Sorry that I haven't posted in so long, it's just that school has been ridiculously busy, the Christmas etc! I hope you're all having a great festive season!
They congregated in the room that Dexter and Ezra were sharing. Ezra was still unconscious, laying on the bed alarmingly still, nothing moving except the small heaves of her chest as she took in ragged breaths. Dexter sat next to her, his brow permanently furrowed. Valkyrie and Skulduggery sat pressed against the wall, their arms touching. Ghastly was sitting backward on the wooden chair, his arms resting on the back of the chair, legs sprawled out on either side. His left leg bounced vigorously. Anton, Saracen, and Erskine stood.
"Is she-" Erskine began, but Ghastly cut him off.
"Is she what, Erskine? Is she okay? Alive? What difference does it make? You still locked her up. You still blamed her for everything. You still ripped to shreds the one she loved because he wasn't you. So don't you dare pretend you care about her because you don't." Ghastly, his hands shaped into fists.
"I thought of everyone, you'd be the most eager to help rebuild," Erskine said quietly, looking at the ground. There was the scraping of the chair, two steps, and the Ghastly had Erskine's shirt gripped in his hands. He slammed Erskine into the wall once.
"REBUILD?!" He roared, slamming him again. "You killed Saracen. You killed Anton. And you killed me. Me. Your partner. I was your brother. I would have laid down my life for you. I just never thought I'd die because of you. I never thought that my last breath would be on your hands, Ravel. So don't try to make me fix or rebuild anything. Because as soon as Ezra is awake and stable, you're getting thrown in that cell again." Another slam. "Do you understand me?" Ghastly finished, his voice dangerously low, his teeth gritted. Erskine swallowed but nodded. Satisfied, Ghastly went back to his seat. "I'm sorry for the disruption." He said.
"If you didn't do it, I would have," Saracen said, glaring at the traitor.
"What do we do?" Valkyrie asked. "I mean, they said they wanted to kill us, yeah? Yet he said we could leave once Ezra wakes up… So are they going to kill us?"
"I don't know," Saracen said bluntly.
"We leave. Right now it doesn't matter if they plan on killing us, they'll have to get in line. Behind Hades and the Supreme Council. Our main concern now is getting out and going back to the Bunker and laying low until we formulate an actual plan. We are in far too deep to be taking any kind of action that hasn't been thought out. We go back. We heal. Help Ezra in whatever it is she's going through." Skulduggery said with great confidence.
"That was the best sounding none-plan plan I've ever heard," Valkyrie said, a smile playing on her lips. Skulduggery nodded.
"I try, I really do."
Ezra sat bolt upright, gasping, clutching at her chest. "Ezra, Ezra what is it?" Dexter asked, Skulduggery, Valkyrie, and Ghastly were up in seconds.
"It was him." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she stared at something off in the distance.
"What? What did he do? Who is he?" Valkyrie asked, part of feeling guilty that her voice rose and sounded like she was speaking to little Alice. Ezra cocked her head and frowned, wringing her hands out.
"Erskine gave me to Macon." She said softly, tears welling in her eyes. Everyone went uncomfortably still.
"What?" Skulduggery asked the single word seemed too loud, like it didn't belong in the thick silence that had fallen across the room.
"She rambling, that's what. She's crazy!" Erskine exclaimed, taking a step back. Valkyrie grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him, bringing him to his knees.
"What happened, Ezra?" Dexter asked, taking one of her hands in his and brushing back a strand of golden hair. Ezra swallowed, bit her lip, scratched her collarbone, swallowed again.
"It was late. Skulduggery had been dead, gone and dead I mean, for…" Her brows furrowed. "I wasn't sobbing every night, but still longed for him,"
"He'd been gone four months," Erskine said from his place on the ground, eyes staring unseeingly at the bed sheets. Ezra nodded her agreement.
"And Dexter was out keeping watch, everyone else was sleeping. Except Erskine. I woke up to something in my mouth and my arms wouldn't move and wrists hurt, I couldn't move my legs and I couldn't use magic," Her voice was starting to rise, her pitch becoming shrill. She was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Ezra, you don't have to say anymore." Ghastly said. But Ezra shook her heading, both of her hands squeezing Dexter's hand.
"It was him. It was Erskine. He said that he didn't like me and that I deserved what I was about to get. He said that if I didn't go then Dexter would hate me and that Skulduggery, were he alive, kill me himself for being a coward. He said that the Dead Men would disown me if I stayed any longer, that they feared me. That they planned to kill me. This was the only way, he said." She was crying now, tears spilling down her cheeks, onto her hands.
"For two hundred years, you were left thinking we hated you. Alone, by yourself." Saracen said, his brown eyes full of sadness for his friend. And anger. Ezra nodded, a sob escaping her mouth as she let go of Dexter to cover her face. He threw an arm around her and pulled her close to his chest, his other hand holding her. Skulduggery leaned forward and kissed her forehead, so gently and tenderly that it was hard to believe how violent he could become.
"You're one of the bravest, strongest people I know, Ezra. Never forget that." He said, his voice velvet. Ezra out her hands down and looked at him, pulling him close and kissing his forehead. Skulduggery smiled.
"Look after her," Skulduggery said to Dexter, then he turned and hoisted Erskine to his feet.
"Valkyrie, the door, if you wouldn't mind," Skulduggery asked his partner, who wordlessly opened the door. Skulduggery quite literally threw Erskine out of the room. Skulduggery shut the door behind the two of them.
Valkyrie crawled onto the bed and grabbed Ezra's hand, holding it tightly.
"It's not like he didn't know. My father was, is, notorious. He knew that he'd put her through hell, hurt her. And he still did it." Dexter said, gritting his teeth, trying his best to keep his temper down so as not to scare Ezra. There was a crash then a scream then Skulduggery came back in, slamming the door on Erskine. He clapped his hands together.
"Right then, are we ready to go?" He asked.
"Can she even teleport us?" Anton asked, uncertainty evident in his voice. Valkyrie held her hand out to Skulduggery, who took in the put his hand on Ghastly's shoulder, who grabbed Anton's arm, who clapped a hand on Saracen's back, who touched Dexter's shoulder. Ezra blinked, then they were in the bunker again. Safe. Erskineless.
Hope you enjoy! Please review, I'd really appreciate it! Happy New year! :3
