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T h e H o l l o w s I n 
O U R F R E E D O M
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A L E X I

Gravity seemed to work slow sometimes.

As Richard started to fall to the ground, I could see that it had failed once more.

I could also see the pain in Elle's eyes as she fell down beside her partner as he hit the floor.

Gravity let Elle fall as she normally would; it just seemed to enjoy playing with those who had been struck by a bullet.

It was then that a storm of people rushed in, but this time, on our side.

We had beaten the enemy, finally, but at the loss of one of our own.

I could hear crying. Wailing.

That's all I heard.

I felt as someone grabbed ahold of me, and turned to see Jace looking down at me with worry in his eyes.

"You're okay." He breathed out, resting his forehead against mine.

I pulled away abruptly, peering over at the others. Elle held Richard, sobbing. Sky was in a corner and I could hear her cries too. I parted from Jace and walked over to where she stood.

I frowned at her, immediately seeing that she held onto the bulletproof jacket, but that it was held over her stomach.

"Sky?" I said, placing a hand on her arm. "Why do you have the sleeve over your stomach?" I asked her, frowning.

"Just in case." She whispered, though her eyes remained on Elle and Richard.

"But why not over your heart?" I asked her, glancing between the jacket that she was clutching tightly and her face. Her eyes were vacant, but her body was shaking and tears were falling fast.

"Lexi," she murmured suddenly. I hummed in response, prompting her to continue. "I didn't know for sure that he was my father until this point. Until he saved my mum's life."

"Sky," I said, frowning down at her, "don't say that." I chastised her quietly before I felt Jameson join us. I only gave him a look and then left her with him, joining Elle on the ground.

I watched her hold onto him tightly, as though he would turn to dust before her eyes if she let him go. She was sobbing, too; I had never seen her cry. Not really.

I let her hold onto him for a few more moments, feeling my eyes fill with tears—this was all too similar to what had happened with Sapphire. In fact, when I looked up, I could see her standing there. But at this moment, she didn't make me feel guilty, she made me feel at ease. I glanced between Richard and the ghost in front of me, and she did the same.

She was waiting for him. Wherever she was now.

I swallowed, placing a palm on Elle's shoulder and looking away from Sapphire.

"You need to let go of him," I told her softly, watching her squeeze her eyes shut as she held him tighter and closer, if at all possible.

"I know," she told me in response, though broke into more tears.

I knew that Elle knew how to cope with loss in a battle, but this is different. To lose the one you love...well, I could feel my insides churn just at the thought of it. I looked up at Jace at that moment, and then over at Jameson and Sky, just to make sure that they were okay.

I looked back down to Elle, feeling her body tremble less than it did before.

"Elle," I said, using her name only to remind her to let go.

She pressed her lips to his forehead and then, as if he had given her an electric shock, she let go of his body quickly.

With that, Elle turned around suddenly and hailed into me. I held onto her as she shook, perhaps more violently than before. The tears hit my neck and, just before I closed my eyes and held onto her tighter, I saw Jace step forward with Jim close behind. They were going to take the body away.

I closed my eyes. At that moment, I think I felt Elle's pain, though I had never really been one for empathy—that was Sky's job. Suddenly, I felt someone join us. I opened my eyes to see Sky lean down to Richard's body, just before Jace and Jim took him away. I don't know what she did; I thought at first that she was pressing her lips against his forehead, just like Elle did. But I felt as though she had whispered something.

With that, Sky turned and joined our embrace. When Elle felt Sky join, she calmed slightly, and I watched as the two linked hands.

It seemed like hours later when we finally managed to get ourselves back into the house. We were sitting in the living room in silence.

Jonah and Elle had shared some sort of something in silence, I think it was just out of understanding. They had both lost someone they loved. Sky and I sat by Elle, and then the rest of the room just figured itself out.

"A death list?" Toby asked suddenly, responding to an earlier comment from me.

I nodded.

"How did it go?" Owen asked, curious.

I bit my lip, turning to look at Elle, who just stared straight ahead.

I stood up with a sigh and walked over to our 'planning wall' in the living room, recalling the list from memory. How could I not remember it? It was a such a savage prospect; there was no way that it wouldn't be engrained in my head.

When I was done, I stepped away from the board and let everyone read the names.

Bert. X

Angela. X

Carter. X

Zac. X

Sapphire. X

Elle.

Alexi.

Jimmy.

Toby.

Avery.

Bria.

Cassie.

Richard.

Jackson.

Kathleen.

Any other accomplices.

Sky.

I heard a few people suck in breaths in shock, then I heard a few whispers. I turned back to the wall and drew a cross beside Richard's name.

"So what does that mean?" Kim asked, "Is Jace next or is Elle next?" She asked. I read the list once more and frowned.

Bert. X

Angela. X

Carter. X

Zac. X

Sapphire. X

Elle.

Alexi.

Jimmy.

Toby.

Avery.

Bria.

Cassie.

Richard. X

Jackson.

Kathleen.

Any other accomplices.

Sky.

"Kim's right; they have two points they could start from now," Clara said, making me swear under my breath. I kicked at a nearby bin, sending it pummelling into the drawers next to it.

Everyone fell silent.

"So you're saying I should've died, just to make it easier," Elle said, speaking up for the first time since Richard's death.

"No one is saying that, Elle," I spoke up, growing angry. "It just makes everything so much harder now—before this, it would've been you, me, Jim, Toby, and so on. We knew that. Now it could be Jace, or you, or maybe they'll just start from Sky, or from Cassie upwards, or maybe they'll just think 'fuck it' and kill any old random person in any old order." With that, I sent my hand flying into a nearby cabinet, creating a dent in it. I really had to sort out my anger.

Everyone fell silent, and I dismissed Jace when he tried to comfort me.

"But how would we have known that they were going by that list?" Elle asked, suddenly fired up.

"I don't know, Elle, maybe by the fact that they just attempted to kill you and you're next on the list?" I sighed, leaning over the desk in front of me to calm me down.

"Okay, but maybe they were going for Richard in the first place, or maybe it was Sky, but I got in the way—how can we know for sure?" She asked, making my method of calming myself completely fail.

"It was the most likely option!" I yelled at her, making everyone freeze.

She stood up suddenly, running her hands over her black trousers before leaving.

I swore under my breath again as I watched her leave. Jace approached me, but I held my hands out in front of me.

"Seriously, Jace, I do not need your fucking therapy!" I yelled at him, making him fall back suddenly.

"Lex." He said, trying to reach forward again.

"Stop! I don't need your help, Jace!" I screamed at him, and then I was suddenly aware of a figure behind him.

Sapphire.

"And you can fuck off too."

With that, I pushed Jace away from me—probably way too harshly, and then stormed out of the room the same way that Elle had gone.

Our group was in shambles. A volcano had just erupted, and it was reckless and left no survivors. Our group was in shambles.

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so I'm pretty sure I edited this then left it bc I couldn't finish it off (AN and other details) ??

so uh let's hope it's edited

this is Friday's chapter probably

f knows at this point

work has stolen my life
I can't even revise for my A Levels

oh well

-I was always gonna fail anyway

FABULOUS SONGS

Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
Soldier - Fleurie
Don't Let Me Go - RAIGN
Wicked Game - Ursine Vulpine
The Power of Love - Gabrielle Aplin
Fix You - Coldplay
The Heart Wants - Selena Gomez
Lifeforms - Daughter
All The Things Lost - MS MR
Silhouette - Aquilo
Everytime - Loreen

END OF FABULOUS SONGS

Date written:
30/05/18

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Next update: Wednesday ... realistically ?? Friday or I could update again now ... 🤷🏼‍♀️ or I can do Wednesday and Friday (watch none of these possibilities turn out and I just update next month 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼)
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CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE SPOILER:

We all have to move on sometimes.

But it's easier said than done when the monsters are on your heels.