lovers rock

chapter 23

-3rd person pov-

the movie hadn't finished by the time el was being taken out of the water tank. y/n shot up from her seat and hit the pause button on the tv before rushing out of the room and down the staircase.
she came to an abrupt halt beside el's stretcher, el was already awake and breathing heavily. the doctors were holding a gas mask on her face as she struggled to catch a breath.
"how do you feel?" asked brenner, she didn't respond.
"el?" y/n called out to her, concerned.
el reached her hand out to hold the mask and she pulled it off before she slowly rose up. she turned to face NINA with a face full of determination.
the pitter patter of feet was heard as she walked over to stand in front on the water tank.
everyone watched as she confidently raised her right hand up, the lights began to flicker as she sealed her eyes shut.
NINA began to rustle and rumbling noises came from it, echoing around the room. suddenly, the nails and screws that held it in place burst off and the tank began to levitate in the air.
a stream of blood trickled from el's nose as the tank was lifted higher and higher. the tank remained at the ceiling for about five seconds before it slowly made its way down again, el still in full control.
el's eyes peeled open to find the tank sitting before her, she then turned her head to the left. she was met with brenner and owens who wore proud looks and y/n, who was swaying back and forth on her heels, looking as if she was about to implode with excitement.

-y/n's pov-

"EL!" I squealed as I ran over to her, "you did it!" at this point I had already attacked her with a tight hug.
el patted my shoulder during the hug but it was a surprise that she had managed to because I was squeezing her so badly it could've cut off her blood circulation.
I pulled out of the hug, still buzzing and jumping about on my heels.

—————

me and el were now sat next to eachother on the stretcher, a red towel was wrapped around el and my hand gently rubbed her back.

"After the attack, eleven." brenner began, "you fell into a coma. like 001, you had pushed yourself beyond your limit and it very nearly destroyed you but that is where your similarities ended. what you displayed that day, was beyond anything I'd every imagined.
same goes for you, 012."

el gave me a look of confusion.

"I'll tell you later" I whispered into her ear, she nodded.

"A potential I'd only ever dreamed of," continued brenner, "but when you awoke, something had been lost. your memories along with whatever else you'd found within yourself that day. but I knew then, just as I knew today, that your powers had not been lost they just needed a spark." he gestured a spark with his hands, "but that day, you awakened something else, a doorway to another world. I always thought Henry was out there, hiding in the darkness. I didn't know for sure, not beyond a feeling until now."

"He's claimed three victims so far" owens suddenly spoke as he walked over with a file, "and when I saw the eyes, I knew- I knew that it was him."

"what's wrong with their-" I began but was cut off by my own gagging noise when three pictures of dead bodies were shoved into my face.

their eyes had been completely gauged into their skulls.

"holy shit" I whispered under my breath as my eyes scanned the page.

"He was sending us a message," owens explained as me and el looked at the pages, "letting us know that he's back. That's when I came to see you"

"my friends" el gasped as she closed the folder.
"well, we haven't risked contact but as far as we know, they're- they're all safe." owens assured.
"but I'm not gonna lie to you eleven," brenner spoke, "your friends are in terrible danger, with each victim he takes, henry is chiselling away at the barrier that exists between our two worlds."
"chiselling?" el repeated, unsure of what the word meant.
"basically nipping away at something until it-" I explained before I was cut off by brenner.