Don't Be Afraid

Chapter 13

"No." I see Cleo and Hunter being beaten. Hunter's on the ground, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. Cleo's fighting back, but one of the guys hits her hard in the face. I run into the room and push one of the guys away from Hunter. Issac has a guy pinned on the ground and is punching his face over and over again.

I put both of my hands on the sides of Hunter's face and rest his head on my lap. "Are you okay? What happened-" I'm jerked away. The man bashes my head into the floor and then slings me against the wall. I fall to my knees, but the man isn't done. He grabs a fistful of my hair and punches me.

"Agh!" All I can do is scream. I feel too weak to fight back. My vision is blurring and my ears are ringing. The room starts to spin. I see three men and three more pulling them away. My vision starts to go back to normal and it was only two guys. Issac has the guy in a headlock and then I hear the sound of bone breaking.

Issac rushes to my side and pulls me close to him. "Linda! Linda can you hear me?" I nod my head. A sigh of relief escapes his mouth and he hugs me tight. The pain is overwhelming, but it feels nice to hug him. He smells good and he's warm.

"Is she alright?" I hear Hunter ask. Issac doesn't answer him, so I pull away from Him and get to my feet.

"I'm...I'm fine." He doesn't look convinced. I grab his arm and pull him close to me. The hug isn't as good as the one with Issac, but it's still nice. Hunter is gentle and he pulls away after seconds.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"No it's mine." Issac speaks up.

Hunter looks at Issac and narrows his eyes. "How's it your fault?"

"I made her come down here. I knew something was up and I wanted to know what it was." Hunter pushes me behind him and steps toward Issac.

"You could've gotten her hurt or worse. Killed." Cleo grabs Issac's arm and pulls him away from Hunter. She gives me a worried look so I follow her lead and pull Hunter away. He wraps his arm around my waist and I lead him out.

-

I sit on my bed and Hunter sits beside me. "What happened?"

His shoulders slump and he looks away from me. I grab his face and make him look at me.

"What happened?"

"Those guys...they...they wanted me and Cleo to do something terrible and when we said no...they...they beat us. Then you guys came and they beat you." He has tears in his eyes and I know he's trying to be strong.

"What did they want you to do?"

He gulps and the tears spill over. "They wanted us to...to..." He wipes the tears away. "They wanted us to kill you and Issac. They saw that Issac had suspicions and they didn't want him to go snooping around and since you came here with him....they wanted you out of the way too and I couldn't hurt you. Ever."

Hunter looks at me and his face has worry written all over it. I rub small circles on the back of his hand, trying to reassure him.

"Linda.... I know this isn't the right moment, but I like you." His words startle me and I just stare at him. Before I can respond he kisses me. I freeze, but kiss him back. His lips are soft and we move in sync. I can feel the heat rise inside me. The kiss gets faster and I lay on my back, Hunter on top of me. I lace my fingers through his hair and tug. A low moan escapes his mouth. I start to unbutton his flannel, but the door opens.

"Hey we need to- Oh my God!" I hear Issac and Cleo scream. Hunter jumps off the bed and I get to my feet, fixing my hair.

"What do you need?" Hunter demands.

"We need to leave if you guys are done fooling around." Cleo raises an eyebrow, a mischievous smile on her face, while Issac looks like he's ready to kill.

"We know this. We need to do it at night so they can't see us. We'll have a better chance that way."

"For once I agree with him." Issac snorts.

Hunter shoots him a deadly look and nods his head. "It's agreed then. Tonight we leave and never look back."