Carolyn

Hope you enjoy this chapter and please review. You should check out my Final Fantasy X-2 story that I've just posted.

Chapter Twenty-Four

When Carolyn woke up that morning, she could feel Ezra by her side. He wasn't hitting on her, merely rolled over in his sleep, but Carolyn felt as though he was too close to her. She may not be with Andy but they're still just as deeply in love with each other and no one could change that for Carolyn.

She shuffled away from him but he woke up as soon as she moved. She had forgotten about how good vampire senses were. Yet again, Carolyn shuffled so she had enough room to stand up. Ezra sat up in his mess of blankets and smiled but as soon as his smile dropped Carolyn knew that he had remembered what he had said the other day. What he said next proved that point.

"I'm sorry about what I said yesterday but you have to know that I didn't mean anything by it" Ezra explained. She wanted to feel as natural around him as she did when she first met him but he's just made everything awkward, nodding slowly at him, she pulled on a hoodie. There wasn't much hygiene in this place so you got what you were given. Ezra nodded at back before changing his tee shirt. He made it even more awkward by the fact that he had just tore off his shirt in front of her and put on another one. I was only plain black but he could pull it off but Carolyn refused to even think about it.

"We're going into battle today" He said as he pulled on a pair of boots. Carolyn's mouth fell but she quickly started looking for a pair of boots herself, failing she sat back down and buried her face in her hands. She felt something tap at her shoulder and when she looked up she saw Ezra with a pair of boots in his hand and a friendly smile planted on his face. Smiling, she took the boots from him and pulled them on.

"Are you scared?" She asked. She didn't mean for it to sound so morbid but she was trying to fill the awkward silence. When she next looked at Ezra, he looked as though he was thinking about his answer carefully.

"It's always scary when you know that you have to go out and end lives, no matter who's lives they are" Ezra explained. Carolyn nodded knowingly since she hadn't really wanted to fight the originals. She only done it because Aurora was going and Carolyn didn't want Aurora to get hurt but that backfired horribly.

"I'm going to do this for a friend" Carolyn admitted. It was almost shocking how much she was confiding in someone who she barely knew. She was also wishing that it was Andy. She missed him too much but no enough to turn back.

"We should go to the main group. They'll be waiting for us there" He said. Carolyn nodded and stood up once she laced her boots up properly. When they were walking, she felt butterflies in her stomach as she thought about how this could be the last day she might face. She could go into that battlefield and get killed. She mentally shook her head as she tried to stop thinking such morbid things but death seemed to be etched in her mind. Just as Carolyn was going to sit down she heard somebody call her name and when she turned round she could barely even believe what she could see.

"Please say that you are standing in front of me" Carolyn begged. The person that was standing in front of her nodded slowly before responding in the way that she wanted him to.

"It's me" He laughed. Carolyn ran up to him and flung her arms around his neck as she let a small tear fall from her eye.

"Andy, I've missed you" She cried in happiness. He picked her up slightly and swung her around as she laughed in a cheerful manner. When Andy put her down, he placed a sweet kiss on her cheek but Carolyn was looking for something that was a little more intimate than that. She placed her hands on the side of Andy's face and brought it closer to her so she could press her lips to his own. He smiled into her lips as she laughed. It may not have been long since they saw each other but all Carolyn could think about over that time was how much she had missed Andy.

"Who's this?" Ezra asked. Carolyn had been so wrapped up in seeing Andy again that she had forgotten that Ezra was standing right behind her. Carolyn turned around and looked as though she was back in school and had just been caught doing something that she shouldn't have been doing.

"This is Andy, my boyfriend" Carolyn informed. She mumbled the last part but Ezra still heard. He looked slightly sad but if he was depressed then he was doing a good job at masking it from Carolyn and Andy. Andy smiled warmly and stuck his hand out for Ezra to shake. Ezra didn't look like he wanted to but he finally made connection with Andy in a brief handshake. Carolyn smiled in satisfaction and led them both over to where most of the vampires were sitting. There was around thirty of the undead creatures sitting around a small fire. They were all simply waiting to go and kill. It may sound morbid but to some sitting there, it was a treat.

"I've missed you" Andy whispered into Carolyn's ear. He kissed her cheek lightly and it caused her to explode in giggles. She instantly shut up since she knew that she shouldn't be laughing at such a difficult time. She was going to go and end lives tonight and she was giggling.

"Are you fighting?" Carolyn asked. She felt that it sounded a bit forward and she didn't want to put Andy on the spot but this was something that she had to know. It would eat her alive if she didn't find out.

"I wouldn't leave you alone out there" Andy whispered in her ear again. He seemed very flirtatious but it didn't bother Carolyn. As long as he focused on trying not to get himself killed then she was happy. Andy wrapped an arm around Carolyn's waist and waited to see what happened next. Everyone sat in silence as they thought about what would be taking place tonight. The only sound was when someone coughed or grunted, which wasn't often. After about ten minutes of this silence, one man stood up.

"Is everyone ready to go?" He asked. Everyone nodded and it was clear, judging by some people's faces, that some were scared to go. Andy didn't look like he wanted to go but he went anyway and Carolyn may have seemed a little over eager. This was the moment that she had been waiting for since Aurora died. This was when she was going to avenge her.

They all stood up with weapons in hand except for Andy who got given a dagger. Some walked in pairs, some alone and some in large groups but they all huddled close together. Andy, Carolyn and Ezra walked together.

"So, how long have you and Andy been together?" He asked. Carolyn looked at Andy as though she was counting the days since they hadn't been together very long.

"A couple of weeks" Carolyn answered.

"But, we've known each other since we were little and shared a house for a couple of years" Andy added in so Ezra knew how close they were to each other. It seemed as though Ezra was doing his research to see if there was any way he could possibly be closer to Carolyn. Silence fell between them but it was soon diminished when Carolyn spoke.

"So, how are Virtue and Jake?" Carolyn asked. Andy grinned at some fond memory that Carolyn would probably not know. It made her feel as though she had been away for so long and she was sad at the fact that she didn't experience the same memories as they did. She knew it was stupid but she couldn't help but feel that way.

"They're going out now" Andy answered. Carolyn wasn't even going to bother hiding her shock. When she saw them, they always seemed to be tolerating each other but she had never guessed that they would end up going out.

"Who asked who?" Carolyn asked. This was big news to her and she wished that she could be there to congratulate the two.

"Nobody really asked anyone. They kissed and decided it together" Andy explained. Carolyn nodded as she tried to hide the excitement she was feeling on the inside at the prospect of Jake having another girlfriend.

"It sounds so romantic" Carolyn sighed. Ezra looked like he was happy about it too even though he didn't know who had started going out but that was just the kind of person he was.

"I may not know them but tell them that I wish them all the best" Ezra said. Andy grinned but nodded anyway.

They were now walking through something that seemed to be a small forest. There was a constant hum of chatter and the occasional snap of a branch but that was about it for sound. Carolyn tried to maintain a constant conversation but it grew harder as the fear that was twisting inside them grew larger. A lot of them knew that they were walking to their deaths. Carolyn was going to try and stay positive and she was going to fight for everything when she gets there. She refuses to feel defeated.

She could feel Andy's hand grope for her own and she could tell that he was terrified at the mere thought of going into battle again. Something in Carolyn's mind made her think that they were getting closer to the originals. She was feeling even sicker than she was when she first started walking but that could just be because of fear.

"Are you ok?" Ezra asked. It was a stupid question because nobody here was feeling ok but Carolyn still answered in the affirmative. Ezra didn't look satisfied but didn't question her. Andy gave her hand a soft, reassuring squeeze. She felt a little better since she knew she wasn't alone in this.

The hum of chatter stopped around five minutes later and the walking came to a halt as well. It was the worst few moments of Carolyn's life as she knew that this would be the most crucial moment of the whole battle. If they didn't get a good start then they were practically doomed for failure and Carolyn was determined to make this trip to Russia worth her time.

"This is it" Andy whispered in her ear. Carolyn looked at him and sent him a weak smile as the pack of vampires took a few more steps and stopped again. It was emotionally agonizing. It was like the wait at a hospital. You didn't know if the outcome would be good or bad and you were practically walking in there blind. After another few steps, Carolyn could hear noises that weren't coming from the pack of the vampires. She recognised it as the cheeky chuckle that came from the originals. Before she had a chance to even process any thoughts, they jumped. They had the advantage since Carolyn had been careless. This didn't look like it was going to go well.

Oooohhh a cliff-hanger ;) Hope you enjoy the new instalment and please review!