Sacrifices of the Soul - Chapter 3
 

" Look Ethan, it’s Theresa and Chad. Come and say hi to your brother.", Gwen coos, with a smirk on her face.

" Well, don’t you two look handsome tonight."

" Thank you, Gwen.", Theresa says.

" Yeah. Thanks.", Chad echoes.

" Chad, I’m sorry that we didn’t call before the announcement was made in the newspaper about the baby…it slipped my mind."

" No problem, Gwen. Why would you call me?"

" That’s what FAMILIES do. I can’t believe Ethan was so negligent in his duties. But, then again, he’s had so many things on his mind. You do know about his new appointment as President of Crane Industries, don’t you?"

" I read the paper.", Chad says with a little sarcasm in his voice.

Ethan has said nothing during this time, because he has been staring at Theresa. His NOT saying anything was becoming quite obvious, and Chad didn’t want a scene today. He took Theresa’s hand in his and said,

" So Ethan, excited about becoming a father?" Theresa was sort of in shock at Chad’s gesture, and was staring down at their hands together.

" Huh? Oh, yes. I’m thrilled. Having a child is one of the most precious happenings in a person’s life." Gwen kissed Ethan on the cheek. " So, Chad, are you still doing that construction ‘thing’?"

" Yeah. The construction ‘thing’ is a good, solid gig. Nothing wrong with doing an honest, hard day’s work. "

" I suppose."

" Well, Chad, you MUST come by the house and see the nursery when it’s finished. Promise me that you will. Please?", Gwen asks, though the entire time her eyes are on Theresa.

" Sure. Heck, if you need something built, you can call me and I can do it.", Chad joked.

Ethan spoke up. " Well, Gwen, we should get to our table. Enjoy your evening.", and then he led Gwen away, as she said her goodbyes.

Ethan and Gwen had gotten out of earshot when Theresa turned to Chad and hissed, raising their hands, " What the hell is THIS?"

" What does it look like, Theresa?"

" Why did you do that?"

" Because, it needed to be done."

" Ethan saw you. He thinks that we’re dating."

" And?"

" Chad.."

" No, Theresa. It’s time you woke up. ‘Fate’ ain’t gonna save you. ‘Fate’ isn’t going to put you with the man. Face facts, Theresa. I have. And, the facts are: Ethan isn’t the Prince Charming that you wanted him to be. Whitney and I had plenty of discussions about this, but, it turns out that SHE was right. Ethan’s not about to give away the Keys to the Kingdom for you. Ain’t gonna happen, Theresa. He married her, and now Gwen’s carrying The Heir. You’d  best be served just understanding that. You are too smart and too beautiful Theresa to spend the rest of your life, and anymore of your youth, wasted on some fantasy that will not come true. Welcome to the REAL WORLD Theresa. Sooner you face that, the better."

" He’s with Gwen…isn’t he? ", she says with tears in her eyes.

" Yes, he is."

" But, he loves me."

" Don’t matter. He took the vows, did the deed, chose his life. It’s about time that YOU decided to choose yours."
 

" What was that spectacle about at Chad and Theresa’s table?", Ethan asked with a scolding voice.

" What spectacle. It was nice, polite chitchat, Ethan. After all, he IS your brother."

" Do you have to keep on bringing that up?"

" Why not? It’s not as if the press and everyone in the country doesn’t know about your illegitimate brother. It’s been in every tabloid from coast to coast. I don’t see the problem. You had told me, before you and Chad found out that you were siblings, that there was some sort of a foundation of a friendship."

" Well, we aren’t friends."

" What happened?"

" I don’t know.", Ethan lied, subconsciously putting his hand up to the jaw that Chad nearly broke when they had their confrontation that broke their budding friendship.
 
 

Flashback
 

" I can’t believe you’re going through with it.", Chad yelled. " How in the hell are you still marrying Gwen, when I KNOW that you feel something for Theresa."

" I’m marrying Gwen because I love her."

" But, you are IN LOVE with Theresa."

" Theresa is a beautiful girl, that’s for sure. And, she has her charm. And, she makes me laugh."

" So, then, what’s wrong. She makes you FEEL. I can see you come alive with her. Theresa’s told me herself that you’ve kissed her. Are you going to deny the passion?"

" No. I told you that I find Theresa attractive. But, there’s more to life than attraction, Chad."

" The woman makes you come ALIVE…what else is there?"

" There’s a lot more than that."

" What?", Chad asks with deep sarcasm.

" Compatability for one. A commonly shared life and belief system. THESE are the things that build a solid marriage."

" They sound like things that build a good business. A marriage is about two people in love."

" No, that’s a ‘romance’. I have to think about my future."

" Future? What the hell are you talking about?"

" Sure, I could enjoy some time with Theresa, but, what happens when the fun ends and REAL LIFE begins. What then? "

" The fun? Theresa is FUN to you?"

" You know that’s not what I meant."

" The HELL I don’t. DAMN! I’ll be DAMNED! You’ve been giving me the answers, but, I just haven’t wanted to SEE it. DAMN! Whitney was right. For all your ‘talk’, the bottom line is…Theresa is just ‘The Housekeeper’s Daughter’ to you, isn’t she? ISN’T SHE? You use the EXCUSE of the fact that Theresa lied to you, but, it’s all a COVER, isn’t it?"

" I resent you saying that."

" You can resent it all you want. Oh My God. I’m getting some serious déjà vu here. I was disgusted when I found out the truth about my parents and how my father treated my mother. I said that YOU were NOTHING like my father. Fuck me if you aren’t JUST like him. "

" I am not a racist."

" Sure, whatever, Ethan. OK, maybe you’re a hair better than him, because you actually haven’t slept with Theresa. But, you’ve led her on for MONTHS..giving her looks, here and there, feeding into her love for you. And, while you might not mind her in BED with you, for all your yapping about love, there ain’t NO WAY, Theresa was gonna get invited to the big house with you, was it? WAS IT?"

" NO! I’m not taking Theresa home with me. I’m NOT giving up the Crane Empire. My family would never accept it, and NO, I’m not willing to risk it. Theresa’s attractive, and I’ve thought of sleeping with her, but, as my wife? You’ve got to be kidding me."

" KIDDING YOU? KIDDING YOU? You disgust me. You lying piece of garbage. I see now…the black and brown people are good enough to ‘slum’ with….but, BE with, in your world….nope. You are a pig, Ethan. A rotten bastard.." And, with that, Chad hauled off and slugged Ethan, making him land on the ground with the force of his punch.

" Stay away from Theresa, you bastard! Do you have ANY idea how cheap and worthless you will make her feel once she realizes who you are, and how you see her? You make me sick. "

Chad storms away.

End of Flashback

" Well, I’m not surprised.", Gwen says.

Ethan coming out of his remembrance goes, " What Gwen?"

" I said that I wasn’t surprised to see Theresa with Chad tonight."

" You weren’t?"

" Of course not. She tried putting her claws into you. When you saw through her ridiculous ploys, she was just delayed, but, not defeated. She sees Chad as an easy mark."

" Mark?"

" Yes, Ethan. Chad’s lonely, depressed, confused, and angry right now. His entire life is a mess. The breakup with Whitney, finding out about his parents. He’s in a rebellious stage..hence that ridiculous construction job…going to the one place in town that has NO Crane affiliation. But, sooner or later, he’ll wake up and realize that he wants more than to haul bricks, and he’ll come running to the Cranes."

" You think so?"

" Yes, Ethan. Chad’s not stupid, and once his brain takes over from his pride, he’ll be doing something with the Cranes..taking his place in the ‘family’. Which is why Theresa’s striking now. She knows it too. I never said she was stupid, just obvious. She wanted to be a Crane…and, she doesn’t care how she does it. If not you, then, Chad is just as good to her. She wants to cross over the tracks and get the good life. She’ll stick to Chad like glue. I feel sorry for any SINCERE girl who likes Chad…they’ll never get close now that Theresa’s sunk her hooks into him. "

" Theresa’s not like that, Gwen."

" Oh puleeze, Ethan. You men can be so blind. She lied to you everystep of the way, No?"

" Well, yes."

" Case closed." Ethan was about to say something else when Gwen perked up, " Look, there’s Millicent." Gwen motioned to her, " Millicent, over here.", as Ethan looked over to the table where Theresa and Chad seemed to be engaged in deep conversation.
 

" Well, I see you didn’t touch your evening snack, Eve. " As usual, Dr. Collins thought to himself. She never touched breakfast and only bits of lunch and dinner. Since her arrival at the sanitarium, he believes that Eve has lost at least 15 pounds, but she was toned. The only life she had shown was during the daily 90 minutes of weight training offered to the patients in the morning. She still said nothing, but was there, fully participating in both of the 45 minute sessions offered. She went through them and performed them like a robot, saying nothing, revealing nothing, barely even sweating. Though, the doctors had thought about objecting to it, Kevin made sure that she was allowed to continue because she was at least participating in something. And, if she was exercising the physical being, then, it went to reason that her mental being was also being exercised. Though, in four months, she hadn’t uttered one word. He was here, as part of his evening ritual. She was always his last patient before he went home.

" I was wondering, Eve, if you had given any thought to why you’re here. The problems that you have. Did you want to comment on how this began?"

Eve said nothing, and just sat there. After 15 minutes, Dr. Collins left when he realized that Eve would say nothing once again tonight. His words though, kept running through Eve’s mind… " Did you want to comment on how this began?"

There were so many points that Eve could choose, but, this one passed through her mind:

Flashback

Eve and Julian are walking the pier in search of the bum with the bird statue.

" I don’t see him Julian, do you?"

" Unfortunately, no. I can’t believe a miserable excuse for a human being has the key to our futures."

" You’ve got that wrong, Julian. YOU’RE the miserable excuse for a human being. He’s just a man down on his luck."

" Oh, give me a break, EVE. I know that you like to paint me as the villain in all of this..but, what about you?"

" What about me?"

" You were every bit a willing participant in our little ‘games’ back then."

" I was young.."

" Young, needy..a different person…blah blah blah. I’ve heard it all before, Dr. Russell, and I don’t buy it. This is ME you’re talking to, not TC."

" Don’t I know it that you’re NOT TC."

" That’s right…...I’m the one with the functioning brain."

Eve slaps Julian across the face.

" Don’t you EVER say anything derogatory about TC. He is the kindest, gentlest, most decent, most wonderful man I have ever known."

" Oh really? Kind? Gentle? You’ve obviously never been on the receiving end of the Russell temper..you’d see your ‘hero’ in such a different light if you had. "

" TC is the finest man that I have ever met..he is generous, loving, responsible, devoted.."

" Puleeze. What are you, his wife, or his PR person? TC Russell IS and has ALWAYS been, a self-righteous, pompous bore. And, you can gush about him from now, until hell freezes over, and it won’t change one fundamental thing."

Eve postures arrogantly, and says, " Which is?"

" That for all your protestations of how wonderful TC is..the bottom line is, The Righteous Dr. Russell, is that if  you consider him such a wonderful man, the fact is that you’ve lied to him every day of your marriage. You can’t think him all that wonderful, or you would have told him the truth about you."

Shaken, but, not trying to show it, Eve jumps to the defensive, " TC loves me totally and completely."

Julian looks her dead in the eye and coldly says, " Loves you? He doesn’t even KNOW you."

" That’s not true. TC knows me. "

"  He knows some image that you project. A role you decided that you had to play when you decided you wanted the Knight on the White Horse. He doesn’t know you the way I know you."

" The way you knew me."

"  I think it’s a crock for people to say that they’ve changed. Changed? Changed what? The fundamentals of who you are? YOU are fire, passion, life, and danger. And, no amount of PTA functions is going to change that."

Eve stares at him for a moment and then sees something out of the corner of her eye. " Julian, there he is, the man from the dump."

" Thank God. Let’s get the bird, and get out of here."

They make their way over to the guy.

" Hello", Eve says cautiously. " Do you remember me? From the dump?"

The bum looks at her, and then sees Julian and points to him. " You were the jerk to me. Wouldn’t give me money for a phone call."

" Me? A jerk, just because I wouldn’t give your lazy self  a.."

" Excuse my friend.", Eve says gently. " But, we have been looking hard for a bird statue. I heard that you have one."

" Nope. I had one."

" HAD one?", Eve says nervously.

" Yeah, I sold it this evening."

Both Eve and Julian felt their stomachs knot up.

Julian writes down his phone number. " If you come upon anymore, call. I’ll pay top dollar."

The man pockets the number and walks away.

Eve runs her hand over her face in a worried fashion. " Somebody has the statue. My God, they could be opening it up now and seeing the pictures of us."  Eve shivers. " It’s been a long time since my life hasn’t been in my hands…and, the feeling is still as haunting as it ever was."

" What are you going to do?" , Julian asks.

" Go home and hope that the sense of dread now washing all over me is just paranoia.", Eve says before she turns and walks away.

End of Flashback

Eve knew that was the beginning of the end, with a chain of events kicked off that just didn’t seem to stop.