The Immortals

Chapter twelve - In Which Confusion Reigns

When my eyes fly open I find myself in an unfamiliar place and a terrible pounding in my head starts blurring my vision. I groan in pain and frustration as I try to stand up and fail miserably. My wobbly legs feel unable to sustain the weight of my body and my still blurred vision certainly doesn't  help.

"So she lives." The annoying voice of my handler echoes in the room. I am too weak to even respond.

A pair of strong hands pick me up from under my armpits, I struggle to get away from the unpleasant touch but he only holds me tighter and sits me on a hard wooden chair.

"Don't worry, the headache will be over soon." He strokes my blonde hair and sighs.

"Do you know why you're here?" He sits in front of me. As my vision starts going back to normal, I can't help but notice that he was probably a very handsome man before being disfigured.

I take in my surroundings and discover we are in a small room, there are two chairs, a bed and only one door, exactly behind him. My only escape point is blocked.

"Is it because I accepted the Immortals bribe? You must admit your pay sucked." I answer getting myself an amused look.

"They payed you to not kill them?" He laughs.

"Yes, they did." I raise my brow in annoyance.

He laughs even harder.

"Oh, my dearest Lily." He smiles. "You really don't understand the bigger picture do you?"

I furrow my brow in confusion. What is he talking about?

"Hey, babe?" A red head opens the door. "Oh, hello elf. Alexandros must be so mad right now..." Floriana's smirking face stands before, her laughter only makes my head hurt even more. Then it actually hits me: she is working with the enemy, trying to kill her own family. Why, though? I'm confused.

"Cuffs really suit you." She winks. "Babe, do you think I can play with her before you kill her?"

"We'll see, darling. Now leave us." The scarred man waves her away. She sends another smirk in my direction before closing the door behind her.

He stands up and walks around me in circles, observing my every movement and making me very uncomfortable.

"You really don't remember?" He asks me pulling his chair closer to mine.

"Remember what?" I stare back at him in confusion.

"The plan, Lily."

"What plan?"

He looks at me, studying my expression as if trying to understand if I'm telling the truth.

"What happened to you?" He looks at me with a hurt expression.

"What do you mean?" I'm starting to feel nervous under his intense gaze.

"We were supposed to bring them down together! You from the inside and me from the outside." He shrieks in frustration.

"What on earth are you talking about! I don't know you! I've never seen you before in my life!" I shout back feeling panicked.

"They killed them all." He sighs.

I furrow my brow and look at him closely, wondering what he's talking about.

"Who?" My voice trembles when I think about the dagger that could kill Alexandros. "Weren't you supposed to be the one that didn't care?" My consciousness speaks right back at me.

"The elves, all of them... They're dead." He lowers his gaze towards the floor. "A part from the two of us."

I am stung in shock for a few moments as I study his face.

"You? You're an elf?" I can't manage to hide my surprise. He has every trait of the elven species but that ugly scar just wouldn't allow me to see it until now. "But- I thought I was the only one left-"

"Surprise, surprise." He smiles nervously and brushes his long blond hair behind his ears. "It's not like they noticed with this terrible thing on my face."

"What was the plan? Why don't I remember?" I ask with confusion.

"We were supposed to infiltrate this organisation and take them down, but you just disappeared after the mission started..." He caresses my cheek with his hand. "So I came looking for you but you were nowhere to be found, until they made me your handler, but you didn't even recognise my voice. I was so happy when we finally had a reason to bring you in." He is so close I can feel his breath on my cheek. "I missed you so much-"

"Please, I don't know who you are." I try to pull away from him, I can hardly manage to stop my mind from thinking how wrong this feels.

He nods, hurt in his eyes. "My name is Raphael."

"So the Immortals aren't the ones who killed us?"

"No, these are the assholes that exterminated us, why would you think that?" He looks surprised.

"I don't know, I just thought so." I shrug imperceptibly. "This changes everything." Inner Lily adds.

"I think someone tampered with your memory, in a really serious way." He sighs once again and I see his hands twitching uncontrollably, as if he wants to touch me but he can't. "How long have they held you a prisoner?"

"Who?"

"The Immortals." He asks in an unflinching way.

"I was never a prisoner." I'm a little confused. "They paid me not to kill them and then we just came together when we discovered the same men were after the both of us." I shrug.

"I see." He looks me in the eye and I can't help but be a little freaked out by his light blue one, the blind one. "Alexandros looked really desperate to have you back."

"It's complicated, we have history." I explain, not wanting to go further into detail.

The man in front of me stiffens against his chair and mutters something under his breath.

"Are you going to kill me now?" I tremble, trying to break out of my cuffs to defend myself. I know I have enough energy to do it, I just need to concentrate hard enough.

"What? No, of course not." He looks shocked. "I'm going to break you out."

"How?"

"You'll see." He smiles. "Go on, break those."

I pull on them with all of my strenght and manage to break free.

"Impressive." He smiles. "Let's go."

He opens the door and we find ourselves in a sort of very narrow hallway, dimly lit and looking endless.

"There's no way we can avoid being caught by Floriana, she's an Immortal! Have you got a plan?" I ask him feeling nervous.

"Just trust me." He grabs my hand and starts running.

I see a couple of men in black approaching and Raphael suddenly stops me and pulls my hands behind my back. He pushes me towards them and nods at the two, never stopping.

"They think you're the last elf and that makes you very valuable. The whole compound has been heavily guarded since you arrived." He explains still pushing me forward. "We're going to escape through the tunnels, it will be hard, but we'll manage it."

He opens a heavy looking metal trap door. I look down and it's completely dark and dusty.

"Or so I hope."

Little plot twist for you! Hope you liked it, if you did please vote!

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