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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR the last grain of sand
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
NADINE ONLY HAD sixty-four minutes and thirty-two seconds before she was supposed to meet Five and the others in the alleyway, and yet, she was doing exactly what Luther had warned her not to do—she was dallying. Sure, it wasn't like it would take her long to reach the meeting point—all she had to do was go downstairs and out the doors—but if she kept going on like this, there was a very real possibility that she would miss the deadline regardless. The watch fastened to her wrist warned her of this, ticking steadily for every second she wasted, and still, she did nothing but pace back and forth.
When Diego and Luther had left, she'd started to make her way to Molly's room, fully intending to speak to her about Five's sudden solution. She'd only been halfway there, however, when a sudden burst of anxiety had surged through her. Before she knew it, she was back in the living room again, traipsing around in an attempt to burn off her nervous energy.
It was like the night she'd told Molly the truth, but somehow managed to be a hundred times worse. At least when she'd done that, she'd known that even if Molly rejected her, cast her out, they'd be in the same city, the same year. This was different. Now, if Molly decided to stay in 1963 while Nadine went to 2019, they'd be separated by decades. In 2019, she'd either be an old woman or dead.
I don't want to leave her. I can't leave her. Not today. Not when Molly had been the only girlfriend who hadn't abandoned Nadine when she'd learned her secrets. Not when her heart had so much love for her that her absence would create a visible crack. She couldn't. She fucking couldn't.
But she was running out of time. In exactly sixty-three minutes and twenty-one seconds, Nadine needed to be in that alleyway with the others. If she wasn't, she'd be stuck here... forever. She'd never see her dad again (well, at least when he was her dad). She'd never breathe in a world where she could marry who she wanted. Never exist in a society where she could finally become an Ichthyologist, a real Ichthyologist, without anyone telling her she couldn't.
The thought made her draw to a halt and take in a deep, shuddering breath. She had to do this. She had to. She needed to rip the bandage off and just break the newsto Molly.
Her eyes went to the dentist chair where Elliott's corpse had previously lain. It was empty, now, both of the body and the sheet that had covered it. Either Diego or Luther had taken the corpse with them when they'd left. They hadn't told Nadine, but she was all right with that. Elliott deserved a proper burial.
If only he hadn't died last night. Then perhaps Molly wouldn't be in such a fragile state.
No, Nadine corrected herself, stepping up to the chair. There were still smears of blood on it, remnants of the gore that had occurred in Elliott's mouth and chest. If only he hadn't died at all. He was weird, but he was kind, too. He let us all stay in his house when he could've just kicked us out. He made us coffee in the morning without being asked. He tried to help us solve the apocalypse, even when he didn't know what was going on half of the time.
