House of Forbiddens [COMPLETE NOVEL]

23: We Have an Uneventful Drive Back Home

Christine

I sat with Audrey off to the side, watching as the Hunters went about their day. It was actually pretty amazing to watch. Audrey had wanted to join in, and for a while she had used a normal bow to shoot alongside those who were practicing, but she didn't want to raise questions and had stopped. The girls were fun to spend time with, though, and I was having a good time listening to their stories and joking with them. Lady Artemis herself had actually come to join us, but she was off- presumably doing whatever a goddess does. There were some girls off running errands and supply runs, as well. We had just met with Artemis and her right hand woman to discuss what would happen. They would let us stay for a little bit, then we were going back to Kaden's house. We weren't downtown anymore, since the Hunters' operation wouldn't exactly fit in. Or have space. Last night, we had all packed ourselves into cars and driven a ways north. I would have been freaking out, but Audrey had been able to vouch for them- a daughter of Artemis would definitely recognize and be comfortable around the Hunters.

That afternoon that we were staying, however, was quickly coming to an end. It was probably about time for us to be heading home. Kaden and the rest knew we were okay because of the phone call, but we still wanted to see them. After a few more minutes, the second in command of the Hunters- a girl named Danielle- came up to us.

"Are you guys ready to head back?" She asked.

"Yeah, we should be getting home. Thank you!" I said. She laughed.

"No problem! You've only been here for the night. It's no problem." With that, we rolled up the sleeping bags they had so generously let us use. It was beginning to rain, which made us hurry. Two girls walked away with you them to store them wherever they stored extra stuff. We all packed into cars with Danielle at the wheel.

"Where's your house?" She asked, fingers hovering over the GPS. Kaden told her, she entered the address, and off we went. We drove along, making our way slowly (Houston traffic will probably never change) but surely towards Kaden's house.

Audrey and I were chatting, and I was also watching the intense rain out the window. I hadn't seen rain this heavy in a while. It reminded me of the day our area had woken up to a thunderstorm and a power outage- it had even ended up in a day off from school. I smiled at the warm memory. We were definitely relived to be getting back. We had only spent the night away, thankfully, but still. It was time for Audrey and I to return home even if being with the Hunters had been amazing. They had helped me to shoot while Audrey had been shooting as well. Surprisingly, I had actually been able to get a bulls-eye; a miracle, since it was usually questionable wether I could actually get the arrow on the target. It had been a good respite from what had really been weighing on my mind: my parents. Where were they? I assumed that they were still okay, since there hadn't been blood (except for my own) at my house, so I didn't think there had been a struggle. That was heartening. I think that Eris had captured them, maybe the cloud people, and brought them back to some kind of prison or holding cell. It's too bad that I wasn't able to find them in the base where we had been imprisoned, but that's okay. I'm sure they have multiple places to keep people.

I had been wrapped up in my thoughts, but I was shaken out of them forcefully by the honking of horns.

Tires squealed. Danielle yelled out something unintelligible. I could feel our car swerve. The other girl in the front seat screamed as well. I could hear even more horns blaring now. We swerved- fish tailed. The car was out of Danielle's control. I felt myself turning to the side, then strained upside down against my seat belt- did the car just flip? What was going on? I saw a tree in front of us. Again, Danielle shouted something to us. I didn't catch it. I heard a sickening crunch. The car shattered around me. Blood, glass, bark everywhere. I felt woozy. Could barely think. The side of my head hurt. Badly. I reached a trembling hand up to touch the side of my head, recoiled. My fingers came away stained wine red. What? I could barely think. Why was the world shaking? Black creeped along the fringes of my vision. All of a sudden, I am exhausted.

Black is all I can see. I close my eyes.

Danielle

Oh, gods. What have I done? I should have been more careful. I've never hydroplaned before. Oh gods, had I killed someone? What had happened?

I had blacked out for a second, but considering I'm a Hunter, I wasn't worried about myself or Eliza. Audrey and Christine, however, could be seriously hurt- if not killed. I wasn't badly injured, so I clambered out the shattered window, taking care not to cut myself on glass. Grace has been thrown out of the car and was lying a few feet away, slightly injured, but getting to her feet. She must be okay. I turned around, fearing the worst.

I saw Christine, half her body out the window, bleeding profusely from a head wound with small puncture wounds from the glass in her side. I gasped in horror and rushed over to her. Dammit! I didn't have any ambrosia on me! What had I been thinking?!

"Call 911!" I shouted at Grace. She nodded, dialing, and I yanked out my phone to map out location. I held my hand over Christine's mouth, and to my relief felt breath- she was alive. But where was Audrey? I peered over Christine and saw her in her seat, legs drawn up by her body to protect herself. She had curled into a little ball, and looked a bit bruised, but okay. I breathed a sigh of relief, but worry still curled my stomach and permeated my anxious thoughts. Grace was talking to the operator. We needed an ambulance.

Soon, they pulled up, and paramedics jumped into action, stabilizing her head and neck to move her out of the car and bandaging her side. She still hadn't woken up. They also extracted Audrey from the other side, and had checked us over as well. When we got to the hospital, a doctor came over to take care of us, and as the most serious case was Christine he started with her. After checking some things, he questioned us, then turned towards us seriously.

"We'll need to run blood tests to make sure, and maybe brain imaging," he began, then paused, "but I believe she's in a comatose state." Audrey started at him, wide eyed, her eyes tearing up. I was shocked.

This was all my fault. I was the one driving. What had I done?

By: Nightsong