Three Eleven Thirteen

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ellie was sitting on the worktable as Riley had instructed him to do. I couldn't help but study our surroundings. We were in the tiny little shed located in Riley's back yard, but in the shed was a small hatch on the floor, revealing a wooden staircase that led to an underground room. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a place Riley and my father had worked in many times, but I was a little hurt to conclude that neither of them trusted me enough to show it to me.  

Riley examined Ellie by flashing a flashlight in his eyes, making him wince. He has barely said anything to either of us. I've never seen him act like this before. I always remembered him as the funny one between he and my dad. He always has some sort of joke to tell, or story to dramatize. His eyes lit up with kindness, and he always would bring me some sort of sugary treat.

This man was cold, emotionless, silent. He was a stranger to me.

"I heard about your father." He says to me, surprise and hurt flared in my chest. If he knew about my father, why did he not attend his funeral? Why has he not come to visit me even once? I haven't heard from him in years.

"Yes." I force the word out but couldn't manage any more on the topic. Instead I try to talk about Ellie, "He never gave up on him." I beckon to him, as Riley examines the grey tint in his veins.

"No shit." Clearly Ellie was uncomfortable being touched. I saw him take several breaths, as if he were trying to control himself. I wanted to reach out and grab his hand, but I didn't want to get in the way of Riley's examination. "I told him to let the project die."

"Ellie isn't a project."

He turns to me so quickly I take a step back nearly stumbling over a metal chair, "He shouldn't fucking exist."

I frown, "He's all I have."

"You should kill him before he kills someone else."

From the corner of my eye, I see Ellie flinch, but I don't take the bait. "You know I won't let that happen. He's not a monster. He's learned right from wrong."

"That didn't stop him from killing your father."

I suck in a breath, "How do you know how my father died?"

He stares at me for a long, painful moment before speaking low, the anger in his tone gone, "Because he called me." He looks back at Ellie, but the expression on his face softens, "The night he killed himself, he had called me. Said he was bitten, and that whatever he was infected with was making him lose control. He told me he was terrified to be around you, afraid he might attack you."

I wipe a tear that refused to be held back, and speak up, "Ellie also has trouble controlling himself. Whatever the black stuff flowing through him is, it makes him act out. He's getting better at controlling it though. We came here because we wanted to know what it was. I thought maybe you would know. You're the only person, besides me, who is still alive that knows Ellie exists."

He says nothing for a long moment. He faces Ellie, then me, then looks up to the ceiling, running a hand through his hair. "I've been expecting you, do you know that? I knew your father kept him, and I knew something would happen eventually. Your father may have died, but Three Eleven Thirteen wouldn't. I initially expected to see him on the news, him and multiple victims. I have spent that last few months waiting for the day I become an accomplice to the making of a serial killer." He sits down on the metal chair, his body slack as if he is exhausted, "I've been waiting for months, and I'm so damn tired."

The room is silent, and I move to Ellie's side, hoisting myself up on the worktable to sit beside him. I grab his hand, and it's cold, but I don't let go, and he makes sure to not let me. "Ellie isn't a monster."