[ for eluding ] i'm sorry about the blood in your mouth. i wish it was mine.

[badever]

Elena was stupid.

She was stupid and forgetful and selfish to think for even a moment things could be different here. That she could go to college and make a life for herself and so could everyone else. To think for a moment it wouldn't be like this and they wouldn't end up here.

Here, in the darkness where the screams echo down every taunting hallway, bones cracking under the weight of an iron fist.

It wouldn't matter as much if it was only hers, but it's never only hers.

Is it? (She was so stupid.)

She doesn't know how many days it's been since she was captured, but it's felt interminable. Elena is being dragged down into a basement, a man flanking either of her side. The scuffle can be heard from a mile away. She would be much more compliant if she was assured everyone else's lives would be spared, but her compliance isn't necessary anymore. She's always known her choice: between her and her family, it would always be the latter. Somewhere in between Where's Jeremy? and Go to hell she's picked up and unceremoniously thrown into one of the cells below.

She lands on her knees, palms flattening over the harsh floor. She grunts at the landing, wincing as the side of her stomach throbs in protest.

The cell itself is poorly lit, and all she can hear is the faint rustling of chains. Her shoulders stiffen and a tremble is effectively stifled.

She knows she's not alone. "Who's there?"

Comments

[eluding]

They had no way of knowing, no way of preparing for this.

How does anyone prepare for this? Adam told them, and they-- it isn't something you can wrap your head around how much of a twisted fuck your father is until he's ripping apart your brothers and your loved ones and your family.

Because he can.

Because people aren't people. People are toys for him. You were made to be a toy for him before you were even born, that is how much of a toy that you really are. Not human. Why did you ever fucking fool yourself into believing it?

Ethan doesn't know when-- how long it's been. It is impossible to keep track of days when there is no light that reaches the basement, when there is nothing (no sound) but the screams of those he loves and his own to follow, which he has become so familiar with. Lucien's orders, Lucien's desires that they all recognize what it's like, know what it's like to hear each other scream.

A slow descent into madness is what he wants for them all, madness and breaking and reshaping.

And he doesn't know if anyone else is alive, who else is alive. They have to be alive because sometimes he hears them screaming too, but there's nothing- no news. Complete separation, only Lucien for company and his constant orders, ones he wants Ethan to obey without having to force him. If he doesn't, that's where the pain comes in. That's where the rest of it comes in.

He hears the doors open of the cell, and he doesn't raise his head because he doesn't think for one moment- It's her voice, and it's so familiar, and it's the first thing he's heard in hours that has given him any kind of hope, any kind of sense of who he is (so, so stupid to hope).

There are chains on him, keeping him from reaching close to the door for when it's opened. It's her voice that he hears though outside of all that. Her voice, and he'd been so afraid she- she was dead. Tears burn at his eyes as he looks across the floor through the dim lighting.

"Elena?"

[post-ceremony]

[badever]

Elena doesn't know how it happened.

Or rather, she doesn't know how it didn't end up happening. They'd all but lost hope and somehow, the ceremony they were ready to welcome with open arms if it meant an end didn't come to pass. The events of the past five hours occurred far too quickly for her to process and there's no time to stop.

Once they were saved from the ceremony and they attacked Lucien at his most vulnerable, no time was wasted. Those that were injured were all carried into two separate vans and it sped off, leaving Chicago behind. She isn't sure where they are, though they couldn't have gone too far. Just stopped at the most remote motel they saw to hide in until they received news.

No sooner has Elena stepped out of the van, she's walking, her laser focus keeping her from being aware of anything else. Jeremy is alive and safe. They are all, somehow, miraculously alive and safe.

"I need to see him."

The words come out urgently, almost beseeching, though she has no idea who she'd be begging to.

She doesn't want to rest and she doesn't want to heal and she doesn't want to eat. She just needs to see Ethan. She needs him to see her. Elena wasn't allowed to say a word to him when she was brought out for the ceremony. She wasn't allowed to get close to him and she tried. She fought shackles and she yelled at him from her spot, rings of fire keeping them all separate. She fought as hard as she could

The ceremony will remain unfinished, and Lucien is most likely dead.

They're still waiting for confirmation before they can decide what the next step is, and Elena can't be bothered to sit around and wait for it. She can't even be bothered to pray and hope that the monster is dead even if it's all she wants.

Well, not all she wants.

"I need to see him," she repeats stubbornly, pushing past whoever was obstructing her path. She keeps moving down the hallway, quickening her steps. There are several rooms which have been booked and she needs to know which one Ethan is in. "Ethan?" she asks, her voice loud enough to reach past the walls and doors. "Ethan!"

She simply isn't going to stop until she finds him.