The only Hope

Hope’s pov:

Suddenly Gerard got up and smiled. “Well, maybe later then…” His voice was low. I blushed by the thought of it, to my surprise. “For now: you coming? We already had dinner, but there is still some left. Interested?”

I nodded slightly distracted. “Yeah, uhm… Yeah, just give me a second okay?”

“You okay?” His face looked worried all of a sudden. I guess he thought he’d done something wrong.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll meet you inside, okay?” I faked a smile.

“Sure.” He returned the smile and walked away.

Fuck. I ran my hand through my hair. Yep, I was getting too attached. They had made me feel betrayed again, I wasn’t planning on forgetting that. Plus we all knew Korse would be coming back for me, so the harsh reality was: Gerard and I could not be.

I don’t know why I changed my mind so suddenly, but I had to leave. And I mean really leave. Just… Disappear from this place. From Gerard’s life.

The thought alone made me feel miserable, I cried, but the Killjoys could get killed if I didn’t leave now. I could lose Gerard like I lost my little girl, like he lost his mom… Besides, it wasn’t going to take long before Korse would be here, I felt it.

“Fuck…” I muttered and I wiped my tears away.

I got up and looked around to find a flashlight. It was going to be dark soon, so yeah… Eventually I found one in the car, next to an extra gun and a water bottle. Handy. Then I saw the map of Battery City. It had a red mark on it. “Oh my…” I gasped. Korse was hiding there! At least, that’s what the map told me. Well, I knew where I was going.

I left the barn hoping Gerard wouldn’t be standing just around the corner, but luckily he wasn’t. Wow, it was getting dark already? How long was I in here?

I took a last look at the diner. Then I sighed and headed for the hills, away from the road, but still high enough to see them. According to the map I had to stay close to the road and follow it.

Korse, embrace yourself you piece of shit… I’m coming for you.

I had been walking for at least four hours when a flash of light caught my eye. I literally threw myself on the ground and crawled towards the edge of the hill I was on. It was a car, but not the Killjoys’ car.

Fuck. Dracs!

My eyes were locked on the car when it suddenly came to a stop. Shit! Did they see me!? I was using the flashlight, so they must have seen that…

First some Dracs got out of the car, then… Korse himself.

I was officially fucked.

All of a sudden I felt a cold material pushed against the back of my head. I shivered as I heard the click from a gun. I dropped the flashlight.

Now someone grabbed my hair and pulled me up, not moving the gun. I screamed, which drew the attention of the Dracs down the hill and Korse. Shit.

I fought as hard as I could, but the Drac behind me – I assumed it was a Drac – kept pulling my hair whenever I tried to get away. I suddenly remembered I had taken the extra gun with me. I grabbed it and shot without looking.

The Drac’s grip faded. I looked behind me, he fell down. That’s one.

I turned the other way again but Korse grabbed my gun before I could point it anywhere. He pushed me and I fell on my back. Immediately I sat up and saw him looking at the gun. He grinned.

“Bag this.” He ordered a Drac. Then he turned to me.

“You’re out of shape, my dear.” He grinned, but then his face turned serious. “I told you: you can’t outrun me. I needed you Hope, why did you leave in the first place? I needed you!” He started to get angry.

“Because you’re sick in the mind, you asshole!” I spat.

He walked over to me and hit me. I felt my lip swell up and a tear escaped my eye.

We sat in silence for a while, then all of a sudden he stroked my cheek.

“I told you I needed you.” He sounded sweet, but that was his game. His sick, twisted game. “But you should’ve LISTENED!” He growled.

“Fuck you!” He grinned again now.

“So, I got a tip that you were walking around here. It turned out they were right.”

“Who are they?” I wiped the blood from my lip.

“Just some agents who are working for me. You walked right into my domain, sweetheart. Here everything has eyes and ears.” He smiled devilish.

“Fuck…” Korse heard me.

“I was beginning to think the diner down this road had something to do with the situation… But the problem is… It’s just outside of my territory.” He looked at me, waiting for an answer.

I sighed, hiding the shock of his remark and lied. “Fine… Yes, I tried to hide there, but it was locked. I couldn’t get in, so I hid in the barn behind the diner.”

He seemed satisfied with this answer. “I knew it. But here you are. What changed?”

I thought of Gerard and held back my tears. “I thought it was time for revenge…” This wasn’t a lie.

Korse smiled from ear to ear. “Well, you wouldn’t mind then.”

Wait, what was he on about? He nodded at one of the Dracs.

“Check the diner.” He then turned to me again. “Do you really think I’m that stupid, darling?”

My heart dropped. Fuck! Even by leaving I had put them in danger and now they were not prepared! I remained silent, which was the answer Korse was hoping for.

“I knew it… Those fucking Killjoys.” I started panting now, what if he killed them?

Suddenly Korse took a cloth out of his pocket. “Sweet dreams for now, my dear.”

He leaned over to me and pressed the cloth against my face. No! I needed to warn them, Gerard!

I tried to fight but the Dracs had already grabbed my arms and legs. Everything went black.

Notes