Takeover

7- Sorry

I Can't Not Love You 

by Every Avenue

A large crash woke her from her deep sleep. She bolted upright, eyes darting around the room. Romeo and Juliet still resting open on her lap, she closed it and set it on the table beside her. She looked around for Evan, but his bed was left empty. The door was closed. What was the sound? She got up and walked over to his bed. There was a note resting on the pillow. 

I'm so sorry. I didn't have a choice. -Evan

What did that mean? What was he so sorry about? 

Before she could think of any ideas, the door flung open. She flipped around to look who it was, half expecting it to be Evan, but when she saw the intruders face, she wished she hadn't; she wished she was still asleep in her own bed; she wished this was all a dream and in a second she'd wake up under her covers. 

Evan stood there, a guard standing behind him, holding his arms behind his back. Standing a few feet in front of him; the man that filled her nightmares, regardless that this was the first time she had seen him in real life. She had imagined him as a mystical, evil, figure; horrible and terrifying, but imaginary. 

But now? There was no denying he was real. He was real, and he was right in front her. 

Elijah. 

"Abella, I'm so sorry!" Evan cried out from his position across the room. It all came together in her head at that moment. 

He's sorry. 

She couldn't breathe. Her breath suddenly got caught in her throat. Her chest ached for oxygen. She felt her chest caving in. Whether it was from lack of oxygen or the pain in her heart, she couldn't be sure. She was shaking. She couldn't move her feet. She stood frozen as she watched everything crumble before her. She couldn't even think to be mad. She couldn't feel anything besides the betrayal that filled her, threatening to swallow her whole.

How could he do something like that? 

Elijah's voice interrupted her thoughts, saying, "Awww, he's sorry. Isn't that sweet? But he made the right decision. If he had hidden you any longer, I would have killed him the very second he told me. At least now he can live a long life in prison, with you by his side to comfort him. How does that sound?" 

It took her a second to gain enough courage to speak, even then it still came out as only a little above a whisper. "Like hell." 

He gave a little chuckle that made her feel sick to her stomach. "Well, yes. I guess I could make an exception for you. After all, you are the reason I have my power. If you and your family hadn't fled, it would have taken me weeks longer to take over the kingdom. But when you just handed it over, it saved me so much time and work. So much easier than killing all of you. Therefor, I will give you a choice; you can both be imprisoned for the rest of your lives, you can be killed, and he will be freed, or, my personal favorite, you walk away free right now, and I kill him. It's you're choice." 

"I'll die! Abella, tell him I'll die and you can go!" she heard Evan scream at her, but she could barley hear him. The world was spinning. She felt her legs go weak, and she fell to her knees, staring blankly in front of her. 

"No," she breathed. If there was one thing she knew she couldn't do, it was give up his life for herself. He was her best friend, her brother since birth. No length of time can change that. "I can't. I can't kill you," she said without looking up, "I won't." 

"Then you have two choices left. Which will it be?" Elijah said, with a sort of excitement and enthusiasm in his voice that sent shivers up her spine. 

"Let him go. I'll die," she said without giving it another thought. He had lost enough of his life because of her family. She couldn't let him die because she was part of a family of cowards that ran away instead of staying to fight. This was her mess to clean up, not his. That's the reason she stayed, isn't it? This may not have been how she expected to do it, but it was her fight to fight 'till the very end. 

"Don't you dare touch her!" Evan hollered while kicking and trying to get free of the guards grip. "I'll kill you myself!" 

"Now, now. Let's not get all riled up about this. After all, this way you get you get to live free. Although it'd be interesting to see how you continue to live knowing you were responsible for the death of the one you love." 

She finally looked up from her position on the floor at these words. She stared into his empty eyes with pure confusion. "What?" she hardly whispered. 

"Oh, you never told her," he said looking over to Evan, who kept his gaze on the ground. "Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events. We have our own pair of star-crossed lovers, now don't we? That is assuming, you feel the same way for the boy?" he asked raising his eyebrows slightly at her. 

She finally dared to look in his direction, finding he only refused to meet her gaze. She willed him to look up. When he didn't budge, she looked back up to Elijah. 

"Well? If I were you, I wouldn't want to leave him to wonder for the rest of his life if the woman he killed loved him back. But maybe that's just me." 

"You're a sick bastard," I spat at him. 

"I've heard that before." He rest his fingers over his chin to look as if he was contemplating the meaning of the statement. "I like to think of myself as a misunderstood genius. But, whatever works for you." 

She ignored him as she turned her focus back over to Evan. He had finally looked back up in her direction. She looked into his eyes, trying to figure out if it was true. 

Was he really in love with her? 

"Is it true? Do you love me?" she asked, blocking out the rest of the world, only paying attention to the two of them, making them the only people in the world. 

He took a deep breath, before saying, "I do. I always have. Even when we were kids. Even when I didn't know what it meant, when I didn't know what it was, or why I felt that way, I loved you. I love you." 

Without having to consider why, or think if she did, she knew. 

"I love you, too."