Steel: The Transformation

Chapter 21

Chapter 21 

Alec POV

I placed the book on my chest and stretched my legs, pointing my toes towards the end of the bed. The day had passed by really quickly. I smiled to myself when thinking about Cleo and how quickly she was progressing. I should really take her out to practice more often. I was just about to pick up the book again when a familiar jolt passed through my body. I could tell that she was scared and that she was angry with Jackson. Was he with her right now? I didn't have a second to consider this when her words bounced through my mind.

"There might be Hunters here."

I threw myself up from the bed and started to run down the stairs, as I passed by one of the windows I noticed that there were no lights coming from her house. A black out?

I ran quickly across the lawn and started to listen intently, my ears zoomed in on every single sound and I could feel my claws protruding from my fingers. I could tell that Cleo and Jackson were upstairs, she was telling him to wait. I continued listening and could clearly hear three pairs of footsteps moving slowly across the ground floor. I slipped into her house, closing the front door behind me silently. In the darkness it was easy for me to make out two of the figures. I slipped up behind the one that was standing guard in the living room, with one quick motion and a slight cracking sound he fell to the ground. His body fell in an unnatural position, ensuring to me that he would not move again. I could hear the commotion from upstairs and so could the Hunter that was in the kitchen. He started to run towards the stairs and fired his crossbow at me, the arrow graced my cheekbone and placed itself on the top of my shoulder. He was just turning the corner to reach the staircase, but before he moved any further my dagger had found its mark. The dull thud of impact confirmed everything I needed to now. I walked over to him, placing two fingers on his wrist to confirm what I already knew was true. I listened intently at the sounds from upstairs, from the breathing I could tell that she was okay and that she had eliminated the threat.

"It's clear down here!" I shouted up to them. I pulled out the arrow from my shoulder and threw it on the floor.

"I'm putting the power on now," I walked through the kitchen and out through the back door. I assumed that the box with her power mains must be located at the same place as the one on my house. I found the box installed low to the ground, close to the corner of the house. As I had suspected, the Hunters had pulled the main switch before entering the house. I turned the switch over. I knew that they preferred to attack in darkness, especially when in such a residential area. They had a fear of being seen by normal people.

The small jar of paste was still sitting in the medicine cabinet of the downstairs bathroom, I grabbed it and a bag of cotton balls returning to the kitchen. I pulled out the first aid kit and placed it on the kitchen counter only looking up when I heard her and Jackson walk down the stairs. Even though I wanted to question him about why he was conveniently here during a Hunter attack, I decided to keep my mouth shut and focus on Cleo. I looked over at her, she had a wound on her arm. The blood was slowly trickling down but from sight I could tell that it wasn't very deep. I instantly soaked a piece of cotton in the paste and moved towards her.

"Here," I stretch out the ball of cotton, "Let's deal with that wound." 

I'm just about to pad it down when Jackson made a whaling sound. He slumped down and leant himself against the wall, holding his hand over the arrow in his ribcage.

"Let me deal with this first," her voice was soft and she turned to him. She grabbed a hold of the arrow and swiftly pulled it straight out. Jackson made another whaling sound and she grabbed a towel from the counter and handed it to him.

"Here, continue to press this against your wound and don't stop until I tell you to," her voice was sharp and he followed her directions. But from the looks he gave her I could tell that he was hoping for a bit more sympathy from her.

"So why isn't it healing?" he whaled again.

"It's poisoned, all weapons that the Hunters have are poised," her voice was short and I could tell that the poison in her arm must be affecting her more than she was letting on.

"Hunters?" Jackson echoed and looked over at the men laying on the floor.

I needed to have a look at her wound, so I grabbed her uninjured arm and pulled her closer to me.

"We need to heal your wound before the poison spreads. He doesn't need more of an explanation right now. The most important thing is to take care of your wounds,"  the jolt from evoking our mind link ran through my body.

"Okay," her thought bounced back at me and I adjusted her arm, gently padding it down with the cotton soaked in paste. I could see the wound closing up quickly. Not as fast as I would have liked it to, but quick enough. I gently wrap some gauze from the first aid kit around the area to secure it.

"We should treat your wounds too," her soft thought bounced back to me as she grabbed a new piece of cotton and circulated it in the jar of paste. She gently stroked it across my cheekbone. I could feel the restorative effects of it as I looked into her eyes, they were glowing with red amber. She slowly moved the cotton to my shoulder, padding it against my wound. It was deeper than the one on my cheek but I could tell that it would heal quicker than the one I had gotten during our last Hunter encounter in the woods.

"Are you okay?" my question bounced between us and she nodded back at me in reply.

Author's Note: So what do you think of this chapter? The Hunter's and Jackson having a front row seat to some Aleo bonding? What do you think of Jackson's injury - do you think it'll heal?

Thank you all for being so awesome. Sorry for being a bit slower than normal with responding to comments and messages. I will always reply to all comments  even if it takes me a few more days than normal to get to them.

Song: Crooked Colours - Another Way