The Uprising (Book #3 in The Inception Trilogy)

chapter nineteen

(sorry for the wait! I was sick, but this is a decently long (7 pages in google docs long)/intense chapter so I hope that makes up for it, and for the fact that this is unedited too... go figure, lol. enjoy xx)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

EVELYN'S BREATH STOPS.

Her eyes snap shut with a new rush of tears still escaping them.

She waits to feel the cave of flesh, the crack of bone. She waits to hear the last breath leave his soft lips, the lips she only got to peck with barely a taste. She waits to feel his body stop trembling beneath her. She waits.

She waits.

And she waits.

It dawns on her that her arms have not moved. She has not moved. Her eyes open, hesitantly, and she's staring down at an equally shocked Harry as he winks one eye open. He'd been waiting for the blow, too. His cheeks are wet, but she's not sure if it's from her own fountain of tears or if he shed some himself. His confused yet hopelessly relieved eyes stare back at her, however, she doesn't allow herself to be relieved just yet.

She manages to dart her eyes over to the boy controlling her. Her body shakes, but now his is quivering too. His eyes are narrowed in focus, a trickle of blood leaking from his right nostril onto his thin lips. Some begins to ooze from his left ear. His hands are clenched tightly. His nails draw blood in his palms. Evelyn watches it drip onto the concrete. She listens to it splatter.

What's happening?

She feels another force pushing on her--more like pushing against her--and a slice of panic strikes through her at the thought of another child entering the arena. She can feel Harry's erratic breath on her face as her eyes roam frantically for the cause of this second tug.

Then she spots Maxie standing at the edge of the balcony, gripping the rail tightly as her eyes narrow with concentration.

To anyone, she looks like a girl worried for her friend.

To Evelyn, she looks like a disguised hero saving the day.

Evelyn lets out a shuddering breath of relief and stops fighting, knowing that it is Maxie who has gained control over her body. Instantly, she's off of Harry and on her feet, but her relief is short-lived. The child realized he could not fight with Maxie, so he takes over Harry instead. Evelyn can see it in the way his face contorts with struggle and dread, his hands clenched tightly at his sides as he stands tall in front of her.

Maxie keeps ahold of Evelyn, aware that given the chance the child would drop Harry and switch to Evelyn, only to keep going back and forth between the two to prolong the inevitable. Evelyn doesn't fight with Maxie, which makes her much more graceful than she had been under the reluctant control of the child. She sidesteps easily from Harry when he lunges, then the two are facing off again.

Evelyn's hand tightens on the knife--she isn't sure if it's her own doing or Maxie's.

Harry bares his fangs--definitely not his own doing.

The crowd releases a deafening roar of excitement and anticipation.

Evelyn's eyes skirt the perimeter of the arena to where the child stands, eyes on Harry, though he's seemingly more exhausted than before. She feels her body begin to navigate nonchalantly towards him by Maxie's control. Her chest constricts of its own accord, however. She does not want to relive the feeling of murdering a child. She cannot possibly cope with that enormity of guilt.

Suddenly there's a yank on her hair, then her back slams hard on the concrete. She sees stars in her vision, her head feeling very light. She blinks hazily, just as Harry crouches on top of her, one hand roughly gripping her chin while the other snatches the knife out of her palm. And though she feels the pain, Maxie cannot and forces Evelyn to fight back. She kicks Harry in the stomach, futilely at first, then harder the second time. He falters only a second, long enough for her to grip his belt loop since he has no shirt to grasp, and she pulls hard enough to toss him off of her. She stumbles to her feet, still feeling the impact from landing.