The Death of Hope

Chapter Eighteen

​Victoria sat, her back ramrod straight. She willed herself into a tense silence, waiting. Eloise kept up a constant conversation with The Leader, her adoring smiles and happy laughter giving Victoria strength for what she was about to do.
​She closed her eyes, fighting to keep her hatred under control. He was so close, so strong, so worthy of her hate.
​"Aren't you going to try the food, Victoria?" The Leader asked, his lips twisted in a taunting smirk.
​"No," Victoria replied, determination dripping from her words.
​He turned, his eyes piercing through her soul like a sword. Stay strong, Victoria, for Eloise.
~~~~~
​Callan could barely control himself. He wanted to reach the short distance and break her neck. No, my love, remember, we will make her pay. Colette reminded him, her voice soft.
​He let a smile slide across his face. "Come, pet..."
​"No. I will never obey. I will not do as you say, ever. You can kill me for all I care, but I will not obey a murderer."
​"Victoria Towers," Callan hissed, his voice laced with malice. "I can snap my fingers and burn the entire Lower City to the ground. I can burn down an entire Residence Building just by batting my eye. I have done it many times before, and I can do it again."
​She rolled her eyes. Don't kill her, not yet. "A whole Residence Building? How does it feel? To have the blood of hundreds on your hands? Do you even remember which buildings? How many you killed?"
​"Residence Building eleven, twenty-four, sixteen, thirteen, eight. Four hundred and thirty-seven dead."
​She paled, but smiled, pure hatred turning her into a demon. "You, my Master, murdered Eloise's parent's, you burnt her three-year-old brother to a crisp. You killed them all, you broke her long before I was even in her life. Before she could talk."
​"Callan? Please, tell me it isn't true?" Eloise's soft voice broke through his scattered mind.
​"What isn't true, sweet?"
​"Don't call me that ever again." Her words felt like a slap. "You are a murderer, you..."
​"Eloise, I..." She didn't let him finish. Before he could blink she threw herself towards the Captain, standing, quietly, in the corner. He couldn't stop her from grabbing his gun from his hip.
​"Eloise, don't." Victoria's voice is like a battering ram, breaking through his pain and pushing him into action.
​Callan turned and wrapped his fingers around Victoria's exposed throat, squeezing.
Punish her, my love, make her pay.
~~~~~
​Victoria's mind screamed for oxygen. She could feel her limbs begin to weaken, going slack. Her vision floated with blackness.
​"I hate you," Eloise said, her voice grim. "You never loved me, you only wanted me to use. You only wanted Victoria."
~~~~~
​All Eloise could feel was her hatred as she aimed, and pulled the trigger. His chest blossomed with red as he collapsed to the floor, dragging Victoria down with him.
​"No, Callan," Eloise screamed. She felt as if her heart had been ripped in two. What have I done?
~~~~~
Victoria struggled to untangle herself from his weakening arms. Eloise ran forward, shoving her aside to be near him.
"Eloise... My dear, sweet, Eloise." He gasped, blood dripping from his pale lips. "You were the only one I loved. You... you kept the voices away, you silenced them, if only for a while... Please, make them go away, let me die in peace." A single tear trickled down his face, the first sign of weakness Victoria had ever seen.
"Callan, please..." Tears streamed down her face as her blood-soaked hands pressed against his wound. "I didn't mean to, please... forgive me, please..."
"I, I... Thank you." His face slackened, his eyes dimmed and glazed over. Blood trickled down his neck, falling into a puddle on the cold floor.
Victoria could taste the death in the room, the palpable feeling of doomed souls.
"What have I done, Vicky?" Eloise was frantic, running her fingers down his lifeless jaw, leaving dripping, red, trails behind her small fingers. "What have I done?"
Victoria could almost hear Eloise's heart breaking. "Eloise... Eloise, we need to go. Now." Her voice was hoarse, but her strength had returned in full force.
"Not so fast, Victoria." A grim chuckle came from the shadows.
Victoria lunged for the gun, lying a few paces away but he shoved her down, setting his knee against the small of her back.
"What do you want?" Victoria gasped, her hands scrabbling for anything to use as a weapon.
"From you? I don't want anything other than to make myself very clear." He dragged her up, pulling her towards the large hearth covering one wall. "I'm going to let you go. Give you a head start." A metal rod lay in the embers, glowing red. "It's not fun to catch your prey if they don't run, is it?"
Victoria struggled against his grip, but her limbs seemed to have a mind of their own.
​"Don't try to fight me, Victoria. I will soon be The Leader. Soon all will bow to me." He lifted the metal rod. "Soon, you will be mine." He pressed the glowing metal against her exposed collarbone.
​Pain seared through Victoria's body, encasing her in a torturous agony that seemed to never end.
​"I'll give you... twelve minutes," He whispered in her ear. "Better run, Victoria, before it's too late."
​Victoria could barely hear him leave over the sound of her muffled screams.
​"Vicky..." Eloise stumbled over, tears streaming down her face. "We... We need to go. We need to find Rip."
​Victoria stumbled to her feet, gathering all the strength she could find as she took one step after the other. With Eloise by her side, Victoria turned, and ran.
~~~~~
​They were at the Wall. The tall, dark, ruin that kept the unknown wilderness from creeping in towards the Cities. The ruins that trapped the City's occupants from leaving. Victoria squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to be strong.
​"Run, Eloise, I'll follow behind you," she urged the child. She watched as Eloise ran, out into the wasteland. Out into freedom. Victoria ran also, but far away from the others.
​She absentmindedly ran her fingers over the lump on the back of her neck. You must leave them, for their sake. You must protect them. She urged herself, as she ran from her only allies in the world.
As she ran from her family.