Watch Me

Thinking in Slow Motion

Left alone in her room, a crisp folded t-shirt and jeans on the bed, Edie couldn't help but let her mind wander. A new thought she hadn't yet considered bouncing around her head. When she left with Ivan, her only goal was to find her friends, but now she was beginning to realize just how lifechanging her decision was. Surely people are looking for me by now was all Edie could think. Above the safe house, in the city streets, Edie's worst fear was surely coming true. Search parties looking for the most famous 18-year-old in all of Dontas. A Weber gone missing, last spotted with a blonde boy, who by now is practically a fugitive.

So Edie grabbed the simple shirt and ripped off the crisp, unbreathable white blazer. Taking the coffee-stained blouse and throwing it in a pile, left to rot amongst the ashes of a life she couldn't go back to. Pulling on the new outfit felt like a fierce betrayal, a welcomed slap in the face to the emotionless Vivian. A back turned on a cold mother. But more important than the clothing was the feeling of air finally filling Edie's lungs, sore from the shallow nervous breaths she had been taking in since coming here. Looking in the mirror she pulled her hair up and behind her ears, tying it back in a knot. Her moment was quickly interrupted by a light tapping at the door and the arrival of the boy who brought her here. Letting Ivan in she couldn't help but smile at the sight of him.

Taking a step in, Ivan fiddles nervously "I must say the loss of the whole council vibe is one I appreciate, I don't think I could spend another day in those suits," Ivan smiles into his words, gesturing at the darker palette of his new ensemble.

"I can definitely get used to a little variety, I don't know how you did it every day, living life in that building," Edie sighed, her breath hitching in her throat as she looks into his eyes. "Thank you."

Raising a brow, Ivan chuckled lightly, "Pardon?"

"Thank you for saving me," Edie mumbled interrupting his thoughts with a hug.

"Edie I-"

"No, you saved me, and you brought me to my friends. I'd be stuck if you hadn't come when you did." Edie's words melted into him, and they stood there unsure. Unsure of where this sense of comfort had come from in their short time together. There was a magic in the way Edie felt in Ivan's arms and a confusion in how she felt when with Dominic again.

As the pair stood in each other's arms, there was peace for a moment. But even Edie knew peace can't last forever, and so the instant was stolen by a loud pounding on the door and the almost immediate entrance of Dominic. Determination and fear clear in his eyes, it switched at the sight of Ivan and Edie together, a flicker of something in him. A look she'd seen once before at her party. In a moment the flicker was gone and the conviction had returned. Scrambling out of each other's company Edie and Ivan found themselves approaching a frazzled Dominic.

"We need to go, now!" Dominic resounded, "this place isn't safe anymore." In the moment of panic, he grabbed the pair and led them quickly out of the room.

"Dominic, what is going on?" Ivan whispered, nervous confusion filling his voice as the hallways became louder and louder. But before he could answer, the ringing of gunshots filled the nearby corridors. A set of heavy doors swinging open and smashing against the concrete walls just above the muted screams of panic, from behind people had started running. But behind the set of doors was Edie's worst fear, Pimento Ridel and a flurry of armed council guards filling the hall.

In a moment frozen in time, Pimento stares into Edie's eyes, a sick smile twisting at his already cartoonish lips just moments before the group smashes forward at Pimento's word:

"Grab the Weber girl, do what you will with the rest."

And in mere seconds Ivan's hands reach out to grab Edie, protecting her the only thought in his head. But before they can run, a bang rings out, so loud Edie could swear the halls were singing... or screaming, and an unwelcome warmth as the world gave away into darkness.