I walk through an open door and into a large room. It looks like it might have held cubicles or desks at one point but now it stands empty besides two people, a man in black and Ellison who is kneeling by his side. Ellison is bound but seems unharmed, although I do notice that he appears unsteady and is wavering a bit.
“What did you do to him?”
“I simply gave him something to knock him out. He’s just groggy. Hopefully, by the time it wears off, he’s back home… if you play your cards right, that is.”
“Asmodeus, get out of here,” Ellison demands.
“Who are you?” I ask the man in black.
He stands behind Ellison, a gun pressed against his head as his other hand slides his hood off.
I need nothing more to know who stands before me.
I’ve never met the man in my life, but a simple glance is enough to tell me exactly who he is. And I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut.
Desperate for breath, I tear my eyes away from his vibrant blue ones, knowing I need to regain control of the situation, but how?
“You have a knife in your pocket; all it’d take is a flick of your wrist and he’d be dead. I’m sure he’d shoot Ellison in that time, but what is one sacrifice if it means ending a monster hunting you?”
“Let Ellison go, you can do whatever you’d like to me,” I say as I hold my arms up higher.
I feel like I’m back in that room. I’m back staring at those blue eyes, that soft smile. She had so much good in her. So much hope in her. I’d never met anyone like her.
“You remind me of my older brother, you know that?” she asks, voice soft. I think she’s resigned to her fate at this point, but still, it hasn’t broken that smile. “You’re both so prickly. He’s so serious all the time. He just needs to relax but he’s determined to be a hero—wants to make the academy and will do anything to accomplish it. I know he will… I’m just glad this group didn’t take him.”
“Stop,” I whisper.
“Mo… I’m afraid… I’m really afraid and you make it better.”
I shake my head. “I can’t make anything better. You have this fucked-up idea of who I am. I’m a monster. All I know how to do is kill.”
“You’re not a monster to me. You’re not like the rest.”
I jerk back from her. “Don’t say that.”
“You’renotlike the rest. There is goodness in you that I can’t find in them. I’m scared. I’m really scared.”
“You want me to tell you that I’ll get you out.”
There’s that smile again. “Even if it’s a lie. Please.”
I stare at her desperate eyes before glancing away. “I’ll get you out.”
She looks so hopeful. How can she look hopeful even after all of this? “Yeah? And then I want to introduce you to my brother. I think you could become a hero, just like him.”
“You think?” I ask, almost wanting to laugh. There’s nothing but hell for either of us. And there’s no fucking way out.
“I don’t think. I know. You can do great things, Mo.”
I stepped out of that room having no idea that it was the last time I was going to do so. Having no idea that the next time I would see her would be her lifeless body lying on that table. I didn’t cry when I saw her. No… it was almost like there was nothing in me. I walked up to her, I touched her hand… and then I slaughtered everyone in that godforsaken place.
But now… now I cry for her. I hurt for her, I ache for her… for the only light in that darkness. The regret eats at me every night when I close my eyes. It makes sleep a dangerous place that I’ve begun to fear.
“I want you to hurt,” her brother says. “I want you to hurt so fucking bad.”
“Henrik, right? That’s your name… I know it is. I remember it, just like I remember everything she said. Please. Let him go and do whatever you need to me. You can cut my limbs off, tear me apart, cut me into pieces, I don’t fucking care. Just let Ellison go.”
He’s shaking, all his emotions flashing across his face before he manages to choke them down. “I want you to hurt like I do,” he settles on as he switches the safety off the gun pointed at Ellison.
