Bathed in Moonlight

Chapter Two

Blood and Secrets

Mia’s POV

As I crouched next to Caleb, his blood covering the ground beneath us, the earth slanted under me. As I struggled to stop the bleeding, I could feel my chest constricting with terror and the sharp sting of anxiety nesting at my neck. Nevertheless, the blood continued to pour darker and deeper than I could have ever imagined no matter how hard I pressed.

"Cabal..." My voice was just a whisper; it trembled with desperation as I bent over him and looked wild. You have to be here with me. Kindly remain with me.

His eyes opened and he appeared almost startled to find me there for a split second. Though his lips opened as though he wanted to say something, the words escaped him. Rather, he reached up, his hand warm and powerful but laced with a weakness I had never felt before. It brushed my cheek.

"I told you to stay away," he rasped, his voice almost audible over my heart's wild cadence. His eyes clouded with something like regret, and I felt his words weigh me like a warning, a menace. But I couldn't distance myself—not now, not when he is most needed.

I shot back, "I'm not going anywhere," sharp, rebellious, even though my hands were shaking. "I'm not leaving you here."

He frowned, the anguish clear on his face, but there was something more in his eyes—something I deciphered. Something that caused him to just slightly withdraw.

"You don't know what you're getting into, Mia," he said, his voice tight with a mix of grief and guilt. "This planet, this life—it is deadly. You are not ready for it. I... I wanted you not to be involved.

I looked at him, my heart hurting in unexpected ways. Though I was not going to back down, the statements felt like a punch to my gut. Not today. Not when the tension in the air between us was intolerable and I could no more deny.

"I'm already involved," I responded, my voice firm despite the terror chewing at me. Caleb, you cannot push me away. Not right now.

I briefly assumed he might argue. Then he started to wince, and his hand sought mine once more, fiercely grasped as though I might vanish. He seemed so sensitive, so unlike the relentless, enigmatic man I had known. I had no idea what to make of it—was he genuinely pushing me away because of something deeper than I recognized, or was he attempting to protect me?

Before I could inquire, though, a rustling sound tore through the tension and sent a thrill of terror across me. I tilted my head to look about the woodland, but the shadows were too thick to make anything distinct.

Caleb said, "I thought I told you to stay down," his voice nothing more than a snarl as he struggled to propel himself, but his strength was fast failing.

Panic edging my voice as I attempted to keep Caleb steady, I murmured, "Caleb," but he was already slipping. For someone who had just been standing only a few minutes ago, his body was frigid.

His words hardly audible above a whisper, "We need to go, Mia." "Suddenly."

I shook my head, trying not to let the horror slink into my chest. "No," I am not going to leave you.

But I heard footsteps before I could object much more. The obvious crunch of leaves underfoot. Not only one individual but several.

"Caleb, we're not alone," I said, staring frantically toward the sound source.

He stopped, and for a little instant I could see the flutter of something—danger, perhaps even desperation—pass across his face. Without further word, his grip tight around my wrist, he drew me up with a strength that betrayed his injuries.

"You have to trust me," he added with a dark, urgent voice. "This is more than our scale."

I was pressed for time and argued. Not even had time to inquire of him what the devil was going on. All I knew was that before whoever was closing up on us got here, got him out of there.

Though his movements were irregular, weak, he staggered forward taking me with him. But time did not allow slowing down. We had to get moved.

"Caleb, what's happening??" My voice strained as I tried to match his lengthy strides, but my mind was racing and the bits of the puzzle did not quite fit together.

He said nothing. He only dragged me along quicker now, although every stride seemed to drain him more. The woods were still too quiet. From behind us, then, came a harsh, deep snarl.

My heart skipped in my chest, and I was unable to stop the tremor of anxiety coursing through me. Too guttural, too primitive, it was a sound not quite human.

"Caleb!," I gasped, tightening my hold on his arm. " What the hell is that?"

His eyes briefly caught on mine, then he turned his head toward the sound, agonizingly slow. His face grew rigid and his jaw clearly tensed.

"It's they," he muttered, his voice scarcely more than a growl. "The pack is this."

The pack. Though I wasn't sure what that meant, I knew we were in grave risk and therefore I didn't need to understand.

Caleb urged me to run ahead of him with a surge of adrenaline. My breath seized as I staggered, but I pushed myself to keep going. The roar got louder, approaching.

Caleb's hold tightened on my wrist, and for a second I felt his pulse, steady and quick under my fingers. Though I didn't know what was happening or how much this world of his truly sank, I couldn't ignore it any more. Caleb Hawke possessed more than only his enigmatic nature. Some dark. anything threatening.

The moonlight created spooky shadows on the ground as we tore through the woods into a clearing. But time ran out to catch our breaths. Footfall, strong, deliberate, echoed behind us, closing closer.

Caleb remarked, his voice quiet but with a hard determination: "They're coming." Look forward instead of looking behind. Don't stop here.

I had no need for two explanations. My pulse thumping in my ears, my feet moved faster as I turned over my shoulder just long enough to see forms—dark, shifting, moving much too quickly to be human.

Then, just as we arrived at the brink of the clearing, a man appeared from the undergrowth.

Zara.

Her eyes shining with an unusual light, she entered the moonlight and started to smile at the corners of her mouth.

"You're not going anywhere, Mia," she remarked, her voice full with contempt. Not following all you have done.

Caleb stopped, his whole body stiffening as he stood before me, a wordless pledge to guard me even at the price of his life.

"Move, Zara," he growled, sounding like a deadly snarl. "I'll not warn you once more."

But Zara simply laughed, the sound resonating throughout the forest, and I could feel more steps approaching crunching underfoot. Not only her but more than that.

"Time's up," she whispered, her eyes flickering with something dark, old. Right now, Mia, you are mine. Whether or not you find it appealing.

I found it difficult to breathe. I found myself unable to reason. nor with the darkness closing in, nor with the prospect of whatever this was dangling over us.

And then I felt it—the tug, the pull, deep inside me—just as I thought we could not get much more trapped. The feeling I had not known till now. The draw of something much more potent than anything I could have ever dreamed about.

Something waking and rising inside of me.

And I knew one terrible reality as the first of the shadows surged toward us.

I was not the only victim living on this planet. I was aiming for something.

And I had no notion how I may rebel.

The ground under us shook, a roar that rocked the very air before I could react. Behind Zara was a tall, striking man with fiery-burning eyes.

Caleb's voice rumbled low and ominous, "It's time to choose."

My pulse thumping in my chest, I paused realizing I was standing on the brink of something far darker than I could have ever dreamed.

The darkness was drawing near. And there was no exit.

Standing still and staring at the tall man who had just emerged behind Zara, my breath came in short bursts. His presence was overpowering, as the darkness itself had materialized into human form. His eyes gleamed with a burning intensity that seemed to cut right through me, erasing all last traces of uncertainty.

Caleb, who is he? My voice hardly raised above a whisper; worry crept into my sentences. My heart agonizingly against my ribs as I rushed instinctively toward Caleb, but the gap separating us from the intruders seemed insurmountable.

Caleb's gaze narrowed at the man behind Zara, his jaw tightened. His body was tense and for the first time since I met him I saw dread in his eyes—something he was unable to suppress. Though his hand gently moved to the concealed pistol under his coat, he did not respond immediately. I sensed his hesitancy. Whatever this was, it was considerably worse than I could have ever dreamed.

The man moved forward, his huge body throwing a great shadow across us. His voice rumbled, low and deadly, like though every syllable weighed decades. " Caleb, it's time for choice. You might stand with us or with the female here. But let me say, your decision will define everything.

The promise of violence permeated the thickening weight of the air. Looking at Caleb, his face a mask of uncertainty, I could sense his reluctance hovering between us. The ground itself seemed to be waiting for Caleb's choice, breathing. But what decision might he possibly take? Whoever this was, whoever they stood in for, they were not the kind of folks you crossed.

"Caleb..." I murmured once more, my voice wavering between desperation and terror. "What exactly is happening? Who are they?

Before he could respond, though, Zara moved closer with a mocking smile that escaped her view. "I wouldn't be too fast to call for aid, Mia. You will find it. Soon enough we'll all be evident.

Her remarks were followed by a horrible silence, the only sound the far-off rustle of trees in the wind. Then, without notice, the first figure rushed at us; his motions were so quick it was practically hard to follow. A blur of action.

Although Caleb's responses were lightning-fast, the attack's sheer strength knocked him off balance. He staggered backward, trying to get back on his feet, but his wound—still gushing freely—had sapped him more than I had known.

"Caleb!" Reaching for him, I cried, but the figure whirled with terrible ease knocked me aside. I fell on the ground, agony blossoming on one side as I tried to get back up.

Before I heard the crackle of something moving—more figures, rising from the shadows, encircling us—I hardly had time to register the surge of panic. The air grew colder, and my senses sparked with a basic instinct I was unable to entirely control. Now, the pull inside of me was more intense.

Though wobbly, Caleb was back on his feet; his eyes were flying between me and the advancing strangers. His hold on the secret weapon strengthened, yet I could see his doubt. whoever this was, whoever they were, he knew more than he would be comfortable to admit.

Caleb hissed, his voice strained with the effort to keep me safe, "Mia, get out of here."

"I'm not heading away from you!" I shot back, my voice crisp with defiance, yet my body shouted to indicate I had to run.

The one who had spoken earlier—the one with blazing eyes—stepped forward, his expression unreadable, like he had seen this moment perform a hundred times before. "You think you have a choice?" his voice rang across the clearing. You already participate, Mia. Simply said, you do not yet know it. And believe me; the cost of your revolt will not appeal to you.

His remarks felt to me like a black cloud, weighing me. The tension in the air became intolerable, and Caleb's body was stiff with wrath and desperation.

'Stay back!' Desperate to shield me, Caleb growled with a forceful tone, but his power was faltering. Now he was running out of options, so the panic in his eyes was difficult to miss.

Then another voice emerged from behind the black figure—a chilly, familiar laugh that made my spine shake.

Still, well, well. Caleb has been a long time away.

The last person I ever would have imagined to see gliding under the moon.

Lena:

Her smile twisted with something sinister as she stared from Caleb to me, her eyes shining with sadistic pleasure. " Looks like the game’s just begun, doesn't it?" Her voice thick with a terrible thrill, she said.

I stopped; the world around me shrank to a single point of scorching anxiety. Lena.). Caleb's backstory is interesting. The treachery I did not yet know about.

And then I felt it—cold, pointed fingers on the back of my neck—just as I tried to digest the horror of her look.

A whisper with low poisonous intensity.

Mia, it's too late to reverse now.

My vision hazily, the sharp sting of cold wrapping around like shackles. I battled, panting for air, but the strain on my neck just tightened. Just before everything went black, I heard Caleb's voice one final time, far and terrified. I could feel the pull of darkness slinking in at the margins of my vision.

"Mia!"

Nothing else follows then.

The darkness seemed to swallow me completely.