Let Me Go

- Chaper Two - Elora -

I walked straight into their chest. His chest, to be more specific. I had never seen this man before, he wasn't my age, he must have been early twenties or something close. He stood taller than me, about the same height as Harry, my head directly facing his chest. I had to bend my neck upright to see his face. And once I saw it I couldn't look away. Not because I liked what I saw, or because of how he looked, but instead it was his eyes.

They were red, and they were looking dead at me.

I felt my feet moving backwards before I thought about it. Maybe it was instinct but I knew I needed to get away from this man. He didn't come meaning well, it was clear by the look that he was giving me. Almost that of a wild animal watching to see what my next move was before they attacked.

I'd taken a few steps backwards, maybe ten or fifteen, his eyes meeting mine the entire time. I'd thought to myself that maybe if I kept looking at him, he would just stand still. That I could get far enough away before I could make a run for it back to the party. I was smaller then him, narrower, maybe that would help. I could turn to run, and I could dodge him between the trees. I could run around them or between them, and with his size he would struggle to dodge them like I could. If I could just take a few more steps, I would be able to run.

My back hit something. Something hard. It must have been a tree, I wasn't planning this. This wouldn't help my getaway. I put my hand behind my body, trying to feel how big this tree was to get an idea of the movement I would need to make to get around it. But inside all I felt was a hand.

I turned my head away from the man in front of me, trying to work out who was now here with me. I was in disbelief when I realised whos hand I was now holding.

Luca.

"Luca, we need to get out of here." I said, ignoring the fact that this guy would most likely not win a fight against Luca, but with whatever was going on with his eyes, I wanted to get out of here before we found out what kind of strength this guy had. But Luca seemed to have other ideas.

"El, you need to run." he said through gritted teeth, not taking his eyes off of the man behind me. I'd never seen him like this, so still, so protective. I'd also never been called 'El' by him before. Only my close friends called me that, he knew that. He'd accidently called me it once before, I guess him spending time with Harry it had just gotten into his head, but I'd made sure he knew that wasn't a name he was allowed to call me. But that wasn't something I was about to correct when it seemed like he was ready to knock this guy out. Right now, it was what I needed to hear. It meant he was here to help me, it meant I was safe with him.

Suddenly I was behind him, I wasn't sure if he had moved me there or if he had moved around me to face the man, but either way it was fast. Too fast for me to currently comprehend. I turned to face Luca, and his back was to me, I had to peer around him to see the man still standing there. This time, the man had his eyes purely on Luca.

"You need to leave." Luca said, once again through gritted teeth. His posture had changed, he was ready to lunge at this guy if he needed to. His arms slightly bent, his fists tightly closed.

I placed my hand on his top, gripping it tightly before whispering quietly to him. "This isn't worth it, Luca. We need to get back to the house." I said, trying to talk reason into him. This was just some guy in the forest, nothing had happened, we just needed to leave before it got worse.

"Why? Let's have some fun with her first." The man said again, proudly. He was tauting Luca now. Luca stiffened.

"I said leave." Luca said again, he sounded angry, almost shouting it. He wasn't messing around, he was ready to fight this guy if he moved.