The Beautiful Monster

"This will be dangerous, but you two will be nearly unstoppable together," Daniel told his children.

Elias wasn't completely sure about that, but he didn't say anything. He just hoped that he and Melina would be as powerful as everyone claimed that they would be together.

They needed any sliver of a chance that they could get to take down Alaric before they were killed first.

"We need to come up with some sort of plan," he said before yawning. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and the exhaustion that he felt was starting to kick in.

"I want Scott to be here. We can come up with a plan in the morning," Melina replied before sitting on the other bed.

"We have the room across the hallway. Tell us if you need anything," Nora told her children before leading Daniel out of the hotel room that Tyler, Melina, Alyssa, and Elias were sharing for the night.

Elias looked away from Melina, wishing that she wasn't so insistent on Scott being there. She must've not known how sneaky Scott could be.

Then again, she hadn't grown up with him. He crawled into the free bed with Alyssa, silence falling over the room for a few minutes.

"Hey, it'll be okay. We'll figure out everything in the morning," Alyssa assured him with a comforting smile.

Elias was infinitely grateful for her and her constant support. He knew that he would go insane without her grounding him.

He slipped under the covers and pulled her close to his body, wishing that they were alone. He would talk to her more tomorrow when people couldn't hear them.

"I know," he told her with a nod. Someday, maybe things would actually be okay. For now, things were a mess, but maybe there was a slight chance that they could clean all of this up without losing their lives.

*******

"I thought of a plan."

The first thing that Elias felt when he heard those words from Melina was worry. He still didn't know much about her, so there was no telling what she would suggest.

They had a whole night to sleep on ideas for their next move, and now they were all huddled in one of the hotel rooms, including Scott.

"Already?" Elias asked her. He thought that they were all going to brainstorm together.

Melina shrugged with a sheepish look.

"I couldn't really sleep last night. My brain wouldn't turn off," she replied. "Just keep an open mind."

Elias felt Alyssa place her hand on his shoulder as they all stood scattered throughout the room. He knew that was her silently telling him to hear Melina out, which he was willing to.

"Alright," he said.

Melina nodded and folded her fingers together in front of her, struck with a light dash of nerves as everyone turned to look at her.

"I think we should go on the run for a little while," she said.

Elias' eyes grew wide in surprise, not expecting to hear that from her. He thought that they would come up with some sort of battle plan or something to face off with Alaric. He didn't understand how running would solve anything.

"Why? And who is we?" Elias asked her.

"Slow your roll, man. She's not even finished," Scott commented from between Melina and Daniel. He gave Elias a pointed look.

Elias tightened his jaw, wondering why Scott was always defending Melina. Then again, defending Melina meant going against Elias. It was another way for Scott to dig under Elias' skin.

"Go on," Elias said.

Melina glanced between Elias and Scott before continuing.

"Look, the only way that we can beat Alaric and his followers is if we team up and work together. We each have our own powers, but we need to learn how to use them together. That'll take time that we don't have unless we're constantly moving," she told him.

Elias tilted his head at her, trying to wrap his mind around everything.

"You want us to pretty much live on the road so that we can train together?" he asked her, making sure that they were on the same page.

"I know it sounds crazy, but if we keep moving, Alaric will have a harder time finding us. We'll be safer," Melina told him. She had a hopeful look on her face that wavered every time Elias spoke.

"I can't just leave everything behind to go on the road. I have Alyssa, my job, my place," Elias replied as he shook his head. He had too many things in his life to just up and leave them behind, especially on such short notice.

"You're letting your little girlfriend and your fancy job and home put everyone at risk?" Scott spoke up as he crossed his arms over his chest. "How selfish are you?"

Elias glared at Scott.

"What are you even doing here? This has nothing to do with you," he spat.

"I was the one who brought Melina to you!" Scott snapped.

"How did you even know about her?" Elias asked. Scott had been around him since they were kids. He had never mentioned anything about Melina back then.

"I overheard one little conversation from your parents and did a little digging," Scott said with a shrug. "What can I say? I'm resourceful.

"You're nosy," Elias replied pointedly before looking at his parents. "Do you think this is a good plan?"

"The two of you need to work together. You also have to get along," Nora said as she looked at her children. "Buying yourselves some time could be a good idea."

"You have to make sacrifices, Elias," Daniel added.

Elias dragged his fingers through his hair with a sigh. He didn't expect to make these sacrifices, though. He didn't expect to make them now either. His life was finally about to go back to normal, and then the sky fell. 

"It's not going to work for me. I can't leave Alyssa behind because she's already been attacked before because of me," Elias replied.

She was always toward the front of his mind, and he couldn't bring himself to take her away from her life and her job that she loved.. It would be selfish of him.

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