The Hunter and the Hunted ✔️

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SONG FOR CHAPTER - Go To War by Nothing More. Perfffffect for this chapter.

I was given luck by life. For the first time in never.

I passed through the house without a single breathe knowing. The blood on my skin had dried, leaving no trail behind me. I was a ghost, simply blowing through the wind as I pleased.

I felt my body get stronger as I ran, the chains around me broken and my power returning. Was it adrenaline? Was it a spur of luck? I didn't think I'd ever know.

I didn't want to go through the main lobby. Too risky. Instead, I climbed out the first window I could open and shut it behind me quietly, smiling to myself.

My feet fell through the snow when I dropped down, enough to go past my ankles, and cold water seeped into my shoe. I didn't care. What mattered, was that I was outside. Thanks to Arlis. I had to come back for him, no matter what it took. He saved me. I had to save him and Zach and Dallas and everyone else trapped in that hell hole.

I took a deep breath, prayed my strength didn't waver, and began running as fast and as far as I could. It wouldn't take Konrad long to figure out that I was gone. Not at all. The moment he felt something suspicious going on, my grace period would end.

The snow caused my feet to drag, my legs to feel weak. And even in the cold, my body was burning. It was fine sneaking around, it wasn't okay running through three feet of untouched snow.

I nearly tripped on multiple accounts but continued on, continued pushing forward. I wasn't going to be the dumb blonde in the horror movies.

My hand slapped onto a tree and I let out a deep breath. I was in the woods now, covered by branches and away from Konrad's mansion.

I thought about him using a spell to find me and nearly crumbled. I couldn't truly escape. But I could try. I was away from the house, out of the open field that surrounded it. I was safe for now, focus on that. I could do this.

I took a moment to breathe and then kept going, striving to get away. Where would I go? Where could I go?

I was in the middle of nowhere in Canada, alone, with no phone. If I kept going I could get lost, stuck in the woods for months until I finally died of starvation. It might take two or three for me to finally die, but it would happen. I don't think I'd have trouble finding water, however. I looked around at the snow.

I groaned and smacked a tree, cracking it. What the fuck was I supposed to do? Running could only get me so far. I needed a car, a road. Help.

I heard snow crunch behind me. "Nice one, Eve." I let my shoulders go slack as I turned, meeting a pair of warm brown eyes.

"Colin." I whispered. My voice froze in the air, figuratively and literally. The cold showed my words out loud, the air freezing my breaths. And my throat was cold, clogged up. He found me.

"Everly." He said back, no emotion in his tone.

"Did Konrad send you?" I spat. Of course Konrad sent him, but it would mean more coming from his mouth. It would settle all my beliefs. He was truly on their side.

Colin set his mouth at a straight line and shook his head. "No. He can't find you." The Sun was setting behind him, casting a perfectly gold ray of sunshine to make him almost a silhouette.

Becker. Becker sent him. What were these two planning? A small fire lit up within me.

"And it's not Becker. Becker tried finding you too." He admitted, practically reading my mind.