HUNT, OR BE HUNTED

CHAPTER 26: THE REVERSE

“What was that about?” I asked after a very long moment. We were already heading away from the sinful mansion, away from our prison.

“That was the last straw,” Raphael said coldly. “Serves him right.”

I could still picture the way Jacque looked down at his heart, the way his mouth had dropped open, the way he fell on his knees, his hand clutching the exposed wound as blood flowed through his fingers. And then he had just slumped to the ground, face-first, and didn’t move.

“Damn, man. I had no idea you had a heart of stone,” Bane smiled. “Good thinking, by the way. Who knows what he would have done to us?”

“He wouldn’t have killed us,” Raphael said quietly.

“What?” Bane and I cried at the same time.

“Jacque may be evil, but he would never try to kill us,” Raphael explained. “I know my brother. He was forced to be like this. He was forced to be something he truly wasn’t.”

“He thinks of nothing but himself,” I pointed out. “He’d kill just to make sure he isn’t harmed.”

 “No, Seth does that. Jacque is just someone we have to get rid of to make our escape easier. He wouldn’t kill us, but Seth would.”

“So you’re saying Seth forced his own brother into this?” Bane queried. “You’re crazy, because I don’t see any difference between the two.”

“That’s the thing about Seth. Once he has you under his command, you will stick by him forever. That is what makes him strong-his supporters, his people. See how many people he has influenced? By gaining their trust, he will remain strong.”

“We have to stop him,” Bane clenched a fist. “We can’t run forever. We have to fight back.”

“Jacque being dead could probably be something that could stir up a war between us and the hunters. I don’t know if that is a good sign,” I said. “If they unleash their army on us, we’d be dead for sure.”

“Not if we find some more of us,” Raphael spun to look at me. “Jared, if we are strong enough, we might be able to stop the war. For good.”

“What are you planning to do, Raph?” I frowned. The look on his face told me he was deep in thought, that he was planning something against our enemies.

“We’re going to kill anyone who tries to get past us,” he replied. “This isn’t a game anymore, Jared. Either we die, or they die. There is no other way.”

“There must be. You can’t end a war with violence,” I was taken aback by what Raphael was saying. He had never been so murderous before. Had being imprisoned in the cell been too much for him, so much that it had messed with his mind?

“The thing is, every war ends with violence. The winner strives, and that will be us.”

“Raphael is right, Jared,” Bane eyed me. “Either we die or they die.”

“The only way to win is to reverse the whole thing, reverse the situation we are in now,” Raphael folded his arms.

“And what the hell do you mean by that?” I raised my brows.

“What I mean is, we become the predators, and them the prey,” there was a half-smile forming on Raphael’s face.

 “We become the hunters, and them the hunted.”

###

“Where…are they?” Ryan turned to look at Jane. She winced as she tried to adjust his arm so that it was around her shoulders. He was heavy, and they had been walking for quite some time. Her whole body ached.

“Raphael said to meet us at the motel down the street,” Jane told him. She could already see it from where they were.

“Motel…motel…” Ryan mumbled to himself. “He…he will come for us, right?”

“Yes he will,” Jane smiled. She wasn’t sure if he was talking about Raphael or one of the bad guys. “Raphael will come for us.”

“Raph…my boy…” he had a dreamy smile on his face.

“Okay, come on, let’s get to that motel,” Jane said. She just wanted to get out of the open-being an exposed target was not something she would want.

“Going somewhere?” a very familiar voice stopped Jane dead in her tracks. Oh God, no.

He smiled, as if he could read her thoughts. “Stay away,” Jane warned. She staggered back a little, Ryan’s arm nearly slipping from her grip.

“I don’t think so,” he smiled wickedly. He had something in his hand-was that a knife? “If you don’t listen to what I say, I will cut your limbs off, one by one,” he flaunted the blade at them.

“You’ve done enough damage!” Jane shouted. “I wish I’d never given birth to you!”

The smile didn’t fade from Jayden’s face. “Well, it’s too late now, isn’t it, mother?”

“Son of a b-!” she could take it no longer. She hated the sight of him. “You make me sick.”

“Well, isn’t that true,” Jayden laughed. “How did you get out anyway? I remembered locking you in.”

Jane didn’t reply. Her eyes were locked completely on her son. Her demonic, barbaric son. She remembered the way he had treated her, and she began shaking with rage.

“Doesn’t matter, you people are going to end up dead anyway. Pathetic humans don’t deserve to live,” he pressed his lips together, and pointed the tip of the blade at Ryan. “This is the father, isn’t he? Poor thing,” he tilted his head to the left at the sight of the two-limbed man.

“Go on, then. Kill me,” Jane challenged. “Since I’m of no use to you anyway.”

“Don’t be silly, mother. I don’t want to kill you. I want you to suffer,” he stepped so close to Jane, she could feel the cold blade against her skin. “You’ll suffer to death.”

“Stay…away…” Ryan rasped. “Stay…away…”

“He speaks,” Jayden taunted. “You should just rot to death, freak. If I were you, I’d rather die than look at myself in the mirror.”

“You…don’t…want me to repeat…that…” Ryan said slowly. There was a slight iciness in his voice.

“What can you do? You’re practically useless without the rest of your limbs,” Jayden continued. “If I were you-

Jayden stopped as the two-limbed, miserable-looking man fell to the floor in a series of spasms. His head was down, so Jayden couldn’t take a good look at his face. Jane was visibly startled.

Ryan jerked, and then looked up. What Jayden saw shocked him to the core.

Ryan’s eyes were a bright yellow, and his mouth was open, portraying rows of extremely sharp teeth.

Oh God, this was what they looked like when the monster inside them took over. Jayden didn’t think it would be this horrible, but he had just seen it, right in front of his eyes.

Ryan turned his head, scouring the area, as if he had just been awoken from a deep sleep. And then he trained his eyes on Jayden, a smile spreading across his demon-like face.

“You have made me really angry,” Ryan said. That stutter he had was gone. It seemed as if someone had taken over his whole body, his mind.

Jayden opened his mouth to say something, but Ryan was too fast. In one swift movement, he clamped his jaws around Jayden’s arm, and tugged.

The pop was deafening as Jayden’s arm came off in Ryan’s jaws.