Deserted Highways

The Road to Hell

block in order to make Kaelie the truest Hunter he'd ever created, ruthless, unstoppable, the only one able to lead the Hunters into the war for the world that was to come. He couldn't cut the connections, but he could block them, and she'd never be able to come back from that.

Kaelie stirred and Jordan smiled. It was time.

Chapter 18

She's Gonna Cut You Down

Kaelie's eyes snapped open, blinking rapidly against the harsh light that shown in her eyes. They adjusted slowly, and she could sense someone else in the room with her, hear them breathing, smell them. She strained against the restraints that held her down, she heard them creak as they fought to contain her. She felt blank, confused, but mostly angry and empty and almost- bored.

"Kaelie," à voice called and she knew who was with her now. Jordan. "Kaelie, good to see you awake." She turned towards him, but seeing his face, his wide light brown eyes, she didn't feel angry at him, though she nearly expected to, it was more like the rage was fueling her, like it was natural. She didn't feel anything when she looked at Jordan.

"What's going on, Jordan?" she asked and her voice came out cold, cruel, sharper than she'd ever spoken to anyone and somehow, it brought a smile to Jordan's face, and she didn't understand it, she cocked her head at him curiously.

"How do you feel?" he asked her and she just stared at him.

"How do I- feel?" she repeated, turning the words over in her mouth, they felt foreign. "I feel fine. What did you do to me?"

Jordan stepped closer, the strange smile still playing on his lips. "A little test, first, pet. Just to make sure everything went accordingly."

"Make sure what went accordingly? Dammit, Jordan, let me up," she spat and he seemed almost gleeful to see her so angry.

"I just need to see, that's all, and then we have some things to discuss. Tell me, what do you think of these?" he said, pulling a stack of photos from his jacket and then holding one up in front of her face.

A pretty girl with light brown hair and brown eyes smiled in the photo, her arm wrapped around someone who wasn't pictured. "Sarah?" she said, recognizing the face, she knew this person, knew they had been important but she didn't know why, she didn't feel anything.

Jordan hummed and showed her a few more photos, stopping finally on one of a beautiful boy with inky hair and olive skin, stormy gray eyes burning into hers and she just raised an eyebrow. "That's Jace. What about him?" she asked again, she felt indifferent, empty.

"Perfect," Jordan said. "It worked flawlessly." He reached for the straps binding her and started unbuckling them.

"Tell me what's happening, Jordan, now," she growled and he laughed.

"Well, Kaelie, I need you. I needed your DNA, I needed pieces of you to create more like you, to create more Hunters. And, I needed to get rid of those pesky little emotions that you let run your existence," he said and Kaelie didn't say anything back for à moment.

"Why do you need an army of Hunters like me?" she said. "I'm sort of tired of all of this world domination shit, Jordan, really. So can you just monologue and tell me exactly what the fuck is going on? You got what you wanted, I guess. I can't feel anything, you made sure of that, and I'm fucking bored."

Jordan's grin widened. "Kaelie, with you, unfeeling, angry, cruel as you now are, I can lead the first step in eradicating the disease that is humanity, we can create something better, something without the weakness that is humans, so easily killed, so easily sick, so easily turned against their own in the pursuit of money and power. With Hunters that match your power, your strength, we won't be stopped."