by Bria Lexor
Just then, Abel’s phone rang, and he placed it on speaker. “This is Abel.”
“Lapis,” Chaos’s voice came through the other end. “We need you back here at once.” Chaos paused. “The remaining gargoyles have been returned to you, but the Hunters want Tuffara to take their place.”
Chapter Ten
Abel growled as he hung up on Chaos. He took my hand and squeezed it gently. “Don't worry Tuffara,” Abel said to me without taking his eyes off the road. “I won't let anything happen to you.”
The car was suddenly hit hard by something strong and began flipping over until it smacked hard against a tree.
I groaned as I tried to shake the ringing from my ears. I was wearing my seatbelt, so I was okay, for the most part. I looked over at Abel and his head was bleeding from hitting the steering wheel.
“Abel,” I said, shaking his arm. “Are you all right?”
Abel groaned as he opened his eyes. “Yeah,” he replied to me. “I have a killer headache, though.”
I laughed a little and unfastened my seatbelt. “I wonder how the other car is.” I said, knowing that we had just been in a car accident. But before I could turn around to look for the other car, I heard a loud roaring sound coming from beside my door. The next thing I knew, the door was ripped right off its hedges hinges and was thrown to the ground. I was yanked roughly from my seat and I looked up to find Erasmus glaring angrily down at me.
We were not hit by a car... we were hit by Erasmus!...
“Abel!” I screamed. “Erasmus is here!”
That is all it took for Abel to kick out the windshield and leapt out onto the street. “I should’ve known the Hunters would’ve sent you.” Abel said, shaking his head at his brother.
“Your human side makes you weak, brother.” Erasmus said to Abel. “If you were a full-fledged gargoyle, like father and I, you would've sensed me coming.” Erasmus laughed at Abel. “But you are nothing but a weak half-breed and will never be as powerful as me!”
That is when Abel lost it. “Shut up and fight me. Erasmus!” he said, pulling out his sword. “The only weakling around here is you and you know it!”
Erasmus tossed me to the side and prepared to fight Abel. I scrambled to my feet, remembering the brothers last encounter. It did not end well for Abel and he needed help. But back then, I was only a human, this time around, I am a Demi-god. But before I could move, Abel shook his head at me telling me not to interfere in his fight. I rolled my eyes at him and sat on the grass watching them.
Fine... Get your ass kicked again for all I care...
But I did care, that was the problem. I did not want Abel to get beat up again.
Abel yelled loudly and ran towards Erasmus. Erasmus used his hand, grabbing Abel by the throat making him choke for air. Abel’s sword fell to the ground, landing with a clanking sound. I had enough of watching from the sidelines. I felt the anger rising inside of me like I have never had before. I moved in quickly and picked up Abel’s sword. I held it out in front of me and stared Erasmus down.
“What does this pathetic human think she can do to me?” Erasmus said to me.
“You forget I’m only half human now.” I said to him.” I’m a Demi-god and I will defeat you!” Erasmus laughed at my statement. “I’d like to see you try, half-breed girl!”
I smirked as I tossed Abel back his sword. “Abel,” I commanded him as I gripped the Alarica stone in my right palm. “Cut off Erasmus’s hand so he will release you!”
Abel did as he was told and sliced Erasmus’s right arm clean from his body.
Erasmus screamed in pain as Abel fell backwards with Erasmus’s right hand still attached around his neck. Erasmus growled angrily at us. “I will end you both for cutting off my arm!” Erasmus flew into the air and looked down at us. “This isn’t over, little brother!” With that, Erasmus flew away with a trail of, blood trailing behind him.
Abel was breathing heavily as he thrust his sword into his necklace. He looked over at me and I thought he was going to bite my head off again. “Thank you. Tuffara.” he said, still catching his breath again. “If you hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve been killed by Erasmus.”
“You are welcome.” I said, to Abel unable to hide the surprise from in my voice. Just then, we heard sirens sounding in the distance and they were heading our way. “What do you think we should tell the police?”
Abel smirked at me. “That we hit a cat and it ran away bleeding.”
Chapter Eleven
When the police arrived, Trunks was already with us as he had driven in his own car and he had told them the accident was caused by a cat as the towing company was loading Abel’s car to take to the junkyard. Luckily for us, the police had bought Trunks story and the case was closed.
Trunks sighed in relief as the police cars left. He turned and glared at us and I bit my lower lip nervously. He took out one of his cigarettes and lighting it up. He took a long drag of it and blew smoke out. “So, tell me, Abel...” Trunks paused, looking at him, “who does this blood belong to?”
“Erasmus hit my car, causing it to roll until it landed by the tree.” Abel replied coolly. “Tuffara saved my life by commanding me to cut off Erasmus’s arm and he flew off after I did.”
Trunks nodded his head slowly at him. “Well, I’m glad he didn’t kidnap Tuffara or else we’d be in even more deep you know what if he had.” Trunks paused as he looked around. “Where’s Erasmus’s arm now?” he asked us.
“I uh... tossed it behind that bush over there when I heard the sirens coming,” I said, pointing at a nearby bush.
I watched Trunks walk over towards the bush about to pick it up when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. “Do you smell that?” he asked us. I shook my head no, but Abel did.
“That’s poison.” Abel said with an alarmed look on his face as he looked at me. “It must’ve been on Erasmus’s arm and—”
I suddenly felt dizzy and fell, but Abel caught me before I hit the ground. “I don’t feel so good.” I said before blacking out.
It was dark when I had awoken. I looked around and only a dim lamp was on and I was lying in a bed. I sat up, remembering I had been poisoned. I threw the blanket off me and stood up. Just then, the door to the room opened and my jaw dropped. Standing in front of me were both Kaitlin and Erasmus. “I saw you fly off bleeding from your wound.” I said to Erasmus who laughed.
“I came back for you after the police left.” he said. “But Abel and Trunks—”
“I swooped in and took you from Abel’s arms and came here.” Erasmus replied. “Kaitlin gave you a shot and cured the poison from your body.”
“How long was I out?” I asked Kaitlin.
She shrugged. “Two, maybe three days.” she replied coldly.
I was about to reply when a massive explosion came from downstairs, mad Kaitlin and Erasmus run from the room. Leaving me completely unguarded.
Time to get out of dodge Tuffara!...
I ran towards the window and pulled on it. It did not budge. I quickly scanned the room and found a wooden chair besides the bed. I picked it up and swung the legs into the glass and it smashed outwards. I used the legs to brush off any excess glass that would have cut me and tossed the chair to the ground, making it clatter on impact. I quietly climbed out the window and leapt to the ground. Whatever was going on was on the inside of the house and I was no longer there. For a moment, I thought it was Abel who had come to my rescue, but instead, I was met by Dylan.
“Tuffara!” Dylan yelled to me. “We got to get you out of here!”
Do not have to tell me twice!...
“How did you find me?” I yelled to him over the roar of gunfire that surrounded us.
“Easily!” Dylan said as I reached him. “I just followed your scent and it led me right to you!”
“Oh,” Was all I could think of when he pulled me into a blue car, and it sped off. “Right.”
“Plus, I promised Bru I wouldn’t let anything happen to
you and I would protect you.” Dylan replied as he looked on his tablet for something.
“Well, thank you for doing that.” I said to him, feeling like I was about to cry at the thought of my mother.
“We Slayers have to stick together, right?” Dylan said to me.
“Right.” I replied as I looked out the back windshield. To my surprise, nobody was following us. I turned back around and looked out my window and did not recognize any of the buildings we passed by. “Err... where are we?” I asked Dylan.
“You mean you don’t even know where you are Miss. Tuffara?” Dylan said to me and I shook my head no. “We are in New Zealand.” he said as he continued to look for something on his tablet.
I blinked as his words registered. “We’re in New Zealand?” I asked him and he nodded. “That’s right,” the driver of the car replied to me and I gave him a strange look. “The name’s
Toby Angus.”
I made a face at his strange name but did not say anything about it. Instead, I chose to be polite. “It’s nice to meet you, Toby.” I said, giving him a smile.
“The pleasure is all mine, Miss. Tuffara.” Toby replied as he turned down a road and stopped in front of a house. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Toby said. “We have arrived at our destination.” After the car turned off, I opened the door and stepped out. I could not believe my eyes. The house was beautiful. “You have a lovely view of Lake Taupo from the front deck.” Toby said as he walked me up the steps to the house. “You can see the mountains far off in the distance.” Toby walked me around back. “There’s also a lovely backyard with luscious green grass.” He opened a glass sliding door and we entered inside the house.
There was beautiful bamboo furniture, the walls were gray, the floors were wood. The dining room had a large wooden table and wooden chairs, with a large picture window behind it. The kitchen was small but nice. There was a small granite counter-top, a microwave, a double sink, a stove, another counter-top and a fridge beside it. The floor was brown tile that was darker in some areas than in other places. I walked upstairs and saw two beautiful bedrooms. I walked back downstairs to find Toby and Dylan sitting in the living room.
“What’s wrong guys?” I asked them as I took a seat in one of the empty chairs.
“We’re trying to figure out a way to take down the Hunters once and for all.” Toby said in his New Zealand accent.
I frowned as I racked my brain for ideas. Then it hit me. “I know,” I said, smiling at them.
“The Hunters have been killing a lot of people lately.” I paused and the boys nodded in agreement. “What if... we set a trap for them and the Slayers can arrest them and put them on trial for all the wrongdoings they’ve done.”
“Hmm...” Toby said, rubbing his beard. “That just might work.” he said to me. “How do you feel about being bait one more time?”
I smiled at Toby. “I can be the best bait you’ve ever seen.”
“Great!” Toby said, clapping his hands together loudly. “I know the perfect place for you then.”
Chapter Twelve
I had called Abel long distance and told him where I was and that I was safe. He and the others were on his private plane, headed to New Zealand to finish what the Hunters had started over a thousand years ago. Dylan, Toby, and I walked into a karaoke bar called: Luxury Karaoke Bar. I was dressed in a tight black shirt, black pants and boots that Toby had bought me at a local store in town.
Toby had picked out a velvet, maroon couch and we looked over the menu for drinks. “Let’s see...” Toby said, gazing down the list.
The waiter came back a moment later. “I’ll have a Smirnoff please.” I said to him. Toby ordered a Heineken, and Dylan ordered himself a Jim Beam. The waiter nodded and left to get our drinks.
I laughed at Toby as he read the piece of cardboard that had their services on it. I gathered my composure as the waiter came back with our drinks. Toby paid him and he left. I looked around and saw other beautiful couches with long silver tables in front of them. The walls had beautiful artwork with an Egyptian pharaoh on one, another had a map from somewhere foreign. The lighting was dim yet, this place was an elegant bar indeed.
“Are you sure the Hunters will be here?” I asked them nervously. “Relax mate.” Toby replied. “They’ll be here.”
“Why don’t you sing a few songs to pass the time?” Dylan said to me as he slid a song book in front of me. “From what I hear, you do have an excellent voice, am I correct?”
“Yeah,” I said nervously, taking a drink from my bottle. “I can sing.” I wrote down my song on a piece of paper, along with my name and handed it to the KJ. He took it and added my name to the long list of terrible singers.
Toby laughed and both Dylan and I looked at him. “I can’t believe how some of these people think they actually sound good!”
I smiled at him but held my tongue. It was not my place to make fun of other people’s voices. Even if some of them did sound terrible, I just had the mission on my mind. I only had the one drink because I did not want to lose focus and be out of it if and when the Hunters showed up.
“Up next, we have Tuffara.” The KJ called my name and I blinked, realizing I was up.
“Go Tuffara!” Toby said, whistling at me as I walked up and picked up the microphone from the stand. I picked one of my own songs to sing because, why not, I wrote the song, right?
The music started and I looked at the screen waiting for the words to come up. “I can’t change the course of my life right now.” I started singing and the entire room went silent, and all eyes were on me. “But you can warm my heart in every way...”
As if on cue, the Hunters entered the bar and stood by the entrance, watching me as I performed. I ignored them and continued singing. I watched Dylan and Toby get up from the couch and stand in front of me.
Someone fired two shots into the air and people started running and screaming.
“Time to go!” Toby yelled as he grabbed me roughly by my arm and shoved me towards the emergency exit.
“But I didn’t get to finish my song!” I protested and Toby scoffed at me.
“I’m sorry, but I thought your life is a little more important than you are finishing a song onstage!” he replied angrily to me.
We stepped out into the alley and stopped dead in our tracks. The Hunters stood in front of us, blocking our exit.
“Going somewhere?” Kaitlin said, grinning evilly at us.
I felt a surge of power running through my entire body and I looked up towards the moon. I looked down at my right hand and saw it transforming into a gargoyle hand?
What the hell is happening to me?...
Kaitlin looked at Erasmus with a strange look on her face. “I thought you said she was a Demi-god?”
Erasmus growled at me. “She was supposed to be?” he said to her. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire existence?”
I growled at the Hunters and started walking slowly towards them. “Time for you to pay for killing my mother!” I said and launched myself at Kaitlin.
Chapter Thirteen
I screamed I surprise as I sat up in bed. I was breathing heavily as I took in my surroundings. I was lying in Abel’s room and I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful I was not in the Hunter’s hands. I pulled the covers off me and stood up. Abel came inside and was surprised to find me standing up.
“Tuffara.” he said, coming towards me. “You should be resting.”
I shook my head at him. “I’m fine.” I said to him. “We have to stop the Hunters.”
Abel pulled me closer to him and kissed me passionately. I kissed him back and placed my hand behind his neck. He pulled back a moment later, resting his forehead on mine. “Chaos sucked the poison out of your body.”
I made a face at the thought of another man sucking on my neck, but in this case, he was saving my life. “I’ll have to thank him later when I see him.” I said, looking into Abel’s eyes.
Abel smiled and ge
ntly squeezed my hand. “There’s been so much going on lately and I’m afraid of losing you again, Tuffara.” he said to me and I watched him pull out a small black box from behind him. He knelt before me on one knee and opened the box. I gasped as I looked at a beautiful silver ring. “Tuffara Meta,” Abel said to me. “Will you marry me?”
For a moment, I was in shock as I stared at the ring. I felt tears of happiness falling down my cheeks and I smiled at Abel. “Yes, I will.” I replied as I used my hands to wipe my cheeks.
Abel let out a sigh of relief as he stood up. He pulled the ring out of the box and gently placed it on my ring finger of my left hand. “My ring is black titanium with a blue carbon fiber inside of it.” Abel said proudly to me.
A smile crossed my face as I looked down at my ring. “And what’s my ring made of?” I asked Abel.
“Your ring,” Abel said to me. “Is a Miadora 10k White Gold Black Diamond ring.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said, giving him another kiss. “I love it.” I said paused for a moment. “And I love you, Abel.”
Abel smiled at me again. “I love you more than life itself, Tuffara.” Abel was starting to kiss me again when someone emerged from the outside the room.
“Abel, the Hunters were spotted at an abandoned warehouse.” Trunks said to him. Abel looked down at me. “Are you sure you're up for this, Tuffara?”
I grew serious and nodded at him. “Let’s take the Hunters down.”
Chapter Fourteen
I walked onto the abandoned warehouse lot alone. The plan was for me to get captured by the Hunters and take them out from their hideout. Which, from the looks of it, was this warehouse.
