3.
It pinged.
Holly stared at the ring for a moment in stunned shock, then grinned. It pinged. He hadn't destroyed it, and, based on the location, he hadn't left it or hidden it here, either. He probably had it with him.
Great. That meant she had location. Now all she had to do was wait for the storm to pass and go to him.
This would be hard.
oOoOoOoOoOo
As bad as the storm was in Ireland, it was ten times worse where Artemis was. It shook the foundations of his hideout and rattled the frame of the window he was currently sitting by. He stared out silently into the storm. He couldn't see much through it; sand, mostly, and water, mixing together as the wind threw them both around. It was a mess - a serenely terrifying mess.
The storm hardly bothered Artemis now. It had been going on for so long he was almost desensitized to it. He didn't jump at the thunderous booms. His heart didn't speed up as things rattled around, including the house itself. Since he got there, he'd been practically catatonic, doing nothing but sitting and staring. Thinking.
Thinking, for the most part, about Holly. He tried not to, but his every thought eventually lead back to her. And there was no point in trying not to think at all - there was nothing else to do. Nothing except wait. Wait for his senses to return to him, for the storm to pass, and, most importantly, for Holly to arrive.
Once again, the thought of her caused his emotions to stir, his thoughts to conflict. The genius's mind was in turmoil. He still wasn't sure what to make of her betrayal - if he could call it that. Should he be angry? Sad? Hurt? Truthfully, he was all of those things in turn, and more for that matter. But he couldn't decide why or what he was most. His mind wouldn't settle. So he left.
He knew when he left she would come after him… eventually, at least. And he knew, somewhere, inside, that he wanted her to. Why? He couldn't decide. To hurt her back? To ask her forgiveness? To apologize? At some point over the course of the day, all of these were answers.
He also didn't know what would happen when she got there. He'd had a variety of different ideas, many of them that would turn out badly. He knew some were just results of his currently-unstable genius mind, but that didn't stop them from sounding appealing at the time. The truth was, even if he thought he knew, even if he made a plan, he really didn't know. Right now, thoughts of her were enough to inspire too much emotion - enough to make him act without thinking. When he saw her…
Maybe he'd grab her and kiss her in a desperate attempt to change her mind.
Maybe he'd go ballistic and lash out.
Maybe he'd throw her in the basement again.
Maybe he'd kick her out on sight.
Or maybe he'd do nothing but sit, stare at her, and wait for her to make the first move. That definitely sounded like the best option, but would it happen?
He didn't know. So his best option was to keep doing what he was doing. Just sit, wait, and think.
Sorry they're both so short. It's sucky, I know, but it's what I already had written. On a more positive note, I'm on Christmas break until the end of the first week of January, so things are going to get done, I promise! I hope to get a lot done so I can keep updates coming consistently even after I get back to school. In the meantime, please review, and let me know what you're thinking so I know what to prioritize! Where do you want to see updates most?