by Emery Skye
"So pretty," he purrs.
Beth reaches a hand up and swats him away. It's the first action she's made this whole time and to be honest, I'm surprised she did that much.
The guy in blue races up to us. "I want the feisty one," he hoots.
I reflectively hit him hard in the jaw before he can grab her, and it knocks him back a few feet. Pain shoots up my hand and into my wrist.
He lifts up an arm, readying to hit me; I hide my face and clamp my eyes shut.
I brace myself for impact, but it never comes. He screams.
My eyes bulge from my head. Beth does a super cool spin-kick and knocks the blue hoodie guy into the wall behind us. The guy in black advances on her.
"Beth!" I shout, trying to get her attention.
She looks at me with glossy, blood-shot eyes. I'm not sure how she's still standing, much less kicked some guy twenty feet through the air.
"You're coming with me!" the red shouts as he grabs my arm and roughly drags me behind him. I trip and he yells, "You stupid bitch, get the hell up!"
I trip again and land on my palms and knees. I glare at him. A storm brews in his shit-colored eyes. My palms sting as the road embeds bits of sprinkle-sized rock deep underneath my skin.
There's no way this is it. This can't be all there is for me. I remember the conversation between Hunter and me; I'd told him that I didn't believe and if I did, then I hate him.
So, hear me and hear me good. I know I've screwed up a lot. I know I've probably not been living the way that I should be to make my family proud. But, if I make it out of this, then I will try harder.
I know it's risky to be making ultimatums with God and hell if he'll pay attention. Heck, he may lock my ass out of heaven if there is one, but I'm lost.
The blood runs steadily down my arm from the goliath-sized cut.
"You want to fuck with me?" the guy growls.
He draws his leg back and with a mighty force, he kicks it forward so that it collides with my ribs. My teeth chatter from the impact.
My face scrunches as pain ricochets around my body like it’s a pinball machine. My body rises and drops back down to the ground with a shuffling sound. I taste the cold earth as gravel infiltrates my mouth. My teeth chip on the diamond-sized rocks. He flips me over and bends down so he's now straddling my hips.
I scream but the sound seems lifetimes away. Cool tears stream down my burning cheeks. "Please," I beg. "Don't do this."
I've only ever begged once before in my life and it was in the name of my family. I begged they be brought back to me, but it never happened. Why would this be any different?
He’s staring down at me with nothing but cold-blooded thirst in his eyes. "You deserve this," he tells me.
"Why?" I'm sobbing.
He puts one hand around my throat and squeezes hard. I’m suffocating. My oxygen supply dissipates and my chest is on fire. I wonder if this is how Masterson felt before I almost ended his life.
"You want this or you wouldn't be out here like you are," he growls. He reaches down and lifts the hem of my dress up the length of my thigh. He moans as his hand trails upward. Vomit rises in my throat.
Why can't I be a badass all the time? Why is it that I only seem to be able to defend everyone else and not myself? That doesn't even make sense.
I pray Beth will be okay.
My vision blurs, but I watch as the red is yanked off my body and tossed away. I don't know how many seconds it takes before I hear him hit the ground.
It’s like a two-hundred-pound brick has been lifted from my body. Hunter leans in and I flinch away, but he brings his hand under my jaw and my eyes meet his. "Lex, I’m here. Are you okay?" he asks me, his brows furrow.
I reach up for my throat and cough violently, but not before I say, "Are you really here?" The first tear of happiness rolls down my cheek and he thumbs it away.
Hunter's eyes trail down to my throat, then to my dress that's up to my hips.
"I'm here. Did he…" he struggles to say the words. His Adam’s apple bobs.
I shake my head.
"Stay here," he orders. He leaps to his feet and wreaks havoc like a tornado.
I lift myself up and look for Hunter. I want him to come back.
Hunter moves too fast for my eyes to keep up.
Beth reaches my side as Hunter leaves. "I'm so sorry, Lexi," she cries. "I should have been paying better attention. I didn't realize..." she's rambling on and on, but I can't listen as my body is overcome with sharp pains.
"Lexi."
I nod in response.
"Can you stand?" she asks me. I vaguely feel the warmth of her hand on my bare shoulder.
Standing sounds like a terrible idea, but the alternative of staying here, sounds far worse.
My legs refuse to cooperate, but Beth puts one of my arms over her shoulder and together, we manage to get up.
Hunter is at my side in a flash.
"Elizabeth, how could you be so stupid? You know the situation."
"I didn't think--"
"Exactly," he interrupts. "You didn't think. You never think," he accuses and reaches to grab the back of his neck. An angry scratch mars his cheek.
My legs keep moving. I'm not sure how.
"I'm fine," I tell Beth. Her lips twist.
I pull my fingers from her grasp and she slowly, cautiously lets my arm down so I'm now walking on my own.
"I'm sorry," I say.
"For what?" Hunter asks.
"For everything." I know my face is messy mix of running black mascara, dark eyeshadow and dirt. My body throbs with developing bruises. I don't care, I look at him, my eyes searching his for forgiveness. "Please, please, don't be mad at us," I plead.
Beth and I jump when a siren wails.
Hunter freezes; he grabs the tops of my arms. "Lex, you have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one that should be sorry. I should have been with you. I should have protected you. Instead, I let myself be pushed away. Please forgive me," his eyes search mine.
Tears build in my eyes. I nod and the hard lines of his face smooth out in relief. He takes off his coat and wraps it around my bare shoulders.
It smells like him: sweet mint and evergreens.
I crawl into the back seat and Beth crawls in after me. Hunter’s driving.
After a few minutes, the car warms up. My muscles relax and my eyes drift shut. I fight the fatigue that's pulling me down, but it’s no use.
"I'm sorry, Hunter, but I had it," Beth tells him from the back seat.
I curl up in the seat, bringing my knees into my chest, and begin drifting in and out of a slumber.
THIRTY-FIVE
I wake up to Beth’s shouts.
"They're getting closer, Hunter!"
"I can see that, Elizabeth," he snaps.
The car jerks left, then right, causing my body to flail around like a fish out of water. The impact of the car door causes my left side to groan in pain. My eyes pinch shut in agony. I think I’m crying, but can’t be sure.
"What's going on?" I ask.
I peer out the back window; I’m blinded by large yellow headlights that are too close for comfort.
A black SUV’s behind us and it's fast approaching. The SUV's front bumper rams the BMW's back bumper and the car lurches forward.
“My car!” Beth cries.
Hunter strings together a mix of profanities; we're in deep trouble.
The car slams to stop. Beth and I fly forward and together scream.
My throat burns.
I mentally slap myself for not wearing my seatbelt as my face rams the back of the seat and we both fall into the crack on the floor. My ribs protest.
The car spins and my stomach rolls.
"What the hell is going on?" I yell once the car stops.
"Stay with her." Hunter tells Beth. He looks at me one last time, as if contemplating whether he should stay or should go.
I pray he'll stay. We shouldn’t separate.
Aft
er a second-long internal struggle, he slams the car door.
Beth’s fidgeting.
"He's got this," she tells me, although I think she's more telling herself.
"Got what?"
Her widened green eyes meet mine. She punches the back of the seat.
"He doesn't have a chance in hell without help. There's too many," she says restlessly.
"Too many what?" I ask only because I'm afraid if I don't ask her, I'll never know the truth.
"Hordes," she informs me and I realize then, Hunter and Beth are together in this whole thing. Everything makes a little more sense. The reason why Beth is so angry with Hunter all the time; the reason Hunter calls her Elizabeth; the way they speak to each other; everything. It makes sense because they know each other.
I gaze out the window; Hunter’s fighting off three Hordes. He's visibly tiring.
"We need to help him," I tell her.
Her upper lip twitches and her breathing increases, like she's on the verge of a panic attack. "You have to stay with me," she orders.
I nod.
We leave the car quietly and take advantage of the distraction created by Hunter and his extremely long, thick knife as he slashes through Horde after Horde.
Beth crawls to the side of the street and extends her hand toward a leafless tree. I think she might be crazy. I know the girl’s got a thing for nature, but now is not the time to go about hugging trees and doing weird chants. Oh, good Lord. The girl's chanting. Beth's eyes are closed and she's chanting.
You have got to be freaking kidding me!
I'm about to smack the bejuzzus out of her when the ground below vibrates. It’s like someone's taking a jackhammer to the pavement. My teeth chatter and I watch as the rocks, all shapes and sizes, fly off the ravine and slam into the three Hordes fighting Hunter. It gives Hunter a chance to finish two of them seamlessly.
I would be excited if it weren't for the three climbing up onto the street from the other side of the road. It's a never-ending battle and this is the second time tonight we're outnumbered.
Two Hordes slither toward Beth and I; she protectively puts her slim body between theirs and mine. I think her movement is a little odd considering she's smaller than me. Is she a vampire slayer too? I bet they don't like being called vampire slayers. If they're vampire slayers, then why are they killing these things and not vampires? I can't believe I'm thinking about this shit.
The Horde on the left reaches its arms forward; it's inky-black skin ripples over its small skeletal frame, then it falls back on its haunches and pushes off with its legs, propelling itself toward Beth. She easily catches the movement and executes a roundhouse kick, causing the Horde to fly into the other one. Beth does a little hopping maneuver and wears a wide smile.
I'm stunned, it's like she's having a good time. Another Horde advances on us from the right. He's wedged up against the wall.
"Beth," I whisper harshly.
She snaps out of her excitement and her face draws down creating a mask of death. The Hordes diagonal to us are scrambling. We're going to have to do something or else they will attack at the same time as the other three.
Beth knows this and quickly pulls her dress up revealing a long sheath. I gawk at the leather device strapped to her thigh. It was concealed so well.
She retrieves a knife that's a similar size to Hunter's only thinner and more feminine, if that even makes sense when talking about a knife.
Oh, good grief. What is becoming of my life?
"Alexi," the Horde on the pavement slithers and unease crawls up my arms.
Beth charges forward, leaving me behind, and slices the neck of the Horde that was once grinding his way along the wall.
"That's one," she shouts and I wonder what the heck she's talking about.
"I've got five, Elizabeth! Now pay attention," Hunter calls back from the street.
"Ugh, he's always showing me up!" she whines.
"Beth!" I shout, catching her attention. She snaps out of her pity party and leaps into action; literally, she jumps on the approaching Horde from behind and turns its head hard to the right. I hear a sickening crack, then she knifes it across the throat, as if snapping its neck isn't good enough.
Her red dress shines brightly under the single streetlight that's flashing red, adding to the spooky air in the atmosphere. She's dancing with the last Horde.
"Two," she calls.
"Six," counters Hunter.
"Damn." I realize now that these crazies are using the numbers to refer to their Horde body count and surprisingly, this does not disgust me. This is their normal.
Beth slaughters the last Horde and she rotates her body towards me with an expression of glee that quickly shatters like the thin ice on the river. Her eyes widen. I turn deliberately and feel the sharp impact of something heavy, maybe a rock, colliding with the side of my head. Darkness catches me in its suffocating grip.
THIRTY-SIX
The sharp pins threading away at my mind alert me that I'm awake... that I'm alive. The base of my skull throbs and needles stab at my temples. I lift my chin and clench my eyes at the ache behind them.
Panic sets in when I realize my arms are bound at the wrist with something sharp. I think back to the scene with Hunter and Beth. We were at the casino. No, we were on the road. We were attacked; something attacked us--the Hordes. Beth and Hunter fought them with an iron fist, but they were no match for the small army. I was knocked out. Someone hit me and must have brought me back to this place. Apparently, I was knocked out with something really hard gauging the circulating pain in my head.
"How nice of you to join us, Alexis," a deep voice growls from in front of me. I recognize the voice, but the ominousness of it surprises me.
I open my eyes slowly and my throat constricts. "Chase," I whisper.
My big brother stands before me, a sharper version of his old sel. He’s dressed in a sleek, fitted, grey pinstripe suit, a fuchsia shirt peeks out from underneath. His hair is cropped like I remember, close to his head like freshly mowed grass. It's just a little darker than before, lacking its usual sun-kissed tint. He’s scary... even in... pink.
His outfit may be bright, but a haunting shadow emanates from him. The obscurity of it matches the cloud lurking over my mind.
"Hello, Alexis. I've been looking everywhere for you," he tells me with a hint of irritation that I easily catch, seeing as this monster in front of me was once my brother.
I swallow hard. I want to hug him and hide from him, all at the same time. This is surreal. My eyes fill with tears before I'm able to stop them. He's here. He's real. All those times that I chased the hallucination and here he is. All those times I cried myself to sleep over his disappearance and here he is. All of those times I found myself alone and screaming in the middle of the night and here he is.
He's different though. He's Chase, but is he still my brother? This, I don't know. My brother would never bind my wrists and stare down at me with such anger, frustration and irritation.
There's still a possibility. That possibility is too much for me to ignore.
"I've heard," I whisper.
Chase's blue eyes darken. "Yes, that annoying Cambion. He and his kind are exhausting. His teeth grind together.
My brows dip low on my forehead. Cambion? What the hell is a Cambion?
Chase recognizes my confusion. "He hasn't told you. Has he?" Chase asks with a hint of condescension.
"What has he told you?"
"Enough," I bite defensively.
There's still a possibility.
Chase dips low and grabs my chin between his fingers so that his nails dig into and, eventually, break my skin. I gasp.
"You will not speak to me that way!" He growls.
"What happened to you?" I force the words out. "Why are you like this?"
He releases my chin and rises up. "Like what?"
Chase stares down at me like a predator stares at his prey, not like a loving brother looking at his
sister.
"What happened to my big brother?” Tears stream down my face silently. "My brother would never hurt me. He would never hurt dozens of innocent girls."
"Let me tell you something, Lex;" my heart clenches at his old term of endearment for me. "I'm not your big brother anymore. Your big brother was a pansy. He was nothing."
Still, there's a possibility.
"As opposed to a murderer!"
"As opposed to a king," he corrects. I scan my surroundings for the first time, noticing that we are in an industrial building. It's like the building in the video that Hunter showed me.
I'm silently pleading with Chase; every teardrop, is a wish for him to come back to me.
"And this is what... your palace? Some beaten down building?" I retort, feigning toughness. I know I'm playing with fire, but this can't be my brother. This is in no way the guy who always stood up for me, babysat me and never made me feel bad when he missed time with his friends, helped me with the dishes... this can't be him!
Please, don't let this be Chase.
"You're making this very easy for me, Lex."
"Making what easy? You killing me to finish Transitioning into some cold-blooded monster!"
He cocks a groomed clay-colored eyebrow.
"So, you know about the Transition." He brings his thumb and ring finger together to make a snapping noise. A door to the left swings on its hinges and a Horde walks through in all his inky, black nastiness carrying a chair similar to one I'm sitting on.
Chase sits in the chair, "Tell me, what else the Cambion told you."
I pause, considering what I should and shouldn't say. "He told me that my brother was dead and that your vampire trash." I'm praying Chase will tell me it's not true.
"Trash? He's the one that's trash. After you, I'll take great pleasure in ripping the skin from his skull and watching him choke on it." I flinch.
He speaks with such animosity and hate.
"How did you turn evil overnight?" I ask, baffled by his voice, his appearance, by him.
"It wasn't overnight. Everyone wanted me to be so good that they ignored all the bad."
I shake my head.
"No. I know you were good. Don't try that bullshit with me. I know you!"
