Shed some Light

by Amber Naralim

  Ellie took in a deep breath, fighting the tears that blurred her vision. Her eyes roved the weapons she’d assembled in her backpack. She looked up at Reese. Ellie licked her lips. “You forgave him, right?” she asked.

  Reese looked at her, a frown playing across his handsome face. He looked at Vincent. The night they fought danced in images before his eyes. He could still recall the pain of fire eating away at his flesh. Reese swallowed past the agony those memories called up in him. “Yes,” Reese said. Reaching up, he ran his four fingers, then his thumb over his right eye. He looked up, his eyes playing over Vincent's face. “Yeah, Ellie.” Reese looked down at her. “I needed to be put down. I lost it. Vince was right to stop me.” He took in a breath glowering at the flares. Reese pushed past the fear of them, closing the distance between him and Ellie. He sat down on the couch next to her. Reese reached across her lap, taking her right hand in his.

  He looked into her pretty face. Blood smeared on her cheek, more dried thick in her hair. Reese shook his head. “Ya know this is right, Sunshine. If we don't stop him, it won't just be Anna he kills. He can find ya, anywhere on this earth. He can find them,” Reese told her.

  Vincent took in a deep breath. He sat down on the other side of her. As awful as she felt, Ellie loved this. Between them, having them at her side gave her the strength she needed. “I love you. Both of you. I'm so sorry that I didn't listen,” Ellie whispered fighting a losing war against the tears. Reese wrapped himself around her side resting his chin on the top of her head. Vincent came in on her other, laying his head on her shoulder.

  “It's going to be alright, El,” Vincent told her.

  Ellie shook her head, sniffed. “No, it's not,” she said. Her voice was quiet, full of heartbreak. “I am going to hunt my brother down because he is a monster. I am going to empty my clip into the back of his head, and then I'm going to set him on fire.” Vincent swallowed, remembering what he told her. “It's what I have to do,” Ellie breathed.

  Chapter 52

  “He’s strong,” Ellie said. The silence of the interior was deafening. She couldn't take it anymore. They had been driving for hours with only the sound of the Dodge ringing in her ears. She couldn't even concentrate on the sound of Vincent's heartbeat. It hurt too much to lay against him. She had definitely broken a rib. Now Ellie was thinking it was more like two. “He took on both of you. I mean,” she said giving a slight move of her head. “From what I saw.”

  Vincent's eyebrows knit together. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip “Yeah, he's strong,” Vincent admitted. He looked down at her, heaving a heavy sigh. Taking her right hand in his, he laced his fingers between hers. He caught Reese's eye over the top of her head. “Go east,” Vincent told him.

  “Will he know we're coming?” Ellie asked.

  “Probably. El, we're going to have to walk for part of this. I need you to stay by me.”

  “I told you before, Vincent. I will follow your lead,” Ellie assured him. He took in another deep breath, nodding. Vincent would have liked to have given her a few days to heal. He was worried Edward would go after Charlie. Edward already had several hundred miles head start on them. They wrapped Anna's body in blankets and left her on the bed with the intention of stopping back there when all was said and done to bury her.

  The bed of the truck was packed with more than enough essentials to start their wayward life on the road. It was something Vincent looked forward to. As much as Ellie said she was okay with this, there would be major healing she would need to do. He laid another kiss on her forehead, running his hand through her hair. It was almost a nervous tick.

  Nearly losing her scared him, badly. Vincent hated taking her with them for this. Ellie was right. Edward was strong. This would be one hell of a dogfight. They had the explosives, the gasoline. They stopped at a station and filled up four gas cans. The problem was all of that would hurt them too. Vincent was sure it would take both him and Reese to take him down.

  When Charlie told him her tests showed Edward off the scales, as she put it, he’d shrugged it off. Fighting him had proven her right. Edward was a demon. Vincent might be faster, but even then. He swallowed, frowning down at her.

  El,” Vincent said. “Tell me you won't hesitate.”

  Her eyes fell to the floor. “I know what I'm doing, Vincent. Like you said. That isn't my brother anymore. That thing just wears his face. That’s the only thing left of Edward.”

  Vincent wrapped his arms around her even more gently than normal. He treated her as though she were made of the finest porcelain. Vincent held her because he knew she needed it. He needed it. He felt guilty as hell. He should never have rescued Edward in the first place. He definitely never should have infected him. This was all his fault. Every wound on her body was his fault. He made a mistake, one that he would pay for.

  Vincent’s heart was heavy with what this was going to do to her. He had a sinking feeling. A worry he could not banish. It got worse the closer they got to Edward. Reese tore his eyes off the trees in front of him to glance at her. Charlie had pulled Ellie’s tangled hair back into a tight braid for her when she taped up her shoulder.

  She had changed from leggings to a pair of dark blue, boot-cut jeans. She hadn't bothered changing the shirt. Ellie added the double shoulder holster, though. Her left shoulder was a deep, dark, bruise that covered almost the entire left side of her back. It spread down her chest, disappearing into her bloodstained tank top. The bruise spilled down that arm, almost down to her elbow.

  Her neck was an angry red that radiated down over her clavicle, and up to her jawline. Edward's teeth had torn through her flesh leaving two wide, savage tears at the top of the bite mark, maybe an inch long, along with a few punctures. The wounds weren't all that large. The damage he caused was from nicking one of the veins. It almost looked like a dog bite.

  Ellie’s eyes were hard. Reese recognized that look. She’d shown it to him the night she offered up their little truce. She had that same look in her eyes when she told him that she wasn't afraid to die. Reese took in a deep breath, second-guessing for the first time letting her come with them. He admired her spirit. She had survived more than this. Reese smirked. She survived him.

  “The trees are getting kinda thick,” he told Vincent. “How much farther?”

  “Go as far as you can then we'll pick up on foot. You grabbed one of her coats, right?” Vincent asked looking over Ellie’s head at his older brother.

  Reese nodded. The farther north they went the colder it got. He had packed the white parka Charlie insisted on getting Ellie when they first got to the house, last winter. Daylight was peeking over the mountains to the west when the trees got so thick they wouldn't be able to take the truck any further. Vincent got out. Ellie slipped out behind him. Both Reese and Vincent started pulling things out of the bed.

  Ellie looked around at a whole lot of nothing. Thick, tall trees as far as her eyes could see. Reese hopped down next to her with the parka in his hands. “Here, let me help ya.” Ellie lifted her left arm as high as she could manage. Reese slipped the sleeve over it, then over her right. She left the thing unzipped.

  It was cold, but she needed to be able to get at her guns. Ellie heard the sound of the tailgate close and Vincent came around with the backpack over his shoulders. He had the automatic rifle slung across his chest. She did not like the look in his eyes. Ellie frowned at him. “I take it you're going to have to carry me?” she asked raising her eyebrows. He nodded, plastering his full lips into a long thin line.

  “Okay.”

  Vincent stood there for a moment staring down at her. He remembered a time she would have argued, just for the sake of it. Now she trusted him. It made him think of the words his brother said. She knows ya lie to her, and still she trusts ya. Reese was right. Vincent had been unfair to her. He blamed the ghost in his head for pretending to be him. He blamed her for not being able to see through him. When the truth was, it was his fault.

  Vincent never
let her get to know him. He pretended to be the man he thought she wanted him to be. That wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair to him. He made the decision right then. Vincent was done lying to her, done hiding things from her. It was time he trusted her, the way Ellie trusted him all this time. He leaned forward so suddenly that it caught her off guard.

  He kissed her. It was electric, wild, full of the passion Vincent felt for her. However this played out, he would not make that same mistake again. He would tell her everything. Every secret that he’d hidden, every lie that passed his lips whether it belonged to him, or Reese's ghost. He would set it straight. When this was done, this last piece of dirty work, he would tell her everything. Tear his heart open, and spill the curdled blood onto the floor before her. They would heal together.

  When he pulled back, Ellie took in a ragged breath. Vincent could tell it hurt. She stared up into his face, a small smile playing across her face. “What was that for?” she asked.

  It was his turn to smile, a real smile. By the look of it, Ellie had not ever seen it from him before. “I'll tell you when it's done,” Vincent said. He reached forward with both hands, let them slip between her tangled, blood dried hair, and the smoothness of her face. “I love you, Ellie.”

  She sniffed, biting her bottom lip. “I love you, Vincent,” Ellie said. He pulled her into his arms one last time.

  “You don't have to be part of this, Ellie,” Vincent reminded her.

  “Yes, I do,” she said, nodding her head. “In sixty years when Edward wakes up, then he will understand why I had to do this.”

  Reese looked at her. His eyes narrowing, his neutral face fell into annoyed lines. Now he understood why she signed off on this. Ellie was banking on the fact that it wouldn’t be permanent. He shook his head and looked at Vincent. Whatever, was all he could think. At least Edward would be out of their hair for that long. Maybe she was right. Sixty years was a long time. He and Vince managed to work all their shit out in that time.

  “Tell me ya won't hesitate,” Reese demanded.

  Ellie turned to look at him. “I won't hesitate, Reese. I put six bullets in his chest trying to help you ten hours ago, nothing has changed since then.”

  “All right,” Reese said, staring into her glittering green eyes. Though, he could not keep the anger off his face.

  Bending, Vincent slipped his arm behind her knees. He slid his right arm across her back gingerly. Vincent pulled her close to him, resting his chin against the side of her forehead. He concentrated on the way her skin felt against his. It helped to ease the worry that bubbled up inside him. Ellie hooked her right arm around the back of his neck.

  “We're still a ways away,” he said. “We’re going to have to run. Tell me if it hurts too much.”

  Ellie nodded, but her eyes were all for Reese. He was glaring at her as though suddenly he didn’t trust her. Reese was angry at the faith she still had in Edward. A month ago he listened to her tell Edward that she would love him no matter what horrible things he did. Ellie meant it then. She meant it now.

  When were they going to learn that if Ellie said something, she meant it? It did not leave her lips unless she could deliver. Whatever it was. Ellie took in a deep breath and let it out slow. What Edward did was evil. Anna was dead because Ellie trusted him to keep control of something that she finally realized, was just too big. Not just for him, for anyone. Ellie couldn't stop loving him. Love was a big word for her. It didn’t leave her lips unless she meant it. And once it was said, it didn’t stop for her, ever.

  Ellie squirmed in Vincent's arms looking for a comfortable spot, one that could take some jostling. Once she found it, Ellie gave him a nod. Then she frowned. “Wait.” She looked at Reese, then up at Vincent.

  “He needs to be stopped, to be put down. But I need you two to know.” Ellie paused looking for just the right words to say. “I won't blame you, either of you.” Ellie touched her left hand, painfully, to Vincent's chest. “When you flipped out. You guys knew then this was going to happen. I didn't listen.” She blinked the tears out of her eyes. “I won't blame you. I won't stop you, and I promise,” Ellie said, letting her gaze fall upon Reese, shaking her head. “I will do what needs to be done. You don't have to worry about me.”

  Reese chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, trying hard to force the look on his face back to neutral. He tried hard to be gentle, understanding. “We know ya love him.”

  “No,” Ellie said. “You don't. You will never understand how much I love my brother, Reese. You will never understand what it takes from me to do this to him, knowing what he’s done to deserve it. Even knowing he will come back from it. You will never know.” Her eyes fluttered and the tears spilled over onto her cheeks. Ellie closed her eyes. A million happy memories flooded her. A thousand wonderful smiles she shared with the most important thing in her life. Every ounce of her wanted to run in the other direction. She couldn't. Instead, she sniffed. Ellie opened her eyes and looked up at her best friend. “I will do it,” she said with a resolute nod of her head. “Because it has to be done.”

  Reese blinked dazzling blue eyes at her. He believed her. He looked up at Vincent. His baby brother wore a look on his face that Reese couldn’t read. Reese had his shields firmly in place. This was already an emotional enough thing for him. Being on the other side of something that had happened to him, he couldn't bear to feel the emotions that were running through Ellie. He couldn’t afford to feel the fear that was running through Vince but he did.

  Vincent was scared to death that doing this would make him lose her. Either Edward would kill her, or she would hate them. He hoped that what Ellie said about not blaming them was true. Still, taking her out there was one hell of a risk. Reese worked with her every day. He trained her how to fight, how to shoot. He taught her how to kill. Not a lick of it would mean a damn thing against Edward.

  “I'm ready,” Ellie told them.

  Vincent frowned. He wasn't. He took in a deep breath just to blow it free. Vincent took a few quick strides, transitioning to a jog, then to a run. Ellie stared wide-eyed at the trees that rushed at them in a blur. She hated not being in control. Reese fell into step behind them. Ellie tightened her grip on Vincent's neck. Her instincts were on overdrive. She had to force herself to relax. Ellie concentrated on her breathing. She concentrated on the sound of Vincent's reassuring heartbeat.

  Reese was right when Vincent didn't hold back he could fly. She had to stare straight ahead. Everything around them went by in a blur of colors. So fast, it made her nauseous. She wondered why Edward ran. Ellie wanted to think it was because what happened with Anna had been a mistake. She wanted to believe he had lost control of the Beast. That it wasn't really Reese that stopped him from killing her.

  Unfortunately, the little voice inside her head knew better. It wasn't nearly as trusting as Ellie wanted to be when it came to Edward. She noticed the change before Vincent infected him. Something had turned the key on the chains that Edward used to keep his anger in check. She blamed Bennet. Secretly, Vincent blamed Anna. He blamed Anna because Ellie had done the same thing to him. The only difference was. Vincent won the fight. Edward simply gave up. He gave in.

  The more Vincent thought about it, and he had. Nearly every extra moment he had at the house when he held Ellie as she dreamed of mercenary teams, and the faces of the men and women she killed. Vincent lay there thinking about Edward. The more he reflected, the more Vincent realized how similar he and Edward were in the ways they thought. They both loved Ellie. They both had fathers that made it their life's work to beat them down. Break them.

  They both had a rage that burned inside them long before becoming a monster. A wrath they both fought tooth and nail against for so long. When Vincent found Ellie, he knew he would never love anyone else for the rest of his time on this earth a tenth as much. He also knew there wasn't another human being that could drive him half as crazy, annoy the piss out of him, or make him even a fraction as angry as she could.


  That’s what love is. It opens you completely to the other person. It consumes you, devours you down to your very soul. She owned every piece of him. Vincent handed them to her willingly. She called his passion, and passion is what makes us. She inspired him in every way, the beautiful, and the hideous. Vincent spent all his time basking in the wondrous and fighting a war against the base.

  It was the same for Edward. Vincent was sure. Anna brought out the very best of him, and the very worst. Edward just couldn't tell the difference between them. For that, Vincent couldn’t blame him. He even pitied Edward, until he made the mistake of hurting Ellie. Once his teeth tore that fragile flesh of hers, Vincent knew Edward had to die. Vincent knew once again, he would have to choke the life from Edward. This time, though, Vincent wouldn't pretend he didn't enjoy it.

  He made a mistake in infecting Edward. Vincent overestimated the love Edward felt for his little sister. Now he had to destroy Edward before he hurt her again, before Edward went looking for his son, and found Charlie and Vetler. Vincent had to right that wrong before it was too late. He looked over at Reese, trying to think of a way to let him know that he would need his help to stop Edward. But he would need it more to protect Ellie from him.

  Vincent let go of his first and secondary thoughts. He concentrated on his senses, pushing past the beat of Ellie's heart, the sound of Reese's footfalls. He pushed past the birds in the trees, the animals big, and small that ran from their presence in the deep woods. Vincent let those tendrils spread searching for Edward. He could smell the water, the moss that grew on the rocks near it. Vincent changed his direction, going northeastward. Reese followed close behind him.