Born to Kill

5.

JANUARY

To say the next week was horrible would be putting it lightly. So many people had reached out to Elijah about the games, but the most disturbing messages came from the random New Yorkers begging him to choose them as his partners.

He ignored all of them and holed himself up in his room. He ate little and refused to talk to anyone. His dad and sister had tried to coax him out a few times, but Elijah refused to engage in any conversation. But although he hid in his room, he could hear them in the hallway screaming their heads off. His dad was calling anyone and everyone he could, trying to find a way to get Elijah out of this. His sister was calling on all her fans to reach out and shut down the fights.

Elijah knew it was futile.

The only person who he had let come see him was Cecilia. Even when she was there, they didn't speak. She didn't make him talk. All she did was hold him as he cried on her lap while silently stroking his dark hair. She brought food with her and made sure he ate and slept.

Sometimes she would just talk though. She told him about her family's holiday and how things went at Christmas. Or Cecilia would even just rant about her day and tell him all the good and bad things that popped up.

But while the whole world was trying to connect with him, Elijah noticed there was one person who couldn't be found.

Ever since she ran out on New Year's, Rachel hadn't been heard from. Her clothes and bags were all still here, but she was yet to be found. Nobody brought her up, trying not to worry him, but he could hear Cecilia talking to Iris silently in the hall about how nobody could get through to Rachel. It was like she vanished off the face of the earth.

He had tried texting her, asking if she was safe, but she never responded. It made his insides twist even more. Elijah didn't know what Rachel was doing, but if there was ever a time he needed his best friend, it was now. But she was nowhere to be found. Elijah wasn't sure if he could go through this without her by his side providing moral support.

But while he was more depressed about the fact that Rachel was nowhere to be found, Cecilia was furious. Although she liked to pretend, she didn't notice Rachel's absence, when he finally emerged from his cave of a room, he found her in his living room calling someone.

With her foot anxiously tapping and waiting for whoever to respond, he silently watched as she threw her head back.

"Rachel," Cecilia groaned, rubbing her eyes. "This is me. Cecilia. For the hundredth time... Look, I know New Years was a shock. It was for all of us, I get it. But we need you here right now. Okay, Elijah needs you. You once told me that you would do anything to protect him. If that's true then you'll come back, okay? Please just... just come back."

Taking a deep breath, she hung up the phone aggressively before tossing it onto the couch. When Cecilia turned around, she jumped at the sight of Elijah standing there. Her shoulders slumped and she held out her arms to him. Without argument, Elijah slowly made his way over so she could hug him.

He rested his head on top of hers as she said, "She'll come around... don't worry. It'll be fine."

Elijah didn't respond. He just wanted to enjoy the moment with his arms around Cecilia. But when he shut his eyes to contently just hold onto her, the moment was broken up by the sound of the door slamming open.

His eyes went wide as he saw three men in suits enter followed by a beautiful woman in a pantsuit looking quite bored and his exasperated father who was yelling at them.