HUNT, OR BE HUNTED

CHAPTER 47: THE POISON

It was the kind of pain she had never felt before. It was as if someone had just ripped her lips off her face. She could feel the burning sensation- like salt on a huge, gaping wound.

What was happening to her? One moment she was fine, and the next...

She couldn't even open her mouth to yell or scream-it just hurt too much. Even her vision was getting blurry. She got up slowly from where she was sitting, stumbled agonizingly to the bathroom.

She was completely caught off guard at what she saw in the mirror. Her eyes fluttered, and she fell, unconscious, to the white-tiled floor.

###

"Hey," he said, a comforting hand on her arm. "Lisa?"

"Matt?" Lisa squinted at her older brother. "What...happened?" She tried to sit up, but Matt put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're okay, that's what matters," Matt said, deep creases forming into a frown as he let out a sigh. "You...did you...Someone did this to you."

"What...happened, Matt? The last thing I remember was my mouth being all bloody and..." Lisa paused, and looked at her brother with wide eyes. "What do you mean someone did this to me?"

"You could have died if I hadn't found you," Matt said scornfully. "Yes, Lisa. Someone tried to kill you."

"What? How?"

"Somebody poisoned you, Lisa. With some sort of deadly acid. Once it starts to work, first you get that burning sensation, and the next, your skin starts peeling, and you begin to corrode."

"Corrode? Isn't that a term for metals?"

"Doesn't matter. All we have to do now is find out who would do this to you."

"I don't know anyone who might... do this," Lisa said frankly. "Nobody would want to hurt me like this."

"Well that's what you think," Matt clasped his hands together. "We found traces of the poison on your lips, and around your mouth. Think you could explain that?"

Lisa pressed her lips together, and averted her brother's eyes. Oh God, no. Could it be...

"You are in danger, Lisa. Somebody tried to kill you, and they almost succeeded. So would you just help me out here?"

"I don't know anyone who would try to do that," Lisa said after a long moment. "I don't know."

"Where were you last night?" The question popped out of the blue.

"I was home," she lied. "I had nowhere to go."

"You know I can hear your heartbeat rising, right? Stop lying to me, Lisa. Why won't you let me help you?"

"Because everything will be okay, Matt. Everything is fine. You don't have to worry about me. Nobody out there knows what I am, not even my boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" Matt cried, aghast. "Is there something else you haven't told me?"

"My ex boyfriend," she corrected him. "We broke up last night."

"You said you didn't go out," Matt raised his brows.

"We broke up through the phone," she lied again. "Seriously, brother. You have to stop worrying about me. Just let me live my college life, my eighteen year old life. I want to be a normal teenager like everybody else."

"You can't," Matt shook his head. "You can't blend in that easily. It close to impossible."

"Why don't you ever trust me, Matt?" Lisa raised her voice.

"I trust you, but I don't trust what's inside you. You are a panthera, Lisa. You can't change what you are."

Lisa let out a couple of deep breaths, then slid back into the covers. There was no point arguing with her brother- she never won.

"Hey Matt, it's already on the news. The guy from last night...They've identified him," Jaz, one of the older guys in their pack, came into the room, handed Matt a black tablet. He noticed Lisa on the bed, and gave her a charming wink.

"What guy?" Lisa couldn't help being curious.

"Some guy who was murdered last night, apparently by some wild animal," Jaz replied. "Yes, one of us," he said when he saw Lisa's questioning look.

"How could this be? We're not supposed to-"

"Yes, Lisa. That's why I need you to tell me everything you haven't told me about. Look at this. Would you want to end up like this guy, or being accused of murdering this guy? We're in a bad position now, Lisa. You can't afford to lie about something like this," Matt said as he turned the tablet so that it was facing her.

"Oh my God," Lisa said, deadpanning. She didn't have the strength to cry out or to scream at what she had just saw. She just stared at the photograph of the victim, and repeated the same words over and over again. "Oh my God..."

"You know him," Matt said, a hard expression on his face. "How do you-"

"I can't..." Lisa was shaking now, and it wasn't from the cold. She was tremoring with fright. "No, this can't be happening," she began rocking back and forth.

"Hey, it's okay," Jaz moved across the room and sat beside her on the bed. "Hey," he put an arm around her.

"It's not okay," Lisa whispered. "It's not..."

"Lisa," Matt locked eyes with his sister, and took her hand in his. "Who is he?"

Lisa shut her eyes, and tears flowed silently down her white cheeks. "He...his name is Dave. I...I was with him last night, and...I broke up with him. All he did was talk to his ex, and I broke up with him!" she sobbed.

"So you were with this guy last night?" Matt queried. "Was there anyone else?"

"He's dead, Matt. And all you want to know is where I was last night. What is wrong with you?" Lisa lost her temper.

"No, this is important, Lisa. Who else was there with you last night? Who else talked to you?"

Lisa looked down at her hands, then back up at Matt. "After we broke up, Dave's best friend, Mason talked to me. And then we sort of kissed. And...that was it."

"He kissed you," Matt said slowly. "The son of a b- poisoned you."

"Wha- Mason?" Lisa frowned. "No, that's impossible."

"Lisa. Whoever wanted you dead took it out on Dave. And now he's dead because of you."

"No. Mason wouldn't do something like this. It could have been someone else, Matt."

"Only one way to find out," Matt huffed, and walked out of the room.

"You get some rest," Jaz interrupted her thoughts. He got up and tucked Lisa in. "Just tell me if you need anything," he gave her a dazzling smile. But there was no time to concentrate on Jaz and his handsome face.

There was something she had to do.

She had to prove her brother wrong.