For the next hour or so we talk, somehow Fletcher manages to stay in his corner. Occasionally tearing into his own skin, or standing up and attacking the wall and punching it bloody. But finally, the man from before comes back. The crueler of the two says, "Well, holly shit. They're both still alive. I thought after all that screaming you would both be dead by now."
"Well, like I told you," I say, standing up and going to the door, "Fletcher isn't like that. He's not the monster you want him to be."
The men on the other side of the door flinch back just as Fletcher comes up behind me, pinning me to the door. "Blood…" he says, his lips gently touching my neck. He was shaking all over. I could feel his body pressed to mine.
"Quinn!" Beth yelps from behind me.
The two men back away. The one who had done the taking with darker hair, holds a blood bag in his hands.
Every part of my body wanted to fight back. It was what I was trained to do after all. But, Fletcher's words echo in my mind, Don't move. Like when a cat catches a mouse. It would play dead, and the cat wouldn't feel the need to go after it anymore. I stop moving entirely, staring right at the men on the other side as I say, "Fletcher, you're not a monster."
His body stiffens and slowly he backs away. I let out a held breath as I reach my hands through the bars, "Blood pack please?"
The man hesitates, but hands it to me. I barely have it through the bars before Fletcher snatches it from my hands, and sticks his teeth right through the bag. His legs give out as he sucks desperately on the bag, getting out as much blood out of it that he could. Everyone watches in horror as he drains the bag and it falls to the floor, empty. A shaking moan escapes his lips as he sinks deeper to the floor.
Relief and pure pleasure crosses over his face. His breathing slows, his body relaxes. He was visibly better. A lot of the color drains back into his face, the veins relax, his teeth go back to normal. He was the Fletcher I knew again. I kneel down next to him, "Fletcher?"
His face snaps up and his hands grab me, "More!" he gasps, jumping onto me, pinning me down once more.
The men on the other side of the door yelp in alarm and Beth squeals in terror, but his teeth never meet my neck. He pauses right before, saying, "I'm sorry." His lips brush my neck as if he were kissing me, but he pulls back all on his own.
I stand up, brushing off my pants. I take in a deep breath, looking first at Beth. Poor girl was terrified. But she calms when she sees my neck was unharmed. The men on the other side of the door were quiet. I go back to the door, looking at them. The one who was doing most of the talking says, "It didn't bite you?"
I shake my head, "No." I tilt my head so they could see my neck, "He didn't." I think I was as surprised as they were.
My hands were shaking with fear. How can people POSSIBLY go through life without weapons?
"Please." I plead, "My name is Quinn Farnghall, recent graduate of Hunter's academy. Top of the class. My father is Glen Farnghall, descendant of Justin Farnghall one of the founders of hunter's academy. I do not take things lightly. I'm telling you, we're all in danger, you, me, him," I pointed at his friend, "Something is heading for us. Bigger than you can ever imagine and no one wants to listen."
They stare at me like I was crazy. "We can't let you out." says the guy with the darker hair. "We could lose your jobs."
"Is your job worth the lives of you and your family?" I ask quickly.
He hesitates, "You just want to get out." he stammers.
"I wouldn't bet another person's life if it was something so insignificant." I snap, "Fletcher risked everything to get here and warn us." I didn't realise it was true until I said it. There was no way they would allow him back in the council if they knew what he'd done. Not after most of them specifically wanted us to perish.
Still he hesitates. It was the other man that says, "Can you guarantee my family's safety if I let you out?"
The other man whips around to look at him, shocked.
I had planned on sending Mechelle away, up north as soon as I could. I wasn't sure if that was 'safe' but, the words that slip out of my mouth were honest, "I'm not sure if anyone would be safe. But, I promise that I'll keep them as safe as I would if they were my own."
This time he hesitates. The darker haired man says, "You can't trust anything they say. It's a vampire and a couple sympathisers."
But, just as quickly as Fletcher had gone after me, he turns on his friend. Snatching the keys and flinging them my way. I shove my whole arm through the bars and somehow manage to snatch them from the air before gravity took them to the ground. Twisting my arm and getting on my tippy toes I shove one key after another into the keyhole. I try not to watch the fight go down. I was focused on the keys. But I wasn't tall enough. I could barely tell if I was getting them in.
A gentle hand lays on my shoulder. I flinch away from it, almost dropping the keys. It was fletcher, "I'm taller than you are. My arms are longer."
My eyes catch on his bloody knuckles. But, I back away, still holding the keys, I hand them to him. He eases his arm through the bars and begins working on it. I catch a glimpse of the two men fighting. The one with darker hair was winning.
Click. The lock unlocks and the door swings open slightly. Fletcher pulls in his arm, with the keys still in his hands and I pull the door open and jump on the guy with the darker hair. Fletcher was a second behind me, pulling the two of us apart as he practically shoves the guy into the cage we had just some from. As he does Beth comes stumbling out. He grabs her, keeping her from falling over as I shut the big wooden door.
For a moment all goes still on our side. The man was cursing at us but there was nothing he could do. I take in a deep breath, turning to the man who had broken us out. He was backing up, away from Fletcher, obvious fear shadowing his face. He was in his early twenties. He had light brown hair and dark hunter green eyes. Taking another step back, I noticed that he was shaking.
"You're not a hunter, are you?" I ask gently. Fletcher turns to look at him and the man flinches back at the sight of his unusual silver eyes.
He shakes his head, "I've only ever been in contact with them through the wooden doors."
I glance at Fletcher, who was calm enough, but that one small blood pack wouldn't last more than a couple hours. We had to find Noah. "Do you know where a boy named Noah is being kept?" I ask, "It should be the same place you got Beth from."
He points down the hallway, but doesn't move. I close in on him, grabbing his shirt, practically pulling him off his feet. My broken arm throbbing in protest. "Pull yourself together, you want to save your family, don't you?" His eyes seem to snap out of his fear. They finally focus on me, "I will try to keep them safe as best I can, but you gotta help us find our family first."
My words seem to have focused him, "Come with me." He says, taking off down the hall and stopping a good ten or so cages down the line, "He's in here."
He fiddles with the keys and unlocks the door. Noah was on the other side, looking a bit battered, but otherwise fine. When his eyes meet first mine, then Fletcher's he freezes, taking him in. Once noticing he was fine, he staggers to his feet and runs straight for Fletcher who opens his arms.
"I was worried about you, kid." Fletcher says holding him like a father would a child. It was then that it sinks in. He may drink blood from him, but he truly cares about him. Not as just a bag of blood, but as a son. His eyes level with the guy who had led us here, "Were you the one who beat him?" He asks calmly, too calmly.
The man shrinks back, his eyes flickering to me. I look away, betraying him. I wasn't sure If I would be able to forgive him if he'd been one of the ones who had hurt Noah. He was worse off than Beth. Obvious bruises on his skin and a split lip to match.
He shakes his head, "No. No, I didn't. I swear it. I swear I didn't."
Fletcher looks at Noah at his side who shakes his head, "He was one of the guys who grabbed Beth, but he wasn't one of the ones that hurt me."
He relaxed, but only slightly. "Okay." I say, shattering any tenson, "We need to get out of here. We need a plan. If the monsters were only days behind Beth and Zeno, we don't have much time."
"What's the plan, Quinn?" Fletcher asks me.
I spin around to look at him, "What? Why me?"
"Because, you were the one who freed me, Noah and Beth." Fletcher says, "And you're the only human I trust besides Noah."
Trust? But I tried killing him. I had tried killing him the first day we met. I had put a knife to Noah's neck. But, I guess he was also right. I had saved him. And Noah. And the thought of killing him now made me sick. It was so hard to see him as a monster after seeing him try so hard not to hurt me. He could have killed me. Any normal vampire would have. I had said he was different, but was he? Was he really?
I nod, thinking things over. I didn't know as much as Fletcher, but it seemed as though he trusted me enough to get them to safety. Or at least to warn people of the monsters that were heading our way. "Okay. First things first," I turn to the man that had helped us, "Do you know of another way to get out? Going back the way I came doesn't seem safe." That man who had caught me was bad news and the lady at the front probably already knew I had bailed out on the meeting that was with the Dave guy I made up.
He shakes his head, "That's the only entrance or exit."