Battle of Love

Chapter 2

ELI

Tonight was guy's night. Adam and I decided a few days ago to go to the arcade at The New Dot, and Bullfrog and Cece wanted to go to the club there. Embarrassing, I know. Whatever, all I could think of is the sick arcade everybody at Degrassi has been talking about. I wouldn't normally go out and join the crowd, but when someone throws in free arcade games and laser-tagging, Elijah Goldsworthy is down for almost anything.

I got ready for the arcade, texting Adam to meet me there at 6:30. I threw on some black skinny jeans, a Nirvana band tee, and army boots. I also packed an overnight bag for my sleepover at Adam's later. I packed my medication as a precaution, and headed downstairs.

The ride to The New Dot was nauseating, and when Adam met me in the lobby, I was more than glad to ditch my parents. I love them, but if I have to see them suck face at one more red light, I might die.

"Let me guess, they were macking the entire way here," Adam said when he saw my relieved expression.

"How'd you know?" I retorted sarcastically. Adam had seen his fair share of my not-so-discreet parents on previous guy nights.

"I don't know, but let's get in there!" he said, running excitedly through an entrance that read ARCADIA.

ONE HOUR LATER

Even though this was my first time at the arcade, when I got here I immediately felt in my element. This place can be summed up as me and Adam's guy's night heaven. There is even a roller coaster! We went on that thing seven times, until our stomachs couldn't handle it anymore. Now we are in the strange laser tagging place, with one addition. Clare Edwards, my ex-girlfriend. When I first saw her tonight, I couldn't help the inappropriate thoughts that filled my head. I mean, that dress... I asked her to be on our team, and she agreed! Tonight probably couldn't get any better.

My back was pressed up against the rough stone wall. Clare was in front of me, her intoxicating scent filling my nose, and Adam in front of her. We were waiting for our first victims, who were currently laughing their heads off, making themselves easy targets. Smart move.

The kids appeared in front of us sooner than I'd expected. Adam jumped out and shot at the closest of the three kids. The first went down, and Clare shot at the second. She missed her, but shot again and got her. Everything was happening really fast, and I didn't have time to think, just to do. The third kid spun around and ran, yelling "See ya!" to his friends.

"I don't think so." I muttered. I ran after the guy, who I recognized as former Degrassi student, Declan Coyne. "No you don't, pretty boy!" I yelled, and aimed at his back. The laser hit his vest, and sent him flying to the ground.

"What the..." I walked up to the guy I'd just shot with my laser. His eyes were closed.

"Dude, are you alright?" I said, nudging his shoulder with my gun. No response.

"Eli!" I heard Clare yell. I spun around and saw Clare crouching down next to a girl's body.

"Clare! Clare, are you alright?" I said, afraid that she was harmed, like Declan seemed to be.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But they don't seem to be..." she said, waving her arm over the two girls laying on the ground. I looked at them for the first time.

"Oh no! Fiona! Imogen!" I yelled, feeling really scared now. I went down and held Fiona's wrist. Nothing. "No, no, no. This cannot be happening." I said, tears forming in my eyes. This situation was all too familiar to me. I remembered back to a stormy night three years ago:

"Cece! Tell them to let me across!" I yelled at my mom who was talking to a cop, her hand over her mouth. She looked at me and it was evident she was crying, and crying hard.

The cop shook his head at me, but I took the liberty of ripping across the yellow tape and running over to the crowd of investigators. I pushed through their shoulders, ignoring the huffs and angry looks that were thrown my way. I was frantic. My entire body was shaking, but I didn't care when I saw what the commotion was about.

There, laying in the middle of the street was my girlfriend Julia. She looked like a beautiful ghost, her pale features even paler than usual and her lips a cold ivory color. I had talked to her- no yelled at her just twenty minutes ago. Guilt flooded my brain and my actions no longer belonged to me. I ran over to her motionless body and pulled her head in my lap.

"Julia! Julia, babe, you need to wake up. C'mon Jules, you just need to wake up so we can have that date I planned for this weekend. We'll go out to that cheesy Italian restaurant downtown and see movie, your choice. I'm really sorry for what I said earlier, you know I didn't mean it. Wake up, please. Julia, I love you." I started to cry, strangled sobs finally making their way out of my body. "Come back to me..." I whispered.

"Come back to me Julia!" I screamed.

"Eli, that is Fiona. Are you alright? Adam's going to get help. It's going to be fine," I barely heard Clare through the pounding in my ears. I was holding Fiona's lifeless body in my arms, how could she say that things were okay?

"Clare, this- this is not fine! They are dead! Two of my closest friends... We- no I killed them!" I screamed.

"Eli, be rational. We didn't kill them, they're laser guns! Not even star wars lasers. Little beams of light! They can't kill people." Clare tried to reason with me, but I think she was trying to convince herself even more.

"The evidence is right here, Clare. You don't have to believe me, but I'm not going to live in denial anymore," I said simply, and started to walk in the direction of the cavern. I wished I hadn't left my overnight bag in Bullfrog's car. I really needed a pill right about now.

"W-where are you going?" Clare asked in a small voice and I turned around. The sight I saw before me broke my heart. Clare looked miserable. Her cheeks were red, stained with make up. Her expression was the one I saw on Cece's face the night of Julia's death. Her beautiful eyes, those eyes that I had looked into a million times before, were wide and afraid. Her eyes hit me the hardest. I grabbed her hand and pulled her along gently.

"We are going to go find Adam. This place is dangerous, and I don't want any one of us alone in it. I have a feeling thatthis isn't just an innocent game of laser tag."

"I think you may be right." was all she said, leaning her head on my shoulder.

We walked back to the cavern in silence after that. My mind was on getting help for Fiona Imogen, and Declan, and I was also listening for any signs of other kids just in case we needed to get out of plain sight. Hand in hand, Clare and I reached the cavern. The crate of bread was still there, but Adam was nowhere to be found.

"This is where he said he'd be..." Clare whispered.

"Shit," I thought out loud.

"What kind of a game is this?" Clare suddenly yelled at the metal wall that we entered the game in. Of course it was shut. "I know there are cameras! Please, just let us out, there are kids dead in here for crying out loud!" I flinched at her words.

"Elijah and Clare, what a surprise." a familiar male voice echoed though the cavern.

"Fitz? What the fuck is going on? Why are we locked in here? Three kids are dead. Never coming back," I had to stop when my voice broke.

"Oh, the stupid rich twins and their little pet? Yeah I saw that. Nice job with that, by the way. I saw how you guys killed them. Why are you whining? You want to go to jail right now?"

Clare spoke up, "Oh please, the only person that would be going to jail is you. You locked us in here to kill each other, didn't you! Now let us out!"

"Hmm let me think... NO. You could have been a nice girl earlier, Clare. But you weren't. You fucked up. And so now you're stuck in there with emo boy until you play out the game I've created for you."

"What is WRONG wi-" Clare began and I cut her off quickly. "What do you mean, 'created for us'?"

"I mean, I created it for Clare. My uncle works here, and when Clare decided to be a bitch to me, I convinced him to help me make this game a little more interesting. Your guns shoot lasers, like actual lasers. Cool, right? I thought I would let you guys figure that out first, though. Your reactions were priceless. 'Come back to me!'" he mocked, laughing maniacally.

"Shut up!" I yelled, beyond livid.

"What do we have to do?" Clare asked.

"Finally, someone who listens! Well, Clarebear, isn't it obvious? It's a laser tag game. You play until there is one winner. The winner gets the bread!" Fitz started cracking up, as if his obvious reference to the crate were the funniest thing in the world.

"Yeah, hilarious. You know, this isn't very original, Fitz. Did you just finish reading The Hunger Games trilogy or something? Oh yeah, I forgot; your literary skills aren't that advanced. Come on, Clare." I said, towing her towards the catacomb entrance.

"Eli, what are we going to to do?" she whispered to me.

"Hide out until morning. Someone has to come around by then, right? Its not like we're in the middle of nowhere. The other kids are bound to realize what is going on soon enough. We'll be okay," I said, trying to reassure her and myself.

We walked down a different tunnel than the one before for obvious reasons, and also in search of a hiding spot. Clare pointed out a crevice, slightly larger than the one we hid in before, that would provide sufficient cover for the night. We settled next to each other in the crevice, and I made sure she went in first so I could be on the outside.

"Okay, I'll keep watch. You should rest. It's been a hard night," I told her.

"Eli, do you think I could even think about sleeping in here? This place is already like a nightmare. No need to delve into another," she replied tiredly.

"I'll protect you. You don't need to worry. These kids aren't wild animals, they have consciences." I reminded her.

"Thank you, Eli. You are such a nice guy."

I blushed at her compliment. "Anytime Blue Eyes," I blurted. "I um, mean Clare."

"It's alright, Green Eyes," she said. I looked over at her mischievous smile. She knew what I thought of that name.

"I'll let that one go just this time, since it would seem kind of unfair to tickle you when you have nowhere to run," I grinned.

"Sure, sure." she muttered sleepily.

"Sleep now, Clare. I promise I'll protect you tonight,"

She nodded and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, her head slid onto my shoulder. Right where it belonged. I smiled in spite of everything that had happened.