Chapter 2 Reborn

“Mom! Dad!”

Elara screamed in terror as she jerked wildly in her chair, ignoring the ropes which tore into her skin as she struggled against it.

She turned to Kurt, screaming expletives at him, “You bastard, what have you done to my parents…ugh!”

The deafening slap which Kurt gave her had her tumbling to the ground with her chair.

Tears poured from Elara’s eyes as she lay on the dirt ground. Her entire body racked with pain but she gave no heed to it. Instead, she tried crawling towards her parents, the wooden chair heavy on her back.

“Mom…Dad…I’m so sorry…” she called weakly, her voice raw with pain.

It was as though all the fight left her body as soon as she saw her parents thrown to the ground.

They were still on the floor, looking bloodied and lifeless. Elara thought she was going to die, just from seeing them like that.

“What have you done to them?!” She cried out helplessly, “Please…please let them go. You have to get them to the hospital!”

“What was that?” Kurt asked, cocking his ears at her, as if he could not hear her.

Vera cackled, clapping delightedly, “Oh now, she’s begging,” she mocked in a high pitched voice, “Pleading for the lives of her dear papa and mama! Wasn’t that beneath you, your royal highness, Elara Vaughn? Hahaha!”

Kurt smirked, his eyes glinting with evil intent, “That’s not how you ask for something, my dear Elara. You have to be more…desperate.”

He laughed, a mocking sound that grated her ears and made her blood boil. His laugh had always sounded musical to her but now she wished she had never heard it. She wished she had never set eyes on him.

“PLEASE!” She screamed in anguish, feeling her defiance slipping away, “You can do whatever you want with me! Just let my parents go…please!”

If they wanted her to beg, she would.

Anything to make sure her parents were okay.

They were her life.

They had warned her repeatedly against being with Kurt but she had paid no heed to them, thinking they were looking down on him due to his humble background.

Never in her wildest dreams had she thought the very man they warned her against, would be their worst nightmare.

Her teeth ground against the other with regret as she struggled to her knees, still tied to the heavy chair.

Her long blonde hair was matted with dirt, and her fair skin was bruised in several places. Her beautiful face was streaked with tears, sweat and dirt. She was a pathetic sight and it pleased Vera to the extreme.

Her head was on the ground, her back bent double as she pleaded, “Please, let my parents go. They are old and frail, Kurt! Please, just let them go. I will do whatever you want.”

Kurt laughed as he walked over to her, his hands tucked in his pockets in a relaxed fashion. He stooped low and leaned in to whisper in her ears.

“I’ve already taken everything I want from you, Elara Vaughn, so what else can you give to me?” He asked, “Besides, you are already in the position that I want you to be. On your knees before me, begging for you and your parent’s miserable lives!”

Elara looked up at him with reddened eyes, her hatred very much visible in the depths of them, “That’s right. You’ve taken everything you want already.” She said in a guttural voice, “Then let my parents go. Why are you doing this to them?!”

Kurt tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowed as if in deep thought, “You know what, I don’t like the look you’re giving to me right now.” He said, a slight smirk stretching his lips, “You’re still not broken. Let’s change that, shall we?”

In one swift move, he straightened up from her and whipped out a shiny object out of his pocket.

The gun shots were deafening and her parent’s bodies jerked as bullets pumped into them.

When he was done, Kurt still had his devilish smile on his face.

Elara froze for a split second, then let out an ear splitting scream, “NO!!!”

She struggled with the chair, scrambling to get to her feet, but it was to no avail as she crashed back to the ground each time, “You killed them! You bastard, you killed my parents! No!”

She bawled loudly, unable to tear her gaze from her parents who was now lying in their own pool of blood. They had not moved since they were brought in and now, they would never move again.

She would never hear their voices again, nor will she feel the warmth of their embraces.

Elara cried, screaming in anguish till she was out of breath. Kurt and Vera stood by, laughing at her agony.

“There!” Kurt said, wiping away tears from the sides of his eyes, “Next time, you lower your freaking eyes when I speak to you!”

“Kurt Eugene!” Elara let out a guttural scream, “why did you do that?! What have I ever done to you?!”

“Nothing much,” Kurt replied casually, “you were just unfortunate to be born to them.” He pointed at her dead parents with his gun, “So you have to feel the same pain I felt back then.”

What?!

What the fuck was he talking about?

She had never wronged him in any way, and had loved him madly, even going against her parents for him.

Why would he take her heart and love and trample them beneath his feet like this? Why?!

Tears spilled from her eyes, as Kurt went on to squeeze her heart all the more with his words.

“You see, I never loved you, Elara,” Kurt continued in a lazy drawl, playing with Vera’s hair.

“And he was quite clear about it too.” Vera chimed in, stroking Kurt’s chest, “Except you were too dumb and kept chasing after him, until your unfortunate demise. Hehehe!”

Elara scoffed, a bitter sound, “I will never forgive you both,” she swore in a guttural voice, raising reddened eyes to glare at them, “I will make sure I return this favour a hundredfold to both of you!”

Kurt’s face hardened, “Lower your eyes, bitch!”, he ordered in a low growl, pointing his gun at her.

Elara paid him no heed, still glaring at them defiantly, “Even in my next life, I won’t forget this. I will make sure I crush you both and you will die miserable deaths!….”

“Boom!”

The gun went off and there appeared a gaping, red hole in Elara’s head. She slumped to the ground, blood trickling down her face and her eyes slowly closed shut as the life went out of her.

She felt inexplicably alone.

Broken, and filled with regrets.

Is this all there is to her life?

To be betrayed, and cruelly killed off with her loved ones?

The next second, she felt a sharp pain on her leg, as though someone kicked her.

“Aria, wake up! Do you know how important this is, and yet you have the guts to sleep?!”

Elara’s eyes flew open, and then widened in shock.