I smiled nervously. “So no pressure then on my part.” I watched as Jackson looked confused for a moment. He struck me as the type who did not spend anytime in the modern world. He probably preferred to stay here cooped up with dusty piles of books. Searching through them for other young people caught up in prophecies so that he could ruin their lives too. “I was joking Jackson. It is just a turn of phrase, there is no need to look so worried.”
The look he gave me was halfway between a grimace and a smile. “You young people have too many jokes. How is one to keep up with them all?”
“Watch more T.V.” I answered before getting slowly to my feet. I was still a little unsure about how steady I was but as promised the drink seemed to have restored my body. Tentatively I let go of the couch and made my way to Natasha who was standing waiting for me at the door.
“I’ll keep a close eye on you Aisling. I want you to succeed and the Croí as a people needs you to succeed. Who knows how much more pain and suffering we can take at the hands of those monsters?”
Natasha opened the door and I slipped through it without answering him. Wordlessly we made our way back down the hall. I gave myself over to my thoughts. Truly there was something strange about Jackson. I could not see how he was my father and yet, I felt oddly drawn to him.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Natasha’s question caught me off guard.
“What do you mean?”
“I know you want Jon back, but are you sure trying to force your power is the right thing to do? You’re not exactly stable as it is.”
Pausing in the hall I thought about what she had said. Deep down I knew she was right, but I couldn’t let Jon go. Without him I was going to lose my mind anyway, I may as well lose it getting him home safe.
“I don’t have a choice Natasha. Without him, I’m going to go insane. At least this way I stand a chance of getting him home.”
Natasha nodded and walked down the hall ahead of me. I hurried to keep up with her as my mind mulled over my thoughts of Jon. Would I be able to contact him? And even if I could, how was Jon to escape those who kept him prisoner?
Natasha came to a halt in front of one of the many doors that lined the hall. She pushed the door open and I stared inside. Although it was dark, I could make out the shape of a bed in the middle of the floor. Natasha flicked the light switch and a soft glow filled the room.
“Is it ok?” Natasha’s voice snapped me out of my own thoughts.
“It’s beautiful, like everything else here.”
Natasha smiled and gestured for me to enter the room properly.
“You’ll find fresh clothes in the wardrobe, they should be in your size. The room has been specifically prepared for you. The bathroom is through there.”
I shook my head, what did she mean it had been prepared specifically for me?
“You’ve been keeping track of me all these years?”
“But of course. Your father loves you. He never wanted this to happen to you but prophecy is unavoidable, as you have witnessed yourself.”
“So you’re telling me that I was just left to struggle with my powers on my own. How much did you know?”
Natasha smiled sadly. “I didn’t know that much about the situation. I’m not the most powerful here. It surprised me when Jackson asked Jason and me to go and fetch you and Jon. We are... we were the most powerful soulmates left to the Croí. If we had a child, the power would have been unimaginable but that wasn’t to be our fate.”
I watched as she turned her back on me, the sound of her sobbing breath filled my stomach with dread. Natasha was as deep within the Croí as you could get so I wasn’t sure she could see exactly what my supposed father had done. Of course I couldn’t prove it but that didn’t stop my instincts from being right. The dread coiled tighter inside my stomach. It felt to me as though a snake had slithered into my body and was slowly wrapping itself tighter and tighter around my intestines. I rubbed my hand across my stomach in the hopes it would loosen the knot but nothing happened.
“Natasha, I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t help but I am sorry.”
She turned back to me and scrubbed her hands across her face. “You see Aisling, you’re not the only one who has suffered.”
“I know that. But at least you were given an opportunity at understanding everything. You were born into this. I wasn’t. I have always believed myself to be some type of freak. My only saving grace was that I had Jon and he was like me. Can you imagine growing up with all the normal people around you. I’ve spent my whole life trying to hide who I truly was. You’ve always known and you’ve had the support you needed. Jon and I only ever had each other.”
“But aren’t you glad you had that chance at a normal life? Your father loved you enough to try to give you a normal life away from here, away from the Croí. Surely that counts for something?”
I sighed. She still believed that Jackson was good. She still believed that what he had done was for the best. I knew I didn’t have the proof I needed to show that everything he had done was for his own gain but I knew I would find it. My gut told me that something wasn’t right.
“Look, I’m pretty tired and I still have to try to contact Jon so I’m just going to get some sleep, ok?”I watched Natasha shrug. She wasn’t the worst. Even though she had frightened me the first night with her show of power, I understood why she had done it. I liked her and I was hoping that if I got Jon back perhaps I could be real friends with her.
She headed for the door and I let her go. Right now I wanted to be alone with my own thoughts. Walking slowly over to the bed I sat on the edge of it as the door closed quietly behind Natasha. Listening to my heart I let my breathing slow down until it was barely rasping past my lips. Lying back on the bed I let my mind drift over thoughts of Jon. He was easy to picture in my head, but that was all it was, a picture. I wanted to be with him, to touch his skin and kiss his lips. I wanted to hear him whisper that everything would be alright.
I closed my eyes tight and attempted to make the picture of Jon in my head more life like. If I was going to contact him then surely this was the way to go. Drawing in a deep breath I let it flow into the image in my minds eye. Power glistened along the edges of his body but still he remained flat. I pushed the power into his body harder. I was going to succeed at any cost. I watched as the power pushed against the paper image in my head. My power ran red and still I pushed.
Something inside the image I had created of Jon snapped and my power flooded into the space.
“Aisling what’s going on?” His voice sent a wave of calm pouring through my body. A sigh of relief shuddered past my lips. Pain lanced through my chest and I doubled over on the bed.
“Aisling, what’s wrong are you alright?” The concern in his voice dragged me back from the fog of pain that enveloped me.
“Jon, I need you. I’m coming into my power and if you’re not with me then I could lose my mind completely.” A spasm racked my body and I tried to muffle the scream with my fist. Something had gone wrong. This wasn’t like before. Why was I in so much pain?
“Don’t be ridiculous you won’t lose your mind. You just need to relax Aisling, you’re safe with them.” Something that I couldn’t quite identify flickered across Jon’s face. For a second I could have sworn it was jealousy. Panic gripped me, I had to convince him of how serious this all was. He had to know how much I needed him. Surely he felt the same need to get back to me?
“Aisling, you need to stop being so selfish and think of others for a change. The hunters were right about you. All you do is think of yourself and I’m tired of it.” His words hit me like a slap in the face. I coughed and blood covered my hand. I just had to make him understand that I loved him.
“Jon, please.”
“Please what Aisling? Don’t say it? I’m just telling you the truth if you can’t handle it then you are more pathetic than I first thought.” The vision began to fade as pain trembled through my limbs. It felt as though eve
ry inch of my skin was on fire and I couldn’t escape it.
“You’re pathetic Aisling. I don’t know what I saw in you all this time.” His words ran across my skin like scalding water. Strangled screams filled the room as the pain in my body reached a crescendo. I was vaguely aware of the door being flung open and people rushing inside.
Natasha’s concerned face hovered above mine as she attempted to hold my arms down by my side. Streamers of colours raced through my vision as I bucked and heaved on the bed.
“Aisling, what have you done?” Her voice barely penetrated the haze of terror and pain that surrounded me. Opening my mouth the words I wanted to use refused to come out. They were replaced with howls of anguish instead.
The pain built inside me, I wasn’t even sure anymore of who I was or where I was. The only thing I knew with every fibre of my being was that something was horribly wrong with Jon. Jackson appeared over me, the look on his face was grim. He reached out towards me and placed his hand across my forehead. The pain blossomed in my head and I exploded into a million pieces of brilliant colour. I floated into the rainbow of light that surrounded me and I knew in that moment that I was lost.
Chapter Twelve
“You can’t be serious Robert?” The sound of Max’s angry voice cut through Jon’s head like an axe. “Clearly he cheated.” Max jumped easily over the ropes and came to a halt in front of Jon and Robert.
“Aaron, knew the risks. If Jon had not used his power, it would have meant certain death for him. How can that be considered cheating when he merely used the tools at his disposal?”
Jon lifted his head and looked defiantly at the man before him. It was obvious Max wanted him dead but what was stranger still was that it seemed Robert wanted him to live. Jon wasn’t sure what Robert had planned for him but a nagging feeling in his gut told him that it wouldn’t be good.
“If that is true Robert, then why bother with binding him with runes at all?” The words Max spoke dripped with venom, a murmur of approval ran through the crowd.
Robert dropped Jon’s arm from his grip and lifted his hand into the air to quell the crowds disapproval. “Max, you know as well as I do that he needed to be tested. I... We needed to know if he was worthy of all that will be bestowed upon him. He has the power but I was unsure if he had the killer instinct required. Now I know he does we can proceed.”
Jon dropped his head and spat blood out onto the mat. Robert was talking in riddles and Jon was tired of all of their games. What did Robert mean about his killer instinct? Jon stood, pain rippled down through his body but he was tired of being on his knees in front of these people.
“I don’t have a killer instinct. I’m not like you people, if I can even call you things people. You murder innocents. What I did was survive, nothing more and nothing less.” Jon’s voice was strong and for that he was grateful.
Robert’s laugh caused Jon’s blood to run cold.
“Jonathon, my dear boy. The Hunter within you is what gives you your killer instinct. You are as much a murderer as I am, or for that matter any of the other Hunter’s gathered here.”
Max cut in then his voice incredulous, “Him, a hunter?” He pointed one long finger in Jon’s direction. Jon could see that he was positively shaking with anger. “How can you sully our name by associating with that.”
Robert turned on Max then. “Do you forget who he truly is? He is my grandson. Hunter blood flows in his veins. You have all witnessed what he achieved here tonight. The killer instinct that fuels each of us is alive within him. Do you not see that he is our greatest weapon against the Croí? He possess their powers and he is hunter. With him in our ranks, we cannot lose.”
“I AM NOT LIKE YOU!” Jon’s voice echoed out around the room. “I will never be one of you. I will never forsake Aisling.”
“Soon my boy you will. Whether you want to or not, you will betray her. It is no longer your choice. Infact it never was your choice to make.” Robert gestured to two young hunters nearest the ring. “You two, bring him to the chair. He is to receive the mark.”
Jon backed up to the edge of the ring as the two hunters advanced towards him. They would not take him easily of that he was certain. Their yellow eyes glinted with cruel intent as they reached for him. Power tingled in his chest as he prepared to unleash it upon them. The moment their hands wrapped around his arms Jon felt his power fizzle and die inside his body. He fought against their touch but it was like fighting against solid iron. He kicked and bucked as they dragged him from the ring.
Max ran to keep up with Robert’s rapid stride and Jon could hear his words of protest. “Robert, he is one of them. We cannot trust him, he is not worthy of the mark. Think of what your son did this is history repeating itself.”
Robert ignored the words and swept out of the room and into the stone corridors. Jon quickly realised that the two men who were dragging him were taking him in the same direction. Fear coiled within him, he knew that if he did not escape and soon that he might not make it out of this intact. He fought harder then, Aisling had saved him within the ring, it was unlikely that he would be so lucky again.
Jon drew a deep breath into his lungs and with all his might he threw his body into the guy on his right. The man was strong but he was unprepared for the move that Jon made and he stumbled loosening his grip just enough for Jon to jerk his arm free. With one arm now free, Jon turned towards the man who still held him and used his momentum to drive his fist into the man’s nose. Blood sprayed across Jon in a crimson bloom. The man fell away from Jon clutching his face. With a quick turn, Jon kicked the other man squarely in the crotch and grabbed his head with both hands. With one fluid motion, Jon drove his knee up into the man’s face. He heard the crack of his jaw breaking and the satisfying crunch of the nose disintegrating.
“Jon, will you ever do anything the easy way?” Jon spun around at the mention of his name. Robert stood in the doorway and Jon knew that if he could defeat him then he would stand a chance at escape.
“The easy way never did appeal to me. Especially when it’s not what I want.” Jon crouched and prepared for the attack he was sure would come. Robert merely smiled, a cruel smile that sent a shiver down through Jon’s spine.
“What if it meant seeing your Aisling, again?”
“I don’t believe you. You want to keep us apart, destroy what we have. Why would you suddenly change your mind?”
“I have not changed my mind Jon, I am merely stating fact. If you wish to see your Aisling again before she is lost to you forever. Then you will agree to join the Hunter’s and take the mark but I guarantee you that is the only way you will ever see her again.” Robert studied Jon carefully, no doubt attempting to gauge his reaction.
“I don’t understand?” Jon shook his head in bewilderment. It was at that moment that Jon realised his undoing. It would not be Robert who the attack would come from. The blow Max dealt Jon to the side of his face sent him reeling. He attempted to lift his hands to defend himself but he really was no match for the Hunter. With the flick of a wrist, Max had wrapped a length of silver chain around Jon’s neck. He jerked it forward completely unbalancing Jon who fell onto his knees. Jon used his hands to grab the chain and began pulling it from where it held him.
“Shall I let you in on a little secret Jon?” Robert asked a smirk playing around his lips. “You and I share a family trait it seems. You see I never was a big fan of the easy way. I quite like a challenge. I enjoy the defiant look in a man’s eyes as he thinks he stands a chance against me. And then I adore watching the look die in his eyes as he realises that he doesn’t actually stand a chance against me. You need to understand one thing about me Jon. I always win. I won against your parents. They really thought they had gotten away with what they had done but I bided my time until the exact right moment and then I struck. They lost, they always lose and you will too. This is your fate Jon and no matter how hard you try to outrun it you never will.”
Max pulled tighter and Jon
was forced down onto his hands. Jon could feel his air supply slipping away from him. He knew that within a matter of moments he would pass out and that was the last thing he wanted. He opened his mouth but the only sound past his lips was a choked breath. He could hear Max’s laughter as he walked ahead of him and tugged the chain as though he were walking a dog. Jon had no choice but to follow or find himself unconscious and completely at their mercy.
He was dragged out through the doors on his hands and knees. Humiliation and rage ate at his insides as the rough ground bloodied his palms. An image of Aisling flashed in his mind. Time was running out for her, of that he was certain. If only he knew what it was that was stealing her from him.
Max tugged the chain harder and Jon was forced to move faster. When they reached the end of the corridor Jon could see Robert waiting at the entrance to a much darker room. Without a word, Jon was led inside. The stone flags beneath his hands felt cold and damp, it reminded Jon of the cell he had woken up in earlier. It felt like a thousand years had passed since then.
“Put him in the chair.” Robert’s voice cracked out through the darkness.
Jon fought against the chain but his strength was beginning to wan. Exhaustion was eating at his body only the thought of Aisling kept him fighting. Max pulled Jon up onto a chair carved from solid rock. The stone bit into Jon’s skin and he could feel warm blood trickling from the wounds.
“Tonight you will become one of us Jonathan. You are my grandson and it falls to you to carry on the bloodline. The prophecy speaks of two who will destroy all. So too it speaks of one of Hunter’s descent who shall destroy his one true soulmate.” A murmur began in the room, insidiously it wound its way around Jon’s legs and spread up across his skin.
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