Malevolence

~15~

The next 10 minutes are a rush for Eleni. She barely manages to keep up with the detective and the stampede of officers that follow him as he tears through the city, sirens blaring and every traffic law in existence seemingly not applying at the moment. Eleni doesn't know if it's illegal to drive in the wake of an emergency vehicle like she is, but she doesn't particularly care. After what she's just learned, getting in trouble for that is on the bottom of her list of things to worry about. She doesn't know exactly what is going on with Destiny- or Annie, or whatever her name is- and she's more than a little confused about the very terrifying bomb the detective had just dropped, but she isn't too confused to understand what it means.

Laurent was right.

He was more right than Eleni thought he was, more right than even he knew. Laurent knew something about her was off, Eleni had her suspicions of her involvement, but neither of them would have ever imagined this.

15 people. She'd killed 15 people, and as far as Eleni knew, Laurent- and maybe even Larry- were next on her list.

She's shocked. She's scared, she's stressed, and she really just wants to curl up into a little ball and cry for a couple of hours. Laurent's hospitalization, Larry and Destiny's relationship, and balancing Les Twins business on top of it all.... it hasn't exactly been an easy week for her. She's barely been keeping her head above water, and now with this revelation stacked on top of it, it's becoming too much.

In the center of it all though, in the middle of all the exhaustion and fear and stress and everything else, is a knowledge that her friend, her family is in danger. It's keeping her focused enough to continue thinking ahead instead of in the moment, to keep moving and not really let the emotional impact of what she's just learned hit her just yet. Like the eye of a hurricane, it's providing just enough clarity for her to see the storm brewing on the horizon, one that is going to hit just as soon as they arrive at the hospital.

She doesn't know what awaits them there. She's all too aware of the possibility that Destiny has already done something else to hurt the twins, but she refuses to dwell on that thought. It scares her too much, and if she lets herself think about it then the fear will overcome her, and she knows she won't be able to function like she needs to right now. That's why she's refusing to think about it. Instead, she's thinking of Larry safely tucked away with Laurent in his hospital room, hopefully with Destiny somewhere far away from them. She prays that they can arrest her on the spot and drag her away, completely out of all of their lives forever. She hopes she'll never have to see her again, and she hopes that she'll pay for everything she's done to Laurent and anyone else she may have hurt.

But even if she does, even if Larry and Laurent are okay and she gets thrown into a cell and locked away for the rest of her life, it won't be enough to solve all the problems she's created.

Because Larry is going to be destroyed.

He'll be crushed, broken beyond repair when he finds out that he let this happen to his brother, and without Laurent there to help him through it, Eleni isn't sure that he won't crack under the weight of all that guilt.

Knowing that is the only force driving her to keep up with them. It's what makes her push her car as fast as it can go, it's what makes her run not one, not two, but three red lights, and it's what makes her scramble to narrowly avoid at least four accidents that are almost a result of her reckless driving. The police in front of her are too focused to notice her actions, and she's glad for it, because they completely miss her when she chameleons her way into their large group as they rush from the parking lot to the receptionist's desk.

The look on the woman at the front desk's face is one of pure panic when she sees the horde of police officers rushing into the building, but she doesn't even get a chance to ask what's going on before the detective is in front of her, barking orders to lock all the exits in the building. She rushes to comply but he doesn't wait long enough to ensure that the task is completed or even long enough to tell her what they're there for, because only seconds after he's finished yelling at her he's already halfway up the staircase leading to the third floor, Eleni and the others dashing after him. Some of them have their weapons drawn, which definitely doesn't help Eleni's nerves, but she tries to convince herself that they won't need to use them and doesn't let the fear that they will stop her, shoving her way to the front of them and ignoring the angered shouts some of them give her. She'll deal with whatever consequences there are for getting in their way later, when she knows Laurent and Larry are safe.