The Hunters and The Hunted

Chapter Eighteen: Never Have I Ever

This chapter is dedicated to My good friend, AppleOverLord, who's hella great and an amazing writer. Merry Christmas bro, here's your gift!
~~~~~~~

Home.
That word swirled around in my head. It felt like years since I'd been here, but it was only a few weeks. Everyone's hugs and miss yous were a blur, all I was looking forward to was my bed.  I soon bid everyone a quick goodnight and fell into my sheets, being surrounded by my fuzzy comforter.

You know that feeling when you sleep really good for a really long time and you're stiff and achy and sweaty and you just feel gross, but totally refreshed? Well, it was one of those sleeps. I got out of bed and hopped in the shower. The hot water seemed to melt away all my worries. That was until there was a crash downstairs, followed by yelling. I sighed, that was the end of relaxation.

By the time I got downstairs, it was silent. Something isn't right. I pulled my knife, holding it defensively, I peaked around the corner, what the.. Someone grabbed me from behind. I rolled my eyes and flung them over my shoulder into the ground.
"Honestly, Ortho, you need a new attack plan." I said. They had already knocked everyone out and tied them up. It looked a bit satanic really, 7 people tied to chairs in a circle, but That was Ortho.
He jumped down off the chandelier, landing inches in front of me.
"Oh, but I don't want to catch you off guard, Krystal." His mouth pulled into a sickening grin.
"Tell me what you want to say, then get out of my house."
"I just came to visit. You know, like the old days..."
"Yeah, why did you stop visiting? You do know it hurt my feelings, you leaving to become a vampire." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh darling, it's the family business, but you know all about that, don't you?"
I glared at him, " You know damn well why I do. You're the one that went crazy! You're the one that stalks me! I'm just doing my job."
"I don't 'stalk' I just keep tabs on you, make sure you aren't getting into trouble. Isn't that what best friends do?"
My fist connected with his jaw, "Best friends don't kill each other's fathers! Best friends don't turn on each other! Best friends don't hurt one another! We may have been best friends once, but that was when you were still happy with being yourself."
"Oh, Krystal, your words, they sting. But they don't puncture. You see, I improved myself. Just like you we're doing when you took part in your fathers job. But mine, changed me physically, while yours only changed you emotionally, but only a little. You would have killed me by now, don't you think? You've always known where I was, where I hide, where I hunt, everything. But yet, here I am. And why is that, Krystal?"
I stared at him, blank faced, but I could feel my heart racing.
"hmm? I can't hear you over the sound of your heart. It sounded a bit like "Oh Ortho, it's because I love you!" He pitched his voice higher, "I loooovvve you! and the thought of killing you would tear me apart."
I punched him again, "Why did you have to be so stupid Oliver!! You left me behind for a soulless life! You left me behind for Ortho!" Tears were forming at the corners of my eyes. "Maybe I did love you once, Oliver Nathaniel, But I don't love Ortho. I never have." I started to untie my friends, Ortho was rubbing his jaw which was red, I stopped for a second, thinking, then walked up to him.
"It's like one big game of 'never have I ever' with you. Never have I ever killed you, never have I ever loved you, it goes on and on. You want to know why I didn't kill you?" I say getting up in his face, "It's because I always thought Oliver was still in there somewhere. Hiding between the slits of your eyes. It's because I never lost hope, that some day, my Oliver, my best friend, would walk through that door, with sticks in his hair and mud covering his face saying 'I thought we were playing hide and seek' Everyday, I hope to find him, but everyday it's only you. And empty shell, with a thirst for blood. Get out of my house Ortho, and don't come back. Or next time, I will kill you." I turned my back to him and focused on untying my friends, once again, and trying to rouse them. When I turned back, he was gone, and all that was left behind, was a rose, and a single petal.

"That bastard." V was saying as she paced the room. "He took the cake, AND trashed the house."
I glanced at the smashed vase, "We just replaced that one too..."
We cleaned up the house as best we could without a vacuum, everyone did so almost silently. I knew they had all heard the conversation between me and Ortho, but they didn't bring it up. I knew the field between us had to be settled. I knew the deal he had given me when he first turned. "You either kill me, or become one of us. That's life, Krystal." his voice played in my head like a broken record.
I had to choose.
This was it, it was time.

~~~~~~~
A/N
*Enters this chapter into a short story contest*
YOOOOO MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE IT
Here's a hella long update, a whopping 900 words.
Happy holidays!
-K