Chapter 16: The Hunter

Noah

CONTENT WARNING!

If violence isn't your thing, do NOT read this. This is a major plot point, so if you skip it, you will be lost in the remainder of the story. I will be more than happy to give you a TLDR if you want. Just ask. 

Today was a great birthday. Rain laying next to me. A sleepy look in his eyes. After the lengthy shower we took together, he smelled of my soap and shampoo. The oversized t-shirt I gave him to sleep in fits him like a regular shirt. My shorts were tight against his more muscular legs. We both lay in silence staring at each other, but Rain looked like he was trying hard to stay awake.

“You can sleep if you want to,” I said. 

Rain shook his head slowly, his hands cupping my face to pull me into a soft kiss. “If I sleep, the night will end. And I don’t want that to happen,” he whispered. 

I closed my eyes as our foreheads pressed together, and Rain held my face. My hands motioned for the back of Rain’s neck. “I don’t want tonight to end either.” 

Our lips met again, and he kissed me slowly. There was no rush, just tenderness. I loved the way he kissed me. My hands ended up tangled in Rain’s hair, pulling him in. Rain’s hand slowly tucked under my loose tank. I wanted Rain to fuck me slowly, just like he kisses me. I gripped his hair tighter, opening my mouth for him, but he kept the kisses slow. There was ringing in my ears from anticipation. Then there was a loud thump—

I broke from the kiss and looked toward my bedroom door. I stared into the dimly lit space, scared that the shadows were going to move. 

“What’s wrong?” Rain asked, motioning to look where I was staring.

“I heard something,” I said, not taking my eyes off the door.

Rain sat up on the bed, “what did it sound like?”

“Like a—”

A human-shaped shadow burst through my bedroom door. It was fast, heading directly to me, and I retreated to the inner corner of my room. My pulse spiked drastically, fear making me break out in a cold sweat. 

Rain reacted by shielding me from the human-shaped shadow. “Run!” Rain yelled over his shoulder at me. 

I quickly scrambled for the door, grabbing Rain’s hand to follow me. I wasn’t going to leave him alone with this intruder. 

Soon the shadow-stranger’s fist collided with the side of Rain’s face connecting to his ear. Rain let out a choked scream, reaching up to cradle his ear. I motioned to his side, but the shadow-man grabbed me. My body recoiled from the touch. “What the fuck!” I screamed, yanking my arm away, stumbling into the door. 

Rain was now on the ground holding the side of his head. Before I could call out to him, a fist hit me square in the face. The hit made my ears ring, and I fell through the doorway into my narrow hallway. Soon, Rain was above me, cradling my face in his usual gentle way. He was moving me out of the cramped hallway, and my legs struggled to carry me. 

Then an unexpected tackle sent Rain and me both to the floor. My side slammed into the lower cabinets in the kitchen. Rain was opposite from me, blood dripping from his ear. 

The shadow-stranger—which I now realized was a man—had a mask and baseball cap shielding his face. He ran straight for me, pushing Rain away with ease when Rain attempted to stop him. The man climbed on top of me, flipping me over to my stomach. “Get the fuck off me!” I screamed. I fought roughly to get him off me, but he was much larger than me, pinning me to the floor. 

I was kicking and flailing with all my effort, but none of it worked. 

“You disgusting creature. Stop moving,” the strange man growled in my ear. 

“Fuck you!” I yelled out on instinct. Then rapid fists struck me repeatedly in my side.  

My throat let out gasping groans from the hits. I saw a flash of Rain reaching for me before I heard him slam back into the kitchen counter, cups and silverware clattered to the floor. 

“I’m not trying to hurt you. I only want this thing,” the man yelled in Rain's direction, but Rain did not stop trying to get the man off me. 

The man stared at Rain when he approached, and I used the distracted opportunity to flail out from under the strange man. When I broke free, the man cursed under his breath and motioned to stop me again. 

His punch came faster than I intended. It smashed right into my nose. There was a crunch, and then I smelled blood. It poured from my nose. I glanced around the kitchen frantically, looking for somewhere safe to hide. There was so much force—hatred— behind the punch that I couldn’t think.  “Get Maya,” was the only thing I was able to cry out. 

Rain managed to hear my words. I heard the front door flinging open and his footsteps across the dirt path. 

I’ll be okay now. I knew Rain would come back, and he’ll have Maya and the coven as backup. The pressure in my face and head was immobilizing. I had to push past the fear I felt and get to safety until Rain returned. My legs were trembling, pushing myself up. 

“I got you now,” said the man. “I knew what you were the second I saw you.” 

Shit. I knew that voice. I heard it earlier tonight. “The bitch-ass detective,” I responded.  

That remark got me a punch to the gut, and when I keeled over in pain, I received a swift punch to the face again. I met with the floor. “Fuck me, dude. Can you stop hitting me in the face,” I croaked, spitting out the blood that accumulated there. 

“Your kind shouldn’t be alive,” detective Owens snapped. 

“Oh, so you’re a bitch-ass hunter,” I corrected. 

His boots collided with my stomach, and it  made bile rise in my throat. The hunter climbed on me, pinning me to the floor again. I fought with all I had left. I had to wait out just a little longer. Once the coven showed up, this guy wouldn’t stand a chance. 

He grabbed my arms with force, placing them behind me before zip-tying my wrists in place. 

“The fact that I have to touch something like you,” he said with disgust as he would puke just from touching me. 

“Fuck you too,” I laughed.

My laugh slowly transitioned into a scream when I caught a glimpse of a metallic object. Tears swelled in my eyes. Fuck. 

My scream cut abruptly when the knife ripped through my skin, plunging deep. I glanced at my abdomen and saw just the knife handle at the surface of my skin. I screamed louder at the vision. I screamed until my voice broke, replaced with the sounds of my painful wailing.

“That should shut you up. You’ll live as long as I keep it in,” the hunter laughed. “Or I could pull in out and watch you die.”

“No,” I cried. 

“Beg me,” he said savagely, placing his hand on the handle of the knife, tugging it barely a centimeter. 

I screamed again, and tears followed. I watched as my blood started leaking from my body. My skin felt clammy, cold. “Pl-Please,” I pleaded, unable to keep my breaths even.   

The room was starting to fade from existence, turning black. My face rested against the cold wooden floor of my kitchen. My eyelids were heavy. I was getting tired. I felt the slide and snap of my muscles, but I didn't have the energy to stop the shift. Everything hurt; my face, my head, my arms, my legs, and my stomach where the fucking knife was. 

I guess I had shifted because the hunter let out a disgusted sound. I wanted to cover my ears so I wouldn’t remember the sound, but it implanted into my brain already. Why did he hate me so much? What have I ever done to him to deserve this? Was I not allowed to exist? 

“Not good enough. I’d rather hear you scream,” Detective Owens said with a smile, then yanked out the knife.

The scream got stuck in my throat. The air, robbed from my lungs. My blood pooled around me, my brain checked out, and my eyes slammed shut.