Disclaimer: I do not own El Cazador De La Bruja and its characters, BEE TRAIN does. I do claim ownership for my original characters and story.
Confiar. Trust.
15
Looking down at their conjoined hands, Ellis felt her heart stop upon hearing Nadie's words.
"I have never stopped loving you for a second."
Those words seemed to echo as they stood in silence for what seemed an eternity but had only been a couple of seconds.
"Nadie," Ellis' voice was only a whisper, "I-"
"But things have changed." The words that interrupted Ellis were followed by the release of her hand as Nadie dropped it and stepped back to sit on the bed to put on her boots. She realized she was wearing the pants from the night before but a different shirt.
"Things have changed and you can't just walk back into my life the way you walked out." Ellis could hear the strain in Nadie's voice as the taller woman tried to keep control, "I have Karyme now, and I have to think about her first, and I will not have you hurt her as well."
"I wouldn't hurt my own child-"
"Not your child," Nadie snapped back as she turned once again to Ellis, walking towards the mirror and buttoning up her uniform shirt, not wanting to look at Ellis in fear she would change her mind, "You don't get to call her your child. Not after you abandoned us."
Suddenly, an explosion shook the entire ship and the alarms went off, followed by panicked screams. Nadie ran to her desk and fished out her gun before making her way outside, her eyes immediately burning from the smoke that filled the air.
Even though it was early in the morning and not many people had been awake, now the halls were crowded with guests running in fear.
Nadie's heart pounded loudly as she felt panic began to overcome her but she knew she had to keep it together. "Is Karyme with Jody?" She asked as her first concern was her daughter. Ellis nodded and instinctively Nadie grabbed her hand as they ran off in search of Karyme.
Even though she knew her first priority should be the ship, Nadie was a mother first and she had a feeling that Karyme was in trouble.
A second explosion shook the ship once more, this time the power going off and leaving any interior without a window or other opening almost completely dark.
The pair continued running down the dark hallway, only illuminated by the "EXIT" signs. Ellis feared losing Nadie but Nadie held onto her hand with a strong grip.
Having been to the cabin numerous times the past few weeks, Nadie was able to make out the number in the door that was Jody and Jayden's cabin.
Oddly, the door was unlocked and the pair made their way inside the dark cabin.
"Karyme! Jody!" Nadie called out in horror as the cabin appeared deserted but a quiet grunt caught their attention. Ellis ran to the curtains and pulled them off, allowing the sunlight that could make it through the smoke illuminate the cabin. Nadie's eyes widened as she spotted Jayden sitting next to the bed, blood pooling slowly around her.
"Jayden are you okay? What happened?" Nadie rushed to her side, "Where are Karyme and Jody?" Ellis could hear the panic in Nadie's voice as she herself could feel her heart pounding loudly, fear for Karyme's safety increasing tenfold upon hearing Jayden's weak voice.
"Nadie...You must find them...She...she took Karyme...Jody tried going after them..." Nadie had to hold back a sob as she saw a gunshot wound in Jayden's stomach, "Who shot you? Who took my daughter?"
"She..." Jayden's strength left her as she passed out. The light suddenly flickered back on and Nadie could now clearly see a trail of blood that left the room.
"Captain!" Mark entered the cabin upon spotting Nadie, "Are you okay?" His eyes widened in shock as he saw the bleeding woman on the floor. "Mark!" Nadie was relieved to see a familiar face amidst the chaos, "Go find one of the medics and get Jayden some help!"
Before mark could say anything, Nadie and Ellis dashed out, knowing Jayden would be okay. The pair followed the trail of blood and came onto the middle deck where the smoke was slowly beginning to disperse. The deck was mostly empty, most people having gathered on the upper deck. Nadie and Ellis ran towards the gangway when they heard a gunshot.
"You...bitch."
Nadie nor Ellis could believe their eyes as they came upon the gangway that was planted on the dock and arrived just in time to see Jody collapse as the woman who carried their daughter in her arms ran into the port.
"Catarina!"
Nadie could not believe her eyes, "She-She works for the same people Jayden used to work for...Angelica's people..." Jody's broken voice caught their attention. Nadie fell to Jody's side, "Help is coming. Hold on." Jody nodded weakly as blood dribbled down the corner of her mouth, "I'm okay, go get your daughter. You must save her."
Even though she didn't want to leave Jody behind, Nadie knew she would receive help as soon as she was found which wouldn't take long. "Someone will be here soon Jody."
Ellis and Nadie ran after the engineer into the busy port as they saw her disappear amidst the crowd.
The morning sun was beating heavily as they ran through the crowd, trying desperately to catch up to the woman they had thought was their friend but had inexplicably turned their worst nightmare into a reality.
Amongst the people, glimpses of Catarina kept the two in track as they had to run past all the people who had now gathered to watch as the firefighters were arriving to put out the fires on the ship. Ellis knew she could run fast enough to catch up but with all the people in the way, it was impossible.
They saw Catarina head to the market which lucky for them, was beginning to empty out as people ran to see what was going on in the ship.
The sound of Nadie's boots against the scorching ground brought back memories of the numerous times where they had to run away from danger. This time, they ran towards it in hopes of saving their daughter.
Saving Karyme was the only thing in her mind, yet somehow Nadie wondered as she kept her sight on Catarina, why her life had been nothing but running.
As a child, she had ran away from a devastating past that had taken her family and childhood from her. The horrible events had killed any innocence she once held, and had led her to become a bounty hunter. A woman who had no dreams nor goals, her only mission was to survive for another day.
Then it was love that changed her life.
Her life of emptiness and solitude was changed when she met Ellis. What was supposed be just another job, no different from the one before or the one after, had changed her life completely. It had given meaning to every breath she took.
If she had known back then that it would take one job to change her life, to change her destiny, to make her run towards something and not away from it, she knew she would still have taken it. Every painful hour that she spent without Ellis was only made painful because of the happiness that Ellis had brought to her life.
When she met Ellis she thought she was meeting just another poor soul whose destiny was in the hands of others, whose own life was in a balance of coins, in a match of skill, in a race towards the unattainable freedom.
Unbeknownst to her, as she grew closer to Ellis, as she learned about the true Ellis and began to fall in love with her, she was also beginning to know herself as more than just a wandering soul.
It was during the trials she and Ellis had overcome that she realized Ellis was more than a job, more than a friend, more than her love.
And under the punishing sun as the pair ran to save their daughter, Nadie finally realized that Ellis was her destiny.
Catarina adjusted the crying child in her arms as she ran past the thinning crowd. She did not dare to look back but knew that it would take the captain and the witch mere moments before they caught up to her. A smile found its way to her lips as she saw two men waiting for her in the getaway car. Everything was going perfectly to plan and she felt a surge of adrenaline kick in at the thought of being so close to success.
Finally all those years of undercover work would have payed off as she drove away with the only child of the only true witch in existence. She would single-handedly bring the descendants of the witches back into power with the help of this child. After long hours of meticulous planning for years, she was finally able to set the ship on fire for her escape. It was all so perfect.
Only meters away from the car, she reeled back when a shot was fired and a split second later the vehicle became consumed with flames. Her eyes widened as she stood still, seeing the faces of her accomplices twist in agony as the car become their hellish grave, the fire too overpowering to allow their escape.
With her escape plan destroyed, Catarina did not waste another second as she dashed off towards a nearby deserted building that would soon be demolished.
Ellis had forgotten how good Nadie's aim was but seeing the car that Catarina would use as her escape being blown into pieces by a bullet perfectly placed in it's gasoline tank made her remember just who she was with.
The two followed Catarina into the building which was already falling apart from age and vandalism. Inside the hollow building they could easily hear Catarina's footsteps mingled with Karyme's cries as they followed the sound up a case of stairs.
Stench filled their nostrils, smells of urine and decay engulfed them as they ran up the stairs, trying desperately to catch up to the woman who had successfully outran them for this long.
As Catarina reached the top of the stairs, she found herself in a large empty room with walls missing, allowing the sunlight to illuminate the otherwise dark building. As she ran across the room, she froze in her steps as a single bullet burned past her right ear, barely missing her head.
"It's over."
Nadie and Ellis watched as Catarina slowly turned towards them, holding a small pistol underneath their daughter's jaw.
"It will never be over."
A smile formed in Catarina's mouth, "Did you think it was over when you killed Angelica? Did you think you could run away from the most powerful group of witches in the world just because you killed one member? Do you think it will be over if you kill me?"
Nadie's hand shook slightly as she kept her aim on Catarina, her eyes fixed on the gun she pointed at Karyme.
"Why are you doing this Catarina?" Ellis asked from Nadie's side, "Why did you betray us?"
Catarina grinned, "Betray you? No. I was only doing my job. It is your fault that you trusted me. How realistic is the story I told you Ellis? Had you asked Nadie about how I met her she would've told you something completely different."
Pressing the gun tightly on Karyme, she continued, "This child is worth her weight in gold to us. Do you know how long I've been waiting for the perfect moment to take her? We knew Ellis would eventually come back to you Nadie. We made sure that your ship landed in the place where Ellis was."
Nadie gritted her teeth, the anger of knowing they had not only infiltrated her engineering team but also her command team. She wondered how far they had gone to take her daughter away.
"We had to wait until Karyme came in contact with Ellis so that her powers would be awakened and become ready for our use." Catarina continued, hoping that if she stalled them long enough her team would send reinforcements to get her out of there. "It took several years of my life, but this assignment is the answer for the advancement of my people, our people, Ellis."
"You are monsters, not people," Ellis said as she took a step towards Catarina. "Ellis-" Nadie tried to stop her but Ellis kept walking, "I was made to be a witch. I was born an experiment and had no say in the way they tortured me for their own means. But I won't allow you to do the same to my daughter."
Catarina's brows furrowed as the shorter woman made her way towards her with slow yet firm steps. "Stay away Ellis." She warned, "You might be an experiment, a fake witch, an abomination to my people, yet you still managed to harbor the power of a witch and you were able to bring life to this child, making her a true witch."
"Her power can be harvested and with her, we will find a way to awaken the powers of all descendants. No matter the cost, we will once again rise to power and take the rightful place our ancestors left for us." Nervously, Catarina aimed her gun at Ellis who now stood feet from her in silence, "Your daughter is the key to our power and not you nor anybody will stop us from using her however we need."
"Ellis!" Nadie screamed as Ellis launched herself against Catarina, using her body to block Catarina from using the pistol against Karyme, instead shooting into Ellis repeatedly as the spent cases fell to the ground in a silent succession.
The click of the empty gun came and the room stood in a perfect silence marred only by the child's cries.
Catarina's eyes were wide with shock as she felt the warm blood running down her hands and chest, suddenly realizing that it was not Ellis' blood in her chest but her own. She took a step back from Ellis, allowing the golden haired woman to fall lifelessly to the ground.
She heard a gunshot in the distance and the sharp pain in her chest burned and threatened to suffocate her. Releasing the child weakly, she took another step and felt another burning sensation, her mind not being able to register the pain nor hear the gunshots.
Her vision blurred as she saw Nadie run towards Ellis and the child to their side. Their family finally united. She had been unsuccessful. She could no longer hear but she saw Nadie crying, and it made her smile.
One last warm sensation enveloped her as she closed her eyes.