Jump to new as of March 4, 2001
Prologue
It was tattered by now...the sides of the picture curling up, creases lining it, time smearing it with a tinge of yellow. The four of them were smiling so broadly and carefreely into the camera. her smile , the children... God...the children where like small miracles... It was taken on the most beautiful day, the sky had been clear, the wind brisk and invigorating, the sun casting its warmth like a loving embrace. But now the picture appeared how he felt, melancholy, overcast, and unequivocally doomed.
For the first time in what seemed months, Will actually cast his eyes about him surveying his surroundings. It was almost strange to him to do what normal people do on an everyday basis...observe. For the past...God he didn't even know how long it had been...year or two he had just walked around in a daze, eating and sleeping wherever he could, never staying anywhere long. not like he could, he was an American...a valuable commodity here.
Now as he looked about him he realized how completely dismal his surroundings looked. He remembered when he had come here about 3 years ago, before the war had touched this town...it had been so beautiful, so picturesque. she had loved it so much . The beautiful bridge that had spanned the river, so strong, so ancient, now stood in shambles. Large pieces having crumbled from the mortars. He stood on one of the last remnants that actually remained.
Everything about this place had seemed new and wonderful to them then...especially to the children. Although Ilian had been upset about leaving school, at eight he had already begun to make wonderful friends in Boston, he had loved the new places they had traveled to. Asha was only six, young enough to see wonder in anything, and everything.
and she had loved it too... those dark eyes had twinkled as she gazed upon all their surroundings with such awe. It had seemed like such a great idea then, come to Bosnia with the Peace Core, help people for two years AND get rid of their med school loans. With those loans gone they could buy a house, maybe a nice car when they got back...
The irony of it all made Will laugh, but there was no mirth only bitterness in that laugh. It was a laugh that could easily be mistaken for a grimace, and it was filled with nothing but pain...
Those dreams...all those dreams...their family...amazing what one misplaced mortar in a civilian peacekeeping apartment complex could do. It ruined his life...
How long had it been, he couldn't even remember...all he knew was that there was nothing left...nothing...nothing but painful memories in the states...
And with that thought of despair, Will prepared to let go of his grip of the bridge, ready to jump into oblivion, ready to let nothingness swallow him...and ready to finally find peace...
Chapter 1
As his fingers slowly unwrapped themselves from the railing, he felt a tug on his sleeve, actually more than a tug, for it pulled back towards the bridge.
"What are you doing?" asked a female voice loudly in the native tongue of the land.
"Leave me be." He said wearily.
"Wait a minute," she said in fluent if highly accented English, "you're an American!" she said astonished in a tone of voice that was almost annoyed.
"Yes, now leave me alone." He replied in English, yet while he was distracted, she managed to give him a firm yank and pull him over the side of the railing, so he fell onto his back onto the bridge itself. "Oh God," he replied as he rubbed the back of his head, "what do you want?" he asked in a very annoyed fashion.
"What are you doing here?" she asked almost yelling.
"nothing..."
"You had to be doing something...an American...in Bosnia during the middle of the war...please don't tell me you're a tourist, because if you're that stupid I should have just let you jump." She said as she placed a tiny foot on his chest to prevent him from rising. Her back was to the sun, so had he even cared what she looked like, he still would have been unable to see her face.
"I'm not a tourist." He said as he turned away.
"A journalist then?" she asked her voice contempt filled. "because if you're a journalist I have quite a few sights to show you, maybe then the 'news' in your country can deliver the images of the suffering of the people here to your countrymen sitting so snugly in their own homes."
"I'm not a bloody journalist...now what do you want?" he asked annoyed.
"You're a doctor aren't you..." she said more quietly than before, and when he didn't reply, she bent to her knees and grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt. "Are you out of your mind? An American Doctor about to kill himself...do you have any idea how we could use you...do you have any idea how much good you could do?"
"Why would I want to do anyone any good?"
"you arrogant, selfish..." She spat as she released his lapels
"You have no idea...no idea what I have sufferred..." he began angrily.
"What you have sufferred she said cutting him off, "let me guess, you lost your family, or you got hurt, now you have nothing left to live for." She said with great feeling, "well let me tell you something...Dr. American Coward...I have been there...and if you haven't noticed things aren't all that happy go lucky here." She turned away, almost in disgust, "If you have nothing to live for, try doing something brave, try living for someone else for a change."
"What do you mean?" he asked his eyes narrowing.
"I'm the head of a refugee camp, we need doctors, and if you need a reason to live we have 3 thousand of them coming this way." She said a smile finally cracking at her face at his interest.
"you need doctors?" he asked, almost as if a man waking for a dream.
"Desperately," she said as she helped him to his feet, "so will you come with me?"
All he could do was nod, and for the first time he got a good look at her, her hair was pulled back with a scarf, a shadow obscured her eyes and nose. From what he could tell she was young, probably only 24 or 25, and passable looking. nothing like Anne...but then again Anne was perfectly unique....
She turned and began to walk, and for some reason, he followed. Maybe because deep inside of him, this girl had sparked some life once more, and awakened a desire to actually do something worthwhile. it's what Anne would have wanted
They walked for what seemed like hours in silence, he followed a few paces behind her, lost in thought. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"What?" he asked as he came out of his reverie, "did you say something?"
"I said I'm sorry." She said without stopping or turning.
"Why?" he asked with a chuckle, "you saved my life back there."
"Oh I know," she said finally turning to give him a surprisingly warm smile, a smile that lit up her face, and despite all the grime and dirt that covered her, made her beautiful. "I'm sure you'll thank me profusely later," she said with a tiny laugh, "but what I'm sorry for is being so unkind back there, I had no right, I don't even know you."
"you only did what you thought was right, I probably wouldn't have listened had you not been...so forceful."
"you mean had I not been such a shrew." She said smiling again, "let us eliminate this problem of us not knowing one another, what is your name?"
"Fitzwilliam Darchev," he said as he extended his hand, but not before wiping it on his pants to get off some of the dirt.
"Darchev? That name is?"
"It's Yugoslavian, my father was Bosnian, my mother American, that's why coming here as a peacekeeper made so much sense."
"this is your first time in Bosnia?" she asked.
"yes, my father died when I was very, very young, I had lived most my life in England and in Boston."
"It is a pity, that your first view of your father's homeland should be like this," she stopped as she waved her hand about the tattered countryside, "it was truly beautiful once," she said softly.
"I don't doubt it," he said as they continued to walk, "when my wif...when we first came here it was very beautiful."
"how long have you been here?" she asked, noticing his slip, but being wise enough to realize that he would tell her about his past when he was ready.
"I don't really know." He said as he stopped for a moment, "maybe 3 or 4 years I guess." They continued for sometime in silence until he blurted, "but you never told me your name,"
"Elisa," she replied simply.
"It is very nice to meet you Elisa." He said as he helped her across the small stream that broke their path.
"It is nice to meet you as well, Fi..fit..."
"Just call me Will," he said smiling in the first time in so long he didn't even remember.
"Alright Will," she said her voice softening, "well, we are going to have to stay the night somewhere." She said her voice returning to it's customary harshness, "it's getting dark, and we won't reach camp by nightfall."
"How far away is this refugee camp?" he asked.
"Not more than another 2 hours walk," she said still facing forward.
"What where you doing so far away from it?" he asked inquisitively.
"Nothing," she said a little too quickly and a little too harshly, "now come on," she said as she trekked ahead, "there is a small cabin where we can stay" she stated as she pointed to a tiny cabin on the side of a hilltop.
As Will followed behind, he thought back upon how much his life had changed in the space of a few hours, and about the curious, tenacious young woman who had wrought that change...
Chapter 2
"Do you know how to make a fire?" Elisa asked as they stepped into the tiny log cabin.
"What?" he asked, startled as always by her tiny voice made almost hoarse by the harshness of her tone.
"Do you need one of those...what do you say...those things that help you hear better?" she said as she made circles about her ear.
"a Hearing aid?" he asked
"That's it," she said snapping her fingers, "you always seem to have trouble hearing what I say."
"I don't really need a hearing aid," he said patiently, "I'm just...I'm just..."
"here, but not here," she said with a knowing smile as she waved her thin hands about her expressively, her personality seemed to come in flashes, as if beneath her harsh exterior lay another woman, filled with mirth and joy.
"yes, I suppose you could say that."
"Well, I asked you before if you could build a fire?"
"well, I don't know, I might have learned in Boy Scouts when I was younger..." he trailed off.
"Oh you Americans, you know nothing," she said but with a smile, "actually, I didn't know how to start a fire myself until the war, I mean there wasn't much use for building one in the middle of downtown Sarajevo."
"You lived in Sarajevo,"
"No," she replied shortly, as she began to tidy up the cottage a little, spreading blankets about the floor to sleep upon. "You could," she began harshly, but softened her tone a little, "could you...would you please collect some wood with which to make the fire," she asked her face softening once again.
"Sure," he said as he shook his head still puzzled by her, she was a complete mystery, she actually refused to reveal anything at all about her past.
The fire burned brightly casting shadows about the cabin, making it seem almost hospitable, they sat across from each other, indeed they had remained at maximum distance from one another whenever possible.
"I just remembered," she said happily, "there should be a pump around the back of the house,"
"a pump?"
"you heard me this time," she said almost happily, "you are improving." She rose and dusted herself off, "I'll be right back." She ducked out of the cabin and returned a few moment later the scarf folded up in her hand, her hair damp, as it fell in long loose dark spirals down her back. Her cheeks glowed from being scrubbed, and for the first time he noticed that she was beautiful. Beautiful in a very unconventional way of course, small build and very thin, but her lips where full and rosy, and her eyes, well her eyes where her true beauty, for they where large and luminous, sheathed by long dark lashes. "you should go wash up...it will make you feel better," she said.
"do I really look that bad?" he asked smilingly.
"well, for a second there back at the bridge, I wasn't sure if you where human or not, what with that thing growing on your face," she said with a laugh, "I have some scissors," she said as she fished them out of her bag and tossed it to him, "unless you are fond of it," she said with a smirk.
"Yes, I probably don't look that good right now," he said almost as if speaking to himself, "I hadn't...I hadn't thought about my appearance in a long time now," he said as he looked down at his tattered clothing as he went to go wash up.
When he reentered the cabin, his sleeves rolled up, his face clean and his beard cut close to his face to reveal his handsome jaw line, Elisa looked at him approvingly, "you clean up nicely Dr. American, you look almost human." She said smiling. "you must be hungry," she rifled through her bag and produced a loaf of bread and some cheese. She split them into two uneven portions and offered the larger to Will. "You're much bigger than I am," she said with a very practical nod.
He accepted them with a quiet thanks, and sunk back into thought back upon the day, he had almost taken his own life. Something he would have never imagined a few years ago, something he could not even ever comprehended doing before... before he lost everything
Sometime later Elisa broke the silence, by saying softly, "we have a difficult walk before us tomorrow."
"How so," he asked.
"Well, we can either take the long way, that will be another 5 hours, or the short, which involves wading across a river, if it has rained a great deal, the river will have swelled making it a tad treacherous, and..." she trailed off as she noticed that he had stopped listening to her and was off in his own dream world once more.
"oh...I'm sorry where you saying something," he said when he noticed her looking at him strangely.
"that's alright, it was nothing really important." She looked at him, "how are you feeling?"
"Better," he said as he shut his eyes, "you are probably wondering why..."
"that is your business, I wouldn't presume to ask about your past," she said quietly.
"It's alright, I don't mind," he said slowly, it was nice to talk to someone, to have some normal human interaction after all this time, "I lost my family," he said simply as if that was all that needed to be explained.
Her large eyes gazed at him sympathetically, "how?" she asked, her voice so normally harsh and to the point even when she was in a jovial mood was now soft, even comforting.
"They died when a mortar hit the volunteer housing building by accident. You must have heard about it," he said, almost mechanically. "It happened a few years ago, it was covered in all the papers..." he started, his voice detached and unemotional, as if he was purposely distancing himself from the event.
Elisa recognized this and interrupted him quickly, "your wife..."
"Anne," he said softly, coming back.
"How long had you been married," she asked as she unconsciously scooted towards him, closer to the fire.
"Nine years," he said softly, "we married when we where 20, impetuous college sophomores that we were," he said with a tiny smile as he took out the picture from his pocket.
"she was such an incredible human being...warm and giving, she loved being here, even with the danger. It was always her dream to do 'some tangible good in the world' she was never as happy as she was with the children or seeing a patient." He chuckled to himself, "I always teased her, that I shouldn't bother taking her out places, she was always waiting to get back to the children, or back to her work."
"What was her work?" she asked softly.
"She was a doctor like I was, we actually met in a class for Pre-Meds, those are students in university studying to go onto medical school." He stared down at the picture, then up at Elisa, almost as if he remembered there was someone else in the room, "would you like to see a picture of my family?" he asked. She nodded and rose, sitting down at his side.
"You had...you had children?" she said her voice stalling, something Will didn't catch as he continued.
"Two, wonderful ones, our greatest gifts," he said, "Our eldest was eight, Ilian, incredibly bright and athletic, he was a bit shy, but he had the softest heart. All the little girls in the neighborhood where always looking to play with him because he was so gentle in comparison to his rough and tumble friends...he took a lot after his mother. Our daughter, Asha, she was six, I suppose you could call her a bit of a tomboy because she was so fearless, but she was also so very vain, I remember she would always go through her mothers things, rifling through her makeup, wearing her shoes and jewelry. I remember one Christmas when...," that was as far as he got before his reserve finally crumbled and he began to sob, it was the first time he had cried, the first time he had let vent to his emotions. His frame was racked with sorrow, his manly tears so different from a woman's more gentle lamentations. "Oh God," he cried once or twice.
Elisa first stroked his hair comfortingly, softly whispering soothing nothings as one would to a child, then as if her own barrier broke down she put her arms around him and rocked them both back and forth. The two strangers where bound by their shared grief, at least in Elisa's mind. As his sobs quieted, Elisa quickly returned to her former reserve and moved away from him.
They where silent for sometime...for so long that Elisa was almost sure that he had fallen asleep. For some reason, she trusted this strange American, yet experience had taught her long ago to be weary of strangers, she waited in the darkness till she was sure he had dozed off before allowing herself to fall asleep.
Chapter 3 ~ The Adventure Begins
Will's eyes slowly opened, only to find himself sheathed in darkness. The fire had gone out, and the cabin was chilly. For a moment he was unsure where he was, what he was doing, and then yesterday's events came flooding back upon him. His eyes sought Elisa sleeping form, but she wasn't there. He slowly rose, only to see her reenter the cabin.
"What where you doing?" he asked as she pulled the scarf off her head.
"I was saying my prayers," she said, "your father, he was Bosnian...I'm guessing he was a Muslim...if you don't mind me asking...?"
"I guess you could say I'm Muslim, I learned the prayers, but my father died so young, and all his family was still here. I didn't even know another Muslim until college, and there all the Muslims shunned me because I didn't know anything," he said as he shook his head. "I don't practice at all if that's what you're asking," he paused for a moment, "and even if I did before, I don't know if I still would, I guess I'm very..."
"angry?" she completed as she folded her scarf.
"disalussioned is perhaps more the word I was looking for." They remained in silence until Will asked, "do you think we should head out now, the sun should be up soon."
She shook her head in the negative, her mood was strikingly contemplative. "You will value the sleep when we get to camp, there is much to do there." She said as she stoked the embers. "We should sleep for a few more hours, you'll thank me later." She said almost cracking a smile, "come here let me teach you how to build a fire, you'll need to know later."
They worked in semi-silence until Will looked up at her, they had not spoken of last night, and both where weary of discussing it. "Elisa," he said, "may I ask you something."
"Of course," she replied with out stopping or looking up.
"Back on the bridge, you said you 'had been there' how did you convince yourself...how did you go on?"
She looked up at him and rocked back on her feet, running her hand through her hair as she did when she was contemplative. "I guess...well, there is a poem, or rather the beginning of one I remembered that my sis...that someone used read to me when I was young, it says, "a rose to the living is more than sumptuous wreaths to the dead." She said as she gazed past Will, as if remembering better times, "I don't remember what context those lines are in, but the lines themselves stuck," she said with a tiny smile. "I guess what I mean is that I could either mourn those that I had lost, or I could move forward; If only to ensure that no one else would undergo the torture that I did." At this she turned away, rising from the hearth, as if the memories of the past where too much for her.
"That river I spoke of earlier," began Elisa an hour into their walk.
"What river?" asked Will, as he looked up. An observer might have concluded that he was conducting an in depth study on gravel and sand patterns for he stared unwaveringly at the ground beneath him.
"The one I mentioned when you weren't listening to me," she said with a smile, "the one we have to cross, and judging from the dampness of this area, the one that will be pretty well raging by now."
"how far away is it?"
"We should come to the pass any moment now," she said as they approached a tiny hill, once at the top, the view revealed the river lying at the base of the hill. It had swelled, and now was no longer the sedate, shallow stream she had expected, but instead something almost furious. Her heart was weakened by the prospect, they would not be able to cross this mammoth.
"Come on," he said "what are you waiting for?" as he started down the hill.
"Will," she said as she followed, "look at the river, it is raging, do you think that anything can bridge it, I think not." She said as she stopped.
"Look," he replied, "I've had a lot of experience with rivers back home, there is a right way and a wrong to cross one, I know the right way." He said confidently, "look up at the sky," he said pointing to their left, "It's going to rain and that river is going to get worse, our best chance is now."
"Will, I can't cross that river," she said as she motioned down at her thin body.
"No, no You probably can't," he said as he looked at her, "but we can do it together," he said as he offered her his hand, which she took without hesitation.
When they reached the river Will sat for a moment, trying to come up with the safest way to cross, he turned towards her, "we're going to leverage my body onto to that branch there, and I'm going to move down until I reach that protruding rock. Once I get hold of it, you get down onto the branch and give me your hand and I'll pull you onto the rock, from there we can go reaching from rock to rock if we make a chain between us." He paused as he watched the pulsating push of the water downstream, "there is no other way?" he asked.
"Having second thoughts?" she asked with a smile that belied her uncertainty about the plan.
"No...yes," he said as he shook his head, "this is going to be hard."
"We either cross or turn back, and turning back is another hour and a half walk, with the storm and the fact that from walking back it's an additional five hour walk to camp, we wouldn't get there before tomorrow."
"So the river it is," he nodded grimly. "Are you afraid," he asked her.
"No," she said solemnly, "I trust you."
"Ok then," he said as he lowered himself into the water, the temperature was cold, but not quite frigid. But the water beat against him with a force he couldn't had even begun to comprehend on the ground. A strong undercurrent tugged at his feet and it was all he could do to even stay afloat, slowly he manuevered his body towards the rock, Elisa could only watch, and for some reason every time he wavered, her heart skipped a beat. Why she was so wrapped up in the concern for a stranger, an American, she didn't know...but she was...
It seemed like forever, before Will could move his almost frozen fingers down the branch, the cold spray of water hit his face like needles, and each swell of water threatened to wash him away. Yet he couldn't move back to the bank, he could only move forward. When he finally felt the smooth gravel finish of the rock beneath his fingers he eased his body around it, letting out a sigh of relief. Yet as he turned to Elisa, his heart clamped, as if death's cold fingers squeezed it tightly, she had gone under as the water beat against her body, her legs not strong enough to hold up to the undercurrent of the river.
At that moment, Will's instinct took over, and as he reached for her he let go of his grip on the rock...
"Will?" Elisa cried as she looked about her as she got her bearing, her body bobbed out of the water, she had been underwater only for a split second, but as she looked up, he wasn't where he had been only a moment before. "Will!" she cried out louder, her voice filled with panic...but the only reply was the sound of the rushing water beating against her body...
Chapter 4 ~ A Touch of Romance
Her heart beat almost in her throat with fear, he wasn't underwater, he wasn't on the bank...where in God's name was he? She pulled herself up higher on the branch to get a few of downstream, and she saw a speck of blue his shirt was blue and in that moment Elisa made the most impulsive decision of her life...
She let go.
What Will had battled against, the rushing force of the water was nothing compared to the impact Elisa felt. The splash her reentry made was lost in the roar of the river, just like her cry of surprise as she was pummeled down stream. Her saving grace was a flash of clarity she had still trapped beneath the surface: if she was to survive she was going to have to swim downstream, with the current. She was batted around as she struggled to stay afloat until the width of the river became large enough to calm it's force. As she came towards a bend, she cringed, she was going to crash into the pure rock, there was no way she could avert her course, she was at the mercy of the river now.
Suddenly, she felt herself tugged from behind as an arm reached out and seemingly picked her from the current. She found herself wrapped in a pair of strong arms with his hand covering her mouth, "Shhh..." Will's voice whispered in her ear, Elisa's terror and surprised where washed away by the relief his voice brought, "I saw a truck full of Serbian soldiers while I was going downriver, they're heading this way." He finished as he removed his hand.
"I'm glad you are alright," she said as she squeezed his hand, "How do you know they are Serbian?" she asked.
"I saw the insignia, and...there are women with them," he finished.
Elisa swallowed thickly, "are they...are they held prisoner?" she asked.
"I think so, they where in the back of one the trucks."
Elisa bit her lip contemplatively, she turned around to face him, his arms still wrapped around her tightly. He was in such close proximity to her that she felt her breath come in short, ragged spurts. "you said that they where coming this way." She asked.
Her face glistened with river water, and her hair fell in wet ringlets upon Will's chest, he forgot how tightly he was holding her, he forgot everything, everything except for her proximity to him, he felt his chest grow heavy, and his breathing become labored. "Yes, yes I think they where heading this way."
She could feel a blush spreading across her cheeks, she turned away, and broke the spell. Will let go of her, well at least relaxed the unduly close hold he had on her, "What do you think we should do?" she asked him.
"I don't know, but I know we cant stay in this river with the storm coming, I can already feel a little rain." He asked as he released her and lifted his arm out of the water to check the rain. Yet as he let her go, she felt her self slip away from him, the tug of the river pulling her away, in an instant, she felt herself pulled back into his arms once more, "whoa there," he said with a laugh, "I got you."
She smiled up at him, "You know we made it to the other side Will," she said with a smile as she glanced up at him.
"That we did," he said smiling, "come on let's get out of this river." He said as he helped her up, "Wait a second Elisa," he cried as he brought her back down into the water, "back there, I saw you as I went downstream, you let go of that branch to come after me didn't you?"
"Yes Will, I did." She said simply, but upon noticing that he was not content with that explanation she turned around to face him, placing her hands on his chest, "for some crazy reason Dr. American Coward, I couldn't let any harm come to you, so I followed my instinct, and that instinct was to save you." She said before turning around and climbing onto the bank of the river. Leaving Will to merely shake his head at this amazing woman.
Will followed her, and the two stood for a few moments in contemplation about their next step. "You cannot face the soldiers dressed like that," he finally said as he looked at her drenched form, her clothes sticking to her frame.
"You are right," she said practically, "turn around," she said calmly, "and cover your eyes, I'm going to wring out my clothes."
"Elisa, I'm a doctor, trust me there is nothing there that I have not seen before," he said while doing as commanded, his eyes covered carefully by his hands
"Yes, but you are also a man, and I am not your patient," she said as she pulled her shirt over her head and wringed it out fully, before slipping it back on. "Alright all done," she said as she pulled his hand down from his eyes and began walking.
"where are you going?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied, "but I figure we can walk around the soldiers if they're camped out by the river side and..." here she stopped as she heard the sound of a truck coming directly towards them. "Oh God," she whispered as she saw the truck come into view, the insignia froze her in her steps. She was oblivious to Will's pleas to hide, to move. She just stood transfixed by fear. She felt herself pulled into the brush, as Will had almost picked her up. She was jolted back into consciousness and she felt herself in his arms, inside the brush.
"Shhh..." he whispered in her ear, "just do as I say," he said quietly, as he preceded to rub dirt into her hair, her face, he rubbed her hair about giving it a frazzled crazy appearance. He took something from about his neck, a chain and slipped off a ring that hung upon it. He slipped the ring onto her finger. The truck had stopped outside.
The sounds of the women's whimpering where like lost lambs bleating, it sent Elisa back, back into times so painful she could not even remember them without wincing. The truck has stopped somewhere close, they has seen them, and they where looking. They both held their breath, as they heard the soldiers swiping bushes aside, looking for them. A pair of footsteps seemed to be approaching and suddenly a gun was thrust into their brush, it's nuzzle pressed against Elisa's chest, and an angry Serbian voice commanded them to get out of the brush...
Chapter 5 ~ The Decision
The barrel of the gun bore into her chest, she trembled beneath the feeling of the cold metal pressed against her skin. She could hear a heart beat thumping loudly, yet she was unsure whether it was her's or Will's. As they pushed out of the brush, Will's breath was ragged, as it blew in her ear, "don't say anything, just follow my lead," he whispered before the harsh sunlight hit their faces.
Elisa tried to keep her head down, staring at the ground with great intensity, There where only three soldiers or so, and the one who had the gun pressed against Elisa, began to speak to Will. Will responded in the native tongue of the land, straining to come up with his most authentic accent. It worked for none of the soldiers questioned it.
Elisa looked up at the soldier before her briefly, he was young no older than herself. A mane of golden hair curled on his head, and blue eyes that would have been more at home in a six year old peered out at her. At first he appeared to me totally harmless, but on closer inspection the cruel sneer of his mouth and the way he clutched the rifle petrified her.
"This is my wife Sir," said Will to the soldier as he held up Elisa's hand adorned with the ring as evidence. He gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze which Elisa returned.
"Look at she's filthy," said one of the other soldiers as he approached them, "those dirty Bosnians," he spat nearly missing Elisa's feet.
"She's gone mad Sir, she lost her mind after the death of our children, I'm taking her to the hospital," said Will as he reached out to place a protective arm on Elisa's shoulder. The soldier batted Will's arm away and placed himself between Will and Elisa. He placed one of his hand's on the small of Elisa's back, carressing it. His touch was like acid, she trembled with disgust beneath it. "She's well built, make a great addition to the grou" he said laughingly to the second soldier behind him as he gestured to the truck filled with women.
From the corner of her eye she could see Will's fists turn white with anger, his mouth tightened with fury as the soldier's hands traveled around Elisa's body. The second soldier saw this and swung his gun around so that the barrel pressed against Will's temple, "Now what?" he asked Will with a sneer.
The blond soldier taunted Will further by pressing his body against Elisa's, she felt such revulsion that she almost gagged, it was all she could do to stop herself from kneeing him in the groin. But doing so would spell certain death for both her and Will. Yet, Will had less self control, watching Elisa tremble made his blood almost boil, he moved again, and the second soldier responded by cocking the barrel of the rifle.
Elisa's breath stopped in her throat, her heart thud, echoing in her ears. As if upon instinct, her hand lurched forward, placing it upon Will's chest, steadying him. She shook her head and for a moment their eyes met, and as the reality of their situation sunk in, realization struck Elisa like a blow to the head. She swallowed, she was placed between two nightmares of her past, not again . For a split second, she saw her yesterday laying before her, yet in her yesterday she had no choices, now she did. she saw the dark blond of his hair, curling so impishly about his forehead, the slight beard that adorned his handsome jaw. The emerald of his eyes, eyes that shone with love for her, for only her... she had lost Emiel, she would not lose Will as well...
Will stopped moving as he made eye contact with her, he regained control, and then as if he knew what she was about to do, before she even did it. "Don't," he whispered softly, she gave him a sad half smile, before she looked up at the soldier who had her by the waist.
"I'll go with you," she said to the soldier, "if you give me a chance to speak to my husband for a moment, and if you promise to let him go," she said to the soldier. Yet, she saw the glint in the soldier's eye as he acquiesed, and she knew he wouldn't hesitate to break his word...
Chapter 6
The blond soldier taunted Will further by pressing his body against Elisa's, she felt such revulsion that she almost gagged, it was all she could do to stop herself from kneeing him in the groin. But doing so would spell certain death for both her and Will. Yet, Will had less self control, watching Elisa tremble made his blood almost boil, he moved again, and the second soldier responded by cocking the barrel of the rifle.
Elisa's breath stopped in her throat, her heart thud, echoing in her ears. As if upon instinct, her hand lurched forward, placing it upon Will's chest, steadying him. She shook her head and for a moment their eyes met, and as the reality of their situation sunk in, realization struck Elisa like a blow to the head. She swallowed, she was placed between two nightmares of her past, not again . For a split second, she saw her yesterday laying before her, yet in her yesterday she had no choices, now she did. she saw the dark blond of his hair, curling so impishly about his forehead, the slight beard that adorned his handsome jaw. The emerald of his eyes, eyes that shone with love for her, for only her... she had lost Emiel, she would not lose Will as well...
Will stopped moving as he made eye contact with her, he regained control, and then as if he knew what she was about to do, before she even did it. "Don't," he whispered softly, she gave him a sad half smile, before she looked up at the soldier who had her by the waist.
"I'll go with you," she said to the soldier, "if you give me a chance to speak to my husband for a moment, and if you promise to let him go," she said to the soldier. Yet, she saw the glint in the soldier's eye as he acquiesed, and she knew he wouldn't hesitate to break his word...
"Will," she whispered as she drew his neck down towards her head, "they are going to take me, either way," she said softly.
"I'm not going to let you do this," he cried, as he held onto her fiercely, "I won't."
"It's not up to you anymore," she said with a sad half-smile, "I won't let them hurt you, this is the only way you're going to survive, now when he comes toward you, I want you to leap into those bushes, and then into the river..."
"No, Elisa, I won't let you..."
"...and when you get into the river, swim downstream for another few minutes, and then you'll get to a bridge, take the bridge and you'll reach camp...they'll take care of you there," she said with a far away look in her eyes.
"I'm not going to go."
"Then you'll stay here and die? Well if you think death is more appropriate, perhaps I too should cause a ruckus, it would take nothing for these soldiers to shoot me as well, and if that is what you want..." she cried passionately, "please go, just go, remember when I saved your life? You owe me Will, you owe me, and this is what I want for repayment, for you to go." With that she kissed his cheek lightly and pushed him away gently towards the river.
"I'll come back for you." He said as he saw the desperation in her eyes.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," she said softly, before she whispered 'go' and he was gone. For her troubles she received a rifle butt in her stomach, and a blow to the head, that at least made her dizzy enough to forget about the situation she was now in. And as she boarded the truck and closed her eyes, she didn't pray for safety, she didn't pray to escape, for she knew no one could save her from the Hell she was headed to, all she prayed for was that the end would come quickly, and for that she prayed fervently until the rocking of the truck, and the crying of the women put her to sleep.