Capturing Ella

Chapter 40 - Joe

4:51am

I quickly ransacked the draws in my room once more, double checking I had left nothing anywhere. Whilst the attack to come to the house seemed unlikely, and the attack to come and kill us also did seem stupidly unlikely, I trusted Ella with my life. Even though what she had done was completely stupid and was risky to her, I was glad she had found out about the potential attack. It seemed even more likely considering how panicky she had got about it too. She normal hid emotions fairly well, but when she woke me up in a complete panic nearly crying, I knew something was up and it was something that was upsetting her deep down. As I cleared the drawers, only leaving the complimentary Bible (?) in the drawer, I walked over to the wardrobe, taking out some of the shirts that remained hung up, putting them in the top compartment of the traveller's bag. Even if the threat was literally just a threat, it was worth leaving for a few days and coming back again if nothing had happened. I wouldn't risk Ella to anything that could hurt her.

My entire room was clear now, so I picked up the backpack and left it by the front door. I had done the sweep of the lounge and the kitchen and all our belongings were now in a large black holdall by the door, full to the brim as well. All that was left to do was Ella's stuff.

I've been packing for just over an hour now, and have heard no signs from Ella. I only assumed that she had fallen asleep in that time. Slowly, I crept back into her room, opening the door. Sure enough, she was curled up on the bed in near enough the same position she fell asleep in whilst I sat next to her, gently brushing her hair which fell across her face until she drifted off. I think I had finally figured her out.

It was clear she didn't overly care about herself in situations that could lead to her death. She would rather people live and continue their lives and she would do anything she could to ensure that. She cared more about me than she did about herself. I was annoyed that she didn't tell me about the plans, and the concept that she would just run off in the middle of the night in what appeared as a suicidal mission but she only did it to keep me safe and to hopefully stop the plane bombs ever happening. She was so devoted already, and it was just amazing.

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An hour later, all of our bags were by the door fully packed. Every single cabinet and wardrobes was stripped down as to how we found the place. The only sign that we had ever been here was Ella, still asleep on the bed. She had grabbed a bit of the duvet and was hugging it to her chest, her other hand under the pillow. I sat down on my knee's next to the bed.

'Ella, hun,' I gently said, my hand on her shoulder. She surfaced slightly but only to burrow into her pillow a bit more.

'It's time for us to leave,' I said, and she opened one eye, squinting at me.

'Do you have any idea where we can go?' Ella mumbled, and I got up to sit on the side of the bed.

'No idea,' I said.

'Then we have time, get on in.' Ella quietly joked still half asleep. She rolled over to pull me into bed beside her, and as I gave no resistance I rolled over, lying down next to her. The next second she was laying on her side, hugging her tummy. 'Ow,' She moaned, curling into a ball. Concerned, I rolled over and hugged her.

'What's wrong, baby?'

'Really bad stomach ache, almost like period pains but... without the impossible aspect of period pains.'

I hugged her to my chest, kissing her neck. I hated seeing her in pain. I don't think she wanted to admit how much pain she was actually in from her stomach ache, but I could see it. The way her face was sitting and her eyes screwed shut and the single tear running down her face. I quickly wiped the tear away.