The Hunted

Grieve

Alicia's P.O.V

The sun sets and we continue to lay in each other's embrace.  Hugh brings up his hand to wipe away some tears.  He gets up and pulls me up.  We walk closely together in silence as we make our way back inside the house. 

We get inside and Strand pulls us both inside hurriedly and says "Girl and Mr Hunter please make your way inside quickly.  We must plan our escape to Abigail.".  Girl?  Dude I have a name you know.  I look over at Hugh who raises an eyebrow and looks at Strand quizzically.  As Strand pushes him in he mutters "Don't call me that.". 

Strand pushes us into what I think is his living room.  He stands in front of everyone, claps his hands twice and says "Well now that everyone's here we can talk about how we are going to leave immediately.". 

No one says or reacts to what Strand says.  I turn around and see Travis with his head buried in his hands and my mom comforting him, Chris crying into a pillow, Mr Salazar tending to Ofelia's gunshot wound, Hugh staring straight at Chris with deep sympathy and Nick who seems to be the only one paying attention to Strand.

Strand clears his throat and says loudly "What happened to you people?  And where is that nurse?".  He pauses and looks over at Hugh and says "Hunter?".  Hugh shakes his head at him and says "Not now.  Let them grieve.  We can talk about your plan and your Abigail tomorrow.".

Strand stares at Hugh then slowly nods and announces "The foods in the cupboards.  Take what you need for a long journey tomorrow.".  He looks down at Nick and signals for him to follow him, leaving the rest of us in complete silence.

Travis suddenly jumps up making my mom jump up slightly and runs to Hugh.  He pushes Hugh in one of Strand's glass windows which breaks on impact.  I jump up and try to push Travis away from Hugh but fail.  Travis yells "There was a chance!  She had a chance!  Because of you she's gone!". 

Travis brings up his fist and brings it down hard. His clenched fist meets Hugh's face.

*Bam*

*Bam*

*BAM*

Each time Travis strikes down I feel myself edge closer to bursting into tears and losing all control.

Hugh stares right into Travis eyes, inviting Travis to keep beating at him. He stays still and lets the blows keep coming.

Travis comes down even harder with each punch.

Chris who I thought was still inside bawling his eyes out came out and dove on top of Travis shouting "Dad! Dad! Stop it! He's had enough!".

It's almost like Travis is oblivious to the people and sounds around him.

I feel tears stream down my face.

I dive at Travis' arms begging and screaming at him "Stop! Please Travis please! Stop! Please stop!".

I turn to look at Hugh. His face hits the pavement. He spits out some blood. I know Hugh can take Travis. He's strong enough to but he keeps letting the blows come to him.

I get off of Travis. As soon as I do Mom and Chris dive back on and try to tackle Travis down to the ground.

I bend down beside Hugh say quietly so that nobody but Hugh can hear "Please Hugh. Make it stop. Stop punishing yourself. End this.".

I'm not even sure if Hugh heard that but he nods slightly between blows. He raises his arms and pushes Travis off.

Travis keeps his gaze directly on Hugh and looks like he's going to attack him again but Mom drags him up and pushes him away from us.

We sit in silence. All we can here is Hugh's jagged breathing and the far off shouts coming from my Mom.

Hugh rolls away from me and coughs up some blood onto the pavement. I move over to him and bring his head in my lap and whisper "You're an idiot you know that? Why the hell would you let Travis beat you? Don't tell me it's because you don't forgive yourself. We sorted that out like 2 hours ago...that better not happen again Hugh. Don't do this to me.".

He looked up at me and croaked "Why not Alicia. He needs to grieve. He needs to blame someone. I will be that someone. I deserve it Alicia.". He paused for a bit and then smiled asking jokingly "Why shouldn't I do this to you Alicia? Hmm? Would you miss me?". He let out a few laughs before he groaned and clenched his chest in pain.

"Shut up you bastard. Of course I'll miss you. I mean who else am I going to pull bullets out of and complain to.". He nodded slowly, sighed and got up. He struggled slightly when he stood. I grabbed his arm and slung it over my shoulder and supported him.

He limped over to Chris and placed his hand on his shoulder. Chris looked to him and asked quietly "Was what my dad said true? Did you shoot her?". Hugh nodded slightly and said "I'm sorry Chris...She was going to do it herself. She couldn't do it. She said she wanted to protect you Chris. You and your dad. She wanted to stop herself before she hurt you.". Chris just stared at Hugh with a blank expression.

I started to pull Hugh inside when Chris said "Thanks Hugh...for helping my mom.".

Hugh's P.O.V

We get inside and I plop myself down onto the couch. Alicia makes her way to the kitchen and heats 2 cans of soup. She hands one to me and we sit and eat in silence.

10 minutes go by and still silence.

Man this is depressing. Come on Hugh. Say something funny. Lighten the mood. Say something dude.

Alicia looks up at me and smiles. She says sarcastically "This soup is the tastiest thing ever! Strands canned Mushroom soup is the best isn't it Hugh?". She's right. This soup tastes like cardboard which last time I checked is not what a mushroom should taste like.

5 more minutes of silence.

Now this is just sad Hugh. Just talk to her. About anything. Not this ridiculous soup.

I open my mouth then close it. I mean what do you say to a girl who just saw you get bashed up by her mother's boyfriend after shooting his ex-wife?

We just sit like this for 20 more minutes before she says "We should get some sleep. We've been through a lot today.". I nod then lay back on the couch and close my eyes.

I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see the faces of the "its". My mum and dad. All those people. They're coming. I can feel their cold hands grab my legs, pulling me closer towards them. My parents bite down on my shoulders. No. No. No!

I wake up covered in cold sweat. I look around expecting to see the "its" but instead I see Alicia standing in the doorway. She walks up to me and says quietly "Can't sleep either?". I nod and put my head between my hands. Everything's fine. They're not here. It's just Alicia. Just Alicia.

She lays down beside me ad asks "Do you mind if I sleep here?". I nod and start to get off of the couch when she puts her hand over mine and says "With you Hugh.". I freeze up and just stare at her. Did I just hear her correctly?

I lay back down beside her and we just lay in silence. She turns her head to face mine then kisses me on the cheek and whispers "Goodnight Hugh.". I turn to look at her face. She's breathing softly and peacefully. I relax and bring my arm up to stroke her hair. I whisper back "Goodnight Alicia.". She nuzzles her head into my chest and I close my eyes. Alicia's here. Everything's fine.

A/N
Sorry about the wait :/Updates will come at random coz I have no idea when I'll be able to write and publish...I'm going on holidays!!!
Keep an eye out I'll post as soon as I can