HUNTED ~ STEVE ROGERS [2]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Just before midnight, the outside tripwire went off.

I was asleep, but I woke instantly when I felt Tasha's hand over my mouth. She gestured to the door, her eyes gleaming. I nodded, and she removed her hand from over my mouth.

"Outside?" I whispered. She nodded in response, and I hopped out of bed. We'd all been sleeping in our clothes since we got there, and the uncomfortable tight-jeans feeling had finally paid off. My shoes padded softly on the wood floor, and Tasha's twin pistols glinted in the moonlight streaming through a crack in the curtains. As we entered the main area of the house, I saw Taly's shadow creep across the room and stand by the front door, a gun strapped to her thigh and a knife the size of my arm in her right hand. We joined her as the alarm continued to siren and red lights blinked from the computer in the corner. Taly pushed open the front door and we exited. Our plan had been to lead them away from the house and into either the bush territory or the river. We knew the layout of the land better, and so we had the advantage.

As we rounded the house and started to go down the gravel road to the valley, I heard crunching footsteps behind us.

"Going somewhere, ladies?" Monique drawled. Slowly, we turned around, to meet Moniques eyes glistening in the pale light. There was no sign of Rebekah, but just because we couldn't see her, didn't mean she wasn't there.

"I know you want to draw us away from the house, so we don't take any of your, valuable possessions, but once we kill you, what's stopping us?" Monique raised her gun in the air, her dark eyes cold and unblinking, like a snake.

"Its cute that you think you can kill us. Really, you're adorable," I snarked. Right behind us, I heard a cackle.

"I'd say the same about you, but your face is a little messed up now," Rebekahs mocking tone pierced the darkness behind us, and I heard the shrill sound of metal against metal.

"Yeah, you're gonna pay for that," I hissed, feeling the energy pulse in my hands, lighting up the dark with its eerie glow. Both Monique and Rebekah stepped closer, cutting us off from the exits and going closer to the edge of the hill. Tasha glanced at me and then at the hill. I nodded and tried not to think about how much it was going to hurt.

"There's nowhere to go but down," Monique smiled, her white teeth shining in the inky black like beacons. I sighed.

"Yeah, down is the only way, isn't it?"

And then I jumped.

Rolling down a hill, however fun it may seem, is significantly less fun when its pitch black, you're running for your life and you already feel like you got hit by a truck.

When I finally hit the bottom, I got to my feet, already feeling the bruises start to form. I was halfway down the gravel road that wound up the hill to the house, so I began to run down the road towards the bottom of the valley. Above me, I heard clangs of metal and shots ring out, but I also picked up another set of footsteps sliding down the gravel road. One of them much have followed me. I put my bet on Monique. I could hear the river get louder the closer to the bottom of the valley I got, and a plan started to form in my head.

I headed for the bridge.

The bridge was supposedly a heavy vehicle bridge, but even just walking on it you could feel the old planks shifting and straining underfoot. I headed through the valley on the old dirt road to the bridge, the pale moonlight and my own paranormal light guiding me. I stumbled, catching myself on the barbed wire of the cattle fence. Cursing, with small cuts in each hand, I carried on. The footsteps behind me got louder. I hadn't realized I was slowing down. Once I reached the bridge, I opened the cattle gate and left it open, and fled up onto the bridge, fumbling in the dark for the railing.