Colour Me Red

Chapter 31: Ellie Clarke

Recap: Ellie and Dune got to a club and Ellie aids Dune in luring a target into a dark alley where Dune can kill him. They then go to a motel to spend the night there because it isn't safe for them to go back to the cottage where Felix is. The threat of Henric Beathaven is ever pressing.

Chapter 31: Ellie Clarke

When I woke up that morning, Dune wasn’t beside me.

I yawned and stretched out my arms, my fingertips brushing against something on the bedside table as I did so. I peeled open one eye to see a folded piece of paper with my name on it perched against the bedside lamp. A smile spread across my face as I picked it up and read.

Morning beautiful,

       I’m across the street buying croissants for breakfast.

                   Try not to miss me too much –

                                       Dune

I grinned at his arrogance and held the paper to my lips. Would it be crazy to say it smelt like him? I hauled myself out of bed and shut myself in the bathroom, splashing my face with cold water. I looked at my reflection and took a deep breath.

Within a matter of months I’d gone from being a regular teenage girl with ordinary parents to a somewhat superhuman who’s dating the most dangerous assassin on the planet.

I picked up my toothbrush and shoved it in my mouth along with a glob of toothpaste. My life sure had turned around; and perhaps not necessarily for the better. I missed my mum and my little brother, Elias. Was I ever going to see them again?

That thought trailed off when I heard a loud bang, and I stepped from the bathroom with my toothbrush hanging out my mouth and a frown on my face – a frown that turned into a look of fear when I saw who had broken down the door to mine and Dune’s motel room.

My mouth dropped open and my toothbrush fell to the floor with a soft thud.

Henric Beathaven stood before me with a menacing look in his eyes, which were shockingly dark compared to the bleach blonde of his hair, and a sly smile on his face that scared the crap out of me.

“Err, can I help you with something?” I asked, spitting foamy toothpaste all over the place.

He lunged towards me and I scrambled back into the bathroom, locking it with trembling fingers. Even with all the hours I’d spent training I still had no chance of winning in hand-to-hand combat against him, and if he had a weapon with him (which he most likely would) I had even less of a chance of escape.

“He isn’t here,” I shouted fiercely through the door, struggling to open the bathroom window.

A sadistic laugh was my reply, along with what sounded like his fist making contact with the wooden door. The whole room shook.

 “What makes you think I’m here for him?”

His words made me freeze in my movements, with one leg dangling out the window, but only for a millisecond. The incessant banging on the door kept me going, and it was only when I looked down three floors to the murky pavement did I pause, calculating the likelihood of my survival.

“Ellie?” I heard my name called.

“Dune!” I exclaimed in relief as I looked down to see him standing across the road with a bag of groceries in his hand.