by Mandy Rosko
Jamie didn't flinch away from him, but instead he walked up right beside him, and then moved past him as casual as if they were having a stroll through the park. "You're not putting those on me and I am going with you. You're going to need someone to distract her when she tries to pull her shit on you."
Ethan hadn't been planning on putting the cuffs on Jamie. He was going to need them if he wanted the courage to walk up to a chick who could tear his face off with her fricken' mind.
Ethan quickly caught up to Jamie, who was pretending that he wasn't scared out of his mind. The grim look on his face and the way he clenched his fists, walking like a robot, proved that he was rethinking what he was doing even now.
"I wasn't going to shackle you to a tree to keep you from coming, just so you know, and I can handle a paranormal," Ethan said, just as another pained screech made his skin crawl. "I've done it plenty of times before. Faced off against worse than her.”
He’d been with a team of guys, including Jack for some of those, but he wouldn’t mention it now.
"Yeah, but now you're doing it with me."
Ethan stared at the man for a few seconds. Jamie wasn't trained for this, he was clearly scared, but he wasn't going back. "You don't have to worry about me, you know?" Ethan said. "She's not going to get the drop on me this time."
Jamie winced at that. “I’m not just worried about you. I am, but…I’m not leaving you behind again.”
As touching as that was, Ethan knew he wasn't going to win this argument before they made it to where Allison was torturing her latest victim. The more they spoke, the more dangerous it was.
They might as well start yelling out to the bitch that they were coming.
“Just stay low and try not to draw attention to yourself right away,” Ethan said. Catching her by surprise could save them both a lot of trouble.
And maybe their lives.
Eventually they ducked low into the shrubs as the sounds of the screams and the crying got to be louder. There was more crying than screaming at this point. It tugged at Ethan’s heart to hear it. He didn’t like it when kids cried.
Ethan kept one eye on Jamie, making sure he wasn't moving too suddenly, or disturbing anything that would let Allison know they were out here.
They ducked behind another heavy set of shrubs, moving quickly and carefully between them as they got closer and closer. Ethan had to quietly move some of the branches out of the way in order to see what was happening.
Allison looked even worse than Ethan remembered. Though to be fair, at their last encounter, he hadn't been paying much attention to her looks. Regardless, she was pale to the point of being grey, dirt and grime was caked on her legs and hands as if she’d been foraging for her food and shelter like an animal. Leaves and twigs were in her hair, which was so gnarled and knotted that it probably needed a good pair of scissors to fix.
She'd clearly been sleeping on the cold ground outside, probably trying to make her way as far from the city and the compound as possible, while avoiding the highways and people, just like Ethan was doing with Jamie.
On the ground, at her feet, was one of the boys he'd remembered being with her. The poor kid had a hand reached out and he was grabbing onto her ankle. Whatever his power was, it wasn't helping him in this situation, because she was tearing him apart.
"One squirrel! One fucking squirrel! How are we supposed to eat that?" Allison screamed down at him right before she kicked his hand away and stomped on it.
The second boy was standing off on the far side of the little clearing, wincing and trying not to watch as Allison ripped apart their companion. Tears made muddy tracks in the dirt on his face. The boy on the ground already had a tear in his cheek that looked beyond painful, and the occasional flash of white made Ethan think his cheek was ripped clean through, and that those were teeth he was looking at. It made him want to puke.
"P-please," the boy said, and he was crying. Ethan couldn't blame him. Beside him was a single dead squirrel, and not a big one either. Probably meant to be their lunch. Allison clearly wasn't happy with it.
Ethan looked to his left, and not only was Jamie pale as new snow, but he had a look of such rage on his face that Ethan became worried about his mental health.
Ethan nudged him, getting his attention before he could ruin their surprise by jumping out to try and electrocute her with the little power he had inside of him. Allison would have to be standing in water for the power from the car battery to do more than burn her.
Ethan pointed at himself, and then motioned with his hand his plan to make his way around the clearing without being seen. If he worked quickly enough, he could get behind her and shackle her wrist. He just needed one wrist. It wouldn't cut off her power completely, but he was physically stronger than she was. He could get her other wrist shackled before she could do more than scratch him.
Jamie nodded, and Ethan went. He had to go slow to prevent his boots making any noise on the twigs and pine needles that were on the ground. His heart was racing, like it did every time he was about to sneak up behind a paranormal. He’d put the needle away, opting instead to hold the shackles in both of his hands to keep the metal from swaying and making noise.
His heart was so damned loud that he was stunned Allison couldn't hear it. Even when he swallowed, he thought for sure the workings of his throat would be loud enough to give him away, but she continued to yell at the boy on the ground. That kid was way too young to have been thrown into a compound, or to be stuck all the way out here with this girl who’d lost her mind.
He positioned himself to spring, but then something beneath him did snap, loud enough that Allison turned around to stare right at the bushes where he was hiding.
Ethan stopped breathing. He was staring right at Allison through the leaves of the shrub, and it would only be a matter of time before she caught sight of his eyes, or just walked over towards him to make sure there was no one there.
She took a step toward him, and Ethan got himself ready to spring, a lot sooner than he thought, but it was going to happen.
"Hey!"
For the umpteenth time that day, Ethan's heart stopped when Jamie rushed out of his hiding spot and stood in the clearing, hands out and eyes wide, like he didn't know what to do with himself.
Ethan wanted to turn back time by thirty seconds, go back over there and strangle him before he could get the chance to come out of his hiding spot like that.
Allison frowned at him, and then she recognized him, "You."
"Yeah, me," Jamie said, though he kept his hands raised. Probably because he was scared shitless about what Allison would do to him if she caught him. "I was just wondering if I could...join you?"
Holy God.
Ethan looked to Allison, who was staring at Jamie like he'd lost his damn mind. This gave him the distraction he needed because he sprung out of the shrubs, grabbed onto her wrists, and clamped the spelled shackle on it.
Allison spun and shrieked at the sight of him. Ethan immediately felt his cheek stretching, trying to come apart just like that kid on the ground, but it wasn't enough, her power was already dulled with the one shackle on her wrist. Allison realized this quickly and yanked her body around so wild and violently that Ethan almost lost her. She had more strength in her than she appeared. He grabbed onto her other wrist when she tried to use her fingernails against him, and he snapped the other shackle on her, neatly avoiding her teeth when she tried to bite his nose.
It was like trying to fend off a hungry zombie. She seemed to develop super human strength with her desperation, and for a few seconds, he wondered if that was part of her power, too.
It wasn't, and because of what she'd done to the boy on the ground, her other helper wasn't exactly eager to rescue her when she called to him.
"Move and I'll fry you, kid," Jamie warned, letting some blue electricity flow from his fingertips anyway as he approached Ethan.
Ethan hoped the threat was just a threat, but he sure as hell
wouldn’t blame Jamie if he did what needed to be done.
"You're hunters?" he asked, looking from Ethan to Jamie, and then down at his friend, who was staring up at the both of him, horrified and still crying.
"Not really," Jamie replied.
"Let me go!" Allison shrieked, still thrashing around, and making more of a nuisance of herself than anything.
Ethan wasn't in the mood for her, or had the patience, especially with that kid on the ground and his own wounds flaring just from the effort of keeping her still. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back hard enough for her to scream in pain.
"I'm not exactly in the mood to be nice to you, so you'd better behave yourself, little girl," he snarled.
Allison actually smiled back at him, her eyes just on the right side of crazed. "You can't do anything to me that hasn't already been done. Go for it," she said.
That...actually stunned him. Ethan couldn't think of anything more horrible than what she'd just said, especially considering how damned young she looked. Fifteen—that was what he pegged her for—seventeen at the very oldest.
Then he looked down at the kid on the ground, who Jamie was tending to with the last of their medical supplies and bandages. The second boy was right beside him, checking on his friend, and they were all looking up at Ethan.
"I'm not letting her go," Ethan said.
Jamie tensed, his blue eyes flaring wide. "Christ, I hope not!"
"Then why are you all staring at me?" Ethan asked.
"Bobby, Scott, help me," Allison said, and though she wasn't struggling anymore, she still sounded furious.
"What do we do about these two?" Jamie asked.
Ethan wasn't sure what to do. Those kids looked so damned scared, but that didn't mean they weren't hiding some sinister part of themselves that was just as bad, or worse, than Allison.
"What are your powers?"
The kid whose cheek wasn't ruined spoke for himself and his friend. "I can change shape, and Scott can sometimes talk to and summon small animals for me to hunt.”
Bobby held up one hand and, without physically doing anything to himself, made his skin turn blue, and his fingers lengthened and became thinner. Claws extended. It reminded him of a lizard’s hand.
It was both interesting and creepy to watch. Shape changers were weird.
"Come on, Ethan, what can they do with that? And this kid needs a doctor," Jamie said.
The two boys looked at them hopefully, but Allison was still ranting and raging. "You can't let them go. You can't let them go and keep me! What are you doing?" she shrieked.
Jamie had gotten up, yanked his belt off, and then surprised Ethan when he put it around the girl's mouth and tied it off behind her head.
"Thanks," Ethan said, and he couldn't help but smile. Allison was still trying to scream, but it was muffled now thanks to the belt. He’d stick her with the needle soon enough anyway.
"No problem," Jamie replied, glaring down at the girl, and then he was looking back at Ethan, his eyes begging in a way that made Ethan’s resolve crumble.
"If you can't do it then you can't do it. I'll understand," Jamie said, despite the puppy eyes.
"You will?" Ethan asked.
"Of course," Jamie said, though he hardly sounded happy. "You live in that city. Your sister's there and you need to find her. I knew this wasn't going to last long.”
Ethan sucked in a breath. His gut ached as though savagely punched, and it had nothing to do with his wounds. He hadn't even thought of that.
If he turned in three paranormals, and all at once, then he could blame what had happened to him back at the motel on some sort of mind trick. He could say he didn't know what he was doing, and who would question him after bringing in these three? Even if he let the two boys go, he couldn't let Allison get away. She needed to be brought in. She’d proven herself to be dangerous to anyone unlucky enough to stumble across her.
There could be no risk-taking with her. She was too damned dangerous.
"The boys can go, I won't bring them in," Ethan said.
Both boys looked up at him from the ground, as if they couldn't quite believe their good luck, or if this was even true.
Jamie smiled softly at him. "Do you want me to help you bring her in? I don't think it'll be easy by yourself without a car."
"I'm not leaving you behind," Ethan said. "But I don't think it's a great idea for you to be going into the city for a drop off."
"So what will we do?" Jamie said, and he was looking down at the two boys as if they had become part of their group. Ethan didn't mind that. He liked that Jamie was so willing and eager to look after the two of them. They looked like they could use a friend.
"We'll find a spot to leave her and send in an anonymous phone call. We’ll stick her with the tranq before then, so she should have a nice long nap and anyone who comes to pick her up shouldn’t have any trouble. The collectors can bring her in. You and I won't be anywhere around for that."
Thanks to saving the tranquilizers, they would have a good head start.
Jamie's eyes brightened just a little at the sound of that, and then a wide smile broke out across his face. It lit Ethan up inside to see it.
"I'm not a hunter anymore. I'm going with you, wherever you go," Ethan said.
Despite the fact that they had company, and that Ethan was holding onto his prisoner, Jamie went to him, putting his hands behind Ethan's neck and head, and then kissed him.
Allison made some small groan, like she was disgusted with the both of them, but Ethan didn't pay attention to her. No kiss was sweeter than this.
"I love you," Jamie said.
"I love you, too," Ethan said. He didn’t hesitate, and it was so easy to say it once it was out of his mouth, without the threats and without feeling like everything was hanging over them. It was easy because it was true and he didn't want to pretend anymore.
Jamie's smile as he took in those words—wide and showing off the whites of his perfect teeth—was perfect. Ethan wished he didn't have to hang onto Allison, so he could touch his lover's face.
A loud, angry voice from behind broke their beautiful moment. "Hold it! Put your hands behind your heads!"
Ethan could just feel that there was a gun pointed at him and Jamie.
Fuck. No.
Chapter Twelve
Jack checked out the abandoned van, looking under the hood at the engine. He had tried to start the damned thing, but it wouldn't even sputter.
"I think Jamie sucked all the juice out of the battery," Cindy said, coming around to check on him.
It still scared the ever-loving hell out of Jack to see her wearing hunter gear and a badge. The fact that she was hiding all that red hair beneath a blond wig didn't help either. He felt like he was cheating on her with her whenever he so much as leaned in for a quick kiss, which hadn't been happening all that often after they'd picked up the uniforms and their new ID's from Jack's contact.
"You're right," Jack said, and he took a risk and reached down to tap on the engine and the battery itself. Not exactly warm, but not stone cold either. "They're close by," Jack said, and he started to look around for tracks.
Cindy watched him. She was a fire starter, the kind of paranormal who could either heat electronics to their breaking point, or create a full-blown blaze of fire with just a thought.
Jack wasn't a paranormal, and his only gifts were tracking, which was what he and Cindy had been doing as they tried to find her friend Jamie, and Jack's friend Ethan, before any other bad shit happened.
"Do you see anything?" Cindy asked.
Jack clenched his fists, frustration bubbling up inside of him when he couldn't see anything, but then, there it was, and he sighed.
Tracks. Footsteps. The shoe size could have been Ethan's, but Jack couldn't tell who the second pair of tracks belonged to, but he had a good idea. These were a little bit smaller.
If Ethan was traveling with Jamie, then he would've known how to walk to ke
ep his tracks less noticeable. Jamie wasn't so great at it. Ethan must've tried to tell him what to do, because there were some points where the tracks vanished as Jamie walked on logs and rocks, or placed his feet anywhere that wouldn't sink down.
It wasn't good enough, and Jack looked back at Cindy. "I got something," he said.
Cindy's smile was wide, and she walked over to him, moving her feet just the way Jack had taught her, so she wouldn't leave tracks of her own that could be followed.
"Should I burn the van?" She summoned a tiny flame at the end of her fingertip just then.
Jack looked back at it, the white hunter van with the hawk in flight logo that he used to idolize. As much as he would love to see it completely destroyed, beyond the point of saving, so that it could never be used to haul in paranormals ever again, it was too risky. "Any smoke from the plastic and metal will just make it easier for the hunters to find. We should just leave it."
The fact that they'd found it after listening to their radios all night and hearing about what went down at the motel was already pushing their luck. If they were here then hunters could be just seconds away. They didn't have time to stick around, even to watch that terrible van burn.
Cindy nodded, and they kept right on going.
Jack watched the tracks, as well as the direction they were heading in carefully. He didn't want to stumble into a trap, and his heart was racing like he was on the hunt for a dangerous paranormal instead of just searching for a couple of friends.
Then a pained shriek sounded and an angry roar echoed in the air.
"Let me go!"
Cindy looked up at Jack before she started running to the sound.
Jack tried to grab her but she slipped away from his fingers and was way ahead of him in minutes. "Cindy! Cindy!" Jack hissed.
So much for keeping his footprints light.
Jack raced after her. He caught up with her right before she could burst into the clearing where Ethan was holding onto a small blond girl. He had her cuffed, and she was thrashing and wailing. One boy was on the ground, another standing by, holding onto his arms and looking worried.
