Ruin and Revival

Chapter 39: Never Enough

SCARLETT

I walk towards the man I fell in love with, his hair billowing in the wind as he stares longingly out to the open waters that glint from the rays of early, morning sun.

"The ocean must be awful interesting.You look at it more than you look at me. I am almost jealous," I joke. However, over the course of the past two weeks, Axel did seem to drift from reality often and I could smell the restlessness on him.

"Hey, are you okay?" I wrap my arms around him.

"What if we don't get her back?" Axel's bloodshot eyes explain his agitation. I understood his exhaustion, his worry, but not his attachment to this girl he knew for merely a week.

"We will. And if we don't, we have each other and we'll survive, just like we always do," I squeeze his shoulders reassuringly. He stands up suddenly and my heart almost stops at that look of anger.

"How can you even say that!" He snaps as I stagger back.

"I would rather die than leave her alone on that island. Not again, not again," Hurt fogs my mind, like a poisonous haze.

"Am I not enough to keep you alive?" My voice cracks without my permission and before I know it, tears roll down my face.

"No, no, of course, you are," He rushes towards me, to try and bandage a bullet wound, but it is too late. Because that was the moment I knew I was never enough and never would be.

"Scarlett, please, you knew what I meant," I smile through my tears and let him think I forgot the true meaning behind his words.

Bri shoves us roughly to our knees. I grunt softly through the gag, but keep my head down.

"Two war prisoners," My heart hammers in my chest and I feel like it will betray us.

"Okay, we'll take them from here," The woman gestures for a guard to come and grab us. Panic surges through me, but I force myself to remain still. Trust Bri, trust Bri.

"I'm afraid not. I have orders to bring them to their cells. They are very dangerous,"

"And what makes you think you can handle them," I can hear the sneer in the woman's voice.

"Are you questioning the general's decision?" The woman jerks her head towards the entrance.

"Fine, let them through. She's an exception," The way she says that last word is enough to make my blood curdle.

The prison is surprisingly clean, the sort of sterile white that suffocates. We are led through dozens of hallways and I am already lost after the third one. The man leading us is a young, polished teen, probably around the same age as Axel and I. He brings us to a stop in front of a white door. I wonder what horrors lay behind it.

"This is a specialized section that we created just for our beloved Aquarians," I feel Axel bristle next to me, his knuckles matching the white of our surroundings. The sights in the cells are inhuman, only the husks of once glorious fighters remain.

"Save yourselves," They shout and all I can do is keep my head down. I can't imagine what Arika is going through. We finally arrive at two identical, rundown cells that reek of something I would rather not think about.

We spring into action.

Bri swings her fist into the young man's as Axel cuts through his constraints before doing the same to mine. The whole room has gone silent in utter shock, no prisoner daring to make a sound.

"We will free the first person who tells us where Arika is," Axel snatches the keys from the unconscious man's belt, tempting them with the sound of their freedom.

"They brainwashed her, took away a piece of her every day. I saw it with my own eyes," Axel's eyes turn livid, the blue in them flashing.

"What do you mean? Where is she!" He is yelling now, his body tense like the muscles of a lion before it pounces on its prey.

"There's no point in saving her now. You're too late," The man remains huddled in the dark corners of his cell.

"Shut up! You're lying!" He snarls and Bri tugs him away from the cell.

"You need to calm yourself. You're going to attract too much attention," Bri snatches the keys from him and unlocks the cell. The room fills with murmurs of disbelief. The man arises from his spot, eyeing us with such hunger that I grip the handle of the knife I had drawn from my pants earlier.

"Lead us to where she is," Bri says with a smile that no one dared to challenge.

"Of course darling," He was tall and from the confidence in his stride, I knew he was a powerful warrior. Axel kicks down the door at the end of the hallway with one blow.

And there she was, healthier and more delicate than I remember. Her hair reached her hips now, her lips cherry blossom pink, fuller than ever. Axel scrambles toward her and as happy as I am to see my friend alive and well, I can't hold back the envy I feel.

"Who are you?" He freezes amidst his embrace, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Bri grabs her hand desperately.

"It's me, Brianna. Don't you remember. We met at the camps," Arika's face remains blank. No, no we couldn't have come all this way!

"Arika, it's Scarlett. Remember when you beat me in the knife throwing contest and how I gave you like twenty concussions," My voice breaks as she backs away from us.

"Dammit Arika please! Say something, anything!" Axel curses.

"Where is Mason?" She says.

And there the unconscious man was, his gun pointed straight at Arika, an expression that told me he was shooting to kill.

I launch myself in front of her.

My abdomen explodes in unimaginable agony and pain. I collapse onto to the white floor, staining it crimson. I can feel the traces of life leaving me with every droplet of scarlet blood. Axel catches me with those strong, comforting arms I have always cherished.

"No, no, no, no, no, no not you too," His face is of sheer panic, of confusion, of denial. He presses his hand against the hole in my stomach, but it is no use. I press my hand to his cheek and he grips it so hard I can feel them crushing my knuckles.

"I am so sorry, Axel. But even though I know I was never enough for you, you were the world to me and I would rather die than leave you alone," His tears mix with mine as our lips meet for the last time. I welcome death with open arms.