forum Things Go Wonderfully Right..Or Horribly Wrong//Private W/Chogiwae //Closed

Started April 07, 2020 by @gracehustle

tune

@Chogiwae Here is the other thread!

After losing her family to the cruel, bloodthirsty vampires, Elyse Lockwood has only one goal; eliminate any and every vampire she comes across no matter what it takes. It is her desire that drives her, wakes her up the next morning, and the strength to continue fighting.

But years later, a faithful encounter changes everything. A childhood best friend comes back into her life, turns it upside down, and shatters everything Elyse had come to believe. There's no doubt she wants to save him, but there's just one problem; he is everything she and her fellow rebels have sworn to eliminate.

Elijah Raine is a vampire, and he is in the rebel's top ten hit list.

Now Elyse must do everything in her power to protect Elijah and save him from his cruel fate, even when he is anything but what she remembered him to be. Can Elyse finally do the one thing she failed years ago, or will she fall once again and lose her best friend permanently, this time to the group she'd dedicated her life to?

Name: Elijah Raine

Nickname(s): Eli (hasn't been used in years), Reaper, Lilith's Dog.

Age: 25, stopped aging at 20.

Height: 6'4

Specie: Turned Vampire

Appearance: Blond hair which is in a crew cut, one eye red while the other is blue due to being Turned. His fangs are sharp, and sometimes puncture his bottom lip, even though it quickly heals. Unlike full-blooded vampires, his skin isn't pale; it's lightly tanned. He keeps himself well-kept, so he's properly groomed. He has defined features and a strong jaw. He's large and well-muscled, tall, and appears to be cold. He wears a black shirt tucked neatly in his pants, a cloak, as well as his knives strapped to his belt and his sword over his back.

Personality: I don't really know how to describe his personality? He's cold and withdrawn, almost coming across as emotionless. He can be seen as monstrous and a killing machine, but really, he wears such an image to protect himself. He's quiet and observant, as well as quite destructive. Unlike the majority of vampires, his duty isn't to keep other humans in line, but rather he acts as the killer to teach a lesson to anyone thinking of starting an uprising. Because he's been so cut off from his human side, he doesn't know how to express a lot of his emotions, but once he lets go of himself, he's quite charming and sarcastic. He's too used to torture, so he has a bit of a sadist personality, which he doesn't think is wrong. Still developing more of his personality, sorry. )):

Flaws: Too cut-off, craves a bit of violence, protective beyond words.

Background: When Elijah was young, he and a group of his other friends planned to escape from the vampires. For the most part, they managed, however, they were intercepted by a high tier vampire. Elijah, helpless, watching the vampire brutally murder his friends right in front of him, draining their blood, and that day was the last day he ever saw any of them. Elijah knows he should have died that day, but unfortunately, one of the leaders of the vampire coven intercepted. She gave him her blood, which effectively Turned him and made him her pet.

Weapons, if any: A double blade sword, small knives.

Abilities, if any: Basically what a vampire has; heightened senses, speed, endurance, quick-healing.

Other: Elijah is linked to one of the vampires through a Blood Link. That link enables the vampire, Lilith, to control him whenever she wants, therefore he really has no will of his own. Once she gives him a command, he has no choice but to obey. When Elijah refuses any command, she takes control of his body and his control, kills as she pleases, and then lets the helplessness torture him. Because of this, he quickly learned to seal his emotions and do what is expected of him.

Name:Elyse Lockwood

Nickname(s): Dart if anything, but otherwise no

Age: 19

Height: A solid 5'6"

Species:Human

Appearance: Elyse is built like a stick. She's insanely thin due but makes the most of her tiny self and is actually very strong. She has pale skin from being underground for so long and thick chocolate brown hair that unless tied up hangs to just below her shoulders. Her eyes are a soft blue, paired with a light smatter of freckles across her nose and cheekbones. It was not a bad combination of looks even with her scar. It's very visible, just a wire-thin line running from the back of her jaw on her right trailing down across her throat and stopping right at her left collarbone. Despite her appearance, her eyes hold fire, constant blame on herself for the death of her friends.

Personality: Even before anything in her past happened, she was a happy kid, full of smiles even in the terrible world she was born into. Now not so much. She can still put on the happy face and sometimes it's not fake, but most of the time her happy side doesn't show. There's no time for that when helping run a rebellion. She is straightforward and honest, likes to train in every bit of free time so she's always ready. Her thoughts are still filled with the day she had to watch one of her best friends get drained and killed in front of her and she still hates herself for not being able to stop it. Elyse doesn't like to get attached to anyone for that reason, she's scared she'll have to watch something like that again. Even with that, she's found something to get attached to so her mind is less jumbled. The rebellion.

Flaws:She absolutely hates that she couldn't do anything that day and sometimes her thoughts about that alone are enough to keep her quiet for up to a week. Rarely lets emotion show.

Background: Several years back, she and a few of her friends tried to escape from where they were bring held. It went well until they were intercepted by a powerful vampire. The vampire showed no mercy as they attacked the group, forcing the kids to watch as they slowly and painfully killed one of her friends by draining him of blood. The rest managed to escape and things were back on track until she got cut off from the group and was picked up by a group of humans. She was sure she heard the rest of her friends being killed as she was whisked away. For years now she had been with the group, pulling together a rebellion to overthrow the vampires and staying alive.

Weapons, if any: Mostly anything small, like her nickname, suggests, things like darts or throwing knives.

Abilities, if any: One of the most accurate shots with anything sharp and small enough to be thrown

Other: Likes to flip off anyone that makes her mad or that she just wants to, mostly because the gesture is just funny to her.

There wasn't a day that had gone by yet that Elyse didn't remember that day so many years ago. Mostly it was the screaming that stuck with her but right now all she could picture was Eli being killed in front of her. She faltered in her step and a sudden pain erupt in the middle of her stomach

"Elyse! Focus!" A deep voice called as she snapped back to reality.

She grabbed her abdomen and glared at her training instructor who had just landed a solid punch to her gut, flipping him off but getting back into fighting stance. There was no time to get caught in the past in an actual fight. Her clothes stuck to her tiny frame with sweat as she went back to work, exchanging punches and kicks until her instructor called quits for the day.

The instructor was just one of her fellow rescued friends, Westly. The only reason she refused to call him by his name when training was so she didn't go easy on him, even if they both knew he could beat her any day of the week.

"Nice job today, get some rest." Westly said, watching as she sat down in the center of the dirt sparing ring. He didn't bother to help her up, just gave a tight-lipped smile as he unwrapped his hands.

Elyse rolled her eyes, sarcastic as she responded, "Really? I was going to go out for a quick vampire hunting session." Unwrapping her hands was a daunting task as she looked at the wrappings and tried to picture how bruised her knuckles were still going to be underneath it. They could stay on for now.

Lilith's Dog. The Reaper. Half-human dirt. Those were the names Elijah was well used to, and he couldn't deny just how accurate they were. The blood on his hands, all the lives he took… those were all commanded by Lilith, his leader. Though he could not help but obey… Elijah knew a sadistic part of him enjoyed the pain he inflicted. After all, he was a vampire. And vampires enjoyed taking lives and plundering whatever they came across with. Elijah was no different. At least, that was what he told himself.

He stepped into the shower and let the water wash over him, trying to erase all hints of blood from his body. But he knew no matter how many showers he took, his soul was forever tainted red. Then a low buzzing echoed in his ear and Elijah sighed; his mistress demanded his presence. Quickly finishing washing himself up, Elijah donned his clothes, grabbed his weapons and a bottle of blood, and left his room.

The second he stepped into the hallway, his mask on place, a cold, lifeless expression, snickers and whispers reached his ears. The vampires were never quiet in expressing their distaste for him. All Elijah needed to do, however, was give them a look and… they'd quieten.

"Elijah, so nice of you to join us," Lilith, the vampire who held control over him, lifted her head and looked him over when he entered her room. A sardonic smile covered her lips. Elijah did not falter. Instead, he got down to one knee and bowed his head.

"My lady," he murmured, and if the words pained him, he did not say. Only when Lilith commanded did he stand up and straighten his posture.

"I have a mission for you."

Elijah swallowed thickly, a movement so imperceptible. Missions. More killing.

"A few humans have been causing problems for quite a while," Lilith continued, blowing on her long, red nails. Elijah remembered those nails once digging into his skin. He remembered what she'd done to obtain his loyalty. He kept his face blank. "I want you to eliminate them."

Elijah knew better than to refuse. He bowed his head.

"Yes, My Lady."

Elyse was so sick of the underground she wanted to scream. Gray walls, ceilings, floors. Everything looked the same, even the bed in her room was the same depressing gray color. There was no reason to make this place look good, she knew, it was just a hiding place to keep them alive. She hated the lack of color though, how her pale skin seemed too close to a vampire's in the room. It was one of the reasons she always tried to change as quickly as possible after training.

Even the clothes she had were bland. Three threadbare black shirts, a single pair of brown cargo pants that needed to be washed, three sets of holey black socks and undergarments. They really tried to go as wild in possible outfit combinations as they did in the variety of food.

She didn't bother trying to get anything to eat when she finished changing, it wasn't worth the effort to walk to the mess area only to find that everything had been served already. Sleep seemed to be the only option, one that she knew she needed if she was going to fulfill her promise to herself. Elyse laid down with her promise in mind. To kill every vampire on the face of the planet to make them pay for what happened to her friends.

She was out cold within minutes, not even haunted by nightmares.

When Elijah was dismissed, he instantly went to prepare. He wasn’t set to leave until tomorrow, which gave him plenty of time to think strategies over. Should it be a quick, painless death for the humans, or a cruel one to send another message? He thought about the time he killed a few leaders. He’d cut off their heads and stuck them on sticks, letting their rotting bodies be pecked by crows.

A way to show humans that they were helpless to fight against the vampires.

Maybe he should have felt sick. Maybe he should feel guilt, remorse, even, for the way he treated his kind. Former kind. But the people who anchored him to the world, the girl with the brightest smile who made life worth living… they were gone. And he was destined to burn for his sins. One day, though… if he ever got the chance, he’d kill Maverick for slaughtering his family. He’d make them all pay.

Elijah sat back down on his bed, releasing a soft sigh as he took a swig of blood. It tasted bland.

Tomorrow, there would be more bloodshed. More humans falling by his hand. More chaos.

But it was either that, or losing control over himself. Elijah did not want to be subjected to that torture again.

So he closed his eyes and dreamt of ocean eyes again. Tomorrow, he’d worry about the rebellion.

No one knew what time it actually was down underground. Not even Elyse as she woke up to someone yelling through her door. It was early though. She listened to muffled yelling without moving an inch, making out something about joining a skirmish and having to be ready immediately. That wouldn't be hard at least.

As gruesome as it seemed, fighting actually was something she looked forward to. It gave her the chance to see the sky again and breathe fresh air as well as helping whittle away at the promise.

Preparing to fight…that was not as enjoyable. She pulled on an extra pair of socks and slipped on one of her extra shirts over the one she had on, knowing that even as they were short-sleeved, they would provide more protection. She listened to her stomach grown as she dressed, caving into the craving for food just enough to walk down the gray hallways with her boots untied and arms, neck, and hands unwrapped.

Growing up as a fighter had taught her many tricks, including covering every bare piece of skin she could when fighting a vampire. They were deadly killing machines and it wouldn't stop against weapons of any kind. Their fangs had a harder time reaching skin under layers of protection though, giving her one less thing to worry about when fighting.

The more his blades pierced flesh, the hungrier Elijah felt until he and the chaos were one. He moved with lightning speed, killing without mercy, leaving behind wounds meant to kill and agony until death. The latter, which he knew was far more benevolent than him. He was slowly losing himself as he gave in to his cruel instincts.

Humans were such weak, pitiful creatures. One little snap of their neck and they were dead. And they begged beautifully, something that both pleased and haunted Elijah. It reminded him of his childhood when he'd lost it all, and those memories drove him wild. Lilith would be proud.

One day, her head would be rolling at his feet, too, and he'd be free of the bond that linked him to her. No longer would he be Llilith's Dog.

It wasn't long before Elijah penetrated the front lines, pushing the human rebellion until barely any of them left. He didn't put it past them to call for reinforcements, but he'd be waiting. Elijah licked the blood trailing down his sword, eyes snapping to a group of humans frozen on their spot.

A grin covered his lips. The humans ran.

The next second, they were on the floor, motionless, their hearts in the possession of the human-turned-vampire. Then Elijah waited on the bloody battlefield for more. Humans always came back, but that was why he was here.

His humanity was gone. Lilith made sure of it. Somehow, Elijah couldn't mourn the loss of something he didn't even remember having. Even the thought of that laughter failed to make him feel. He was too far gone, and maybe it was better to feel nothing than to face the gravity of all he'd done.

Her steps felt much too loud, so did her heartbeat though as she crept towards where they had said reinforcements were needed. Elyse hated this part, moving as quietly as she could with the rest of her group towards the massacre.

She was grateful for the cloth mask that covered the lower half of her face as she stepped over bodies. The smell of blood and death was everywhere, coming from people she recognized as well as from people she had never known. Either way it just fueled her anger and desire to fight. A simple but sharp wooden spear held tightly in one hand kept her focused as she found herself walking alone. All part of the precise attack plan she could run through in her sleep.

Even the fire in her heart couldn't prepare herself when she saw the form in front of her. A lone vampire, tall and armed to the teeth with weapons that could easily kill any human.

Elyse didn't wait to hear any signal to draw attention to her as she purposely stepped in a pool of blood. The red liquid made her cringe as he made the desired splashing noise, effectively soaking her boot and pant leg enough that she could feel how warm it still was.

She couldn't wait to be able to add another kill to her list as she watched the creature turn around, a glare set in stone on her face. Her eyes widened in an instant though, a memory plaguing her thoughts and she realized why.

She knew that face.

Elijah knew he had a visitor even before said human stepped into the vicinity. He waited until it was close enough until he could hear the squelching of boots due to the puddles of blood around him. A familiar scent floated in his brain, and Elijah tried to guess where he'd smelled something like this before.

Slowly, he turned around, his bloody blade in his grip as he finally took in the human, though he didn't know why he didn't just kill. His eyes locked with ocean ones and his breath nearly knocked out of his lungs.

He knew those eyes. He dreamt of them every day. Sometimes he dreamt of her death, of those blue eyes bleeding red, of a ruthless hand around her throat, choking her and tearing her apart as it had done to everyone else. Sometimes Elijah dreamt he'd been the one to kill them all. After all, escaping was his idea. He might as well have killed them himself.

But this human could not be her. She was dead, he knew it. Maverick would never have spared any of them. He certainly hadn't spared Elijah. But no matter what Elijah told himself, he knew in his veins, in the heart that did not beat anymore, that this human in front of him…

It was Elyse. His best friend. The girl he'd let down.

It was the face of her best friend, Elijah. The boy who's death she mourned daily. And yet he was here, standing in front of her, an undead soldier.

"How?" She whispered, more to herself than him. Elyse couldn't kill him, and now she was at a standstill. He was the thing that she had spent her life dedicated to destroying for him. Her eyes hardened again, the wooden spear in her hand feeling heavier than it normally did. This had to be a joke. A trick on her eyes, she told herself, and yet she knew it wasn't true.

A memory of him flashed through her head and she was brought back to her childhood, a memory in which she was genuinely laughing. She was running alongside him and immediately she knew what memory was clouding her thoughts. This was the day he had supposedly died in front of her.

"Elijah?" She found herself whispering once she was pulled back to reality. He looked only slightly different than the boy she remembered besides growing up only his eye was different. "You're one of them?" She hissed, her demeanor changing like the flip of a switch. This wasn't the time to let her thoughts get the best of her and yet they did every time she tried to take a step closer. And so she didn't.

His name slipped from her tongue, and for the first time in years, Elijah felt. He felt what it had been like being human, being alive. His eyes flickered to her hand, where she grasped the wooden stake, and Elijah felt sick to his stomach.

He nearly dropped his sword, but just as his mask slipped, it went back up again. He couldn't hurt Elyse; it had to be a sick joke. But he knew it wasn't. This girl knew his name. But then she hissed, her voice changing to pure disgust and hatred, and the vampire blinked. Yes, he was one of them. He was a vampire, not a human. He did not feel. He was not human.

Something nudged his foot and Elijah looked down to find a severed head, dead eyes staring right up at him, mouth opened in a silent scream. He looked back at Elyse and wiped a trail of blood sliding down his cheek.

"Elyse," his voice rumbled in his throat, raspy and cold, and he tilted his head to the side. The rest of the vampires could handle the remaining humans. He was done here. "Leave."

Then with a blink of an eye, Elijah was gone as well, his vampire stealth never failing. Only, he prayed Lilith suspected nothing. If she knew why Elijah retreated… she'd send him to kill her. And Elijah would be helpless.

"Elijah.." She whispered, wanting nothing more than to drop her spear and pull her childhood friend into a tight hug. Then he just..walked away. Elyse was glued to her spot as she tried to figure out if what had just happened was real. The boy she remembered was dead, but yet he had been standing in front of her only moments before.

The encounter didn't vanish from her head as she took his advice, turning away and rushing towards the pained screams of one of her group members. What had happened could wait until she got back to decipher. Now was the time to fight.

She slid to a stop next to a vampire busy draining the life out of a girl no older than Elyse was herself. It was instinct that let her drive the spear through the side of the creature, hitting his heart with little effort and using the momentum to push the vampire away. "I'll be back, try to get to the rendevous point." She hurriedly ordered the girl, hoping she didn't loose too much blood.

Fighting was exhausting. By the time she had made it back to where the group was to meet, she was covered in blood that wasn't hers. There had been too many deaths on her side. Deaths that could have been avoided if she had not spent as much time talking to her old friend. He wasn't worth saving, he had been turned.

Yet Elyse couldn't stop wondering if she could talk to him again.

[TIME SKIP: TWO DAYS]

Lilith had, in the end, discovered the reason behind Elijah's slight disobedience. He had been tasked with eliminating every human in the vicinity; instead, he killed the first two waves and left the third behind for weaker vampires to feed on. And Lilith never passed out on an opportunity to dive into his mind, to control and get what she needed.

So for the last two days, Elijah was being punished for his disobedience. No blood, no other necessities, as she kept him locked away in a dark, damp room. Just to be a bit crueler, she kept bottles of blood right outside his door for his nose to pick up on the scent of it, and for him to slowly lose it.

Elijah was starving, and it was excruciating.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Elijah heard footsteps. They were getting closer until they stopped just outside the door, and the hungry vampire could only curl up as the door opened and his queen walked in. She stepped closer, bent down, and lifted his head with a tight grip on his chin. He locked his eyes with her own. Whatever he was searching for in her eyes, he didn't find.

"It pains me to see you suffer like this, Elijah," she said, her affectionate voice making his skin crawl. Somehow, that voice, mixed with disappointment, always made him want to make her proud. It sickened him. "Why must you push me to punish you?"

"I apologize, My Lady," Elijah ground out, sucking in a deep breath. He was so damn hungry. His insides felt like they were ripping each other apart. Lilith pursed her lips and caressed his cheek.

"I'll forgive you," she said softly, and gently pressed the rim of a blood-filled bottle to his lips. Elijah drank hungrily, uncaring of how the liquid dripped down his chin and stained his clothes. Lilith rubbed his head, crooning softly, "There, there. You poor thing. I have to teach you a lesson sometimes, don't I? If I leave you unpunished… what example would that give to others?"

Even after finishing that bottle, Elijah's hunger wasn't satisfied. Lilith smiled as if she knew exactly what he needed. Which, Elijah was sure she did.

"I have a mission for you. Are you ready to redeem yourself?"

He nodded.

"I have someone for you to kill," she said as she reached with her thumb to wipe a trail of blood from his mouth, only to lick it off her fingers. "She is from the rebellion."

Elijah's world spun.

"Her name is Elyse Lockwood. I'd like for her to be eliminated. That is my command to you."

"Elyse Lockwood, you get back here right now." Westly yelled at her from the sparing room.

She didn't respond, storming down the hallway to her room. To be fair, she did deserve getting yelled at, but she had already been scolded for the past two days by everyone from Westly to the only one of her superiors that she had liked. Any more and she would most likely explode. Getting reminded of her mistakes was terrible. Most of her frustration around the subject had been released as she put all her effort into training, but each remark about her talking to a vampire rekindled it faster every day.

Elyse sat down on her bed and took her remaining anger out by punching her pillow until the thing looked brand new. It wasn't her fault she had accidentally mentioned Elijah. She had been delusional from exhaustion when it just…slipped out. It had become a never-ending cycle of demanding to know what she said followed by how enraged everyone was about the incident. The cherry on top of the situation was that apparently he was one of the rebellions top ten vampires to eliminate.

Plus, because of her slip up, they had almost pulled her back from the ambush planned for tonight.

It had taken too much begging to get her back on that list of soldiers as well as too many promises to kill him the next time their paths crossed (All promises she had no intention of keeping). And so she was in her room again, trying very hard not to punch Westly in the face and be permanently taken off that list.

His mission for tonight had taken away his entire appetite, but Elijah knew he had to drink to recuperate. If he didn't… his urges would be violent. And he needed a great deal of self-control to not hurt Elyse.

Elijah tossed away his second helping of blood and continued sharpening his blades. Tonight. He was supposed to start tracking her down tonight. It was ironic, really, and he didn't know what to think. After years, he finally found out that one of his friends was alive. After years of torturing himself, she turned out to be alive. He didn't know whether to be relieved or frustrated. He didn't know what to feel at all.

The way she had looked at him, with disgust and disbelief… Elijah sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Pushing away the thoughts of her, the vampire went back to sharpening his tools.

Then at sundown, he left his cage, knowing that as long as he didn't see her, the command would not take over him. So he had to make sure to keep away every time he caught a human scent.

Though he knew things never worked in his favor, because after a few hours of searching… he finally caught her scent.

The command clicked in place. He knew unless he was killed, he would stop at nothing to eliminate Elyse.

The ambush had worked perfectly in Elyse's opinion. Their target had been a train of carts transporting humans, a target they went after every so often to spread word of the brewing rebellion as well as to free as many people as they could. It was a freezing cold wait for the carts to come by though, the night air chilly enough for Elyse to see her breath faintly.

Minutes turned into hours as they waited along the edges of the road, the rumble of wheels making every one of them nervous but ready for action. They sprang out from their hiding spots as the first cart rumbled past into the waiting arms of the group ahead of them, taking on the second set of vampires.

Elyse could remember a day when she watched her parents being carted away in one of these. The memory driving her to fight hard.

She was always part of the attack units, never one of the few that got to help free the people inside. The sobs of happiness reached her ears anyway as she stabbed and ended life after vampire life, the cries of thanks pushing her to keep going even as she received more than her fair share of slices and cuts from the creatures.

Times like this she treasured her memories. They made the killing go by faster. No matter how terrible they were.

Elijah gritted his teeth as he watched Elyse from the shadows. She was so much different than when they were children. She killed and killed, slaughtered his kind one after another, regardless of how much she got hurt in the process.

Elijah knew it was because he’d already eaten that he didn’t react to her blood, no matter how delicious it smelled. A part of him wondered if she’d taste delicious, too.

That thought made him hate himself so much more. How could he even think of that, how could he even think of his family like that? This was Elyse, the girl who befriended him and took care of him when they were younger. The girl who shared her food with him, who laughed with him, who—

Elijah gritted his teeth as the feelings he’d forgotten came back. The human part of him was burning the more he watched her, even though that part had been snuffed out.

The second Elyse killed the last of the vampires in her vicinity, Elijah couldn’t control himself, couldn’t hold himself back.

He threw a knife at her.

It was mere seconds after she had finally killed the last vampire when the knife sliced through the air at her. It was a target she couldn't dodge, mostly because she didn't see it in the darkness of the night. Maybe it was luck, maybe just pure chance that she turned when she did, the knife burying itself deep into her left arm instead of hitting her heart where it was clearly meant for.

Elyse dropped the moment it buried into her arm, sinking to her knees and staring at the metal. Where did that come from? She didn't remember being stabbed. She also didn't hear the muffled scream she let out, alerting the others of what had happened whether she wanted to or not. At least her black clothing would mask the bloodstains.

It didn't hurt as much as she expected it to..that was bad, right? Maybe it was just the adrenaline. Yeah, it was that she figured. That was what made the blood pouring out of her arm feel not so much like it belonged to her. Or maybe it was her blurring vision as she stared at it, unable to look away even as others began to rush to her side.

She passed out moments later, landing directly in the middle of a trail of blood coming from a corpse. At least the blood only stood out on her pale skin.

It was when the knife made contact with her arm that Elijah realized what he’d done. His eyes widened when she fell over, horror washing over him.

Elyse. What had he done? He should have held himself back. He should have controlled himself.

But he didn’t. And now Elyse was hurt and—relief coursed through his veins as he watched her team gather around her and declare her alive. Not fatally wounded.

Before they could declare something else, like the fact that she was live, he closed his eyes and darted away, knowing if he heard that information, Lilith’s hold on him would take over him again.

Then he blinked, paused. Wait. He thought back to a command she’d given him once, before she took it back. He was meant turn the human rebellion upside down. Get on the inside and bring it to ruins.

Elyse could be that catalyst for him. As long as he acted like he was doing it for the benefit of Lilith, he could control himself.

And maybe, just maybe, have Elyse look at him without that disgust. For now, he was just going to trail after them, see where they took the girl. Then he’d make contact.

For several minutes, Elyse was alone as her team split up and dealt with the last bit of the ambush. They didn't forget her when they left though, one of the strongest guys in the group picking her up as if she weighed no more than a doll. She definitely looked like a doll, resting limply in his arms with the knife still impaled in her arm. They had argued about the knife for a few minutes as they slipped into the woods, going straight towards their base instead of the way the others had went to a safe house. Some wanted to leave it in, others wanted it out. They left it in though, realizing that it was probably the thing keeping her from bleeding out on their way back.

Elyse didn't wake up from her blackout the entire time. Not even as they decided to stop after an hour of walking and set up a hasty camp to tend to some wounds and rest.

Elijah waited patiently in the shadows, wondering when he’d see Elyse again. Whether he’d see her again at all. What would he say once he was in front of her? Apologize? Tell her the truth? What good would that do, anyway? Nothing.

But after a few hours, at dawn, a tent opened and a girl with chocolate brown hair walked out, a bandage wrapped around the arm he’d wounded. An emotion he guessed as guilt slammed into him again. Once he was sure no one was coming after her, he followed.

This time, Lilith’s commanded didn’t burn him. This time, he felt no need to take her life. Though this time, an urge to run away clawed at him. Fear of finally seeing her again. Fear of seeing the disgust on her features.

But he needed to see her. They’d been separated too long.

Elyse was up with the sun. She wanted to sleep, badly, but her body had different ideas of how to spend her rare time above ground. And so, she stepped out of her shared tent without telling anyone where she was going to go.

It was a very stupid idea, she was well aware. No one would willingly let her take a walk if they knew she was going to though. So she cut out the middle man and just started walking away from camp into the woods. Her injured arm hung against her side and her hair was loose around her shoulders. It was no pretty sight though. She still was wearing the same blood crusted clothes and some was still dried to her skin even as she wiped at it and tried to brush it off.

Maybe there was a nearby stream she could wash off in. Then her walk wouldn't be quite as useless.