Thanatophobia (fear of dying)

Misconceptions

“You know I was scared to death when I woke up and you were gone.” He squeezed my hand as we walked back to the house along the forest path.

“Why?” I asked mystified, frowning slightly.

Elliot stopped suddenly, causing me to bump into him.  

“I hate what Matt did to you,” Elliot’s eyes narrowed as he looked away from me to some random area in the trees.

“What?” I bit my lip.

“He made it impossible for you to believe that people actually can care about you.”

“He didn’t…”

“God, and even now you’re defending him!” Elliot shouted before turning away from me.

“I’m not…” I protested, grasping Elliot’s elbow lightly.

“Really? Then what are you doing?”

I didn’t know how to answer and looked at him blankly. Was I defending Matt?

Elliot sighed deeply as his features softened. “I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I’ve just been really stressed out today. I thought you were kidnapped, I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”

“You thought I was kidnapped?” My mouth formed into an o. That thought had never occurred to me.

“It was a possibility.”

“Oh…I’m sorry.”

He shrugged his shoulders and started slowly walking back to the house again.

“If it makes you feel any better I thought you were going to murder me.”

“What?” Elliot’s voice broke a bit and he looked down at me like I was crazy. “You mean you really thought…”

“That’s what you said. If I tried to run away then…” I trailed off and bit my lip while avoiding Elliot’s gaze.

“Sometimes I really think you’re crazy.” Elliot mumbled, shaking his head.

“That’s because I am crazy,” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not all there anymore,” I joked as I knocked on my head lightly.

Elliot chuckled softly, “Maybe its better that way. It makes everything more interesting – that’s for sure.”

“Because the last thing we need around here is more drama,” I rolled my eyes.

The last few minutes were spent in silence, the only audible sounds, the crunching of pine needles under our feet. The trees had begun to thin out and soon enough we found ourselves into the main part of the backyard. The grass was a beautifully watered lime green and all the flowerbeds were perfectly cared for an artfully arranged. Fountains bubbled softly.

“So why exactly did you run away?”

I looked at Elliot who was running his hand through his shaggy blond hair self-consciously an almost hurt expression in his eyes.

I gulped.

“I had a dream and…I really think S.O.M.E. is going to find out about me. I don’t want to be responsible for all those deaths.”

“Kitten I told you I have it all under control,” Elliot sighed as he reached forward and took my hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly.

“I know, but I just have this really bad feeling,” I admitted.

“Don’t,” He encouraged. “I promise I won’t let S.O.M.E. lay a finger on you.”

“Yeah…but what if they decide to go on a killing spree?”

The side of Elliot’s mouth twitched, “Well, then they will. We can’t do anything about that.”

“But that would mean that all…this would be for nothing,” I frowned. “All this killing for nothing…”

“I know, but we’ll just have to hope that that doesn’t happen, okay?”

“Okay,” I sighed, but the knot in my stomach refused to disappear. I was dreading the day of the ball and knew that my nightmares would be increasing tenfold until the event was over.

“Hey, so how do you feel about Nalia coming over to get you ready for the ball?”

“I thought I was going to be a worker,” I frowned, narrowing my eyes at Elliot who was shrugging his shoulders abashedly.

“We might as well make you look different than you normally do if S.O.M.E. members are going to be there. Besides, what’s wrong about me wanting my servers to look good?” Elliot smirked with a wink.

Caught off guard, I just gaped at him, while he chuckled under his breath.

“You know, Nalia’s been really excited to see you again.”

“Really?”

“Try not to act so surprised,” he rolled his eyes as he gestured me into the house.

“Well…maybe the second time around it won’t be so bad…” I hedged, a bit flabbergasted that someone like Nalia who was gorgeous, rich, and popular would want to give me the time of day.

It was surreal to even think about.

“Atta girl,” Elliot grinned, squeezing my hand once again.

And just like that the dramas and fears of the day melted away. Well, almost at least. Despite Elliot’s reassurances, I could never quite shake that feeling of foreboding.

Ah, short and not very well-edited. But it will have to do for now:)

As always, feel free to let me know what you think :)