The Styles Brothers

Chapter Twenty Five: Let Go

Elena's POV

Time held no meaning as I watched my worst nightmare unfold before me.

Yet I was unfeeling.

I felt numb as I watched James grimace in pain, taking the sharp teeth and ripping claws meant for me. It was as if I was watching from outside my own body; helpless. I could hear Harry yelling, Lily shrieking, feel Charles' hand squeeze my own unbearably tight. But they held no significance.

Then, as if by some unnatural force, I watched myself lift the golden dagger and thrust it deep into the side of the hound. With a dying yelp, it loosened its jaw and turned to ash, coating the sticky blood that covered James.

I continued to feel nothing as Harry grabbed me, the five of us falling through the open in-between and out of the Fourth Realm.

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It was my fault.

It was always my fault.

"James, stay with me!" Harry's low, frantic voice ordered as the others raced to lay down James' unmoving form on the pristine white carpet. His scarlet blood splattered the surrounding floor.

Back in the familiar surroundings of the Styles flat, one would think I felt comfortable. Instead, I felt out of place; unwelcome. James' slick blood coated my hands and arms; having been thrown up to protect my face.

It should have been me.

As Lily and Harry feverishly tried to stop James' abdomen from bleeding out, Charles carefully approached me. "Elena? You okay?"

I stared at him, saying nothing. I was silent, but inside I was panicking beyond reprieve. James' skin had gone white as snow, breathing light and uneven. The slashes on his chest and abdomen had cut deep, too deep.

In that moment, I knew I was my father's daughter. For instead of saying something, suggesting or questioning, Charles grabbed me and wrapped me in a hug. I collapsed. My world swam from my view as I slipped into a peaceful unconscious, gratefully away from the nightmare that was my waking world.

I was in darkness. I didn't hear Harry shouting that he couldn't stop the blood.

I didn't see Lily weeping into her blood-covered hands.

I didn't feel my father's arms around me as I lay quietly.

I didn't see James' green eyes flutter open for the last time, flicker from Harry, to Lily, and to me.

I didn't hear him whisper my name.

And I didn't hear his heart stop beating.

But it did.

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James' POV

I was vaguely aware of shouting. I was consciously attentive to the pain in my chest.

I knew I was dying.

However, just as in the movies, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I peeled my eyes open and saw her face, peaceful and quiet in sleep.

Elena.

I had kept her safe. She was safe now. The thought put me at peace. So I shut my eyes, took a deep breath, and let go.

"Mister? Mister.." a tiny voice said.