Chronicles of the Fall- #1- Empty Night

Chapter 26: One Day I Will Overcome Myself

Laken folds the last of the laundry and places the now clean clothes back in the basket. She sighs a sigh of relief of being done with the chore.

"You know, you really made out like a bandit on this deal," Tripp calls from the doorway. Laken looks up from her work.

"What?" she asks.

"You got DJ literally running up and down the mountain, doing all the hard work, taking all the consequences for this mess while you sit here and reap all the benefits."

"Doing all your laundry is a benefit?" she asks, rolling her eyes.

"Just saying, doesn't seem like a very fair trade."

"We're all working hard to make this work, okay?" Laken huffs, grabbing the basket and heading towards the door. Tripp steps in her path. His head tilts down to whisper something to her, and his breath is warm in her ear.

"What I'm saying is that you aren't pulling enough weight around here. You haven't proven to me that you'll be a beneficial asset once the groups reunite." His voice is deep and low. Nobody else can hear him.

"You saw me at the zoo, I've been working just as hard as everyone else since this shit started, Tripp." She shakes slightly but finds the strength to look up into his eyes that are hard and cold. "Didn't you give this whole spiel to DJ, too?"

He ignores her question. "Prove it. Prove to me that you haven't gotten weak behind the walls of this observatory.  When was the last time you went out there without Lucas or DJ to protect you?" he challenges instead. Laken can't deny the fear she feels building up inside of her. She knows what he's suggesting and she knows that without DJ here to stand up for her, she'll have no choice. She asks him anyway.

"What do you want me to do?" Laken whispers.

"Go on a run, solo. Come back prosperous and you'll have proven yourself. If not, then you'd be no benefit to the new group. No use in keeping you around then; no one here would stop me," he says, his eyes flashing.

"Lucas would," Laken grits through her teeth.

"After you rejected him? I doubt he'd care now," Tripp almost laughs. Laken feels her stomach drop.

"He told you about that?" whispers Laken.

"Besides being my right hand man, he's my best friend. Of course he tells me about his girl problems. You know, I never took you for a bitch who'd lead a guy on like that."

"I'm not leading him on! I just- I," she yells, her head feeling as if it could explode.

"I really don't care about your excuses, are you gonna prove yourself or not?" says Tripp harshly, jabbing a hand into one of her shoulders. She stumbles back, shock flitting through her eyes. 'I don't have a choice. He's not giving me a choice." Her mind races.

"I will, I can," she says, nodding her head quickly. He raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, go pack your stuff. You leave today," he says, his voice final, before stepping out of the doorway. She takes a deep breath and heads quickly down the hallway. 'I've gotta find Lucas,' she thinks. Later, another thought crosses her mind. 'I wish DJ was here, she would never let this happen.'

***

DJ jogs up to the Elites' outpost. The journey wasn't as hard as she thought, despite her still slightly weakened state, and the fact that she had to kill a few lurkers on her way there. She slows down as she nears the entrance, and sees Talon leaning against the door.

'Always on watch,' DJ thinks. She waves to him.

"We were starting to worry about you," Talon calls as DJ approaches. "You've been gone a little while."