Immortal Souls (The Immortal Souls: Magic & Chaos)

Chapter 27

Jamie followed the trail for miles, all the way out into the forest beyond the town, where even the furthest reaches of the suburbs disappeared behind a blanket of wood and leaves.

It didn't take him long to find the cabin.

For a moment he studied it, wondering why the trail led here, to such an abandoned area.

The cabin's similarities to his own home did not escape him, but he didn't have any time to dwell on it now; his senses picked up movement, and he realised the property wasn't as desolate as it had originally appeared.

There were three of them, sheltering inside the house, all of them male.

"I failed," a voice spoke up. Jamie crept closer, listening intently.

Another replied, "Join the club . . . everyone fails." He spoke with the tone of someone trying to be reassuring, but unable to hide their anger.

"I'll inform Kraven," the third sighed, the sound of his voice followed by the slam of a closing door.

"She had help," the first man said, and Jamie realised it was the one who had carried out the attack. "A Vampire."

With that, Jamie froze, stunned.

The man spoke those words as if Vampires were commonplace. With the air of someone talking about the weather. Why would he speak as though it was nothing unusual?

How could he possibly know?

Who were these men?

"A Vampire?"

"He protected her."

"Aleczander?" the second man asked, the beginnings of fear creeping into his voice.

For a moment there was no reply, but Jamie could hear the rustle of movement from inside the house. After a while, Sam's attacker responded, "No . . . it was probably one of his though. I didn't wanna hurt him in case it started anything with the rest."

The other man sighed. "If they're actively helping the girl then they're already starting something."

There was more sounds of movement from inside. Footsteps, then doors opening. "There was a Vampire," the second man said, his voice quieter as he was now in a room nearer to the back of the house. "We need to know who he is, and who he's aligned with."

Jamie just listed, barely taking in the words that the men were speaking. Deeply shocked and incredibly confused, Jamie clenched his fists tightly. How could they know what he was?

Not to mention, Aleczander?

Was this the same Aleczander Jamie was looking for?

Why would they assume he'd be with Sam?

From the way these men were speaking, it was obvious that their attack on Sam was not just a random act. It was a part of some greater conspiracy.

There was a jumble of movement sounding from inside; sensing that his time was running short, Jamie didn't waste another moment asking himself questions with no possible answers.

He darted towards the back door, where he sensed just one man, speaking into a telephone.

Moving swiftly, using his increased speed he barged inside the house and before the man even knew that Jamie was there, his neck was snapped and he was lying dead on the kitchen floor, the phone still in his hand.

After taking the biggest knife he could from the drawers, he silently made his way through the hallway to the door leading to the room where the other two men were talking in hurried tones.

Jamie paid no attention to whatever they were saying, he only listened to their voices to determine where in the room they were. Instinctually he knew their positions within seconds, he could see them clearly in his mind.

Gripping the knife tighter, he kicked at the door to force it open, splintering the wood and knocking what remained off its hinges, charging into the room. Both of the men yelled at each other in a sudden panic. The same man who had attacked Sam made a dive for the crossbow sitting on the floor.

He was the first to die.

Jamie jammed the knife through the man's throat. He fell to his knees, choking on his own blood as red sputtered from the wound.

Before Jamie could do anything else, the other man tackled him to the ground. He quickly pulled a dagger from his belt. Jamie pushed the man off with ease and sent him flying across the room and through the wall before he had a chance to use the blade.

The man tried to get to his feet, but he was too disorientated from being thrown through four inches of plasterboard.

Jamie reached down and pulled the knife from the throat of the dead man. He threw it through the hole in the wall just as the other one managed to stumble numbly to his feet. The knife sliced through the air and struck the man directly in the heart, sending him falling back to the floor in an instant.

Jamie stood in the middle of the room, breathing heavily as he looked around, barely aware of what he'd just done. He put his hand to his head and tried to calm himself as the scent of blood assailed his nostrils. Something's not right about that smell, he thought as he fell to his knees. The scent, instead of making him hungry was making him feel sick.

Jamie brought his red stained hand up to his mouth and licked blood from his knuckles. His stomach churned with the taste of it. He spat onto the floor, trying to rid his mouth of the foul taste.

He took another look at the men he'd just killed. All of them looked normal, but their blood smelled and tasted wrong. They're not human? he thought in confusion, wondering how they could look like something they weren't.

He turned and walked out of the house, trying to figure out what was going on.

Out in the fresh air his head cleared, and he looked back at the open door, remembering that the first man he had slain had been on the phone to someone.

A person he was reporting to.

His eyes shifted along the tree line, half expecting to see more people . . . things, creeping out of there.

He shook his paranoia away . . . Sam was safe, Jamie thought as he ran from the house.

She was safe . . . for now at least.