Ten: This isn't easy

Chloe lead the way across the dagger shaped bridge, pistols at the ready in case one of those giant blue yeti-men decided to follow them. Nate struggled to keep his balance as he hurried across the uneven ground, he carried Elena bridal-style, her arms were wrapped gingerly around his neck, her head resting against his shoulder. Whether or not it was intentional, Elena's moaning became more an more frequent and Nate found himself slowing up more times he would've liked, afraid he was hurting her with all the movement.

"Nate, hurry up!" Chloe shouted. Nate looked up from Elena's bruised left check, Chloe was already on the other side of the bridge, nearing the entrance. Cursing under his breath, Nate picked up the pace, whispering quiet apologies to Elena as he started to run. He had to be careful about how fast he moved, Elena's weight alone would bring him crashing to his knees, that would do neither of them any good. Especially if they fell off the bridge.

Elena's fingers gripped the collar of his shirt, her nails scratched his skin as she shifted in his arms. "Hang on, Lena, we're almost there," He whispered. Chloe watched silently, urging him on with the constant wave of her hand. She was more than ready to put all of this madness behind her, forget all of it, she only wished Nate would move his fine ass a little faster. Finally, Nate reached Chloe and the two proceeded through the entry room, never sparing the glowing sphere illuminating the room a second glance. Elena cried into his shirt, Nate felt his heart would shatter if she did that again.

The two hunters proceeded up the stairs, observing the shadow of the evening sunlight on the ground outside the doorway, Nate nearly bowled Chloe over when they reached the final stairs. Chloe moved far ahead of him to avoid being run over, she pointed to the stone table in the middle of the ground. Nate hurried over to said location, ignoring the chill creeping over his skin as he did so. Slowly, he lowered his arms from their raised position, Elena made no protests as she was laid onto cool surface. Nate bit the inside of his mouth, Elena was like dead weight in his hands as he steadied her body.

He scanned her face, it was completely still; half way between serene and pained. "Elena?" His voice barely rose above a whisper, his throat throbbed from all the screaming he did earlier. Elena's head rolled to the right, shakily, he raised a hand to check her pulse. Chloe watched him with anxious eyes, the two shared a brief look before averting their gaze back down to Elena. Nate's fingers were pressed lightly against the space of her neck between her jaw line, he waited for the beat of a pulse to hit his fingers, but nothing came. If it were at all possible, Nathan's chest felt like it was caving in on itself. "Elena, wake up," He requested, his voice a little louder.

There was no response from Elena.

"Elena?" He tried again, dragging his hand away from her neck, down her chest. Any other time, he could imagine her slapping his hand away from her breasts and calling him a pervert, which made her lack of movement all the more frightening. He pressed his hand down and waited for her heart to jump up and hit his palm, the longer he waited, the more the image of him standing over her grave danced through his mind.

"Nate..." Chloe's voice was hallow in his ears, he felt her hand place itself overtop his and he flinched. "She's---"

Tears burned the rims of his eyes, knowing exactly what she was trying to tell him. "Don't---" He nearly snapped. It wasn't, it couldn't happen. This was Elena Fisher, when it came to death, she was stubborn as he was. The worse that brought her down was the flu and even then, Elena acted like she wasn't sick, parading around like any normal healthy person. Chloe snaked her fingers around his, trying to pull his hand away from her chest. Nate held his hand down, refusing to be moved.

He wasn't giving up on Elena.