THE ELYSIAN

𝙲 𝙷 𝙰 𝙿 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁 𝚃 𝙷 𝚁 𝙴 𝙴

𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴: 𝟸:𝟷𝟻 𝙰. 𝙼. , 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝚄𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝙰𝙵𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝚁 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙼.
𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽: 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚅𝙴𝙻𝙰𝚂𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚉'𝚂 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚂𝙴.
𝙿.𝙾.𝚅. : 𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙾 𝙹𝙰𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝙲𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚃𝙲𝙷

Shutting the door harder than I meant to (which made me jump a little), I ran over to the front door of the Velasquez's house.
I knocked a few times, then waited for a few seconds before someone opened the door.
It was Mario, Moriah and Abdiel's father. He was dressed in sweatpants and a grey robe.
"Hi, Mr. Velasquez. I've come to inform you that your daughter has been found a few minutes ago. They've taken her to the hospital for a brief check-up to see if she's okay. I'm here to take you there."
He nodded, "I'll go wake up Abdiel."

I'm not sure if it was because it was 2 in the morning or if it was because of anxiety, but the car was very quiet on the way there.
I cleared my throat, "Moriah was found not too far away from here. The kidnappers did a sloppy job on covering their tracks, so it was easier to track her location down. My team is doing the best they can to get her out safely."
They were still silent, but when I looked back, Abdiel was asleep and Mario just nodded his head, his hands wringing in anticipation.
I sighed.
"I, uh...I don't think that anyone knows she's an Elysian. I did my best in hiding the information as soon as Abdiel told me. It was a very brave thing of him to do that, and I thank you both for your honesty."
"It was her birthday yesterday. She's now 19."
His voice was laced with such sadness that I swallowed down hard. Imagine it...being kidnapped and isolated on your birthday.
I pulled into the parking lot and parked myself in front of the entrance to let the two out.
Mario unbuckled his seat belt and turned towards the back of the car.
"Mijo, levántate. Ya llegamos,¨ he whispered.
Abdiel rubbed his eyes and unbuckled. They stepped out, and I found a spot not too far form the entrance of the hospital.

After waiting for about half an hour, a nurse comes in and beckons us to follow her. Both of them get up frantically, and we follow her down a a series of hallways.
Eventually we end up in front of a glass door, but when Mario starts to push on the door, the nurse stops him.
¨There's something you need to know first."
I held my breath.
"Moriah has been molested and physically abused. She has a few cuts and bruises here and there, but it's noting fatal. However, she may be a little jumpy, so keep your voice down."
Abdiel sighed in relief, and Mario wiped some tears from his eyes.
The nurse leaves, and Abdiel grabs his father's hand.
Mario turns to face me.
"Would you like to see her?"
I have thought about meeting this girl in person. Seeing her in pictures and in that beautiful painting makes some part inside of me want to meet her.
I've never felt this way before, especially about someone I've technically never met. And especially because I don't ever want to feel this way.
I have had a girlfriend once when I was 16, but she physically abused me quite often. I was already being abused at home. I was always small and skinny in stature, so lots of older and bigger kids took advantage of that.
Then, trying to 'be a man' and get over my philophobia, I asked a girl out.
The girl's personality changed drastically after I asked her out. She wasn't who I thought she was. I obviously kept quiet about it because...well...just because. She broke up with me after about a year.
I've never tried dating again in fear of getting hurt, which is stupid of me because that was something that happened in high school.
Stupid philophobia.
"After you guys," I smiled.
They went in, and I stood there, wiping the sweat off my hands on my khakis.

As they walked out, red-eyed and smiling, Abdiel nodded for me to go in.
"She's waiting to meet you, Milo," he smiled.
I nodded slightly, then turned the door handle slowly.
The sound of the door made Moriah look up at me.
Her lower half was covered in a thin blanket, and she was wearing a hospital gown.
When I looked at her face, there was something about her that made my heart stop.
Her hair was unkept on top of her head, a few strands framing her face. Her golden skin was marked with a few scratches here and there, and a nasty bruise decorated her neck. There was a small cut on her chapped lips. Her eyes were dark and tired, and they widened a little as they looked straight into mine.
"Hi," I breathed.
Gosh, I sounded like an idiot.
She smiled.
"Hello."
My hand shot up to straighten my tie, but then I remembered I was wearing only a white button up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
I swallowed hard. I sat down in the chair next to the bed. If I stood much longer, my knees would give out.
"Y-yeah, yeah...just um..."
Her eyes raked over my face in concern.
"Um...my name's Detective Cra- I mean...James Mi-I mean, uhm...m-my name is Milo."
Stupid philophobia.
She chuckled.
"It's nice to meet you, Detective. I really appreciate your work. I owe you my life."
I laughed nervously, "Y-you don't owe me anything. It's my job to help people."
"I feel that I must repay you in some way...you risked a lot trying to find me."
Her eyes sparkled, and then I knew what she was talking about.
She knows that I know she's an Elysian. But I didn't say anything. There are ears everywhere, even though we were the only ones in the room.
"W-well...when I got this job, I knew I would have to risk a lot of things. Even if that meant placing my life on the line."
"Are you feeling alright?" I ask her, my eyes trailing over each cut and bruise. I wiped the sweat off my hands once more on my khakis.
"I'm a little shaken up, but I think I'll be okay," she sighed.
We made eye contact once more, and I felt my cheeks heat up.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Her eyes sparkled again, and I nodded slightly.
"You're very welcome...Moriah."

(A/N); Hey guys, here's the translation for what Mario told Abdiel when he was trying to wake him up.

"Son, get up. We're here."

It's as simple as that, lol.