The Edge of the End #1

"Diana? Darling? Diana, please wake up," a voice called her out of her sleep. She opened her eyes to see Elliot holding her body.

Was she hallucinating?

Her vision was still blurry but she could see how wrecked he looked. His hair was all over the place, and his white shirt had many tears and holes, painted in blood. What caught her eyes the most was his eyes.

He looked panicked and scared. Elliot never looked scared.

"Are you alright? Can you stand up?" He kept looking back and whispering to her. Her mind finally started working and she figured out that she wasn't hallucinating, rather than that, Elliot was really here in all of his glory.

She tried speaking but her throat was burning. He saw how she was struggling and pulled something out of his back pocket. She couldn't see it before he put it in her mouth. "Come on, eat this. You will feel better." She didn't know what he fed her, but it was bitter and felt like a plant. She forced herself to chew on it, and surprisingly, it took only seconds for her to feel energy running through her veins again.

"There are more in the car, come on, we need to get out of here." He pulled her up and held her body close to his, one arm on her waist and the other holding her hand over his neck. He was literally carrying her rather than helping her walk, and to her shock, she could move her legs now — at least one of them.

She wanted to question how they would get out of here when there was only one gate — how did he even get in, in the first place? — but when they walked out, she found all the guards lying on the ground passed out. She saw a white car waiting for them outside. The cold bit at her exposed skin and her hair played all around her. Seeing how she was uncomfortable, Elliot fastened his pace toward the car.

He pulled open the door and put her in, making sure to close the seat belt around her. He then ran around the car to get into the driving seat. Only then did she notice how he was limping and holding onto his side. The blood that was splattered around his shirt was probably from there.

He got into the driving seat and worked fast, turning the heater on and spreading a blanket over her before getting on the road. She observed his expression and noted he was hiding his pain away from her for some reason. She looked around to see where they really were and saw they were in a forest, there was only one road to take from the warehouse she was in.

"I'm sorry I came late," He apologized after he drove for a few seconds. "I didn't see it coming- James betrayal I mean." She saw how his hands held onto the steering wheel tightly and how he clenched his teeth as if holding on internal pain. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect your parents." The last sentence was a whisper.

"No, Elliot-"

"No, no. It was my fault. My family helped in all of this, they worked behind my back. I figured they had something in the mix, and went to see to it when you were still passed out. But who knew-" He hit the steering wheel. "Who knew I was looking at the wrong ends. It was already too late when I found out that they already finished their plan and had your parents hostage. Father-in-law was only able to cast a spell on the door, so it won't open for anyone."

She took a staggered breath, "That's why I couldn't open it…,"

"Yes probably." He glanced at her with anguish. "When I reached there, they were already dead. Then I was attacked, that's why I was late." He had a self-deprecated smile, "I couldn't protect you, I'm sorry." She could see how he was holding tears back and felt torn.

This was so different than what she was used to.

He wasn't cold.

He wasn't the murderer she always saw. His eyes held more pain than she could explain.

It made her feel scared at how unaccustomed she was to all of this.

She swallowed uncomfortably. "It's okay, you did your best." She hoped the smile on her face looked real. "We all didn't see it coming." Then she looked at her hands, not able to face him anymore.

When she thought of what James had said about torturing her parents and killing them away, she wondered why she no longer felt sad or angry about that.

He pulled a hand-sized bag from the back and gave it to her. "There are pills there, take one. It will erase some of the pain you are feeling now." She did as he said. It was bitter, but she noticed it wasn't the same thing he had fed her before. It took longer for her to feel the effect.

The ache she felt in her stomach and back had subsided considerably, and her left leg was feeling more normal now. She could breathe easily, as well.

"Thank you," she said. "You came to save me." She raised her head to look at the road, not meeting his eyes.

"Stupid," His voice was crisp. "Why wouldn't I?"

She checked the time. It was quarter past ten, she cursed internally. Diana then looked up and was able to now see lights from far away. A town perhaps.

When she got her emotions under control, she turned to him. "Where are we?"

"We are still in Athe, just no longer in the capital. They had taken you to the end of Jita; a city in nowhere, basically almost two hours away from the borders of the capital." He was looking at the sides mirror repeatedly, checking to see no one was following.

She saw him holding his sides from time to time and held out the pills to him. "Maybe you should take one too." He gave the bag a quick glance and shook his head.

"They can no longer help my injuries." She wondered how deep they were or if she could help him, but she knew there was no time for that. They needed to find shelter soon.

"So we are going to Jita now?"

"No, that would be too obvious. See that town over there?" He nodded at the lights. "We are going to drop the car over there, get a change and then find another way of transportation."

She started feeling nervous again. Her eyes swam back and forth toward the digital clock. She didn't know if they had the time to do all of that but didn't have any other plan in her mind. They couldn't suddenly sprout out wings and fly out of the place. Hiding in the town wasn't the best solution either since it was so close to the warehouse, and the car definitely would leave traces on the ground behind them.

"How long would it take us to reach the capital?" He shook his head.

"No, no- we won't go to the capital. We will try to find a way to go to Jeson and seek refuge in the Artios family." He looked pretty mixed about the idea."Though, I'm not too sure if I can trust them now,"

He was right, when everyone suddenly betrays you, you could no longer trust anyone.

That was how she felt. Even toward Elliot.