Hunted (book 1)

Chapter 14

Mr Campbell had clearly planned the whole thing. At least I knew it wasn't all Liam's idea. I struggled, but it was in vain. I couldn't escape. I was going to die. I know I think that a lot, but this time I really believed it.

My arms and legs were cramping up from sitting in such an uncomfortable position. I shifted and managed to get my left arm out from underneath me. I didn't have much room, so it ended up pressed against one wall of the cage. I tried to move again, rocking from side to side. The cage rattled and the lock on the door swung. That was when I realised that is wasn't locked. Someone had left the lock open.

I looked around. I could see multiple hunters, but none of them were looking at me. I yanked my arm over my head so that I could reach the lock. I flicked it off the latch on the cage door. It was one of those cages where the door is on the top, or maybe they had just put the cage down on it's side.

I tugged on the latch. It was stuck. I pulled harder and it came open. I pushed the door and it clattered open. Before anyone could stop me, I stood and pulled myself out of the cage. In the process, I managed to fall over and tip the cage onto the floor.

I was sprawled on the floor, having landed painfully on a metal cage, when the hunters reached me. I groaned in pain. Liam chuckled. I wasn't sure if I heard it or if I just imagined him whispering "clumsy" under his breath. He had some nerve.

I dragged myself to my feet. To my surprise, the hunters weren't pointing weapons at me. It could have been because the weapons were in the shop, or because Mr Campbell had sold all of them, but it was more likely that the hunters were weaponless because they didn't see me as a threat. Only Liam and Mr Campbell really had any reason to believe I was a werewolf.

I looked around the room at all the curious faces, then I sprinted for the door. No one tried to stop me. At the door, Mr Campbell grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up. I struggled and kicked. Mr Campbell doubled over in pain and dropped me. I think I might have kicked him in the nuts. Oops.

I was gone before Mr Campbell recovered. I didn't stop running until I got home. By the time I stopped, I was red in the face and out of breath. Silent tears ran down my cheeks. For some reason I was crying. Liam's betrayal hurt more than Ryan's. I wasn't sure why, but it did. For a few long minutes, all I did was sit on my bed and cry. Then I rolled onto my stomach and sobbed into my pillow. I wasn't sure if my parents were home, but I didn't want to bother them.

~

I spent the first half of Sunday lying in bed, alternating between hugging and punching my pillow. My parents thought I was sleeping. When I got up just after noon, they were in the kitchen eating lunch and chatting. Ignoring them, I poured myself a bowl of cereal and went back up to my room. They didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if it was because they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice I had entered the room, or because they saw the tear tracks on my face.

When I finished my cereal and brought the bowl back downstairs, the kitchen was empty. I rummaged through the freezer and found half a pint of Ben and Jerry's. I grabbed a spoon and returned to my room. I finished the pint while watching Netflix on my laptop. I had homework, but I didn't bother to do it. I always handed up the homework, so my teachers would just have to deal with it if I 'forgot' once.

Before I knew it, it was 9pm. I hadn't had dinner and my laptop was auto-playing the tenth or eleventh episode of The Office. I was running out of things to watch. I should ask my parents to get a different streaming service.

I stretched and stood up. I felt sore from sitting in the same spot for eight straight hours. I massaged my temple. I was getting a headache from staring at my screen so much. Mum was standing outside my bedroom door when I opened it, about to knock.