Into The Night
1722 Words
ELLIOTT
"Don't say that, please accept these for me." Benjamin pushed further, overlooking Nish's words. The crowd started calling out names and hurling insults. The repentance in her eyes was visible.
Elliott put her in that position.
"I... I can't. I don't have feelings for you." She insisted.
"What's with her attitude?" Someone from the crowd said.
"Benjamin's the closest she'll get to a decent guy." Another comment came.
"Loser." Someone yelled.
Nish looked around her at the faces looking at her with hatred. She looked scared and shocked. Everyone crowded in on her.
"Don't break my heart like that," Benjamin said, with an exaggerated sad look.
The atmosphere was getting out of hand and Elliott hated how much he wanted to leave. He was bound to do all that.
Nish's eyes softened and she shrunk in her place. Then she walked up to the table and quietly took the flowers from Benjamin's hands.
The crowd quietened down a little.
"Do you like them?" Benjamin got down and stood in front of Nish, not even matching her height.
Nish brought the flowers to her nose, sniffing the scent. Then she let out a small forced smile.
"Thanks," Nish said, her eyes teary. Then she walked away with the flowers.
Elliott stood, watching her go. He didn't know Benjamin would do it in the cafeteria recreating the day Nish had done it, a month ago. She was still facing backlash and it was just made worse.
~
Elliott lied awake in his bed. He had no idea what he would witness the next day at school. He didn't know what powers that potion had.
"She has great powers. Enough to diminish the whole city's population at once." Gabrielle's words went round in round in his head.
He broke in a sweat as the memory of those lifeless eyes settled in front of him. He could sense something around him, something similar to the last two times. It felt strange but strong. The presence around him was strong enough that bugged him. He could close pretend he wasn't feeling it.
Elliott got up and looked around his darkroom. He could feel someone's eyes on him and unease spreading through his body.
Why was he feeling that way in his own room? But he couldn't resist the familiar sensation. It was acting like a pull that was making Elliott restless.
He put on a hoodie and trousers as fast as he could and thoughtlessly, left his room.
He exited his building and closed his eyes. Then he started walking. His legs were taking him somewhere. It felt like his body lost its control like it wasn't even his anymore.
He continued walking on the streets. The night was darker than usual that made the streetlights seem faint. He was walking past the buildings watching cars occasionally pass by.
No one was around. It was too late at night and he didn't know what he was doing.
He kept his eyes wide open, alerted. The chilly breeze brushed over Elliott's face, sending shivers up his spine.
He didn't know how long has he been walking. He didn't know where he was headed to. He didn't know what he was expecting to find.
He just kept walking.
Suddenly, he stopped. The feeling strengthened and he couldn't move anymore. He moved his head around the street, no one was around.
He tried walking ahead but the feeling didn't leave him. His mind told him that this place was where he was headed to. But why?
Then he raised his head above him. He could see the dark sky and the moon glowing, casting a silver light. No stars could be seen, everything was dead silent.
Then his eyes shifted to the building just below the full moon. A dark figure stood on the railing on the terrace of the building. The dark figure didn't look humane, making Elliott falter. He remembered the things that happened before and he was terrified at that sight. He couldn't move a muscle.
Elliott took a step back because he could feel its eyes on him even if he couldn't see anything except its outline.
He wanted to run. As the fear crept up, he could think of nothing but running. He couldn't die. Not like that.
So he ran.
He crossed the street and got into the building. He watched his steps to avoid alerting anyone. As soon as he got in, he took to the stairs and ran up to the terrace.
He didn't know what he was doing.
He had been hoping. He had been waiting for it. Even if his senses got completely shut off whenever he thought about it, he still wanted it.
While running up to the terrace, he felt his heart beating fast. He was sweating even if he hadn't climbed too far.
Finally, he reached the terrace, gasping for breath. He stood at the door and looked around him. No one.
He stepped ahead, keeping himself alert.
Suddenly, a strong force pushed him and he got thrown to the wall at the edge of the terrace. He grunted loud, squinting with pain.
He held his arm with his hand and looked up. She stood there, as still as noises around them.
She looked terrified.
The single bulb on the terrace started flickering, about to give up.
He stood back up on his feet, gaining some strength. He focused on her, lips which were quivering, fingers shaking, eyes so dark that made her pupils look dilated.
Was she even human?
She started walking towards him, slowly.
"Are you going to kill me?" She said with her unnatural shrill voice. The look of horror didn't leave her face.
Elliott's throat dried up. Her voice started echoing in his mind, clouding it, making him unable to utter a word.
"You can't hurt me if I hurt you first", she said. Elliott kept quiet, staring at her face.
He didn't even move when she raised her palm towards him. Her fingers closed in forming a fist, very slowly. Just as she was forming a fist, Elliott growled.
He crouched and shrunk in his place with the familiar excruciating pain. His heartbeat slowed down and his vision started blurring. He could do nothing, he felt helpless.
"Stop..", he grunted, the pain exceeding the limits. His limbs felt like tearing down any minute. His nerves were stretching out and he could understand every single thing happening to him.
"Please- STOP-", He yelled again, tears dripping down his eyes. Everything inside him was rolling and turning. Dying was better than this torture, he thought.
"I won't hurt you. I can't- Please.. stop..," he yelled even louder this time.
Just as he was about to fall unconscious, his legs relaxed, giving him the strength to keep still. With that, the pain within his body lessened bit by bit till it decreased to nothing. The stress left Elliott extremely weak. He was numb all over.
"You promise?" She said, giggling softly. Her voice was demonic, very low and soft. She made screeching noises while she spoke.
Elliott couldn't meet her eyes, neither lookup. But he was thinking of her. He was helplessly thinking of her.
She started walking with her scrawny hands behind her back. She was walking around Elliott in a circle.
"What do you want, Elliott?" She asked, her gaze focused on him while walking.
Anger rose inside Elliott and he glared at her. He wasn't surprised to know that she knew his name.
"Justice?" She asked.
Suddenly, a heavy blow at Elliott's feet made him kneel on one leg. He gasped in shock.
"Revenge?" She said.
Another heavy blow made his other drop on the ground, kneeling.
"Vengeance?" She said. The slight movement of her fingers blew off the bulb and it burst into pieces. The glass pieces scattered in front of Elliott, his arm bleeding from it.
"Fame?" She said, slowing her pace down.
Another sudden blow made him fall on all fours. He was breathing deep, almost having no air to breathe.
"Or is my death your selfish need?" She said, sitting down in front of him. Her eyes gazed at him, unblinking.
He fell on the ground, knocked out, unable to move a single muscle.
She leaned forward and lied down beside him, face to face. His eyes were barely open but he could see her and feel her eerie cold breath on his skin.
"Why would you save the city, if you don't even care about the people?" She whispered, her voice soft.
Elliott's eyes closed slowly. His body felt at peace and relaxed as he lost his ability to sense things. His mind was drowning in nothingness. He heard nothing, he sensed nothing. He couldn't feel her presence around him anymore.
Two pair of hands gripped his underarms and started picking him back up to his feet. He didn't want that. The two people spoke in hazy voices as they dragged Elliott along with them.
He could hear things like 'ambulance', 'hospital', 'emergency', but he couldn't concentrate. He was being taken somewhere was all he knew.
Once the two watchmen took Elliott outside the exit of the building, his eyes snapped open. He could see the ambulance at a distance and its sirens buzzing through his head. He couldn't go to the hospital, he thought.
They laid him down on the stretcher, ready to get him inside. He pretended to be unconscious while he looked for an opportunity. They put him inside the ambulance while the people had small talk with the watchman before leaving.
That was when Elliott started crawling out of the stretcher. Luckily, they didn't have any belts to secure him. He wiggled down to the ambulance floor and slowly got out of the vehicle.
His legs were weak and he couldn't walk straight, neither keep his eyes open for too long. But once he was out, he started running opposite the vehicle. He was limping and stumbling as he entered an alleyway.
He could hear people calling out and footsteps but nothing stopped him. He ran and ran till nothing made sense anymore.
Everything was closing in on him as he struggled to stay conscious. He ran harder till he could see familiar places again.
He needed to getaway.
He had to...
- Writer
