by Dani Hart
She laughed loudly. “Oh, he was? Good.” Her smile could reach the sky. “Elijah is pretty amazing in battle, too.” She winked.
My body heat rose with envy. “How do you know Elijah?”
“He didn’t tell you? I guess you aren’t as close as I thought. We were at the training facility together. We became close.”
Gross.
“I had hoped we would be partners after our training, but he requested to work alone.” Her voice filled with disappointment, which gave me a small taste of satisfaction. He volunteered to work with me and gave Penelope the boot.
“What do you hope to accomplish with all this, Penelope? You said it yourself; your brother is gone. Nothing can bring him back.”
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel, and she floored the gas. We sped up considerably on a deserted stretch of highway.
“And for that, all the guilty parties will pay.”
“And somehow you think they are just going to risk their own lives for me?”
“I know they will for three reasons. One, a father would do anything to save his little girl. Two, Wes loves you, and three, you’re a Chosen.”
In one breath she had just threatened the lives of two of my loved ones. “How could you think of condemning someone else to the same kind of loss that you have experienced?
She might have been considering what I said, but it passed quickly. “It’s nothing personal.” She cranked the music up to deafening decibels, signaling the end of our exchange. We were surrounded by long stretches of farmland and then nothingness and then farmland again. We had been driving for a few hours, and I was famished. I was relieved when we pulled into a roadside gas station with a mini mart.
“Stay here,” she demanded, locking the doors and initiating the alarm.
I slammed my head back on the headrest and clenched my stomach. I needed food. A few minutes later, Penelope approached the car with a large plastic bag, hopefully full of food.
She tossed the bag onto my lap. “Take what you want. Just leave me the bar.”
She shut the door again. While she attended to the gas pump, I peeked inside the bag, happy to see a plethora of junk food, as well as a warmly wrapped hot dog. I grabbed it and inhaled it quickly. As Penelope slid back into the car, I was downing a large soda. A look of repulsion stared back at me.
“Dude, if you were hungry, you could’ve said something.” She shook her head. “Hand me my bar and a water.”
I dug them out and handed them over. She popped open the water and tore the wrapper off the protein bar. “We’re almost there.”
I immediately lost my appetite. A half hour later, we pulled off the road and made our way to one of the many large farmhouses we had passed. It was massive, painted bright white with yellow trim.
“Was this your brother’s, too?” I asked.
“Close. This is where I grew up. The house that was nearly lost to the fire. My grandmother had it rebuilt with the insurance money before she died. The deed was left to my brother. Neither one of us could stomach coming back here, though. This is the first time I’ve been back.”
It was infuriating that one minute she could make me loathe her, and the next pity her. “Penelope, this isn’t going to end well. You know that, right?” I said sheepishly.
“I do, and since I don’t have anything else to live for, I don’t really care.” She opened her door. “Now, get out.”
The dagger was still firmly in place on her belt, and I was still clueless as to how to get out of this, especially now that we entered the land of nowhere to run. I was either going to have to impair her ability to walk or kill her. The only problem was I didn’t want to hurt her. I wanted to help her. She was a victim of circumstance and still in mourning. It felt wrong to convict her because of that.
She unlocked the front door and pushed me inside, dragging me by my arm down to the finished basement. It was a little dusty, but looked newly constructed. The only furnishing was a mattress on the floor.
“I’m going to rest up. We have a big day tomorrow. I’ll bring you food later. There’s a bathroom behind that door.” She stomped back up the stairs, closed the door, and locked it. It could have been worse, I guess.
The windows were sealed shut, and the bathroom was at least stocked with soap and toilet paper. There wasn’t even a towel to dry my hands. With nothing else to do, I lay down on the mattress and sighed loudly. I was going to die of boredom. I remembered the charm and key in my pocket, so I dug them out, examining them again, trying to figure out what the key could possibly open.
I jumped up when I heard the front door slam and ran to the window facing the driveway, listening carefully. An engine roared to life and then faded. She left. My heart kicked into high gear as I ran up the basement stairs and forcefully jiggled the knob. Putting all my weight into the door, I pounded against it with my shoulder, barely causing it to vibrate. It was solid. There was no way I was going to be able to knock it down, and I had missed Picking Locks 101. Screaming loudly in frustration, I went back to the window and looked around for anything to break it. There was nothing except my elbow. I raised it hesitantly, knowing the pain it would cause, squinted my eyes, and sucked in a deep breath as I braced myself for the blow, but I couldn’t do it. I dropped my arm and lay back down on the mattress, deflated. I imagined Wes coming to my rescue, even hearing his voice whisper my name, but as time passed so did my hope.
Fear returned as the front door slammed once again, my heart jumping with it. The basement door flung open. “You can come up to eat,” Penelope yelled.
The smell of greasy hamburgers and fries wafted down the stairs. I had barely eaten since my grandpa’s house. The fact she was feeding me at all was a good sign. I was trying to remain cautiously optimistic.
I scaled the steps slowly and peeked through the door before entering. The kitchen table was in sight, an unwrapped burger and container full of fries placed at one seat. Penelope was sitting across from it, inhaling her food quietly. She didn’t even look up when I walked up and sat. I was afraid to agitate her. Even the crinkle of the wrapper made me cringe.
I ate my burger slowly, buying more time out of the basement, taking in my new surroundings as much as I could. When Penelope grabbed for her water, I noticed a tattoo on her wrist. I didn’t know how I missed it before. It looked like a combination of the infinity sign and the yin and yang symbol. One end was shaded dark and the other translucent.
“What does your tattoo mean?”
She turned her wrist over and ran her thumb across it. “It’s the crest for The Order. The shape is the infinity symbol of immortality, and the shading represents the dark and light. Both bring balance.”
“Why the immortality symbol?”
“Because humans and immortals are infinitely bound. It’s a reminder of the infinite threat immortals pose to human kind. You’re branded when you complete the training and become an official member of The Order.” She scoffed. “I was so proud the day I got this. I wanted every immortal to pay for what they did to my brother. I didn’t want justice. I wanted revenge. I believed being a part of The Order would make it possible, but then I found out they were just as vile as immortals.” She paused. “You see this scar?” She pointed to a diagonal raised scar across the crest. “I wanted to cut it off my skin. I hated The Order that much, but then crossing it off seemed more symbolic and serves as a reminder of what my new mission is.”
“And what’s that?” I was almost afraid to ask.
“To take down both.”
Her confidence was astounding. She might be capable of taking out a few, but to think she could take down two completely different worlds seemed pretty unrealistic, especially now that she had blown her cover. She had completely lost it, and finding a way to escape was the only way I was going to survive.
After dinner, she ushered me back down to the basement with a towel and toiletries. “Shower if you want,” she said just before locking me in.
The only light came from the bathroom, so I left it on for the duration of the night. Once I was sure that Penelope was asleep, I shoved the towel and a rolled up sheet under the throw blanket, hoping if she peeked down she would assume it was me. I rushed to the window and tried to open it. It took a few tries, but it finally shifted under the pressure and slid open. I jumped up into the window well, closed the window quietly, and climbed up the ladder, peeking my head into the yard. The rocks on the ground glistened under the moonlight, lighting the path I would take. I crouched to the window to make sure there were no signs of movement and then stood up, my heart beating out of my chest and my legs wobbly from adrenaline.
It was now or never.
TIPTOEING ACROSS THE gravel yard, I was frantically looking around for danger, but the night was dead silent. We were in the middle of nowhere, but Penelope had come home with fast food and it was still warm, so it had to be somewhat close by. I had never walked more than a couple of miles, but I was in good shape, so I could probably jog most of it.
When I was a good distance from the house, I picked up my pace to a steady jog, the loud crunching of the gravel under my shoes escalating my nervous energy. It took several minutes to get to the main road, and I knew it was at least a mile to the highway. I didn’t remember seeing anything other than farmhouses vastly spread apart as we drove here, but I wasn’t giving up. I needed to get as far away from Penelope as possible. I quickened my pace to a sprint, sweat beading on my forehead and my chest burning after a few minutes. I was cursing myself for not joining the track team last year.
I was about a hundred yards from the edge of the highway when I heard Penelope’s angry voice break through the quiet. For a second I froze and then searched frantically for a place to hide. If I kept running to the highway, she would see me. I was flanked on both sides by tall forests of weeds, so I tore off a piece of my shirt and tossed it on the weeds to the left and then took off running to the right. Maybe it would fool her long enough to give me a better lead. I ran low and quietly, trying not to agitate the weeds too much. What if she caught me? Would I fight or give up?
My feet were aching and my shins were burning, and I was losing stamina quickly. My nerves were shot, and I hadn’t heard a peep from Penelope again. Suddenly, I heard weeds rustle close by. I dove down into the cover of the weeds and tried to steady my breath and listen to where the rustling was coming from. A hand suddenly wrapped tightly around my mouth, suffocating me with fear. I struggled violently until a whisper paralyzed me.
“Shh! It’s me. Elijah.”
He spun me around to face him. His green eyes met mine, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, my body collapsing into his. “How did you find me?”
“I tracked you. I’m sorry it took me so long, but I’m here now.”
I pulled away. “Where’s my dad?”
“With The Order council. We parted at the airport. I tried to call him, but there’s no service out here.”
“Elijah, Penelope’s hunting me.”
“I know. We need to keep moving. My car is about a mile down the road.”
He peeked up, listening, and then motioned for me to stand with him. “Let’s go,” he whispered.
“Let’s not.” Penelope stood maybe ten yards in front of us.
Elijah pushed me behind him protectively. “Penelope, it doesn’t have to be this way.”
“Yes, it does.” She took a few steps in our direction.
“What could possibly make you go rogue like this?”
Elijah had no idea. I was surprised Penelope hadn’t told him, considering her insinuation that they had been close.
“Zander was everything to me, Eli,” she bellowed unstably.
Elijah was like a brick wall in front of me. I could hide behind him completely unnoticed with his stocky frame in comparison to my thin one.
“And that’s why you joined The Order, Pen. To right the wrongs, but Abigail has nothing to do with this.”
I was waiting for the bomb to drop.
“The Order is corrupt, Eli. They aren’t what you think.” She held up her wrist, flashing the tattoo. “This isn’t what you thought.”
I wondered for just a moment where Elijah’s tattoo was.
“You aren’t making any sense. Why would you think The Order is corrupt?”
In a flash, she had pulled out her dagger and flung it at Elijah. She caught us both off guard, and it struck Elijah in the chest. I screamed so loud the world within miles could hear. He grabbed the dagger, stunned, and stumbled back into my arms. I fell to the ground with the weight of him on me as he landed on my lap, his eyes wide and focused on me.
“No, no, no. Elijah.” My hands were shaking violently as I stroked his cheek, one of my tears falling just below his eye.
“I’m sorry, Abby,” he choked out, trickles of blood spewing from his mouth.
My chest tightened with unfathomable grief as I continued to soothe him. His eyes became heavy. “Stay with me, Elijah. Please. I need you. Don’t go.” I cried hard, arching over and resting my forehead on his. His skin was hot and sweaty. I shot my head up and glared at Penelope. “How could you? You loved him!”
She walked over and looked down at Elijah, finally answering his question. “Because they killed my brother.” She leaned over and pulled the dagger forcefully out of his chest, blood pouring out of the open wound. Instinctively, I placed both hands over it to stop the flow.
A loud noise alerted Penelope and me. She spun the dagger in her hand and held it out, ready to attack again.
“Don’t go anywhere,” she spat out as she disappeared into the thicket of weeds.
I refocused my attention on Elijah. His eyes were still cracked open, but his body was limp. “Elijah, you have to hold on. I think someone is here. We’ll get you help, but you have to be strong.”
His hand slowly reached up, touching my cheek, and he managed a small smile. “Be brave.”
I didn’t know if he was telling me to be brave or finishing my plea for him to live. “Yes, be brave.” I smiled through tears and a pain I had never experienced before. It felt like someone had ripped my heart from my chest and crushed it. His fingers gripped my cheek, and he pulled me in closer. I leaned down, positioning my ear close to his lips.
He whispered, “I love you, Abigail Rose. I have from the first time I touched you, carrying you in my arms the day of the accident.”
His confession stung because deep down I knew in some way I had fallen for Elijah, too. I shifted my lips over his and leaned down, kissing them lightly at first, but then he used the last of his strength to wrap his arm around my neck and push harder into my own wordless confession. The infinity charm flashed in my thoughts. I couldn’t explain why, but my instincts were telling me it served a purpose more than hanging from a bracelet.
I pulled away, the last of Elijah’s strength gone, his arm falling onto his chest and his eyes closing. It was impossibly hard to scoot out from under him, but the charm was in my pocket. I finally slid him off and dug it out. It was so nondescript in my palm, but something told me it was so much more.
I wasn’t sure what to do with it, so I placed it on the wound and waited. It felt like hours as I watched Elijah’s chest barely rise and fall. Nothing happened, though. Fear of losing him coursed through my body, squeezing the life out of my soul. I shook my head, disbelieving that Elijah could die. His chest stopped moving.
“No, Elijah. Please,” I begged helplessly, squeezing his hand and the other softly planted on the charm on his chest. I was only a girl, and there was nothing I could do to save him, except be here for him. Just like he was always there for me. He wouldn’t die alone.
“Abigail.” Wes’ voice rang in my ears, full of sorrow and pity.
I peered over my wet lashes. “He’s gone.” Saying it aloud somehow crushed me even more. The permanence was out there for all to hear.
Ben, Zoe, and William flew to Wes’ side, quickly followed by my dad.
“Penelope,” I sobbed.
“She won’t be a threat anymore. She’s with The Order.”
After everything that she had done to me, taken from me, I still felt sorry for her. I couldn’t imagine her time with The Order would be pleasant.
Wes kneeled down beside Elijah and me. I was covered in blood.
“Are you hurt?” Wes asked carefully.
“No.” I choked back my pain.
“Abby, I can save him. His heart still beats.”
I locked knowing eyes with him, but I knew I couldn’t decide that fate for Elijah. It would be a decision made from selfishness. Immortals had murdered his parents. His despise for them ran deep. To become one would be condemning him to something that, in his mind, was worse than death.
I shook my head. “I can’t do that to him.” As painful as it was to admit, I had to let him go.
Seconds later, the field was lit up like a collision of planets. The ground shook as feet stomped over to us. At least a dozen men and women dressed head-to-toe in black aimed guns at us.
“Nobody move,” one of the women demanded.
My widened eyes met Wes’ again. “Run,” I whispered urgently.
Wes looked over to his family, and with a nod they disappeared into the weeds, half of the gun-wielding people chasing after them.
“Stand down!” my dad shouted over the chaos.
He approached the woman who appeared to be in charge of the group and yanked the gun out of her hand. She stared at him, stunned. He flashed something on his side, and she nodded in understanding, backing off.
“Sir, is that Elijah Winters?” She stood at attention.
My dad came to my side, pulling me up to my feet.
“I can’t leave him, Dad. We can’t let him die alone.”
He pulled me into him and held my head to his chest, rocking me slowly. “We won’t.” He looked over his shoulder. “Take him to the infirmary. Quickly.”
Several approached Elijah and picked him up carefully, carrying his limp body through the weeds. I buried my head back into my dad’s chest and sobbed uncontrollably. A gunshot broke through the night.