Inheritance

Kill or be killed?

The first thought that came to my mind was 'am I dead?' My second thought was 'why is my head pounding so badly?' And then I happily realised that no, I wasn't dead since dead people couldn't feel pain. At least, as far as I know. With that in mind, I opened my eyes and found myself lying on a bed. And when I say I found myself, I mean it. I could see my body laying on the bed. My face was slack and my blond hair was dirty, as though someone dragged me through the mud, literally. I was in a dark room and there was bed and a bedside table and a clock, but that was it. Nothing else. I took a deep breath... and let out a panicked squeal. And then, bam! I felt as though I was squeezed and squashed into a tiny, tiny dwarf-sized bottle and then my eyes flew open and I sat upright.

For a second, I was relieved that, maybe, it was all just a nightmare and then I realised I was in the same exact room I saw in the 'nightmare'. I felt fear rush through my mind and I abruptly stood up. And immediately fell down. The pounding headache I had increased tenfold. "Whoa! Careful there, princess! The effects of the poison are still there. You might want to slow down a bit." A guy rushed through the door and helped me up. He was a tall guy, tan skinned and black hair... And red eyes. I shrieked. "You're the guy that shot me! Get away from me!" I scrambled away from as a shiver went down my spine. "Easy there, princess! I'm not going to hurt you." "Says the guy who shot me." I glared at him and he looked at me, his red-eyed gaze almost Feral. After a moment, his gaze shifted to the floor and he sighed. Suddenly, his posture sagged an he looked defeated. "Believe me when I say I never wanted to hurt you. But orders are orders. Listen princess, I'll explain everything but before that, you should get cleaned up. Come on, I'll take you to the bathroom." He stood up and held out his hand. I glared at the hand and dragged my eyes back to his blood red ones. "And why should i trust you?" His eyes narrowed. "Because you have no choice. Would you rather live in this tunnel for the rest of your life?" Reluctantly I took hold of his hand, remembering what happened the first time I tried to stand up on my own. He moved my arm to his shoulders and wrapped an arm around my waist. I stiffened but forced my body to relax. Slowly, I stood up. It was definitely easier to walk now. He led me out of the room and down the hall. The hall forked into two paths an at the centre, there was a door. He helped me inside and stepped out. "Clean up! I'll wait out here in case you decide to faint. " I glared at him and shut the door.

I stepped into the shower and turned on the cold water. As they water hit my face, I realised I was scared. I was trapped. There was no one coming to save me. Fear washed over me and I sat down on the floor of the shower. I didn't know what to do. I was so scared. That guy tried to shoot me. He probably killed Jake and now, he was going to kill me too. "Hey! You're still alive, right? Are you coming out anytime soon?" I heard the guy call out. I took a breath and hoping my voice didn't waver, I yelled back, "Ever heard of patience. They call it a virtue." I took a deep breath. I have to get out of here. But I can't do anything unless an opportunity presents itself. I felt like crying. No, I can't cry now. I'm going to live no matter what. My jaw tightened with determination. I stood up and turned off the shower and stepped outside. There, on the dresser, were a pair of black skinny jeans, a black tank, black ankle boots and a pair of half gloves, coloured... That's right, you guessed it, black. Gothic, much? I sighed and quickly put on the clothes. And then, I slowly moved to the door. My hand was a few inches from the door knob and I realised it was shaking. No, I can't show weakness now. I closed it into a fist and took another deep breath. I opened the door and stepped out. He stood there, his gaze downward, and his back on the wall. He looked up and his eyes slightly widened. He grinned at me. "I realised I never introduced myself. Name's Alexander case. Feel free to call me Alex." "Horrified to meet you, Alexander case. My name is Sa-" "Samantha Ardwick, I know." "Stalking me now, are you?" "Nope, just research." He suddenly stopped grinning. "I told I didn't want to hurt you. And yet you still continue to treat me as if I'm a murderer. Why the animosity?" I stared at him, incredulous at his naivety. "Dude, firstly, I'm pretty sure you were the one who killed Jake. Jake, my sweet cousin who couldn't hurt a bug. And you just killed him. Like his life didn't matter at all. Secondly, you shot me, easy and simple. It doesn't matter that you didn't want to hurt me. If your boss asked you to shoot me right now, I bet you'd do it, again no matter the fact that you don't want to do it." By the end of the rant, I was breathing heavily. Alex was looking at me, his eyes slightly wide and then his eyes narrowed.
"I'll have you know that I didn't kill Jake. He was a good friend of mine. My best friend." His eyes had a faraway look that I had long come to associate with sadness and nostalgia. Guilt tumbled onto me as I realised I had accused him of killing his best friend. I felt horrible. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... I just thought... You know, since you were there and you shot me..." "It's fine." He looked down and sighed. "He was a great guy and the only one to see me for who I was." My eyes softened. I hummed in agreement.

"I was sent there to investigate his death as a member of this organisation." "Organisation?" "This entire building is the HQ of Predator, an orga-" "Like that news company?" "If you let me finish, you'll know." He looked at me with amusement twinkling in his eyes. I blushed and looked down. "Anyway, what you said was right. However, the news agency is just a cover for the civvies. Predator is actually a top secret government organisation that recruits some humans who are genetically more advanced than the average Homo sapiens to kill and cleanse humans who are possessed by Exuro. Exuro are supernatural beings who are known to take hold of human souls and slowly consume them." His eyes darkened to a burgundy shade and there was a dark fire in them. We were back in the room by then and I sat on the bed and sighed. This shouldn't be possible. But subconsciously, I knew he was right. It was just a gut feeling, an instinct. But then again, my instincts have never been wrong before. I sighed again. I looked at him. He was leaning on the wall with his back on the wall. I patted the space on the bed next to me. He raised and eyebrow. I smiled and jerked my head to the side, motioning for him to come and sit down. He grinned at me and walked over.

I dropped my smile. "You said they recruited people?" His grin dropped as well. "Yeah, people who are more genetically advanced. In other words, the next step in evolution. We're still Homo sapiens mind you, just not the average kind." "We?" He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think you were brought here?" "Oh... " I looked down with a blush staining my cheeks. My brows furrowed as I realised something. "What exactly do you mean by genetically advanced?" "Small things like better resistance to heat and cold, faster running, in built instincts to fight, hyperkinesis, which means the brain can process movement at higher rates and more importantly, magic-like abilities." My heart dropped with every word he said. They were all true. I was the fastest in my entire school and I preferred cold weather to lukewarm. I had perfect aim with a bow. I went to regionals in archery before deciding to concentrate on my studies. An incident came to mind. When I was small, I remembered desperately wanting a toy that was on a high shelf. And it floated down. I groaned and dropped my head into my hands.
Alex asked, sympathy staining his voice,"Which of the attributes gave it away?" "All of them except the fighting instincts." "Including the magical stuff?" He sounded bewildered. I stared at him with a look that said 'no duh!' He looked genuinely surprised. "Only the highest evolved hunters can do that stuff." I scrunched my eyebrows.
"Hunters?" "Oh right, hunters are what we call ourselves." "I see. So what happens if you refuse the recruitment invitation?" He eyes darkened. "Your memories will be wiped and you won't get any help from the organisation. You see, Exuro possessed bodies also have similar talents to our own except it's forced. So the bodies decay quickly. So Exuro's hunt for better bodies." Realisation dawned on me. "They look for bodies like ours. And I won't get any help from the organisation to fend them off if I refuse." He nodded.

I suddenly had a thought. "What if the Exuro is already possessing a body when it finds a better one?" Alex suddenly looked sick. "They simply leave the body behind. The body decay ten times faster, since the body doesn't have a soul anymore." I felt sick. "Another thing you should know. Exuros can't be killed unless... Unless..." He seemed to get stuck. Then, I realised. "Unless you kill the host..." Yeah..." He looked as sick as I felt at the moment. He shook his head as though he was trying to get a particularly nasty thought out of his head. The he raised his head and looked at me, his face expressionless. His red eyes looked feral, almost like he was the wolf and I was his prey. I gulped. "I've given you your options. Make your choice." What? Oh! Join or refuse? With a jolt, I realised... It was either kill or be killed.
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A/n: hey guys sooo sorry I'm late. I thought I had posted the chapter and then checked around five days later, only to realise I saved it instead of posted it. I'm soooo sorry. I'm hoping you'll forgive me. Leave a comment below on how you think the chapter was. Again, this is my first ever story writing project so criticism is most definitely welcome. Thanks for reading!!
Bye-bye!!
Thia