ELBINA 2

Chapter 30

"NERO!"
I scream it again, just in time for me to duck my body sidewards. Watching Reed as he falls to the ground, stumbling onto his knees.
His growls of frustration don't stop me kicking my foot into the back of his shoulders, pushing him down. The knife still firm in my hand and pinching at the skin.
Even though the blood seeps into my palm, I tighten the grip around the handle. Holding onto it because it's the only thing left that I have to protect us.
Suddenly, his hand reaches out and grabs my ankle whilst throwing his shoulders back, I fall hard to the ground.
His grip still firm on my ankle until I kick the heel of my other foot into his nose. I try to ignore the sting of his teeth cutting into the base of my foot. It works though, enough so I can push myself back before scrambling back up.
My eyes catch Fallen struggling, elbowing Nathanial in the abdomen so he loosens his grip. They've got their own war going on but that isn't stopping Reed standing up and kicking me in the stomach with his own boot. It throws me backwards, till my shoulders hit the wall behind me and I nearly fall to the ground.
Every muscle in my body is screaming at me to stop, begging me to give up.
I can't do that, not when he marches over to me and I swing the knife across the palm of his hand as it reaches out. I thought it might make him back off, think twice but immediately his other hand reaches around and grabs my wrist. Twisting and pushing it backwards, I knee him in the abdomen.
It doesn't change anything.
A grunt escapes my lips when I bring my knee up hard into his groin, it never reaches. Everything I try to do is too slow and he blocks it each time.
My wrist gets slammed into the wall behind me, forcing my palm to open and the knife to drop to the floor. Reed's smile widens before digging his forearm into my neck, pressing down viciously as his eyes shout at me to die already.
I know my eyes are bulging, haemorrhaging as I wrestle against him. Finally, I get my hands around his thumb, snapping it back till I hear a crunch. I use it as leverage to pull off his arm, taking the advantage to slam a punch into his side, up into his spleen for maximum pain. He cringes, stumbling on his feet and it's the most vicious I've ever felt as I quickly snatch up the knife and pierce it into his thigh. The hilt of the handle never quite reaching as I hit bone, he screams in rage. Except this time, I keep hold of the knife when he pulls back, twisting it as he stepped away from me.
The blood drips again from the tip and I look at Reed in front of me, heaving up and down, stained from head to toe in red. Limping on the one leg from the stab wound, his eyes shift to his left eyeing something and before I have a chance to stop him he veers off. His hand grasping onto the edge of the bat sat on the table before swinging it at me. I duck and jump forward, narrowly missing it but as I step away from the wall, I can see Fallen has Nathanial in a chokehold. I don't know how he managed it but he's beating him, it's taking it out of him, but he has the upper hand.
CRACK
My knees hit the floor.
The knife drops heavily to the ground.
My hands and feet are numb and I can't breathe.
No.
I really can't breathe.
There's too much pain coming from my ribcage.
How do I breathe?
Then my hands flatten against the ground, desperately trying to take in air through the agonizing assault.
I lift my eyes up, gasping on nothing as if my lungs collapsed in on themselves. I can't think of anything but the pain in my ribs and the sight of Nathanial ripping a knife from out of Fallen's thigh.
He releases Nathanial, nearly falling to the ground.
Why is this fair?
Why is this OUR reality?
And where the hell is Nero!? I can't have been wrong.
"You're done!" The bat rattles against my shoulder, forcing my chest to hit the floor. "Do you hear me!?" I let out a guttural scream when he jabs the end of it slowly into my ribs, increasing the pressure till I'm writhing in pain beneath him.
"Just finish her Reed. We're done with them now. " He grunts out, I can't see them because my eyes aren't functioning through the blinding pain anymore. All I can do is bring my hand round, grazing against the floor till I grab hold of it.
The handle tight in my grasp.
I have to do it.
Nero's not coming.
If I don't do this, then we die.
We die for nothing and Nathanial gets away.
As soon as he releases the bat from my ribs, I force in air, groaning through it.
He leans over me.
A sting of his hand gripping the skin at my shoulder when he pulls, pulling me so my back is on the floor.
And with the last amount of energy I have, sweat coating my skin and feeling as close to death as I've ever felt, I grab his hair.
I grab his hair and pull him close, dragging the knife deep into his throat. Tugging at the skin, slicing it roughly and hitting every vital structure I can.
The blood gushes from the wound instantly, spilling out onto me. It's so warm against my cold skin.
I'm left staring in terror as I watch the life drain from him onto me, like I'm taking every inch of his warmth and soaking it up, stealing it from him.
It's not far from it, of course, it's not.
Because he was person number two.
Reed's body slumps onto mine, so I have to push off his heavy body till it rolls off, his transfixed dead eyes staring up at the grey ceiling for eternity.
"So, Lucas has it?" My head flicks back, to see them both.
To see the knife so poised and ready at Fallen's own throat now, my hands are still shaking.
I wouldn't be able to get to him in time.
I don't say anything, I stare wide-eyed, I can't say anything.
"Where was he taking it?"
I clamber on my knees, red drips off my chest onto the ground below and my hands smear the metallic coating everywhere I touch.
"You're going to prison." My knees shake, it takes me far longer to crawl onto my feet then I'd hoped.
And my words come out broken and stuttered because all I can feel is my rib flaring out of synch with all the others.
"Like hell I am."
"They'll see what you did. What you all did, and you'll be held accountable. For the people who suffered and for the people who died. You'll be held accountable!" I say it through the empty void in my throat, so many emotions hit all too quickly and now it's like i'm not even real. THIS isn't real.
But he rolls his eyes at me, a dry humourless chuckle escaping him, it has the hairs on the back of my neck raising uncomfortably. "I don't make the rules Elbina, people wanted this to happen. I just helped it on it's way."  My head shakes and my heart flutters in my chest in fear.
A fucking practice run.
"It didn't have to, why do it? Why kill those people!?" I stumble forward another step.
How do I do this?
How can I help Fallen?
"Why do you think Elbina?... Money. It's always about money, you must know that." My stomach sinks hearing him say it.
"I'm sure your starting to realise that I am certainly not an anomaly, whether you want to be believe it or not... there's bad in everyone, we just embrace it and we get paid because of it."
"There's no we! I'm nothing like you!"
"So you say." His head drops down to Reed on the floor. "But you're racking up quite a body count yourself Elbina."
I let out a shaky breath.
"Ignore him-" Fallen gets cut off; his throat cinched shut by Nathanial's arm.
Then our heads flick to the side, the door shutting closed behind him. Holding a large gun tight in his hands and pointing it right at Nathanial.
I breathe with relief, watching him as he steps towards me.
All the while, keeping a close eye on Nathanial and Fallen.
When I turn back to them, Fallen's fidgeting but it does nothing. My heart clenches painfully when I see the panicked look on his face when it meets mine.
Nero grabs my arm, I shake, stumbling back behind him so all I can see are his harsh shoulder blades tensing under his top.
He holds the gun steady in his hands, so steady that I know he understands exactly what he's doing with it. There's no hesitation like there is for me, mine shake, his hands strain under the tight grip he holds on it.
"Nate. Just let him go."
He laughs, groaning and then laughing in frustration. Shaking his head towards us and even if he's looking at Nero in front of me, it feels like he's talking right at me. Right into my head that my knees shake and I have to widen my stance to keep me steady. "Should have fucking known you'd be working for Gerald."
"And yet you didn't. Maybe you aren't as clever as you think you are." My eyes flick over to Fallen's, his eyes are wide and staring at the knife tip right at the edge of the side of his neck. Nathanial twists his grip on the handle, shaking a little so Fallen winces against the pain of it sticking in. It draws blood and my heart cinches tightly.
The droplet inches it's way down his neck, like a warning. But then my eyes find Nathanial's, I thought he'd be flustered.
He's not, he's calm and collected and it's unnerving.
"What do you think is going to happen here Nero?" He says, his voice dark and if I look carefully there's a crook to the edge of his lips.
"She's coming down soon. So tell me Nero, how are you going to get them out of here alive? Huh?" He smiles even more, Fallen tries getting out of his grip but he can't.
"Let Fallen go!" My voice catches,
"I'm not letting him go, you're going to tell me where Lucas is and then I'm going to kill you. Like it was always supposed to happen." I shake my head, he knows I'm not going to do that.
"It's a stalemate, all I have to do is wait... and then she'll be here. And then you'll be done."
Nero takes another step forward, inching his foot in place but he has to retract it the minute that Nathanial grips the knife harder and threatens to kill Fallen.
I'm not sure what to feel.
It's like this isn't real so I shouldn't be afraid, I'll wake up in a second.
All I can manage is to swallow against my dry sore throat and watch it play out.
"It won't be long." He grinds out, visibly angry as he nods down to Fallen before his hateful eyes catch mine as well.
My eyes catch Fallen's, it's only brief that he looks back at me too.
It's like something happens in his brain, something clicks.
And then he nods quietly to me.
What?
What does that mean?!
But then he turns to Nero, edging in the chokehold enough so he can gasp out three words.
Three words that scare the hell out of me.
"Get her out."
"NO!" My scream echoes in the room.
I already knew.
I knew what went through his head before it even happens.
The blood spurts out suddenly, spraying onto the ground before it settles into a pulsing onto his skin.
Fallen drops, clasping a hand around his neck as he sinks to the floor.
Nathaniel takes a step back shocked, the knife taken out of his grip was now lodged into the side of Fallens neck.
I can't move.
Nathaniel shakes out of his shock, I can see him reaching for the gun from his holder. He only gets it halfway up before another gun goes off and he gets jolted back. It all happens so quickly, my hands covering my mouth and muffling the scream escaping.
My eyes quickly move away from his body, once I see the Fallen writhing in pain on the ground.
"FALLEN!" My throat is clogged, I'm choking over them. I can barely function words at this point.
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.
This can't happen.
I crawl along the floor, reaching him and I grab onto his shaking form.
I bring his head into my lap, pushing the damp hair backwards. Pushing my hand down around the knife entry to try and stem the flow but nothing is working.
Nothing's working.
He's getting paler and the hole in my chest is getting wider.
My organs are getting sucked into a black hole in my gut, swirling and twisting as they go and taking everything out of me until I feel the life draining out of me just the same.
I can't lose him.
More of the redness coats my hands, spilling between my fingers as I look down at him.
"Elbina." He can barely speak, choking over my name and his eyes look up frightened. Bile comes up in my throat and I squeeze my eyes tighter against the pain in my throat.
"It's okay. You're okay." I sob.
This isn't fair. This isn't okay.
I glance up at Nero but he hasn't got an answer. The rest of them aren't here yet and there's nothing we can do to help him.
There's nothing.
"Nero. Please-" I cry, my voice shaking and wobbling all over the place. But he just shakes his head, turning away and that leaves me staring back down to Fallen with swollen and blurred eyes.
His eyes are going, rolling back and forth as the lack of blood fails to keep him fully conscious.
I don't want this to be it.
I don't want this to be his last moments.
I can't let him be more frightened by watching me, he deserves more.
He deserved more than this, than all of this.
I push back a few more strands of his hair, his eyes turn to mine briefly.
"You're okay." I stroke one hand over his cheek, running my bloodied thumb over his skin. "It's not that bad."
Liar.
His eyes water. Matching my tear-soaked eyes, dripping down my cheeks in torrents now.
Because this is it...
I'm shaking my head like that will make a difference... but this is it.
For Fallen, this is it.
"You saved us." He nods slowly.
"You saved us Fallen and don't forget that." I wipe my tears with my forearm, sniffling away the snot.
"And erm,  mum and dad." I pause, his eyes falter slightly and I wait for him to centre them again... He's so weak but he's fighting to stay awake. "They would have been so fucking proud of you."
"So proud," I repeat it because his eyes closed briefly, a faint pull at the edges of his lips when he hears that.
God, it hurts my heart so much.
"You're a good person Fallen, amazing actually." I rush through my words because I'm not sure how much longer I have and no time in the world seems like enough for this.
I'm trying so fucking hard to make this okay for him, but I know nothing I say is good enough. Nothing I can do will make this okay.
"I-" he tries but it can't leave his lips anymore, he's barely breathing anymore.
He can't do anything anymore but listen.
"I know." I nod, continuously because I know what he's saying.
"You're going to be okay. It's going to be okay..." And I repeat it again and again.... even if I don't believe it.
"You're good. So good."
He's in so much pain, he's suffering.
He's in pain. He's in pain.
He needs release. He needs serenity.
Even if it's not what I want. I want him here, with me.
We had plans. He was supposed to stay with me, he was supposed to enjoy life in that stupid arts store he wanted with that stupid whittling.
He was supposed to be alive.
"I love you." His fist clamps onto my wrist in panic, it's nearly over. I cry harder even when his nail slices into my skin with a sharp sting.
"I love you." His wide frightened eyes meet mine and I try with everything in me to smile back.
"I love you."

My wrist goes cold, the grip gone.

And then he stops rasping.

Then he stops moving.

Then I stop moving.
And when I look at his face, it's calm.
And I breathe.
I breathe so deep it hurts and I slam my head back into the wall behind me.
I slam it against the wall again and again.
My eyes connect with Nero's across the room, looking back at me with sympathy.
And that's when I break.
Looking back down at Fallen whose relaxed and calm and quiet. Pain-free for the first time in his life, but it's so unbelievably quiet.
So quiet it's wrong.
It's wrong.
But it's happened.
It's done.