Journey

Lorelei

We are getting ready for a full on attack. Everyone is preparing the base. I don't see anyone anymore. Or if I do they quickly run away. It is kind of sad the lows we have to bear for our protection. I sit with Kourtni trying to come up with a plan but there are so many blanks where there should be information about these creatures.

"Do we know what they look like?" I ask Kourtni exasperated.

"They are blue and they glow. They have a sort of humanoid shape," Kourtni tells me.

This is the fourteenth time we have been over this.

"Do they have a weakness we know of?" I ask.

"Lorelei. For the 100th time no," She tells me.

She is exasperated as well.

"Do we know when they are coming?" I ask quietly.

I don't really want to know but I have to know. Kourtni checks her watch.

"2 hours," She winces.

Well that's a problem. We have been sitting here trying to come up with a plan for the last 2 and a half hours.

"We aren't getting anywhere so let's just focus on making our defense stronger." Kourtni tells me.

We walk out of the conference room we were in. I feel like a failure. How am I supposed to protect my people from these things when I don't know anything about them. I start running around the compound. Maybe if I act like I'm in a rush they might leave me alone. Elijah stops me. He catches me in his arms.

"Elijah, let me go," I tell him.

"Do we have a plan of attack?" He asks me.

"No. Elijah please let me go," I tell him.

He releases his grip on me. He looks hurt but I am not sorry I hurt his feelings. We aren't playing around anymore. This is war. It is war. Why does war have to be so stressful?

I take one of Elijah's cards and go sit in a supply closet. In a compound like this it is the only privacy I can get. I run my fingers through my hair hand grab a fistful of it. This might be the last day of my life. Would that be such a bad thing? I bury my face in my knees. I scream. I don't care if people can hear me from outside my supply closet.

I scream again.

"Lorelei," A voice says bursting into the room.

I scream again and burst into tears.

Elijah comes and scoops me up in his arms. He locks the closet door and rocks me in his arms. He makes sure to keep the wet strands of hair out of my face.

We sit in the closet for a while. I eventually run out of tears and fall asleep in his arms but only for a little bit. I wake up again and we are still in the closet. After a while he stands up, me still in his arms, and leaves the closet. He walks through the compound and I get looks from people. I guess it's because they saw Elijah enter the closet, heard crying and saw Elijah exit the closet with a sleeping girl in his arms. Suddenly an alarm blares through the loudspeakers. I quickly open my eyes. Everyone is running and It is chaos. Elijah walks with a brisk pace to the control room. America is in their talking in hushed voices with Kourtni. She glances over at us.

"Okay, I get being worried for Lorelei's safety but I'm pretty sure Lorelei can walk on her own big guy," America says to us.

Elijah flushes and sets me down. He keeps an arm on my back though. I am glad. He is lending me his strength because I'm pretty sure without it I would still be in the supply closet screaming.

"Lorelei, you and Elijah are going to be out in the field," Kourtni tells us.

I gulp. I don't want to fight. Kourtni hands me and Elijah handguns.

"Go practice shooting," She tells us.

We go to the shooting range. It was quickly assembled to teach people how to fire a gun. Elijah gets it in a second. It takes me a while to get used to the whiplash.

"You are doing good," He says to me.

Holding the gun in my hand makes me feel powerful. It was like getting jolted awake. It gave me more power than being Commander ever did.

"Why did I even go into politics?" I ask Elijah.

He shrugs.

I eventually get better at shooting the gun.

Elijah sets the gun down. He takes my gun from my hand and places it on the table.

"I just want to do this before I don't get the chance to again," He whispers.

Before I can respond his mouth is against mine. His hands are at my waist and another form of energy jolts through me more satisfying than holding the gun. He press me up against the wall. My hands are pressing him closer to me. In that moment I have forgotten the war. The only thing left in this world are me and him. Nothing else matters. Only him. My hands are pressed flat against his back. His hands travel on the bare skin exposed from where my shirt rode up. His fingers tingle my skin. I don't like how much I need him. How much I crave him. I flip us. I kiss him again and again until the world around us is black and white.

"Ehemmm," says a voice behind us.

We break apart and turn to see Stefin in the doorway.

"How is training going?" He asks innocently.

"Wonderful," Elijah says.

"Good. Shoot five bullets into the bullseye in a row," He tells us.

I go first. I get the first three. The fourth one goes in the first ring and the fifth one goes in the middle again.

Elijah goes next. He shoots all five bullets into the middle. I am shocked.

"Are you sure you haven't held a gun before?" I ask him.

He shrugs. Stefin looks shocked. I guess now he can't complain about us kissing.