The Beautiful Monster

"Maybe not if we work together. I'll figure out some sort of spell that I can use to maximize your fire ability," Melina said as she motioned to her bag. "I have some books I can look through."

"I'm willing to be a distraction if you guys actually act fast and kill that son of a bitch," Scott sighed as he sat back in the lounge chair.

Elias gave Scott a surprised look. He never thought that he would ever hear Scott not be selfish. He was actually willing to put his life on the line and help them defeat Alaric.

"You're actually going to help us?" he asked.

"Why do you think I'm here? I could've gone into hiding instead," Scott scoffed as he crossed his legs at his knee. He glanced over at Melina. "You better find that spell."

Melina nodded and rummaged through her bag to grab her books. She looked at Alyssa and handed her a book.

"I trust your mind. If anything pops out at you, just let me know," she said.

Alyssa immediately nodded and flipped open the old spell book to the first page to start reading.

Elias breathed in deeply, figuring he could continue talking to Scott while the girls read through the spell books.

He hoped that they could find something because that would really help their cause. His abilities mixed with Melina's magic could make them a match for Alaric, but they all had to work together.

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"Do you think we'll be strong enough?" he asked Scott.

Scott thought for a moment before answering.

"I think when it comes down to life or death, we'll find the strength to be strong enough. Nothing is more powerful than a man about to die that doesn't want to die," he pointed out.

Elias preferred not being on the brink of death, but he understood where Scott was coming from.

They would have to fight for their lives, and they would have to fight as hard as they possibly could to make it out of this alive.

"Well, thanks for offering to help," he murmured. It felt weird thanking Scott, but he was grateful to have another person around to help them.

They could use all the help that they could get, but he knew that most people would be too scared to stand up to Alaric. He supposed that he couldn't blame them.

"I'll end up dying anyway if I don't help you," Scott said with a shrug. "I might as well die honorably, right?"

Elias smirked, figuring as much from Scott. However, he didn't care about Scott's reasoning. He just needed Scott to be there to help them.

"If you could act as a distraction, Melina and I might be able to catch him off guard," he said. It wasn't a solid plan, but it was a start to one.

That was more than they had prepared earlier, so at least there was some progress.

It was hard to plan an attack against Alaric, who was as unpredictable as he was dangerous. There was no telling what he was going to do next.

"Don't take too long on the whole surprise attack. He can probably kill me pretty quickly," Scott added.

Before Elias could answer, Tyler's voice was heard from the front.

"Guys, I think someone is following us."

Panic shot through Elias as he stood. He moved closer to the front of the RV, peering at the rearview and side mirrors to see a black car following close behind them.

"How long have they been behind us?" he asked.

"For the last five miles. When I switch lanes, they follow," Tyler replied with a grave look on his face. He knew that something bad was going on.

Elias turned to the others.

"We might be getting trailed. It could be Alaric," he said. He had no idea what to do, but he knew that he wanted to be as far away from that car as possible. "Speed up and try to lose them."

Everyone braced themselves as Tyler pressed on the gas, sending the RV throttling down the highway.

They held onto their seats as Tyler rapidly switched lanes, swerving between cars to try to outpace the black sedan following them.

Elias checked the mirrors again and cursed under his breath when he saw the black car behind them again.

There wasn't a doubt in his mind that the car was following them now. He didn't want the car following them all the way to their next stop. They had to stop whoever was following them, and a car chase probably wasn't going to work.

"We might have to stop," he said.

"Stop?" Melina questioned him. "And do what?"

"Fight whoever is following us. We can't let them keep following us. What if they're reporting back to Alaric?" Elias pointed out. They had to stay under the radar if they wanted to keep surviving.

Sneaking around was what was keeping them alive. If Alaric constantly knew where they were, he would have the upper hand even more than he already did by being more powerful.

"What if that is Alaric?" Alyssa asked, looking fearful.

"It's not. He would've flipped our RV or something. He wouldn't just follow us," Elias replied. He had an idea about how Alaric thought, and he doubted that Alaric would take this approach.

"We have to stop and take a stand. I know we haven't practiced much, but I don't think we have any other choice."

"I think he's right. As much as I don't want to admit that," Scott sighed.

Elias was shocked that Scott agreed with him and didn't choose to argue with him. However, he was thankful for the support.

He needed Melina to fight by his side. He couldn't do this without her. This was part of the reason why they were brought together in the first place. They had to take down evil.

Melina stared at him for a few seconds, weighing their options before sighing.

"Fine. Let's do this," she said before rummaging around in her bag.

"Are you sure about this?" Alyssa asked Elias as she took his hand, giving it a squeeze.

Elias turned to her, taking both of her hands to comfort her. He knew that this was scary for her, but she had to trust him. He was going with his gut right now. He hoped that it wouldn't let him down.

"Yes. Just stay out of sight, okay?" he asked her. If she was in harm's way, he would get distracted, which was the last thing that he needed.

He had to focus as much as he could, and he had to work together with Melina. This was their test. If they failed, they didn't have a chance at defeating Alaric.

Alyssa nodded, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his lips.

"There's a rest stop up ahead. Should I pull into it?" Tyler asked from the front.

Elias held the kiss for a moment before pulling away to answer Tyler.

"Yes. Everyone, get ready," he said as he felt the RV pull off the highway and head down the service road that led to the rest stop.

They were in the middle of nowhere, so he suspected that there wouldn't be many people around.

If they were around, he hoped that they would scatter quickly because things were about to get ugly.