A Collection of Ruins

Chapter 9 - Momma, I Just Killed a Man (Ellie)

Elieanora

Cigarette smoke assaulted my nose, evidence of the dirty habit littered on the dirty ground. Voices, one on top of the other, competing to be heard. A good natured rivalry. They never so much as heard me coming.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three rounds, three men. Dead.

I didn't bare well with traitors.

Sliding my gun into the waistband of my jeans, I turned to the sobbing girl who was now sprayed with blood and wearing her fear.

"Stop crying, sweetheart. It ain't going to get you anywhere except for the wrong end of my gun." I told her.

"W-why?" It was still a goddamn sob. "They were my family!"

I walked until I was crouched in front of her. "Because they were selling information to the Met council, sweetheart. Do you know what that does to my family?"

* * *

I pressed my eyes shut, flashes of dropping bodies dancing behind my eye lids. I wished desperately that I wanted to cry.

I wondered if this was why my mother had left. Had she been too disgusted by a husband that could murder without blinking? By a daughter that would follow in his footsteps? Had she somehow known even then, that I wouldn't shed so much as a tear in the face of death? Death dealt by my hand? If she had loved me, wouldn't she have taken me with her and raised me within the safety of the Met-Wall?

Perhaps she had known not to let a lion roam the gilded cage that was the Met. Because for all its comforts, it was a cage all the same. Maybe it was a display of love for her people. Perhaps she had taken one look at my tiny hands and had foreseen the red that would forever stain them as they grew to those of an adult's. Opening my eyes, I stared at those very hands. My hands. Wasn't it a condition of monsters that they didn't think of themselves as such?

* * *

 "How bad is it?"

"You should have seen this comin'." Ronan's eyes were a knife, his mouth a single hard line.

"How bad is it?" I asked again, my blood boiling.

"This is why the rule was implemented in the first place." Ronan growled, still ignoring my question.

"Do you think I don't know that, Ronan? My father made the goddamn rule."

"But you aren't your father." He snapped. The word he hadn't verbalised hung in the air like a dark cloud; obviously.

My heart stuttered a beat before anger urged it to pick up its pace.

 "El—"

 "Don't you dare try to take it back now."

"Ellie—"

"Say it Ronan. If it's what you think of me, at least have the courage to say the words to my face."

"Fight and live or fight and die, that's the rule. We kill those who fail the test for a reason. They were Sterilians in all ways but one, know more about us than most, if they lose the fight they die, it's the only way to ensure all our safety. You're playing with our lives Ellie, by banishing them instead you allowed this to happen. This is your fault". He paused to push a hand through his hair, "Chris wouldn't have liked doing it but he would have, he would have taken responsibility".

"I took responsibility." My voice was ice.

"Your father would never have let it go that far."

I had just threatened to cut out a man's tongue for less than Ronan's words.

I was the leader of Sterilis. I stared down the barrel of a gun and into the eyes of my own morals and historical traditions, both of them encouraging me to break, and made the hard choices. If it meant allowing more people to live, giving them a chance, I would suffer the consequences, clean up the mess. Who was he to question that? But he was Ronan, if I didn't have him...

"I might not be my father, but you, Ronan, are definitely taking after yours." I sneered.

* * *

I took in the room before me, faded by time and damaged by history. My father's blood still stained the floor. Death and decay had been a member of my household for as long as I could remember. Ronan's father had once stood where Ronan did now, leaning in the entryway, arms crossed and one ankle in front of the other. Donny with her striking blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes sat perched upon the counter her brother had once bent over, with his arms flat upon the surface, palms touching, fingers interlocked. Jev and James's chairs were ajar and empty at the right hand side of the table, where their father had always sat, a great contrast to his boys. Santiago sat on the left, his olive complexion and copper hair marking him as the son of one of Sterilis's greatest men.  And I, I was at the head of the table where I had once sat upon my father's lap.  Back then, I hadn't known this place would soon become my hell. 

Ronan spoke first. "We're fucked."

"We've lost our back up method into the Met, the barcode." Santiago said from his place at the table., seconding Ronan's opinion.

"It was pure luck we had him in the first place." Donny argued. "He came to us. It was never part of the original plan. After all, it seems irresponsible to only have one method of entry to the Met."

"That one method is more than anybody has had before." Santiago muttered.

"Enough." I snapped, my voice cut through the arguing. "Not only have we successfully secured entry into the Met, we have convinced—"

"Ahem bribed" Ronan interrupted.

I shot him a sour look; "—convinced a man on the council to delay votes that cause us further harm. We have also found and secured the daughter of the Met's police chief, who could be useful in us gaining intel. Yes, that we had to send in Matt to get her is inconvenient, but as Donny said, he was never an original part of the plan. We can and will adapt. Yes, I realise that my actions led to people selling money to the Met, but Jev and James are taking care of it while they are in the city. The Rats will hold the girl, and Matt will convince her to come quietly. When Jev and James are done they will bring them both here—"

"Ellie!" the back door burst open, my name suddenly echoing off the house's haunted walls.

"Ellie!" Moss scrambled into the room, then leaned over bracing his hands on his knees, breathing hard.

"Take a breath, son." Ronan ordered from the arch that led to the lounge room. "What is it?"

"Ellie," Moss gasped, "it's the rats. They've been invaded. It's the Met police force."

From across the room, I met Ronan's eyes. "We're fucked."