For the past six days I had avoided any contact with Ethan, though he would come to my door constantly asking me to talk to him. The night after the incident he stayed at the door all night, pleading with me to let him in, at some points I could hear him sobbing, telling me how sorry he was. Needless to say that I didn't sleep the whole entire night, I couldn't bring myself to move anywhere. Not until the next morning when the birds started tweeting was I finally able to bring myself to the on suite to clean myself off, scrubbing my body clean until it started to hurt. Though I was sure that I would ever forget the smell of the blood.
The only type of interaction I've had with him, is the food that he left on a tray in front of my door, but usually he tried to talk to me, but I would always wait until his footsteps departed to get my food but by that time it was cold, but food none the less.
I sit on my bed, my arms wrapped around my legs as I rested my head on them, I needed another way to get both of us out of here, there was certainly someone who had to notice that the elderly man had gone missing. And at this day and age, they should've been able to pick up his last known location, this was a good thing but also a bad thing since it made Ethan more unpredictable, which made me wonder why he's waited so long and as to why no authorities had shown up yet.
I just hoped that Ethan wasn't taking it out his frustrations on Nathaniel, though it was clear that he had been taking some of them out on him. It was evident by the state of Nathaniel's voice that he was trying not to worry me when I spoke to him. His heartbeat was a little weaker than it should have been.
Suddenly there was the familiar knock that came around this time meaning it must've been around noon.
"Elena... please open up, talk to me..." comes Ethan's voice, slightly muffled by the door.
I continue to ignore him as I have been, pressing my face farther into my knees.
I hear him sigh and then the tray hits the floor, but this time his footsteps don't depart immediately and suddenly my door flies open and I literally almost fly off of my bed onto the other side.
I listen closely for his breathing, it was still calm which signaled that he wasn't angry. But I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Elena, I'm giving you one last chance to come with me peacefully... please,"
I shake my head. "Stay away from me..." I whisper.
He doesn't say anything as comes over to my side of the bed but I try and scramble across it but this no avail, he grabs me flinging me over his shoulder even as I protest, hitting his back with all that I had. But none of that seemed to phase him.
Soon he sit me down in a chair in the kitchen, still struggling in all, I could feel tears streaming down my face, not because of fear or sorrow. But because of anger, I was so unbelievably livid that I could spit.
That he could take someone's life so easily and not show, seemingly, any remorse.
I could feel his hand try to come up and white away my tears, but I slap his hand away before he could even touch me. "Don't. Touch. Me."
I swear that I could practically hear him whine.
I could hear his heart rate increase, but it wasn't out of anger, but out of anxiety I notice. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry don't be mad at me..." He pleads.
I turn my head away from him.
I hear him sigh. "Wait... here I'll be back..." with that he departs back down the hallway where my room was, but I hear him climb the stairs.
He couldn't possibly be...
A moment later two sets of footsteps come down the stairs, one pair greatly unsteadier than the other. And soon they both arrive and something is practically thrown at my feet or rather someone.
Nathaniel.
I have to resist jumping out of the chair right away, going so soon would be very suspicious. I point my attention in the direction of Ethan. "W-who is that?"
"A friend of yours... one I'm sure that you've been thinking about right, this is this Nathan guy who was supposed to get coffee with right?"
I jump out of the chair and kneel on the floor in front of me, acting any different would be strange, but besides that fact i really was concerned about him, I feel for his face trying to lift him up, but I could smell more blood than the last time I saw him, he was most definitely more injured. "Please, let him go, he has nothing to do with this..." I plead, I could feel tears running down my face again, but this time out of fear for Nathaniel.
There was no telling what more Ethan would do to him.
"Elena..." calls Nathaniel, his voice only a soft croak.
I turn my attention back to him, taking his face in my hands. I could feel the little cuts that filled his face, some were scabbing over and others I could feel were open, signaling that they'd probably been put there over the past couple of days. "Nathaniel, are you okay..."
He slightly laughs despite the situation. "I should be asking you that question, look at you..." I feel his hand come up to my cheeks, his hands calloused from some other form of work that he must do along side of being a waiter at that cafe. "You're crying..."
I bring my attention back towards Ethan. "Let him go... please. he needs medical attention."
His footsteps approach me and then I feel him crouch next to me. "And why should I do that? He could tell them where we're going, since it's quite obvious they are going to figure out that old man has gone missing,"
"He won't... I know he wont if I ask... but if you do anything more to him I'll never forgive you. Just let him go and I'll go with you where ever you want."
"Where ever?" he asks.
"Where ever." I confirm shaking my head. "Just let me help him and we can leave tonight, okay?"
"Alright, you have one hour... I'll pack your things." his mood turns seemingly darker when he addresses Nathaniel. "You try anything... especially on her and I'll make sure that you never walk properly again."
With that he leaves out of the front door, going to wherever he does out there. Nathaniel's tension leaves his body, most of his weight falling forward and I'm afraid that he's fainted.
"Nathaniel!" I say, feeling most of his weight slumped onto me.
"I'm alright, sorry about that..."
"You are most certainly not alright... that's far from the truth. Now help me help you, I can't lift you by my self."
With great effort we are able to get him into a chair and I proceed to wet one of the cloth and begin wiping his face off gently with it. "Is there something you want to eat, I think we still have some pasta and some cheese..."
"Seriously, Elena, thinking about something like that at a time like this?" he sighs frustratedly. "We need to figure a way to get out of here..." He whispers.
This time it's my turn to sigh and I shake my head as I fill a glass of water for him as well as a pot of water for the pasta. "No, we can't walk like that... you especially cannot talk like that, he will kill you."
"And I can't just leave you here with this psycho... not now when we have the chance to get out of here and put him away where he belongs."
I shake my head again. "I can't... I'll figure something out... but you, you need to live, if I accomplish nothing else for myself I will at least do this."
I pass the glass of water over to him.
I hear the pot of water begin to boil and place the pasta in.
"So you have to promise me that you won't say a word... Just go quietly... please."
There is a moment of silence between both of us where there was nothing but our breathing and the boiling of the water.
"I can't do that." he states finally.
And for the next few moments there is silence as I prepare the mac and cheese, giving it to him in a bowl.
"Thanks..." he mumbles.
And then the door opens again and Ethan enters the room. "Elena..."
"Yes?" I answer curtly.
"We need to start packing your things."
I nod. "I'll be right there."
His footsteps depart down the hall once again.
"I've got to go now... Just keep your head down." I say as I pass him, but he grabs my hand.
I place my hand on his shoulder giving it one last squeeze before heading down the hallway towards my room where I find Ethan waiting. I take a seat on my bed, taking my walking stick and placing it in my hands.
"I'm afraid I won't be much help here since I don't know what any of the clothes look like. Just pick out whatever you think I need to make us going away faster."
He doesn't say anything but he does come in front of me, and grabs my hands. I try and pull them away from him but he grips them tighter.
"I'm sorry, please don't be upset with me anymore... I'm sorry that I scared you, I would never do anything to harm you... I've never meant to scare you, I never mean for you to be afraid of me."
I scoff internally, never meant to scare me? This is all that this experience has been, fear. Lord only knows how my parents are doing, they never wanted me to move to New York in the first place, worried about something happening to me, well hasn't this just proved them right?
"Let's pack so that we can go. The sooner the better." I tell him.
He sighs and then lets my hands go.
For the next few moments it's just the sound of him packing the bag, out of nervousness I find myself twisting the ring around my finger, was there possibly a way to get him to tell me where we were headed.
"Do you have an idea of where we're going? That is if I can know,"
He chuckles. "Some where warm... near a beach. You still like the beach right?"
I nod. "So, Florida?"
"Hmm... Not quite... California, somewhere no one will recognize us, it'll be perfect."
California?
My mind almost froze at the thought, if we go there then I might never have a chance of escape. I doubt my missing story had gone national, I was just a girl from New York. If anything it might be across the eastern seaboard, but if we went west...
"I'm going to get somethings and clean up and then we will leave, okay?"
I just nod, unable to speak, a sick feeling once again beginning to settle it's self in my stomach.
He comes over and places his hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright? Not still mad are you?"
I take a breath. "Ah, no, just excited." I try and give him a genuine smile, hopefully it was convincing.
"Good," he kisses the crown of my head. "This will be quick." His footsteps depart down the hall and up the stairs.
I tighten my hands around the handle of my pointer, and then I open the drawer that contains my note book and started writing.
***
Hello beautiful people! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If so, please leave your thoughts below in the form of comments, I appreciate it! Also, don't forget to vote and share! And as always, I'll see you in the next one! ^_^/
-Flowereader230