Apocalyptic Love

Chapter Five: The Beginning of the end

 A few days later, Michael could just feel something was off. He had told Elliott he would be going out and not to worry, and he left. When he ended up in a sandy area, he got a horrible feeling. His stomach sank as he saw the ashes of three people, he neared the site, flashes of each person's demise appearing to him. The third person, the one burned in the center had been his beloved Miss Mead. He stumbled back, tears streaming down his face as shock and disbelief filled him. He cried out, falling to his knees and sobbing for a good few hours before rage filled him. The witches had done this...and his father let them get away with it. He stormed off into the woods. "I am not..." he spoke as he used a stick to draw the symbol into the ground "leaving here without an answer!" He shouted defiantly, sitting in the circle of the symbol and screaming up at the sky " DO YOU HEAR ME?! TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IM SUPPOSED TO DO NOW DAMMIT! ANSWER ME!"

Elliott had let Michael go, continuing with his schoolwork. However, when he didn't return, that's when he began to worry. There was no way for him to call the blonde or contact him, and yet... something deep inside him kept him from worrying. Just like it kept him from being scared of Michael. Maybe the boy just had something important to do regarding his father...? However, after four days, Elliott couldn't take it anymore. He was beginning to feel stressed, and just as he was putting away his books and leaving the school to look for Michael, a place popped into his head. It was a nearby forest, a few hours walk, and he had no idea why he thought of it, but he immediately began to head there. Elliott had no way to know that it was a dark force at work in him, slowly corrupting his innocent heart and binding him forever to Michael. After a good while of walking through the middle of nowhere and into the woods, he finally stumbled upon Michael, who seemed practically delusional. He was rather surprised that he'd found him. "Oh my god—Michael!" he said quickly, walking over towards him.

Michael smiled a bit at the sight of Elliott. "Hey babe..." he smiled but then he frowned " what are you doing out here?" He questioned. His eyes were red and puffy from tears of sorrow turned to tears of rage, his clothes were bloodied from the goat he killed and dirty from sitting on the ground. His voice was scratchy, hoarse from screaming out to his father for hours on end. He looked like a mess, and he was exhausted, but he was persistent.

Elliott's eyes were wide as he approached the blonde. He looked absolutely terrible. "I-I... I don't know, I just got worried and... something told me you'd be here," he said unsurely. He didn't really understand it himself. "Michael, have you been out here since you left? It's been four days," he exclaimed, kneeling down next to him and wrapping his arms around him. "God, you look terrible, have you slept? Have you eaten...?"

"four days.." he scoffed and held him again. "No...but I've missed you." He responded honestly, hugging the male close. "Those vile leeches....they burned her Elliott." He sobbed softly into his lover's shoulder

Elliott didn't understand at first, but slowly he connected the dots in his head. "Miss Mead," he whispered softly, holding Michael tightly. "Baby, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..." he said quietly. "Come on. You're filthy and you've got to be starving, let's go," he insisted.

"no...no I won't go back to that horrid place. Not with those wretched people." He snarled, still holding Elliott close and crying softly. He wanted them all to burn, his precious miss mead deserved so much more than that.

Elliott took a deep breath. "Well, we can't stay here in the middle of the woods, Michael," he said softly, rubbing his back soothingly. "You haven't eaten in days, neither of us will make it out here by ourselves, with or without magic." The brunette desperately wanted Michael to come with him, for the blonde to be okay again. He hated seeing him so upset.

Michael nodded slowly, gripping him tightly. "I don't know what to do, Elliott...I don't know.." he sobbed, his body shaking as he held his boyfriend. "Please don't leave me...don't ever leave me...I need you." He begged, trying to calm himself

Elliott could feel tears brimming in his eyes as the boy pleaded with him. "I won't, Michael, I promise," he reassured him, placing a hand against the back of his head and holding him close. "I'm not going anywhere, I won't leave you." He gently began to rock him side to side, hopefully in a soothing manner. "Shhh, I'm right here. Calm down, Michael, please don't cry."

Michael nodded and sniffed, drying his eyes. "Where will we go? What will we do? I'm lost Elliott.. " he pulled back just a bit to look into Elliott's eyes. "I can't go back there...not yet." He repeated

Elliott placed a hand on Michael's cheek, wiping the boy's tears away. "I don't know, Michael, I really don't..." he said softly. "I don't have anything left but you, Michael, I want to stay with you..."

Michael kissed him gently. "Run away with me..." he whispered against his lips, looking into his green eyes, love and pain showing in his own ice blue ones. He stood slowly, staggering a bit. He felt something...different, something shifted or....no something intensified that was already there. He felt more connected to Elliott than he ever had, though he always did feel a connection.

Elliott held onto Michael carefully, knowing he'd probably be dizzy after not eating for four days. "Where are we going to go...?" he asked softly, staring back into the blonde's beautiful eyes. In that moment, he felt a strange wave of intense feelings for Michael come over him. It was like their connection grew infinitely stronger just in that moment.

"I..." as Michael thought about where to go, he realized he had no clue, not yet anyway. But something told him if they just started walking, they would get where they needed to be. "Trust me" he smiled, kissing his cheek and wrapping his arm around his waist as he began to walk. "I have a feeling...I can't really explain it, but I know even if it doesn't lead anywhere, I'll be okay as long as I have you."

Elliott walked alongside him, leaning against him as they made their way... who knows where. "That's the same kind of feeling I had when I came to find you," he said softly. "I don't know why, but I just... had this feeling that I should walk in a certain direction, so I did until I found you," he explained.

Michael smiled as they walked "I'm so sorry I made you worry I just..." he trailed off, unsure of how to explain the emotions he was feeling. It wasn't that he didn't think of Elliott in those four days, because he did, every second, but he had a point to prove, and Elliott finding him like that? It felt like at least a little bit of an answer. "I was asking my father for an answer and...I guess you finding me like that was my answer."

Elliott looked up at him, furrowing his eyebrows. "What do you mean...?" he said softly, not quite understanding. "Was your father not answering you...? Is that why you were in that circle for four days?" The boy felt strangely calm about all of this, and he couldn't quite put a finger on the combination of emotions he was feeling.

"No, I just.. when I saw what they did to Miss Mead I...I felt lost. Every plan I had involved her. And so I turned to my father." He explained, sighing softly as they walked. Eventually, they came upon a town, though Michael was famished, something told him not to eat just yet, but to make his way into the church he could see just down the street. "Follow me." He said, intertwining his fingers with Elliott's and leading the way