by Resca Rojas
“God damn it, Riley. They will kill you. Just stop!” She was frustrated, and had buried her emotions so deeply, that they were now coming out along with tears. “Please.” She whispered to him.
Riley nodded and Amber then got up from her seat. “I have to go.”
“Are you going to be okay? Do you need a ride?”
“I’ll be fine, Riley. Thank you. For everything.”
Now as she laid on her bed and had the room to her door opened, Ethan knocked on it with three light taps as a way for him to announce himself. “Babe, you have to eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
He took a deep breath. He knew that it was wrong to guilt trip her into doing anything that she did not want to do, but he was concerned about her mental and physical health. He had to get her out of this town. It was a constant reminder for them both that this was where every bad thing started to happen to them. Ethan did blame Dante and Klayton for everything.
“I will be in the living room, if you need me. Markham and Antonio are outside, and Mila is cooking dinner.” He then placed a cup of coffee on the night stand next to Amber and began to walk away.
“Hey.” Amber called out to him and he quickly turned around and looked at her. “How did you do it?”
“Do what, babe? The coffee? Just three spoons of-“
She smiled and laughed for the first time since they arrived at the town. “No, dummy. Not that. How did you get over your mother’s death?”
He realized that the love of his life was seeking comfort, and he wanted to give Amber that, but he felt that she needed to hear this, as he wished that he had heard it from someone when it had happened to him.
“I didn’t. I never got used to my mother dying. That pain will never leave me. I just learned how to live with it.”
He saw that she was biting her lip, trying not to cry. Then he continued, “But I had to learn that on my own, and I promise you; you won’t have to. I will be there for you. I may not be able to take the pain away,” he walked towards her and leaned down to kiss her forehead as she sat on the bed, looking at him, “but I can help you endure it."
She grabbed his arm and asked him to stay with her. He gladly did so and laid on the bed with her, where they cuddled. They were facing each other, and he kissed her.
Ethan could tell that she wanted to tell him something, so he asked her if there was something on her mind.
“You need to know why I haven’t been wanting to turn into a vampire or a werewolf.”
Ethan stayed quiet and just continued to listen to her. He was happy that his patience was now paying off as he had been dying to know why.
“When Mila and Antonio went to buy groceries for tonight, I asked Mila to buy me a pregnancy test.” She stopped to try to get a read on Ethan’s facial expressions before continuing.
“Am I going to be a dad?”
“Yes. You are going to be a daddy. Are you-“
He interrupted her before she could have anymore doubts. “This is the best day of my life.” He kissed her tenderly. “Of course I’m happy. I want this.”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s get married. Wait- we can’t be part of this now. I can’t risk it with you and the baby.”
“Another thing that I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”
“You want to stay, don’t you?”
“This was never really our war. It all started when Dante and Klayton wanted revenge. I feel bad for them. Especially Dante. I know Klay was younger when it happened, so it did not affect him as much as it did his older brother. We were in school together, and it’s like he snapped after that night. He never got over his mother’s death, and no one believed him and mocked him when he tried to explain how the person who killed his mom looked.
I get it. I want to seek revenge for the ones who killed my brother, but the thing is, we already killed Alessandra, and Mason killed Marianne. Our fight is over. You really think I want to be around Nero or Kayla?”
Without knowing, Nero allowed his cousin to try to kill me. Because of Nero, those two came and had my brother killed. And if it was not for Kayla, maybe Layla would still be alive. But now that they have a common enemy, they’re together? And everyone knows that Kayla is in love with Klayton. The way she looked at him and talked about him when he was unconscious.
I don’t want to be around any of them. I don’t want you or me to die for them, when they have brought nothing but pain and death with them.”
Ethan took in everything that the mother of his unborn child had just said. And he agreed to the fullest with everything that she had just said. “What about the three of them that are downstairs? What do we tell them?”
“The truth. We don’t want to be a part of their war, and with the baby, they should understand. I spoke with Mila earlier about it. I’m sure that she will help us convince them. She is a sweetheart.”
Amber’s phone vibrated and she looked at who it was. “Mila. She said the food is ready. I’m really happy that they had this room warded and no one could hear us talk.”]
Ethan and Amber were sitting in a medium sized couch, while Antonio ate on the floor cross legged, Markham sat on a recliner, and Mila sat on the larger couch. They were watching television. The first time, in a long time, that any of them felt human.
After they finished their food they had agreed to talk about tomorrow, thus, Markham spoke first once he saw that everyone had finished eating. He said, “I am sorry, Amber, for what you have gone thru. Ethan has told me the parts that I did not know, and I am just happy to know that you are okay. What Nero’s cousin and the women that were part of his group did is unforgivable. Makes me happy to know that they’re all dead.”
“Thanks, Markham. I’m glad too.”
“Nero texted me.” Mila said and everyone turned to look at her, “They got Dante’s location. Klayton is awake. Fay and Nero are on their way to get him and Kayla, and then they are going for Dante. I got the address for where they want to meet us at.”
“Alright. Let’s go now. We can eat in the car.” Antonio said.
“Amber and I actually want to talk to you guys about something.” Ethan quickly said. Then, he began to explain everything. Their reasons as to why they did not want to continue, and how they were grateful to Mila and Antonio for saving them during the failed vampire invasion. Then, Amber thanked Markham for protecting them these last two days.
“We understand. They will understand, and if they can’t, I’ll make them.” Mila said. Amber stood up and hugged her.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Amber said.
Markham took a sip of his coffee and then said, “I’m staying behind to protect Amber and Ethan.”
Everyone looked at him, and then Amber said, “You can’t. They’re going to need all hands on deck.” She reasoned..
“I’ve known about the baby, Amber. I can feel his energy, even now at such a young stage in his life. I’ve done so many bad things, I feel like the first step in redeeming myself is by protecting you three. We don’t know if Ezekiel’s organization is heading over here to settle a score by attacking you, so I rather stay just to be at peace.”
Amber smiled and didn’t complain. Ethan nodded in gratitude. Then, Mila said, “It’s okay. We have a good team.”
“Agreed.” Antonio said. “Let’s go.”
29
It had been four hours since they left Kayla’s house. Fay had now gotten off the freeway and was driving on the road.
Nero was on the passenger seat and Klayton was sitting in the back, with Kayla resting her head on his lap. He was caressing her, and with each passing second, his heart ached for her. He felt that he was falling in love with her. He looked at the back of Nero’s headrest and said, “I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“Where do I begin? I killed your cousin, I bit your finger off, and then I dragged you into this to rescue my brother.”
“My cousin was a bi
gger asshole than me. Antonio healed my hand, and I chose this. Everyone gets a second chance, we talked about this. I want to do some good for once. Helping you starts my path for that. Plus, I met Mila, the moment that I decided to make a change.”
“You are going to be able to see her in an hour.” He reminded him as he looked at the clock on the car’s radio display.
“I hope Alaina is there. She sucker punched us, all because of her feelings for Garrett.”
“Did she really have an unhealthy obsession with him?”
Nero turned around to face Klayton, “Dude, only thing that she was missing was a shrine for him. Wouldn’t be surprised if she has one. She practically worshipped him. But that is why Kayla is here.”
“That’s crazy.” Klayton said as Nero turned back to face the road and drank more blood from his thermos.
Kayla had told Klayton how she never trusted Alaina from the beginning. Her loyalty was to Garrett who insisted that he would personally train her and take the blame if something were to happen. Now, he was dead and she had joined forces with Ezekiel and his group of huntsmen.
“I was doing some research on Ezekiel. I grabbed some journals from the church after I locked up his uncle.” Nero mentioned.
“What did you find?”
Nero handed him a journal. It seemed very old and the pages were deckled. “They call themselves The Hunting Party. There have been huntsmen and huntswomen for centuries, dating back to when angels slept with women and created the Nephelines. I knew about the huntsmen, but not like this.”
“They hunted and killed any unnatural creature that they could find, but once they discovered how it was Artemis who turned Ambrogio into the first vampire and Alexander who became the first werewolf, well, they divided their organization in factions.”
Vampire huntsmen, werewolf huntsmen, and spiritual huntsmen. But, we hit the jackpot because Ezekiel’s faction are Elite Huntsmen; they go for everything. They’re probably trying to make a statement with us.”
“I only want to save my brother.”
“We have to kill them all. What I’m about to say, do not take offense to it, ready?”
They were now thirty minutes away from Dante’s location, and Fay stopped the car at a red light. “Okay…”
“If we don’t kill them all, it will be you and your brother all over again. One of them is bound to seek revenge and spend the rest of their life going after you.”
“I just feel- do we have to kill them all? There has to be worse vampires and werewolves out there that maybe deserve to die.”
Nero looked at him, upset that Klayton was even considering letting any of them live. “Let’s see if you still feel the same way after we get your brother. I’m taking that journal to the elders after we kill Ezekiel.”
“I want to go with you when you go to the Elders.”
“Why?”
“I want to get to know the people who dictate our rules and what we can and can’t do.”
30
Jarchael was in charge of watching Dante since the moment that they captured him. The Hunting Party did not acknowledge people with supernatural abilities as humans, thus, Ezekiel had given him permission to do as he pleased.
He had Dante placed in the basement of a house that was currently in development. It was located in a residential neighborhood that was being built for Ezekiel’s organization to reside in, by his construction company, which the workers had roots with the Hunting Party.
They were instructed to pay no attention to the sounds of agonizing pain and screams that came from the basement as Jarchael tortured Dante with his men.
For the last two days, at every single hour, he had Dante beaten, injured, and tortured. The Huntsman had creative and also simple ideas in how to torment him. Jarchael only had one rule; as long as it inflicted pain, anything was allowed.
But today, things had changed. With the attack on the church, Otto being turned into a vampire, and then executed by Nicholas, he had received instructions to empty the place in case of an imminent attack and to relocate elsewhere.
He refused to leave as he was paid a lot of money by Ezekiel and felt that he now had to prove his worth. He assured him that if anything or anyone were to come his way, that he would take care of it.
Jarchael had buffed up the security for the outside and inside of the neighborhood. He had guards planted at the entrance of the community, and also had one member inside each of the houses.
Jarchael contacted all security personnel every hour at a precise time, and he was now in contact with the last group; the main gate’s security team. He called them and asked, “How are we doing Joe? Any sign of anything out of the ordinary?”
“It’s all clear, sir.”
“Thank you. And I mean it. Anything out of the ordinary, and you report it before engaging, are we clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Once Nero confirmed with his enhanced hearing that Jarchael ended the phone call with the security guard, he signaled Klayton that it was clear.
Klayton quickly sprinted towards the guards via an unseen path, and then threw his axe at one of the guard’s face as Kayla took the other one down with the Savage 10BA sniper.
Kayla made a hand gesture to signal Mila to bring the car all the way to the gate. Antonio and Fay were with her inside the car.
Kayla came out the trees from where she hid and ran with Nero at a heightened speed to the gate, with the sniper rifle strapped on her back.
They helped Klayton drag the bodies to the inside of the security box that commanded the gates.
Klayton pressed a button and the gates opened. He then walked to Mila’s window and she lowered it. “From here on out, you only worry about keeping this car running in case things screw up. If someone falls, don’t get out of the car to help them. We will help each other, but I need you at the wheel at all times.”
Mila was internally frustrated that this was the third time that he told her that, but she kept the feeling to herself and smiled at him with a nod; letting him know that she understood what her job was.
“Okay, here we go.” Nero said as Mila began to drive inside the neighborhood. They did not know in which house Dante was, but Fay and Antonio could feel the life energy of everyone in the neighborhood.
They focused all of their magical energy on a location spell; the main reason why they did not teleport immediately to where they were now.
“I can hear people’s nervous breathing and their heart beats at a rapid pace. They’re all around us.” Kayla noticed.
Mila was driving the Hummer forward in a straight path at five miles per hour as the warlocks focused. A man was on top of the roof of a house and as he was taking aim to try and kill Mila, Nero had climbed up the house and was able to jump on him on time. He bit his neck and then threw him off the roof and into the ground, instantly killing him with the impact.
Nero then regrouped with the car. He was on the right side, and Klayton on the left while Kayla was stationed at the rear.
“We got him. He is on the last house on the left.” Fay said.
“Go. Go! They’re coming out.” Klayton shouted as huntsmen and came out of the houses in an attempted ambush. They began to shoot at the trio, but Antonio created a force field around them, stopping every bullet and turning it into ash.
He then used magic to manipulate the ash and create a barrier for Klayton, Nero, and Kayla.
The huntsmen were now behind them, but were defenseless as they had nothing to protect them from the heavy rain of bullets coming from Klayton’s assault rifle, Nero’s submachine gun, and Kayla’s shotgun.
One man was on the second story of a house, and was now aiming a FIM-43 Redeye rocket launcher at the car. He pulled the trigger and fired it.
“A freaking rocket launcher!” Nero screamed as it hit the car. It sent them flying a few feet from the car as Antonio and Fay created a shield around them to protect Mila. Every part of the car was reduced to waste as they cas
t and ice and water spell to kill the fire.
The explosion had also affected some of the huntsmen, and now only three remained alive.
Kayla grabbed a knife that she had strapped to her belt, and threw it at one of the men, stabbing him in the throat.
One of the last two men standing shot Kayla, hitting her left shoulder. Nero became enraged and jumped the man, biting his neck and killing him as Klayton threw his axe at the last one standing. He missed, but it had given Kayla enough time to grab a fallen submachine gun and then shot the man down.
There was only one person remaining; Jarchael. He was standing fifty feet away from them. He was the only thing standing between them and the house where Dante was, in a cul-de-sac.
He gave a light and sarcastic clap. He commended them for getting this far and killing his men and women. A scenario that he did not want to happen, but had mentally prepared for.
He was not going to back down, plead for mercy, or ask for a truce. Jarchael always faced his actions head-on, and this one was no different. He had killed hundreds in the past, and this seemed like a walk in the park for him.
He noticed that Antonio and Fay were fatigued from how much power they had unleashed from their bodies, and Mila had suffered a concussion.
Kayla had been shot with a poisoned wound, and even though it was quickly removed by her magic, she was now too exhausted to continue.
Only Klayton and Nero remained standing. “You guys rest. We’ll handle him.” Nero told them as he began to walk towards Jarchael with Klayton.
Klayton dropped his gun and began to grunt. “I’m going to kill him.”
“I know. This will be just like when we killed Garrett.”
“Wait, something is not right.” Klayton placed his hand on Nero’s chest to stop him.
“Oh, you noticed?” Jarchael asked as they were now twenty feet from each other.
“Noticed? Noticed what?” Nero said.
“His scent and heartbeat are all over the place. He’s emitting an aura similar to the one we feel around Fay and Antonio.
