11:Elle's Wedding Day by midnightfaery, literature
Literature
11:Elle's Wedding Day
"Miss! Miss!" Thomas cried.
Elle opened her eyes with a groan to find Thomas leaning over her, his little hands on her shoulder as he tried to shake her awake.
"What time is it?" She croaked.
Stretching, she turned onto her side and glanced at the porthole, frowning when she saw that it was still dark.
"It's just after dawn!" Thomas said, sitting beside her on the narrow bed.
Elle sighed, tugging the thin sheet more tightly around her shoulder. She had made it a habit to sleep as late as she could, not because she was depressed, she assured herself, but because it meant less time spent anywhere near Elias, and more time spent devising a
Elle ripped her arm free of the large sailor's grip as he hauled her up from the ladder and onto the deck. She nearly fell to the floor, feeling so detached and disoriented from the horror she had just witnessed that her whole body was numb.
Mias is dead.
She felt a sharp twisting in her chest at the very thought, and she wanted nothing more than to crumple to the floor and cry. She looked towards the island, only able to see the outline of the cliffs and the glimmer of waves as they drifted onto the shore. Elle wanted to hurl herself over the side of the ship, to swim back to Mias and hold him in her arms one last time. But she knew there
Elle stumbled forward onto the beach on hands and knees, just as a wave crashed against her. She fell forward onto her stomach, gasping for air as she tried to catch her breath. Her muscles screamed, her shoulders and arms trembling uncontrollably from the excruciating swim. Her legs cramped, needles of pain crawling over her calves when she tried to stretch her legs. But she had made it, she was alive.
She rolled onto her back with a groan, her whole body protesting. Staring up at the starry sky, Elle pushed the damp hair that clung to her cheeks out of her face, bringing herself up onto her elbows. She looked out at the water which shimmer