Fourth Generation

XXVI: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Immediately the goatee man's thumb shoots to the back of my neck, and he backs away within seconds. "Release her. Now."

The men let me go in awe and confusion, and I rub my wrists. "We need to get you guys out of here as fast. We don't have much time, and I don't doubt that the authorities have ready been called."

"How?" The goateed man takes my hand, "How did you get here? How have you not been caught?"

"I can't explain it now," I lower myself to the ground and take my heels off, tossing them to the side. "You need to get all your men here as soon as possible."

"Elysia!" Amell calls as footsteps drum down the hall.

I frown and curse Amell's persistence before opening a nearby storage closet door and shove everyone in it. "Wait here, you can come out when I knock twice."

The men stay quiet, and I shut the door and turn to find Amell panting, looking down the hall. His eyes lay on me and widen. His face is flushed, hair tossed, and part of his dress shirt is untucked from his pants. Immediately he sprints to me, but I keep my feet planted. He immediately grabs my shoulders and looks my body over out of breath. His fingers find their way to my bloody throat.

"I'm going to make them wish they died," Amell's gaze is dark and serious. My hand touches the side of his face, and I clench my jaw. I can't lie to him... but I can't put him in a position where he's forced to betray his father.

"You need to go." I gulp and pull away, "You need to go back."

"What?" Amell grabs my wrist, but I yank it back as well.

"I can't lie to you. I am going to help Generation One escape, but I'm not going to make you betray your family, your generation, because I decide to do it."

"You don't have to do it." Amell shakes his head, his brows furrowed.

"I do. What they are doing is something I'd risk my life for. They are a group of people who won't hurt me because of what I am. How could I not stand by them?"

"You don't know that being a Defect will grant you safety." Amell's face of confusion has now shifted to frustration.

"Being a Defect has never granted me safety! Someone will always want me dead." I back away from him and shake my head, "You wouldn't understand."

"No, I don't completely understand." Amell takes a step forward, "But I care about you and don't want you to get killed when you try to help them."

"That's her choice," a man opens the storage door as Generation One stands behind me, "not yours."

"Amell," I take a breath in and approach him, "if you turn them in, you will be forced to turn me in as well. I tried to help them. Therefore I am an accomplice."

Amell knows that if I am turned in, I will be killed. He purses his lips, and he takes a step forward. "I'll help you escape, but if you ever attack another innocent family and murder them in cold blood... I won't hesitate to hunt you myself."

"We don't kill innocent people," the goateed man growls. They hold a deadly glare, each man gritting his teeth in an attempt to create a cage for their tounges.

Amell keeps his face aloof as he briskly walks past them. "We need to get to the basement down the stairwell."

Everyone follows, and the goatee man calls on his radio for his men to meet him in the basement on the Westside. We run through the halls before rejoining the final members as we make it to the stairwell. Everyone is on edge, guns pointing, ready to shoot.

I have never been to this side of the mansion, so I hastily follow Amell. These men have put their trust in me to get them out alive, and I have put my faith in Amell that he will keep his word. Hopping down the last step, we land in a large room made of cement. Amell opens a keypad and pops out a few wires disengaging it instead of using the code.

"Smart boy," the goatee man nods at Amell's work, "don't want them to know you helped us."

Amell remains supercilious and stony as the door opens to a skinny, seven-foot-tall tunnel of cement and lights leading out.

"This leads to a dense forest on the west side of our house. Leave now and head North. You will be covered by the night and thickets. The authorities won't suspect you will head towards the Second Generation." Amell crosses his arm and stares at the men with a misanthropic glare.

They are silent and nod their heads before sprint out of the room down the tunnel. Their guns and shoes clink and echo off the walls. The last man to leave is the man with the goatee.

He pauses and pats Amell's shoulder. "Sorry about threatening to kill you, buddy. If it means anything, you give me hope."

"It doesn't mean anything, and I didn't do it for you." Amell peers at me before back at him.

"I know, and that's why I have hope... I will remember what you've done for us today." He turns around and gives me a cordial smile, "Would you like to come?"

I open my mouth and close it while approaching him. "Yes..."

Amell's head snaps to me, and his brows furrow. "What?"

I look at the goatee man, "I'll meet you at the end of the tunnel. If I'm not there two minutes after you, leave." He nods and jogs off, leaving Amell and me alone.

"If you do this, there is no coming back. I can't save you. You'll be hunted for treason." Amell's arms are crossed tightly over his chest as he glowers.

"I can't make a difference here." I approach Amell and touch his hand. "But out there," I look down the tunnel, " I can be some use."

"What about your powers?"

"I'll keep practicing."

"What if you lose control and kill more people. People who you are fighting with, not against."

"That won't happen because I won't have people trying to kill me." I shake my head, withdrawing my hand.

"You don't know that!" Amell yells and turns away, his hand covering his mouth.

"Amell," I whisper and embrace my hand to my chest, "I don't belong here, but I might belong with them."

"What about Sam?" He whispers back, his voice shaking. "What about me?"

I let a tear slip down my cheek, and I wrap my arms around him, resting my head between his shoulder blades. "Thank you for saving me, but I can't put your family at risk any longer. You have Bianca too... she'll give you everything you could ever want."

Amell's silence persists, so I pop up on my tiptoes and lean over his shoulder, kissing his cheek. I hold my lips there for a couple seconds before whispering in his ear, "Take care, Ace."

I back away from him and wipe the tears welling in my eyes. I wish he would turn around and look at me. Selfishly, I want to see his face once more. I want him to see me once more. The next time we see each other, he may not look at me with the same compassionate eyes. I take one last look at his broad back before I dab my nose and run down the hall, my bare feet padding on the cement floor.

Everyone will be happy without me. I will find Sam and Pa and take them with me. This is what I am meant to do.

Part of me would've stayed if I hadn't known Amell was engaged to someone. It's a simple-minded thought. Amell is to love and cherish Bianca, any hope of something more is impossible.

However, I'm not sure if I'd stay if Amell was a Bachelor. I'm not sure if Amell is enough for me to stay...