ELBINA 2

Chapter 9

(Lucas POV)
A dull harsh pain wakes me up, my head drops down to my chest and I'm acutely aware of the man circling me. I know I haven't been out long this time because everything seems the same since I slipped into darkness, except this time, I'm not the only one to surface.
I can hear some whimpering, it's a sound that makes me want to go back into oblivion again, so I don't have to hear it. It hits me right at the back of my throat because I can hear the pain and the fear clogging the sound.
I also know it's from her.
And I know if I look up, I'm not going to like what I see.
"Leave him alone!" It's useless for me to close my eyes, it won't protect me.
Another thump landed into my abdomen and I retched up bile, landing onto my jeans. It burns the back of my throat so bad I can't breathe for a second or two.
Where are they?
I think I'm saying it to myself but it's actually the man shouting at me.
"I don't know." I gasp it out, barely managing to sputter out the words.
"We know you left with her, now, where is she?" He grabs my hair and pulls my head up, I lock eyes with him.
They're crinkled at the edges in a smile, his eyes light up when I don't answer because he gets to hit me again.
My head barely moves as he holds it steady but it pulls my hair so harsh that I think my scalp might be bleeding.
"Stop it!"
"Halley." Dan hisses, pleading with her to be quiet. To not draw attention to herself but she's stubborn, she's not one to let someone be hurt if it's not her.
"No! Dan, he can't do this!"
"Please. Halley. Stop talking." Dan's sounding desperate now, he can't do anything. He's just as useless as me.
I caught a glimpse at the both of them, still relatively unharmed since I was last awake and I'd like to keep it that way.
"They've gone." I cough out.
He narrows his eyes, "Gone?"
"They left me here."
He shakes his head. "Okay. I'll bite, where?"
I don't answer. I'm trying to think.
Another back hand across the face.
"Where did they go?" He says slowly. .
My head reels from the hit. "I don't -"
He hits me again, this time I have to spit out the blood from my mouth. Spilling partially down my jumper, small splatterings of it reaching the floor beside me.
"Not what I'm looking for, Lucas!" He says.
"Why would they tell me!?"
Please don't hit me again.
I brace myself just waiting for it, but he pauses, leaning back up and crossing his arms as he looks down at me.
"Why would they leave you would be my thought."    
"I don't know what you want me to say! They just did, that's all I know!"
Just leave, leave us alone.
He leans forward again, glaring right at me. I can feel my nostrils flaring because I'm breathing heavier, angry and scared.
"And I don't buy it. Fallen brought you along and you're telling me they just left you here? He needs you to keep her in check."
My head shakes slowly. "That's not true."
My fucking head is killing me.
"You really think so? Because if he threatens you, then she has to go along with whatever he wants and he doesn't have to worry about her being a problem for him."
"You know jack shit!" But even I know I sound unsure, there was a brief pause and a drop in my expression that I couldn't help. It's because in some small way, I know it's true, at least a little bit.
He knows he can play on Ella's guilt, and she'll do a lot to keep me alive. Which is what I'm trying to do now, I can't break because then he'll know and I can't let these people get their hands on her again.
"He's already threatened you, hasn't he?" I can't look at him, my eyes drop to my jeans, already stained with the bile. "You're just a pawn, Lucas. He doesn't care if you live or die, only that he gets what he wants from Elbina." He squeezes my shoulder hard and I catch my breath in my throat when he does.
"He needs you so he can control her, that's it." He says. This time I turn my head back up and glare at him.
He was an asshole and I wasn't going to play his game any longer no matter how much he baited me.
"Fuck you."
My abdomen flares in agony when he lands the punch, knocking out all the air in my lungs till I'm gasping for breath again. 
I've seen what they want with her, how much they can hurt her.
Does he really think I'm going to give her away because I don't like Fallen?
He pushes his hand into my shoulder again, my back pressed hard against the back of the chair. It takes me a couple of times, but I manage to speak. "She wanted to protect me, so they left!"
It's like he's not even listening to me anymore, cutting me off at the end to shout at me,"Where are they?"
"I'm telling you. I don't know!"
A fist in my ribs.
Fuck!
"Where are they, Lucas!"
He's screaming in my face, spit landing on my cheeks and all I can do is shake my head.
I shake my head through every single back hand and punch thrown at me and every single one lands heavy.
My breathing sounds like it's rattling against my chest, I'm leaning so far back into the chair that it feels like it might topple over backwards. Every inch of my body is sore and I don't know how I do it but I don't say anything.
I think it's because all I'm thinking about is her on the ground in front of me, watching her die in front of my eyes.
I see that man strangling her and I can't let it happen again.
I can barely think when he lands one last heavy blow to my head, through the throbbing pain in my temple I can hear him let out a frustrated breath. My eyes are swollen now, they don't want to open but I manage to get a slither of what's happening.
If I thought it was going to be over, I was wrong.
"What about you Dan?" But he's not walking towards Dan. He's walking towards Halley.
"Please don't touch her." He's defeated, he glances at me and he's already defeated. He's seen what's going to happen and all he can do is plead with him. And that makes my heart twist so bad I feel like vomiting all over again.
He teases us. Brushing a hand through her hair delicately as he stares back at the both of us.
"Dan. I don't care if you live or you die, or if Halley does either. But I'll spare you, like the Saint that I am. If you just tell me the truth."
"Please, leave her alone."
He smiles at us when he leans over Halley's shoulders, resting his arms on them.
"And I will, if you tell me the truth." He chuckles oddly, shaking his head and glancing down at Halley as he speaks. "Why are you making it so bloody difficult?"
I can see, now that my head falls back, that Dan's hands are quivering uncontrollably within his ties. "Please, don't."
My tired eyes flick back to him, that man whose own gaze turns back to mine with a crooked smile. A perfect row of teeth, clean shaven but that smile is so awful, it makes my skin crawl having seen it.
"One last chance."
Halley speaks up this time, keeping a firm eye on Dan.
"We don't know." He rolls his eyes, but I see the glint. The excitement because he gets to do the fun bit, his favourite bit in all of this.
My eyes close, I can't see this.
I still have to hear it though, my stomach churning when I hear the regret in her whimpers but she doesn't say anything and neither does Dan.
And that's when the screaming starts.
And it never seems to end, it pierces my ears so loud I can't do anything but hear that now. Even the once loud pulsing of blood in my ears is all but drowned out by her choked sobs and the sounds of his fists smacking against her skin in the room.
"STOP!" Dan's bellowing, taking on such a deep and guttural tone that I knew if he had the chance he'd gladly have blood on his hands too.
I don't say anything. I close my eyes tighter so there's no way I'll see what he's doing to her.
All of sudden I hear Dan's voice cracking, he's crying beside me. He pulls so sudden that his chair falls to the ground and he thuds hard against the floor just as I open my eyes to see his head dropping to the ground. The vessels in his head prominent at the temple, his expression screwed up into something awful.
I can't look at Halley though, she's sobbing and her breaths come out in choking sounds like she's struggling to breathe.
Her hand falls again.
She's dying in front of me again.
FUCK!
The tears build up and stain my cheeks, the ties rub harsh on my wrists and I'm so fucking useless!
"THEY'LL BE BACK!"
It's sudden and loud.
I open my eyes. His head is dropped on the floor in defeat, through the blurriness of my tears I can see the man has paused in motion.
"What was that?"
Dan pauses like he didn't even realise it burst from his mouth. He's not sure whether to say it again.
He circles back behind Halley again. "I haven't got much patience, Dan. My brother always said the same, so I'll give you another go at this... Now that we know the consequences." He says each word slowly and taunting, pulling out that same knife from his jacket pocket.
Its steel black handle seems to merge into the blade all in one, just swirling into it like a single entity. Half the blade serrated, similar to shark's teeth and looking just as sharp. But it's the tip of the blade that I focus on and I'm sure it's the same for Dan because we're both watching him stick the needle-like end into her neck, pricking and drawing blood.
Even then, Halley's shaking her head. "Dan. No, don't say anything!" It's weak and I barely hear her words.
A silence falls in the room because it's like they seem to be speaking without words, their looks to each other meaning a thousand things that I'll never know... But Dan can't see her being beaten any more and it's clear that he's made his decision.
"He's coming back, with Elbina."
I don't blame him. I wouldn't have been able to keep quiet either if it were Ella.
I wouldn't and I'm not ashamed to say it.
And maybe that makes me weak but it doesn't change what I'd do.
He smiles but the knife is still tilting into Halley's neck. "When?"
"Soon, tonight."
"That's the truth?"
Dan nods slowly in confirmation against the ground.
He lets out such a delighted sigh, turning his head a fraction to look at me, an eyebrow risen when he speaks. "That's how it's done Lucas, you really should be taking notes."
He grins, eyes flicking back to Halley momentarily. "Thank you, Dan."
My gut drops.
"NO!" I shout, but it doesn't change anything.
"HALLEY!" Dan sobs beside me, kicking out his legs like that will save her, like that will stop the blood pouring from her chest.
The knife twisted on its way out and she stares in shock down at it, she can't quite believe it and neither can I.
All at once, the gurgling noises begin.
They're loud and continuous and she can't speak, she can't say a single word but that awful gurgle. He doesn't even care, just cleans her blood from his knife by wiping it against her jumper before walking over to me and Dan, lifting him up till the chair is upright again.
"I'm sorry Dan." He's got that awful fake apologetic expression on his face that makes me sick just looking at it.
"But you of all people know that Nathanial doesn't like loose ends. And you and Halley have served your purpose, after all, we always knew he'd come back here. You've been left alone for far too long in my opinion." He leans down in front of Dan, his knees sunk onto the stone beneath him. Talking to Dan like a child, the lack of remorse is shocking because he just doesn't care.
He pats him on the knee, looking up at him with a smile. "Should have killed you when they killed that daughter of yours."
Dan's not listening, he's choking on his own tears when he sees the life drain from Halley. It didn't take long, the blood came out of her at a furious rate.
Now all I can see are her blank staring eyes, they're looking between the two of us but somehow they look as if they are staring right at me, wide-eyed and terrified. I thought death might bring her some resemblance of calm but it's nothing of the sort, it came so suddenly that she didn't even have a chance to accept it. It just was.
"How could you-"
"Why-"
The words get stuck in my throat, raspy in nature and barely there. I can't look anywhere but at Halley in front of me, feeling hot tears rolling down my cheeks when I take in the blood, her head resting back against the chair and those stupid eyes. Those eyes that I can't stop looking at and that won't stop looking back at me.
She didn't deserve this.
She just wanted to keep us all safe, to protect us.
"You bastard." He turns his head to me with a smile, hand still resting on Dan's knee who's sobbing uncontrollably.
He loved Halley, and he watched her die in the most horrific way.
The more I think about it, the more angry I get.
"Oh, Lucas. No need for name calling." He drops the knife on the ground again, pulling out his gun instead and checking the bullets in it. "It's only business and if I don't do this then someone else will."
"You fucking enjoy it, you sick fu-" He cuts me off.
"Maybe I do. But like I said, it's only a job." I shake when he stands up again, the gun rises as he points it to Dan's head.
"No! Please don't!" I beg with him but he only tilts his head to mine and grins.
Dan turns his head to mine too, matching my eyes and that's when I see it, he's not even trying to stop the man anymore.
He's given in.
I want to say something, anything that will stop him doing what I know he's going to do.
All I can manage is a shake of my head, still begging him with my own eyes.
I can't see him die too, I can't.
Please, don't.
He looks at Halley again and I see him visibly gulp hard. He turns to the man in front of him, his fists clench behind him before he musters up the last of his energy to spit in the man's face.
Some of it reaches and lands satisfyingly on his face, his eyes flinch just briefly, and Dan looks at me, a sad tormented screwed up smile on his face that I know will stay with me forever. Even if forever only lasts the next couple minutes before he points the gun at me.
The gun isn't loud, but the shot into his temple as he stares at me is like a battering ram. My eyes close briefly to hide away from the blood pooling from the hole and dribbling down the side of his head, staining the hair there.
I can't breathe, the tears feel trapped in my throat.
I feel empty.
Or maybe I'm just so overwhelmed that I don't know what to feel.
It's probably shock, isn't it?
He pockets the gun and picks up the knife, I don't flinch even when I think he's going to use it on me. He doesn't, instead he moves aside his jacket to place it back in its holder that's strapped tightly to his navy fleece.
I see him tilt his head towards the front door as if he heard something, his smile grows, taking the two steps to me before he leans down.
"Keep him busy, will you?" He glances at the carnage around us, Halley blank staring at me with all that blood and Dan's brain scattered over the floor.
He shrugs a little when he smiles. "Although I think this will do the trick."
He pats my cheek before jogging past me and I have to twist my head around to see him unlocking the back door, leading out into the patio at the back of the garden.
He doesn't say anything more which leaves me shouting in pain, trying to pull at the zip ties that hold my wrists trapped behind me. Every pull jarring my shoulder till I can barely feel any sensation on that arm. The blood from Dan is dripping onto the floor beside me and it's creeping closer and closer to my chair leg that I start panicking and that's when the tears surface.
Falling down my face so now I can breathe but all that comes out are shuddering sobs. 
My head jolts up when I hear the footsteps quick down the hallway and I'm so afraid that I can barely hold myself together anymore. Selfishly I wanted it to be Ella who came in right then, I needed her to tell me everything would be okay even if it wasn't going to be. I needed to breathe in her scent when she hugged me, I needed something to stop me losing my mind.
Except it wasn't Ella coming through the doorway, it was Fallen.
The minute his eyes landed on the sight in front of him, he froze.
I want to shout at him right then, but I don't because he looks like he's not even there anymore. He's shaking his head like he doesn't believe what he's seeing, and he stumbles over to Halley, her lifeless head flopping into his hands when he touches her.
I don't like Fallen but right now, I felt more than sorry for him. He keeps repeating the word 'no' over and over again, but it gets more nonsensical, drawn out into heavy sobs when he realises that they're both dead. His sleeve is picking up the snot, tears staining his cheeks when he falls apart in front of me and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do.
But then it dawns on me.
He's outside.
So is Ella.
And he wants Fallen distracted.
Which is when I start shouting at him with as much rage as possible so he can hear me through the unravelling of his emotions. Shouting at him to listen to me, to get us out, to stop him getting to Ella.
He isn't listening, he isn't listening.
And I'm shouting and banging but he's not getting it until we both freeze when we hear a scream. It's terrifying and haunting and it's her.
My gut falls and crunches into the tiniest ball so that every part of my abdomen hurts worse than any of the hits combined.
"FALLEN!"