Ella held Dylan's hand as they both walked down the flight of steps off the airplane. The engines were loud, roaring in Ella's ears as they shut down. Ella couldn't help but have a smile from ear to ear as they both walked off the steps and into the fancy car that would take her and Dylan to wherever Charlie was.
Dylan was also very happy with last night. She could tell. He smiled each time he looked at her, and had a slight bounce to his walk.
Ella didn't care that she lost her virginity. She couldn't be happier right then. She had just been basically left to survive on her own by her mother, but lucky for her, Dylan and Charlie were there for her to get her through the hard time. Especially Dylan.
"So, you ready to meet the big man?" said Dylan. He had a grin on his face as Ella got in the car and fell onto his lap.
"Yup," she said with a smile, "but there's no way he can be sexier than you." Ella rubbed her hand through his long blonde hair as he bent down for a peck.
"So" said Ella, "Is Charlie the one who's been texting me this whole time? Or have you just been the messenger boy?" Ella chuckled as she looked at the phone that Dylan had given her when they were by a bar in Los Angeles, where she was SUPPOSED to meet Charlie.
"No, it had been Charlie," said Dylan. "He even used the fact that he was contacting you to threaten me into certain things." Ella felt Dylan tense up as he remembered whatever the 'certain things' were. It was obviously bothering him, so she decided not to ask.
"Can you tell me why he sent you to pick me up instead of going himself?" she asked. She put on her 'puppy dog' face as she looked at Dylan so he would tell her, just in case he wasn't aloud to give out that info.
"I, actually don't know why," he said. "But when he offered, I took advantage of the situation and accepted the job." Dylan grinned and looked down at Ella. He ran his hand through her soft, dirty-blonde hair.
"Do you think he'll let us sleep in the same room while we're there?" she asked. She felt like Dylan should be with her the whole time. She would feel vulnerable if he was gone.
"We'll have to see. Quick tip... you gotta be careful when you're asking him questions. He's kinda easily ticked off," He said.
"So you're saying you'll try?" asked Ella. She tried to sound like she really needed it. In a way she did.
"I'll try, but if the right conditions never happen, we'll just have to go with the flow and see if it's something we can decide on our own, or something."
Ella sighed. She can't imagine another night without Dylan anymore. Last night she finally felt like there was someone whom actually loved her, and wanted her to feel special.
The two of them both sat in the car for a while. Ella in Dylan's lap, just listening to the music on the radio, and looking out the window.
"Dylan?" said Ella.
"yeah,"
"Is Charlie your age? Like, is he a friend of yours or something?" asked Ella. She had to be careful about the way she asked this question, because Dylan was most likely not aloud to give out Charlie's age.
"I don't know how old he is, and I wouldn't say he's like a buddy, but he's been there for me at some harsh times." he said.
"Like when?" she asked, rubbing her hand up and down his arm.
"Well... He's always kind of been like a father. I guess. He was the adult in my life. I wouldn't say he was very nurturing," Dylan laughed, "but he's kind of been my role model."
So, he's an adult... thought Ella. What a creeper! And he spends his time talking to teen girls on Facebook! Ew!
As Ella started to drift off again, she noticed that Dylan was starting to tense up again. He seemed somewhat disturbed or bothered by something.
"Dylan?" said Ella.
"Yeah,"
"When we get to Charlie's place," Ella took in a breath and let it out "can you promise you won't leave me there alone?" she looked up at Dylan who was looking down at her. Their eyes met and they locked into each other.
"I... I-can't promise you that." said Dylan. He looked away. Ella managed to see a hint of a weak link the moment before he lost her eye contact.
"Why not?" said Ella, trying to keep her cool, so she wouldn't start panicking.
"Because, I think I already told you this, but they're sending me out to be part of the flock for a while. Remember?" He said.
"Yeah, but, that's not for a while though right?" she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice.
Dylan looked out the window with a steady gaze, "I don't know. They haven't told me when, or how all this is going to play out yet." he said. "I don't even know if your part of the plan is with the flock, or here at Charlie's."
Just as he said that Ella felt the road turn from smooth, to gravel.
"We're almost there," Dylan said as he started to sit more upright.
"What's going to happen?" said Ella.
"I don't know," said Dylan. He squeezed a big arm around Ella's chest and shoulder's.
Just as the car came to a stop, Ella noted that they weren't in some neighborhood, or town or anything like that. They were out in who-knows-where, on what looked like a big flatland, that had no buildings except for a one-story, concrete, box-like structure. It was obviously some type of facility for doing something, but it had barely any windows, no landscaping, and a big iron fence surrounding what looked to be, maybe 2 or 3 acres. The place looked like a small abandoned prison.
"This way," said Dylan as he put a hand on Ella's shoulder to distract her from the unattractive facility where they would be staying for a while.
"it's horrifying," said Ella, putting her head on Dylan's chest as they walked.
"i know, but it's not too bad from the inside," said Dylan trying to calm her nerves.
They walked through a gate with numerous locks of many types and styles, and through a heavy door that bolted behind them, locking them in the building.
"Dylan put his arm around Ella's shoulder to show her that he was there and wouldn't let anything happen to her.
They walked down a couple halls, each getting somewhat more welcoming. They passed a couple of nicely carved benches and the halls became carpeted with intricate patterns. Paintings started to show up on the walls.
Weird... all the paintings have people in lab coats... Ella thought. She was having a hard time stitching together the fancy furnishings and the creepy-looking paintings.
"Well, this is where you'll be most of the time. My place is right across the hall," said Dylan as he looked at Ella with a face that had 'is that close enough for you' all over it.
Ella decided to get a good look around the place. There was the door to the hallway that separated her from Dylan, and on that same wall there was a sink, some cabinets, and a small mini-fridge, along with a microwave. All the standard items of a hotel-room kitchen. There was a decent sized bathroom to the left, with marble floors, and gold trimmed EVERYTHING. Then there was the bed... DANG! The bed was huge! It had to be at least a king size.
On the wall opposite from the bathroom was a cabinet with sliding doors, and a dresser to the right. Centered on the ceiling was a simple chandelier that somehow had a ceiling fan as part of it too.
"not bad... I approve," said Ella with a chuckle.
Dylan laughed and grabbed Ella's hand as their escorts led them out and further down the hallway. They made a right then entered what looked like was a small cafeteria. It was carpeted, with simple, cushioned chairs and tables scattered throughout the big room. Ella also saw a small serving line along the far wall... this was one of the few rooms that had a line of small windows, just below the ceiling.
Dylan whispered, "This is where we'll be eating most of our meals."
The escorts then rushed them out of the cafeteria and through some double doors further down the hall.
Dylan looked at his watch and whispered in Ella's ear, "If we're late, Charlie will get mad, and the escorts don't want to get in trouble."
That helped calm Ella down due to the sudden rush of time.
Just past the double doors, there was a big room of what one would call 'cubicles'. It looked like a small little office area. There was a door on the far wall, that said "MR. C" on a plaque. The four of them navigated through all the cubicles then to the door. One of the escorts knocked on the door, and it was opened immediately by a women whom was very pretty.
"Ah... Dylan, you're here. It's about time. You're not late, but you're darn close to it." she said as they walked in. Ella felt the lady looking at her as she sat down next to Dylan in what looked like a waiting room.
"He's ready, you guys don't have to sit down," said the lady. She must've been a secretary.
Dylan took Ella's hand and walked through the door first, the two of them both sat down in two chairs in front of a big desk. Behind the big desk was that man from the video text Ella had gotten on her cell phone, the night at the hotel. He was large, and looked Asian.
"Hello Ella. I've been excited for the day we meet," he said. He got down out of the chair behind the desk, and Ella realized he was actually somewhat short, maybe, 5 foot.
"Hi, I'm Mr. Chu. No... Not Charlie, that was just my user name on Facebook." he said.
"Oh... hey... you're that guy that's been after the flock all the time!" she said. Then she started laughing.
"I don't see what's so funny about that." said Mr. Chu.
She pulled herself together and said, "I admire you're effort that you've put in to destroying Max, sir. Trust me, I'm all for it!" she said as she shook his hand.
"that's great, Ella. Nice to meet you too. Now if you don't mind I have to talk to Dylan for a few seconds, then the two of you can go head off and roam around some more okay?" he said.
"Cool," said Ella. She headed for the door and gave Dylan a small Grin as she passed him.
Ella sat out in the waiting place while Mr. Chu talked to Dylan. There wasn't any yelling or anything, so she guessed Dylan wasn't in trouble. When the door opened, he looked sad for a split second, but perked up once his full face was in view and smiled at Ella. Ella walked up to him and hugged him. Dylan was a little tense, but Ella waited until they got back to her place to talk about it.
Ella flung herself on the bed, and Dylan laid down next to her. The two of them just stared at the chandelier swinging in the breeze of the fan for a minute.
"Ella," said Dylan.
"Yeah?" she said, as she turned onto her side so she could look at Dylan.
"Mr. Chu is sending me out to meet up with the flock in a few hours," Dylan paused and saw the broken look on Ella's face, "i wish we had more time, Ella, I thought we'd at least have a few days,"
Ella looked away to hide the tears she had streaming down her face. Dylan gently tugged on her shoulder to get her to look at him. But she just couldn't. Here she was, in a strange new place, having to survive in this jail without the love of her life? He was supposed to be here to help her through this!
"Ella... Ella... Ella!" said Dylan, almost desperately. "C'mon Ella! Please... be strong. I can't leave here knowing that you can't keep yourself together without me." he said.
"What! You want me to be able to just push you away and survive without you after all that we went through last night?" she sobbed, "How can I do that? For all I know, I could be pregnant, and you may get killed while you're out there! Mr. Chu is always sending things after the flock to try and kill them! There's no way his machines will be able to know that you are a good guy!" she stopped and imagined Dylan fighting Dumb-bots with his minimal flying abilities.
"Ella, they've TRAINED me to fight... I know everything and anything I need to know when it comes to fighting, not just dumb-bots, but erasers, and everything else too! Trust me! I can survive way better than any of those whinny freaks..." he said, making Ella laugh.
"Promise me you'll come back to take me home! Promise!" said Ella, a look of dire need in her eyes.
"I can't promise anything..."
"Then why are you even going?" she screamed.
"I don't WANT to go... I HAVE to go..." he said, keeping his voice smooth. He was fairly surprised with how calmly he was taking all of this.
"Whatever you do... Don't let Max get away with ANYTHING!" said Ella.
"That... I can promise," said Dylan as he rolled Ella over and wrapped his arms around her.
Ella laughed between sobs, and started to calm herself down. Dylan was rubbing her sides.
"So where are you headed? Like, location wise?" said Ella.
Dylan laughed, "you're not going to believe where..." he said.
"Where?" said Ella.
Dylan looked up at the ceiling and then at Ella, "Africa..." he said.
Ella let the word bounce against the inside of her skull and float around her brain. That's where my mom is... she thought.
"Apparently the flock is there giving, like, food or something to sick people." said Dylan.
Just at that moment, two different escorts came to the doorway and knocked on the wall. Ella and Dylan both looked up at the door, and then back at each other.
"Dylan... It's time for you to get packed. We just booked the plane. It's scheduled to take off in 30 minutes," one of the escorts said.
Dylan put his forehead against Ella's and looked into her eyes, and whispered, "Don't let your emotions get the best of you okay?" He kissed a tear off of Ella's cheek and rubbed her shoulder.
"I'll do my best," she whispered back. She watched Dylan go into the door across the hall. A few minutes later he came out with all his bags. He looked at her and held out his arms. She jumped off the bed and leaped straight for his body, grabbed his torso as tight as she could and smelled his shirt, while he wrapped his arms around her. She had to use every ounce of energy and push away every screaming thought that told her to hang on forever just to relax her muscles and let go of his strong torso.
They gave their good-bye's and I love you's, then Ella used all the energy she had left to stand in the hall and watch Dylan get escorted out. Once they turned the corner, she ran into her room, and slammed the door, locked it, and started sobbing, trying to calm herself, was not enough, she needed Dylan.
After about 30 minutes of crying, she finally came to a stop. Out of tears. All the emotions of the past 3 days had finally made her hit the wall, and she crashed asleep in her bed. Only to wake to Mr. Chu knocking on her door, the next morning.