Life and Death part 11

If you haven't started reading this short story, now is the time! Life and Death

Part 11

The silence was deafening and was only broken after Alex grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Do you trust me Eve?” His voice was whisper and while she had heard what he was saying, the rest of them leant closer as the found it hard to hear it themselves.

Deep inside she really wanted to, but it felt like a loaded question. What was her trust in him going to cost her? He seemed to trust the others in the room and while she hadn’t been formally introduced to them, she could feel the connections between them. Her words failed her as she thought about what he was asking. With a slight nod of her head she answered. If she was going to die, this was one regret she could do without.

“Father if you wish to kill her, you are going to have to do it yourself.” The brothers gasped at the proposal and stared at Alex first in shock then her in sympathy. The shortest brother stepped forward. Aside from the eyes, he looked nothing like Alex at all. Eve was stunned. When Alex had asked her about trust she had not anticipated this. She didn’t know what to do. Could she really put her life in these people’s hands?

“Alex, do you know what you are suggesting?”

“Yes Levi, I know what I am doing. If father succeeds, I will mourn for the rest of my life, but if he fails, I have the chance of being happy.”

“Mitchell was right wasn’t he?”

“Yes my brothers, he was.” Alex was looking at them all as he said the words and they were looking at him. She had no idea what they were talking about, but it wasn’t hard to work out they were talking about her. She was scared. She was taking her life in her own hands and placing it in the hands of someone who wanted to wipe out all traces of her future existence. She could hear the blood pounding between her ears as her heart began to increase in beats. She stared at the older man before her. He had not said a word since Alex had suggested the idea. Instead he listened intently to the discussion happening before him.

 The room went quiet once more and everyone’s eyes turned to the older man as he spoke to Alex again. “You are willing to risk more than I gave you credit for.” He reached out and motioned for Eve to move closer to him. She felt compelled to listen to him and move towards him if nothing more than to prove a point. “This shouldn’t take too long my dear. I will try not to hurt you.” As she placed one foot in front of the other moving closer towards her she felt devoid of emotion. If this was the end she could accept it, but not without saying goodbye. She stopped a few feet away from the outstretched hand and turned back to Alex. His fear for what was happening was clearly visible on his face. Her stomach clenched as she unexpectedly wished that it had been him the night before and not Mitchell. “If this is my time, I understand, but first I want to say thank you for showing me how to have fun again and how to live. I don’t envy your job, but I no longer fear it either. I will miss you Alex for no other person could get away with half of what you have done recently and still have me like them like I think that I am beginning like you.” Turning to the brothers she continued to speak knowing that if she didn’t say it now, there may not be another chance. “I haven’t had the chance to know you all, but I can feel the connection between you all. Mitchell, will you take care of Alex for me if this is my end?”

“Of course Eve. We all will.” His voice sounded very sincere.

She couldn’t look back at Alex no matter how hard she wanted to. Tears were already threatening to fall, and one look would send her over the edge. Spinning back around Eve took the last few paces and gripped the outstretched hand with no further words spoken and no hesitation.

The grip was tight and sent a tingling trickle of fear through her system. There was no pain yet, but she suspected that it wouldn’t last. The look of concentration on the older man’s face was intense and scared her. The room was quiet and no one was game to say a word. Nothing but her and the man before her existed and even then she had trouble keeping her focus. She wanted to open her mouth to say something, but the power of speech was gone. Her mind, body and soul were being ripped from one another as she struggled to remain standing. This is what Alex had tried that first night and while she had survived that, this was more. Screaming inside she went from feeling nothing to feeling everything. Every tear, every ache and every stab of pain as she felt herself become drained of her energy. The tears that had earlier formed in her eyes fell unashamedly down her face. She suffered as she grew weaker, with his grip never once easing and the pain never once relenting.

Falling she lost the ability to hold herself up any further. He was totally in control and as he followed her descent to the floor she saw the look of triumph in his eyes. She didn’t want it to end like this. Not by his hands, where she had been annoyed when Alex tried to take her life, this man killing her felt wrong. Her body lay on the floor in a pool of sweat. It had been pushed to the limits and back and had suffered greatly under the stress. She felt like her mind and soul stood on the outside, as if they were watching from the sidelines. They called to one another, her body seeking the strength that it needed to withstand the last whispers of power that coated it from the inside. Joining once more in a last attempt to fight, they bypassed the licks of power and created a power of their own.

Her light against his dark. The triumph on his face was replaced with disbelief as they waged an inner war within her body. Her life or her death. Eve fought and struggled to rise to her feet once more she felt slightly stronger, but knew that it was not enough. She had to try and hold him off. Convince him that she was what Alex believed she was. It was the only way, but first she had to believe it herself. Sweat started to bead on his head as he tried to maintain control of the situation. Time was lost in the focus of what was happening in front of her. Seconds warped into minutes and hours without any warning. They stood in a room facing one another, neither willing to give in and accept what was right in front of them as the truth.

If she was life, this would never end, not unless she wanted it to. Looking deep inside her it was like a flash of light, the understanding of it all, the acceptance. It beat within her in ways that she could no longer deny. Her inner strength pushed her forward and pushed him away from her. Light beamed from her skin blinding her momentarily as her wings unfurled across her back for the first time and spanned outwards in a beauty never seen before by anyone in the room. The older man’s eyes shone in uncertainty, doubting everything that he knew and everything that he had ever been taught in the past. His grip finally loosened on her and she pulled free at last. Stepping back she struggled for breath. Eve already knew that he didn’t have to touch her to hurt her so she didn’t let her guard down. She was weak and as her wings came around her in comfort she lost the ability to stand again and slowly fell to the ground.

Watching Eve battle his father tore at Alex. Even as his brothers surrounded him in comfort he felt hollow inside. Together that had stood for hours just watching, silently wondering when it was going to end. None of them daring to speak throughout the exchange nor try and stop what was happening before them. He could feel his brother’s warmth as they tried to offer him support. What had he been thinking when he offered her to his father? Torn apart inside he tried to remain strong, tried to remember that this was the only way, but to see her there in front of him alone and vulnerable it scared him as he thought that he would lose her forever.

He was awed when he saw her wings break free of her clothes and expand. It was something that in all his time of killing the angels in the past, he had never seen them their wings used as a weapon. They seemed to make Eve stronger and the simple beauty of them dumbfounded his brothers just as much as him. Watching her break free of his father Alex felt his heart soar. She had won. She had done what no one before her had managed to do. She had beaten his father. He took a step toward her to let her know that he was there only to have to watch as she wrapped herself in her wings and fell to the ground.

Running now towards her never wanting to let her go, he managed to catch her just before she hit the ground. Her eyes were closed and the pain on her face was visible. Placing her gently on the ground he focused solely on her. Her breathing was shallow and even as he was looking for the rise and fall of her chest he was frantic at the fact that she might be dead after all. The brothers watched the exchange between Alex and Eve before turning their attention to their father who too was also on the ground. Torn between who to go to they split their force and as Mitchell and Levi went to Alex, Heath, Eric and Jordon knelt beside their father.

“Alex, take her home. Be with her and help her heal. We can deal with this all later.” Mitchell’s words broke through his subconscious. He felt Levi’s hand on his shoulder, supporting him, guiding him to rise to his feet.

“Are you strong enough to take her yourself or do you want my help?” Genuine concern flowed through his brother’s voice.

“I will be fine Levi. Thank you all for today. Will you tell the others?”

“They know already, but I will pass on your words.”

Nodding his head he reached down and picked up Eve. She was lighter than he had imagined and lay lifeless in his arms as he focused his energy and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in her room. It was dark outside which served to remind him how long they had been with his father. She still had not stirred. He placed her gently down on the bed, covering her with a blanket before her scrubbed his hands over his face and fought back tears of emotion. A thin layer of sweat still covered her skin. Grabbing a damp towel from the bathroom next to her room Alex wiped away the sweat and excess makeup from her skin before throwing the towel back through the open doorway to the bathroom. He was tired, but didn’t want to leave her alone. Warring with himself at what to do, he did the one thing that came unnaturally to him. He lay down in the bed with her, comforting her as she slept, holding her tight against his body to keep her warm and safe. Eventually his eyes closed and he succumbed to sleep.

He woke still holding her. It had been a long night and even though he had closed his eyes and slept, he still was exhausted. Eve’s wings were still wrapped around her, cocooning her with warmth and protection. Her face was pale and even with her eyes closed she still dark circles around them. Easing away from her Alex got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to wash his face. He hoped that the task would make him feel more awake than he currently was. The cold water on his face was refreshing, but didn’t stop him from stifling a yawn. Eve had yet to move and it concerned him. He needed to know that she was alright. He needed to see that things were going to be okay. Stepping back into the bedroom he took a seat beside her bed. Until she woke, he wasn’t going to leave her side.

“Has she woken at all yet?” Mitchell’s words startled Alex as he had been drifting asleep again and hadn’t heard him enter the room.

“No” he softly replied.

Mitchell sat down beside him and didn’t say a word. Together they waited, not once talking about what had happened. Slowly through the day each of Alex’s brothers came and went, each staying for a while to support him. Still she didn’t move. A few times he had gone over to her to make sure that she was still breathing. She still looked so fragile and broken. He would move around the room, but wouldn’t leave it.