CHAPTER FIFTEEN—Bring me Freya!

Freya Rose Mason had been flying for hours. I kept asking if I could fly beside him, because he must have been getting tired, but he insisted that he wanted to carry me. He said that he'd nearly lost me once today and he didn't ever want to let me go. I decided to do as he wished and stayed curled up in his arms. I think I managed to drift off to sleep for around twenty minutes or so but was awoken by a rumble of thunder shortly thereafter. I laid my head back down onto Mason's chest, then sighed out loud as we continued to fly through the ash gray cloud-covered sky.

“It looks like it's gonna rain soon,” I stated sullenly to Mason.

“It doesn't matter, because we're already here,” he replied unusually excited, which seemed odd to me considering the situation we were currently in.

I wondered what had him so happy as he lowered us to the ground. I placed my feet onto the floor, then pulled my legs up behind my butt to stretched them out. One leg and then the other. Having Mason carry me for hours on end had made my legs go stiff. Once I felt stable enough, I turned around to see where we were. We were stood outside of a quaint little cottage, that had an adorable white picket fence around it. A beautiful lush green lawn was laid either side of a cobblestone path, that led all the way up to a modern glass and stainless-steel front door. Behind the door, I saw a pink blur suddenly appear from one side of the hallway, hurry along it, then disappear again. Within seconds it re-emerged and sprinted towards the front door. I jumped backwards in a panic and hid behind Mason. I was still new to all of this supernatural stuff, and I wasn't sure what kind of creature he had brought me to. I mean it was around five-foot-tall and very round in shape. I even tried to remember if I'd seen anything on the internet that was small, pink and supernatural, when I was researching werewolves, vampires and hunters.

“What the hell is that!?” I whispered to Mason, he didn't reply, he just let out a chuckle. I wasn't going to let this go, I needed to know how to prepare myself against this thing, just in case it didn't like me, or attacked me. So, I asked in a sterner sounding whisper, “Is it some kind of Fairy or ogre? Oh, is it a fairy Godmother?” He chuckled again, but still didn't answer my questions. What is he playing at? I thought to myself as I grew impatient. Knowing that he wasn't going to indulge me, I huffed and took a step forward so that I was now standing right beside him. I folded my arms and prepared to meet whatever this round pink thing was. The door flung open, and the thing squealed with excitement, sounding like a damn pig.

“Mason? Is it really you?” It cried out.

I immediately blushed as the realization hit me, this was a woman. Without waiting for a reply, the lady ran as fast as her chubby little legs could carry her, then jumped right into Mason's arms. He caught her with ease like he'd been catching her like that for years. She pulled away from him slightly, then smothered his face in tiny kisses. He blushed as he looked over to me, and I raised my eyebrows in response, not knowing what in the hell I was witnessing. The lady finally stopped her fussing and Mason lowered her to the floor. She turned her body towards me, folded her arms across her chest, then judgingly looked me up and down. I raised an eyebrow at the pure cheek of the woman. I mean who in the hell is she to be giving me the stink eye?

She was quite a heavy-set woman and had medium brown colored hair, with attractive golden highlights. Her eyes were an all too familiar green color. I'd say she was around fifty years old, maybe a little younger. Apart from the suspicious look she had plastered all over her face, she seemed like a sweet woman. I mean the woman is wearing a giant pink fuzzy cardigan, how could she not be friendly, right? Well, at least I hoped she was friendly since I'd just figured out that this was what Mason meant by getting me to somewhere safe. So, unless this lady changes her shitty attitude in the next few minutes, then he'll be staying here all by his damn self.

“Mom be nice! This is my Fiancé, Freya Rose,” Mason proudly announced to the woman.

Oh my God, she's his mother? I thought to myself then blushed even more as I replayed the thoughts over in my mind. The thoughts where I was convinced that she was a fairy tale being, or a giant pig creature. Luckily the pair of them couldn't hear Mina. She was howling her butt off at me, she couldn't even bring herself to mock me, she was laughing that hard. I tried my best to ignore her as I dropped my arms to my sides, trying to look a little more approachable. His mom jumped up and down excitedly shaking that judging look right off of her face, like she was a human etch a sketch. My eyes grew wide when she suddenly turned towards me and squealed like a pig again. Then without any warning whatsoever, she threw herself right at me.

I hoped to God that she wasn't expecting me to catch her like Mason did. I dread to think what would happen. I'd probably drop her right on her plump ass. Now that would make a great first impression, I thought to myself. I tried to keep a smirk from growing across my face as I imagined her bouncing along the grass like a fuzzy pink inflatable beach ball. Luckily, she just forcefully pulled me in for an extremely tight hug instead. I responded awkwardly by wrapping my arms around her plump body as I shot Mason a confused look. He just chuckled silently with a huge grin spread across his face. I can't believe he's brought me to his mother's house, without even warning me! And what was that about me being his fiancé? I furrowed my brow at him and pursed my lips in pure frustration. He shrugged in reply, then whispered, “A Fairy. Really?” While shaking his head at me.

He turned on his heel and without so much as a second glance, he casually strolled into the house leaving me with his mom draped around me like a fuzzy pink sloth baby.

***

Mason Hart After going back outside and managing to pry my mother off of Freya, we all finally made it into the cottage. My mom went to make us some coffees. I'd decided that I would leave Freya and my mom to get better acquainted once my mom came back, much to Freya's dismay. I didn't have a choice though. I'd felt my phone buzzing in my pocket on and off for the last half an hour and whatever the problem was, I didn't want Freya to know about it. She'd been through more than enough today.

“I'm just gonna take a shower, I'll be back in a bit,” I said casually to Freya who was now sitting on my mom's black leather couch in the living room. She stood up instantly and replied, “Wait, I'll come with you,” her stunning blue eyes begging me not to leave her.

I walked up to her and placed my hands gently on her shoulders guiding her back down onto the couch. I squatted in front of her and brushed her hair away from her face.

“I won't be long. I promise. Just stay here and get to know my mom,” I urged her. Her eyes grew wide with panic, and she shook her head slightly. I really didn't want to leave her, but I knew I had no choice. I stood back up then said more firmly, “please, Freya. For me?” She didn't say a word but nodded in agreement. I kissed the top of her head, then turned to leave. “Oh, and one more thing, she doesn't know that we are hunters,” I stated quietly.

I thought I'd just leave her with that bombshell. I dared not turn around as I guessed she'd be scowling at me right about now. I left the room trying to hold back a giggle, then ran up the stairs to my old room and gently closed the door behind me. Once alone I pulled out my phone and saw that I'd had ten missed calls from Evan and a few from Brad and Trent. I knew this wasn't a good sign, but I couldn't work out what was up, either Evan wanted to scream and shout at me about what Selene had done, or it had something to do with Hannah. Either way, I needed to find out. I clicked onto one of the missed calls from Evan then called him back.

“Mason finally! Where the hell are you?” Evan asked me in a panic.

I sighed as I sat down on my old single bed. My room hadn't changed a bit since I was eight years old. It still had my Spiderman cover and drapes. The walls were bright blue in colour with a red border. There was a dark blue carpet and a round Spiderman rug in the middle of it. My mom could never bring herself to change it after my dad divorced her and took me away for over ten years. I returned in my twenties after he had died, and she still never wanted to redecorate. She did ask me on one of my visits if I would like to change it, but I saw that it meant a lot to her, so I told her to keep it the way it was. Also, I won't lie it was kinda nice to see that she'd kept it for me all those years, in the hope that I'd return one day. I felt safe in this room, and it brought back so many fond childhood memories.

“You know I can't tell you over the phone Evan, but you know where I am,” I answered the best I could.

The council could be listening in, but I knew Evan would be able to work it out. This is the only place I ever felt at home or safe and he knew that.

“I don't know where you are Mason, that's why I asked you. Come back now and bring that damn dog with you,” he screamed down the phone at me.

I knew something wasn't right with him immediately. Even after just losing Ellie, Evan would never call Freya a dog, he loved her too much to disrespect her like that.

“The council's there aren't they?” I asked him bluntly.

I heard the phone being passed to someone else. A woman then spoke to me in an aggravated voice, “You bring my niece back right now, Mason. Or God help me, I'll hunt you down and bleed you dry!” She hissed at me.

“Who the hell is this?” I demanded down the phone as I stood up and clenched my fist at the threat.

“I am Kali and I have been sent here by the council to retrieve my niece. But instead of finding her here waiting for me, all I was greeted by was a bunch of dead hunters in the woods. A hybrid in a cell and a drained hunter with a mutilated face in the basement. Would you care to explain to me why you have gone against the council's orders and kidnapped my niece?”

I gulped while I listened to her cold and intense voice. Evan and I had been told all about Kali by my father and Damien. They had told us exactly how dangerous and powerful she was. It had been drummed into us from a very young age, that if we were ever unfortunate enough to meet her, we were to do exactly as she ordered, or she'd kill us on the spot. From the stories we'd heard, she was a ruthless warrior and a sadistic mad woman. I had to play this very carefully.

“I didn't kidnap Freya, we were escaping from Selene,” I replied calmly.

Instantly I heard her drop the phone, then it sounded like there was some sort of scuffle. I heard a man scream over the phone. I knew it wasn't Evan, but I still felt sorry for the poor guy. As quickly as they’d started, his screams abruptly ceased and were replaced by the sound of an almighty cracking of bones as they broke. Seconds later a weighty thud echoed. She returned to the phone carrying on with her questions as if nothing had happened.

“Selene was here?” She yelled through gritted teeth.

“Yes. She killed the hunter in the basement then was going to turn on Freya, so we escaped while she was distracted, feeding on Ellie,” I lied to her trying to make it sound as convincing as possible.

I didn't want her knowing that Selene and Freya were close, because if this all went wrong and the council somehow manage to get a hold of Freya, Selene might be her only hope at escape.

“I thought I could smell Samael in the woods, I was hoping it was because he'd been killed here, but I guess no such luck,” she said glumly.

I'd heard of this Samael before, but with my head being a mess right now, I couldn't work out who he was.

“Who is Samael?” I asked Kali hoping that I could keep her talking for a while so that I could figure out a plan.

“Samael is Selene's little vampire bitch, nothing more nothing less. He does exactly what she wants, when she wants. He's weak!” She raised her voice louder and louder as she continued, “he has the audacity to call himself the Sire King of all vampire's? Ha! Without Selene to save his ass, I'd have killed him years ago. We could have ruled this pathetic little world together and made it into a glorious hell on earth, but he's too much of a mummy's boy to ever be a true King,” she ranted, sounding more insane with every passing second.

I stayed quiet, hoping that she would burn herself out but heard the phone drop again, and this time, a woman screamed.

“Stevie, no! You get off of her you blood-sucking parasite!” I heard Finnley growl at her.

I could hear chains rattling and Finnley snarling, then the same bone cracking and thud that I'd heard earlier. I wanted to scream out or punch something in pure rage, as I listened to Finnley howl and cry his eyes out. I could feel his heart breaking and there was fuck all I could do to help him. I knew I couldn't make any noise. I couldn't let Freya, or my mom know what I was up to.

“Get that Mutt out of here, now! Chain him up in the back of the van!” Kali screamed out at someone. I then heard the chains rattle again and some dragging noises, along with whimpers and snarls from Finnley. “Sorry about that. I got a little worked up, I'm fine now. No more talk of Samael, just thinking about him makes me so hungry,” she said casually. It was disturbing, to say the least. This woman, sorry thing, had no remorse at all. It was clear that she had no regard for any other being’s life. She just did what she pleased, and screw everyone else. Kali was more like Selene than she'd like to admit, but I knew I couldn't tell her that or more people would die, and I didn't want the next one to be Evan. I needed to play this cool from now on. “You were very lucky to escape from Selene and Samael. Well done on keeping my niece safe, the council will be pleased,” she muffled down the phone and if my ears heard right, it sounded like she was licking her fingers one by one, like she'd just had a bucket of chicken wings or some shit.

A shiver ran down my back as I envisioned her licking the blood of the male hunter and Stevie off of her vial ice-cold fingers. I took in a deep breath and finally decided to talk to the disgusting creature. She seemed to like the sound of her own voice that much that I'd barely had a chance to speak a word before now.

“Thank you, Kali. I am always here to serve the council, what do you need me to do?” I spat the words out like they were poison.

I didn't want anything to do with the council or Kali, but I knew I had to obey them, or all of our hunters would be killed. The council had done it before, wiped out entire factions then replaced them with new hunters.

“Bring me Freya!” She replied simply.

With my heart in my throat and my fists clenched, I replied, “Yes, of course. We will be back first thing in the morning.”

As soon as the words left my lips, I crushed my phone into tiny pieces and crumbled the bits onto the floor.

***

Freya Rose I can't believe Mason decided to take a shower and leave me alone with his mother! What a liberty. Then to tell me that she doesn't know anything about hunters, like what the hell Mason? Now I can't even get mad at him, because if I do, I might shift, or ascend and give the poor woman a heart attack. Fuck, I'm gonna kill him when he gets out of that damn shower. Mina was laughing at me again, so I decided to shut her out. I was too pissed off to deal with her mocking me right now.

“I didn't ask if you take sugar, or milk? Oh, where's Mason?” His mom asked me as she looked around the room for her son.

She looked just as petrified with this situation, as I felt.

“He's gone to take a shower…Um…Mrs. Hart,” I screwed my face up a little trying to remember if she or Mason had told me her first name yet.

“It's Scott, Sadie Scott. I got remarried ten years after Mason's dad filed for divorce and left me, taking Mason with him,” she said sadly as she wiggled her wedding ring finger at me.

“Charlie, my husband is at work right now, he's going to be so excited to meet you. Sorry, did you say about milk and sugar?” She asked politely with a soft smile, but I could see the pain behind her eyes. Mason's dad had really hurt her.

“Milk and two sugars please,” I replied with my own kind smile.

With a nod of her head, Sadie left the room again and walked into the kitchen. I saw Mason suddenly run down the stairs. He grabbed my arm and yanked me up out of my seat, then straight out of the cottage. I tried to pull my arm out of his grip, but he just tightened it and hissed, “Freya, we need to leave right now!”