The Hunter Chronicles

Chapter 14

I don’t recognize the boy that is with him, or the girl either, but from the way they stand I can tell that they are vampires too. Darius hisses, a noise that sends fear tearing through me, but I struggle to stay in control of my emotions. I don’t focus on the fact that James now has my neck tilted so he can bite it, but rather on the way that Darius’s hair is tipped with the golden glow of sunlight, he looks like an angel. My angel, “Let her go.” He growled. There are hisses of agreement that come from the two others that stand with him, but James merely laughed, “But I’ve only just got to hold her again, and she is so fragile.”

To exercise his point, he grabbed my arm and jerked it forward harshly. I can hear a snap before the cry of pain that I struggle to conceal with no avail. There is a flash of movement and I soar through the air before I hit a pile of boxes. More pain rocketed through me, but I bit my lip to fight the rising screams. From where I sit, I can’t see much of what it going on, but I can hear the fierce wails and growls that I assume accompany a vampire battle. I bite my lip as I use my good arm to drag myself into a sort of sitting position. Darius is snarling and spitting as he grabs someone I can’t identify and launches him well into the cavernous warehouse

James is in front of me them, blocking my view of what is going on, “To kill you, or just maim you so much that Darius will have to do it himself?” he ponders aloud to himself. I imagine what he is looking down on, a small girl who he has no reason to like, cowering on the ground with more broken bones that intact ones. He must see me as a fortunate casualty to his plot against Darius, now he knows that there will be no witnesses that know what he is doing.

That’s when I remember that the wooden stake is still with me. I only have one shot to end this, and I realize that maybe I myself will be ended as well. I glare up at him and manage to spit blood onto his shoe. He stiffens and I can see his eyes dilate at the smell of blood. He must be extremely thirsty right now if he has been fighting all day. James seems to echo my thoughts and he stoops over me. tilting my neck at the right angle. Pain momentarily shoots through me as he puts pressure on my broken body but then I have my chance. I reach behind my self and try to pull the stake from the back of my pants, but it won’t budge I freeze when I realize that it is lodged into my back.

I go into shock after that. But somewhere through the onslaught of pain, I can feel teeth puncture my neck, and I know it is game over. Somehow I manage to latch onto his shoulder with my teeth and bite down. He his stunned and pulls away from me as the acrid taste of blood fills my mouth. Pain surges through me and I go under for several minutes. When I wake up once more I see a shadow looming over me and I start to scream again. But Darius hushes me and I feel pressure leave my back, he is holding the stake in his hands, anger running in his eyes. Then he picks me up and carries me out of the warehouse. As I begin to pass out again I think I feel his lips brush against my neck.

When I wake up my vision is beginning to improve, but I am filled with fear as I see the many figures looming over me. They wave their hooked hands in the hair with no particular order. Images flood my brain of vampires pushing against one another to get a taste of my blood. And James, leading the pack. I struggle to break through the rest of my barrier that I am stuck behind. I need to wake up and figure out what to do next. Maybe I can get away from them, if I’m lucky I can slip away while they sleep. But when I finally claw my way to the surface of my consciousness I discover that I am lying on the forest floor. A soft blanket of soft pine needles is beneath me, and I am staring up at the waving branches of a tall evergreen. There are no figures over me, just the waving branches of autumn filled trees. 

When I try to sit up something put pressure on my shoulder. Immediately fear wells up in me. I start to push and kick and hit with all my might when a familiar voice stopped me, “Julie! Stop!” Darius is urgent. Pain pours back into me and I start to thrash again. I feel his strong arms hold me down as I push against him. There is so much pain tearing through me, it’s all I can do to keep my screaming in check. But then the energy leaves me and I fall back, defeated. I am feeling sluggish and lethargic as Darius carefully removes his arms from my shoulders and puts pressure on my neck as he mutters something to himself. I want to ask Darius if he could bring me home, but then I realize if it had been best for me to be home he would have brought me there.

There had to be some reason that Darius had brought me here. I didn’t even recognize these forests. Maybe it was a secret vampire reservation that was hidden in the woods or something. Or maybe I had lost too much blood and I was going to die. My tears come faster now as I try to connect the dots. Why would Darius take me here? Then, through my tear and foggy mind I remember. I had been bitten.

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