Hunter

by Adrianne Lemke

  “That could be how Jason appeared on Hunter’s radar. Let’s go.”

  Alice and I stood, and I looked around. Nickels was nowhere to be found. “Where’d Nickels go? Wasn’t he just here?” Alice voiced what I was wondering.

  Calling the precinct didn’t help us find Nickels. But we did find out a tip was called in by the now ex-wife of a man she thought could be the killer. “Yeah, she said he comes out here to a cabin on hunting trips all the time. We checked some dates against our case files, and he fits.”

  “What’s his name? And where exactly is the cabin?” The receptionist relayed the information to me. After hanging up I turned to Alice, who was driving. “We’ve got him!”

  FIFTY-FIVE

  Jason

  It was getting easier to pay attention to what was going on. Apparently, whatever Hunter drugged me with did not last long. It was something to be thankful for as I, yet again, lay in the trunk of a car. There were few things to be grateful for at the moment, but I was happy Hannah would be with her sister again soon. At least she would if Hunter kept his promise.

  Of course the downside to Hunter keeping his promise was that he was going to be hunting my little brother like an animal. The thought of it had me struggling to reign in the force of my destructive ability before I caused an accident. If he hurt my brother all bets were off. I yelped when there was a slight warning buzz and shock from my collar, and I realized I hadn’t fully blocked my power. The ground had begun to rumble; it wasn’t noticeable to me because of the motion and noise of the car. The electricity did its job and suppressed my abilities, allowing me to regain control, albeit in a painful way.

  The drive wasn’t long, but by the time Hunter dragged me out of the trunk, the drugs were worn off the rest of the way. Still, I tried to act a little out of it to keep his guard down. “Where’s Sam?” I demanded, looking around at the dark little cabin, and stumbling a bit when Hunter kept dragging me into his den.

  He tossed me into a bedroom with bars fitted on the window and a heavy door with strong padlocks on the outside of it. I was still handcuffed, and when I fell to the floor, he zip-tied my ankles together. Only when that was done did he answer my question. “Your brother is in another room. You will be able to feel the events of the hunt from here. And just to be sure you can’t get away…” He leaned over me, reaching for my neck. I flinched back, trying to stay away from him.

  My breath was coming out in harsh pants, and my heart was beating a mile a minute as the other man grabbed the collar. Hunter did something to it before stepping back. “Wha—?” My voice cut off when a low-level electric current began to run through my body, making it nearly impossible to concentrate on anything.

  “You should be able to still sense the hunt through this. Even if you can’t, at least you know it’s happening. I once shocked myself and cut off my abilities for a while, so I understand it’s painful. But this shouldn’t permanently damage you.”

  I clenched my jaw, refusing to allow him to see the pain he was causing, and gritted out, “If you hurt him, I’ll kill you!”

  He smirked and left the room. The door closed with a loud clunk, and the deadbolt slid into place. I didn’t want to abandon my little brother, so I concentrated through the low-level current, and felt the tapping from the next room over. The code we developed years ago was ingrained in my mind and easy to sense, even through the physical discomfort of the electricity.

  My mind was fine-tuned to feel out footsteps; had been since I was thirteen and my life depended on learning the skill. Even through the current I was able to follow events fairly clearly. It was a struggle to stay calm when Hunter dragged Sam out of the cabin. Sam made it clear that I was to do nothing until Hunter was distracted with the hunt, and no longer paying attention to what I was doing. Sammy seemed confident that I would be able to get myself out of this mess, but I had my doubts.

  Hunter stood just outside the cabin, waiting while Sam took off running through the woods. My little brother was making good time, racing away from the cabin and toward civilization. Reaching past the electricity for a moment, I frowned; there were sand traps set up all around the killer’s property. If Sam made it that far, he would sink into the ground and suffocate.

  On the plus side, Hunter was now moved away from the cabin. He went after Sam and left me alone in the cabin. Now it was time to try to get myself loose. Scooting across the floor I was able to get to the small bed in the corner. It was an old box spring, which made me hope I could find a sharp edge to cut the tie from my ankles. I kept an ‘eye’ on my brother while examining the bed, pleased that so far he had managed to elude Hunter’s efforts to capture him.

  Success! There was a sharp edge on the metal frame. I maneuvered myself until I could position my ankles over it. I rubbed the binding back and forth over the sharp edge, cringing through the shocks—made stronger by the contact with metal—until the plastic tie snapped.

  I pushed away from the bed for a moment, relishing the slightly less painful electric current, and taking several deep breaths while contemplating my next step. The handcuffs wouldn’t be as easy to remove, nor would the collar.

  By now Sam and Hunter were far enough from the cabin that I felt comfortable moving around a little more. I worked my way to my feet, struggling a bit because my hands were trapped behind me. I eventually managed to stand. Moving around the room I was able to find a loose nail, and with some maneuvering and a little patience—especially with the extra shocks making me jump and making it very hard to concentrate—I finally worked one hand free. After that it was only a matter of unlatching the collar.

  The relief was immediate, although my muscles continued to twitch for several minutes as I monitored Sam, who still managed to elude capture. Taking a moment to admire his skills, I realized Sam had Hunter’s undivided attention, so it was time to get out of this room.

  “I’m coming Sammy.” My voice was loud in the silent room as I made my promise.

  Gathering my strength, I figured a large show of power would draw Hunter’s attention back to the house and away from Sam. Hopefully, I could keep Hunter’s attention long enough for Sam to escape the hunting ground and find help. With Sam’s safety in mind, I hurled all of the frustration, fear, and anger I’d felt since Sam was taken, through the ground. The earth shook with a grumbling roar before rising and tearing through the floor of the cabin, and pushing at the wall. My anger drove the dirt through the wall like paper, and it shattered with a loud cracking sound. I stepped out, keeping my concentration on controlling the power so I could use it properly once Hunter returned. And he was coming. His heart pounding quickly and his breathing coming in quick gasps. My adversary was coming for me.

  I sent a thought through the earth, a message for Sam to lead him through the now safe path I set up for his escape. It took only a few seconds for him to receive the message, and tap out the reply. He was tired, but didn’t forget to warn me to be safe.

  There was dirt and rock roiling around me like waves, waiting for me to choose a target for the anger that consumed me. Sam made it out of the hunting ground, pausing only for a second before tearing away, hopefully to safety. At that moment Hunter arrived. Without giving him the chance to take in the wreck that had been his cabin, I threw a massive amount of energy through the ground, knocking him down.

  Due to my injuries and the electric shocks, I was not in the best shape for an extended fight. My hope was to knock Hunter down and out quickly, before my energy depleted and I could no longer fight.

  Hunter, on the other hand, wasn’t injured to the same extent. He was able to soften the ground when he landed, which lessened the impact. As a result my first strike wasn’t as effective as I hoped, and I was left with much depleted energy when Hunter made his counter strike—not throwing a wall at me as I expected, but dropping the ground out from under me.

  I landed awkwardly, and it took a moment to gather my concentration enough to raise myself out of the hole.


  Unfortunately, it was just in time to be slammed to the ground by a spike of rock hard soil. I only vaguely felt Hunter dragging me to the car, and tossing me into the trunk. One thing I could be grateful for is that he never got the chance to replace the collar. But any attempt to use my power could cause the car to crash.

  For a moment, as he was dragging me, I thought I felt something familiar approaching. A set of footsteps that couldn’t possibly… No. It wasn’t possible. My luck couldn’t be that bad. It was just the concussion making me paranoid.

  The footsteps I thought I felt belong to a dead man: Kindred.

  FIFTY-SIX

  Sam

  My plan worked perfectly. Hunter was too involved with chasing me to pay attention to Jason, and I could hear the explosion when Jason apparently escaped. Only a few minutes later I saw the message writing itself in the dirt. Even waiting for Hunter to attack, Jason was warning me about the traps, and directing me on a safe route through. Despite the power my brother displayed in his escape, he had to be short on energy. The last part of his message read: Get Help Fast. I raced to follow his instructions.

  Jason’s exhaustion was palpable, and I struggled to ignore it in order to do what was needed. Reaching another cabin, I pounded on the door. I needed to get in to call the police—or more specifically, to call Alice. I knew she’d been around at least since Hannah was taken.

  A huge grizzly-looking guy finally opened the door. I sensed no danger from him, so I pushed forward. “I need help! I just escaped from a killer, and my brother is still with him! I need to use your phone!” I talked quickly, but the big man moved away, leading the way to his phone.

  “It’s right here. Are you okay?”

  “Not hurt,” I said, dialing the phone. “But I can’t say the same for my brother.” I forced tears back as Jason’s emotions faded, indicating he was no longer conscious. I wanted to scream. With him completely out, there was nothing more I could do. I couldn’t figure out a way to manipulate Hunter to my advantage. Instead, I took all my fear for Jason’s safety and anger that he was hurt again, along with the constant anxiety I felt since Hunter abducted me, and threw it into Hunter’s mind with a wordless yell.

  The big man stared at me in trepidation, but I ignored him in favor of telling Alice—who finally picked up the phone—where to find Jason. “Hurry,” I urged her. “He’s… hurt.” I amended what I wanted to say, in order to prevent a random person from questioning my ability.

  “We’re almost there.” Alice’s words, meant to be reassuring, were anything but when taken in the context that Hunter was already escaping with my brother.

  “I’ll meet you there.” I hung up before she could object. There was no way they were going after them without me. I knew Hunter and Jason were already gone.

  I ran out the door yelling back, “Thank you!” to the man who so kindly allowed me into his cabin. I rushed back to Hunter’s property, careful to only follow the trail Jason cleared for me.

  Alice, and to my surprise Mark Jones, arrived at the cabin at almost the same time as me. “Guys,” my voice held a warning note as I felt something from Hunter I never felt before. “Something’s happening, and I don’t think it’s good.”

  Alice looked confused, and Mark looked concerned. “What is it?” Mark asked, not waiting for an explanation as to how I knew.

  “It might be my fault. His mind, it’s… shattering. He’s feeling more emotions than he’s felt in his lifetime, and he can’t handle it.”

  “Who?” Alice asked. “Jason?”

  Shaking my head, I answered, “Hunter. The killer. He’s a sociopath, and not accustomed to feeling emotion. I threw so much at him that he can’t handle it, and I can’t shut them down. And Jason is terrified. Something bad is happening, guys. We need to go after them now!”

  All three of us jumped into the car, Alice driving. The tires squealed as she pulled out of the woods. She followed the directions I indicated based on the strength of my connection to Hunter and Jason.

  “Guys… Hunter just disappeared off my radar. Whatever was going to happen just did.” I fought to keep my voice steady, but Jason was in trouble, and I heard it tremble.

  Alice didn’t reply, only pushed the car faster. I hoped we were still going the right direction on the highway. “Whoa,” Jones breathed out as we approached an accident scene. The street was ripped up, and the car Hunter had been driving was flipped onto its roof.

  “Stay in the car,” Alice ordered as we stopped. She and Jones rushed to the other car, guns drawn. Alice went to the driver’s side of the crashed vehicle, bending down to see if Hunter was still in the car. She lowered her weapon and waved me over.

  I approached cautiously. “Is that him?” she asked gently.

  The man who had kidnapped Hannah and me, held us captive, and then tormented my brother was hanging limp and lifeless, belted into his car. “Yeah,” I choked out. “Where’s Jason?”

  “He’s not here,” Jones answered from behind us. “The trunk was forced open from the outside. I don’t think he left by choice.”

  “So where is he?” I asked frantically, searching the empty street around us in despair. “Where is my brother?”

  Acknowledgments:

  I would like to take this time to thank everyone involved in making this book (and the rest of my series) a reality. My family, especially my mom: Shirley Lemke, for taking the time to go through my work and find the grammar and punctuation mistakes. As a former teacher with a focus in English, she is quite useful for the task. My friend Amber Rose Lutzke, who helps me make sure my timeline continues to make sense (a problem I frequently have with my way of writing). Thanks for destroying sentences with me Amber! Brittany, thank you for editing and leaving me comments that make me laugh out loud. Also to my awesome cover designer Christian Bentulan. And last, but not least, everyone who is willing to give this book a chance. Thank you for taking the time to read!

  Did you enjoy this story? Please leave a review. You can find more of my work at: viewAuthor.at/AdrianneLemke and you can follow me on Facebook and twitter: www.facebook.com/earthshakerfans and @AdrianneLemke or visit my website: AdriLemke.com