A Dreamer Caught In The Crossfire

Chapter 15

Eluard found himself walking through the almost empty halls of the Hellfire HQ at around 6am. There was some suspicious activity that was spotted just outside the compound in the very early hours of the morning, which just turned out to be Alkmene Venizilos doing who- knows-what with nobody-knows-who. "Just meeting up with a friend real quick," she said. Even though on the outside he looked very calm and relaxed about it at the time, he was actually really agitated because he knew that waking up at that hour would ruin any opportunities for sleep whatsoever. At first he tried to go back to sleep and get as much shut-eye as he could before he had to be up and ready for the day, but as fate would have it, he just couldn't. So he got out of bed and started what would become a two hour walk through the compound in his uniform pants, a black hoodie, a small blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a pair of unicorn slippers that Winifred had gotten him for his birthday a few years back. Most of the patrol guys didn't seem to take notice of him, the ones that did merely waved and got back to what they were doing soon afterwards.

The halls soon began to slowly fill with life bit by bit but Eluard didn't even bother to think about getting changed into something more appropriate. The early and useless wake-up call had clearly put him in a bad mood. All of a sudden thoughts of her drifted into his mind. The admirable Jasmine Michaels. The way her hair looked in the sun, the way she spoke, the way her eyes took his breath away constantly. In his eyes she compared to none. He felt a smile creep onto his face involuntarily, the events of the morning pushed into the back of his mind. That was until he bumped into the person he least wanted to see. Alkmene.

"Oh hi Eluard!" she said with so much cheeriness that it basically sucked the happiness out of him.

She jogged over to him and clasped her hand over her mouth when she got a closer look at his face.

"You're not looking too good," she said, gesturing to the dark circles and bags below his eyes.

"Now I wonder who's to blame for that," he replied sarcastically.

"But I sure am loving those slippers!" she said quickly, changing the topic.

Eluard groaned and ran a hand over his face to try stifle a yawn.

"What do you want Alkmene?" he asked, not wanting to talk to her for a second longer.

"Oh, um, I was walking passed Coirwen's office just now and he asked me to tell you he wants to speak with you," she replied, her voice sickly merry as usual.

"I'll pass by there just now," said Eluard as he pushed passed her.

X

Eluard didn't know whether to be happy that he met Gabriel in the halls or not. Gabriel waved as soon as he spotted him and walked over.

"Dude, you look like utter crap right now," he said.

"Tell me something I don't know," replied Eluard mockingly.

"Okay, well, your cooking sucks, stay out of my kitchen."

"Hey! My food is amazing!" retorted Eluard.

"Exactly. You just don't know it sucks. But seriously man, are you sick or something?" asked Gabriel.

Eluard stifled a yawn again.

"No, I was just rudely awakened at around 3am this morning and I've been up on my feet since and I barely got any sleep before that."

"Still thinking about pretty lady I see," teased Gabriel with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Oh shut up! I'll talk to you later, I got to pass by Coirwen's," said Eluard as he started walking again.

"In unicorn slippers?!" questioned Gabriel.