Hunter Wars

Chapter 8

When the door swings open Johnathan and I leap from the bed. Jonathan grabs my wrist and places himself between me and the intruder. His frame is so large that standing directly behind him like this makes it difficult to see around him. I see his hand starting to glow. I let my fangs descend just in case.

“How cute,” I hear Morris say. How the hell did he even get in here? I thought Johnathan said only his hand was able to access this room. “Here we have been looking all over for this young lady and the whole time she has been hidden in here. Captain, you should know better.” Before I know it Johnathan is convulsing in front of me and then he hits the ground.

“Now for you, my dear,” Morris hisses as he starts towards me. I back up a little trying to put distance between us as I know that I do not need to let him get his hands on me. That would just not end well.

“How did you get in here?” I ask him. “I thought only Johnathan could open the door.” I am trying to stall for time as I work out a plan to get out of here.

“I helped develop the security pads and secured my prints to all doors in this building.”

Morris is still stalking towards me when I make a side step and bolt out the door. I don’t get more than halfway down the hall when I am suddenly surrounded by men in the same black pants and shirts that Johnathan wears. This is not an ideal situation to be in I must admit.

I turn in circles trying to anticipate where the first attack will come from. I see one man’s hands start to glow. I turn my body so I can see as many of the men as I can.

“Gentlemen, this doesn’t seem like a very fair fight to me. I’m sorry that your egos are about to get a major bruising,” I tell them as I take a cautious step towards the man who has already set his hands to that dangerous red. Once I get within arms reach of him I quickly turn and circle behind him. I wrap my arms around his torso and start walking backward with him till I have a wall to my back so I am no longer surrounded.

“Backup, and let me out before I drain him!” I call out to the others in the hall, making sure they all can see my fangs. I’m banking on that they care more about saving their own than capturing me. I wait to see if they are going to make a way for me to get out. They keep stalking me. I now know what a zebra feels like when a pack of lions are hunting them.

“Now, Ms. Cleo, you can make this a lot easier on yourself if you will just come with us willingly,” Morris says walking to the front of the group that is surrounding me. He runs a hand over his ginger beard. He steps to the side and I see two men dragging Johnathan between them. He is unconscious and his head is rolling around on his shoulders. I look at him and know I have to find a way to get the both of us out of this mess.

“If you do not let my soldier go we will make sure both you and Johnathan pay the price,” Morris says as we all have a staredown trying to see who will make the first move. I can’t let them harm Johnathan anymore than what they already have. I let my hostage go and shove him towards Morris and hold my hands out in surrender. Next thing I know they throw a bolt of magic at me that hits me in the chest.

I go down to my knees. I try my best to return to my feet, but am unable to. My whole body hurts. That blast should’ve knocked me out but I am still holding on to my consciousness.

“Blast her again!” Morris orders. I see a streak of light coming for me. I let a groan escape my lips when it hits me again. This time when the magic strikes me I can no longer hold on and I black out.

When I come to, I am in my old cell again in the cave. I sit up on my cot and look around. There is a new soldier guarding me. He looks young. He can’t be any older than sixteen. “Where is Johnathan?” I ask and my voice is hoarse. How long have I been out? I lift my right arm just to see how everything is feeling. I finally stand and make my way over to the bars of my cell.

The young soldier looks over at me but doesn’t respond. He just stares at me as if I were an animal on display at the zoo. I clear my throat and ask again where Johnathan is. Still the soldier does not reply. I walk over to the bars of the cell making sure not to touch them as I try to get this soldier to give me any information at all. “I understand that you have not come in contact with vampires very much in your life. I just want to know if Johnathan is alright.”

The soldier still doesn’t make a sound and just continues to stare at me. This begins to get under my skin. I start to pace back and forth in my small cell when I feel a jolt of pain in my stomach like the wind has been knocked out of me. I hunch over wrapping my arm around my stomach. What the hell was that? That was no hunger pain, then I felt a sting across my cheek as if someone had just punched me in the face. Jonathan! I think to myself. They must be punishing him for hiding me.

I run over to the bars again and yell at the soldier “Tell me what they are doing to him! I swear once I get out of here I will make all of you pay for hurting him!” There is no way I will let them get away with this. Afterall, it is my fault that he is being punished right now. Had he not tried to save me he wouldn’t be in this mess. I feel another blow to my abdomen and have to hunch back over in order to catch my breath.

There are a few more blows to my face and my ribs. I make my way back to my cot and sit down on it once again trying to regain my composure. If I am feeling this there is no telling how much pain he is truly in himself. I don’t understand exactly why it is that I am able to feel his pain. It makes me feel ill that he is suffering because of me. I lay back on my cot trying to put my mind at ease and not worry about what is becoming of him.

I’m unsure how much time passes when the blows finally stop coming. I can tell that Johnathan is in desperate need of medical attention at this point. As I am trying to figure out a plan to get him and myself out of this place I hear footsteps coming down the hall. I see two soldiers dragging something between them. It is Johnathan, his head is lulled to one side and he is unconscious. They have the young soldier open the cell and they throw Johnathan in here with me.

As soon as they close the cell I rush to his side and make sure that he has a pulse. Once I have located the pulse I breathe a sigh of relief. “Johnathan, open your eyes.” I softly say to him as I brush a strand of hair from his face. His face is beaten. There is blood dripping from one side of his mouth and his right eye is swollen. I drag him over to the cot and lay him down on it. He lets out a slight moan as I get him situated on the cot.

He opens his good eye just slightly and looks at me, and does his best to smile. “Well, aren't you a sight for a sore eye.” He laughs at his own joke but then grimaces in pain.

I roll my eyes at his lame joke and lean down to whisper to him. “I will get us out of here.”