by Mandy Rosko
"W-what did you do with Jamie?" Ethan asked, but was then struck dumb by a horrible thought.
Would Jamie team up with paranormals like this? Just because the man wasn't around didn't mean he wasn't part of this. Ethan had tried to bring him in, after all, so why wouldn't Jamie hand him over to these people and leave him to his fate?
"That guy who ran away before?" asked the woman, looking over her shoulder at her two male friends. None of them could be older than twenty. They were as skinny and pale as she was, and they stared down at Ethan as though he was still a threat.
"He ran off after putting this net on you. Stupid idiot just left you here when he should've done what needed to be done,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “Why would he do that? He's the one who put you under this net, so unless he's a really strange kind of sympathizer, I don't see why you should be thinking about him."
It was kind of morbid, but Ethan was comforted by the idea that Jamie wasn't so far gone that he would be willing to hang out with people like this. He apparently would knock out the power of several city blocks and scare a bunch of civilians, but it seemed that was it.
God, he hoped Jamie never ran into people like this. It was a good thing this girl didn't believe Jamie to be a sympathizer to hunters. If she thought that, then she could try finding him, and she could do to Jamie what she was doing to Ethan.
Okay. He was trained for this. He could take this and he was going to do it with a smile on his face if he had to. He just had to get her talking.
"What's your name?" Ethan asked, staring at the girl and doing his best to keep his voice level despite the pain. God, he wanted to curl into a ball.
She frowned at him, clearly suspicious. “Why?”
“I want to know.”
Not that he cared about her stupid name. Considering what she was doing to him, she was too far-gone to be saved. If Ethan got out of this alive, he was going to hunt her down and bring her in. He’d make sure Head Office knew about her crimes and that she paid for them.
Kidnapping and torturing a hunter didn't land a paranormal in the labs. It gave them an all-access pass to some good drugs and the incinerator. There would be no second chances for her or her friends. She was too dangerous.
"Allison," said the girl, still frowning down at him. "What's it to you?"
"Do you know what you're doing right now, Allison?" Ethan asked, shifting uncomfortably as his dull pain started to really throb in his leg. "You're assaulting a licensed hunter. That's punishable by death."
"Not if I kill you and hide the body."
She thought a body was necessary for a murder charge. Not anymore. He didn’t think she’d believe him if he told her that. “A body is always found eventually, and the person responsible is always brought in. You will be caught, and your friends too. Do you want that for them?"
"He is a hunter," said one of the boys behind Allison, his lips slightly parted as if in awe. "Holy shit the badge is real. It's real."
Most paranormals didn't get the chance to see hunters this close up since they were always hiding and trying to keep a safe distance. Being so near to a hunter either happened by accident, or when the paranormals were being grabbed and cuffed. That was usually where everything ended for them.
Despite being escapees, these kids probably only ever saw other hunters on the day they were arrested. That was fuel for Ethan at the moment. He needed these three to think he was some larger-than-life powerhouse just waiting to break free from this net and catch them.
"Yeah, I am a hunter, and I'm not going to be alone out here for much longer. You don't have much time left before my backup gets here."
"Backup?" one of the boys said, a clear glimmer of fear in his wide eyes. He even started looking around, sharply turning his head and body this way and that, as if trying to spot other hunters hiding in the trees and shrubs just waiting to spring.
"Shut up," Allison snapped at him. "He's lying. He was passed out like a log. Didn't even notice it when that other guy draped the net over him. If he had backup coming they would've been here by now."
"I haven't checked in for a while. They'll be checking my tracker. There's one built into every hunter badge," Ethan said.
That was a definite lie; there was no tracker, but they didn't need to know that.
He was under a net, and this paranormal wanted to kill him. He was officially in hostage negotiation, which he'd never had to do for himself before, and only once for someone else. He was going to say whatever needed to be said to make sure he got out of this alive.
He had to stay calm, non-confrontational, and make sure that Allison knew she was in charge here. That was his only chance.
“These boys are clearly counting on you, and my friends will come for them if they stay here. I know you must not want that.”
Both boys squirmed. “Alli, let's just go. What if they’re really on the way? What if he's telling the truth?"
"What if he's not?" Allison asked, staring at Ethan with that cold predatory look in her eyes. "Do you know what happens to paranormals who go away? They get sent to labs, but it isn't just to be studied. Take a wild guess what can happen to little blond-haired, blue-eyed girls when they’re all alone and surrounded by pigs with too much authority and free time.”
"I'm sorry," Ethan said, and he was. "That shouldn't have happened to you. Let me help you get the person who did it. Paranormals still have rights. You can testify and—"
"We have no rights!" Allison yelled, and then the ripping sensation started up again, this time on his chest. The pain burned him like liquid fire.
He screamed and grabbed at his chest, instinctively trying to push away the source of his pain. But just like before, there was nothing.
"People like you don't give a shit about us!" Allison snapped. "You want to send me back there so you can get paid, well fuck you! I'm not going back and you're not going to send another paranormal to one of those places ever again."
"Allison, stop it," one of the boys said, and the other one spoke up as well, but Ethan couldn't hear another word through the pain.
This was the worst way to die. He didn't want to die like this.
His screaming was amplified inside his head, and for a split second, he thought his voice had changed, or maybe he was losing it altogether. He screamed so much that his ears rang and the hairs on his body stood on end.
The sound nearly dulled out everything else, but he could still make out a few things. Like how he didn't sound like himself, or like a human being in general.
It took him a few seconds to realize that he'd stopped shouting, that it wasn’t his voice he heard. That sound wasn't coming from him at all. No, that was Allison and her two friends screaming and yelling.
Ethan gasped for breath, his throat raw like he’d been scratching it with an old stick. The sweat dripped from his body and he started to shiver from the cold.
It took Ethan a few seconds more to realize the pain in his legs and chest was diminishing He wasn't being torn open anymore. The pain of actually having his skin ripped open had been agony, but the constant expansion and contraction of his chest with every breath irritated his wounds even more.
He looked over, trying to see what was happening. All he could make out were the retreating figures of Allison and her two shaggy friends. They shrieked something as they ran, but Ethan couldn't make it out. They might as well have been screaming from the other side of a long tunnel while Ethan had cotton stuffed in his ears.
Flashes of glowing white-blue color whizzed across the field, so bright they could have been shooting stars. Or fireworks.
Now what was happening? Ethan tried to keep himself awake and aware, but he was being pulled under. The torture session has sapped his strength and energy. Being soaked and cold didn’t help either. His body wanted to shut down.
No, no, no. Stay awake! If he fell asleep out here, bleeding in the woods, he might not wake up again. No, correction, he wouldn't wake up again. He would die from the cold, or a
n animal would come for him. His mission was to stay awake. He couldn't let the darkness take over.
But the darkness was succeeding. Fuck, he was going under and he was starting to not care. Sleep still wasn’t a good idea, but he was so tired that a nap suddenly seemed reasonable. He could handle a nap. He was strong enough to not be killed from a ten-minute snooze. He wasn’t too cold anymore either. In fact, he was kind of comfortable right where he was.
This was a nice spot for a rest. He’d have to tell Jamie about it sometime.
A voice calling to him from the other end of the hazy tunnel yanked him back. At first it was far away, but then it cleared up and became louder, closer, and it echoed until it sounded like it was coming from right in front of his face, an inch or so from his nose. Ethan tried to get away from it, considering the pain from all the damned shouting—his eardrums were starting to really fucking throb!—but it was no use. The voice was stubbornly persistent, and very familiar.
"Ethan! Ethan! Get up!”
Jamie. He'd come back. Ethan opened his eyes, which was a lot harder than he expected. His vision was blurred to shit, but there was no way he could mistake the dishwater blond hair with those spots of white. Only one person Ethan knew had hair like that.
He actually came back? What an idiot. This was by far the most dangerous place for him to be. He tried to say so, but his voice was so small and Jamie’s babbling so panicked and loud, that he doubted the man heard a single word.
Jamie yanked off the net, but he did it with a lot of effort, considering the weight of the thing. Jamie didn’t have the bulk that Ethan did.
Then Jamie's hands were on him, grabbing his shoulders first before his fingers touched Ethan’s neck.
Was he seriously taking Ethan’s pulse? Could he not see that Ethan was looking up at him right now? Were his hands trembling?
Jamie’s hands moved back to his shoulders after that, shaking him a little, and then harder, as if that would magically make Ethan okay.
Nope, his injuries were still there, and it really didn't feel good to have Jamie's hands shaking him like that. He groaned and tried to pull back. When Jamie took the hint and pulled back, Ethan found himself already missing those hands. He was so fucked.
Not as much as Jamie. Jamie sounded like he’d just witnessed a car wreck. Or had been inside of one.
"Fuck. Look what she did to you. Oh fuck."
Then those warm hands were on his cheeks, feeling so good on his cold face. Jamie always had the right touch, and goose-bumps rose up immediately on his skin.
Jamie tilted Ethan's head gently, forcing their eyes to meet. Ethan had never seen them this close before. He always knew Jamie had blue eyes. Aside from the man's strange hair, it had been the first thing he'd noticed about him. But this blue was different from the crazy blues on psycho Allison. Why hadn't Ethan ever looked this close? He would've seen how much nicer, how much prettier, the color actually was. They were the color of snow in the shade. Perfect frost, except they were wet. His eyes were swimming. Jamie had tears in his eyes. Ethan had never seen him cry before.
"Holy fuck. Holy fuck, Ethan, don't die."
"I’m not dying," Ethan said, and then he started to cough, which made the pain in his chest flare.
Fuck! Everything hurt.
"You're bleeding. I need to see," Jamie said, and he started to pull at Ethan's clothes.
Ethan grabbed onto the man's hands. His grip was weak, but it was enough to get Jamie's attention.
And Ethan’s.
The second his hands made contact with Jamie’s skin, a tiny shock of electricity spiked him. Only a little more powerful than if he’d touched a TV or a metal doorknob after a static charge. It hurt enough that it brought him fully awake.
“Ethan? Are you okay?” Jamie’s eyes were wide. He stared at Ethan like he thought he was dying again.
Enough of this.
"Not here. Can’t check here. Have to be somewhere clean," Ethan said. He wasn’t anywhere close to being a hundred percent, but at least he didn’t feel like he was dying anymore. He was still fucking tired as hell though.
Jamie shook his head. “Ethan, you’re bleeding. I need to see.”
“Not here,” Ethan insisted. If Jamie wanted to check Ethan's wounds so badly then he could do it in a place where there wasn't mud, bugs and slime everywhere. Better yet, he could do it in a place where those other three paranormals were less likely to come back and harass them.
Or kill them.
Jamie nodded. "Okay. I'll get you to a hospital. Where's your phone? I'll call for help."
The relief came instantly, but in the next second, it was gone. Ethan knew for a fact that he didn't want that. No cops and no ambulance. If Jamie called for paramedics, he was either going to have to explain what had happened, or make the call anonymous and run away.
But he wouldn't run away. Ethan knew that now. If Jamie was the type of man who would come back for someone who'd betrayed him and tried to arrest him, then he was definitely the type who was going to wait around, protecting Ethan in case those other three paranormals came back. Hell, Jamie looked terrified of letting go of Ethan's hands, as if that was the secret ingredient to keeping him alive.
The man had to make do with gripping both of Ethan’s hands as tightly as he could in his one hand while he searched Ethan’s pockets.
“You took my weapons, but not a phone?” Ethan asked.
Jamie pulled the phone out. “I didn’t want to strand you.”
He still sounded on the verge of tears. Jamie was clearly not the warrior type.
He wouldn’t last in a cage. The men in charge of the labs would eat him alive.
Ethan yanked one hand out of Jamie’s grip and grabbed for the phone before he could dial. Jamie looked at him with a stunned expression.
Ethan wet his lips. Fuck, his throat still killed. “You call them, and then you run away. Run and hide.”
Ethan didn’t think it should have been possible, but the man’s eyes widened even more. He actually looked behind himself, as if searching for a hiding spot.
Or someone hiding, waiting to spring on them.
Just as Ethan thought, Jamie immediately shook his head. His face was paler than usual, and his eyes wide with horror. “Are you out of your mind? I’m not leaving again. What if those crazy freaks come back here?”
“You want to be arrested?”
Jamie’s mouth thinned, and he yanked his hand away from Ethan’s, staring at the screen of his phone, constantly clicking on the home button, trying to get a reaction from the thing. “I can handle it. I’ll just make something up. Fuck, come on, turn on.”
Jamie had too much confidence in his ability to lie. Ethan didn’t share that confidence.
The paramedics would arrive, they would ask questions, and so would the police when they arrived. Ethan had no trouble lying for Jamie, at least not right now. He owed Jamie his life, and he wouldn't turn him in, but if the police decided to bring Jamie in for questioning, then there wasn't much he could do to get out of it.
He would go in, answer the questions, and then maybe someone would recognize him and lock him away. Anything involving paranormals would immediately make Jamie a suspect, regardless of whether or not Ethan vouched for him.
Those interrogations could last for hours. Lots of people cracked under the pressure and started to sing everything the cops wanted to hear.
It was kind of a funny thing for Ethan to be so worried about. He was genuinely scared that Jamie would incriminate himself as a paranormal and be arrested, and Ethan didn't want that.
Yeah, that was kind of fucked up, considering he'd been prepared to do that exact same thing just this morning.
"No ambulance. I'm fine," Ethan said, summoning every iota of strength in his body just to make sure his voice came out sounding strong, instead of weak and tired. And he was still so very tired. He grabbed the phone and looked at it, only to realize it wasn’t even on.
The bat
tery must’ve died while Ethan slept.
"Jesus Christ, Ethan, you're bleeding all over!" Jamie said.
He was clearly losing it. He wasn't trained to handle situations like this.
"Her power was blood and skin," Ethan said, clenching his jaw when he tried to move. All of his wounds yawned open and flared with pain. "She didn't touch my organs."
“How can you be sure?”
“I’m not,” Ethan said. “She tore my pants a little. Unless that happened while I was chasing you.”
“I saw this rip when I threw your weapons away,” Jamie said.
Thank God. Ethan nodded. “I’ve read about this power. It’s not strong. She can’t go deep. She can only control top flesh.”
With that in mind he was able to relax a little in spite of the pain, since he probably wasn't going to die from his wounds. He was just tired and in need of bandages, disinfectant, and a lot of alcohol—the drinking kind.
"So she was cutting you?"
"Ripping," Ethan said.
Jamie's eyes widened, and his face drained of color until he was as pale as those spots of white hair patched around on his head. "Jesus Christ. You really do need a doctor."
"I said no!" Ethan snapped, and even he was shocked by the strength of his voice.
Jamie stared at him. The man looked as helpless as a rabbit in the road, just waiting to get run over.
Yeah, there was no way Jamie would last in the labs, and Ethan wouldn't last out here by himself, especially if an animal smelled the blood. Or a crazed werewolf.
"Help me up," Ethan said, reaching for Jamie and feeling his strength being renewed, as he suddenly knew what had to be done. "My truck, I left it on the side of the road."
"Yeah, I remember, next to my car. I’ll take you there, and I'll drive you someplace safe."
"You'll drive me where I tell you to," Ethan said, but then he was groggy and nauseous as the pain of being lifted to his feet made him want to vomit.
It felt good to be able to put an arm around Jamie’s shoulders though. That helped.
Fuck! His legs and his stomach were killing him. He would survive, but it felt like he was dying at the moment.
