Hunting Aria

Two

Aria winced and after a moment all she heard was silence. Was she dead? 

Her eyes opened and she saw the man still standing there, smoke leaving the muzzle of the gun. She followed the man’s line of sight behind her where two bodies lay. 

"How many?" his deep voice asked. 

"Two more." Aria stammered. 

The man tossed keys into her hand, "There is a car two hundred yards that direction. Go there, if I'm not there in three minutes leave without me." He stormed off in the direction of the house before Aria could respond. 

"Who was that?" Cody asked. Aria didn't respond, she had no idea, but she would do exactly as told. Aria rushed her brothers across the muddy forest, every time they fell into the mud Jack would cry out in agony. Aria tried her hardest to ignore her brothers’ pain as she saw a large black Escalade. She quickly pressed the unlock button to verify before opening the back door. The sound of gunshots popped off as they pulled Jack into the car. Cody climbed in on the other side as Aria rushed to the driver side door. 

Just as she started the car, she saw the same man running out the woods and towards the car. For a moment her thought was to speed off before he could catch up, but he had saved them. The man’s hand connected with the handle just as bullets rang out behind him. He climbed in quickly and Aria slammed on the gas. 

"Drive." He demanded as he began firing back out to the people outside until his gun no longer hand bullets. A half mile down the road, everything became silent as aria maintained a speed of 80mph. 

"Sir, my brother. He's shot." Cody cried out, "He's pale and he's not awake anymore." 

Aria looked into the rear-view mirror to see the panic in her brothers’ eyes. 

"Keep your eyes on the road." The man demanded to Aria. "Where was he shot?" The man asked while reloading his gun.

"His leg." Cody responded. 

"Where at?" 

"His calf." Cody responded, "What do I do? He isn't awake and he's so cold." 

"He is just in shock. Luckily it was only in his lower leg. No major arteries, and if they were hit, we would know." 

"How do we know? How do we know he is okay?" Aria asked panicked. "He looks dead." The words shook from her mouth. 

"He's in shock." The man typed in an address into the GPS and directly Aria to follow it before climbing over the seats into to backseat of the car.

"Give me your shirt." Aria looked in the mirror again to see what exactly was happening. It looked like they were making a tourniquet to tie off Jacks leg. Moments later Aria pulled into a long driveway that lasted about two miles. She wasn't sure if where they were going was safe. She didn't even know if they should trust him, but he was helping them for now. 

As the headlights came into video of a small cottage Aria slowed the car and turned off the lights. Once the car stopped, the man jumped out, "Help me carry him inside." He said to Cody. 

Poor Jack, he had never broken a bone or experienced anything this painful. Aria would take nine bullets right now to trade space with her brother. She watched worriedly as the bust through the door and moved Jack to the bedroom in the back. Aria turned on the light in the room as they laid Jack in the center of the bed. 

"Grab water, turn on the stove, and heat a knife." The man demands to Aria, who immediately obeyed. 

"What do I do?" Cody asked. 

"Grab a towel and be ready to hold him down." 

Aria rushed back out to the kitchen, turning on the light which flooded the room. The kitchen was tiny, along with the rest of the house. The gas stove flicked on and Aria filled a dusty cup filled with water. She also found a half empty bottle of scotch as well. Aria took two healthy swigs of the burning liquid before rushing back to the room to deliver. 

The sight was the worst she had ever seen. A pale Jack laying on the bed, his head in Cody's lap and the man cutting away at his pajama pants to get to his flesh. 

"Snap out of it. If you want your brother to live, you need to snap out of it." The man said loudly, "Help your brother hold him down. He may be out now, but this is going to heart like a bitch." 

Aria nods and holds onto Jacks legs as Cody took his arms. The man took the water and poured it directly on the wound to get a clear view of the wound. He sat closely to the wound and he flushed it out. He took the Scotch and poured it onto the wound as well. That caused Jack to wake up and began howling in pain. 

"Put the towel in his mouth. We are only 8 miles away from your house and we don't need his screams alerting them of where we are." He said. 

Cody shoved the towel in his brothers’ mouth, "Shouldn't we move? What if they find us?" 

The man looked up at Cody, "As long as you're with me, you're safe." 

Cody gave a half smile as he focused on holding Jack down again. After using the hot knife to close the wound, the man brought out a needle and thread to seal the hole shut. Jack cried endlessly until the man was done. By the time he was finished, Jack had passed out from the pain. 

"Will he be okay?" Aria asked. 

The man stood and wiped his hands on his jeans, "It was a flesh wound, through and through. He's lucky, he will be in pain, but he will be okay." 

"I'm going to do a perimeter sweep and make sure we aren't followed and attacked when we aren't expecting. Don't open the door for anyone." The man didn't give Aria a chance to respond before he walked out. 

She turned to Cody who was covered in mud and dirt. Walking over to the chest in the room she opened it up, finding a bunch of male clothes. She pulled out shorts, boxers and a t-shirt. It all would be too large on Cody, but it would do. 

"Come on Cody, take a shower." Aria said, tossing the clothes at him. Cody climbed off the bed and stood in front of Aria. He was easily a foot taller than her; his slender frame was even more pale today than it was before. He kept his dark hair long, he always had. He had managed to pull it up into a bun nearly every day but now it was unruly and hanging. Aria pushed it out of his eyes, trying her hardest to be strong until she can find her own moment to cry it out. 

"You look just like dad." She smiled. 

Cody gave a weak smile, "Dad's dead, isn't he?" Aria didn't respond, she only looked away. "Mom too?" 

Aria sighed and looked back at her brother, "Go shower." 

"What are we going to do? Should we go to the police? Who is that guy anyway?" Cody rambled off all his questions as if Aria had a single answer. 

"Right now, we are going to shower. I'll figure out a plan. You just shower and go to sleep." Aria said. Cody retreated into the bathroom and Aria walked over to Jack who was deep in sleep. She places her lips onto his forehead, which was still icy cold and covered in sweat. 

She lay her head on his chest and let herself cry as she held her brother. One of the last two people that she had left. She didn't want to think of her father or her mother. They were dead, she was sure of it. And now she was an orphan responsible for her brother’s wellbeing. 

She heard the sound of Cody in the shower, taking longer than usual due to the dry mud he had all over his body. She felt bad that Jack looked the way he did. From the waist down he was covered in mud, his own blood on his shirt. 

Aria made her way to begin stripping him down to his underwear, trying her hardest not the wake him. Going to the kitchen she wet three towels to wipe down her brother.

By the time Cody was out of the bathroom, Jack was cleaned. He looked a lot more comfortable now, his face of agony looked just like the sleeping jack she saw all the time. 

"Can I sleep with Jack?" Cody asked, "I want to share the bed with him." 

Aria didn't even think to wonder if there was another room in the cabin. She agreed and pulled the covers back for Cody. 

Once he climbed in, Cody pulled her into a hug, "I love you." 

"I love you too, sleep." Aria said, kissing him on his forehead. Being only five years older than Cody she felt the need to protect him still. He was taller, but tonight he looked just like the seven-year-old she would fight seniors to protect. 

None of her brothers were able to be bullied because Aria always showed up to fight for them. It kept them out of trouble, but her in a lot of it. To this day, Aria was sure that she would die to protect them. Even now, if a person busted through the doors, she would make damn well sure that her brothers made it out alive. 

Aria walked to the window, closing the thin dusty curtains. This place looked like it had been abandoned for years but there were a few things that showed her that it wasn't. The chest was filled with old clothes while the dresser had clothes with the tag still on. 

The kitchen being stark minus the full trash can and bottle of scotch. Soap remaining in the bathroom. Perhaps the man lived here. Aria made her way back into the bathroom after grabbing a t-shirt from the drawer. She couldn't fit any of the bottoms, but the full-length shirt was better than what she had on. 

All she had was her tank top from the night before and her underwear she still had no idea what time it was, but the sky was still dark, so she knew it wasn't too early in the morning. The shower still had mud in it from Cody, but she ignored it, climbing in and letting the hot water run over her dark hair down her body. 

Slowly the mud and blood began to wash away, and she let out all of the emotion she was feeling. The water wasn't hot enough to wash away the feel of the man from the house’s eyes on her. She felt disgusting and he hadn't even touched her. 

What would she have done if her brothers were able to flee? The answer to that was easy, anything. Anything until they were able to. After she couldn't cry anymore, she turned off the water and dried off with the towel hanging. Once she was finished, she pulled on the shirt and exited the room, comforter to see Cody and Jack sleeping peacefully. 

She closed the door behind herself, nearly bumping into the man from the woods. Her heart spiked for a moment when she saw a gun in his hand, his feet covered in mud. Was he going to hurt them? She guarded the door her brothers were in protectively, prepared to demand them to run. 

"Relax," He said, putting the gun down, "If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be buried." 

Comforting, Aria thought. 

He looked her up and down slowly before turning away back into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and pouring the scotch into it. He handed it to Aria before sitting on the couch with the bottle himself. Aria moved from the door and to a chair opposite of the man, careful not to get too close when she felt this exposed. 

"Can I ask your name?" Aria asked. 

"No." the man took a swig from the bottle, not even looking in her direction. 

"Well, why did you help us? Are you the police?" Aria asked. 

"No." 

"That was only one answer." Aria pointed out nervously. 

The man slammed the bottle on the table, "You don't get to question me. I'm in charge. If you want your family to live you listen to me. No questions. Deal?" He asked. 

Aria was too dumbfounded to speak; she only nodded her head. Quietly she drank from the cup, the man only sat there. She noticed there were no more rooms in the house, she was tired, but she didn't want to risk the man getting pissed and sending them on their way. 

"You can sleep on couch and I'll keep watch outside. Tomorrow morning I'll call the sheriff to come and collect you all." He said before standing. 

There were no blankets, but she was tired enough not to care. She laid down on the sofa and closed her eyes before the man exited the front door. Just for a moment, she felt safe.