Three Eleven Thirteen

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

The drive home felt as if it was purposely delaying me from my destination. Every minute made me feel more and more panicked about being away from home. Away from Ellie who had been waiting for me.

I prayed he hadn't left the house.   

As I ordered Levi to drive faster, and even showed him a shortcut to take back to my house, I mentally vowed I would never leave Ellie alone like this again. The panic it caused in my own body, wasn't worth a few hours of social outing. I don't even like Levi.

I just wanted to be normal, and now I hate myself for it.

Levi was practically silent throughout the entire drive, he only ever replied to me when I told him the directions back to the house. When I told him to speed up, he'd grunt a bit, but he wouldn't disobey.

I don't think he's going to ever talk to me again after this bizarre experience, and I don't blame him.

Finally, he stopped in front of my house, and I immediately said goodnight to him, and left the vehicle before he could get out a word.

I ran up to my front door, realizing this was the second time I have erratically rushed home thinking about Ellie. Is this a problem of mine, or something Ellie needs to conquer?

I took a deep breath, and went inside.

"Ellie?" I called, and as expected, he didn't reply. That wasn't unusual, in fact I don't think he has ever replied to me when I called out his name.

Still, my heart was pounding so loud I wondered if Ellie could hear it, wherever he is.

I checked the living room, the kitchen, and the bedrooms. The only place he could be was the basement. The door to it was shut, so I swung it open, and made my way down the creaking steps. "Ellie?" I said, but this time, is was quieter, because immediately I could feel his presence.

My eyes fixed on him, but I didn't feel relieved.

Something was wrong.

He sat on the cold concrete floor, his knees pressed against his chest as his back was against the wall. His hands were in his hair, clutching it as if he was trying to pull the hair from his scalp. His body was shaking, and that's when I noticed how pale he looked, how his veins were the color of midnight, and how his entire body was covered in thick, red, blood.

His blood isn't red

I suddenly felt dizzy, like the world was spinning and I couldn't stop it. I could hardly stand as I made my way towards him, I didn't even realize I got on my knees beside him, until it was already done. All I could say was; "Ellie, what did you do?" But what I really wanted to ask him was, "Ellie, who did you hurt?"

He stiffened, and I wondered if he'd attack me.

I contained my fear, and slowly reached my hand out, I hesitantly wiped a smudge of blood off his cheek. He finally turned to look at me, and his eyes bored into mine. They were entirely black, but I could tell he wasn't in a rabid state.

He was just scared.

I made my voice as gentle as I could muster in this situation, "Please Ellie, I'm not mad, just tell me what happened."

His hands shook as he slowly released them from his hair, "Late." He murmured, breathing erratically, "You're late."

In my own shame, I had to look away from him, "I know, I'm so sorry. I swear, I didn't realize the time, it was an accident." I noticed all the blood on the floor, as if it was dripping off him all the way from the stairs. It was probably upstairs too, and I hadn't even realized it.