I wake up to the calming sound of a nearby river and I open my eyes. For a solid second, I'm tempted to call for my brothers or my parents, as I'm convinced I'm back home and it's the Thames that woke me up. But the unfamiliar decor stopped me from embarrassing myself. My room would never look so plain and mundane like this dormitory. It doesn't have a single touch of personality, which made me realise it must be a guest room. The bed I am in is big and comfy, at least cosier than the one back in my dorm room. I leave its safety and warmth to check the windows. I'm surprised when I find them unlocked and I wander into the balcony.
The first ray of sunshine warm my skin in the cold morning air and I take a moment to enjoy it. I look around and everyone seems to be sound asleep around here. No people moving around the house, nor a single voice to be heard. I'm starting to believe that I'm in a ghost town because it is impossible that there isn't a single morning bird here. I hear my door being opened and I analyse my situation: I can either jump from the third floor or confront whoever is waiting for me. As much of a scaredy-cat I am right now, I'm very aware of the fact that I lack a feline's supposed nine lives and decide to man up.
I'm a goddamned hunter, I can defend myself!
I enter the room and I find the Lycan from last night on my bed, apparently sleeping. I pause everything a moment because I wasn't expecting it. Did he enter the wrong room? Or is he so exhausted that he fell asleep while waiting for me to decide between flight or fight?
"Sorry," I tell him as I approach the bed, "are you lost?"
"Just go back to sleep, love," he mutters in the pillow and I just cross my arms. "It's too early for a serious talk. Let's sleep for a couple more hours."
He reaches for me and catches my waist around his arms before I get the chance to avoid it. I fell on the bed and he positions one of his arms on my waist, hiding his face in my hair. My first instinct is to try and get away from him, but I a familiar feeling creeps in and I stop. It wouldn't feel like it unless it happened before. I vaguely remember him holding me like this after he brought me in this bedroom the night before. I feel the blood rushing through my veins and I angry turn to face his sleeping face. I disrupt his peace, shoving him out of the bed and standing on my knees on the mattress.
"What did I do now?" He asks in a sigh and his sleepy eyes are not even mad at me.
"Did you sleep here all night?" I ask him, keeping my position.
"Of course, it is my room," he tells me and I almost start to scold him on his awful tastes in interior design, but I reevaluate my priorities.
"Why? Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?" I attack him with the question that was crowding my mind.
"I want you to let me sleep for a couple more hours before we have this discussion," he tells me and climbs back on the bed.
Just as he positions back on the mattress, I jump on my feet and stare down at him. I see my boots at the foot of the bed and reach for the dagger who is supposed to be there. Unlucky as I am, I don't find it and I growl in frustration. How am I supposed to escape this situation? I'm in the middle of nowhere with a Lycan, with no guns or Will to help me, and I feel as vulnerable as in one of my nightmares.
What if I'm dreaming?
His green eyes watched me cautious ever since I reached for my boots. I feel like he knows I'm about to do something stupid, but he can't read my mind, can he? I mean, he could, if he was a manifestation of my wicked imagination and guilt. I may sound crazy right now, but I'm becoming more and more sure that I'm actually in one of my twisted dreams. And I find only one reasonable way to find out the truth. If it fails, I may have a shot at escaping this. One way or the other, I'm dead if I don't try anything. I doubt this Lycan brought me here to cuddle with me, and although I don't understand his intentions with me, I'm not the kind of girl to stick around to find out. I wouldn't trust my psychotic mother in this situation, let alone a complete stranger. So I'm left only with the instinct in my gut and I take a leap of faith. Literally.
I skip through the curtains and open the doors to the balcony wide open. The cold air hits my face and it nearly makes me stop because of how real it felt on my face. But I don't back down, I sprint to the end of the balcony and I jump from the beautifully-decorated marble balustrade like a newborn bird from the nest. I scream as soon as I feel myself falling rapidly, barely understanding what the heck I just did. I imagine myself hitting the concrete under me, my body cracking in a million pieces like a glass vase and my blood spilling from it like the petals of the roses from the flowerpot. It was almost beautiful; death can appear like this to the most fearful souls. And I know I'm one, deep down, where my true self lies. But I never sought death, neither I wanted it to come for me so soon.
In my happy place I'm an old lady, staying on her front porch, watching as the sun fell over another mundane day of her life. With nothing to do, but to enjoy life as plain as it is. I know most people's biggest desire is growing old besides their one true love, but I never dared to dream of this. I know I'm not cut for this kind of fairytale endings, they are for normal people. Hunters usually end badly: they either have their lives cut short by a violent death, or they waste away in a mental asylum's bed. Of course, there are options, for those who quit in time. But I told you before, a hunter's job is never truly done.
I am one of the lucky ones, though: dying before losing my sanity. Although, I may have had a slip of clarity when I decided that jumping from a balcony is a safe way of deciding whether I'm dreaming of being kidnapped by a Lycan or not. Fine, I was mental, but in a matter of seconds it won't even matter. Although, strangely, my fall is taking very long. I had a hell of a monologue in my head to distract myself from my impending death. So how comes I still feel like I'm floating?
I open my eyes and find myself pending from the third-floor balcony. I see the concrete under me, but I'm not fast approaching it like I thought I will. For a moment I think that my self-preservation skills kicked in without my notion and I hang on to the balustrade last second. But I don't feel like I'm clenching onto it, but like something is keeping me from highway-ing to hell.
"Asher?" I raise my eyes to meet his. He was bending over the balustrade, holding tight to my wrist with both his hands. In a blink of a second, I was back on the balcony, in the arms of my saviour. He was breathing heavily and his heart's beats were erratic, like he was the one who just had death blowing on his face like the cold, early-morning autumn wind.
I try to slip through his arms, but he just hugs me more tightly. I was nearly resisting the urge to let myself enjoy the way his body glued unto mine was making me feel, but my fears were greater than the pleasure. I now know it is all real and I am trembling with fear. If being captured by a Lycan wasn't bad enough, the recall of Will's unconscious body was giving me cold shivers down my spine. His wounds required immediate medical attention, but more than five hours must have passed since he collapsed in the woods.
"I need to go! Let me go!" I say and try to get up, but he doesn't move an inch. I push him with all my strength but he is unfazed. I kick him furiously but I only anger him with my frantic attempts at escaping.
I feel my back falling on the marble floor of the balcony and I don't even have time to blink before he positions his body above mine. His angry red eyes were staring down into my frightened ones and I gulp nervously. I didn't mean for this to happen. I was feeling safer pending off the balustrade, than under the disarming gaze of this Lycan. What am I supposed to do now?
"You're not going anywhere, princess." He tells me, pinning my wrists above my head. The seriousness in his eyes makes my body to tremble and his words are the first things I undoubtedly believe to be true ever since I wake up in this unknown house.
I watch the red in his eyes paling and the green regaining its territory. I feel a bit more relaxed staring into them now, but I'm still aware of my precarious situation. My wrists are aching and my arms are starting to get sore. I'm not strong enough to fight a Lycan and without my weapons, I'm at his mercy.
Oh, how I hate being powerless.
"At least..." I manage to say, trying to even the odds. Maybe he is all brute force and sharp fangs, but I can be smart and counteract with wit. "You can help me get him to a hospital?"
"Who? The guy you were with last night?" He says through gritted teeth and I try hard not to ruin my plan. Predators can smell their prey's fear; when the victim starts showing how scared they are, the fight is already over and I'm as good as dead.
"My... ahem, friend Will," I ungracefully avoid the word 'mate' because I remember the way he acted to it last night. Too bad I don't have my bow and arrows with me now... "he was extremely hurt last night and I fear that..."
"He was taken care of." It's his plain response and I can't help my trembling.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask with fear in my voice, tears forming in my eyes as I speak. It surely sounded in a... morbid way to me and I hope that I'm wrong. Will can't be dead.
"Well, I called an ambulance for a rogue animal attack." He tells me and I nod. It was the code used by our supernatural allies to announce a monster attack. We've got people in hospitals and on ambulances who cover up these attacks and make sure normal people are left in the dark about the true things that are lurking in shadows. "I've heard them saying that he lost some blood, but he'll recover. So can you stop stressing over him?"
"I'm sorry for caring about my best friend!" I roll my eyes in annoyance and push him over me. He let his guard down during his little story and it gave me a window. Now that I know that Will is safe and sound, I'm ready to make my grand escape.
I close the balcony doors behind him and lock the Lycan outside. He starts hitting the glass and I'm worried that he may break it. I get my boots and rapidly analyze the room for my missing weapons. I see them all tossed in a corner and I get equipped. I hear glass cracking slightly and I exit the room without looking back. I sprint through the hallways, ignoring the growing noise around me. Asher's punches must have woken up everybody in this mansion and I hear doors being opened and closed everywhere. People swearing and children crying as I run past them, but none follows me.
I'm sure it's my lucky day when I find the staircase. I descend in a hurry and get to the ground floor faster than humanly possible. I don't give myself time to catch my breath, I quickly take in my surroundings, looking for the exit. The staircase ended in the middle of a living room. I see a big TV, some sofas and armchairs surrounding coffee tables, a fireplace full of framed photographs, a table football who seems to be used as a resisting place for used cups and... a somewhat-familiar guy resting against the double doors. I guess this is where my luck runs out.