There was nothing else on Elliot's mind as he stumbled to class the next morning. He could die, anybody could die, just drop to the floor coughing their insides out like Rick did the previous day, and there was no telling who it would be, when it would be --
It could be you, next, some of the older students had told him with a sort of malicious glee. Y'see, we think Nyx is just taking out the sort of people who will be useless as vampyres. People who're nothin' special. First it was that loud-mouthed friend of yours, so, yeah, I'd be careful if I were you.
When he finally reached class, Neferet was already there. She looked at him with a weird expression on her face, caught somewhere between pity and disgust. He couldn't blame her; he must've a looked a mess, with his uncombed hair and snotty nose and red eyes and oh god why am i even worrying about this now oh god oh god--
She gestured for him to get inside quickly, and then delivered a speech to the class about how the goddess had taken one of them and how Rick's memory'd stay in their hearts forever. She then requested a moment of silence while they presumably prayed to the goddess to ensure that Rick had a safe passage to the afterlife, while Elliot stood and trembled. They don't really give a damn, he could hear Rick saying, almost as if he was standing right next to him. This sort of thing happens all the time. We're like cockroaches, that way.
Life went on, and Elliot's fear grew with everyday that passed.
He didn't know what eventually happened to Rick's body; they told him it'd been given to his parents for cremation, and Elliot had toyed briefly with the idea of requesting to meet them - any human contact, any at all - but had decided against it, figuring that there was nothing he could say to them. Could he be sorry that he was the only friend that their son had ever had, and still all he did was sit back and watch him die?
Everybody else was remarkably unfettered by the incident. Par for the course. Run of the mill. Nyx just picking the wheat from the chaff. And Elliot was sure exactly which category he'd end up in.
(i don't want to die oh god i don't want to die i don't)
A week after Rick's death, he met Aphrodite.
-
"What do you expect me to do?"
She stood before him, beautiful and resplendent and High-Priestess-to-be, and all that consumed Elliot's thoughts was desperation and anger. "I need - I need to know if, if there's way. For, uh. Nyx to forgive me."
Aphrodite tossed her hair and smiled at him. "It isn't so easy to ask favours from the goddess, you know. Once Nyx has something in mind..."
"But we can at least try!"
She raised a delicate eyebrow. "We?" She laughed. "Oh, that's cute. You expect me to ask the goddess to change her mind, for you?"
Elliot could swear he wasn't far away from getting on his knees and begging at that moment. He just - he needed to - he needed to get out of here, see his family and friends again, before he died alone and unmourned, surrounded by strangers who didn't really give a damn. "Please," he said. "Please."
Aphrodite stared at him for a long while with narrowed eyes before a slow smile curved her lips. "Well," she said. "I suppose there's one thing we could try."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Elliot's Story - 4/?
Date: 2011-03-09 10:25 am (UTC)There was nothing else on Elliot's mind as he stumbled to class the next morning. He could die, anybody could die, just drop to the floor coughing their insides out like Rick did the previous day, and there was no telling who it would be, when it would be --
It could be you, next, some of the older students had told him with a sort of malicious glee. Y'see, we think Nyx is just taking out the sort of people who will be useless as vampyres. People who're nothin' special. First it was that loud-mouthed friend of yours, so, yeah, I'd be careful if I were you.
When he finally reached class, Neferet was already there. She looked at him with a weird expression on her face, caught somewhere between pity and disgust. He couldn't blame her; he must've a looked a mess, with his uncombed hair and snotty nose and red eyes and oh god why am i even worrying about this now oh god oh god--
She gestured for him to get inside quickly, and then delivered a speech to the class about how the goddess had taken one of them and how Rick's memory'd stay in their hearts forever. She then requested a moment of silence while they presumably prayed to the goddess to ensure that Rick had a safe passage to the afterlife, while Elliot stood and trembled. They don't really give a damn, he could hear Rick saying, almost as if he was standing right next to him. This sort of thing happens all the time. We're like cockroaches, that way.
Life went on, and Elliot's fear grew with everyday that passed.
He didn't know what eventually happened to Rick's body; they told him it'd been given to his parents for cremation, and Elliot had toyed briefly with the idea of requesting to meet them - any human contact, any at all - but had decided against it, figuring that there was nothing he could say to them. Could he be sorry that he was the only friend that their son had ever had, and still all he did was sit back and watch him die?
Everybody else was remarkably unfettered by the incident. Par for the course. Run of the mill. Nyx just picking the wheat from the chaff. And Elliot was sure exactly which category he'd end up in.
(i don't want to die oh god i don't want to die i don't)
A week after Rick's death, he met Aphrodite.
-
"What do you expect me to do?"
She stood before him, beautiful and resplendent and High-Priestess-to-be, and all that consumed Elliot's thoughts was desperation and anger. "I need - I need to know if, if there's way. For, uh. Nyx to forgive me."
Aphrodite tossed her hair and smiled at him. "It isn't so easy to ask favours from the goddess, you know. Once Nyx has something in mind..."
"But we can at least try!"
She raised a delicate eyebrow. "We?" She laughed. "Oh, that's cute. You expect me to ask the goddess to change her mind, for you?"
Elliot could swear he wasn't far away from getting on his knees and begging at that moment. He just - he needed to - he needed to get out of here, see his family and friends again, before he died alone and unmourned, surrounded by strangers who didn't really give a damn. "Please," he said. "Please."
Aphrodite stared at him for a long while with narrowed eyes before a slow smile curved her lips. "Well," she said. "I suppose there's one thing we could try."
-