CHAPTER TWO

I leaped fts into the air as I felt the strong clasp round my forearm and when I was turning to attack the holder, my gaze met with a familiar brown shades. 

Not only were his eyes familiar. His brown hair, his pale skin, his pointed nose, his full lips, even his stance. 

Then, I remembered where I had seen them - the carbon copy actually - the auburn lady I spoke to when I woke up the first time.  

So, they were they related? 

I remembered her saying something about a Jake. Was he the one?  

In a split second, she emerged behind the man that still had his grasp on my forearm but, lighter than earlier. Holding a wooden spoon, she used it to smack his hand away from my forearm and he released me with immediate effect. Then, she turned to me, holding a tight-lipped smile. 

"I see you are awake? How do you feel?"

I hesitated a bit before I willed myself to answer. 

"Great." My gaze levelling to hers, I searched it for answers to my questions. I still had a lot of them lingering in my head. And I need answers before I could afford to share more breathing space with them. 

"Let's have dinner. I know I have a lot of explanation to do but, let's bolt up our energy first, shall we?"

She smiled to me and there was something about her smile. So warm, tender and affectionate. I hoped it was the moon goddess being faithful to me this time and she wouldn't turn out to be that back-stabber and that ended up attempting to sell my whereabout to the hunters. 

That had happened in the past. Once or twice and it made me decline any help that was offered to me with cross-purposes of sort, attached to it. 

The auburn lady seemed different, though. There was something real and sincere about the way she had accommodated me and I hope it wasn't a just an imagery imagination messing with me.  

The dinner was slow, though conversative. 

I got to know a lot about the auburn girl. Like her name she said was Aurora and that guy that scared me out of my skin earlier, was her brother, Matthew. And there was one more guy that shared Aurora's features who was the Jake she talked about. 

I also learnt she was an hybrid - halfwolf, halfvampire - hence, not only hunters but, many other beings were after their lives. She explained the reason she had that hunter's fruit tree when ny curiosity made my lips move to the question. She said a hunter lived here and she killed him and his family. 

I couldn't believe my ears. I had met beings since I have being trying to escape the hunters - beings like me also escaping the hunters - but, I hadn't met one that had killed a hunter before. 

I almost didn't believe her but, why would she lie about something like that and that was the only reasonable explanation to living in a hunter's house. 

I realized she was quite chatty, always ready to let out even closelipped informations about her. Like, telling me how she lost her virginity to a vampire who later sold her to the hunters. It looked natural to her - letting out that kind of information to someone you just met, someone you knew little about - but, to me it didn't.

I couldn't, for the love of me, reveal my sex life like that to someone I just met. Not like I had one. 

On the other hand, I shared more information about me, to her. So little but, detailed with a sprinkle of lie. I couldn't trust her entirely even if she tells me her story life right from the moment she was brought into the world till this moment. Sorry, not sorry. 

I had told her that I lost all my family members to the massacre by the hunters, leaving out the part that some of my family members might still be alive. 

I told her I was also an hybrid - halfwolf, halfwitch. Lie. I told her I hadn't wolfed out yet and I couldn't win a fight with an hunter or a werewolf to save my life. Big fat, whooping lie.

 I mean, I trained all my life, I wolfed out at age 15 and the ability to fight off the hunters that had being trying to attack me all these years is the only reason I'm still alive. Well and breathing. 

But, it was for the best if she doesn't know I was a strong wolf, the strongest in my pack, back then. 

When the time came and I might perhaps be right about her selling my whereabout to the hunters, I would expose that side of me. 

But, for now, keep it hidden. 

Later, after the dinner, she asked me to accompany her to the forest, to pick some herbs and I couldn't decline. 

She pestered and pleaded and even though I had already prepared to say no right from the moment she offered it, I agreed. 

We strolled down the narrow forest and though she was oblivious of how still and strangely quiet the forest was, jumping around and fishing out weird-looking leaf that she called ingredients for the herbs. 

The moon was a crescent one, shining the little light it offered into the still forest. My mind wasn't settled with the way the forest stilled with no sign of even an owl. And as I followed Aurora right behind, I watched my side and back of anything that could try to attack us. 

When Aurora suddenly swirled back, my heart jumped and I almost let my hands down in a defense stance. 

Aurora smiled at me as she held the basket that had the little leaves she had plucked for her herbs, against her chest. 

"You know, I'm so delighted I found you."

I knew that. I sensed it or else her being overly nice to me was for another reason. 

"I have not had a female friend since my parent's death and finally I have one! Finally! I can have someone to do girl's talk with and do away with those boring dickheads of brothers"

A chuckle escape my throat into the quiet forest as she does a dramatic fist pump. 

Then, I heard snapping of leaves behind me. I knew it! 

It went quiet again for a while before it came again but, this time it was accompanied with many other ones. 

I quickly swirled around but, nothing was there. I looked deeper into the narrow path we had crossed before me but, nothing. 

Aurora's basket dropping on the floor startled me and when I turned to her, my breath hitched. 

She wasn't alone. 

They were more than five, I was too lazy to count, too scared to count. 

They had strange outfits on and the only piece of cloth I could recognize on them were the red cloaks that was almost sweeping the floor. 

One of them wrapped his hand around Aurora's neck and from the way she was gasping for breath, he was choking her. 

"New friend, huh?" The man had a wicked smile on as he focused his gaze on me but still had his hand tightly wrapped around Aurora's neck. 

Then, his smile was dropping and he was speaking to his accompanies. 

"Get her."

I needed no one to tell me he was referring to me because their dark gaze settled on me and their shade flashed a red color. 

I watch them grow their claws and they each open their mouths to reveal their sharp canine and that moment, I realized, they were vampires. 

And I was finally going to meet with death.