Ascension

Elijah

Last night kind of felt like a dream. Veronica seems friendly. I smile at that. Talking with her seemed almost mystical. The bright moons hanging in the sky, the mysterious scene of the ruined city. It almost seemed like something right out of a fairy tale.

I started to walk around the bunker trying to find something to do. When I passed the hospital I saw Lorelei cringing from pain in a room. I almost went in. Almost. I turned away because she wouldn't want to see me. I decide to find Indiana. He might keep me distracted. I walk to their small one roomed apartment and knock on the door.

Indiana opened the door almost immediately.

"Hey. I didn't know you were back. Come in." He smiles.

"Hi Indiana. Hi Alivia." I return the smile.

"Hey Elijah. I feel like I haven't seen you in such a long time." She hugs me.

I return her hug and they both smile.

"It's good to see you too." I tell her.

"Come, sit down and eat breakfast with us." Indiana leads me to their four person table.

I sit down and Alivia gets plates for the pancakes she had prepared. She piles the plates full of pancakes and it smells wonderful.

"It smells wonderful Alivia." I tell her.

"Well it better. I have spent months trying to get my cooking skills." She laughs.

"Well Liv if it tastes half as good as it smells then I'll be happy." Indiana tells her.

She sets the plates down in front of us and I dig into mine. The pancakes are amazing. They are the perfect blend of density and fluffiness. And they are sweet but not overly sweet like some are.

"How is Luna Rose?" I ask.

"Luna Rose is doing really well. She can crawl, talk and hold her bottle so I'm not worried for her at all." Alicia smiles over at her baby.

"Really? What was her first word?" I ask.

"Believe it or not it was dad." Alivia told me excitedly.

Indiana's eyes got big.

"Really?" He asked astounded.

"Yes." Alivia smiles.

"Dad!" Luna Rose babbled excitedly.

Indiana turned around and stared at his infant daughter. His eyes were wide. He pulled her out of her highchair and held her close to himself. She cooed quietly.

"How is Lorelei? Why isn't she here with you?" Alivia asks me.

"Lorelei and I...broke up." I say slowly.

The pain in my chest flares again. I don't like talking about it out loud. Still to fresh I guess.

"You did? Oh I'm so sorry Elijah. Was it at least for a good reason?" She asked me.

Was it for a good reason? I still don't really understand Lorelei's reasoning so I'm not sure.

"I'm not sure." I say slowly.

"What did Lorelei say?" Alivia asks me.

"She said that I wouldn't understand now. Not for a while but she said eventually I would. When I wake up and the pain isn't as bad anymore." I tell Alivia.

She thinks for a few minutes.

"I think I'm going to go talk with America for a while." I tell them.

"No, Elijah, don't leave. It was so good to talk to you again." Alivia tells me.

"No it's okay Alivia. Let him talk with America." Indiana says while hugging her.

"Thank you for breakfast. They were definitely the best pancakes I have ever had." I smile.

"Thank you." Alivia smiles.

I walk out of their apartment feeling a sense of happiness. Those two are definitely a family now. You can feel it in their home. I walk the hallways to the Elevator. I press the button and step in.

"Hey can you hold the Elevator." A voice calls to me.

I press the button and hold the doors and she steps in. Veronica.

"Oh hey Veronica." I greet her.

"Oh hi Elijah. Fancy seeing you here." She tells me.

"Agreed."

"What floor?" She asks.

"Oh um the fourth floor I believe."

She presses the button for the fourth floor and the Elevator starts going up. Then it stops and sags a little.

"What's happening?" Veronica asks a little worried now.

"I don't know."

"Where is the emergency button?" Veronica asks me.

"What emergency button?" I ask.

"Oh stars." She whispers.

"Help!" We both start yelling.

Our voices get strained after a while and we stop and just talk for a while.

"So what colony did you grow up in?" I ask.

"What?"

"Colony?" I try again.

"Oh Oasis." She smiled.

Huh. I would've guessed she grew up with the Sun's Peak colony but I guess not. We discuss our childhood while sitting on the floor of the Elevator. She had an interesting life. She grew up on the complete opposite side of the town than I did. Her life they struggled to find food.

While in my life we always had plenty and plenty to spare but we just threw away our leftovers. Again it is strange listening to someone's childhood when you have had a complete opposite one.

"Do you hear that?" She asks.

I don't hear anything for a little but then I hear the little patter of shoes against the concrete.

"Help!" We yell.

The shoes stop for a minute but then keep going.

"Louder." I tell her.

We yell louder and the next time we hear shoes they are heading in our direction. The person stops right in front of the elevator and makes a call.

All of a sudden the elevator slides down and we yelp in surprise. Veronica jumps into my arms. The Elevator stops and I slide to the floor. The elevator moves again and Veronica starts crying.

"We are going to die aren't we." She cries.

"Maybe." I tell her.

She looks up at me with tear filled eyes and kisses me. It was light and barely there. You can still sense the small bit of desperation in her kiss. I found myself kissing her back. Just a little at first. I put my hands in her hair and I was left aghast when I realized how soft it was. Like Lorelei's. I kissed her more intensely.

I was happy to kiss Lorelei's doppelganger. She pulled away for a split second. Just long enough for me to look into her intense grey eyes. She kissed me again with more ferocity.

Then the door opened. I was surprised to see Lorelei standing outside of the Elevator shaft. Her eyes were wide as she took in the scene of Veronica kissing me. I immediately felt guilty. Then I chastised myself for feeling guilty, she broke up with me didn't she? But her wide eyes brought me back to feeling guilty again. Someone at the security desk pulled me up out of the Elevator. When I got up I avoided Lorelei's eyes.

When Veronica got pulled up I grabbed her hand and walked away from the scene. Mostly because I was desperate to get away from Lorelei but also because I wanted to see America like I was originally doing.