen, before my eyes like an execution order. Livia had dragged me here, once I returned from the hospital, still reeling from my interaction with the strange man. I thought about my father, saying a prayer for safety for him. Who was that man? Could it be Livia? Sending someone to intimidate me into signing my life away, that was low even for her.

My vision swarm, eyes stinging with unshed tears. Across the room, Livia lounged in one of the Vanderbilt estate's antique chairs, her sharp features coldly illuminated by the sterile overhead light. She didn’t look like someone who’d just orchestrated her niece’s life sentence. No, she looked victorious. Triumphant. Like she’d won some invisible war I never knew we were fighting.

“Eliana,” she said, her voice slicing through the silence. “Chop chop. I can hear your father’s hospital bills racking up as the clock ticks. Every second you waste...” She let the words hang, the claws she calls nails rapping agains the wooden desk, scratching and irritating my brain in a way only she could.

I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to meet her gaze. “You should be ashamed of yourself. Backing me into a wall till I have no choice.”

“You do,” she said smoothly, her lips curving into a cruel smile. “Let your father live and pay your debts or cling to your pride and non existent love life in hopes a magical prince will come to save you till he dies. Your father’s life depends hangs in the balance, but by all means take your time to mull it over.”

The words punched me in the gut, but I kept my expression neutral. Gritting my teeth I sucked in any tears threatening to fall. I won’t give her the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart.

“I knowyou’re enjoying this,” I said, my voice low, barely concealing the venom.

Her smile widened. “I'll be sure to savor this moment. Finally, a wedding in the family, I’ll be giving you away as your only living relative. Isn’t that ironic?”

I looked down at the contract again, my fingers gripping the pen tightly enough to leave indentations. Levi Vanderbilt. The name stared back at me, bold and unrelenting, like the man it supposedly belonged to. A dead groom, a phantom husband. He was nothing more than a shadow I was being forced to bind myself to for reasons I couldn’t even comprehend.

“Why him?” I asked, my voice quieter now, more fragile than I intended.

“Why not him?” Livia countered, standing and crossing the room with predatory grace. “The Vanderbilt name still holds power, even if its heir is... indisposed. His ‘death’ was a tragedy, of course, but his legacy? Untouchable. And now, it’s mine, I mean yours, yours obviously for a price.”

I scoffed as I stared at her, a bitter laugh bubbling in my throat. “Don’t patronize me, you can’t even keep your lies straight.”

She leaned in, her perfume cloying and suffocating, and whispered, “My price is your salvation, Eliana. Don’t forget that.”

My heart beat once as I breath in her scent. Twice, three times faster. I signed.

It felt like a knife stab to my heart as the pen scrawled my name. Livia snatched the contract the moment the ink dried, her smile a grotesque mimicry of warmth.

“Good girl,” she said, folding the papers neatly. “Now, we can begin.”

Begin what? I wanted to ask, but the words stuck in my throat. Instead, I stood numbly as she guided me toward the waiting car. The estate looked like one of those castles you would find in nightmare on elms street. Something infiltrated by ghosts and monsters. But that wasn’t so far off from the truth was it?

Present day

“They are ready for you.”

I take a breath steeling myself, as I walk out. The widowed bride.

The ceremony was cold. Lifeless.

My palms were sweaty as I walked down the aisle, everyt step heavy like I could feel the weight of the invisible shackles on my feet. I tried not to cry or look at anyone. It was a small wedding. Aunt Livia, and three people from the grooms side.

I could see what Aunt Livia was gaining from this. But the groom, who were this people? Did they hate Levi this much to do this to him even in death? Maybe he was just like me I thought. Wishfully.

Whoever was officiating the sham of a ceremony or whatever this was, didn’t even bother with sermons or speeches.. He simply recited the words with robotic precision, barely pausing for me to respond. My “I do” came out hollow and detached, hearing it the voice didnt sound like my own, words foreign to my tongue. My eyes blurred, I hated this, so much.

The ring felt was heavy, it could’ve have been the diamonds so big they almost looked like what they actually were. Shackles. A bejeweled chain that held my finger to a vampire, dead but then not.

The minister was finally done, he made to leave but not before handing me a suspicious looking envelope marked Confidential. “From Mr. Vanderbilt’s private affairs,” he said, his tone neutral. As though being chased, there was neither waiting nor lingering, he was off disappearing into the shadows as quickly as he’d come.

I stared at the envelope, my pulse quickening. What could Levi possibly have left behind for me? Did he even know I existed before all this?

The estate was a mausoleum.

The large expanse of a hallway was filled with portraits of overly serious looking Vanderbilts, eyes following me as I walked by. The air was stifling, I felt suffocated with the scent of old wood and lost dreams. Livia had disappeared somewhere into the house, leaving me alone in the sprawling emptiness.

Finally I found myself somewhere I deduced was Levi’s office. It looked exactly as I’d expected, old, stuffy and ugly:: dark mahogany furniture, shelves filled with leather-bound books, and a massive desk that seemed to dominate the room. The envelope felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as I set it down, my hands trembling slightly.

I didn’t open it. Not yet. Instead, I sank into the chair behind the desk, trying to steady my breathing. The silence was deafening, pressing down on me like a physical weight.

And then I heard it.

Footsteps.

Above me.

My heart stopped.

I looked up, darting to the ceiling. There was a faint but unmistakable sound, slow deliberate steps, moving quietly across the floor above.

No one else was supposed to be here.

“Livia?” I called out, my voice shaking.

No response.

The footsteps stopped giving info to deathly silence. I felt a strange chill run down my spine, my pulse quickening in my ears.

And then like clockwork, a single creak echoed through the room—a sound so faint I almost convinced myself I’d imagined it.

Almost. I stood frozen, my eyes locked on the ceiling, the envelope still unopened on the desk before me. My breath came in shallow, uneven gasps as the oppressive silence enveloped me once again.

“Who’s there?” I whispered, though I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer.

I picture aunt Livia’s gleeful face telling me the Vanderbilt family had secrets. Was I about to be introduced to it so soon? I thought about all the cult movies I watched of brides having to fight till the death at the rich families or escape demons. Could this be it? The reason for this marriage.