Chapter 33

❗️Serious Warning: This is a very uncomfortable chapter for people of color, and we would advise-for the sake of your mental health-to not read Elio’s backstory. Elio is still racist, Deidre died, and that is all you need to know. Elio’s backstory makes Glass’ backstory look like a love story. If you continue on, Ashley fully takes responsibility for all discomfort.

If it makes you feel better… Redd and Salve are the ones with no horrible past with racism.

I couldn’t easily hold you,
So I forgot you,
Your eyes, your touch, your everything,
They’re slowly being forgotten
–Memory, Ravi and Hyuk

THEIR POINT OF VIEW

“Sir Glass,” Elio gently tapped Glass’ shoulder when he caused the entire tree to wilt instead of making it produce flowers. Glass snapped out of his trance and looked at the blue-eyed brunette. “You are awfully distracted at this moment, shall I tell Sir Redd to get you a cup of tea?”

“No.” Glass rolled his eyes, staring up at the wilted tree to return it to its evergreen leaves. “There’s just a lot on my mind, none of it is your business.”

“Well, your powers tend to be more unstable if we do not address the issues bothering you at the moment. If it affects your powers, I’m afraid it is my business.”

I can’t just say, “Jude has three powers and he might kill all of us,” to an alumni that works for the Vatican. So Glass lifted his head and warmed up the surrounding to get Elio’s attention more for himself.

“I’m thinking about you, Sir Elio…” Glass said, lighting a special cigarette in front of the man who suddenly blushed. Glass hasn’t even activated his powers and Elio seemed flustered already. Men are such weak creatures.

“Wh-why think of me?” Elio confusingly smiled, hand to his chest.

“I can’t stop thinking about how you, a Master of a Household, was madly in love with a slave… what was his name, uhh… David—no, Deidre, yeah?” Glass teased with a smile, just to change the subject, but his smile faded when Elio’s eyes suddenly glistened from tears.

He was still smiling from how Glass is thinking about him, but his chest trembled as if the tears are fighting their way out of him. “Dei… dre? Hmm… yes, my uhh… my slave. He was… a very good one, very loyal. We were good friends.”

“Elio… you’re crying?” Glass had to cancel the seduction because he suddenly made the man cry. Even though Glass has hatred for him, this was uncalled for. He instinctively wants to comfort—but from what?

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” Elio suddenly said, laughing despite the tears, wiping it away as if he discovered something strange sitting in his face. “There is nothing to cry about. Deidre was a very nice slave, we were good friends. I… I recall him waiting for me outside, yes?”

Elio turned around to leave, but a concerned Glass calls out to him, “Elio… he’s not waiting for you outside.”

“Why not? He should, I’m his Master,” Elio chuckled, suddenly clutching his heart as if the pain hit him there. But he doesn’t want Glass to know of it, so he kept facing away. “B-besides… he said he will come for me. I need to go… I mustn’t keep him waiting.”

Glass is confused, watching him leave with his stupid brown cane. What do you mean he’ll wait for you? Didn’t you say he’ll come for you? What is it, really? “Elio! We’re not done with our lessons!”

“I have something important to tell Deidre, kindly wait for me, Sir Glass!” Elio yelled out, frustrating Glass even more.

“What is up with that guy…” Glass sighed, “His head is truly ruined.”

But then he gasped in realization, If he can barely remember anything aside from the 1800’s… Jude can use him as practice for the Echoing.

Meanwhile, inside the convent; Redd was counting his morphine vials when he suddenly counted less than what was supplied since yesterday. He cursed, “Glass… you one more after I gave you two.”

Unfortunately, Vampires cannot die from overdoses and Glass is taking full advantage of it.

A shadow leaned against the doorway once again, so Redd sighed at Leo, “Don’t tell me you consumed the entire bottle I gave you last night—whoa!“

It wasn’t Leo. It was a carefully painted Geisha dressed in an elegant red-golden kimono that brushed against the floor where his wooden geta rested softly on the ground. Yet despite the traditional attire, the robe hung loosely enough to expose the curve of his collarbone and one pale shoulder untouched by the white powder painted across his face. The make-up did nothing to conceal Archer’s striking features; his sharp nose and narrow eyes remained beautifully defined beneath the sweep of red eyeshadow and black eyeliner.

“Isn’t it illegal for you to wear it like that?”

“You know of my culture?” Archer stared his down as if he cannot believe someone of Redd’s stature would ever care about the proper wear of a kimono. “Do you know of Geishas, Redd? What they were for?”

“Uhh… f*cking?”

Archer politely giggles behind his steel-fingered hand that made Redd a thousand times more cautious. “Silly, that’s the opposite. Geishas are artists… we have more talent in our pinky fingers than Mozart ever had. And we look marvelous while performing the arts for powerful men who would pay the equivalent of ten whore-houses just to be in the same room as us. But unlike Glass, none of these men could own us for the night.”

Redd’s eyebrows dipped in irritation at his insult to Glass. He wants this conversation over with. “What do you want from the clinic, Archer?”

“That’s not my name, big boy…” he giggled, though his eyes remained open and empty as if threatening Redd.

“Alright… Kyuhei,” Redd used his formal name, “What can I do for you as a medic?”

“My ears hurt,” pouts the Geisha, before he smiles deviously, “It heard too much… about how a certain vampire has more than one pow—”

Redd finally used his vampire speed for the first time, and it’s to pull Archer behind the door which he slammed shut. The geisha was shocked when he was suddenly pinned against the door, but he’s not against this position.

“Kyuhei, you heard nothing…” Redd whispered.

“I heard everything,” Archer teasingly whispered, not even close to Redd’s face because of his height. “What, he’s not even yours and yet you want the anomaly to stay here?”

“Jude doesn’t deserve to go to the Vatican…” Redd finds himself anxious and his hands are shaking. “He’s innocent, he didn’t ask for all of this! Please… at least wait until he becomes destructive, then you can report him.”

“Hmm… I believe I cannot betray the biggest Kingdom in the world for Jude…” Archer’s steel fingers crept up Redd’s dark arm, but his eyes did the same. “But for you? Hmm… I’ll think about it.”

F*ck. F*ck, f*ck, f*ck… “Archer, please—”

“That is not my name!” Those nails dug into his skin, breaking it.

“Kyuhei!” Redd calls out, words barely stumbling out of his panicking mouth. “Please… if you’re going to ruin someone’s life, ruin mine. Don’t touch Jude.”

How sweet. The big boy shaking and begging before me like a wet puppy asking for shelter.

“A private lesson…” Archer demands, “I need a subject to experiment my puppeteering on. If you… satisfy me in that private lesson, I will keep a secret until Jude inevitably kills someone with his three powers.”

Me… a puppet? But Archer’s hand suddenly laid against Redd’s crotch and squeezed threateningly, making the man flinch.

“Oh and… if you tell anyone about our arrangement… including my knowledge of Jude’s powers… consider him crucified in the Vatican.” Archer at Redd’s impressive size even when completely soft, before he pushes the man away and opened the door. “I will be expecting you after my lessons with Jude. Ciao, big boy!”

Upon his exit, he came across Elio who was also walking through the hallway. Elio spotted a distressed Redd inside the clinic, so he scowled at his fellow alumni.

“Why are you bothering Sir Glass’ slave again, Miss Archer?”

“I’m not bothering him, George Washington.”

“You are, the poor man is shaking!” Elio went inside the clinic to hold Redd’s large hands between his own. Then he scowls at the Geisha, “You better leave him alone, Miss Archer. A frightened servant is an unproductive servant. You’re gonna have Sir Redd whipped by his master.”

“Don’t worry darling, I’ll whip him myself,” Archer turned back to blow a kiss to Redd, only for the tall man to shudder.

Elio sighed and spoke to the poor medic, “I’m so sorry about the concubine. They think everyone likes them because they’re so exotic. It’s just that their eyes can barely see the discomfort they’re causing everyone.”

Redd can’t help but feel the comfort of having two small hands trying to hold his own. “There’s no need to be racist, Elio…”

“It’s not racism, Sir Redd. Almost all Asians are nearsighted,” Elio called out. “I don’t blame you though, it’s hard to find global education as a slave.”

Redd can’t even find the energy to get pissed at Elio because all his nerves were fired up because of Archer. “But why’d you even care about a lowly slave, huh?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You may be a slave, but we’re both still humans. Such things are simply the unfortunate circumstances of birth.” Redd finds himself smirking at Elio’s bullsh*t, but the last part may not be so nonsensical. Because Elio had unknowingly described himself; born in the past, a soul remained in the past. “Hmm… I seem to have forgotten something… did I leave something here?”

“Your brain, maybe?” Redd teased.

The opened door welcomed two other students: Glass, who dragged Jude inside the clinic. “There he is, Elio! Oh Redd, thank you for catching him. He’s slippery.”

“What’s going on?” Redd asked.

Salve was beside him, breathless from how fast Glass dragged Jude in here. “Beats me, you gave this b*tch too much drugs!”

“We’re going to use Jude’s Echoing on Elio’s memories,” Glass announced, quite optimistically.

“What?!” said Jude and Redd, the latter asking, “You’re just saying that in front of Elio?!”

“It’s not like he’s gonna remember…” Glass made the confused Elio face him and snap his fingers, “Elio, what was Jude’s powers?”

“I thought it was the Sheltering, but maybe it’s the Echoing, now that you mentioned it?”

Glass gave the other two vampires a look, confirming that Elio is not a threat. “Now, Jude… I want you to look into his memories and look for a slave named Deidre. Elio can’t remember him, but Everytime he hears the name, he…”

They heard a sniff. Elio was already crying, while looking like he isn’t aware of his own emotions. Only when his tears dripped down his chin did he notice. “Oh… oh dear, it must be raining. I have to tell Deidre to bring an umbrella—”

“You’re not leaving!” Glass held his arm firmly, making the confused Elio stay in place. “We’re fixing you. Jude can fix you.”

“Glass, are you insane?! What if something goes wrong?!” Jude said.

Salve whispers beside Redd: “Hopefully he’ll realize how batsh*t crazy Glass actually is—can you believe he unlocked the Restraining because he thought Evie was hurting me?”

“It’s too dangerous Glass,” Redd said, “Jude’s powers are… barely there. What if he takes away Elio’s memories?”

“We’re not altering memories yet,” Glass faced Jude, “I just need you to look into his head and find Deidre. I need to know what happened to the both of them. You will do that for me, won’t you puppy?”

Glass leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Jude’s lips. Both Salve and Redd sighed, watching Jude agree under Glass’ spell.

It’s worth a try. Jude faced Elio, taking deep breaths. He reached for his hand, and no vision came to him. “Hi, Elio. Do you remember who Deidre is?”

“Of course, I do… I could never forget him,” Elio answered, tears streaming down his face as if the memory overrides the dementia.

“I know what that feeling is. Recalling someone… and remembering nothing but the pain. Thats why you’re crying, Elio. You could only remember the pain.” Jude took one more deep breath, looking at both Salve and Glass before reaching his hand up to Elio’s face. “Please share your pain with me. And I may help you with it…”

Elio allowed Jude to wipe his tears with a gentle hand across his face, and that’s when Jude opened his eyes to Deidre’s face, immediately finding him since the memory of him overpowers Elio’s illness.

He was handsome in a childish way—because he was slim and malnourished. Not for long, since young master Elio invited him to eat lunch and dinner as his companion. His diamond face of Creole descent expressive brown eyes and innocent smile remained as Elio and him ate another dinner together.

“Letting a servant eat on the same table is like letting a dog lick your plate. Get him out of there, Elio!”

And so, the young master joined Deidre to eat dinner under the kitchen table, laughing at each other. “Now you look like a dog…”

“No, you!” The children giggled.

Adulthood was severely different. Elio’s parents had died and he inherited all of the land and people inside of it. Deidre remained by Elio’s side, only with more presentable clothes and a male wig to hide his natural hair. The servant told his master, “You shouldn’t ask me to eat with you anymore, Master. You have a wife, now.”

“She is not the companion I want… you are,” Elio happily smiled, before taking his plate and crawling under the dining table. “Now come on… your food is going to get cold.”

Deidre hid his smile as he took a platter of food meant for the Lord’s wife, and crawled under with him. “You’re acting like a dog, Elio.”

“Ruff ruff.” Both of them could no longer hold their laughs and two grown men snickered in laughter.

A few years it went like that. Deidre was such a handsome servant that Elio was offered large amounts of money by his party guests to have Deidre for themselves. But Elio firmly turned each of them down.

“Monsieur Elio is so rich, he doesn’t need that amount of money,” said a whisper.

“Or maybe he’s so rich, he wants the best and most good looking slave by his side…” said another whisper.

But one whisper was the loudest: “Or! He doesn’t want to sell that servant because…”

Deidre submitted a letter of retirement.

“What is this?” Elio confusingly asked.

“I want to leave,” Deidre said, “I am very well aware of the reason your wife left you. It’s because she heard of the rumors between us.”

“It’s her fault for believing in such rumors—”

“Your reputation is also being damaged. Do you even know what they are saying, Master? The whispers say that not only are you in bed with a man, but in bed with a dark man, a slave. You are being ruined because of me—”

“That’s not true, is it?” Elio asked Deidre, silencing him. “Me being ruined… because of you. Do you believe your loyalty could ever ruin me?”

“Master—”

“It’s a political smear campaign against me. Unfortunately, this is what caused my father’s heart attack. I didn’t ask for all of this politics at the ripe age of 21… I thought I could handle it because you were by my side, you keep me sane. And yet you’re leaving?”

“I’m sorry, Master—”

Elio slammed his papers against his desk, “I am selling the plantation. I am selling the house… the slaves will come with it. All of it… except for you. I will never sell you to anyone else. But the question is… will you remain mine even when I have nothing?”

Deidre’s eyes widen. Elio relinquished ownership, just to see if Deidre will stay. And without a doubt, Deidre stayed by his side. That is when they have decided to leave everything behind and run away together.

But the whispers grew into conversations. And the voices turned into shouts. Shouts turned into a crowd.

“PERVERT!” / “That slave seduced his Master!”

Much to Elio’s confusion, he woke up with an angry group of people snatching Deidre off their bed and dragging him out of their humble home. “Hey! What are you doing, let go of him!”

“Degenerate!” / “Bewitched the mind of Monsier Elio!”
“GET HIM!”

“Deidre!” Elio tried to hold onto him, but they dragged him to the town square. “DEIDRE!”

“He forgot his place!” They all screamed. “CRIMINAL!”

“I’ll be back!” Deidre yelled out as they bound his wrists. Elio was held by the people who won’t let him get up there with a supposed criminal. “ELIO! I’LL COME BACK FOR YOU!”

Elio could only stare into his eyes, trying to hear his voice among the many.

“DEATH TO THE SODOMITE!”

But his eyes were stuck onto Deidre’s, up until they—

Jude forcefully opened his eyes and fell to the floor, sobbing heavily. Redd immediately went to catch him, applying pressure to his diaphragm when Jude started to lose track of his breathing. “Jude! Hey, hey! Breathe!”

He tried, he tried to, but the fact that he was Elio when he grew up with Deidre, made a life with Deidre, and then witnessed that gruesome event broke his heart in ways he couldn’t comprehend.

“What did you see?” Glass whispered with concern, watching the pure pain that bled through Elio’s dementia. The kind of pain that was so powerful, the body couldn’t forget to cry about it.

Jude shakes his head, “I can’t… I can’t do this, I feel EVERYTHING! I feel it all, I—F*CK!”

Elio himself kneeled down to Jude’s level. “I-I’m sorry… did I hurt you? I’m sorry. I know it’s bad… it’s in my chest, I can’t escape from it. I’m glad you did.”

Jude sought comfort in Redd’s arms, looking at Elio as if afraid to even touch him. He sobbed, “Elio watched Deidre die. I can’t—I don’t want to say it. Please, I…”

“Deidre’s not dead,” Elio said, clutching his aching heart. “He’s waiting for me outside, isn’t he? He told you?”

Elio stood up to leave, but Glass held him in place. “You’re not leaving until you stop crying at the sound of his name. Jude… please, you need to learn how to control your Echoing. This is your chance to learn your powers and help Elio.”

“Glass, we can’t force him—”

“We can’t ask Pryce for help with his Echoing, Jude has to learn it himself!” Glass exclaimed. “It’s his chance to finally get a hold of one of his powers!”

Jude was still crying, unable to stomach the pain, but he realized he may help Elio with his pain. With Redd’s help, he stood up and wiped his burning tears, taking massive breaths while standing in front of Elio.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Jude said, his shaking hand hovering over Elio. “I’m gonna… help you…”

Jude laid a hand on his shoulder, but nothing came up.

“I’m too scared… of what I’ll see,” Jude whispered, “I’m scared of feeling pain in these memories. But then… it’s what you felt that day, didn’t you Elio? You felt nothing but pain and loss…”

Elio tilts his head, not knowing what Jude is talking about.

But this pain and loss was something I also felt in the past. Jude looks at Salve, I have to face it. I have to face our losses.

Jude held Elio’s head and placed their foreheads together, accepting his pain like it was Salve all over again.

But this time, he stumbled onto the foggy neighborhood of a cramped voodoo quarter hidden behind the glittering streets of New Orleans, where candles flickered behind colored glass windows, charms hung from crooked porches, and the air smelled of tobacco, swamp water, and wilted magnolias.

Elio, now confused and withered in the mind, ended up in the dark hands of those he considered servants—and they threw him to the Mistress of dark arts for a clean disposal. She made dolls from men’s skin, prayer charms from bones, candles from human fat, and hanging wards woven with hair ripped from the dead. Her followers offered the lost Elio as a sacrifice.

“That don’t matter no more, plantation boy,” Marie said, smoke curling from her lips as she looked him over like fresh roadkill. “What matters is whether your bones sing loud enough for my friends once I carve the curiosity out of you.”

“But it does matter…” Elio said. “He said he’ll come for me. I need to see him.”

“Mmm… you’re rotting in the head already, little man. At this rate, you won’t even remember the face you’re crying for.”

“I’m sick? Oh no… no, no I need more time to wait for him! He will come for me…” Elio suddenly kneeled before her, and she widened her eyes at the sight of a white man who is not asking for riches, not asking for fortune or a spell. He is asking for the impossible.

“I am willing to offer everything… though, I gave up everything to be with him. I guess I only have my life to give.” Elio offers his life to her, “I need time to wait for him.”

“And who’s this ‘him’ got you crawling before me, plantation boy? Now why’s that you’re so willing to throw away your pretty young life for him, hmm?”

“He was my slave,” said Elio, “But when I threw away everything for him, he became my one and only.”

“You offer me your life. I fully accept.”

The last thing Jude saw was the woman offering him a familiar red wine in a goblet, with a familiar taste of Lucifer’s blood.

Jude came back less in pain, and more understanding of why Elio is here, right now. “I know who you are, now.”

“You do?” Elio smiled.

“Deidre’s death caused his mental decline… and then he was turned into a vampire,” Jude tells Redd and Glass. “His dementia won’t not be cured because he had it before he was turned into a vampire. He’s also forever stuck waiting for Deidre.”

“Not forever,” Glass shrugged suggestively, “You can remove Deidre from his memories and stop the pain.”

Redd spoke up, “Like what Jude did to Lucien?”

“What?! But I didn’t even know how I did it with Lucien!” Jude exclaimed.

“This is your chance to learn,” Glass stood behind Jude and forced him to face Elio once again. “Do it again. Remove the memory. Only then will you be able to truly control the Echoing.”

“W-we can’t do it to Elio, it’s unfair for him, he loved Deidre!” Jude looked at Glass, “This is cruel! Elio is sick and—”

“I’ve always known I’m sick…” Elio said, making Jude stop and turn to him. “But… I don’t want to be in pain anymore.”

“But Deidre…”

“Deidre always wiped away my tears and removed whatever caused me pain. He will approve of you taking it away. My friend will come to find me. And when he does, I will remember him.”

Jude’s fingers trembled against his sleeves. How could someone speak of losing their memories so peacefully? Redd looked disturbed for the first time that day, while Glass only stared quietly at Elio with softened eyes. The siren understood it too well: sometimes pain rots the mind long before illness ever could.

Offering him a smile, Elio looked at Glass happily. “I could never forget my friend when I look into your eyes, Sir Glass. But… I would like to forget the pain.”

With his approval, Jude takes a deep breath and places their foreheads together. I will help you, Elio. I will control the Echoing.

This time, Jude wasn’t in the eyes of Elio. He was behind him as the mob restrained Deidre up a stage, where his body is being pulled up high against the grey sky.

Oh no. I may be too late!

“Elio!” How do I do this? How do I get rid of a memory? How do I stop them from killing Deidre?!

“I’LL COME BACK FOR YOU!”

I can’t stop them. I can’t change the past. I can’t bring Deidre back. I can’t bring Salve back. Jude stared at Elio, who is watching the entire scene unfold as if he cannot take his eyes away from it.

I will remove the pain. I will remove Deidre.

But the love… “You keep me sane,” said Elio before.

I cannot remove the pain and taking the love with it.

I can’t take Deidre away from him. Jude looked at his hands, afraid of the upcoming pain that will envelope the both of them. I can’t take Deidre away from him.

He took Elio’s hand and pulled him away from the crowd, turning him away from Deidre. Jude pulls Elio into a hug saying, “Deidre will come back for you. Please live life to the fullest… and welcome him into your arms when you meet.“

As Deidre hangs behind Elio, Jude hugs him tighter to ensure he doesn’t see, he doesn’t hear. Elio hugs him back, before Jude takes his hand and leads him away from the public execution.

When Jude came back, he was hugging Elio in the real world. He gasped, wondering if he did it. He couldn’t remember what he did for Lucien, but for Elio, he’s hoping he didn’t take the entire memory of Deidre away.

“Well hello there, your clothes are splendid!
The modern world is much kinder to your people now, yes?” Elio happily greets as if he doesn’t know much about the man hugging him.

Jude stood open mouthed and offended, but Redd and Glass only looked used to it at this point. Still, Glass tapped Elio on the shoulder and asked, “So… where’s Deidre?”

“Oh! He’s away on a trip! I bet he could tell you all about it when he gets home!” Elio has no more tears, no more shaky breaths and no more aching heart as his eyes disappear behind his big smile. “When he comes back… I’ll be here waiting for him.”

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WE ARE TRULY SORRY for the discomfort.
Ashley actually didn’t plan for Elio’s backstory to be elaborated, he was supposed to be the haha-stupid character. But several sinners requested the story between Deidre and Elio KNOWING DAMN WELL IT’S SET IN A SLAVERY ERA.