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Neither of them could sleep.
"He'll come back," Alex said, truly the picture of a man in denial. He'd been sitting on the porch with Foster since Klaus had left four hours ago. The cold and the rain hadn't chased him inside yet.
Eli sat down with him. She tried to sleep, but gave up quickly after waking from a nightmare. She'd been haunted by visions of a girl bound to a tree. The girl screamed like a banshee, unseen currents ripping through her body as blood pooled at her feet. It spilled out the corners of her eyes like tears, like copper under sunset and rivulets poured from her back.
Waking up to rain had chased away any remaining desire to sleep.
Alex glanced over at Eli, looking far older than he was. "We can't tell anyone he left. We need to buy some time until he comes back."
"Okay," Eli agreed, even though she couldn't imagine Klaus coming back. Saying anything about it right then felt too early. She didn't think Alex could handle it just yet. He would need to accept it soon though, because eventually, the other Elites would notice his absence or he would be needed for something.
Eli could say he had a break, that he had snapped and temporarily lost his mind. It wasn't like he'd be the first Elite to break under pressure. But everyone who had met Klaus already thought of him as a wildcard. The possibility that he snapped would only push them into killing him.
Eli closed her eyes and breathed in the rain. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so tired.
"What do you think the odds are of Aria getting caught?" Alex asked a while later, voice thicker than usual.
"Low," Eli said. "If she took care of her injuries, nobody will find her."
There was a reason everyone had written her off as dead after her escape from the facility. The government and the Elites had both poured all their resources into searching for her. But as soon as she escaped, she was gone like she never existed to begin with. Nobody was going to catch her if she didn't want to be caught.
Eli was more concerned about Klaus. He didn't have the same type of protection that Aria did. The Elites had little reason to coax him back to their side. He didn't fly under the radar when he got away from the labs he was made in. He'd been loud and chaotic and easy to spot even when he was trying to hide.
Alex took a deep, shuddering breath. "What about Klaus if doesn't get back in time?"
Eli couldn't bring herself to answer.
Author's Note
Two chapters up in one night, hurray! I posted two because this second one is way shorter, so I didn't want to post it on its own. The August update is going to be longer. It's 2k so far and I haven't finished writing it. I hope that makes up for this. We're also starting my favorite part of the story! I'm so excited!
I know this story has been moving slowly and the monthly updates are probably making it feel slower. If you're reading this, thank you for sticking around.
