Page 15 of Shifted

"Then why don't you just kill me now?" I offer, and he leans in as his black mask caresses my hood. He pulls his up slightly as his lips hover over mine, just an inch apart. They looked more tempting than I had wished and his jawline revealed was almost cruel. I could tell by just an inch of his face underneath that mask it was something too tempting.

"Because I stalk my prey before I kill them," I’m pushed back against the cold wall as his lips press against mine, taking me in for a moment. It catches me off guard, and then he steps back as the elevator comes to a halt. Left in a daze, I stared at him, ultimately confused about what had just occurred. My feelings of once loathing the man were in a whirl, and he seemed more alarmed.

"What was that?” I mumble, and he looks to the paneled ceiling above and back to me as I lean against the wall.

"They've stopped us,” he says, not answering my actual question. But I gave him an obvious look, and I already knew that the elevator didn’t magically stop. But my mind was still in a daze of mixed messages. Why would he kiss me and then pretend it didn’t just happen?

"But I don't hear anything." He leans his head against the wall for a few moments and turns back to me. "I think-"

The cabin jilts as I grip the railing, and a snapping noise echoes through the shaft. He pauses for a moment in realization: "I think they are cutting the cables.” My heart stops for a moment as I realize our situation, and I look around for any exits, but there is no time to escape. Instinctively, Amartolós lies flat on the ground, spreading his arms and legs apart.

“Climb on top of me," He urges slightly, yelling as I witness the first sign of fear from him.

"This is the moment you kill me, huh?" He kicks my leg, knocking me to the ground and causing the cabin to jilt again from the sudden movement.

"Get on top of me now!" He shouts, and I move, pushing my body up to lay against him as I wrap my arms around his neck uncomfortably. "Don't think for a second I'm enjoying this," he mutters, but it only made me convinced he was. Because seconds ago, this same man kissed me and acted like nothing had happened.

The cabin jilts again, adding to the gravity of our presumable death. A haunting thought fills my brain as I wrap my legs around his.

What if I died? The thought finally came to mind, a situation I’ve thought of fewer times. But me falling to my death in an elevator shaft wasn’t on my list of ways I’d go.

"Angel?" I looked back and clung to him as we jilted again. "When we fall, support my head." I nodded as my heart raced while the cabin moved again, and this time, we dropped slightly. Then, seconds later, the whole elevator shifted again as I squeezed him.

"I never thought I'd see you scared," He mused in a moment of fear. I would now and forever hate elevators, and the nightmares to ensue if I make it out alive would be worse.

"Okay, Mr. Incredible, you caught me. I don't want to die. There you have my confession!" I hear the noise of a spring pop and realize that’s the noise of the brakes failing. We really were going down.

"Angel?" He whispers this time as I look at him, “You're shaking." I look at my body without even realizing it. I feared never seeing my daughter again, and I could almost vomit at the thought of it. Joely losing me at such a young age and never getting to see me again.

"I have someone who depends on me,” If we were going to die, at least he knew the gravity of my situation. But he couldn’t know of my child, though I found his chase rather unusual and almost unbelievable. You never knew what one would do with that information. He sighed heartless with no sympathy, not even afraid that we might plummet to our death.

"We aren't going to die; it's eight stories, not twenty." His voice was filled with confidence, but I saw this man almost get shot twice. He was delirious in times of death. "Plus, I'm not going to let you die before I kill you first myself," He circles back to the one goal that he has failed to complete.

"You're just waiting for my vulnerable moment?" He stared into my contacts, blue as the ocean. But behind the mask of my eyes, they were brown and cedar-sighted—something Joely’s father once adored most. I thought back to him: if I died, would he ever know?

"You are always a vulnerable Angel; you just don't see that." We listen as the last chord snaps. We don't scream, not a sound from the two of us besides the eerily sound of metal scrapping, which causes my ears to ring. But within a few moments, we met the ground.

I remained clung to him for a moment. My head recovers from the noise slowly, and the ringing sensation continues. My hands were still wrapped behind his head. I let go, sitting up as his eyes remained shut. As I kicked him lightly, he didn’t move and was unresponsive.

"Fuck, Amartolós?" I couldn’t believe I was starting to panic over this man possibly being dead. That sounds heartless, but he made his intentions clear.

As I slap his arm he still doesn’t move. I reached for his wrist as his pulse was still there. He was just unconscious- wait, he's unconscious. The idea sparks my mind as he lies, barely grasping to life from the looks of it. I stare at his mask, wondering who the bastard behind it may be. My hand reaches for it, and as my fingers make contact with the fabric, my hand is gripped and forced away,

"Just because I'm half dead… doesn't mean you get to know my identity.” He yanks my hand off and sits up slowly, pulling his mask further down. Sometimes, I questioned how the man even breathed.

"Hey sunshine, glad to see you're awake!" He stared down at me, still leaning against him.

"Right...." He says, knowing full well that if he died, I might get more sleep at night. I awkwardly peeled myself off of him and stood, lending him my hand, which he accepted.

"So how long till you think they figure out we're not dead?" I ponder.

"They'll wait for a few minutes; they’re probably celebrating our death." He looked at the ceiled doors and put his fingers into the cracks. I dusted off my hood and watched as he faced the challenge of the elevator doors. They were cracked open, not but enough to squeeze through.

"Give me a boost," he looked at me confused as I pointed up. Cup your hands together and lift me. I'm going out through the panel on the ceiling." With no other questions, he lifted me, and I pushed the ceiling panel out. The overwhelming scent of burning rubber filled my nostrils, causing them to flare. I turned back to him. His muscles flexed through his shirt, and he panted as he lifted himself out.

"You can stop watching me now, angel?" I turned away from his words and looked up the shaft.

"You really think much of yourself; I was just watching to make sure if you needed a hand. Knowing your clumsy streak." He stood in front of me again, nodding his head.

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