Chapter Twenty Four - Seren's Secret

It wasn't enough that he loved her. And it wasn't enough that he seemed to care. Some things were just too horrific to tell. But it was enough that she loved him. And enough that she cared. She put how he felt to one side, and concentrated on the words she knew she would have to say. His face was looking at her expectantly. Beautiful and serious, with the slight flex of his jaw she thought she'd never be able to finish a sentence for being distracted by his face.

"It was like any other night." She began. Knowing things would never be the same once she had finished.

"Mom was sat with some of the other women, my brothers were around talking to people, smoking and eating. I was with Kendra and Dad, and we were unpacking things out of the car. India was there, talking to this boy called David. She was already sixteen, I was still fifteen. And she was...always....more forward with boys. And David had obviously been with her before. She really liked him. And I was glad she'd met someone she liked. Anyway, once we finished unpacking I asked Dad if I could go and hang out with them for a while. He was really strict, always strict when it came to boys. He always said it was because I was his only child, and I just accepted it at the time. Mom thought it was sweet. He could never do any wrong in her eyes. Nor in mine either. I loved my Dad. He was the best Dad I could have ever wished for. Always encouraging me to sing, helping me perfect my talent, bragging about how amazing I was to anyone who would listen. And then David pushed India aside, in that one day I knew he liked me more than he liked her. I never encouraged him, never was anything except friendly. I hadn't even kissed a boy before, I wasn't about to do anything with one who my cousin was into. But none of that seemed to matter that night, when we came back to the tents where my parents were. We were all laughing. India hadn't seemed to notice the way he looked at me. So I did nothing about it, mentioned nothing to anyone. Dad told me some of his friends wanted to hear me so after dinner I started to play. There was a small gathering around us, and I was, as ever, in my element. And so was Dad. But there was someone else looking at me in the same way. And until that night I'd never seen it before. David was looking at me the same way my Dad did when I sang. I thought I imagining it. I thought I was just a stupid little girl who knew nothing. So I carried on playing. And then Dad noticed David. He stopped looking at me only looked at David. He wasn't a bad person....He was just a boy....He never so much as touched me...."

Falling to the ground, Seren crumpled into sobs she could not speak through. Rob caught her and pulled her back to the bed. India charged through the door, tears stained her face and black streaked down her cheeks.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" She demanded. "It was seven years ago!"

Seren was shaking. "No....He has a right to know..."

But Rob was struck suddenly with a desire not to know, if it was this traumatic to re-tell.

"Don't make yourself hysterical!" He said, pulling tear stained strands of hair aways from Seren's face.

But she pushed them both away and breathed deeply.

"Dad's in prison." She said, still trying to breathe deeper. "Serving a life sentence for the murder of David Mendez. My Dad is a murderer. And I saw the whole thing. And there was nothing I could do to stop it."

India's shoulders slumped. "Tell him why." She croaked.

And Seren shook her head, against the horror.

India took over the story. "Uncle Silas wasn't just protective. He was obsessive. With her, with anyone who looked like her. Hell, even anyone who didn't look like her, if he was in the mood. I never said anything before, because she worshipped him. But there was always something about him, and I knew it for sure on my fifteenth birthday when he tried it on with me." And she seemed to taste the disgust in her own words and felt like spitting.

Rob looked at Seren. "And you? Did he..."

But for that, she was indignant. "No...never. He never was anything but a good Dad."

"It tortured him though. He wanted to, I knew that much." Added India, with a hint of bitterness.

"Is that why he killed that boy, because he was jealous?" Rob asked, unable to hide his distress.

Seren pulled away from them both and stood in the middle of the room, feeling her pulse in her veins and the room sway as she tried to remain calm.

"Yes. I think so. He never spoke to me after that. After I saw him do it. Everything changed. And I swore from that day on I would never sing for anyone again. And I never have until Stephanie asked me. I thought if I could do something else...something I could be passionate about I would forget the singing thing and now I realise I can't."

There was a deafening silence then. India, exhausted, excused herself and went to her own room. Bewildered, Rob stared at the ground and listened as Seren clenched her teeth.

"So there you have it." She shrugged, and went to open the bedroom door.

"What are you doing?" Rob asked, confused.

"You can leave now."

But he looked at her, even more horrified than he'd been before.

"You really think that little of me?"

"I think you have no idea what you're doing. I'm like....an accessory or something! I could have stopped him but I didn't! I stood there and didn't move!"

But he only smiled and shook his head. "Well, to say that I'm the actor I think you could give me a run for my money. You've told me now there's no need for any of this. I know it was hard for you to do, but you didn't need to quit your singing or think that what your Dad did is some sort of stigma to you. You're not to blame for the sort of man he is. And you don't have to do that...I'm not going anywhere. I'm not disgusted by you, or think wrong of you. We all have shit in our past. My parents didn't kill anyone, but we've had our fair share of crap over the years. My sisters haven't always been the brilliant girls they are now. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Ashamed?" Seren said, trembling. "I'm sorry for...being dramatic. But it's not because I'm ashamed. Ok, maybe I'm a little ashamed. As anyone would be. But it's not that. It's the memory of it. I don't sing because the memories come back. My Dad hanging over him, that horrible glint of the knife in his hand. If I had rushed forward I think even then it might have been too late."

He pulled her into his arms and and soothed her in that way he had. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to sing. You don't have to be an Actress. You don't have to do anything that makes you unhappy."

But she pulled away and dried her eyes. "No, I want to. I want to do something."

"I feel like I never want to let you out of my sight." Rob said, "I love you so much, you have no idea..."

"I love you too." She murmured.

"So no more dramatic outbursts please, I don't think I can take it."

She laughed, and in hindsight thought of how she must have looked. "That's the first time I've told anyone since it happened. It was bound to be a momentous occasion."

"Go and make sure India is ok." He suggested, and motioned her towards the door.

She nodded and went, and Rob closed the door behind her. Pulling out his cell phone, he kept his voice down.

"Hello?" Said the voice at the other end.

"Kristen....."