This is it

Oh, these times are hard; they're making us crazy Adam Sutton. 23. The rest is classified.

[ellacrayton]

I Think I'd Have a Heart Attack | Adella

[ellacrayton]

She snickered lightly, a ghost of a smile on her lips. “I was sort of expecting it. You sleep like a log, you know, and I’m pretty sure you snore." Winking playfully, she felt nothing but relief at how animate he was. She’d been expecting a shell, something like she was feeling while she anxiously waited for him to wake up. “I don’t talk to myself that often..  Just when annoying boys are asleep in my bed, and I have nothing to amuse me." Her eyes searched his face, attempting to read the expressions she saw too little of. He was hard to read, even with her intuitive nature. No matter how hard she tried, she could never exactly pinpoint the things that came so easy to her when she talked with Liz, John, even Stanley.

She shot him a look of disbelief when he said he was fine, unable to accept that answer. She was there with what he went through - hell, it was her fault - and a little nap wasn’t enough to warrant a suddenly okay mental status. Adam’s sudden movements caused her to jump up out of instinct, her eyes wide as she watched him, brain only registering a threat. But she quickly corrected herself, shaking her head as if to tell her brain to behave normally - Adam was not a threat, he never was, and even though she knew that he wasn’t, it still terrified her for no logical reason. “No-no, no, you’re not leaving." She stared up at him, concern crossing her features. Crossing her arm over her chest, she placed her hand over his, shaking her head fiercely. “It’s not—Adam, it’s not safe out there. They…" She couldn’t bring herself to say the Mogs, as they were so different than Adam. They weren’t all the same. He was the exception, the reason she was alive - without him, she wouldn’t have fought as hard, two lives depending on her battle to escape. “They know we’re here. In Phoenix. It’s not safe, it’s so much more dangerous than it was before.. I’m not letting you leave. No." She was firm in her words, shrugging out from under his hand but keeping it held in hers tightly. “Stanley already talked to me when I woke up, he’ll probably want to talk to you too. And you’re.. you’re just staying. No arguments."

[adam-sutton]

Happy to keep the conversation as light-hearted as possible for the time being, Adam responded to her joke with a smile of his own. Shifting away from her, he put a shocked look on his face and feigned offense. "Do not! You were probably just confusing it with the sound of your stomach growling," he told her matter-of-factly, pursing his lips knowingly. As long as he could continue to joke, to evade her questions and ignore the unsaid, panicked words between them, everything would be okay. If he convinced himself that she was safe, that their lives would remain the same, then he could leave without guilt. He told himself that, even as a laugh forced itself passed his lips, but he knew he was lying. Hearing her voice, he could ground himself in the moment and pretend his mind wasn't wandering down a thousand paths. He shot her a withering look, eyes narrowed and nose scrunched. "Annoying, huh? Like when I push you off the bed? Is that annoying?" he challenged, leaning forward suddenly and pressing his hands to the back of her shoulders quickly, but not hard enough to do anything more than jolt her. He was far too sore to move that fast, and still cautious about her stomach. Settling back in to his original relaxed position, he raised his eyebrows at her, trying not to think about one particular phrase too much. He had been asleep in her bed. That was too weird to consider. 

Adam could feel Ella's analyzing eyes sweeping over him, taking in the damage, and he squirmed uncomfortably. Meeting her eyes for a split second before dropping his gaze to the floor, he pleaded with her silently to believe him. He almost wanted to shake his head, tell her to stop caring. Again, he reminded himself not to get attached to this band of Lorics, although he'd failed that many times over. Knowing he'd let her down when she trusted him was already too heavy a burden, and he was only setting himself up to betray her again if he didn't start pushing away. He never trusted himself, and he hoped she'd learned a lesson from their recent capture to know  he wasn't reliable. At her touch, he had to keep himself from jumping up and running out of the room. The movement echoed the same concern he could see in her eyes, and it made his heart pound with fear and dread and something else unnameable. Being cared for, worried over, was as foreign to him as the planet he was fighting for, and he couldn't bring himself to accept it. He wasn't built for emotions and attachments, even if he wanted otherwise at times. Arching his brow, he faced her again. "They. You mean us. My people. The Mogadorians are out there, and they're after you! I'm doubling the target on your back just by being here. They know me, they know how I think. I don't know how much longer I can be protection and not added danger." More words spilled out than he'd meant to share, his tone harsh and on the offense. They'd only been discussing him going home, but now he knew he'd shifted the conversation to the long term. He was scared for Ella, for himself, for what he'd do by remaining in contact with her. Before, it had only been a thought lingering at the back of his mind, but now it was heavy in the air, and he tensed, anticipating her response and the many ways she could push him away. Even more frightening was the possibility that she wouldn't. 

[n1cotortorella]

[adam-sutton]

[ellacrayton]

I Think I'd Have a Heart Attack | Adella

[ellacrayton]

Ella was so used to the noise being just her voice that she nearly fell over when she heard Adam moving behind her, the surprise quickly overwhelmed with intense happiness. He was awake, and he was alive - despite being able to hear him breathe, watch his chest rise and fall, she still couldn’t shake the worry that he’d never wake up. But now, now it was painfully obvious. She turned to him, a smile brightening up her face. “Adam-!” She moved carefully to his bedside, not wanting to frighten him with any sudden movements. They went through the same thing, and she knew how she felt; even waking up to Stanley watching over her had frightened her, every little sound send her spinning around in a panic, trying to make sure no one was sneaking up on her. She didn’t want to terrify Adam into feeling the same way she was. “Oh my gosh, you’re awake, you’re actually awake.” She breathed out sharply, turning red from embarrassment - she hadn’t actually thought that he would hear her rambling, she was just talking to keep herself from going insane from the tiniest of distant noises. And thinking about her friends kept her from thinking of the worst-case scenarios, the number one on that list being that Adam never woke up again. “I was just, uhm, talking to myself. It’s really quiet in here and I needed some noise that didn’t scare me—not important.” She shook her head, her dirty ponytail hitting her on the cheek from the force of it.

“How are you feeling?” Ella asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed with her body turned towards Adam. “Do you need me to get you anything? Medicine, food, water—anything at all?” She thought for a moment, considering Adam’s dirtied clothes - and made a mental note to  yell at Stanley later for not, at the least, leaving a pile of clothes for Adam to change into. After all, it wasn’t like he was just going to wake up and walk on home. It was a traumatizing experience what they went through; she couldn’t just send him home without trying to help, especially when the whole matter was her own fault. “A change of clothes? I think that Stanley might be your size, if not a little bit bigger.. Or maybe we still have some of John’s clothes laying around, I don’t think he took everything with him when he left - we all have a pretty bad habit of packing only a few things when we move away, although most the time it’s pretty helpful. I could go look, if you want.” She was rambling again, but she didn’t particularly notice. Ella just wanted to make sure that Adam was okay and comfortable. 

[adam-sutton]

He'd been hearing Ella's voice in his dreams and as soon as he'd woken up, but as soon as she said his name, Adam couldn't help but smile a little. There was something about the way her eyes sparkled, like he was the most exciting thing to happen all day, as though she'd been waiting her entire life for him to take another breath. It made his own breath catch once again, and he hoped he hadn't been out long enough to cause her worry. He couldn't afford to be this sentimental, this thoughtful. In the aftermath of a battle, everything seemed important. Maybe it was because they both knew when they'd been chained up that they weren't going to make it out, that others hadn't made it out and they weren't any different. Yet, by some miracle, he was sitting in Ella's house, listening to her talk about the most irrelevant things that any other ordinary teenage girl would have dismissed as ordinary gossip, but to her it was important and he would have let her continue for hours if only to hear the tremulous way her voice carried. He didn't say any of it, dismissing the whirring thoughts as over-reactions spurred by the dramatic events of the previous day, but merely shifted in the bed, attempting to prop himself up on his elbows. "Yeah, I'm awake. Did you expect me to sleep for the rest of my life?" He cracked a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You have some funny thoughts. Do you talk to yourself often? Have you seen a doctor about this?" He continued, this time with a genuine grin that pressed against his cheek bones and crinkled his eyes. Absent-mindedly, he grabbed a piece of Ella's ponytail and twisted it around his index finger. "Ew, you need a shower," he commented softly. If only he could keep the conversation lighthearted for the rest of the day, the rest of eternity.

Ella's barrage of questions caught Adam off guard, and he widened his eyes, a little overwhelmed. Never a morning person-- or an any-time-of-day person, really-- he wasn't prepared to do that much thinking. If he could be truthful, he'd tell her he was feeling exhausted and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep with her sitting at her desk chair across from him, so when he opened his eyes he'd know someone was there watching out for him for once. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders noncommittally, telling himself that if he thought it enough times he could convince himself that he wasn't hurt. After all, Ella looked fine, so he should be, too. "Ella. I'm fine, seriously. You don't need to go all nurse on me," he reassured her, holding out one of his hands in a "stop" sign. Listening to her continue about clothes, his brain finally woke up and he remembered exactly the situation he was in. Those dreams hadn't been far from reality. Springing up in to a seated position suddenly, he ignored the screams of protest shooting up his back and pushed the blankets off him. He was in a house with two Loric who hated him and another whom he cared more about than he'd intended, all of whom he'd endangered. Remaining there was the last thing he should be doing, no matter what he wanted. "C...clothes?  Don't worry about it, I can change when I get home..." Adam winced a little at the word, as he realized that Ivan had probably figured out the address of his apartment already and returning there, even briefly, might not be an option. "Hey, don't worry about it. I should get going; won't Stanley want to talk to you or something?" Adam asked, placing his hand on Ella's shoulder to make her focus.

[ellacrayton]

I Think I'd Have a Heart Attack | Adella

Ella woke up hours ago and while Stanley had - bitterly - assured her that Adam was alright, she didn’t believe him quite as fully as she should have. She tended to the rest of her wounds along with Stanley’s help, refusing to use the stone no matter what - she could remember with shaking hands the feeling it had forced onto her, worse than receiving the wounds themselves. It wasn’t worth it, so she dealt with the little cuts and scratches. Despite being told that Adam needed to rest, that the human needed to sleep to recover, she couldn’t help but find reasons, no matter how ridiculous, to sneak past her room where Adam slept, lingering in the doorway as she watched his chest rise and fall.

Eventually she claimed sleepiness - not an entirely false claim, as she did feel exhausted but was too wound up to sleep - and retreated to her own room, closing the door with a soft click. Adam’s even breathing was all she heard as she pushed her rolling chair away from her desk and to the side of her bed, sitting cross-legged in the uncomfortable chair. Filled with the need to ruin the silence with noises and words, Ella tapped her fingernails on the chair’s arm rest, humming quietly before speaking. “You know, I’m really glad you’re alive. I-wow, that sounds like such a weird sentence, but it’s true.” Silence surrounded her the minute she stopped speaking and she felt claustrophobic, propelling herself out of the chair and into a steady pace along the wall, her eyes on her ‘board of memories’. “You can’t hear me because you’re sleeping.. duh.. but I’m going to talk anyway because I like to hear myself, and.. I don’t like the quiet. And you’re going to listen because, well, you have no choice.”

Without even thinking, Ella started on the first topic that came to mind, the first face she saw on her board of memories - the one photo she had to remember him by, a gruff man with a mustache covered in the frosting that had decorated Ella’s fifth birthday cake. “Did I ever tell you about my Dad? Well, not my actual dad, but the closest thing to it. Crayton.. He raised me, from the moment I was born to the moment he died, he was everything. The only person I’ve been even as remotely close to as I was to Crayton is Stanley, and it’s hard to tell because he’s such a-a.. an ass, sometimes.” She smiled faintly, her back to Adam as she examined the pictures. “But I love him. I think he’ll warm up to you, too, eventually. Liz will like you too. John and Marina will adore you, especially after they hear what happened..” She didn’t stop to wonder why she was so concerned with what her family thought of him, instead powering through in her monologue. “This is Pete and Aubrey, two of my friends. Aubrey’s a little out there, but she’s a good person.. Pete was my prom date, but I accidentally punched him in the nose and broke it - did you know guys get upset when you do that? At least wimpy guys. I bet you wouldn’t get upset if I broke your nose on accident.” She chuckled softly, her finger tracing the outline of the photo. “That’s coming up soon.. I wonder if I’ll go. Probably not. That’s alright though, I didn’t go to my other dances, I can survive through this one too.”

[adam-sutton]

Sleep claimed Adam like a torrential tidal wave, all but swallowing him whole and spitting him out again in the same fell swoop. He didn't want to rest; in fact, he'd feel much more comfortable awake, alert, and eyes wide open, but unfortunately his body had other plans. It did cement the human excuse that he'd apparently have to uphold, not wanting to think about confessing his true identity to the elder Loric yet. Only a human would be idiotic enough to allow a friend to be lured in to the capture of such a dangerous enemy, only a human would be nearsighted enough to allow his feelings to interfere with a battle. Only a human would be weak enough to give up when confronted with death. His thoughts were enough to make him break out in to a sweat, although he was far too exhausted to toss and turn, even in the deepest slumber. Reassurances of his own failure were better than the dark images he began to flip through once he began to lose control of his mind once he slipped in to the blackest of sleeps. Ella, a knife through her gut, screams echoing in his mind a thousand times, the pitch alone enough to make him cry out himself. Ivan, dark eyes boring deep in to Adam's own fearful ones, with a playful smile twitching on his lips, evidence of his own enjoyment. Hailey, more vivid than Adam could remember in recent years, but with an unfamiliar cruel glint to his eyes. It was too much for his resting mind to handle, and after what felt like ages of bearing witness again and again to the atrocities of the day, his head finally wiped out entirely and peaceful blackness consumed him.

When he began to stir again hours later, he felt an overwhelming sense of calm wash over him, although he couldn't begin to guess why. As his brain began to start up again and his other senses came back in to action, he began to register the musical sound of a girl's voice filtering through his ears. A familiar voice. He breathed a faint sigh of relief, content now at the confirmation of Ella's safety. Conscience assured, he tried let the overwhelming tiredness consume him once again, but this time, the exhaustion didn't come. It was strange, as he'd been expecting to collapse back in to the darkness he'd emerged from, but instead, Ella's voice seemed to draw him out of it. After a few more moments, Adam's eyes blinked open, groggy despite his best efforts to appear alert. He rolled over on to his side gingerly, aware of the soreness in each of his muscles. "Ella?" he asked, wiping his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up a bit more. "Why were you talking about Pete?" he mumbled, failing at hiding his confusion. He was more than a little perplexed as to why he'd woken up to her talking about her friends. It wasn't as though he was going to meet them. "Did you say you're skipping prom?" he added in a dazed voice, still not recovered from his sleep.

[elizabethsix]

Here to Save You || Six, Nine, Ella, Adam

[ellacrayton]

Ella groaned in pain when Six released her from her chains, the movement upsetting the wound in her stomach. She instinctively tried to curl into a ball, to protect her other organs from being attacked, but Six moved too fast for her sluggish brain to process her instincts. She heard the sounds of something being rummaged through, and she had just enough time to realize what was going on before she felt the remnants of her sweatshirt pulled back to reveal her wound, and then the healing stone was pressed to it. Never had she felt the affects of a healing stone; Marina had always been the one she turned to when she was caught with an injury, and her healing was painful, but not as bad as what she felt with the stone. It was torturous, burning her flesh more than the wound itself had. Her mouth was open in a scream, her nails digging at the floor like claws as her back arched, trying to fight off the pain. The moments seemed to drag on into an eternity but finally the stone was pulled away and she relaxed once more, the once ache in her gut fading away. There was still a stinging feeling in her arms and cheek, but nothing that would impair her any further. She felt exhausted, comforted slightly by Six, but she knew the faster they got out of there, the better. Her arms wrapped around her stomach, her eyes closed as her breathing returned to normal, and that was when she heard Adam. Just a single word, and it was like she could feel the change in both Stanley and Liz. Their anger was well warranted; they didn’t know the truth, but Ella did. Adam must’ve known their captor, been close to him. It made her sick that he tried to prevent the rightful death of Ivan, but she understood. 

But Six and Nine never would.

“Stop it Liz.. He’s human.. he doesn’t.. understand.” Her voice was raspy when she spoke, still curled into herself. She couldn’t will herself to rise to her feet, her wrists and shoulders aching from being hung all night. She fell back into silence quickly, feeling someone approach her. A partially cracked eye told her it was Nine, and she couldn’t help but smile a bit. She’d thought that she would never see him again. Him or Liz, that she’d die there with Adam. It was almost unreal. Ella could feel her shirt being changed and then she was in Nine’s arms, completely safe once more. She could have fallen asleep with how exhausted she was, and seemed to be on the verge of it, but when Nine spoke, she realized that they had ‘forgotten’ one thing. Adam.

“No-nonononononono.” The single word blended together as she fought off the haze surrounding her, pushing weakly against the chest she was cradled to like a child. “Get Adam-we have to get Adam, he’s-can’t.. leave him, no—” Her words were scattered as she shook her head fiercely, one stronger push enabling her to land with a knee to the ground. Ignoring the pain that shot up her leg, she jumped to her feet and ran to Adam’s side with surprising agility, considering she’d been on the verge of death just mere minutes ago. “Adam-hey, we’re alright, we’re going home, okay? I just-” She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. “Six give me—” Without finishing her sentence she held her hand out and into them went the keys that had been left on the ground, Ella immediately selecting the right one and stretching up to unlock Adam. “Careful..” She murmured, her knees weak from using her legacies. She was overstretching herself, receiving no help from either of the Lorics. The lock clicked, signaling the release of its prisoner, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. Everyone she cared for was free, ready to return to safety.

[adam-sutton]

Even before the word flew out of his mouth, Adam knew what a huge mistake he was making. Ivan's death was one step closer to keeping the Loric safe, the goal he'd been working towards a third of his life. There was no room for foolish reliance and old, irrelevant emotions to impede upon his work. He'd known once he'd chosen this route that it was a lonely one, but it seemed that he could never complete a job cleanly. Always destined for failure. Always the screw up. The words seemed familiar enough, the shouts of disappointment from his family from so many years of wasteful training echoing in his head. If he could be back with Ashwood, if he could be back with One, he wouldn't be dealing with any of these thoughts, any of this frightening reality. The world he'd created in his mind was always more inviting than the hot Phoenix sun, the shivering British winds, the blazing Indian desert that he'd trekked across for the apparent futile goal of protecting the Loric. He might as well give up now.

There was one word, four tiny letters that stopped Adam from settling in to his chains and accepting the fate that the Mogadorians had planned for him, had no doubt been waiting eagerly for years to deliver to him. Ella. Their friendship wasn't part of the plan, but she'd reminded him what it meant to care about someone, to worry about her safety as more than a simple success on the mission. Before Hailey, he hadn't believed such selfless feelings were possible; after Haily, he'd been certain he'd never be able to harbor such feelings again. Ella had proven that Adam could at least find some semblance of the connection he'd once craved with the shadow of Hailey, but where had that led him? Careless and forgetful, he'd put everyone in danger. He was back to square one, and the never-ending maze grew less appealing the more he tried to consider it.

Watching the Lorics' retreating figures, he couldn't help but think it was the way the story was supposed to end. Ella would be protected from any harm; he'd been nothing short of foolish to think he could give the three any more strength than they could provide. If he closed his eyes, he could remember them like this, united, and face Ivan with the slightest bit of pride left. Hearing the scuffle, he shut his eyes tighter still, believing it to be his brother coming to. The sound of a familiar voice made him shiver. Was it just another slight of hand put on by the Mogadorians? He felt the release of his chains, felt himself drop to the floor with a thud, barely supported by shaking legs. It was true; she'd come back. Adam was so accustomed to leaving, to running away, that the shock of someone grabbing him and pulling him forward, taking him along, swept him up for a moment. Forgetting the prison, the impatient Loric and the incapacitated Mogadorian, he wrapped his arms around his rescuer for a few moments of silence and unspoken thanks. They were safe.

[adam-sutton]

[elizabethsix]

Here to Save You || Six, Nine, Ella, Adam

[adam-sutton]

ellacrayton:

The door crashed open and Ella whimpered, for a moment believing it to be more Mogadorians coming to torture her and Adam. But then she heard a gun go off and she fought through a wave of dizziness and blurred vision, a part of her worrying about how much blood she’d lost from not only her stomach wound, but the cuts that ran up and down her arms. Squinting her eyes, she felt almost sick from the intense relief that gripped her heart - that was Six with the gun, and Nine going after Ivan. She smiled despite her pain, automatically straining against her restraints in order to join Nine in battle. That was a bad idea; pain rocked her entire body and she cried out, her head dropping as if she could no longer stand to hold it up. It was like every muscle in her body turned to jelly and she wondered how with help so close she still felt as if she would die.

Everything went fuzzy, the sounds of the fight replaced with a low buzzing noise. She couldn’t open her eyes anymore, couldn’t muster the energy. Ella tried to make a noise, but she wasn’t sure if anything escaped her. She needed to draw attention to herself; if she didn’t, surely she would die any moment. She needed to be saved. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and the room began to come back into focus, the lights burning her eyes and the sounds of Stanley yelling hitting her ear drums. He was angry, she could tell that much; did he somehow discover that Adam was a Mog? Was Stanley yelling at her, angry with her treacherous relationship? All at once her emotions crashed down onto her and she felt like crying, a pitiful noise escaping her lips. She needed to get to Adam now. “Stan…..ley….” She managed to form with shaking lips, her lips blue from lack of blood flow. “Li…..” Ella tried to form Six’s name, but any energy she had was sapped. Her head hung low once more, eyes shut and her chin pressed to her chest.

It was over.

He'd known it the moment the door flew open, without having to check who it was. A savior? Loric come to rescue them? Someone, anyone, who had heard their pitiful cry for help? No, it was Mogadorians, ready to put an end to the misery of their last day. He should be grateful for it, happy that he'd no longer have to hear Ella's screams of anguish, the shrieks of a girl betrayed by the man,-- no, he didn't deserve that name-- the weakling who had meant to protect her. He could only hope that he'd be the first to go. They didn't owe him any favors, but if he was granted one dying wish, he'd beg to be killed first. It was a weak legacy to leave behind, a last act of pure selfishness hidden under the flimsy mask of strength and caring.

Knowing his family would do the exact opposite of anything he desired, Adam forced himself to look up, to take in the scene before him and wallow in his failures before it was all put past him. His stomach clenched as he took in the sight of his broter's handiwork. The result of his own shortsightedness. With her eyes pressed tightly together and chin resting against her chest, Ella might have been dead already. His brother would never let her die that easily, without fanfare or a little more toying at Adam's expense, so he knew she still had to be breathing, although there was slight comfort in that fact. Slipping in to the blackness peacefully might have been easier. Adam himself would have considered it if it weren't for the scenes he was treated to every time he closed his eyes. At this point, all he could do was clench his teeth and hope his weakness wouldn't betray him now, that he'd be frail enough to go quietly and quickly.

Hearing scuffling that certainly wasn't coming from any source he was familiar with, Adam turned his head slowly toward the noise. Not seeing any Mogadorian reinforcements, he was unsure of what to expect to be seeing. Whatever he thought might have made the noise, nothin prepared him for the sight of Stanley forcing a bloodied Ivan against the wall. His breathing halted for a moment as his lungs shut down on him. They were calling strike. His younger brother wouldn't be the first to die. No. Every punch Stanley delivered was as much of a personal attack on Adam as Ivan's threats to Ella had been. This wasn't what he'd pictured when he'd sent that hopeless cry for help to the heavens. This was his brother, this was the boy who had raced through the forests with Adam, his face lighting up every time he'd beaten his older brother; this was the student who had mastered every movement his trainer taught him and stayed up until the sun rose perfecting his own technique; this was the brother who had absorbed everything their father had told the pair with wide eyes. The memories of Two and Three, the fight at the ravine, the escape at Ashland, even the vision of Ivan thrusting his knife in to Ella's stomach, all disappeared from Adam's mind as he was presented with one thought, and one thought only: his brother was going to die. There were no Mogadorians or Loric, no loyalties except that of blood, of which Adam had seen enough shed already. He wasn't ready for Ivan to die. He'd never be ready. Thinking straight, Adam might have realized how shortsighted he was being. It wasn't his brain that put the singular word in his mouth; in fact, he had no idea what had willed him to say anything other than close his eyes and accept the fate of his brother. Regardless, he spoke, and the word couldn't be taken back, no matter what the consequences might be.

"Stop!"  

[ellacrayton]

Fun Has Just Begun | Adella (For Now)

[ellacrayton]

There was a brief moment when Ivan’s hand tightened around her throat before he pulled away, marching back to Adam. She knew her mistake in threatening him, her heart seeming to stop when he picked up a gleaming dagger. Her eyes widened with fear but Ivan drew no other response out of her as she kept her eyes glued to the dagger. One test of her telekinesis legacy told her that she couldn’t yank it out of his hand, or better, stab him with it. But then Ivan moved closer to Adam, dagger in hand, and all of Ella’s focus went out the window. Her mouth formed Adam’s name but she did not speak, fearing that it would only make things worse for him if she did. Ivan began to taunt Adam about the other creature that the knife had harmed, and Ella caught on easily. Kenya. Loric. Number Three. That was the knife that had ended Three’s life. Ella’s teeth ground together in fury as she listened to Ivan ramble on, but something inside of her changed when she watched that first trail of crimson climb up Adam’s arm. Her fury and pain mixed together until her mind all but exploded, mentally screaming Stanley’s name. She needed him. Stanley would help them, and they wouldn’t be in this alone. She cried his name again, frantic and scared, and followed it up with, “C-can you hear me, are you there?” She had no clue whether or not he could even hear her, but he responded almost immediately. She made a choked sound as tears of relief sprang to her eyes, jumping headfirst into what had happened. “They’re here, they found us. I’m so sorry Stanley, I’m so-” Ivan ripped Adam’s shirt off and was carving a pattern into Adam’s skin, and her concentration failed her as she watched on in horror. “I don’t know where I am, but it’s one of their bases. My telekinesis won’t work, I can’t get out.” Her mental-voice trembled in fear, the reality of the situation hanging heavy in her chest. Stanley swore in her head and her jaw began to tremble. They were already breaking her. She cared more about Adam than she’d realized, and she knew that they’d have her broken just by the crimson blood flowing from Adam’s skin. But she just muttered “I’m fine” over and over until the words lost meaning, faltering when Adam made his first noise of pain. “Stanley they have Adam too. M-my friend, they’re hurting him.. god they’re going to kill him, Nine please hurry.” Even with her pumping adrenaline, she could only manage one last reply to Stanley before her mind faltered and she could feel the connection disappear just as quickly as she’d formed it. She tried again in vain but only succeeded in making her dizzy, so she focused on Adam instead. Ivan threw the dagger to the ground and she stared at it, trying to will it into motion. But it didn’t work and she watched in horror as Adam’s eyes seemed to unfocus, and before long an injury appeared and began to drip blood. She didn’t know what was happening to him but she fought against her restraints; whatever it was, it seemed to be worse than any other torture possible.

The cry of Hayley’s name, of One’s name, brought a renewed vigor to Ella’s attempt at escape. Adam was in so much pain, she had to stop it. Ella arched her body, trying with all her might to escape her shackles, but no matter how hard she yanked and tugged the damn things wouldn’t even budge from around her wrists. And as her wrists chaffed and bled from the effort, an idea so simple popped into her brain. Aeturnus was her most mastered legacy, there was no question about it. She could change ages without any effort at all, so the moment the idea crossed her mind, she knew she had to do it. She couldn’t sit there and listen to Adam’s cries of pain, watch his blood splash against the floor. It took a little more concentrating than she was used to but she shrank down to an eight year old body fluidly, her shoes slapping against the ground as she fell from her shackles. The noise was enough to distract Ivan from going into “round two” as he had called it and Ella raced forward, growing back into her normal body before she even took a step in his direction. She took him off guard once more and went straight for his gut, her endless days of training coming back to her at once. Fighting against an opponent who was bigger and stronger than her was always the focus of her training and it was easy to evade most of Ivan’s attacks, leaping this way and that as she tried to get to a weapon of any sort. She was too focused on her own movements to put her head through the pain of using telekinesis, sure that if she was distracted for even a second Ivan would swat her down like a fly. Finally she spotted an opening when Ivan lunged and Ella dropped her body to the ground, allowing his tall form to go straight past her body. She rolled and was on her feet in a flash, grabbing the dagger that had been thrown to the ground and turning back to Ivan. He was on his feet and moving towards her, but she threw the knife and watched as it buried itself into Ivan’s gut, and the giant Mog fell to the ground. Ella didn’t wait, assuming that the throw was a kill shot - she saw where it hit him, and she didn’t think he would be able to survive it.

Ella darted to Adam’s side, gently taking his face in her hands. Her thumbs brushed across his skin like a butterfly touch as she lifted his chin, trying to get him to look her in the eyes. She smiled weakly as she felt his pulse; not as strong as it should be, but not weakened to the point that she feared immediate death. “We have to hurry, I don’t know how many are watching or when they’ll be here. Hey, we’re going to be okay, alright?” She whispered to Adam, moving back to look at his shackles. Controlled electronically once more, but maybe one of those sharp weapons would cut through his chains.. Just as she was turning to get one, something heavy struck the back of her head and Ella fell to her knees, a wave of dizziness striking her. She fumbled and tried to get to her feet, but she was struck again - this time hard enough to send her body sideways, crashing to the ground. She groaned in pain, the room spinning before her. Someone - Ivan - grabbed her roughly and yanked her body into the air, and what seemed to be an eternity later, she felt the shackles return to her wrist and her body be yanked back into the stretched out position it’d been in earlier. Her head lolled and she retched violently, her stomach gurgling. She heard a grunt of disgust and then felt more chains wrapping around her body - one around her waist, her knees, her body being chained directly to the wall. One quick attempt showed her that she wouldn’t be able to simply shrink and escape these restraints. And then she closed her eyes and prayed that the room would stop spinning, fading off into unconsciousness. 

She opened her eyes less than a minute later, the room still spinning. She focused enough to see Ivan’s face staring back at her, the knife she’d used to stab him in his hand. How he survived that blow, she’d never know, but he was glowering at her, more angry than he’d been before. Her eyes were open for just a few seconds when he took the knife and plunged it into her gut. She cried out, her body going rigid. She wanted to struggle but knew that it would only cause more damage to the wound. Her mind was scanning through her options quickly, but her concern was on that wound. It was relatively big and she could feel the blood soaking the front of her shirt quickly. If she couldn’t stop the bleeding, she’d bleed out within the hour - and then she’d be nothing more than a memory and a scar on flesh.

“You have no power here. You can’t win.” Ivan was speaking but Ella’s attention was on Adam. She wanted to apologize and beg for his forgiveness; the minute the knife entered her gut, she had resigned any chance she had of surviving the ordeal. But maybe Adam could. Stanley and Liz were on their way any second, and they’d save Adam. The tip of the knife dug into the skin beneath her chin, Ivan forcing her to look at him instead of Adam. “It’s over. Give up.” He snarled at her, and Ella forced a smile to her lips - the more the pissed him off, the longer she’d prolong Adam’s torture. “It’s never over. The Lorics - we will defeat you.” The dagger slashed across her arm and she pressed her lips together to keep the cry of pain locked inside, her breath coming in short gasps. “And when I tear you apart with only my hands, the few Mogadorians who survived and ran away to the far corners of the universe to escape will whisper of the weakling Ivan.” His name came out in a hiss as he dug another line into her arm, the tip of the knife cutting through her skin as if it was butter. “Defeated by a little girl.“ He grabbed her face, his nails digging into the skin on her cheeks. She whimpered in pain as he continued to slice up her skin - where, she didn’t know. Her entire body was one big ball of pain, and she wondered briefly how there had been so much blood in her body at one point. Her heart was working overtime in an attempt to replenish her supply, but she knew it was pointless. She’d die here, chained to the wall like an animal.

[adam-sutton]

Adam heard the scuffle before his eyes registered the movement. His head was pressed to his chest, lips pressed tightly together and eyes squeezed shut in anticipation of his next punishment. At the sudden release of his arm, his eyes flew open in a panic. Had Ivan moved on to Ella already? He twisted his body, trying to comprehend what was going on, but his vision was still clouded, and he could make out nothing more than fuzzy, dim outlines darting back and forth in front of him. He felt disjointed from the room, as though he was watching the scene unfold before him instead of participating in it.The unmistakable sound of a body falling made Adam flinch."Ella? Ella," he mumbled hazily, running her name together. Feeling a sudden hand to his face, he jerked back in fear. Had Ella been defeated so quickly? Was Ivan already back for more? No, the Mogadorian didn't have such gentle hands or kind eyes. Ella's eyes. Adam exhaled shakily, focusing on the gray eyes sliding in and out of his eye sight, praying they could bring him back in to reality. He wished he could hold, even just reach out and touch her, to confirm that she was real and breathing, not another figment of Ivan's torment. Just as he was beginning to believe that maybe the girl was telling the truth, she was whisked away, back in to oblivion. The rest of the room was still far too dim for Adam to be able to focus on anything, but he could just make out the clouded shadow of the girl chained back against the wall, this time with new devices. His muscular brother moved toward her, the blade in his hand again catching Adam's eye, taunting him. Adam shook his arms against the chains, realizing what was about to happen. The dark shadow thrust his arm in to the girl's stomach, and she stilled. 

"No!" he cried out, struggling against his bonds. His eyes were transfixed on the dark pool in the middle of the girl's stomach, expanding and threatening to consume her whole. This wasn't happening, couldn't be happening. Ivan was still invading his mind, throwing nightmares in front of him. The images seemed so real, he had believed them true for a moment. But... if this wasn't real, then how was Ella's voice so clear, so true to life? Adam swallowed hard, face contorting in to an expression of pure horror as he tried to convince himself that it was merely a horrific hallucination. His mental facade seemed flimsy even to himself as he heard Ella continue to provoke Ivan. Dream or not, he couldn't take anymore. "Stop! Ellla!" he deplored, voice cracking on her name. "Please..." he whimpered again, unsure of  who he was pleading with. Ivan could hardly be distracted. "Oh, you'll have your turn. Be patient," he threatened, barely turning Adam's direction. "Ivan...." Adam tried weakly once more, wanting nothing more than the visions to stop. He'd gladly take death over whatever it was they were suffering. "I'm sorry, is this bothering you?" Ivan asked as his eyes lit up in delight. "Now who's the weak one," he snarled, glowering at his two prisoners. Adam pounded his fist back in to the wall, wishing for the Mogadorian to quiet, when, with a sudden creak coming from outside, he did. The two brothers shifted toward the door, holding their breath as they wondered who was interrupting the torture session. 

[ellacrayton]

Fun Has Just Begun | Adella (For Now)

[ellacrayton]

Ella’s head shook slowly, a miserable feeling settling into her stomach. His words did nothing to comfort her, and she took no truth from them; as far as she was concerned, this was entirely her fault. If only she had been paying more attention, hadn’t said Adam’s name out loud, then he wouldn’t be there at least. And if she’d told Stanley and Liz about the Mogs being in Phoenix, if they’d left back when she discovered Adam, they wouldn’t be in this mess at all. It was her fault, that much she was sure of and that was the way she’d think of it for a long time. That didn’t mean that she’d just give up, however; she had to keep fighting to survive. It’d always be a fight for survival. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down and clear her mind so she could focus her powers better. Her heart continued to race in her chest, her arms shaking above her, but she was trying.

Trying to sustain the mental connection was killing her head, but she kept it up until Adam channeled back a single word. She released her legacy with a sharp intake of breath, her head slumping forward. For a horrible moment she let herself give up and felt the full force of the hopelessness of the situation hit her; they were trapped by who knew how many Mogs, Ella’s primary legacy wasn’t working, and Stanley and Liz had no clue where they were. But just as quickly as the thoughts invaded her mind did she push them away. She’d watched the only father she knew die, fought against an army of Mogs and faced Setrakus Ra himself. And she’d survived. She would not fail now.

Ivan’s taunts towards Adam made her stir from her rag-doll position, trying once more to yank her arms free. He knew Adam, of course he did. Adam was a traitor to this kind, even worse than Ella’s kind was. Her teeth ground together, wanting nothing more than to rip Ivan’s head off with her bare hands. The feeling was only intensified when Ivan slammed Adam’s head against the wall, Ella unable to keep from yelling “Stop!”. Her cry had caught Ivan off guard and he turned to look at her, not expecting the little girl to say anything. Her eyes burned into his, her chin raised. She would not be weak. Not now, not while Adam was in danger. “Don’t. Touch him. Because if you do, I will reach down your throat.. pull out your intestines with my bare hands, and choke you with them.” She didn’t think through what she said, simply letting the words pour from her lips. When she finished there was a beat of silence and then Ivan was walking over towards her, a look of murderous rage on his face - the same one that Ella figured was on hers as well. His hand went immediately to her throat and pressed down until she could just barely choke down air, her gaze unwavering from his. “You’re still fighting and the war’s already been won. You stupid, weak little girl.” His lips curled up in disgust and Ella did the only thing she could think of; she spat in his face. 

[adam-sutton]

"Wh..." Adam mumbled, registering first the freedom of his breathing as Ivan released his fingers from Adam's neck. He took a deep gulp of air, sputtering as his deflated lungs protested to the sudden intake. The back of his head throbbed as he pushed his neck forward to face Ella again. It felt as though he was disjointed from the room, merely watching the scene unfold before him rather than on the verge of participating in it. Had Ella just... said something? He felt a sudden rush of blood to his head, in part due to the still-pulsating pain at the base of his skull, but mostly in a rush of fear for the girl. What was she doing? He knew that Ivan was far stronger than she, legacies or not. She had no idea of what he was capable of, and taunting him would only make the situation worse for the two of them.  "No..." he whispered quietly, watching helplessly as his brother made his way over to her. Of course, she had no idea how the two of them were connected; he'd never bothered to explain the relationship when he'd thought the man dead, but he realized now that it had been idiotic of him to keep the information quiet. Ivan was ruthless and jaded-- he needed no provocation. Adam pressed his lips together, afraid of what he'd have to watch, when Ivan released his grip on the girl just as suddenly as he'd grabbed her. 

Squinting in disgust at the girl, Ivan wiped his arm across his face to rid himself of the disgusting little worm's saliva. "Fine. You want to play games?" he asked her, lips curling in to a smile. The girl was hard, he could tell already, but his brother had no such conviction. He knew exactly how to break Adam, and he couldn't wait to see how long it would take before the Garde broke, as well. He pivoted on his heel, marching over to the wall, where a selection of knives hung. Plucking a short, gleaming dagger with an alabaster blade, he ran his fingers over the face almost lovingly. "I think this one will work nicely, don't you?" he asked Ella, with his devious grin still plastered to his face. "Ivan," Adam protested, looking at his brother with cold fear in his eyes. Not Ella, his face seemed to say, and maybe this, the display of such weak emotion, was his worst mistake of all. "Oh, don't worry. They're not for her," Ivan murmured, still looking at the knife. He took one last look at the girl, making sure his words had their full impact, before taking calm, measured steps toward his brother. Adam clenched his jaw, finding relief only in the fact that it at least wasn't Ella who had been chosen as the first victim. Let him kill me, he thought angrily, wishing he had Ella's legacy so he could tell her to ignore whatever treats Ivan had in store for him.

"Do you recognize this one?" Ivan asked, interrupting his prisoner's resolve. He held it up in front of Adam's eyes, twisting the blade so it caught the light, as thought it were a thing of beauty, to be revered. "Kenya, was it? You tried to warn him, but he was too stupid to realize it. Idiotic, those Loric. Daddy took care of him, though, didn't he? It was easy. One quick thrust, and he was gone," he continued, and pushed the tip of the dagger against Adam's ribcage with a sudden motion, never breaking eye contact. He pressed down on the handle, allowing the blade to just break his skin, before pulling it back suddenly as if it had all been an accident. "No, that would be to easy. Only the best for family," Ivan mocked, his voice sardonically sweet. Adam's breathe began to tremble slightly at his words, but he never broke the Mogadorian's gaze. He would retain his dignity as long as he could, and he couldn't give up at just words, no matter how sharp-edged they might be. 

"Have you been working out? These arms look so strong," Ivan commented, placing his cold hand on Adam's wrist suddenly and bringing it towards him, as though he were examining them. "You've gotten tan," he noted. It was like they were catching up after a long vacation. Only, reunions didn't involve knives. Adam bit down on his tongue, refusing to say anything as he stared back in to his brother's eyes. Ivan tore his eyes away just as suddenly as he'd initiated the contact, but retaliated by pressing the edge of the blade to his prisoner's skin. Adam inhaled sharply as the cold metal broke through his skin, a long snake of red crawling up his arm.  "A pattern, maybe?" Ivan asked as he drew tip of the dagger down in the opposite direction. His face lit up like a genius idea had just occurred to him. "You were supposed to get one of these," he added matter-of-factly, pushing up his sleeve to reveal Setrakus Ra's emblem on his shoulder. "Maybe it's not too late." He tore Adam's shirt off, the fabric ripping easily in his hands. Adam struggled to keep his face blank as his brother pierced the knife in to his upper arm with a new conviction. His tongue was bleeding now, mouth filling with a coppery liquid, and he finally broke as the first circle was completed on his bicep. Face twisted in pain, he allowed himself the first whisper of pain, and Ivan stopped suddenly. "Weakling," he scolded, slashing the knife across Adam's cheek in anger and provoking another cry from the victim. "You were always the weak one. You could have never been general. Not like I," he snarled, glowering at Adam as he dug deeper in to his skin and completed the design. "Brother," Adam breathed, barely gasping out the word between trembling exhales. "No!" Ivan shrieked suddenly, throwing the dagger on the ground with a resounding clatter. "Not anymore," he added, with his own slight tremor to his voice. But just as soon as the sliver of emotion had appeared, it vanished. "Ready for the real tricks?" There was a terrifying gleam in his eye as he looked past Adam's eyes, boring in to his mind. 

---

"You have to," Hayley begged, looking at Adam with imploring eyes from under his arm. They were sitting on the edge of the cliff in Ashwood, watching vividly azure waves crash against a purple sky. Adam glanced back at the girl, rolling his eyes slightly. She knew he couldn't resist that look, and she used it to his full advantage. "Seriously, Adam," she urged him, giving him a nudge. He sighed, dropping his face in his hands. "But... my family! They'll find me, you know they will," he delayed, coming up with the first excuse off the top of his head. He knew his family was going to kill him eventually, whether while he was stuck in this coma or after he'd woken up, but that wasn't the real reason he was hesitant to leave his mental world. "Hey. I'm in your mind. I can see what you're thinking, you know," Hayley quipped, shrugging out from under his arm and standing up. She turned her body away from his and folded her arms defiantly. "Fine. Then you know why I can't leave," Adam challenged, jumping up from his seat and following her. "Well, forget it! Forget me! You have bigger things to worry about. Trust me, I know," she retorted, still facing away from him. He furrowed his brow, the words making his heart sink. "That's not true. You know I..." he swallowed nervously. "You know I need you," he managed at last. At this, she turned around, looking him in the eyes. She took a step closer to him, encircling her arms around him. This was it, this was the moment-- "I don't," she replied coldly, all emotion dissipating from her dark eyes as they stared blankly back at him. Pulling her grip tighter, she thrust her hands around his back and stabbed the blade through him, the sharp sword that hadn't been there the last thousand times. "What..." he murmured, captivated by the girl's blank gray eyes as she pulled her hands back from around him, dripping with blood. His blood.

---

"Hayley!" Adam cried, rocketing back in to reality with a jolt. He tried to focus on something, anything, to reassure himself that he was back in the real world, away from Number One and the hauntings of Ashwood, but everything was swimming before him, blurred and dancing with black spots. He wasn't even sure if he was in the same world anymore, let alone the same room. With a shout, he realized that his back was warm and damp with blood trickling from the same injury as his dream. "What have you done? Where is she?!" he cried, twisting in his chains and choking back a sob. Whether he was referring to Hayley, to Ella, or to someone else entirely, he had no clue. After a moment, Ivan's cold gray eyes came back in to view, the only thing Adam could make out. "Was that fun?" he asked, clamping his hand down on his victim's still-bleeding shoulder. Adam gasped in pain, shutting his eyelids as tears stung his eyes. "Round two, maybe?" the Mogadorian added eagerly. Adam twisted his head away eagerly in a futile effort to avoid his captor. "Please," he pleaded hoarsely, "please."

[ellacrayton]

Fun Has Just Begun | Adella (For Now)

[ellacrayton]

Ella was about to give up, to hang her head and wait for Adam to move on his own when his mouth opened and a syllable dropped from his lips. She could have started crying right then and there with the relief that she felt. Forgetting her earlier notion to preserve her energy, she strained against her restraints. Only when pain shot up her arm from her shoulder did she stop, not wanting to dislocate her shoulder before they could make any chance to escape. “Oh, god Adam, I’m so sorry.” Her voice cracked as her body shook, the realization of what was happening finally hitting her. Ella and Adam were kidnapped by Mogadorians. The enemy. And now they were going to die, and it was Ella’s fault. If she’d just left Adam alone, didn’t ask him to hang out or had actually listened to Stanley, then Adam would still be safe. He’d be at work or at home, anywhere but in the hands of those trying to kill him. “Y-You need to get out of here too. I’m not leaving you behind.” She couldn’t help her shaking voice, but the determination was clear. Ella wasn’t going to lose another person.

Risking another headache, Ella forced herself to work through the nausea and managed a thought to Adam. “Stanley.. and Liz.. I missed my curf—” Her mental-voice cut out for a moment and her face twisted in pain, and she attempted to hide her face against her shoulder to no avail. Still, it was worth the shot. She didn’t want the Mogs to see her pain, to know that they won. Tentatively, her voice came back into Adam’s brain as she refocused, “—They’ll find us. They won’t give up.” She cleared her throat and tried to send her thoughts farther than just Adam, searching for Stanley or Liz’s brains, but the attempt only earned her a painful gasp of air. She clenched her teeth together to keep from crying out, taking a moment to recover slightly before opening her mouth to speak to Adam. Her attempt was cut short, however, when a door Ella hadn’t noticed swung open. Her muscles clenched and instinctively her mouth curled into a sneer as her gaze fell upon her kidnapper.

[adam-sutton]

Adam winced, watching the girl shake in pain. He realized he had no clue what they'd done to her already, and he was possessed by the sudden fear that she'd already been tortured while he'd been unconscious. His heart dropped at her words. The entire situation was clearly the result of his own lack of focus, not that he could tell her that. The tremor in her voice was what shook him the most. Wasn't there something, anything he could say to make her believe they could be safe? Even just thinking it, he knew it wasn't true, knew there was no way to hope for them to make an escape. He was no match for Ivan, especially when he was chained against the wall and still dizzy from the previous encounter. Shaking his head slowly, he tried to void his eyes of any fear as he looked at her, although if anything, he probably only succeeded in confirming her own doubts. "Don't be... This isn't your fault," he ventured, knowing the words were sparse comfort in the situation. He dropped his head again and allowed himself to relax in to his bonds, already preparing to give in to whatever the Mogadorians had in store for him. He'd try to hold up, to stay strong until Ella's safety could be assured-- if that was even a possibility-- but after that, he knew he was a goner. But he couldn't tell her that. "Yeah... We'll get out of here," he forced, a slight crooked smile gracing his lips despite the situation. It only lasted a moment, pulled back down by the weight of the lies he was feeding her.

The sound of Ella's voice in his mind made Adam start. He'd forgotten about her legacies; in fact, he was surprised she was even able to use it. The Mogadorians normally controlled the Loric's powers when they were in custody, and he didn't want to think that she was fighting against their technology to use it. However, mentioning the two other Garde did give Adam at least a faint semblance of hope that they might escape yet. Watching her face, he knew she was trying to use the legacy to reach them. So the Mogadorians had put up their customary precautions... "Stop," he channeled back to her, as her face crumpled in pain. He couldn't bear watching her like this, and there was nowhere for him to turn to get away from it. There was no getting away from it: he'd all but brought her here, and now he'd have to watch her suffer through it.

Hearing the door open, Adam twisted his body away from the sound. There was no reason to hope Ivan wouldn't be returning, but the sound of his footsteps on the concrete were terrorizing to Adam nonetheless. "Scared already? But we haven't even started. Typical," Ivan smirked, each word spitting out with aggression. He crossed his arms across his chest, taking in the glorious scene with a gloating expression. His eyes landed first on his brother, and he crossed the room to where the traitor was chained. Adam stiffened already, bracing himself for what was to come. He'd gladly take on Ivan, even knowing he'd lose the fight, to make sure Ella's injury would at least be delayed. "So, you didn't learn from your mistakes the first time. But now, you'll be watching it live," Ivan added, arching his brows in excitement as he winked at his prisoner. As if the war had already been won. Adam's eyes darkened, and he shook against his chains. "That wasn't my fault," he choked out, voice barely above a whisper. Ivan glanced at his brother's sorrowful eyes for a moment, knowing he'd hit exactly where he'd aimed, and threw back his head in a spiteful laugh. "You never learn, do you? You couldn't protect her. You can't protect any of them. We're so much stronger than you," he growled, punctuating the words with a thrust of the heel of his palm to Adam's throat, slamming the prisoner's head back in to the wall. Adam closed his eyes tightly and bit his tongue, trying to keep from yelling. So it had begun. 

[anothermusic-blog]

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[adam-sutton]

we're gonna live, we're gonna live, we're gonna live like the rest

[ellacrayton]

Fun Has Just Begun | Adella (For Now)

Ella walked slowly after leaving the mall, listening to the sound her feet made against the pavement. Even now she barely made noise when she moved, but her ears were so attuned that she was able to pick up little scuffs here and there. Pursing her lips, she began to whisper, absently feeling out around her with her telekinesis. She wasn’t expecting much, seeing as she was using a more abandoned path that would take her longer to get home, therefore longer to face Stanley’s wrath, but she noticed a figure not too far behind her. She was worried instantly, but a quick scan and she realized it was Adam - or so she thought, from his large stature and the quiet yet fast way he was approaching her. A smirk appeared on her lips; he was trying to sneak up on her, wasn’t he? Well good luck with that, Adam, she thought, bemused. 

She slowed down her pace, allowing him a chance to catch up to her. He was getting closer and closer, and when he was barely an arms length away, she spoke. “Nice try Adam, but you know you can’t sneak up on me.” She said, turning when her sentence ended. And then her heart stopped. That wasn’t Adam. His size alone was way different - this man was larger than Adam, his face set in hatred and anger. She barely had enough time to process what was happening when he raised his fists. She threw her hands out, attempting to duck, but it was futile. His fist connected with her skull with a painful crack and she felt her body fall, and then all went dark.

——

When Ella next opened her eyes, for a moment, she couldn’t remember what had happened. Then it came rushing back to her and she winced painfully at the throbbing in her skull, attempting to rub her hand over the bruise. It was then that she noticed where she was - it looked like a torture room, filled with instruments that she knew could drive her to the edge of insanity. Her hands were chained above her and she was dangling painfully by her arms. One attempt with her telekinesis told her that the chains were controlled by an electronic force, one of the only things that would effectively stop that legacy. She chewed at her lip, deciding not to fight the chains and preserve her energy. She didn’t know when any Mogs would be back, but she had to make sure she was silent, ready to battle them at the slightest indication that she could break free. Stanley had told her once of his capture, his months as a prisoner, and how he hadn’t breathed a word even as he watched Sandor being cut to pieces. She’d taken initiative from him, she’d stay strong and silent. At the thought of Stanley, however, the panic welled up inside of her along with a sense of what felt like relief. Bless his over protective attitude and his stubbornness  when she didn’t return home at exactly the right time, he’d freak out, no doubt. Maybe he would be able to track her down. She tried to reach out with him in her mind, but the attempt made her feel like her skull was fracturing into a billion tiny pieces. A wave of nausea hit her and she tried to resist her instinct to vomit, keeping her mouth clamped shut.

 When the nausea passed, she managed to look around the room fully, wanting to plan her escape route. It was then that she noticed another body dangling across the room, but not just any body; it was Adam. A strangled cry fell from her lips as she remembered the words she’d spoken before she was knocked out. She’d said his name. The Mog, whoever it was, must have tracked Adam down and attacked him as well. She forgot her initiative to remain silent and strained against her confines as if she could break them. “Adam-wake up, please wake up. Adam, can you hear me? It’s Ella, wake up, please..” For a moment she thought he was dead, but then she remembered how the Mogs turned to ashes whenever one of the Garde struck them down. He was still in a fully human form and while he looked beaten up, he was alive.

[adam-sutton]

Although he had nothing planned for the rest of the afternoon, Adam didn't dawdle around in the mall after he'd waved goodbye to Ella. He didn't exactly have any friends to avoid, or a reputation to upheld, but he wasn't about to spend another second in the glaringly-lit, panic attack-inducing teenager fest, regardless. The overwhelming crowd, previously unnoticed while he was distracted with Ella, was large and loud enough to make him nervous. He knew it was a ridiculous reaction, since the only Garde that could even possibly be in his vicinity was the girl he'd just spent the afternoon joking and laughing with, and there was no chance that the Mogadorians could be on his trail-- if there were even any left. Such thoughts did nothing to assuage the uneasiness bubbling up in his stomach-- a familiar feeling since he'd been out on his own-- and he knew he needed to get outside in the fresh air before he started to really freak out. 

Immediately after he stepped in to the sunlight and hot breeze of the Arizona afternoon, the prickling feeling in the back of his mind started to numb again. It was still there (and it always would be) but he could convince himself to ignore it. Kicking a pebble and glancing up at the cloudless azure sky, he decided that was exactly what he was going to do. The thought of returning to his job made him wrinkle his nose in distaste, so he ambled along the side of the mall toward the freeway, figuring he'd walk where his feet would take him. This new relaxed attitude lasted all of five seconds before Adam whirled around in a panic, certain he'd heard the soft footsteps of a shadow. His shoulders relaxed a bit when he discovered there was nothing behind him save a blank expanse of parking lot and -- BLAM.

Adam stumbled forward, as the shocking force of something square and heavy ramming in to his shoulder propelled him toward the ground. He had a split second to throw his hands out in front of him and push himself back in to a standing position before it came again, this time knocking him much less forcefully behind the ear. Still untrained in his legacies as compared to the Garde, it took Adam a moment to recollect himself enough to reach out behind him with his telekinesis and grab hold of the perpetrator. Lifting the aggressor in to the air, he spun around, expecting to see a scrawny thug or --

"Ivan?" the words blurted out of Adam's mouth before he could stop them, and the second of hesitation was enough for his concentration to falter. The man Adam had once called brother dropped to the ground and braced himself again as though the moment had never occurred. Adam was well-trained; he should have known better than to get distracted by the sudden reappearance of the boy he'd believed dead. Yet his head was jittering, heart shaken by the unexpected encounter and vision blurred from the confusion of the moment. He thrust his hand forward, trying to make a grab for Ivan, but he knew even before the motion was completed that his mind wasn't strong enough to complete the order. Dodging the mental bonds, Ivan ran forward, planting a boot square in his chest and knocking the man to the ground with a brain-rattling crunch. He pounced on Adam, one hand wrapped around his throat with the other elbow digging in to his rib cage. It was just like old times, when the two of them would struggle for supremacy in the twilight hours between lessons and dinner. Only this time, it was life or death.

---

Ella was screaming, her arms bound behind her back and her eyes wide with terror as the pendulum swung closer and closer to her neck. Adam's eyes darted around the room, searching for anything he could use to make it halt in his tracks. Hell, he'd jump in front of it. He bent his knees, ready to push off the wall and make a run for it-- but his feet wouldn't move. They were stuck in place. She was going to die-- and he was going to have to watch it. Again. 

Adam jerked his head up, eyes wild and sweat rolling in beads down the sides of his face. His heart was racing a million miles a minute, and he was acutely aware of the sensation that he could literally not move a muscle. He'd heard his name, though... forcing his eyes to focus, he zeroed in on the only other moving object in the room. Ella. What was she doing here? Where were they? Staring at the chains holding her hostage, the memory of the last hour (that he'd been awake) came tumbling back at him. Suddenly the pain returned to his body with the same force of the blows that had caused it, and he would have stepped backward in fear if his feet had been touching the ground. He recognized the room; it was all too familiar from his adventures in Dr. Zarkos' laboratory. But what was Ella doing there? The Mogadorians hardly even knew she existed, let alone her whereabouts... Shit. The Mogadorians were in Phoenix. A shiver of cold terror ran through Adam's body and his hands trembled as the realization struck him: he had failed. He was supposed to have protected the Garde, kept an eye on them and done everything in his power to keep the Mogadorians out of so much as a hundred mile radius of them, even at the cost of his own life. But there he was, in the lion's den with the lamb herself. 

"E-" he tried to open his mouth to say something, but it was impossibly dry and he couldn't manage to spit the words out. Shaking his head softly, he widened his eyes, trying to relay his concern to her silently, to reassure her that he wasn't hurting. The movement of his neck only succeed in making him wince in pain, and he inhaled sharply to keep from groaning and blowing his cover. "Ella... What are you doing in here?" he hissed hoarsely, succeeding at last in finding his voice. He glanced around the room desperately, looking for anything that might help them escape. It was futile; he knew his race was smarter than that, but he had to find a way out for at least one of them. He shook his arms, ignoring the screaming protests in his shoulders. The guards would come in soon, he knew, and while they certainly wouldn't be willing to make a trade, the traitor of their planet might be enough distraction to keep them from touching one of the remaining seven. "We need to get you out of here," he added through gritted teeth, trying to get his brain functioning properly so he could figure out exactly how.

[ellacrayton]

Unlikely Friendships | Adam + Ella

[ellacrayton]

“Maybe. If I find something I like.” She gave him another mischievous smirk before disappearing behind a rack of clothes, deciding that she quite liked dragging him out on shopping trips. She spent the next hour flitting about, occasionally stopping to answer text messages clearly from Stanley or Six - her eyebrows would crease together and she’d wrinkle her nose in slight annoyance as she typed out a response, though she knew that they meant the best. At one point, when Ella observed Adam trying to build up a pyramid of high heels, she figured it was time to put him out of his misery. Taking what she had decided to purchase to the counter, she quickly bought her new clothes and made her way back to Adam, a ringing phone interrupting her.

After checking the caller I.D., she answered the phone with a, “Hello? Liz?” as if she didn’t already know who it was, appearing in front of Adam with her bags hanging off her elbow. She held up one finger to signal “one moment” to Adam, continuing her conversation with Liz. When Ella was finally able to hang up, she glanced up at Adam with an apologetic expression. “Yeah, it’s probably time to go before they head down here and destroy the mall looking for me. Same time, same place tomorrow?” She grinned, nudging him lightly - away from his ticklish tummy. “Kidding, of course. I’m not that mean.” Ella turned to lead the way out, sticking her hands back into her pockets. Even if Adam had been bored out of his mind, she did have fun with him - it was weird how easily she fell into rhythm with his banter and their jokes, but fun nonetheless.

[adam-sutton]

Adam tugged on the end of his shirt, shooting Ella a very pointed look. "I'm pretty sure that's just teenage girl code for 'I'm broke and I have no money to spend here but I want to torture Adam as much as possible so I'm going to pretend I'm interested in buying things.' Because there is no possible way you could find this store this incredibly fascinating," he quipped, with a gesture at the gleaming white mannequins with eyes boring in to his soul and the garish golden jewelry adorning the walls. With one last look at his shining accomplishment of the day, he at last decided The Leaning Tower of Boredom had lived out its heyday. The way the sales clerk was clacking her nails against the corner and eyeing him, she was probably going to put an end to it if he didn't, and considering the fact that it had entertained him for a whopping 25 minutes, he wanted to pay it the proper respect when cleaning it up. The heels, which could have doubled as assault weapons if need be, were all placed neatly back in their boxes when the sound of a cell phone ringing made Adam jump. He had to clench his arm muscle to keep from chucking the stiletto, ninja star-style, at the wall. Fortunately, it was only Ella's over-protective guardians. Or was it... unfortunately?

"God, Ella. You're so inconsiderate," he whisper-hissed in her ear as she picked the phone up. A shameful look was fired in her direction, as though it were the biggest sin in the world to pick up a phone in the middle of a store. He might have yelled something in to the receiver, if she were talking to someone else and not the very people who might murder him if they were made aware of his existence. A bit of a smile fell on his lips as he heard her talking to the elder Garde. Liz. He'd certainly never thought of any of the Lori as nickname-able. He had to quickly wipe the bemused expression off his face and replace it with one of offended annoyance, crossed his arms and narrowing his eyes. "I see how it is. I see where your priorities lie," he blurted out quickly as soon as she hung up the phone. Dropping the act, he couldn't help his eyes widening for a slight moment as he thought about Six and Nine searching through the city angrily to discover exactly who had been stealing their precious little angel away from home recently. However, the warning did come with an excuse to escape the torture zone that humans apparently referred to as "the mall," so Adam couldn't hold a grudge against them for that. He had to remind himself that he needn't hold a grudge against them for anything; if he was to gain their trust, he'd have to trust them first. It was still a work in progress. "I dunno about that one..." he grumbled at her, before quickly flashing an innocent smile. There was simply no way to make clothes interesting, no matter who he was shopping with. Although, he couldn't deny the fact that he'd had fun, Leaning Tower of Boredom and all. "Come on, then," he encouraged her, giving her a soft push between the shoulder blades to get her moving out of the store. The sooner they saw daylight, the better. 

[witchern]

[ellacrayton]

Unlikely Friendships | Adam + Ella

[ellacrayton]

She took a moment to consider what ‘it’ did mean, but gave up and shrugged, a goofy smile on her lips. “I don’t know, it just sounded cool when you said it.” She watched his arms drop to his sides and wondered briefly if it was worth trying to “attack” him, but she knew it’d bring a lot of attention to the duo as they wandered through the mall. And everything in Ella told her not to attract attention, so she simply dropped her own arms back to her sides, slipping her hands into her pocket as to not look like a threat to Adam.

The topic of guys was making her feel more and more squirmish with each passing moment. She didn’t know why, but talking about potential boyfriends in front of Adam made her feel… weird. There was no other way to put it, it just felt strange, which only served to confuse Ella further. She didn’t feel that way when she talked about guys with her other friends, so why with Adam? “Well, maybe I don’t want a guy to.. take a chance on me anyway. Just dealing with Ni—Stanley’s reaction would be exhausting.” Ella shrugged; the truth was, she did sort of want what all her friends talked about, someone to hold her hand and steal her first kiss, but she was always told that she didn’t have time for crushes and boyfriends. Maybe now, with the Garde leaving and Ella being able to live her life out in a more human way, she’d finally understand the love strong enough to cause John to abandon their home for a human. But just as soon as the thought crossed her mind did she shake it out; no one would ever take a chance on her, and she wouldn’t let them. How could she fall for someone, and vice versa, without them knowing what she was? She’d always have to hide, never able to talk about things that truly mattered to her. That was no way to live.

Ella flinched a little, barely noticeable, at Adam’s joke. The reminder settled unpleasantly in her stomach, like a rock, but she smiled anyway. Even months after their initial meeting, it was still like a knife to Ella’s gut to be reminded that she was supposedly betraying her race - but she had got herself through the first few times they hung out by telling herself that Crayton would understand, that he wouldn’t think she was a traitor, and that no matter how bad she felt, Adam probably felt worse. “Oh, he would love that one. He’d probably just think I was telling a really bad joke.” Between pauses to reply to Stanley’s texts, she continued to look around, pushing clothes around on the racks whenever she spotted something she liked. She shook her head, tsk-ing like Adam’s comments disappointed her, glancing over at him with a smirk. “You’ll just never understand what appeals to teenage girls, I guess.” She’d found several items she liked, including a skirt that was probably a bit too short but she thought was cute anyway, when Adam called for her attention. Looking over at the dress he’d picked up, she made a face, “That’s a bit too racy for my taste, but I’m sure someone.. somewhere would wear it.”

[adam-sutton]

"It kind of is a bad joke," Adam shrugged, brushing his hand back through his hair nonchalantly. It was pretty ironic to think about. They were blood enemies, meant to kill each other by design. If someone had told him ten years ago that he'd be friends with the Garde, he would have outright laughed in their face, and then probably have sent them to his dad for arresting. The very idea was preposterous, yet here they were. The weirdest part of it all; he was enjoying himself. He had to remind himself that his job wasn't to befriend the Garde, but to protect them. 

"You can say that again," he nodded with wide eyes, taking in all the glittery, candy-hued fabrics. He couldn't picture anyone getting caught dead in the clothes. "Are you actually going to buy anything here?" he asked her, leaning up against the wall in defeat. He hoped the answer was no. He was really starting to regret his decision to accompany to the mall, no matter how fun Ella was to hang around. After an hour of dying of boredom at the stupidly named store, he could feel himself falling asleep. He'd tried to entertain himself by building a pyramid of high heels that could barely stand up without any feet in them, but that was only earning him weird looks from customers. "Ella!" he called, looking for the blonde. "Can we please go home?" 

[ellacrayton]

Unlikely Friendships | Adam + Ella

[ellacrayton]

“Oooh, is that a threat I hear? I suppose we’ll see if you have to follow through with it..” With an evil glint in her eyes, she knew that she’d have to use his ticklishness against him. Maybe not now, but sometime in the future when he got cocky or was mocking her. It’d be her secret weapon, she mused - if a little brush from her elbow had made him squirmish, she couldn’t wait to see what happened when she was full-on tickling him. At his Shorty comment, she scanned him, looking for a ‘weak spot’ in his armor from tickling, but found none. She’d have to get her revenge later, then. “Touch the hair again, and you are going to get it.” She mimed his threat, lifting her arms to cover her hair. She didn’t care that she looked ridiculous - nope, he was not going to touch her hair if she didn’t get to tickle him.

Ella raised her eyebrow at Adam’s assurance of her finding a date to the prom, wondering why he thought that. Though shy at times, she was fairly outgoing when it came to humans her own age and while she easily made friends at her high school, she still often felt like she was disliked. Maybe it was just paranoia, but whenever she caught whispers in the hall she always imagined it was something about her, some horrible nonsense that high schoolers enjoyed spreading around. And while, at times, Ella was jealous over the attention her friends got from the opposite - and sometimes same - sex, she was too blind to realize when guys were flirting with her, so she simply came to the conclusion that no one was really interested in her.

She cringed at the mention of Adam’s brother, Ivan, and the ravine. Ella remembered that day clearly; she hadn’t been there, obviously, but she was in the middle of the grocery store with Crayton, Papa, when she felt the burn began. Crayton sometimes said that the Mogs who killed Three had heard her scream of grief and pain from across the world, though she knew it couldn’t be true. And then when she’d met Adam and he told her of his story, how he tried to save Three and how he’d nearly died in the process.. it just made the memory hurt worse. She opened her mouth to apologize for bringing it up, but Adam had already moved on to the next topic and she figured it would be for the best. The middle of a crowded mall wasn’t exactly the best place to speak of it. “Guys are.. nice enough, I guess. They all just treat me like a friend, I suppose, not like.. girlfriend material.” Uncomfortable with the subject, with males never having been her forte, she eagerly nodded to Adam’s cover up story. “So a complete lie as a story, perfect.” She made a mental note to text it to Stanley when he undoubtedly replied, more than likely extremely pissed off. Rolling her eyes at Adam’s concept of the store, she simply pulled harder towards the store, not wanting him to chicken out. “It’s not an age limit, silly, and /no/ you don’t need an ID.” She couldn’t help but giggle at the suggestion, only releasing Adam when they made it into the store. She still checked over her shoulder to make sure that he wasn’t going to run off, but once assured that he was staying right there, Ella gladly allowed herself to be distracted by the clothing options.

[adam-sutton]

"Hmm? It was nothing of the sort," Adam brushed off the accusation with a sly smile. He didn't want to subject himself to the possibility of a tickle attack-- or any other kind of attack, for that matter-- so he figured ignorance was the best tactic. He looked at her, curious. "What, exactly, am I going to get?" he asked her, tilting his head. "I'd really like to know." As if a seventeen-year-old girl could boss him around like that, even if it was only about hair-touching. He'd never understand the possessive relationship girls had with their hair, but one look at Ella's face and he decided that for once, it was best to listen to the girl. At least with her arms otherwise occupied, there was no opportunity for her to make a grab at his sides. Feeling safe, he dropped his arms back to their normal position at his sides.

Adam noticed Ella's wary attitude on the topic at hand, although it really only served to pique his curiosity. He wasn't one to shy away from uncomfortable topics. "Nice? They're nice? There's your problem right there. No one's going to take a chance on a girl who thinks they're nice; that's practically the kiss of death!" he explained, shaking his head at her lack of relationship know-how. Heck, he'd lived on Earth half as long as she had, and most of it was spent in and out of consciousness, but even he had figured out the basic rules. He'd never tried dating on Earth, but he was confident enough to think that he could do a pretty good job. He just didn't find the idea of spending his hard-earned money on a bunch of humans who he could never bring himself to be interested in, no matter how pretty or smart they were. After Number One, no one could even compare. How could anyone even hope to compete with a girl who he'd spent nearly a year with in his mind? There wasn't even a point. Catching himself slipping back in to his mind, Adam turned his attention back to the girl in front of him, speaking and breathing and living. Her similarities to One were striking, and he had to catch his breath and blink to make sure he wasn't still confusing his mind with reality. 

Forgetting the breach in character, Adam cracked a smile at Ella's comment. "Or you could tell him you're hanging out with the son of the guy who works for the Mogadorian who spent his entire being trying to wipe you out. He'd probably be cool with it," he shrugged, keeping his voice a little soft so that it wouldn't be overheard, not that anyone was listening. They were a very unassuming pair, and he cringed to think he probably looked like a friend from her high school. Damn his young face.  "Silly? You're shopping in a store called Forever 21. Forever. Who wants to be 21 forever? You would never be able to rent a car," he shot back, glaring at the store as if it had personally offended him. He considered running off, but now that he was trapped, there was no going back. He wandered off to a rack of strange-looking items, deciding to at least attempt to entertain himself. He picked at a strappy, sleeveless, constricting looking whats-it. "Ella? Do people actually wear these things? Do /you/ actually wear these things?" he asked, trying to picture it.