Chapter 40: Bloodshed
Chapter 40: Bloodshed
Vander
Jenna gave a smile as two other hunters emerged from behind her. One was a large, burly man with an axe in his hand. His eyes were a lifeless shade of grey almost reminiscent of a zombie. The other was a tall, muscular woman who threateningly waved a machete around. Her brown eyes were narrow and excited in a dark and twisted sort of way. Both looked quite intimidating and I could only assume that they were members of the LHS in Caleb’s district, here to make sure we didn’t touch the hatch. Louis and Mason came in front of us, with Louis clutching onto the arrow and pulling it out of his shoulder. He had a darker look in his eyes now, and it seemed as though he were unphased by the pain. When I’d first met Louis, he hadn’t been in on the action and so I took for granted that he had no combat skills. But judging by his menacing stance, I assumed that I had been sorely mistaken.
“You guys focus on the hatch. We’ll take care of these three,” Louis said. Mason nodded at them and they ran towards the two hunters. Louis pulled out of his shirt nunchucks while Mason threw off his jacket revealing a holster containing two blades. He unsheathed them promptly and immediately collided with the woman carrying the machete. Some part of me felt bad for letting them fend for themselves. But all of those bad feelings almost disappeared when I saw them fight. Mason and Louis even had Jenna more focussed on them than us. And so Freya and I worked on the hatch. It was shut tightly, but we were strong enough. Everything seemed to be going well until the hatch stopped moving completely. It felt as though someone were pulling it towards the opposite side on the other side of this hatch.
“Open the fucking hatch! Before I tear your arms off!” I yelled. I then turned towards Freya and asked her to take a step back. She did so and I let out a low growl as I leaned down and pried the hatch open. I pulled and pulled with all of my might, not even focussed on turning the wheel of the hatch, but rather focussed on using it to completely remove the hatch door. I heard it giving away slowly but surely until my body went flying to the ground and the hatch door flying through the air, knocking Jenna on the head and making her pass out. It was unintentional, but I was ever so grateful that we wouldn’t have to deal with her. Before Freya and I could even peer into the bunker, two wolves immediately jumped out. Nova and Lana, I presumed. Nova was a jet-black wolf while Lana had a brownish reddish coat. Both of them snarled at me and neared me menacingly. I took that as my sign to transform immediately. I let my wolf side take complete control of my body and so did Freya. We stood there opposite Nova and Lana, tall and strong. I knew we could beat them both.
“You fucking assholes!” yelled a voice from lower down. I heard loud thumps and for some reason my heart felt as though it were about to jump right out of my chest. And then I saw her, standing there in all of her glory. Calina.
Calina
The banging had begun the moment Lana and Nova had attempted to take me out for my daily torture session. Nova had been close enough to the bars and distracted enough for me to grab the keys from him the moment he turned his back towards me and had Lana investigate the noise. I just prayed that Erin wouldn’t utter a sound about it. And to my surprise she didn’t. She gazed at me, a look of regret on her face. I could tell she wanted to apologise, but I nodded to her reassuringly.
It didn’t take long for Vander to completely lift the hatch door off of its hinges. Nova and Lana were in a state of urgency as they both looked at each other, clearly not expecting him to be so strong. They immediately jumped out, transforming as they did. And that was when I took the opportunity to free myself with the key. I held the door open for Erin.
“I… I’m scared,” she said, still in her corner. “What if Vander doesn’t win… and they take us back.”
I hadn’t quite realised the major psychological impact this entire thing had probably had on her. And I regretted being so harsh towards her before. So, I held a hand out towards her and tilted my head.
“I’ll kill them for that can happen,” I said, completely serious. If push came to shove, they’d still be exhausted from fighting off everyone else. I could take them then. I’d use every ounce of my strength.
Erin hesitated a moment, before nodding and then taking my hand, following me out. I yelled out before I’d even gotten to the surface, screaming, “You fucking assholes!”
The moment I hit the surface; I was overwhelmed by everything. It was the first time my semi-werewolf senses were exposed to the outside world. The sounds, the light of the sunset and even the scents surrounding me were almost too much to handle. But there was one scent that really stood out. His.
He was in his wolf form, but those brown eyes were still the same. The last time I’d seen him was in my dreams. And the last thing we did was kiss. Even though it was all a dream I couldn’t help but blush and feel slightly excited. And then there was Mason further down. He had his blade at the throat of a hunter. He turned towards me, his electric blue eyes softening as they met mine. It was an intense look, one that elicited a warmth in my chest and a slightly sore lump in my throat. I hadn’t expected him to be here.
But that feeling almost completely faded when I saw an unconscious body on the ground near Mason. Had Jenna come to rescue me as well? The very thought seemed almost to silly to be serious. And so I shrugged it off and focussed my attention back to Nova and Lana. I was hungry, but not for food. I was hungry for bloodshed.