Never The Same

Chapter Twenty-Six

I took a deep breath, afraid to open my eyes. I heard nothing else where I was. Am I dead? If I opened my eyes I would know, but the thought of something being there scared me more than nothing at all. I held my breath for a moment to hear for others in the room. Nothing. Where's Asher? Is he dead? I couldn't think about that for too long, so I moved on to the very next thing that crossed my mind. Where is Carter? If I wasn't buried alive, he would have to be somewhere near.

Right now was my twenty seconds of courage. I opened my eyes without anymore thought and looked at my surroundings. I wasn't dead. Not yet anyways. Duct tape covered my mouth, but that wasn't my biggest problem. I was chained to a chair, with my legs lined up to the legs of the chair and my hands tied behind my back. I could feel my heart beat faster by the second, and with every short breath, I felt my stomach hit a steel bar holding me against the chair. I accidentally yanked the chains while getting more comfortable, but they made a resounding noise that filled me with fear. I closed my eyes quickly.

It was too late. I heard footsteps getting louder. I prayed that they would be Asher's, but I knew better. I felt Carter's presence around me, but I still was not daring to open my eyes. I wanted him to think I was still sleeping, however I had to wake up sometime. And that was now. I pressed my eyes tightly and then quickly opened them. There he was, standing right in front of me. I used to think I was scared of Asher, but Carter was far more frightening.

"Promise not to scream if I take the tape off?" I shook my head no, I didn't want him coming any closer to me. He did anyways. He put his hand on my cheek and used the other one to gently take off the tape. "It's not like anyone would hear you if you did."

I opened my mouth to say something as he paced back and forth, but no words came out. There were so many things I wanted to say, however there were far more things that stopped me from saying them. I never knew much about Carter but one thing I was sure of was that he had a particular hate for questions. So I'd limit myself to just one at a time.

"Where is he," was what I decided to go with. I wasn't angry nor hostile when I said it, rather I was neutral about it all.

"Who," he responded. "Your knight in shining armor? I'm afraid he's still a little too far to save you in time. However, if you're speaking of my mortal enemy, he'll soon be defeated."

There were many things that frightened me about that. For one, save me in time for what? And if he was not talking about Asher the first time, I wouldn't know who my knight was. Unless of course it were to be Luke. Does that mean he's still looking for me? And if Luke were my knight, that would make Asher his enemy and Asher would be in trouble. He still speaks of it as if it were a game. He'll soon be defeated. That's it. He still thinks it's all a game.

"Carter? Are they still fighting for me?" It probably sounded like a strange question to ask, but it seemed to me like the only sensible one.

"Fighting for you? I've never seen someone put up a fight against me to save a pathetic little girl like you from only what was inevitable my darling. Only, if Asher keeps it up and makes it harder than it should be, everything will be off schedule." It was clear that Carter was insane as he spoke, at least to me. "So maybe that means I'll have to get rid of him and his meddling, or perhaps we'll have to leave in a few days."

"Tell them to stop." I said it quickly and sharply as if I weren't scared anymore, but I still was and I will be until I can be sure it's never going to happen again.

"Haven't you even watched a movie Eleanor?" He looked me straight in the eyes. "They won't listen to me. No one ever listens to the bad guy."

"Actually it's just Ellie," I paused. He knows he's the bad guy, but why? "They might not listen to you, but they'll listen to me."

"Just Ellie? That's pretty." He seemed out of his fit of rage now, which made me feel the tiniest bit better.

"Let me talk to Asher, I'll see what I can do to make him leave. So that way it can be just us. That is what you want Carter, right?"

"Of course, I tried forever to find the right one for me, but after years of searching, I always knew you were her no matter how much I wanted to believe it. He was just in the way the entire time, making excuse after excuse."

"I don't want either of you to get hurt." The words felt like tiny knives as they came from my mouth. "Just let me see what I can do, and if that doesn't work you can do it your way."

"Alright Ellie, we'll see."

He unchained me and I felt relieved, only to be chained into the next room. On the bright side, at least Asher was here and I could feel better knowing that I'm no longer alone. There was another steal bar wrapped around my stomach with links chained to the wall. Before I went in to talk to Ash, Carter informed me to make sure that my plan worked.

I saw Asher laying on the ground like he were in pain. I couldn't see to well, because there was only a single lightbulb dangling from the ceiling. I walked slowly towards the dark figure as the chains clinked behind me, causing the tortured man to move.

"Ash?" I heard a faint calling of my name followed by a moan. I was right, he was in pain. "No, no, stay there. I'll come to you."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, I'm quite alright. A little worried, but I'm good, I promise."

The chains did not extend far enough for me to reach him, only our arms could touch a bit. His hand reached out and caressed my face as I laid in the cold concrete floor. It was nice to know he wasn't dead, but part of me thinks he'd be better off right now if he were.

"Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

"I think he broke a rib," a Asher coughed.

"Asher, you need to leave. He's going to kill you if you keep interfering."

"I'll be better in the morning. Then I can come up with a plan to get us out of here."

"Did you hear what I said Ash? He's going to kill you. There will never be an 'us' again, I'm sorry. But please just go, because I'd rather think you're out there in the world doing things than have the lifelong sorrow of knowing that you are no longer here."

"I can't, because I won't be happy without you. I need to just try. What if I really can save you? And if I didn't try I would never know and we'd both still be in a bad situation."

"I love you, but I need you to tell Carter tomorrow that you're just going to say goodbye and move on. There's nothing special about me. You can find someone else and live your life."

"And what about you? Are you willing to live with him to save me?"

"Of course I am. I'd have nothing to live for if I knew that he killed you because of me. So just promise me that you'll move on."

"I can't promise anything," he said as he yawned. "But I'll think about it."

"Goodnight Ash."

"Goodnight Ellie."

I held his hand as he fell asleep, but I laid there awake with tears in my eyes. I didn't want this to be my life. I didn't want to think about my old life either. It always broke my heart when I thought of how my mom was feeling right now or if my dad knew even if he were overseas. Do you think she misses him? A lot of thoughts popped through my head. What about Jenna? Did she let go of me and find a new best friend? I was alright until it came to Luke. Could he really be my knight in shining armor? No, there was no way he was even thinking about me right now. Stop acting like a school girl with a crush, you killed his little sister. That's right. I'll never be forgiven for that and it tears me apart, because a little piece of me feels like he was my last shred of hope to save me from this nightmare. But I killed his little sister. And he'll never love me like I thought he did.