The Hunter Chronicles

Chapter 13

I kept slipping in and out of consciousness. I wasn’t sure how long the vampire was running for, but I did know when he stopped and dropped me on the ground. We were in an old, broken-down warehouse. I slowly sat up and let my eyes adjust. I could see better in the dark now. But the fact that it was night, and that the warehouse didn’t have any lights made for a dreary setting. However as my eyes began to focus more I could see the dark shapes slinking into the shadows. None of them approached me, yet all of them were watching me. This sent shivers down my spine and I scooted back until I was pressed up against a box.

Blindly, my hands searched the ground around me for anything I could use to defend myself. The box behind me was made of wood, and I remembered how I had killed the vampire in the therapist’s office with a jagged piece of wood, so I urgently ran my finger tips along the edges, searching for a piece that was starting to break. Finally I found a crack that led to a section that was not fully attached to the crate, so I grabbed it and pulled as hard as I could, “You know, Darius already knows that we have you. He’s searching as we speak.” The voice made me jump. A man was standing in front of me. I had been so focused on finding my weapon that I had forgot to pay attention to the lair of vampires I was currently in, “You know it isn’t Darius doing the killings, don’t you?” My voice shook, so I tried to look tough. Even though it was dark and stuffy in here for me, I knew the vampire could see perfectly. It seemed that my vampire high was wearing off.

“Of course I know that.” His voice was indifferent. He stooped down and grabbed my arm to hoist me up. There was a loud crack and the piece of wood came loose in my hand. The vampire grimaced pulled me after him He must have thought it was a bone . I let out a moan of pain as he dragged me back towards the center. There was a chair metal chair there now, so I hastily put the piece of wood in the back of my pants and covered it up with my jacket, “Sorry about your arm.” He muttered as he tossed me into the chair and grabbed a rope from a nearby box, “You are really going to tie me up? Not only do I have a broken arm, but if I tried to run you could catch me in a millisecond! Honestly, I feel like this is really unnecessary.” I looked straight into his eyes, willing myself to see past the hypnotic swirling, until he himself looked hypnotized and confused.

He blinked for a second, then dropped the rope and ran a hand through his shoulder length hair, “Well. Stay here. Wouldn’t want me to break any more of your bones, now would you.” He smiled again. Every trace of confusion gone from his face. I pretended to shrink back in fear while I wondered if I had really just influenced his decision to drop the rope. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, I leapt up from my chair and ran towards the nearest tower of crates.

I tucked my makeshift stake into my pants as I raced across the open space. My feet hardly made a whisper of a noise as I crossed the dirt ground. When I reached the base of the crates I hoisted myself up and began the climb to the top. I flinched when one of the boxes creaked and shrank into the shadows. But no one seemed to hear, so I sighed inwardly with relief, then continued my climb.

At the top of the crates I was able to see around the warehouse I was in. it seemed like they had placed me in the exact middle of the stacks, and the crates acted as a sort of maze on the way towards the middle. I heard voices coming from behind me as a few of the vampire approached where I was supposed to be. I wasn’t going to stick around for their reactions. I began running across the tops of the crates, putting some good distance between myself and the center of the maze. That’s when I heard an outraged snarl, then a man screeched, “Find her!” There was an audible shuffle, like that of animals waking up from a long slumber. Then there were more snarls of agreement and rage. I peaked over the edge of the crate I was standing on to see several vampires prowling below. They didn’t expect me to be up above, they were only checking between the boxes.

I smiled a little bit, thinking that for once I had the upper hand. I continued my trek towards one of the walls when light flooded the warehouse, “Where is she?” The voice sent chills spilling down my spine. James was here, and he was looking for me, “She got away.” A voice responded from behind me, “But she’s still inside.” Another quickly added. There was a hiss, than an inhuman screech that was abruptly cut off. I had a feeling that James had just killed one of his followers, “Find her. She is the only thing that will draw Darius here, and we need him to come so he can die.” James ordered.

Without thinking I dropped to my stomach and army crawled forward. I was burning with curiosity as to why he wanted to kill Darius so much. I knew that Darius was the one that had changed him, but I was pretty sure there was something else that James was thinking about.

I reached the end of the last crate and peered over the edge, there were no vampires to be seen and the door was still wide open. Grinning I shimmied down from the crates and took a step towards the door. But out of nowhere I was surrounded, with James staring me down. A thin smile curled its way onto his lips, then he said, “You’re a smart girl, aren’t you? No one expected you to come from the top of the crates.” He stepped towards me, then reached out to touch my cheek.

He froze when he spotted the bruise on my neck, “Who bit her?” He hissed, eyes turning black. None of the vampires stepped forward. But each looked equally guilty. James looked around, with burning eyes, “I told you not to touch her!” He practically screamed. They flinched, but I stood tall. James turned back to me, “Which one of these maggots bit you.” He roughly grabbed my arms and pulled me forward so we were eye to eye.

I glared at him, “It was Darius you idiot.” Apparently I was better at lying than I thought because the rage in his eyes could have set the earth on fire.

Just then a shadow fell across the entrance and James quickly spun me around so that he held me in front of him, ready to break my neck. In the doorway stood Darius, but he was not alone.

**Hello!! Gosh its been a long time! I’m so sorry for the wait! I finally recovered from my concussion so I’m allowed to upload again! I swear I won’t wait that long again. Thanks for reading!! Comment?? Vote?? Fan??