by R. Sullins
“Okay, people! Let’s get this ball rolling.” I clapped my hands and looked around as everyone nodded their heads. They all chatted quietly about where they each were going to be heading off to individually. I looked back at Crispin and smiled at him when a silver glow swirled around him and he suddenly stood before me on four paws and shook his great big body and thick black fur.
I tilted my head and stared at his silver eyes. I smiled. I should have known he’d want to use every ability he had to protect me. I mouthed the words I knew he’d want to hear before I turned on my heels and started walking north, deeper into the city.
I love you, too, my Hunter.
I continued to smile as I passed locked doors and dark windows. The city must take pride in the cleanliness of the streets. No stray garbage drifted in the slight breeze. No strong smells emanated from the alleys I passed.
“Still no movement, Ivy.” Alan’s deep voice occasionally sounded in my ear as I walked block after block. I loved my boots but I wasn’t sure I would wear them on another long hike.
As I walked I practiced tossing and spinning one of the knives Crispin had given me. Out of all my new weapons it was my favorite by far. When he told me about the blacksmith he had been friends with, the one person in all his years he wanted to personally Turn, I tried to hand back the gorgeous knives but he just smiled at me. He made sure I understood that if the blacksmith had still been alive he would have been honored to have his small masterpiece gifted to the woman that was able to give Crispin back his love of life.
“Ivy, we still aren’t seeing any movement anywhere downtown. This area may be a bust. Why don’t you turn right at the end of the block and start circling back towards the starting point. I will tell you when to turn again.” I nodded my head without replying. I wasn’t supposed to talk so the revenants wouldn’t know I was communicating with anyone. If they were as smart as they seemed to be we didn’t want to take any chances in alerting them that there were others out there.
I turned at the end of the block and started my way east. I guess I was just going to make a big square of the downtown area. I was so thankful that it was a pleasant night. It was late September already and cooling off at night. I realized then that it had been about 5 months since Crispin had found me. I had spent the last five months training to be his Hunter and falling in love. I was having sex, amazing sex, for the first time in my 21 years. So much happened in such a short amount of time.
A thought occurred to me that James and Katerina had been hanging around since practically the beginning. I rarely thought of them because I was always busy with Crispin and the sentinels. When we weren’t training in the mansion’s gym/training room we were alone doing other things lately. We almost always had dinner together and, while they intruded that one time I had ruined her dress, they hadn’t joined us for dinner again.
They said that they were there for Crispin since he was such a good friend and hadn’t seen him in a while. But where had they been then? I saw them a few times in the training room watching and a couple of other times slinking around the mansion. But what were they doing the rest of the time?
My earbud chirped with a squeal and loud static just as I was peering down a dark alley, checking it carefully before passing in front of it, making me jump and slap my hand to my ear. I squeezed my eyes shut tight at the pain of the noise. My knees almost buckled and I bent over panting, frantically digging in my ear but I couldn’t get a grip on the tiny device. Alan had used tweezers to get it sat in correctly, there was just no way for me to get it with my fingertip. I didn’t notice my own screams of pain. I barely recognized the stench of revenant while screaming in agony. For distractions, this one was spot on.
I almost didn’t even feel the prick in the back of my neck. My focus was set on the pain in my right ear. But I found the pain fading fast as my vision dimmed faster. I tried to tell the sentinels what was happening, but I was sure that the only thing that came from my mouth was a garbled mess.
Chapter 24
*****
Crispin ran as fast as he could on his wolf paws. He was growling and snarling. No one was safe from his wrath at the moment, nor would they be if his Hunter wasn’t safe and whole and in his arms soon. He had known that there was something wrong. He hadn’t been able to shake the bad feeling the entire day that he had been laying in his bed. His trepidation was ignored and passed off as paranoia for his mate’s safety. Never again. Never would he ignore the feeling that danger was looming.
He was faster than he’d ever been before as he made it in seconds to the spot his Hunter had disappeared from. He held his nose in the air sniffing and then dropped it to the ground. There was the obvious stench of rot, definitely a revenant. A low terrifying growl tore out of his throat. There was a faint hint of exhaust that was newer than all the other smells and looked like tire marks on the sidewalk leading into the alley. If the revenants were waiting in the vehicle she may not have been able to smell them right away. The revenants could have been able to block the signal and leave quickly.
He looked around at the street lamps and wondered where the closest cameras were mounted. It was possible that Alan could pick up the vehicle and trace it to a location. How had they gotten her into a vehicle and gone so quickly?
There, on the ground, was a needle.
He changed back into his human self and carefully picked up the syringe. The tiny smear of blood near the tip was all he needed to confirm that his Hunter was taken by surprise and drugged.
“Alan, I’m going to need you on those cameras right now. I need to know where they were headed and someone needs to tell me how they even knew we were going to be out here tonight!”
Vengeance burned strong in his veins as he threw back his head and roared his fear and rage.
*****
I woke slowly, finding it difficult to breathe. I tried to sit up but had very little room for movement and ended up hitting my head pretty hard. It was so pitch black that I couldn’t see a thing, not even an outline of my hand. I gingerly moved my hand around, with my throbbing head as a reminder to be careful.
I brushed up against a solid wall that was slightly rough. I lightly tapped on it and ran my fingertips across the surface. It was definitely a metal. Some kind of rough metal that was obvious thick enough and strong enough to hold my weight. I pressed both hands against opposite sides of the box and pushed as hard as I could but there was no give. The sides I pushed on were only shoulder-width apart and a simple twist of my waist showed me that the opposite sides were only slightly further apart.
I was in a small rectangle box. A search told me there were no seams, rivets, holes, or doors. I could only assume that the box was welded together on the sides. But there had to be a lid, right? I tentatively ran my fingers along the top edges, so sure that they didn’t just magically poof me into the box and they couldn’t have welded the top on with me in it, right? I didn’t know anything about welding but I did know that the process made metal so hot it melted so that would be dangerous to do with me inside, right?
I was getting more worried by the moment while my breathing was getting harder. I tried to slow my breaths so I didn’t use up what little oxygen was left. Desperately, I pushed up on the top and was excited with the tiny amount of give when pushed. The top was removable. I sighed in relief. And with that little amount of give, there should be some oxygen able to get inside. If I were able to keep calm I shouldn’t run out of air.
With that worry temporarily put to rest, I tried to take stock of the rest of myself. I remembered the awful pain of the squealing in my ear and frantically reached for the earbud. I could still feel it inside my ear canal but it seemed dead or turned off. Maybe Alan realized it was hurting me and turned it off. Regardless of the reason, I was very thankful that the pain was gone.
I suddenly felt like kicking myself. How could I forget that I could communicate with Crispin?
Crispin, are you there! I need help!
&nb
sp; Almost immediately he responded. I could hear the worry in his tone and felt terrible guilt. He had been troubled by the worry that something was going to go terribly wrong and we all ignored his worry. We thought he was just being overprotective. His words brought tears to my eyes.
Baby, it is so good to hear from you. I’m coming for you, my Hunter, I swear it.
A sob broke from my chest. I tried to firm up my mental voice so he wouldn’t hear the fear.
Crispin, do you know where I am?
There was a hesitation before he answered.
No. The trackers all blinked off simultaneously just as Alan realized that your receiver was acting up and turned it off.
I think I know why. I took as deep a breath as the limited air allowed me. I seem to be in a metal box. My guess is iron and it is blocking the signals from the trackers. It is very strong. I don’t know how the lid is attached but there is the smallest amount of give. I paused, not liking the next words that I had to tell him. I am almost out of air, Crispin. I think some is coming in from the top, but not enough to replenish what I am using.
Promise me, my Hunter, promise me that you will not give up. I will find you. Whatever you have to do to stay alive, do it. Do you understand me? I could not miss the contained fury or the stark fear I was sure that he was trying to hide from me.
I understand, vampire, I will do my best.
You will.
It felt like he was stroking my mind the way he liked to brush his hand over my hair. It was a new feeling but I knew it was one that I’d grow to love. It was an intimate touch, one meant for just the two of us.
My mind strayed to the last time we were in bed together, the way he held my body as he stroked into me. The words he whispered in my ear. How he told me he’d never get enough of me and would spend the rest of eternity taking care of me. I felt the hot tears slide down my face. Who was doing this to me? Was it only because I was a Hunter or was it more? I had a feeling that it was a simple matter of the fact that I was a Hunter. Me, the person, was inconsequential to the overall strategy that this person, or persons, had concocted for their plan to take over the vampire world.
I wanted to allow myself only a few minutes of depression at my situation but the longer I sat there trapped inside of a box I couldn’t escape from, a box that was cutting off all electronic signals to let Crispin’s team know where I was, the more morose I became.
My breath started coming faster and a scream started bubbling up my throat. I need out, I need out now! The blackness around me felt as if it were sucking me in, making me a part of it. Without a will of my own my hands started pushing, shoving, and scraping at the sides of the box. From far away I heard myself screaming over and over until I was just whimpering. Finally, the blackness took me.
Chapter 25
*****
Crispin tried to resist slamming his fist down on the table in front of him. The fury was rolling off him in waves. “Find her!” His voice was no more than a growl as he issued the order. He ignored the looks of pity from his sentinels. He was so angry that they had all agreed that the plan was solid and a great idea. He couldn’t let go of the thought that he had known something would go wrong.
He turned to look out the window His fists clenched tightly as he pressed them against the window and rested his forehead on the cool glass. It had already been 3 hours since she’d been taken and a full hour since he last spoke to her mind. She was no longer responding to his prods against her mind. If he hadn’t known, without a shadow of a doubt that he would feel it in his soul if she were dead, he would have already torn the entire city apart.
*****
I wish I could have woken slowly, taking stock of my current surroundings. I wish I could have pretended I was still passed out and figured out where I was and who the bad guy was that had brought me here in the first place. I wish I could have done all that but, unfortunately for me, I woke with a muffled scream.
I have never suffered from claustrophobia before but now I have a newfound understanding for those that do.
As soon as my scream faded I looked around frantically. I was so relieved that I was no longer in my tiny, dark prison that I didn’t comprehend what I was seeing for several long seconds. The room was large with no windows and appeared to be entirely metal and cinder block. There were a couple of doors along with a door that appeared to be a roll-up metal door for cars. I wondered if I was in a garage or maybe it was a warehouse?
As I was taking in the room, it became clear that this was much more dire than just being captured by revenants. There were several tables, at a quick glance there looked to be six, with a woman strapped to each one. A couple of them were looking at me. One had pity in her eyes and the other had tears falling, soaking into her hair at the side of her head. It took several long moments to realize that I was looking at my mother. Her once vibrant blue eyes were dull, her hair that was once full and shiny like my own was limp and dirty. She looked thin and emaciated.
I frantically tried to sit up so I could go to her but finally realized that I was completely strapped down. I looked down at myself and saw I was naked under a sheet. I could feel a strap across my upper chest, one under my breasts, one across my waist, one across my hips and two more down my legs. When I tried to call out to my mother I felt the gag in my mouth. It felt like a roll of leather between my teeth. I looked back to my mother and saw that she was contained just like I was with tubes coming from her body.
I looked up and saw the metal poles that were hanging above my small metal table. One had bags of clear fluids leading to a tube in my right arm, the other had a tube filled with blood coming from my left arm. I followed the tube with my eyes and saw that it led to a small table set below my bed. The bag was already nearly full. Glancing around the large space I saw each of the women were similarly secured with the same poles and bags. A wave of despair washed over me. Along with it came the knowledge that my mother and several other Hunters had been imprisoned like this for years. Who would be able to endure this for years?
I frantically called out to Crispin with my mind, Crispin! Crispin, are you there?
His response was so quick he had to have been waiting for my call.
Hunter, where are you? Are you okay?
I sobbed out my terror. Crispin, I don’t know where I am. I seem to be in a warehouse. Crispin, there are Hunters here. We are all strapped to tables. Someone is keeping them prisoner by strapping them down and taking their blood. I can’t get loose, the straps are too tight. I sobbed uncontrollably in fear and misery. Crispin, my mother is here. She, she l-looks terrible.
I am so sorry, my Hunter. I promise I will tear down the city looking for you. His rage was clear in his tone.
What about the trackers?
They blinked on for a quick second before going dark again. We think it was when they removed you from the metal box but somehow they either removed all the trackers and destroyed them or Alan thinks they have a device that blocks signals. Do you see anything around you that looks like a black box?
I looked around me desperately but saw nothing.
I don’t see anything like a black box. I can’t move. And, Crispin, I am naked so all my trackers are probably gone anyway.
I could only imagine the roar he probably made when he realized what kind of desperate situation I was really in.
What about when the trackers blinked on? Was Alan able to pinpoint the location?
He was only able to see the general location. We know you are in an area on the outskirts of the city. My sentinels are already searching the area. I felt the stroke of his mind against mine, giving me comfort. Rest now. I will contact you again soon.
I felt when he left my mind because I suddenly felt empty and so alone. I looked back over to my mother and saw she was still staring at me. She didn’t make any movements other than to blink. I wondered if she recognized me or if she was just sad for the newest Hunter to be captured and imprisoned in this horrid scene.
>
*
I lay there for hours without seeing a single person that wasn’t strapped down and simultaneously drained while being intravenously fed. We were unable to communicate due to the gags and moving was out of the question. I wriggled and squirmed but it made no difference, with all my enhanced strength, for my situation other than to tire me out and chafe my skin raw where the straps bound me tightly.
I checked in with Crispin periodically and found that they still hadn’t discovered where I had been taken yet. They were afraid that I had been taken to a second location after the trackers flickered on. It was seeming likely that the person behind this was someone close to Crispin or the sentinels. It seemed reasonable to think that they had inside information, they certainly knew about the trackers and went to great lengths to avoid them from being utilized.
I was drifting off in a doze for the second time in the last several hours, unable to sleep deep or long with the trepidation coursing through me at the dangerous situation I was in. A sound of shuffling feet jerked me back to full consciousness. The stench of rot filled the cavernous room bringing awareness that revenants had just entered.
The shuffling feet drew closer and I was able to see the hairless, naked bodies of 3 revenants advancing toward my table. They were just like any others I had seen and smelled just as terrible. Their eyes, though, held a bit more intelligence. When they reached where I was laying vulnerable to their touch I tried in vain to again get free. I was helpless as they each stood by my bed, their red eyes and drooling mouths a nightmarish sight.
“Huuuunterrrr…” was a chant that they each were saying over and over. They all reached for me at once and scraped their claws across my exposed skin. One dug their claws deep into my upper arm, drawing a gash and making the blood from the wound flow and soak the sheet that was draped over me. I thrashed but was unable to move more than an insignificant amount. The one that had dug its claws into me raised its hand to its mouth and licked my blood from its filthy fingers.