Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you spot anything that needs fixed.
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Niles strolled into the room acting like he owned the place carrying a small brown bucket of what I assumed to be holy water. He nodded his thanks to the two older men who just finished fixing my door. They did a little bow back and resumed picking up their tools.
Niles walked straight to Elliot who was lounging on my bed staring off in space and didn’t seem too affected by his wounds. “How’re you feeling?” Niles asked and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Tired,” Elliot said as a yawn escaped his lips.
Niles ran his hand across Elliot’s forehead, “Bites?” He asked next.
I got up out of my uncomfortable wooden chair and shuffled over to join their conversation. I decided about an hour ago that I was going to believe what they said about the damned. I didn’t want to believe in magic but I didn’t have much of a choice. And after seeing it with my own eyes…I felt stupid trying to deny it.
“They quit bleeding about…fifteen minutes ago,” I told Niles for Elliot, because he still wasn’t paying much attention.
I really wanted to know why Elliot was so caught up in his thoughts… So I asked, “What’re you thinking about?”
Elliot glanced at me with a distant look on his face, “What?” He whispered.
Niles stood up and walked over to the side of the bed I was on so he could get a better look at Elliot. “You do seem lost… What’s on your mind little man?”
Elliot blinked a few times, cleared his throat, and looked Niles in the eye. “How did my parents die…? I know they were bitten, but that’s all I’ve ever been told… Did the damned kill them? Or…were they turned?”
I was surprised and shocked by his question but I could understand. I saw both my parent’s dead bodies so I’ve always known how they died. If I didn’t know how they were killed…I think it would have bothered me more. Watching the emotions cross Elliot’s face made me glad in a messed up way that Sir was sick and wanted me to see what was left of my family… but then again I still see their lifeless bodies whenever I close my eyes… So in a way Elliot is lucky.
Niles cleared his throat uncomfortably, “Are you sure you want to talk about this in front of Harper?”
Something that almost equaled a smile grew on Elliot’s face, “Maybe if you know something personal about me…You’ll let me know something about you.” He challenged as he looked me in the eye.
I stood there giving Elliot a blank stare, “There are reasons why I haven’t told you about my past.”
“What are they?” Elliot pleaded sliding to the edge of the over-stuffed bed.
“Personal?” I tried, looking to the ground and shuffling my feet.
“Please?” He begged then looked to Niles for help.
Niles cleared his throat again, “Umm…If I tell you how Elliot’s parents died…Will you tell us something…anything about your past?”
I thought about it for a second. There are some things I remember from before Sir captured me. But if they were going to tell me something as personal as the death of Elliot’s parents, I should give them the same courtesy, “Maybe.”
“Oh, come on!” Elliot whined bring his hands together, “I’ll get down on my knees and beg if I have to.”
I sighed, “Fine…I’ll tell you…something.”
“It can’t be anything like,” He cleared his throat and made his voice sound girly. “I broke my toe when I was five. Or I got my first kiss when I was 15.”
“Ok…”
Before I could say anything else he added. “It has to be something as horrifying or messed up as what we’re about to hear about my Mom and Dad.”
“Ok,” I said again not knowing what else to say.
Elliot stuck his hand out with his pinky raised, “Pinky promise,” He demanded.
I hesitated thinking about what I just agreed to then nodded and hooked pinkies with Elliot. Niles looked at us like we lost our minds. Elliot glanced at him and saw his expression so he explained. “If you break a pinky promise you’ll lose your pinky.”
“Really?” Niles asked skeptically not believing him.
“Well, we don’t really know…We’re too afraid to find out. I for one don’t want to lose my finger.” Elliot said looking pale but proud pointing to his chest.
Niles gave Elliot a toothy grin, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Elliot frowned, “That’s not fair,” and brought his fists down on the mattress.
“Neither is breaking your promises.” Niles countered.
“I don’t break them…that often.” Elliot defended sticking his chest out.
“Often enough,” Niles finished and Elliot’s chest deflated.
“So…” I said to get their attention. “What were we talking about?”
They both looked at me like they forgot I was there. Their stairs made me a little uncomfortable, but I guess it was a nice change from the looks I got from Sir and his men.
“Oh…Right,” Niles paused, “Where to start?” He said looking up.
Elliot’s smile left his face and he looked to his hands that were fidgeting in his lap. I felt for him. I knew what it felt like to lose your parents. The first few years were really hard on me…I still miss them like crazy but back when I was a kid…They were all I ever thought about. I would curl up into a ball on the cold cement floor of my cell and cry, unable to sleep wishing they were still with me. Trying desperately to remember the good times I had with them, but instead all I saw were my mother’s blank unseeing eyes and my father’s headless body. I couldn’t imagine how Elliot felt losing his parents and not knowing exactly what happened to them. In a way he was both blessed and cursed.
“You were about four years old when it happened,” Niles started. Elliot nodded his head already knowing the age he was when his parents were taken from him. “I remember it was just at sunset when your mother asked me if I would accompany her and your father to the market…They needed to get something…I don’t remember what, but it was really important to her.” Niles paused looking at Elliot who seemed to be holding his breath.
Elliot gave a hand gesture for him to continue I’m guessing he already knew this part too. I watched silent not knowing what to think. “I said no at first but she begged and begged… She was so desperate.”
Niles saw my confused expression, “After dark everyone is required to have a guard with them when they leave the castle grounds or go outside.” He explained.
“I agreed to go with them…I had two other guards come with us because the damned were attacking more often than normal…We were the only group of people that were in the market besides the shop owners and the guards assigned to them. I remember how dark and eerie it was. The moon was hidden by angry clouds and the wind was so strong I couldn’t hear much."
"Before we got to the shop your parents wanted to visit…Four of the damned came out of the dark. The strongest looking damned in the group went straight for your father and the others came at me and my men. It was hard to see or hear what was going on. Swords were streaking through the dark, men were being thrown into buildings, and it just started to rain. I could hear men yelling and I saw some leave their posts at the shops to come help us…I figured your father would be fine because he was one of the kings best men…When I heard your mother scream I looked to where she was, dreading what I would see."
"She was headed straight for the damned your father was fighting. He was holding your fathers limp body...Your mother picked something up off the ground and started hitting him with it. The damned dropped your father’s body…I tried to get to them, but another group of the damned came out of nowhere, blocking my way.
"I watched and fought to get to them as the damned grabbed your mother and bit her neck. She screamed and the damned did something to stop her cries. He then disappeared with his teeth still piercing your mother’s throat…”
Niles took a deep breath and kept his eyes away from Elliot, “We all thought she was dead...We gathered the bodies of our fallen and burned the bodies of the damned we managed to take out…Your father was completely drained and your mother was missing…"
"A week or so later there was another attack in the market…It was the biggest group of the damned I’ve ever seen…We didn’t understand why they were attacking in groups. They’ve never done it before. The damned were unable to work together, always looking to be the most dominant or something. Usually if there was more than one in an area they’d try to kill each other…” Niles closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “When we got to the market the first damned I spotted in the crowd was your mother…She looked like one of them…sick, pale, dead…here eye were the same black and red combination as the damned…and evil…I don’t know who took her out, but I founder her body after we won the battle. “