Chapter 10: Truths Revealed

Asher walked into the police station with Sarah following closely behind him. He had taken some things from the two outside, including the gun and a smoke grenade which he found on the young man's body. Who knows how useful these things would turn out to be, after all it was rare enough as is for someone to have any weapons or military equipment in the boundary. Where exactly had they found a smoke bomb though? Surely they were not exactly easy to come across, although it did look a bit old fashioned so perhaps it didn't even work anymore and was just sitting in someone's house as a collectible or something. Although from outside the building it seemed rather large, inside it felt cramped. It was probably the tightly packed together cells which took up the majority of the space in the building, leading the hall they were in now to seem narrow in comparison to the station's scale. There was a ladder at the end of the hall which led up to the next story. 

Asher still felt a sense of guilt over his actions and the sight inside the station did not help to lessen it. Four bodies were laying around as a result of Elise and Sarah's surprise attack on the group. Two of the bodies seemed less damaged than the others with only their throats being slit, as they were the ones taken out stealthily before Sarah and Elise were noticed but the other two were a different story altogether. A middle aged man to their right seemed to have been slammed into the cage which split his head open and his jaw was dislocated, not to mention his arm was bending in a direction it shouldn't. Then the last body which was just short of the ladder at the end of the hall lay face first on the ground with a broken… well maybe a shattered leg would better describe its condition. There was a stream of blood still pouring from it which seemed to start from the start of the hall. Asher gritted his teeth. "She tried to crawl away." He said not taking his eyes off of the corpse. Her head seemed to have been violently stomped on from behind leaving her face embedded in the concrete floor. 

Sarah gripped Asher's shoulder from behind and then said in a calm voice. "I only took out the one you know, she single handily took out the other three and the person on the roof. She moved so fast as she did so I didn't have a moment to get involved."

Asher had a feeling once he saw the mangled bodies anyway. He knew his mother was capable of taking out a few people stealthily but not in a direct confrontation, plus there was simply no feasible way she could deliver such powerful and devastating blows to cause this kind of damage. His unease only grew as he looked at the two bodies in front of him.

 Just what kind of monster are you? He pondered as a clang was heard from the top of the ladder until eventually Elise could be seen as she climbed down, turned to them and gave them a nod. 

"Well I would say that was a success and I don't know about you guys but I could really go for some more protein gels right now." Elise said, throwing them both a smile as she walked towards them. In her right hand was a black hand cannon, with golden patterns spread along its barrel which appeared to be moving slightly as if they had a mind of their own. It was easily twice the size of the pistol Asher had retrieved from the woman outside and inconceivably more ominous. Just above the trigger there was a dove carved into the sleek black alloy. Looking at the weapon Asher couldn't help but be impressed by its eye-catching design, the black and gold colours of the Elpis family made the weapon seem like it was fit only to be used by a legendary hero. 

Elise noticed the serious expressions on Asher and Sarah's face? "I guess you have some questions? She asked nonchalantly as she moved past them and into a small office room containing a desk and a chair. She slid across the desk and plopped into the comfy office chair, placed her feet up on the desk and looked back at them. "Well let's get this over with." She sighed, placing her gun onto the desk. 

Sarah and Asher studied her for a moment before Sarah piped up. "You said these people attacked you right?" Elise nodded in response. Sarah's gaze became colder as she studied Elise's pristine face. "Well when we came in here and we were spotted it seemed to me like they already knew you pretty well. I mean that woman whose leg snapped even called you a demon before you finished her off and the man's eyes filled with dread the second he laid them on you." Sarah said in a calm yet cold tone. 

Elise curiously studied Sarah for a moment and then replied. "Oh did I not mention that before I joined up with you guys I was a part of this group?" Asher's heart sank hearing this. They had just followed her and killed an entire group of people because they wanted answers from her but now he wasn't so sure if they would receive any or just meet the same fate as this group. He glared at Elise for a moment before replying. "So you tricked us then?" He said frustration in his voice. 

Elise sighed and shook her head. "I wouldn't say I lied , more like not telling the entire truth, anyway it all worked out in the end, I mean we all survived and got more supplies and weapons. That's a win in my book." She stood up and began walking towards them. 

"Not another step!" Asher yelled as he raised the gun in his hand. Elise stopped and gave him a puzzled look. "Oh are you going to kill me now? I thought you'd be a little more trusting after I saved you from those two outside." Elise replied as a frown appeared on her face. 

"Trust you?" Asher laughed. "Now how do you expect me to do that when you've been hiding things from us? No I don't trust you at all I'm afraid. I want answers and until I get them you aren't moving out of my sight." Despite his demands he was not so confident in his ability to stop Elise if it came to that. Even though logically speaking since he had a gun pointed at her he should have the advantage, he still felt that somehow she held the power here. Maybe it was because of the mangled bodies around them or what he had seen that hand cannon do to the people outside. All these things were making him feel uncomfortable but what really made him feel uneasy was just how calm Elise seemed even though a gun was pointed directly at her. 

Elise was starting into his eyes which made Asher feel even more uneasy. It was as if a predator was looking directly at him and he was its prey. "Tsk. Haven't I already said I'll answer all your questions? Ask away" Elise said a bit bored sounding. She turned back and sat back down. "I was just gonna grab a protein gel anyway but I suppose it can wait." Asher and Sarah gave one another a glance before Sarah opened her bag and tossed a protein gel to Elise. "Why thank you." Elsie said warmly. 

"If you were with that group until not so long ago what happened? You told us they attacked you and took your stuff but the people I spoke to outside didn't seem like the type to do that." Asher asked as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Elise's face darkened before she answered. "I wasn't lying, they did attack me and I only travelled with them for a day. We just stumbled across each other and decided to work together. Just like you guys they figured out who I was. As for the reason they turned on me well it's quite simple really, they were afraid of me. We ran into another group of survivors and it turned ugly so I dealt with them. I guess they didn't like my methods because soon after I was shot in the leg, but I managed to kill the nearest one and escape before they could finish me off and that's when you found me." 

Asher tried as he might, but couldn't tell if she was lying or not. Usually he would have prided himself on his ability to read others but for some reason with her he could never tell. "You expect us to believe you?" Asher asked. 

"I don't care what you believe if I'm being honest, I would just rather you didn't shoot me, I didn't really enjoy the sensation the last time." Elise replied snarkily. " Anyway whether you believe me or not is up to you all I can do is answer your questions truthfully. They were afraid that I'd do to them what I did to the other group, just like you're afraid of me now because of what I've done to this one." 

Asher stayed silent for a few seconds thinking the whole situation over. It did make sense to him what she said but one thing was bothering him about the whole thing. "But you're an Elpis, I mean you and your family are practically seen as demigods to most people in this country. Why would that reverence turn to fear so suddenly?" Asher asked confusedly. 

Elise chuckled. 

"What's so funny?" Asher said sharply. 

"Oh sorry I didn't mean to laugh, it's just a bit funny thinking that's how people view us. Well anyway I guess the reason for that might have to do with what I told them about my family." Elise replied. 

"Oh and what's that?" Asher asked, failing to hide his curiosity. 

Elise looked at Asher and Sarah for a few moments, her eyes softening. She almost looked a little guilty. "Well I told them the truth. My family aren't gods or heroes, no we're nothing like that. All the Elpis family has ever cared about is their own survival, but that's not the thing that made them turn on me. No… it was when I told them that my family is the reason they are in this predicament that's what did it." 

Asher froze and his face paled. He had a hunch that they might have known what was going on but… to think that they were the ones causing it was simply insane. Even as cynical as Asher was he never would have thought that the saviour of humanity would have been responsible for this. I mean why had they even saved everyone all those years ago if they were just gonna start slaughtering millions now? Was it population control? Was there some grand reason for it all? Or… was it simply for entertainment? He looked over at Elise who was examining him curiously. He needed more answers but just before he could ask another question a knock was heard at the door. This startled Asher, who had been entirely fixated on Elise this entire time. 

Sarah turned quickly to look at the door and exited the room. Asher kept his eyes on Elise, not lowering the gun. He glanced out of the room not lowering his weapon to see Sarah looking out a window. "Well who is it?" he whispered. 

"A young man it looks like." Sarah whispered back. 

The stranger knocked on the door again before he spoke. "Hey I heard you guys from outside. Oh I'm unarmed as well in case you're worried." 

Sarah looked back at Asher and nodded confirming that the man was in fact unarmed. "What do you want?" Asher asked. 

The man didn't answer for a few moments before he finally spoke. "What do I want? Why I want to save you."