Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

Black smoke swallows him until I can barely see him.

I run after him with shaky little feet. I trip and nearly fall.

“Eli, C-Come back... Don’t go, please... I’m s-so sorry… d-don’t… go.”

Something warm touches my toes.

I stop at the shore of the lake.

Black water covers my feet and my limbs start shaking.

Eli walks deep into the lake. Only his head is visible.

“Eli!” I call.

I want to go save him. I want to bring him back, but if I do, them monsters in the water will take me.

Them monsters are taking Eli.

“Eli, c-come back! Come back!”

His head disappears underwater and doesn’t surface.

“ELI!!!”

* * *

I wake up with a start, tears streaming down my cheeks.

Eli.

Eli…

No. No. No.

That’s not true.

Eli didn’t go.

He couldn’t have been gone.

A taste of nausea hits the back of my throat and I run to the bathroom. I fall to my knees against the hard tiles and empty my stomach in the toilet.

I remain there even after I’m finished, catching my breath.

Tears fall down my cheeks and to my hands.

“Eli…” I sob. “Eli is the one who shall not be named.”

Why can’t he be named and why isn’t he in my life anymore?

I clutch my head between my hands and hit it with a fist over and over again.

Why can’t I remember? Why the hell can’t I remember?

My heart nearly bursts open with a crushing wave of grief.

It’s like having my chest ripped open and slashed apart and all I can do is watch.