Empty Chains ✔️ | #ONC2019

| Chapt. Thirteen | Ruins |

Demetri scoops up my limp body quickly, speeding off without giving me the chance to see anything more. At last glance, Noah looked horrible. His clothes are stained with blood and I could see his face getting paler.

My Handler's pace is brisk, panicked, and almost more harmful than anything. I can't help but lean into his warmth and try to relax, knowing we'd been bought a few hours of time.

He slows down a few hallways away and meets my gaze. "How are you holding up?"

I have no words, shaking my head.

Nodding slowly, we close the distance to my room. Demetri lays me down on the bed, careful enough to put a pillow under my neck and peel off the excessive parts of my suit. With the door shut, he removes his boots and tucks them beside the dresser. Demetri's movements are calculated, adjusting himself next to me. He raises both hands over my chest, silver light dimly glowing from his hands.

Swirls of numb waves wash over me at first, eventually reverting to the freezing sensation of pain cream. I shiver a little in response. The power combs through all my cells, repairing everything tired and or damaged from all the fighting. Even with this coursing through me, exhaustion sits heavy atop my frame, keeping me down.

My disorientation repairs itself in deep full breaths, helping me focus.

"Please tell me it's not tonight," I murmur, a few tears streaking from the corner of my eyes and into my hair and ears.

He shakes his head, eyes closed in concentration.

"Dem-"

"No, it's not tonight."

I sigh, letting go of the last fear I'd been hiding from.

"I wanted to say goodbye..."

The man tenses like I've never seen before, eyes flickering open with a ferocity unlike that of any look given to me. "What are you talking about?"

"Tomorrow... I was so worried I wasn't going to have a chance to say goodbye before tomorrow."

He swallows, tucking his hands in his lap loosely and staring at me in shock. "Holiday I-"

"Just hear me out," I whisper, reaching out and grazing his shin. "I don't want to win enough that I'm willing to take your life. I don't even know if I want to go back, it's just not worth it compared to the stake everyone else has. Noah's wife needs him more than anyone needs me. You deserve to breathe. To live whatever life you have here. I'd want to live it here even..."

"Holly you don't know what you're talking about," he snaps. "What about your mother, your lover, the people who care for you dearly? The boy who gave his very life for you here, for you to carry on. This is ridiculous, you can't just bend over and die now."

"Demetri, I can't kill you. I'm weak, weaker than you to say the least. But even if I could, I don't have the heart..."

"You must," Demetri growls, jolting away from me and getting up. He looks as if he's about to start pacing or throw something out the window. "You must because if not, I will have to kill you. I don't get a choice... And I can't live- I can't exist with that on my conscience."

"Why not?"

His eyes fixate on my own, body walking him closer to me. "Why must you talk to me like I'm human, like I have something to live and breathe for in this world?"

"I don't know..."

"Why do you try to understand me? Learn about who I am?"

"I'm not sure..."