Hunted

Chapter 44

"Elizabeth!" Isaac's petrified voice has me turning to my right faster than anything. Oh no. Not the prophecy!

"Isaac!" I try to run towards him, but my feet are glued to the floor. No! No, this can't be right! I struggle against the glue but nothing it won't budge.

My best friend runs towards me, and before I can do anything a stake goes through his chest. Time seems to freeze as Isaac looks down at the metal jutting out of his heart. His mouth forms a silent O and the stake is ripped out.

Aiden walks out from behind Isaac's falling form and smiles evilly at me before disappearing into a puff of black smoke. My feet are finally free and I fall to my knees. Sobs wrack my body as I crawl towards the fallen form of my best friend. No, he can't be dead! No! No! No!

"H-here." Isaac's eyes flutter open and his hand reaches towards his pocket. He pulls out a black jewelry box and weakly hands it to me. Too stunned and afraid to do anything else, I open the box. A ruby necklace lays inside. It looks almost as if it's raining blood. The dark red color and the diamond match well together as they drop.

"What are they for?" I whisper.

"You... Don't... Darkness..." He whispers back and his eyes close for the final time. His arm falls slack and my sobbing begins anew.

"No! Wake up Isaac! Please wake up!" I drop the necklace and shake his shoulders in a futile attempt for him to wake up. Tears stream down my face and land on his ashen one. "No! Please no!" I keen to the sky. He can't be dead! I've known him since I was six, and we haven't been separated for more than a month in our lives. How will I live without him?

I lay my head on his bloody chest and sob. No. No. No. He can't be dead! No! I raise my head to the sky and scream to the top of my lungs, "Aiden you will pay for this!" I frantically search Isaac's mind for any sign of life. All his memories are gone as if he's taken them with him. No memories of reading together up in his tree house as a kid. No making s'mores at camp. No emotions. An empty shell.

I pick up the fallen necklace and clasp it around my neck. The last reminder of my best friend. My heart feels like its being torn in half. I will wear this necklace to my death, I vow.

I wobbly get to my feet and access the situation around me. The boy's dorm has almost burned down to the ground, and the gym is almost there. How long was I sitting beside Isaac?

Three Hunters wearily glance my way, and I tilt my head at them, daring them. They charge at me, but I call on the darkness and it burns them down to the bone.

I run towards the nearest group of Hunters and they quickly turn around to face me, forgetting about the boy they were battling before. I unsheathe my stake and dart around them so fast they were all dead within five seconds.

I pull the bloody kid to his feet and almost push him down again. Aiden number two stares back at me, fear making him look even younger than he already is. "T-thank you." His voice quavers.

"Are you with Aiden?" I snap.

"You mean the dude with the skin?" He takes a step back.

"Yes. The one who's killing everyone." I sigh impatiently and grow my fox ears out. The sounds intensify, but I don't hear any screams of agony. Death retreats a foot and watches the battle, waiting for more lives to be claimed. Anger and fear explode around me and I try to tune it out.

"No." He quickly shakes his head. "He's killed everyone I've met here except for you. I saw your friend get staked-"

"Don't talk about it!" I yell and run a hand through my hair, tears welling in my eyes as I remember clinging on to Isaac's life, only to be too weak to save him. "Please don't talk about it." I whisper.