She's The Enemy (GxG)

(P2) Chapter 9- You. Are. Human.

"What's your name?" I ask the small boy who had been fighting in the arena a few days previous. He chews on his lip for a second before mumbling quietly.

"Issac..." The boy shifts his weight from one foot to the other as the entrance to the palace swings open and a man with silver-flecked hair walks through- It's the first time I've seen him since the failed infiltration. I turn to face him.

"Mr Snow..." I murmur but am immediately dismissed as the man lays eyes on the boy in front of me.

"Issac!" He cries, walking up to the child and placing his hands on Issac's shoulders. I see the flicker of worry pass through his eyes as he looks the boy up and down, scanning for cuts on the child's skin. Issac's mouth parts slowly as recognition lights up his face.

"Is Ari here?" He says excitedly, however, loses the spirt at the look on Gideon's face.

"He's looking after Noah back home... but I will return you home safe, I promise," The keeper of the guard states, crouching down to meet the young boy's height and placing a hand gently on his neck. The boy nods, teeth gritted, "Okay, I'm sure these men will take you back to the quarters, you take it easy, okay boy?" Gideon indicates towards the two men in which he seemed to take everywhere with him. The two nod in agreement and begin to guide the boy out of the room whilst Gideon turns to me.

"How is she?" He asks gruffly. I stay silent, letting my gaze drift to the floor.

"Why would I tell you?" I mutter softly.

"Because she's my daughter!" He snaps causing me to look up swiftly. His brows are furrowed, eyes angry. I take a moment, chuckling softly to myself.

"One thousand. I lost one thousand of my army. And what did you do? You cowards fled." As I say this, I glare directly into his eyes. I'm angry. Of course, I'm angry. An alliance works both ways, Emelie's father or not. He left- just when things got difficult, he broke his promise, "You hate us so much, and for what? Something we didn't even do?! You humans, you're all the same. Keep going till it gets tough... What you made was a mistake and yet... can't even own up to it. In fact, after that, I shouldn't even let you stay here! But you know why I am? I am because it's kind!"I take a breath, watching my words register on his face.

"Well..." He begins but I cut him off by stepping forwards.

"And here comes the excuse..." I snap lightly, regulating my breaths so that my voice becomes sterner, "Can't you... for once, do something that doesn't benefit you. You gain nothing from it but you do it anyway because it's just bloody kind. At the end of the day, we're all gonna die, some later than others but do you want to die like this?" I furrow my brows, unbottling all of my hurt and anger for the first time in too long. My voice lowers.

"Cause I sure as hell don't. I want my life to mean something to someone. Now... you're all free to go, take Emelie with you. But, I'm still going to fight." I gulp, "Cause you might not deserve to live... but I know there are some among you who do... And I've lived so long without the ability to just be kind, and nice and decent and... I recently saw what that can do to a person. Because your daughter... she was that- for me. She was that and so much more. Because she didn't care about herself- she cared about an injured girl, alone in the forest." I stop and match my eye-line with his. I watch his throat contact and brows furrow in thought.

"We'll leave as soon as possible..." He murmurs before turning swiftly on the spot to leave. I stop him before he does so.

"Imagine what the world could be like if we were all just kind." He hesitates for just a second before shaking his head slightly and striding out of the door. I just sigh to myself, wondering what he must have lived through to have so much arrogance.

***

"Emilie..." I whisper into the bitter air. Leaving her here was one of the hardest things I had to do- I needed to ensure her safety- and now I have. I pull open the door to the room she has sat in for the past day, "Hey... You're going home..." Something shuffles in the corner as I pull the light switch. The girl is in the same place I left her and the lost, troubled look on her face sends a spike to my heart. I walk over, sitting down on the floor beside her and removing her hands from her face slowly. Her bright blue eyes stare back at me. There's no word for how she looks... broken, terrified, scared, none of them is quite enough to explain the horrendous emotion radiating off the girl in front of me.

"Emelie..." I say slowly and the girl immediately breaks down in hysterics, digging her head into her thigh, breathing exaggeratedly. I place a hand on her back but she jolts from my touch, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

"I don't want to go..." 

"I know Emelia, but it's what is best for you, I just need you to be safe..." I respond, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. This time she doesn't flinch and instead locks our gazes.

"I don't want to feel like this anymore... I want it to go... please Isla... make it go away..." Her words are disjointed and harsh as she pleads with me. I place my hands on her arms.

"It will go. Once you are away from here-" I am cut off before my next sentence with an abrupt cry from the brunette.

"No!" She grabs ahold of my arms, "I don't want to go... I want to stay... I... I made a promise. By a lake..." I try to speak but she cuts me off again, her nails gripping tighter onto my arm. It's then when I notice the dozens of scars around her wrists, most likely from chains, "You don't get it. You don't... I... I killed people Isla... I took another person's life. How should I deserve mine, if I took someone else's...?" My heart cracks at the pain behind this sentence and my breath catches before I say my next words.

"We have to do what we must to survive..."

"I don't want to survive!" She cries, "Surviving doesn't matter if you aren't human...!" The tears are trickling down her face quicker than I can wipe them away. Everything inside me hurts when I see her like this. This is my fault. I know that- she's only here because of me. She got hurt because of me.

"You. Are. Human." I place both of my hands on her cheeks, "You are the best humanity can offer, Emelie..." Silence follows Emelie's slow intake of breath, wrapping itself around us.

"I love you too... The thought of telling you that is what got me through it all. All the pain I endured after I helped my sister escape... The pain as I watched each of those people cry out... It's why I didn't put the knife through my own heart. You." 

And in that single second, it snaps into place, every moment we'd spent together, every word we'd ever spoken to the other. Every kiss, every time we'd touched. All of it collided together in that single moment and everything in the world suddenly seemed insignificant. That moment was pure ecstasy, like we were suddenly omniscient, Emelie and I drifting above the world in this perfect bubble. Every promise we'd ever made laid out in front of us like a future waiting to happen. Suddenly, both of our bodies are slammed back onto the earth and our gazes meet. Instantly we both know what it was, it was so apparent- so clear.

She's my mate.

A/N

Just imagine what the world would be if everyone was just... kind...