Children of the Elements: Prey to Him

Chapter Ten: Final Goodbyes

Chapter Ten: Final Goodbyes

“Just stop your moaning, Nathan, and get a move on,” Georgea snapped. Eva slung her bag over her shoulder carelessly as Nathan came shuffling out of the living room whining.

“But I don’t want to leave! I like it here!”

Georgea appeared from behind him, taking a handful of plates into the kitchen. Her voice still echoed around the corridor. “Well I’m glad you approve, but you have more important things to do than sit around making a mess of my house.”

Nathan kicked out in his irritation, scuffing his shoes along the carpet with a rough grinding sound and sending shivers along Eva’s spine.

“I don’t even see why we have to go and meet this guy anyway. He seems pretty dodgy.”

“You’re coming” Chris stated, leaving no room for questioning from the other boy. He was leaning haphazardly against the corridor’s wall, pulling at his fingerless leather gloves before crossing his arms across his chest. “And that’s final.”

“Yeah,” Ash added as she came down the stairs. “Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean he can’t help us.” Eva noticed that Ash didn’t grace Nathan with so much as a glance. A reflection of their strained relationship for the past few weeks right there she thought.

“OK,” Georgea started as the four of them gathered. “Now I’m not going to make some big emotional speech or anything, but…” she smiled weakly, not looking at any of them. “But I just want to tell you all to be very careful. I can’t have any of you dying on me, now can I? What would I do without the lot of you?”

“The same thing you did before you met us, I’d imagine” Nathan interrupted. Chris and Eva groaned at his comment.

“Stop being so pedantic” Georgea replied half-heartedly. She smiled around the four of them, her eyes shining with tears. “Just look after yourselves, and each other. And don’t forget to come back in one piece.” A tear trickled down her cheek, and she tried to wipe it away without any of them noticing.

Chris took a few steps forward and indulged her with a bear hug, letting Georgea lean her emotional head on his chest. She sniffled, still trying to maintain her smile. “G, we’ll be perfectly fine. You don’t have to worry about a thing, OK?” he said soothingly. Chris pulled Georgea to arm’s length and bent down to look into her watery eyes. “We can look after ourselves.”

Georgea nodded as Eva took over the hug, Chris stepping back from her. “You should have more faith in us, G.” The girls hugged, Eva enjoying the feeling of being secure for the last time. As they parted, Nathan continued the long goodbye.

“I didn’t think you had it in you to get soppy, Georgie. I thought you were better than that.” She hit him gently as he wrapped his arms around her. It was odd for Eva to see him so willingly hug another person: he didn’t really like intimacy with other people. Probably because he hated showing real emotion towards anyone who might hurt him.

“I’ll miss you, stupid” Georgea sniffed into Nathan’s chest. “Just,” she started as she pulled away from him. “Just don’t be yourself.”

Nathan winked and saluted at her. “I’ll be sure of it.”

The goodbyes were nearly over; only one person left. Ash refused to move from where she was leaning against the wall. “Sorry,” she shrugged. “I don’t really do goodbyes or hugging.” Her excuse was lame, and even Eva could tell that Georgea was disappointed that Ash couldn’t connect with her enough to give her a hug at possibly the last time they would see each other. But still, being Georgea, she just smiled and said “It’s OK, Ash. You be careful as well, though.” Ash merely nodded unenthusiastically. Eva rolled her eyes. Typical. One of them just has to go and spoil the mood. If she was honest with herself, she was surprised that it wasn’t Nathan putting a downer on things seeing as his mood lately had been far from cheerful. She was almost proud that he’d lightened up for their goodbyes.