Rise

Chapter 42

Our fears reveal 

what we care about the most. 

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Within the hour, me and Han are on the Destroyer. 

So far, we haven't run into any troopers. In fact, the whole ship seems to be on some sort of lockdown; me and Han had arrived just before the docking bay doors had closed. Its strange, and I don't like the feeling that's currently pounding through my blood. Its name is Fear.

I realize that I've stopped in my tracks, my lightsaber dangling at my side. Han, who's in front of me, looks back at me. "El?"

His voice brings me back. "What? Oh, sorry." I try to shake off my dread, but this proves to be impossible. I fall in step with Han again, one hand clutching my saber and the other holding my gun. I can't just let myself become distracted by my thoughts like that.

As we ease quietly through the corridor, Han, without looking back, asks, "Are you okay?" 

I purse my lips, not sure how to respond. I say, "No. We're searching for one of our best friends, who needs our help. What if something happened to her?" I haven't felt anything through the bracelet; although, that's because I haven't opened myself up to it anymore. I'm too afraid. 

Han stops, and so do I. He peeks around a corner, then keeps going. "She'll be okay, El." he's trying to be convincing, but I can tell he's just as worried as I am. "Plus, I'm guessing this whole lockdown thing is because of her." 

The thought of that makes me, oddly enough, smile. "They're that scared of her?" 

He shrugs. "They must be. I haven't seen any troopers anywhere, and you'd think that if they were confident she wouldn't do much, they'd keep from locking down." 

I nod. What he's saying makes sense; hopefully, this means Cecily is okay. 

For a little while, we're tiptoeing through more dark, glassy hallways. Nothing moves. Everything is quiet and eerily still. I worry if this is a trap, but surely a whole Destroyer wouldn't shut down just to trap me and Han? The idea of it makes me tense up, but I try desperately to relax. We're okay right now. All we need to focus on is getting to wherever Cecily could be. 

"How will we know where she is?" I ask Han as we approach a door. 

Han, holding up a code he'd found earlier, starts punching the code into the panel next to the door. Before he can respond, the door opens. He opens his mouth, but as we both turn to look in front of us, speech becomes impossible. 

A gruesome sight greets us.

The hallway before us is a stark, shocking white; deep crimson is splashed across the floor, the walls, like twisted, sick paint. A horrific smell invades my nostrils, and I gag, tasting death on my tongue.

Bodies litter the floor of the corridor. Stormtroopers lie just about everywhere; there's gun wounds in some, and holes burned straight through others. My breathing has become shallow and quick, and I realize abruptly that my hand is covering my mouth.

Gagging again, I'm taken aback by how much blood there is. These troopers didn't die painlessly; their killer obviously wanted to see them suffer. 

My heart trembles as I realize who would've done this. Who else would've killed all these troopers?

Cecily was definitely here. Surprising myself, I take a step forward, then another. I step over a body sprawled before me, and I see a corner up ahead. "Han." I get out, stunned by the gore on the walls, around me, and at my feet. 

He's beside me, gripping my arm tightly. "She did this." 

"I know, I know." I reply, my voice soft and fragile. I'm glad Cecily made it past these troopers (she must have made it past them; I don't see her green suit among the bodies), but this is not something I wanted to see. Every breath makes me want to vomit. I can almost hear the echoes of the troopers' screams .

Han puts an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to his side. "We're close to her, I know it," he murmurs in my ear. Somehow, his voice stills the raging horror within me. "Just a little bit longer, and we'll be on our way home. Come on." he lets go of me, and starts leading the way. I breathe in and out, in and out, as I follow. 

My weapons are quivering in my wobbling hands, but as I go further, I begin to block out the blood and violence around me. He was right. Cecily must be close, because the blood on the walls, on the ceiling, its fresh. We'd be on our way home within the hour, hopefully. 

Stepping over another body, I then believe that the Destroyer is on lockdown because of Cecily. She'd come through here without mercy.

The hallway turns to the left. Me and Han turn the corner, and more bodies litter the floor. How many people had suffered Cecily's wrath? There's no way I could've ever counted the bodies. 

"Geez." Han breathes, sounding as shocked as I feel. "How did she make it past all these troopers?"

Dazed, I look around as we continue to go forward. "She wanted revenge; if there was one thing she'd make sure of, its that she got revenge." 

We take a right; more bodies. Me and Han get to the end of this hallway, and turning another right corner, we see the familiar dark walls of the Destroyer's normal hallways. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to have bodies. 

Me and Han walk out of the white hallway and into the black one. There's blood smeared on the floor, and its leading down the hallway. I'm beginning to wonder when we'll actually find Cecily, and not mere clues. With every corner we turn, my fear grows, and I'm terrified that I'll see her body. 

We step, suddenly, into a large room. There's a corridor to our left, and another to our right. But in front of us, there are two large, towering doors. Doors bigger then even the ones back at the Citadel on Taris. 

The smeared blood on the floor ended right in front of these doors. I feel my stomach turn when I see blood on the door handles. Cecily must've gone through here after her fight with the troopers.

My heart, for some reason, is pounding in my chest. Its deafening and I can barely hear Han as he whispers, "She's in there." 

"How do you know?" I choke out, dread digging its fingers into my throat. But I don't need him to answer my question; I can feel it, too. An undying, grim certainty--Cecily had to be on the other side of these doors. 

I'm sure I'll pass out. My heart, I'm certain, has never beat this fast, or this hard. 

"Han--" I gasp, putting my gun in the same hand that's holding my lightsaber, "I'm scared." I take my hand in his, my fingers threading through his own. I'm dizzy. 

Han squeezes my hand, and I can see that he's just as scared. "Me too, Ellie, me too." his chest rises and falls shakily, and I meet his eyes.

"Together?" I whisper.

"Always." he whispers back. 

We let go of each other, and open the doors. 

A massive, dark throne room greets us. The thought that it looks just like the one at the Citadel crosses my mind, and I'm about to say something about it, when something stops me.

Everything is suddenly moving too slow, and too fast.

I see the tall, spiked throne at the end of the great hall. 

My eyes travel down the stairs, and I can't breathe.

I can't breathe as my eyes land on Cecily's bloody body.