ELBINA 2

Chapter 10

(Elbina POV)
"Wait." He pushes me back when I try to move forward.
There was a car in the driveway, a car we didn't know.
It seemed normal enough, a silver car with nothing particularly strange about it, except its location. More strange than that is the silence, there wasn't any noise coming from the house.
Fallen cursed under his breath beside me, stopping me from going any further whilst he just looked on. "No."
"What do we do?" I whispered to him, trying to keep myself a little hidden behind the stone wall. My heart racing a mile a minute, a sick feeling rising in my throat the more I thought about why that car was in the driveway.
"You go round the back and hide," My head shakes quickly.
"What about you?"
"Just go." He pushed me back and my hand gripped at the stone wall beside me to keep me from tripping over myself. He pulled out the gun from the back of his jeans, turning it over in his hand. It clicked when he checked the cartridge and looked back at me again.
"Move it!" He hissed at me.
Despite every bone in my body not wanting to leave him, the look on his face tells me this is the only option I have. Immediately I turned and ran, clambering over the stone wall and heading for the bushes that lined the garden. The thistles of the bush caught in my hair and scratched at my skin when I crawled into an overhanging section. When I felt like I was hidden enough, I turned myself around and got onto my knees so I could still get a view on the door.
I kept a steady eye on Fallen who walked closer and closer to the door. I ducked my head a little more to see him better, biting my cheek against the sharp scratches from the bush across my exposed skin.
The air got so tense and quiet, that's the strangest thing. That's the scary thing and it only makes my heart beat harder in my chest and bound painfully against my ribcage.
His hand touched the doorknob.
Back pressed against the wall beside it as he twisted it agonisingly slowly.
It creaked open, a sliver of black coming from the door lining.
He paused, raising his gun a little more before he looked back at me briefly, willing me to stay in my position.
Fallen pushed the door open and I heard it creak further from here. He flinches a little, expecting something to happen.
But nothing does.
I watched him pause again, listening carefully to any further sounds escaping before he jumps like he heard something and before I can even question it he's gone in. His entire body encased in the blackness of the house as he slipped through the door and out of view.
I desperately wanted to follow him but if that look told me anything, it was that I wasn't meant to move a muscle. My fingers curled into the solid below me, scrunching it into my palms and digging the grainy texture under my nails. 
"Come on." I muttered to myself, what could have happened?
Why was it so bloody quiet!
A soft thud sounded from the house and I jumped with it, cutting off my intake of breath.
The sounds of banging started to increase through the opening of the door and I took that as my turn to go. I move quickly my feet twisting in the mud as I claw my way out through the bush and onto the lawn.
I didn't want to think about the fact that Lucas was in there. What might be inside, or if something had happened.
I didn't want to know, but I had to.
I pause when I hit the door because I hear the shouting.
It's  Lucas.
I want to cry in relief because he's shouting at Fallen with so much rage that there's no way he's hurt.
But I can't hear what he's saying, it's so muffled that all the words blur together for the briefest of moments until I hear a word crystal clear from down the hallway.
"OUTSIDE!" My hand stills even further on the door and I still don't move, even though he's still shouting Fallen's name. Fallen never responds.
Why isn't he responding?
Then I open the door further, it thuds against the wall behind it so there's nothing stopping the sounds escaping and every word he says after is hitting me right in the chest, so hard it instantly causes my lungs to constrict in anxiety.
"FALLEN! HE'S STILL HERE!" There's more banging and frustrated shouts before he's shouting again. "HE'S OUTSIDE!"
My body goes rigid; the hairs stand up on end, so they bristle uncomfortably on my skin once a shuffle of gravel can be heard behind me. I can't really listen closely after that because the blood rushes through my ears so loud, pulsing and only increasing in speed when I turn around.
But he's already there and the gun is already flying into my face that there's nothing I can do to stop it.
I'm blinded, the collision brings me to my knees, and I'm paralysed. My arms and legs don't seem to work but I know he's lifting me up and it's happening so fast.
I open my eyes to my feet dragging through the gravel, I have to physically think to breathe because it gets trapped in my throat. Everything's blurry, I can't keep my head still and I'm struggling to keep my eyes steady anymore, it's all jittering back and forth.
"Fallen." I try but it's so quiet and pathetic that I curse in my head, he keeps dragging me along the grass.
There's the sound of a boot opening, and I blink again and again, and I shake my head.
"Fallen!" It's a little louder this time but I'm starting to panic because he's lifting me up more to throw me in and he still won't hear me.
I kick out a leg and plant it against the car's rear bumper, pushing me back with whatever force whilst I try to come back from the hit. I struggle against him but he's stronger and I'm still reeling from the blinding pain in my head.
But it buys me a couple of seconds for me to scream as loud as I can.
"FALLEN!"
It's loud and I almost cry in relief because he needs to hear me.
Please hear me.
Oh shit, my leg fails when he twists me away.
I keep screaming for Fallen, fighting as much as I can and hitting him as hard as I can, even if it's not much with the state I'm in.
Suddenly, he grabs my hair, shoving me down hard into the open boot. I go to kick out to prevent him shutting it but he's too quick and before I know it, I'm encased in blackness.
I can feel the blood on the side of my head, sticking my hair together and coating my skin. I can barely move a muscle. It's so tight in here but it doesn't stop me from kicking out as much as I can even if it's not doing anything.
The car turns over, rumbling to life under me that I start kicking more. Above the engine I hear shouting and the distant sounds of running.
"FALLEN!" I scream, pummelling my fist into the closed boot above me.
"I'M IN THE BOOT FALLEN!" But the car's already moving, and I roll backwards, hitting the back of the boot from the force of the acceleration. My head smacking against the metal again.
There isn't an ounce of light coming from anywhere, its pitch black. He's swinging the car through the country lanes so fast I'm being jostled around so much it's hard to get a grip on anything.
I can't let him get me anywhere, I can't.
I manage to plant my legs in the corners of the boot to keep me still as possible, trying to come up with a plan.
Looking around at every section of the boot which is when I see a tiny fluorescent light at the back of the boot.
It takes me a few seconds to realise what it is, it's the emergency release. I quickly fumble around it trying to find the right latch. Scrambling to keep myself steady enough to find the right angle amongst the jolting of the car beneath but once I've found it I pull as hard as I can.
The boot clicks open and I lean over, trying not to think about how fast he's driving. He probably thinks I'm not brave enough to jump.
I don't have to be brave though... being dumb works just fine.
I hit the road hard, rolling fast and knocking all the air out of my lungs. I swear it feels like my shoulder popped out the joint but by the time I've stopped flipping over myself, grazing the skin on my hands and through my jeans, it pops back in.
The tires screech against the road and when I look back, it's red brake lights are bright against the dark night. I don't wait a second before I drag myself up and start running, or more limping.
It's certainly not graceful or fast but it was something.
I don't know the area, so I have no clue where this road is in relation to the village, but I know that if I stay on it, there's nowhere I can get away from him. 
A door slams behind, only pushing me on further. I can't look back, I just keep running, sliding across the muddy fields that have so many undulations, it feels like I'm ice skating trying to get away.
I slip and land on my knees, the ice-cold mud delving through the material and soaking my knees. My fingers squelching into it, taking me a couple of seconds to grapple my way back up again. The vertigo hitting me when I stand up nearly makes me fall again, I have to swallow down the vomit and keep climbing up the slight incline as fast as I can. 
His pounding footsteps get louder and louder, squelching through the mud too. I keep jumping forward but it feels like I'm getting nowhere.
Why does this feel like an awful nightmare that I can't escape from?
It's so dark as well that it's like it's suffocating me.
"Elbina!" He shouts, I run faster.
Suddenly, I'm pulled back by the hood of my jacket and with the slippery mud underfoot, my back hits the floor. A breathy grunt of air escaping me once the back of my head hits the grass too and I see his shadow looking down at me.
Both of us are panting away and before I can move he reaches down, grabbing me by the arms tightly.
"Get up!" He says, I manage to get my legs under me so I can lift myself up. I keep tripping over my feet when he starts dragging me back down the hill towards the road. I didn't even get very far because I can still see the car parked at the side of the road, the headlights still on and the boot still wide open.
I try elbowing him in the ribs but he shoves me forward, blocking my hits.
He sighs in exasperation. "Don't make this any harder than it needs to be."
I try headbutting him this time, throwing my head back and I wince when it smacks into his nose earning a groan from him.
I thought it might loosen his grip but it does nothing of the sort, he digs his nails in and if it weren't for my clothes then I'm sure it would draw blood. He spins me around so I can face him, I can barely see his features in the darkness but I know he's pissed.
He pushes me down to the floor, my shoulder flares in pain when I land on it again. He looms over me so I know that if I try anything, he's got me no matter what.
He jabs a finger in my direction in fury. "I've left them out of this. Is that not enough!?" His hand points off to his left when he speaks again, anger evident in his words. "Do you think anybody else would do that!?"
I fire right back at him, pulling myself up again despite how much my legs wobble. "I'm not going with you."
"You'd do yourself a big favour by following my order." He hisses, taking a step forward so I take a step back.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" I scoff.
"Fighting me is stupid enough, if you were smart you'd do as I say." My head shakes violently side to side. "I take you to Nathaniel and all of this ends. No one else has to be hurt." I pause, goddamn pause when he says that. He sees it, a slight curve to the corner of his lips as he edges just a little closer again.
"I can't promise they'll be safe if you don't cooperate." He takes one more step towards me and I take one back, having to twist my head a little to get a vantage on my footing.
The tone lowers, talking to me in such a calm manner that you wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with him. He sounds like he's making sense even if I think he might be manipulating me. "After all. That's all you want, right? You don't want any more bloodshed, do you?"
A car's tires screech along the road, I turn my head and I just know it's Fallen.
It builds my confidence, I take a step back and I shout.
"You don't know me."
"But I do, I don't want to hurt anyone either. I just need to do my job, and that is bringing you to Nathaniel, alive." I can't get the image out of my head of Lucas and Fallen being ambushed, of being shot in the head. My active imagination has me second guessing myself, I just want to keep them safe.
"How do you expect me to trust you!?" But my words aren't thinking how crazy he is or how much I know he's playing me. They sound hopeful and I know I'm being ridiculous but if there's a chance I can stop this, then would I be more stupid to turn it down?
"I don't expect you to. But consider your options? Do you really think I'm just going to leave you?" It hits me right in the chest when he says that, I freeze in my body. Every vessel clamps up and I'm staring at him, he's nothing like the last one. He's calculating, he's not wild and manic he's looking at me and he's thinking of every single word that comes from his mouth.
I shouldn't trust him, certainly not that he'll leave the others alone.
"Get in the car." He says calmly.
"ELBINA!" Fallen's shouting at me from the bottom of the hill, jumping over the wall and he's racing up. Sliding everywhere like I was but I turn my head back to the man when he speaks again.
"He only wants to talk with you. Once he has his answers, he'll let you go."
He takes quick steps towards me and grabs at my arms. I went to get away but he's much quicker. His hands grasping around my upper arms, holding me steady.
It's confusing and disorientating because he's rubbing his thumbs up and down my arms, the waterproof coating to my jacket crinkling under the friction.
But that's when my eyes break from his, Fallen's behind and he's shouting at me. "He's lying! They're not going to do anything but torture you."
I don't even turn away from the man, calling behind me to him.
"What if he isn't?"
"He is!" I turn my head fully to him to speak.
"He didn't try and kill me like the last one." He cuts me off.
"SO!?" He shouts at me.
"I want this to stop and I don't want anyone else to get hurt. I don't want anyone else to die." His hands squeeze a little against my arms, agreeing with me.
"Don't be a martyr... Don't be stupid." They come out so harsh and only leaves me bristling in defiance.
"We haven't got a choice Fallen! You might not agree but if you let me go with him now then maybe things will be okay?" No one had been hurt when he'd taken me, if I put up a fight now then that'll change.
"Elbina! Just listen to me." He sounds desperate and there's a break in his voice that leaves him so vulnerable. A kind of vulnerability I'd never heard from him.
"He's scared. He'll say anything so you don't go with me. But he doesn't know what he's talking about."
"You shut your fucking mouth!" Fallen takes a threatening step forward but even I see he's a little hesitant about taking another, he's not sure how to get me away from him.
He ignores Fallen.
"Nathaniel doesn't need to hurt you. He just needs to have some answers, that's all. The only reason he's had to use force before is because Fallen here hasn't made it easy." His thumb grazes minutely against my arm when he says it calmly.
"The last guy tried to strangle me."
"And that's deeply regrettable but that's not what we're about. He was a lone wolf if you will, it doesn't need to be like that." His hands rise up and grip me at the shoulders before rising back down to my arms again. Honing me into the same position, keeping me still as possible.
"Get your hands off of her!" Fallen shouts again.
"He tried to kill Lucas." I say meekly.
"Trigger happy maybe. But only because of Fallen's reputation... You and I both know he won't think twice about killing someone he believes should be dead." The shot rings out in my head again and I visualise it like a flash across my eyes. "Remember Elbina... That can be anyone he chooses." And he hits it right on the head again. He knows exactly what to say.
"SHUT UP!" I think Fallen's shouting louder not for any other reason but the mere fact that he can see I'm agreeing, that I'm willing to go with him.
"You can't trust someone like that. No wonder that man was trigger happy when it comes to being in close quarters to him."
"STOP FUCKING TOUCHING HER!" A metallic sound comes from behind me, he's brought a gun with him. The man in front of me holding nothing, or just nothing that I can see right now.
"Elbina... We both need this to end, don't let him ruin that." I hate that I agree with him, I hate every fibre of my body for wanting everything he's offering. I'm so desperate for this to be over and for everyone to be safe.
Why can't I have that?
"Get away from him now!" Fallen's livid, his voice is breaking into a thousand different sounds.
But I don't want to listen anymore, the man's telling me what I want to hear. He's telling me everything's going to be okay and I can do something useful. After all, I have part of what they want, right?
"For fuck sakes Elbina... They're dead!" His voice breaks all over again when he speaks the last two words.
The man wraps a hand around the back of my head, twisting my head so it's focused on him and him only. "Don't listen to him."
"GET OFF HER!"
My breath falters, fear developing like a storm in my chest.
"He doesn't want to let you go. He'll say anything."
"You fucker! You killed them!" This time I hear the strangled sob that splits through his words, my heart clenches at the sound.
"Killed who?" The silence that follows only burns my throat more when I hold down the emotion at hearing how fractured he sounds. "Who, Fallen!"
"Dan and Halley!" I hear the shuddering breath he lets out, his voice shaking when he speaks again.  "He killed them both."
The hand tightens around my head, curling his fingers into my hair.
"You said no one would be hurt."
His lips curve up, "I said no one else would be hurt."
I grab his wrist to rip it off my neck but his other arm wraps around the back of me, pulling and twisting me so my back is up against his front.
"You want to do this the difficult way, huh?" He mumbles into my ear when I try fighting him off me. One arm wrapped tight around my waist trapping my arms whilst his other hand is gripping at my hair so tight, I can feel it pulling my skin from the scalp.
"Fine with me." He speaks right against my ear, a deep vicious tone forcing me to gulp.
"Oh come on Fallen! You've got good aim... But not that good." He pulls me around, hiding a little further behind me away from Fallen who is pointing a gun right in our direction. The barrel pointing directly at my head, but I can't move because he's pulling my head around by my hair. He can't take the shot, it's dark and we're too close together that he risks shooting me.
My words come out, broken partly by a grunt when he tugs my hair a little too hard. "Don't hurt him."
It doesn't matter how much I'm struggling because he's still able to drag me backwards, making Fallen turn on a point and follow our movements towards the road again.
"If you'd have listened to me earlier. I wouldn't have to do this, remember this is on you." I'm confused for a brief moment until he throws me down the hill, and it's only a second that I can't see, but by the time I look up, he's already got a gun pulled from his jacket, and he's aiming it at Fallen.
But Fallen's looking at me to check I'm okay, he's stupid.
"MOVE!" I scream as loud as I can but it's too late when the quiet shot rings out and Fallen's head ricochets' backwards and he thuds to the ground so quick I can only gape in horror.
The man doesn't hang around and I don't get a chance to even look at Fallen before he pulls me up, throwing me forward and gripping my hair so I can't look back with the metal cold against the back of my neck.