by K A Young
...her blood trail will allow for me to cut down anyone else who might have aided her in my little hunter's grand escape.
I have her scent, rising to my feet and without another word, I walk back toward the door and exit the room, closing it behind me only to lock it firmly in place. Taking off down the hallway toward the staircase, I can just pick up trace amounts of her blood, taking a few steps at a time down the marble.
Coming into the main hallway, Rynn has on a long red and black skirt, an ebony corset and her own trench coat overlaying. Michael wears a similar outfit to my own, his hood is drawn up as he eyes me before glancing once more to Rynn.
We're ready.
Rynn's eyes glance down to her inner wrist, looking at her watch before stating, "It's five forty-five..."
"Let's go," I state, nodding for Michael to open the large white double doors. As we bolt out those doors, my eyes narrow, thoughts running rampant.
She thought I was cruel before?
My little hunter hasn't seen anything yet.
Chapter 9
-Annika
The station is very loud, the bustling and hustling of shoes making their way across to the platforms drowns out into one incoherent noise. Included in that noise are people having conversations with one another, their voices only gradually growing in volume as the next group decides it’s time to speak louder. People exit trains here and board trains there, coming and going making me feel as though I'm about to get swept out to sea.
My gaze lifts and lands on a giant clock hanging precariously from the center of the station where it reads back to me as a quarter to six, reminding me that the train will pull into the station at six o'clock.
Fifteen minutes...
That's all I must wait is fifteen more minutes, and I'll be free, putting distance between myself and the vampires who reside within this city. These are the most dangerous minutes to wait out as the night would soon bring with it the creatures of the dark.
Breathing in deeply and calming my already high-strung nerves, I wrap my arms around myself, holding the soft sweater close to me. Flipping the hood up on the back of the jacket, I begin my advance toward the wooden benches. Taking a seat, I jolt a moment when the sound of a whistle blowing startles me.
"The six o'clock train to Canada will be arriving on time. Expect no delays," the intercom voice resonates throughout the station.
Thank God the train is running on time...
People pass in front of my field of view, watching them behind dark shades, attempting as hard as I can to steady my erratic beating heart. I'm almost there...I can practically taste the real freedom of putting a great deal of distance between Locaine and I. I'm not sure how long it will take him to find me if he's hell-bent on revenge, but at least this gives me time.
Even though I know Locaine and his coven will follow me to Canada, it will more than likely take the time before they realize exactly where I am...by then, I will be long gone elsewhere.
The sound of shuffling stops near me, my gaze taking notice of a man out of the corner of my eyes, tilting my head slightly to see past the shade frame. The man takes a seat near me, pulling out his newspaper and flicking it open to the centerfold. I briefly regard his presence, knowing that I don't want to stare at anyone too long and draw attention to myself, offering them to engage openly in conversation.
Hesitantly, I peer up at the looming clock overhead...eight more minutes.
Absentmindedly, I begin to shake my right leg while picking at my lower lip with anxiety. Anticipation is building within me, my stomach flip-flopping as butterflies make a permanent home in it. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my entire life then at this moment, an impending countdown taking place all around me.
My heart stops the second I hear a piercing scream being ripped from a woman's lungs, echoing in the busy station. In the next moment, a man yells out, "Vampires!"
Chaos ensues immediately after the announcement, that word lingering with me like a tethered weight I am unable to escape from. The man who sits beside me is gone, bolting from the bench and heading directly for a door to exit the station. I don't want to be like him though...I can't run away, I must get on that train to ensure some type of protection for my freedom. However, other people around me scatter like cockroaches, running to the exits to get out of harm's way with determination.
"Fuck you!" I hear a young man's voice sound not too far from where I was once seated. I had sprung from my wooden bench a second or two after the man before me bolted for the door, taking refuge behind a tall pillar. My breathing is heavy, cupping a hand over my mouth in an almost useless attempt to calm down.
With my other hand, I hold the side of my glasses, keeping them tight to my face as I edge toward the side of the pillar. Peering carefully around the side, I notice three figures in dark clothing closing in on a young man that appears to be in his mid-twenties. In his right hand, he holds a sword where the left also retains a pistol.
A hunter?
A woman giggles gleefully, "Now hunny, why don't you come over here, so I can taste that sweet blood of yours," she pauses a moment, her eyes changing from light brown to scarlet, "before I rip your throat out!" She snarls the last part with a seething look and dark intentions in her bloodlust irises.
The young man dashes behind a pillar across from the one I am behind, facing my direction and that's when I see his eyes. His white irises scan me briefly before he darts behind a second column a little bit further up and closer to the vampires. The three vampires follow in pursuit of his movements, trying to calculate his moves.
The stream of people in the station had all but subsided into a trickle as there are only a few handfuls of people trying to escape now.
A whistle blows and my eyes shoot up to lock with the glaring clock one last time to confirm what I already know.
Six o'clock.
The whistling and roaring of the train pulling into the station near the column I am hiding behind causes my heart to skip a beat, my breathing increasing.
"You little bastard!" I hear the same vampire woman's voice ring out and shatter past the train whistle. Cautiously, I move around the pillar until my eyes fall on the decapitated body of a male vampire not too far from the woman. The hunter's sword is coated in blood, his arm outstretched as he aims the pistol at the second male vampire.
Before he can pull the trigger, the woman is behind him in the blink of an eye, her fangs burying deeply into the side of his neck. His scream is watery, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, down his throat and creating a large puddle beneath his feet. His sword and pistol clatter to the ground as he tries to reach her head over and around his own.
She is too fast, ripping her fangs back and exposing the innards of his neck. His eyes are wide while he struggles for one last breath...though he never receives it. As she releases her fangs from his neck, she drops him to the ground, his eyes fluttering shut while his body convulses a moment longer before remaining completely motionless.
Fear and anger overtake me at the sight before me. I narrow my eyes while the two vampires shake hands, obviously congratulating each other over another successful hunter kill.
That's it...
All the anger...thinking that I'd never see another hunter death after that night with Alyssa, I completely snap.
Removing the hand that is covering my mouth, surpassing the once shock, I draw my fingers into a fist and flick my wrist. I pull it back closer against my stomach, a very familiar feeling suddenly coursing through my veins while a flicker of light resides within the center of my chest.
Those cheers shared between the two vampires...the woman is silenced the second I release the energy from within. A very large bloody stalagmite erupts from the pool of hunter's blood, tendrils and wisps forking out around them since his death.
The stalagmite pierces up, splitting right through the woman, splicing up into her intestines, climbing higher through the tunnel of her esophagus un
til it finally splits off at the top of her head. The look on her face is memorable, her eyes full while searching her partner's face. It's only a matter of a few seconds before she begins to cough up blood, another moment later her head is slouching forward...
...death claims her.
With quick reflexes, the male instantly leaps from the pool of blood to not become a victim like his partner. He scans the area around him very thoroughly, his voice calling out to taunt me, "So it appears that there is another hunter here..." his voice trails off, his eyes still searching, "...one that possesses blood magic nonetheless."
With low screeching, the train glides into the station, coming to a halt while the doors hiss open from the pressure.
If I move, he will see me.
My thoughts begin to run wild and don't allow me to focus solely on my connection to my blood magic. The concentration I have slipped away, the bloody creation I had made begins to dissolve back to its once liquid form. I feel dizzy, the sheer force having needed to pull off the stunt I'd just did reminds me very quickly that I've not tapped into my blood magic for over eight years.
I don't think I can do it again...
It's rather quiet...
The sounds of the male...I hadn't realized he'd moved from the spot he'd once stood upon. My eyes search wildly with despair, trying to figure out exactly where he's gone only to have a shiver run down my back.
"So...this is where you are hiding," his warm breath against my neck takes me off guard, spinning around on my heels only to slip back onto the floor.
I really, really need to get better at centering myself, my balance entirely off.
I'm hardly able to blink once before the vampire moves forward, but I gasp, and army crawl backward. Attempting to flip over and get to my feet, his advances only trigger the fear of death.
He doesn't wait for me to get that far, yanking me back by my hoodie. A sharp noise leaves my lips at the sudden attack on my airway, my vision crossing a second as I'm being grappled back toward him. He spins me around on the spot, releasing the hold he has on my hoodie and opting to grip the back of my hair instead. With his free hand, he lifts it and takes hold of the glasses resting on the bridge of my nose before he quickly rips them from my face.
White irises lock onto bloody red ones, a renewal for his hate and my own spiraling out of control the second our gaze meets with one another. He's vicious when he wrenches my hair harsher, a scream electing from the back of my throat which only causes him to grin. He's amused with my pain, his fangs slipping from between his lips as he chuckles.
Fumbling, I attempt to grab at his hand that holds the back of my head, trying to pry it free for dear life. Using this feeble distraction, I use my other hand in a rash choice to make a fist, trying to depict the blood within my mind. The warmth is extinguishing, fading fast within my chest by the passing second...
...he never even gives me a chance to attempt to control the blood I can't see, never have been able to perform such a feat, but I'd try anything at this point considering the situation.
The vampire's eyes shift sideways as he instinctively begins to register what it is I'm trying to perform. A second later, a tsking sound comes from his lips followed up with a sinister smirk at my attempt. Without another delay, he seizes my hand and holds it in his, his fingers gripping hard down around my skin. My eyes widen when his meet with my own, a murmur leaving his lips, "Such an exquisite hunter."
With a pause, I feel the pressure before it comes full force, a burning sensation starting at my hand and making its way to my wrist. While he does this, he compresses it harder and harder, a shriek leaving me as the pain I was feeling now hadn't registered the jolt that shoots from my fingertips to my elbow before I'm consumed by it.
"However, you're not a very smart one, now are you?" He finishes with a question, my heart stopping the moment the bones in my hand shatter. Writhing in pain, attempting to break free of his grasp with my free hand, I can't register anything else other than the intense pain radiating from the point of contact. Tears stream down my face while he just snorts and roars with laughter...it rings in my ears, a sickening feeling churning in my stomach.
"Now then," he proceeds to the next order of his business, spinning me around until my back collides against his chest. Fangs elongate, brushing the delicate flesh of my neck.
What was I thinking?
Again...my poor judgment calls continue to dig me further and further into a hole I don't see any way of escaping from. If Locaine had planned on killing me, he's going to be either angry that someone else beat him to it, or he'll be relieved to have me out of his hair. One more body count to the hunters he's so casually eliminating.
My mind is clouded by the pain and regret, my voice lost as I assume the cry that would leave my lips never does, his fangs piercing through into my vein. Struggling hard against him, it's no use with the strength he has over me and holds me still against his chest. Instead, he clutches my broken hand in his and pinches it tight once again, my shrill cry carrying throughout the otherwise silent station.
"Daren."
That voice...
At the recognition of his own name, the vampire stops feeding off me and releases his fangs altogether from my neck. My breathing is uneven, my heart beating fast as my eyes begin to lift from the floor.
"Let her go."
It's when I breathe out again, my eyes find and land on the form of Locaine with Michael by his side. My vision crosses again as I feel lightheaded, my eyes hardly believing what I'm seeing before me.
"King Locaine," the vampire, Daren, regards him with such high respect. He then informs him of their recent run in, "We killed one hunter...losing..." his voice is harsh and can barely be heard, fear crashing through me at what I now realize...
"Then..." his voice is dangerous when he pulls on my hair tighter, a grimace crossing my features while a soft whimper leaves my lips, "...she killed my beloved with her blood magic!" His growl is low and threatening in my ear when he claims, "Blood for blood...she is mine."
"My deepest sympathies go out to you Daren," Locaine's once calm and collective voice switches to a dangerous tone when he continues, "however...that little hunter you have there," he points directly at me before informing him of my status, "is my slave."
"How did one of your slaves manage to elude you?" Daren's voice is somewhat shocked, but I note that laced sarcasm in his question.
Locaine's features hardly shift while he motions for Daren to release me, "That's beside the point."
At Locaine's actions, Daren only holds onto me tighter as if I'm now his prize...
"Blood for blood..." Daren repeats once more, emphasizing to his king that he will keep what he's captured.
"I understand that very well Daren however, I am your king, and I'm ordering you to release my slave," Locaine's voice is changing to a new tune, the irritation coming through this time around.
Daren doesn't care at this point...the death of his beloved and the want to avenge her is magnified by Locaine's inability to see the pain he's in. Stepping backward, Daren drags me with him while he mutters angrily, "I can't...I can't allow...this-this HUNTER to live! Of all vampires, you should feel the same way and have the same understanding that I do!"
Apparently, Locaine has entertained Daren's argument for long enough, releasing a sigh from his slightly parted lips before he merely nods his head. What makes my blood run cold is the bloodcurdling scream that's ripped away from Daren's lungs in the next second. I fall to my knees, his grip on me wholly gone while I land on both of my hands to break my fall.
Regretting this natural reaction, the pain travels up from my hand and into my arm, gritting my teeth together as I try to push down the scream.
A heavy thud resonates beside me, glancing quickly to my side as I witness Daren's lifeless body land on the ground...
...his head missing.
Quickly glancing over my shoulder, only to see the glittering green eyes of Rynn cl
utching the top of Daren's head in one of her hands. There is a look of rage on her face before she spits out, "No one disobeys the king."
My non-broken hand twitches slightly, that flicker of warmth quickly glimmering with a small ray of hope within the center of my chest. I try to concentrate on Daren's blood, hoping to encase myself in a shield like the day that Locaine had first tried to kill me. I want to buy myself time, but I'm not granted that simple wish.
I scream out in agony as the heel of Rynn's boot presses down on my hand. I feel sick to my stomach again, that light now was gone as I try not to see black spots flicker across my vision.
"You appear to have a death wish," her eyes begin to drastically alter from the emerald green to a bloody red.
"Rynn, enough," is all Locaine says, Rynn glaring down at me with hate before Locaine isn't the only one pushing to leave.
Michael notes, "We need to be on our way...the coven will be awake by now."
He wants to bring the raging vampire down from her anger, outstretching his hand for her to take and follow him. With a flare of her nostrils, she lifts her boot from the top of my hand, her heels clicking off the cement from the station as she crosses the space to Michael.
My body is trembling at the reality setting in.
How could this have happened...?
Why couldn't I have just waited for the god damn train?!
What draws me from my self-loathing thoughts is Locaine's boots that quickly come into my field of view. I can't bring myself to look up at him, the fear rising again as the silence remains between the two of us.
I'm petrified...
What is he going to do to me now?
It can't be helped, it's just a part of my nature...to save others.