Hades
The words felt too small, too late, but they were all I had.
Elliot watched me.
Silent.
Unmoving.
I held my breath, afraid to even blink. Waiting.
Waiting for something—anything—that would tell me it wasn't too late.
But then—
Elliot's gaze flicked over my shoulder.
Past me.
Searching.
Hope flared in those green familiar eyes, sharp and desperate.
Searching for her.
For Eve.
And when he didn't find her—when the doorway stayed hollow, silent, empty—
his face crumpled.
Not with tears.
But with a hollowness that split me open.
He looked back at me, and there was nothing warm in that look. No forgiveness. No trust.
Only the fragile, shattered remains of a child trying not to hope anymore.
I moved without thinking, reaching out a hand—slow, careful, like taming a wounded animal.
But the moment I got close, Elliot flinched.
He recoiled so violently it was as if I had struck him.
My hand froze mid-air, fingers trembling.
Gutted didn't even begin to cover it.
