(autoplay) hello friend

    WHAT HAD SHE BEEN EXPECTING?     For Elijah to suddenly see the error of his ways and come back to her?     Maybe that had been what she had been     HOPING     , but her expectations for this conversation had been more realistic.     Even if her expectations had not gotten close to the reality of the situation.     She hadn’t expected an argument, she hadn’t expected Elijah to be violent, especially in such a protective manner that made the jealously inside her burn like a white hot flame.     God, she hoped that White Rose would let her kill the wolf, she would make it slow, make it painful and she would enjoy every single minute of it.

    Was she jealous because she remembered when he used to get     PROTECTIVE     of her like that?     She owed everything to him, the way she could handle herself, the way she fed, the way she     SURVIVED     in this life because he had taught her how, but he had still been protective of her in a way that she missed now.     Not that she needed anyone to protect her anymore, but it was something that had always reminded her that Elijah cared about her.     Now as she looked at him, eyes dark as he held her in a tight grip, forcing her to look at him, she wasn’t even sure if he cared about her anymore.     There was no     LOVE     in his eyes, there was just this burning anger and the reminder of the     monster     Elijah could be.

    Fuck, how she loved that monster, even if on some level, he terrified her.

    “     How long before you darken her light too, Elijah?     ”     Angelica hissed, lips parted as her eyes stayed in his before she pulled herself from his grip, standing up quickly.     She didn’t doubt that this over, she knew this was only just getting started and if the surrounding people were smart, they would move away, especially if they knew what an argument between Elijah and Angelica could get like.

    “     You claim to see only     DARKNESS     in my eyes, maybe you should remind yourself that it was you who pulled me into the dark all those years ago,     ”     Angelica snapped, trying her best to stay calm, her anger always brought out the violence and her fangs which would only be perceived as a     THREAT     by Elijah     .     .     .     if her words weren’t enough of a threat to him already.

    “     Do you really believe that wolf is your redemption?     Your ability to almost rejoin the human world?     You are so much     BETTER     than that animal, don’t sink down lower to a point where you’ll wind up six feet under for good this time,     ”     despite the anger in her voice, it was a real worry of hers.     That Elijah would drive White Rose to a point where she saw no point in continuing to think that he might come home, that it would be     EASIER     to just get rid of him.     Her whole immortal life would mean nothing if Elijah was gone.     She would rather he be alive and hate her for a couple of decades, or centuries, but he would still be     HERE     .

How long before you darken her light too?

It wasn’t as if the question hadn’t been there in his mind, the doubt creeping beneath the surface, resting in the bloodlust, but that Sam almost made him forget what he really was. Almost. Elliot knew he was really a MONSTER, who possessed the ability to cause exponential death and destruction within moments, who could drain the life from his beautiful wolf within seconds if he wanted to. But he DIDN’T want to, he refused to be the soldier Whiterose had made him and wanted him to still be. 

Though Angelica’s words leave him wondering if he’s a fool to think he can deny his nature, or at least the darkness that came with their world. He remembers another time he’d tried to fight things; how could he forget when the reminder was staring right at him. Just like she had that fateful night in 1484 when he’d caught up to her trying to escape the attack, only her blues had been filled with a pleading confusion and betrayal. That look had been enough to momentarily break him from Whiterose’s spell and rescue her (at least he thought he had been at the time). Though it was too late for her family, some of whom had died by his hands. It had taken him being daggered into a temporary sleep and losing time for the compulsion to break and return him his stolen memories. He almost wished he could forget sometimes, the GUILT ate away at him like a virus that would never kill him but only turn into bitterness that was sometimes misdirected. It wasn’t Angelica’s fault, it was HIS, it was WHITEROSES’S. To see Angelica kiss the ground she walked on made him sick. If only she knew...Though the first and only time he’d tried to make her aware had ended with her compulsively holding the nearest wooden object to her heart and relaying a message from Whiterose with a blank stare that if he spoke another word of the truth she’d be forced to impale herself with it. He’d never tried to tell her again.

But as she speaks to what he knows is true, it only angers him further. The resistance within him intensifying, perhaps because he knows which end the pull was REALLY coming from and he wants no part of it. He feels like he’s being daggered all over again, a pain in his heart as he realises Angelica’s been forced to take his place in his absence. Not only had he pulled her into the darkness, but he’d LEFT HER THERE with HER to become her little puppet. It KILLS him to see her this way. One of the things she’d always tried to stand for in her human life, one of the things he’d loved her for, was her independence and Whiterose had even stripped her of that. He tries to contain it, but the anger simmering inside him tonight is too hot making it hard to control his emotions. Angelica often seemed to have such an effect on him. Fist slams the table again, sending it and the chair he’s seated on flying back as he stands up. “Do you honestly believe that SHE is yours?!” He cries, moving closer to her. “I am already six feet fucking under the NIGHTMARE that Whiterose has made my life. It doesn’t get much lower than this, Angelica! Why don’t you stick another nail in me for good measure!” He holds out his arms, eyebrows raised sarcastically. “Hm?” He wants to tell her about all the dirt piled on top of his living grave, all the nails in his eternal coffin Whiterose had put there, beginning with the slaughter of his family, and ending with killing Jeannie and ordering Tyrell to dagger him. But that was the thing about being immortal, you couldn’t just rest in PEACE. And he isn’t sure what he can safely talk to Angelica about without Whiterose making an attempt on her life. FUCK. Another nail.

    THAT WAS THE THING ABOUT MONEY,     when you have it, you act like you can do anything and get away with it.     Pair that thought with plenty of expensive alcohol and New York City’s best narcotics would explain why Angela had thought kissing a total stranger was a      GOOD     idea.     Her hands staying where they were, holding him to her as she kissed him, making sure to press her body against his to make it look like it was more than just a kiss to make someone jealous.     But there was something else, not just because he was shy about kissing her back, there was something     MORE     , like deja vu, a feeling she couldn’t shake as she pulled back, blue eyes wide as she let her hands fall back to her sides.

    A smirk pulls at her lips as he     THANKS     her, like she had just handed him something rather than kissed him.     Yet the moment he tells her that he’s looking for Darlene Alderson, it was like she was struck by lightning and everything seemed to fall into place.     He was     ELLIOT ALDERSON     ,  her childhood best friend from when she had been     Angela Moss     and he was here.     She had just kissed Elliot Alderson.     FUCK     .     His little sister was here at the same party she was.     How did she not recognise them?     Well, she had been eight years old the last time she did along with Elliot and Darlene would have been four years old, plus add to the alcohol and drugs running through her system, it was no surprise she hadn’t realised     WHO     he was.

    “     Elliot?     ”     Angela asked softly, taking a step back from him, blue eyes almost blurring with tears.     There was that feeling again, the feeling to     RUN AWAY     and not look back.     Something she hadn’t felt in years and it was a feeling that she thought she had squashed down.     Shaking her head, she looked away from him, knowing there was no way that he would recognise her anymore.     The eight year old he had known was long gone, she was a different person and it wouldn’t be all that shocking if she was the kind of person he     HATED     now.

    She didn’t know what to do, what should she do?     She should help him find his sister, for all she knew she had probably been partying with her most of the night without realising that it was the kid sister of Elliot.     She wanted another drink, maybe another line, she wanted to put as much distance between herself and Elliot Alderson as possible.     Tongue darting across her lips, she sighed, looking back at him,     “     I didn’t think I’d ever see you again but why would I ever expect that?     I’m just     ONE OF THEM     now, right?     ”     Angela pointed out, needing to bring up the last time they had ever seen each other, a couple of eight year olds on the courthouse steps after E-Corp was cleared of responsibility for causing the cancer of twenty-nine people including her mother and his father.     Not only because her natural defence to protect herself was to like a bitch but that was better than sounding like an idiot as she said her own name again.

    “     As far as I know, Darlene isn’t here but I guess I can help you look for her     .     .     .     once I get another drink,     ”     Angela rolled her eyes, motioning for him to follow her as she moved back towards the kitchen to make herself another strong drink, not even bothering to offer one to Elliot as she took a sip of the drink.     How did someone Darlene’s age manage to get into a party like this?     Then again, it wasn’t like anyone here was of     LEGAL     drinking age.     Turning back to look at him, drink in hand, smirk back on her lips,     “     so you still a massive dork and playing with computers and watching back to the future?     ”

He’s still a little dazed over the fact she’d chosen to kiss HIM of all people at the party, why him? Elliot prided himself on being able to blend in, it was what he was GOOD at, so why had she noticed him? Chance, he figured. That had to be it...Brows furrow as the mention of Darlene’s name seems to throw the brunette, he can see cogs turning in her mind, as if she’s realised something. It didn’t make sense. Did she know her? But the look in her eyes feels intended for him....Did she know HIM?

Shit. Did I forget again?

Though in an instant, just like her kiss had taken him away from it, her words bring him back to screaming, blaring, sobering reality. The realisation dawns on him-ONE OF THEM-who else had he last said that to, someone with eyes as blue as hers, but... “...Angela....?” Her name leaves a lump in his throat he has to swallow, eyes scanning her face with a shocked skepticism. No, it couldn’t be....only the formula added up to an undeniably plausible truth. Not only was there that familiarity he hadn’t been able to shake, not only did she have HER eyes-despite her face being older and her blonde locks being painted over with a dark shade, he’d know those eyes anywhere-but it would make sense for Angela to be here, now. It’d been 10 years since the fateful tragedies in their lives that had brought them closer together as children, and nearly 10 years since another fateful reveal had torn them apart. Since Moss was dropped off the end of her name and replaced with a Price tag, quite literally. In his childhood naivety he’d hoped that maybe, just maybe, his best friend was still out there. That even though they’d left things on bad terms on the courthouse steps that they’d meet again, that he’d get the chance to apologise, and things would go back to normal. He’d sometimes talk into the walkie talkie’s they shared, hoping maybe the next time he wouldn’t be met with static, with nothingness. Even as time passed and he tried to forget her, the memory of their friendship had been like a bug so deeply embedded in his root file that to try and remove it might wipe his whole system. Like when they’d gone to the zoo on a field trip in middle school and upon seeing the reptile enclosure he’d think Angela would’ve found this cool.