The world outside the elevator sank into darkness. The building's customary hum, the consistent buzz of electricity, had disappeared and was replaced with an intolerable silence. My heart hammered into my chest, every pulse more irregular than the previous.
I looked to Damon, who stayed shockingly cool in the middle of unexpected anarchy. His jaw tightened just so little as his eyes ditched to the control panel. Once more reaching for his phone, his fingers flew rapidly across the screen.
"Damon?," asked. My voice came out hoarse and shook. I asked. "What's happening?," asked
He did not respond straight away. Rather, he pushed his hand against the frigid elevator wall, staring skyward toward the emergency lights. There was no encouraging glimmer. Just darkness, pure and absolute.
"Stay calm," he advised, his voice low but firm, the kind of voice I had to follow even if I wanted differently. "This is only a flaw."
"A glitch?" I went back, trying to project more confidence than I felt. This... doesn't feel like a glitch."
Every breath felt heavier than the next in the stuffy elevator. I moved uneasily on my feet, eyes searching the darkness for something but it was nowhere. All I could see was Damon's shadow across from me, hardly perceptible but always there.
"You ought to have stayed in my office," he added abruptly, his voice too gentle, too knowing. You would not be here right now.
I tried to swallow firmly. Damon, where are we headed? Trying to steer the discussion back under control, I asked. And earlier when the electricity went out, what expression on your face? Not what you are telling me?
He said nothing for a long beat, as though deciding whether or not to respond. His quietness simply made my uncertainties chew at my brain more intensely.
With a clipped tone, "I'm not here to hold your hand, Elena," he said. "You are free to leave, but keep in mind that this is a moment larger than either you or me. Than what either of us desires.
I blinked, not sure what I meant. "What do you mean?"
Damon moved closer, his footfall echoing in the little area. His presence behind me felt as weighty as the air had thickened with every inch he walked. "Elena, I brought you here not so much to guard the legacy of my family but so I did not wed you for the commercial transaction. Forces at work none of which we really grasp. Forces I cannot shield you from until you pay attention to me.
Every syllable he said tightened the hold on my chest as my breath seized in my throat. "What motivates you? With what are you referring?
The elevator jolted fiercely before he could respond, its cables straying as if under strain beyond limit. Clutching the closest support bar, I gasped as the floor dropped and then seemed to right itself. The room was covered in a spooky, flickering glow when the lights briefly came back on. But the lights went out once more—this time permanently before I could sigh with relief.
Something much more unsettling then occurred.
There were footsteps outside. Quick. deliberate.
There was someone in the building.
I looked at Damon and his face became immediately stiff, all traces of peace vanishing. "Don't make a sound," he said, his voice a whisper, his hand reaching toward me to keep me in place rather than to soothe.
My pulse raced. "What's happening?," I insisted, but I was starting to grasp already. This was not some malfunction or power loss. This was on purpose.
Before Damon could reply, from the other side the sound of someone—several someones—slamming into the elevator doors echoed. I stepped back, pressing into the elevator's corner, and almost stopped. As the first impact echoed across the metal, Damon stood in front of me and covered me with his body.
He snarled, then sank to a squat. "Get down." My breath short, my mind racing, I followed his direction naturally. The hammering outside got louder, more frenzied, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end while I could see nothing in the dark.
A voice low, austere, foreign tore over the silence. "Where is she, the Blackwood heir?"
Damon's teeth tightened. He did not respond right away. Rather, he grabbed his phone once more, his fingers lightly touching the screen as though in search of something. His face lit with a brief blip of light; his lips tightened in concentration.
I said, "I'm not sure what's happening." "What do they want with me, Damon?"
His eyes veered to me, his demeanor softened just enough to show a flutter of concern. Elena, you are more than simply a piece in this game. Not until they have you will they stop.
However, "but why me?" My voice was no more than a breath, I asked.
Damon didn't respond. Rather, he straightened up and grabbed for the elevator buttons once more. He punched the emergency button and then mumbled something under his breath that I could not hear. Finally, his voice icy, "This isn't just about the debt, Elena," he continued. "It's about control." They will also stop at nothing to acquire what they desire.
Once more, the door shivered, louder this time, as though someone had just tried to push their way in. Damon's eyes went to the control panel; his face darkened.
"They are approaching," he said softly. And we have not much time.
The elevator jerked fiercely out of nowhere. As the lights flickering one last time then went totally dark, my stomach turned over. In my bones, the air seemed electric, charged with something frightening.
The elevator's doors opened with a loud bang a split second later.
I shouted, but it was too late.
Black-clad two individuals with shadowy faces emerged from the doorway.
And I realized at that same instant that I had made a fatal error.
I moved toward him, the strain between us obvious. "Where are we headed, Damon?" I inquired once more, my voice showing the panic whirling inside me. And why is the elevator caught? What is occurring here?
Though he didn't reply right away, his eyes flicked to the elevator's corner and narrowed as though he had suddenly spotted something I hadn't. My pulse accelerated, and I followed his look but found only blackness.
The elevator trembled then, abruptly, a strong thud from above. I gasped, stepping back as a flutter of light passed. Something didn't fit. There was nothing a glitch about this. This came across as intentional.
Damon's jaw stiffened as his eyes fixed mine. "Get down," he commanded quickly and with command. He pulled me down on the floor without further word, exactly as a huge crash came from above.
Once more the lights flashed; then everything went dark.