CHAPTER 24: Secrets are Deadly
"Elyssia! Damn, you were gone for a week!" Peater yelled as he came running over to me, as I was walking up University Avenue.
"Please . . . don't kill me . . ." I panted as I collapsed onto the ground, unaware of how much time had passed.
"It's okay, Elyssia. At least you're fine." Peater whispered as he pulled me up.
I looked into his eyes and smiled. I forgot about our little fight, and I thought about the future. Gone were my feelings of hatred and anger, for they were replaced by love and happiness.
"I guess you wanted me to return this to you." Peater mumbled as he dropped the shining necklace into my leaf. I smiled and put the necklace around the top of my stem.
"Thank you so much, Peater. I'm so . . . sorry about our little . . . disagreement. I just wanted to say that I didn't really like our tension ― in fact, I hated it! And I just wanted us to be friends again." I said, tears of emotion welling up in my eyes.
"It's perfectly fine, Elyssia." Peater replied, and soon, we were hugging tightly.
"I won't leave you ever again, Peater. Or, at least I'll make some kind of effort to keep this commitment!" I promised.
Peater giggled at my statement. "I know that you're something of a fighter, Elyssia. I know you just want to turn the tides of the war. And I know you're going to, because you're the Co ― I mean, the country's saviour."
I grinned weakly, and closed my eyes as we tightened our embrace.
"Elyssia! You're back?!" Roosevelta asked as she came running over to us.
Peater and I broke apart, and turned in Roosevelta's direction.
"Yeah . . . I had no idea that I was on this journey for a week . . ." I answered, blushing slightly a second after.
"Well, it's a good thing that we're back together." Roosevelta declared. "And hey ― don't go wandering off, you hear?"
I laughed in response as we headed back to the base. Although the loss of Annika bruised our hearts, at least we made it out alive.
"Well, what do you expect? You're my boss, aren't you?" Ash yelled into a telephone later that evening.
I was surprised that the telephone lines were even operating in here, considering the fact that this place was pretty much . . . in bad condition. I decided to listen into the conversation. Maybe Ash was having a discussion some superintendent . . .
Or Dr. Zomboss.
Coming from my own mind, that sounded harebrained and as stupid as it could get, because Ash had been so good and kind to me as of late. Perhaps it was some set up, or maybe it was a change of heart.
Or it might be something else.
After a moment of silence, Ash had started jabbering into the receiver again.
"Yeah . . . Wait . . . tonight? But wait . . . what has she done? I mean, I actually kinda have a crush on that girl . . ." I raised my eyebrows at this statement.
Could the said girl be me? Ash resumed speaking after his ear was apparently being talked off by the being on the other end of the line.
"Well . . . you have a point . . . well . . . okay . . . if you say so . . . Well fine, fine! Don't need to decapitate me or something like that! It'll go down . . . yeah, it'll go down, no doubt . . . Oh, you're welcome, Dr. Zomboss."
I gasped at those words as all the pieces came flying together. Ash wasn't my dream friend, full of sunshine and rainbows. He was evil, for my guess was confirmed: Ash was conspiring with none other than Edgar George Zomboss, for God knows how long now.
Jeez. So much for thinking that my guess was as dimwitted and as harebrained as it could get.
In any case, my sudden expression of surprise had distracted Ash.
"Elyssia!" he exclaimed as he dropped the phone and ran over to me.
"You didn't . . . you probably . . . it's . . ." Ash sputtered.
Then, he narrowed his eyes into slits.
"Ohhh, you nosy little bimbo! Why did you . . . have to be . . . ?"
I held up my leaves above my head ― the universal "I'm innocent!" gesture.
"I-I'm sorry, Ash! I didn't mean it, I swear to God!" I protested.
"Oh sure!" Ash growled as he grabbed my throat.
"Listen here, girl." he snarled.
I was struggling to breathe, and black spots were beginning to appear in my vision.
"Let . . . go . . ." I managed to gasp.
Then, using all my strength, I tried to scream for help.
"I said to listen, not to scream!" Ash snarled as he struck me hard with his free leaf, and tightened his grip on my throat all the more.
"Listen. Don't you dare squeal a word to anybody in this damn base my secret. Because if you do . . ."
He reached over to grab a knife and hold it to my throat.
"You'll die, and I don't care about how much I have my heart set on you and your blue eyes. What I gotta do is what I gotta do, and that's that."
And with that, Ash let me fall onto the floor with a dull sound. I held my throat and gasped for air as tears of agony, anger and hurt came into my eyes. My throat was hurting badly, and I felt as if I was going to die suffering. Peater saw me fall to the floor, and he came running over to me.
"Elyssia, are you okay?" he asked.
"It's . . . Ash . . . secret . . ." I sputtered.
And, not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, I lost consciousness.