Heartless

Heartless - Chapter Five

HEARTLESS 

CHAPTER FIVE

Hunter Callison was stood in front of me like an apparition from the past. In fact, I had a hard time processing that he was actually real. If it hadn’t been for him pulling the vampire off me, I’d have put his appearance down to my own madness.

I never thought that I’d see him again, but here he was.

“What?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “You seem speechless. I have to say that my presence does do that to people sometimes, but never quite to people like you.”

He looked the same as he always had. It was unnerving to see him looking so much like he had when I’d first seen him. His inky black hair was in its usual style, messy and tangled, reaching down to just below his ears and fringing his face. His dark eyes still held the same amused glint, which seemed to be permanently there even in the worst of situations.

If this was my first time meeting him, and I’d never talked to him before, I would’ve said he was attractive. Sadly, he’d ruined that illusion for me the first time that he’d opened his mouth.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice hoarse. I sunk down into a crouch, staring down at the flaking bodies of the vampires. I needed to look anywhere but at the man in front of me.

Memories were rushing back. They were things that I’d rather forget, that I’d tried my best to push to the back of my mind.

He shrugged, hands hooked casually in his jeans pockets. “You know, the usual. I’m just taking a stroll through the beautiful streets on this fine winter’s night. How about you?”

“You’re not real. You can’t be.” I buried my face in my hands. “I’ve finally gone mad,” I moaned.

“No offense, sunshine, but you’ve always been a bit mad,” Hunter said. “I wouldn’t blame you for tipping over the edge after everything that’s happened, but I’m definitely not a figment of your imagination.”

I didn’t look up. “Oh shit,” I murmured.

“Can we continue this somewhere else? Not that this grimy little alleyway isn’t a great place to hold a conversation, but there seems to be a whole coven of vampires running around here. I don’t know what you did or how you did it, but I don’t want to stick around for the aftermath.”

“I didn’t mean to let them see me.”

“You never mean for stuff to happen, Anne, but it does anyway. If you maybe just stopped to think for a second instead of being a reckless idiot then your plans might actually work,” he said matter-of-factly. He’d never really cared if he insulted me or not – in fact, he strove to insult me as much as possible – and what used to be an infuriating habit of his was like a glass of cold water. After having Joseph showering me with compliments and Luna skirting around my downfalls, it was nice to hear the truth for once.

I laughed shakily, looking up. “Do you think we can get out of here?” I asked.

“Please, sunshine. Give me some credit.” He extended his arm, hand offered towards me.

Sighing in defeat, I put my hand in his. He pulled me up to my feet.

“Did that vampire beat you up too badly? Do I need to carry you?”

I put some weight on my leg, wincing, but the pain wasn’t too bad. “Do you honestly think I’d let you carry me?”

“And do you honestly think that I would in the first place? I think that if I had to carry you I’d probably just leave you here to walk yourself.”