Beyond the Sea: A Modern Gothic Romance Read online

  I took a quick bath, since Vee’s en-suite was the only bathroom in the house with a shower, and I was forbidden from using it. Once I finished bathing, I got into my pyjamas and settled on the couch, hitting play on the DVD. We were about four episodes in when I heard a key turn in the lock.

  I tensed.

  Laughter drifted into the house, announcing Vee and Noah’s return. I glanced at Sylvia, and strangely, she appeared to be just as uncomfortable with them being back early as I was.

  I was wearing panda print pyjamas for Christ’s sake.

  The siblings practically tumbled into the living room, both intoxicated. I tucked my legs under me and focused on the TV screen. What I really wanted to do was flee to my bedroom, but I was determined not to give Vee the satisfaction of knowing she scared me.

  “What tripe are you watching, Estella?” she asked as someone sat down next to me on the sofa. Noah. He smelled like whiskey and salty sea water. It sounded gross, but there was a weird appeal to it. Like chili and chocolate. Or chicken nuggets and ice-cream.

  Perhaps he was a merman who’d come to shore to masquerade as Vee’s younger brother …

  Turning my head ever so slightly to the side, I glanced at him. His penetrating eyes rested on my profile, and a flush crept across my cheeks.

  “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” I answered under my breath, shifting in place.

  There was something about Noah that made me feel skittish. I wasn’t sure what age he was, but I guessed early to mid-twenties.

  “Yes, well, turn it off. It’s past your bedtime.”

  “It’s nine-thirty-five.”

  “Don’t give me lip. Go to bed.”

  “Let her stay, Vee,” Noah urged, and I bristled, again smelling the alcohol on his breath.

  “I should put Sylvia to bed anyway,” I whispered and stood.

  Noah finally quit looking at me and at the mention of his mother, cast his attention to her. He didn’t say a word, but Sylvia appeared distressed under his focused stare. She seemed almost … frightened of him. What the hell? I took hold of her wheelchair and began pushing it from the room when Vee knocked my hands away, a cigarette dangling out the side of her mouth.

  “Leave her. I’ll do it later.”

  “You’ll do it?” I questioned dubiously. Not since I’d lived here had I ever seen Vee put her mother to bed. It was always either me or Irene.

  “Yes,” she spat. “Now fuck off. I’m sick of looking at your stupid ugly face.”

  Noah’s eyebrows rose, like he was surprised by her venom. I didn’t know what Vee was like when he lived here, but nowadays she wasn’t a very nice person. My throat itched at her harsh tone, and I felt tears prick at my eyes. Was I ugly? No, I wasn’t. Vee just wanted to make me feel small because she was a poisonous bitch. I hated her.

  I placed my hands back on the wheelchair, insistent. “Just let me do it, Vee.”

  “Don’t push me, Estella, I mean it. You don’t want to see me snap.”

  What I didn’t want was to leave poor Sylvia at the mercy of these two, but Vee had a look in her eyes like she wanted to fight, and I didn’t have it in me to go up against her. With one final look at Noah, who was watching me without expression, I turned and left the room.

  ***

  The following morning, I got up with my alarm. I washed and dressed, then wandered down the hall. I opened the front door, picked up the newspaper and left it on the entry table for Vee like I always did. When I passed by the living room, Sylvia was there in her wheelchair, still sitting in the exact same spot where I’d left her and still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Outrage bubbled within me.

  That horrible, evil witch!

  Vee had absolutely no intention of putting Sylvia to bed. In fact, I’d bet my last penny she set out to purposely leave her mother there all night.

  “I’ll kill her,” I said as I entered the living room and stared into Sylvia’s pained eyes. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you with her.”

  Sylvia let out a huff of breath, her mouth set in a crooked line, conveying her exhaustion and pain. “I’m … okay,” she answered in a small voice, but I knew she was lying. She didn’t want to make a fuss, despite the fact that what Vee did was beyond reproach.

  As I took hold of her wheelchair in order to bring her to her bedroom, the front door opened, and Irene stepped inside. I was almost on the verge of tears when she looked at me.

  “Estella, what’s going on?” she asked, clearly wondering why Sylvia was up when normally she was the one to get her out of bed.

  “Vee left her in the living room all night, Irene. I tried putting her to bed, but she forbade me from doing it, and then she just bloody well left her here.”

  “Oh honey,” she said, hurrying over to check on Sylvia. “You go get yourself to school. I’ll see to poor Sylvie.”

  I nodded, placing my hands on my hips, still angry. “Usually she just ignores her, but now she’s going out of her way to be cruel. If she does it again, I’ll report her to the health authority myself.”

  “Will you now?” came a male voice, and I glanced up to see Noah coming down the stairs. He wore black jeans and a black T-shirt; his feet were bare, his hair messy like he just stepped out of bed.

  “Yes, I will,” I stood firm. “And you’re no better. How could you do something so awful to your own mother? She’ll be in agony for days after this, and her illness means she’s already in constant pain.”

  Noah stared at me for the longest time, his eyes drifting momentarily to Sylvia and then back to me. Something dark passed over his features, but in a blink, it was gone. When he spoke, he completely ignored my question and instead commented, “You’re spirited in the morning.”

  “And you’re awful. If you and your sister want to go out and get drunk, that’s fine. Just don’t make other people suffer because of it,” I said before stomping my way into the kitchen.

  Never in a million years would I speak to Vee the way I’d just spoken to Noah. Perhaps because he was a stranger I felt brave. I popped some bread in the toaster and grabbed the peanut butter from the cupboard. I didn’t exactly have an appetite right then, but I refused to let Vee’s behaviour mess with my head. As I put the kettle on to make tea, Noah walked into the kitchen.

  I heard him pull a chair out to sit at the table, but I didn’t look at him. I’d always known there was something missing in Vee, some vital part of the human psyche, but I was now starting to think it ran in the family.

  “I’ll take milk, no sugar in mine, thanks,” Noah said, and I wanted to lift the sugar bowl and throw it right in his face. But I didn’t. Instead, I let my anger fester until my cheeks grew red and a ball of tension turned my stomach into knots. I tried to calm down, imagining Dad’s voice reciting a Bible verse in my head.

  The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished…

  Maybe it wasn’t my place to be angry at Vee and Noah. Maybe God would see to it that they were punished for treating Sylvia so poorly. Still, it was hard to let go of my rage. I stood by the counter, angrily eating my toast and making a point not to join Noah at the table. He kicked his long legs out and sat back, resting his arms along the tops of the chairs on either side of him.

  “How old are you?” he asked, and I cast him a narrowed-eyed look, not answering. He chuckled. “Not talking to me, huh?”

  “I don’t speak to people who derive pleasure from the pain of others.”

  “You definitely shouldn’t talk to me then.” Something about the self-possessed, unflappable look in his eyes truly bothered me.

  I stared him down, my expression incredulous. “You actually enjoy hurting people?”

  He lifted his shoulder. “Only if they deserve it.”

  Well, that wasn’t at all disturbing. My eyebrows shot up. “Sylvia has enough suffering in her life already. She certainly doesn’t deserve more of it.”


  When he didn’t say anything, my gaze narrowed. “Why are you here anyway? Why come home after all these years?”

  He tutted at me. “Answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”

  I heaved a sigh. I really should walk out of this room and ignore him, but the angry part of me was also entirely too intrigued. I wanted to know more about Vee’s brother, and I couldn’t for the life of me explain why. “I’m eighteen.” I answered finally. “Though I don’t see how that could be of any interest to you.”

  Noah laughed. “Call it morbid curiosity.”

  I stared at him, not getting whatever it was he found humorous. His grin spread wide across his face, and his gaze remained glued to me. There was something unnatural about his smile. It didn’t meet his eyes. In the end, I lost the staring contest by glancing out the window. His eyes made me all mixed up. I couldn’t decide if they were beautiful or terrifying. His lashes were very dark, which only served to highlight the unusual green of his irises. Vee, on the other hand, had pale lashes and extremely pale, almost chalky, white skin, so her eyes weren’t as striking.

  “You haven’t answered my question,” I said. “Why have you come home?”

  “Because it was about time,” he replied, cryptically.

  “Well, that tells me approximately nothing,” I said, deadpan, and the curve to Noah’s lips again indicated his amusement. “What do you do for a living?” I went on, hoping to put my misgivings to rest. Honestly, he looked like a drug dealer. Or something equally sinister.

  One dark eyebrow rose ever so slightly. “I’m a location scout for the movies.”

  I chewed on a bite of toast. “Really?”

  He scoffed, like I was totally gullible. “No.” His eyes lowered to the crest on my uniform. “Do you like Loreto?”

  I swallowed and looked away a moment. “Yes and no. I like learning, but things can become a little claustrophobic when it’s all girls all the time.” I hoped my tactic of opening up to him might encourage him to do the same.

  “I think I saw a movie by that title once,” he said thoughtfully.

  I rolled my eyes. “Very funny. Where do you normally live?”

  “Nowhere. I move around a lot.”

  “Like a gypsy?”

  He shook his head. “I prefer hotels.”

  “I’ve never stayed in a hotel,” I admitted. Whenever Dad had taken me on holiday, we’d either stayed in B&Bs or rental cottages. We were usually on a budget, and he also tended to prefer a more laid-back setting.

  “No?” he said, pulling a cigarette packet from his jeans and lighting up. “I like it when they put those little mints on the pillow. Makes me feel all special. Wait and see. One day, you’ll be setting up for bed in a hotel, and you’ll see the tiny mint, and you’ll say to yourself, Noah was right. I do feel special.”

  I stared at him, one eyebrow arching. “You’re a bit weird, aren’t you?”

  He took a drag and exhaled, the acrid smoke hitting my nostrils as he held up his thumb and forefinger. “Just a bit.” The barest hint of a smirk shaped his lips.

  A moment of quiet passed while Noah went on smoking, and I went on eating my breakfast. I heard stirrings of movement come from Vee’s room above our heads and grimaced. The beast had awoken. Vee rarely slept, maybe four or five hours a night max. It was why she always had greyish bags under her eyes.

  “You don’t like my sister much, do you?” Noah observed, and I blinked at him.

  I hesitated on how to answer before deciding to go with honesty. “If my life were a fairy tale, your sister would be the evil queen hellbent on destroying my happiness.”

  Noah tilted his head, a flicker of curiosity in his gaze. I immediately regretted my words. Would he tell Vee I’d said that?

  “Don’t repeat that to Vee. If you do, she’ll make me do something awful like clip her toenails or clean out the chimney,” I pleaded, eyes wide.

  Noah cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you do those things anyway?” he asked with a hint of challenge. The rest of his statement was inferred: You’re Vee’s bitch. I’ve barely been here a day, and even I can see it.

  I didn’t like the implication I was weak. Something deep within me recoiled at the idea. But it was the truth. I was Vee’s lackey, and as long as I was still at school and in need of a roof over my head, I had no choice but to continue being one. I turned and dumped the last of my tea in the sink.

  “Just don’t tell her, okay? My life already sucks balls. It doesn’t need to suck any more balls, thank you very much.”

  His eyes followed me as I picked up my bag and walked to the back door. “You’ve a mouth on you.”

  I didn’t reply to him. No doubt he’d come up with some bothersome retort if I did. Instead I left, taking the beach route to school as per usual. Noah’s amused laughter followed in my wake.

  2.

  “My mam says Vee came to the bar last night with some boy toy and spent nearly two hundred euros on drinks,” Aoife said as we walked to Biology, her eyes as round as saucers.

  Aoife’s mam managed O’Hare’s pub in town, which was owned by Matt O’Hare, the loathsome Sally O’Hare’s father. I wasn’t surprised Vee had spent that much though. Her taste in alcohol tended to veer toward the top shelf, and she was well able to put it away.

  “That wasn’t a boy toy. That was her brother. His name is Noah.”

  “I didn’t know she had a brother.”

  I shrugged. “Me neither. She dropped the bomb on me the other day. He’s staying at the house. I, of course, was the one to clean the spare bedroom and make it up for him.”

  “You need to stop doing everything for her, Stells. It makes me so angry how she treats you.”

  “It makes me angry, too, but I’m not sure she even knows how to be nice. It’s actually kind of fascinating. The woman probably came out of the womb barking orders and scowling at everyone,” I joked half-heartedly, and Aoife shot me a sympathetic look before changing the subject.

  “Anyway, what’s the brother like?”

  “The jury’s still out. He’s a bit of a mystery,” I answered, not mentioning the strange feeling he gave me deep in my belly. A feeling I couldn’t quite decide was bad or good.

  “What does he look like? Mam said he was handsome.”

  “He is. He doesn’t look like Vee. The only thing that’s similar is their eyes,” I replied just as Sally O’Hare and her group came toward us.

  The moment she spotted me her eyes took on an eager, cruel gleam, and I knew I was in for it. Swallowing thickly, I braced for whatever insult she planned to throw at me. When none came, I was surprised, but a second later it all made sense when I tripped and fell, landing on my hands and knees on the cold linoleum. She’d thrown an empty water bottle at my feet to trip me up. Her bestie, Claire McBride, gave a delighted laugh as they continued down the corridor. A lump formed in my throat as I fought the urge to cry. Aoife helped pull me back to standing, a frown marring her features.

  “She’s the anti-Christ, I swear it.”

  “Yeah, I wonder if she and Vee are somehow related,” I agreed in a shaky voice, rubbing my knee where I was sure a bruise was going to blossom.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Aoife said.

  As we entered the classroom, Sally and Claire snickered and whispered to one another. I was distracted by Mr. Kennedy calling my name.

  “Estella, I’d like to congratulate you on getting the top mark in last week’s test on photosynthesis,” he said, beaming at me. Mr. Kennedy was a short man with light brown hair and glasses, and he was my favourite teacher because he had a kind face and always had a smile of encouragement for his students. In my life, kindness was a rare commodity.

  “Well done, Stells,” Aoife said, nudging me with her elbow.

  I cleared my throat, still feeling the after-effects of the humiliation from falling flat on my face in the corridor.

  “Thanks,” I smiled, mustering a grin.

  Mr. Kennedy handed
me my paper, gave my shoulder a pat, then began moving about the room, handing back papers to the rest of the students. I took my usual seat next to Aoife, which just so happened to be right in front of Sally’s desk.

  “Kiss arse,” she sneered, but I didn’t turn around. Aoife shot her an unfriendly look and told me to ignore her.

  “Thinks she’s better than the rest of us,” Sally went on, not giving up. “Fucking brainbox.”

  I grit my teeth and gripped my pencil tightly. She wasn’t worth my anger, even if I was having visions of turning around and stabbing her in the eye with my Stabilo. The name seemed apt.

  But no, there were more important things requiring my attention, like the next chapter of the textbook I needed to study up on. Sally finally gave up her taunting when she realised she wasn’t going to get a reaction out of me, and I exhaled, glad she’d decided to shut her vicious mouth for once.

  After school I walked home alone, preparing several speeches in my head to confront Vee about what she’d done to Sylvia last night. Deep down I knew I wouldn’t end up saying a word, but it made me feel good to imagine telling her exactly what I thought of her.

  My life was on too much of a precipice, and I had to blend in with the furniture until I finished school. If I started kicking up a fuss and challenging Vee on her actions, then I wouldn’t put it past her to kick me out onto the street, rendering me homeless and penniless.

  Just the thought made my stomach clench with anxiety.

  Slotting my key in the back door, I stepped inside the empty kitchen and dropped my bag on the floor. I went to the sink for a glass of water, thirsty after the long walk home. My knee was still sore from my fall, so after downing the water I put my foot up on a chair and hitched up my skirt to check the damage. A dark purple bruise was forming on my left knee, and I had a few scrapes on my palms as well.