Above

46

Estelle
I wake up shaking, in a puddle of red blood. 
I was dressed in a white sundress, with dirty edges, that were ripped haphazardly. 
My legs wouldn't stop shaking and were constantly buckling as I walk through the dark. 
A clatter somewhere near me shook me out of my shaky trance. 
A warm light appears, to my right, which was Luca, he was glowing like a lightning bug. 
He sees me, too, as if I was dispelling light as well. 
He rushes over, holding me up. "Hey, hey, hey."
"Luca." I breathe, looking at him. "I woke up in blood, It's red, It's not mine, I promise." 
"That's not the issue." He says. "You're legs are purple." 
I look down. "I tripped a few times, maybe the ground is made of something sharp." 
He nods. "Something of the sort." 
I look around. "Where are we?" 
"I have no idea, probably in some tunnel." He says. "Nobody else is here, I looked." 
I nod, standing up, no longer needing his support suddenly. "What happened to your arm?" 
He looks down at his peeling scaly arm. "I started molting, I guess." 
"Ew." 
"I know." He laughs. 
I look around, before looking over his shoulder. 
Maverick was standing there, holding Felicity by the throat. 
"Look." 
He spins around. "Fizz?" 
"Do not move. I will kill." Maverick says. 
Luca instinctively reaches back for his bow, grimacing when he catches air. "Let her go." 
"Give me her." Maverick motions toward me. 
I look over at Luca, who shakes his head. "Take me." 
"I don't want you, I want her." Maverick says. 
"No deal." Luca says. "Choose something else." 
I turn around and see the guy who kidnapped me, holding onto Stefan. 
"Luca." I murmur.
He turns around too. "Who's that guy?" 
"Stefan, he was August's friend." I answer. 
"Who's the other guy?" He asks. 
"I dunno." I say. "He was the guy who tortured me, when Leeciy and I got kidnapped." 
"Oh." Luca says. "Can you try doing your Oura konnes." 
I nod, stomping my foot. Nothing happens, so I jump, and nothing happens, so I fall to my knees and start pounding the ground. "Please!" I yell upward.
Luca looks down at me, before reaching down and pulling me up. "We're cornered." 
"I know." I say, hopelessly. 
Luca taps his chin. "We have to come up with a plan." 
"You run at Stefan and the guy, and I'll run at Maverick and Felicity." I orders. 
"What do we do when we get there?" He asks. 
"Fight tooth and nail." I say before running toward my sister. 
***
Before I could even get to her, I fell through the ground, landing in an ocean. 
I could see now, but the water was so cold I couldn't exactly swim. 
Luca seemed to adapt quickly, already treading the water. 
My head goes under, and I cough, bubbles coming from my mouth.
My hand shoots up trying to grab something but the current drags me under. 
Luca grabs my arm and pulls up as hard as he can. 
I get a small gasp in before getting pulled back down. 
The salt stings my eyes, and the sundress, which was covered with blood was probably attracting sharks. 
Luca drags me up, and tries to put me on his back. 
I resist, because Luca's tiny and swimming for two people would be hard for the average person. 
"Remember what I taught you." He yells over the waves. 
I try and remember how his lesson. 
I start kicking my legs in calculated slow strokes before moving my arms to propel me forward. 
"Let's look for land." Luca says, swimming like a pro. 
I follow behind like a wounded puppy. 
***
We swim for quite some time before landing on an island. 
My white dress is basically sheer, so Luca shrugs off his jacket and hands it to me. 
The sand under our feet is soft and white. 
Luca is already preparing a fire, while I look for berries of some kind to eat.
Apparently, we don't have that much sunlight left, so I gather every berry I can. 
I get back and we already have a roaring fire. 
He sets down a few leafs for me to place the berries on top of. 
"How long until the sun sets?" I ask. 
He looks at the array of colors flanking across the sky, an orange painting his pale features gold. "Maybe forty-five minutes." 
I sigh, laying back in the sand, looking up at the lilac sky. 
"It's pretty." I murmur. 
"It really is." He says. "We should probably establish some shelter." 
I nod. "Let's." 
***
We pull a few younger trees down and tie them with Luca's shoelaces, making a sort of Tipi out of palm trees. 
We gather softer dirt and coat the ground and then cover it with leaves. 
Luca adds some green to the fire so some smoke will alert boats or airplanes. 
I sit outside, watching the last few minutes of sunset, which was now twilight, but the sky was still pink, purple and yellow. 
Luca scoots the berries over to me, motioning me to eat, since he's eaten his half. 
I shake my head, as I wasn't hungry.  
"You gotta eat something." He murmurs. 
I shake my head. "I'll eat in the morning, I'm not hungry." 
Luca sighs and sits back. 
I shiver, since the air chilled about 50° in the past fifteen minutes. 
"We should get into the tent, it's getting cold." Luca says, pushing off the ground. 
I look down at the bandages on my legs, which were already stained a deep purple.
Luca offers me his hand, which I take, and pulls me up. 
We lay in the tent, side-by-side. 
"This is uncomfy." Luca says. 
I smile, looking over at him. "I hope we don't wake up here tomorrow, and that this is all some bad dream." 
He nods. "It probably is." 
I nod. "Probably." 
"If we go to sleep now, we'll wake up in some city in North Dakota, and feel a little more hope." 
I sigh. "That feels like heaven just about now." 
He rolls over so his back faces me. "Alright, go to sleep." 
I roll over and with about fifteen minutes of patience, I fall asleep.