Eliot Strange and the Prince of the Apocalypse

40) A Dream Come True

I am dreaming again. My prince is in danger. I am in danger. We are holding hands and running. Someone is chasing us. Someone is shooting at us. There is blood, and I do not know whose it is.

I wake up to the sound of pounding on the front door, and Steven yelling. I grab my gun and fling open the front door.

Steven is standing there, all wild-eyed and breathing heavy and with blood on his hands. Before I can ask what happened, he says, "Grab your stuff, get the medical supplies. We got to go. They are coming."

I see that it is not him bleeding. He is ok. I don't want to be a part of any of this anymore so I say, "No, I'm not coming, Steven. I'm leaving."

"Eliot, you have got to help me. This blood is the prince's." He puts his hands in my face. "He has been shot. I need your help. He needs your help."

"Where is he?" I ask. "Who shot him?" I run to get the medical bag. Steven follows me.

"I don't know. It all happened so fast. I can't believe what I saw, but Jack Taylor, he's alive."

"What? Torin said he was dead. All his bodyguards are dead."

"I don't know Elie. They didn't look happy to see each other. Maybe Jack was in on it all along. It must have been a plan for a long time."

I think about what I saw upstairs. "You're right," I say. "Part of the plan all along. Conspiracy."

We rush out the door to a red jeep where Torin is lying slumped in the back seat. When I open the door he says, "There, there's my girl. Where you been? I've been seeking you. I looked for you a long time, Eliot Strange."

"I'm here," I say as I slide in beside him. "Steven, drive to your house. No one knows where you live. We should be safe there for awhile."

"I walked a long way to find you, my lady," Torin says. He reaches and touches my face with a bloody hand. If I didn't know better, I would think he was going to kiss me.

"Yes, yes you did." I pull the rag from the wound in Torin's left side. I pull him towards me, and I reach behind him to see if the bullet went through. It did. There is a larger hole in the back that is bleeding more than the front wound. I check him for other wounds. There is so much blood that I cannot tell if he is shot more than once.

"Shot only once?" I ask Steven.

"Yes, I think so. It all happened so fast. I went back to the showers after you left. Something was bugging me. I didn't know what until I saw them standing together. Him and Jack Taylor. There was no scar, Elie. The man in the shower we saw did not have the scar. It was Jack Taylor with Carli, not Torin."

"But how? How does Carli know Jack Taylor?"

To which Torin responds, "My cousin Jack is alive. I was so happy to see him. He said I must go with him. I said no, I will not leave my friends. We argued. He had a gun. I don't understand."

"Shh, it's ok. You are ok," I say. Torin moans when Steven takes a turn too fast and pitches him to the side.

"Steven, slow down a little," I say harshly and then, "Please."

Torin says, "Lindy is my friend."

"Yes, yes, he's your friend."

"I love Jack. I'm glad he is not dead. But..." Torin's voice trails off, and I believe he has passed out when he adds, "Jack is not the boss of me."

He grows quiet and then says in a whisper, "Eliot, you are a most fascinating girl. I really do adore you."

"Thank you, Prince Torin,"

"You are quite welcome, my lady. Are you mad at me?" And with that, he slumps in my lap, and he finally grows silent because he has passed out.

I tell Steven about my mother's secret room. He doesn't  say anything. He lets me finish and then only says, "Your mother has always been a kind and thoughtful person. And so, kind of, bad ass. I cannot believe it. I always wished she was my mom too."

"Steven, my mother is responsible for this, her and that damn professor and his army. I don't know how or why, but she is responsible in some way. She did all this. She helped end the world and then look what else she did. She put a bounty on Torin and tried to take our prince."

"Well, if she really did that. Really tried to kidnap our prince, then I am done with her," says Steven.

I don't say anything back because I completely agree. I am done with my mother too.