Saved from the Bounty Hunter

When will all these calamities end? Ava nearly fainted at the sound of the gunshot. She screamed so hard she did not know how to stop. The bounty hunter ran to hide at the sound of the gunshot. Ava saw the opportunity to escape and struggled up from her position. She saw that it was a wolf that fell before the gun was shot. Not caring about who did what, she was focused on finding a way of escape. If only she could disappear from this place.

In all her twenty-one years of life, she had never wished for her wolf as much as she did at this moment. If only she had her wolf, she would have escaped from all these dangers. As she got up from her seat, a pair of strong hands forced her down. Some men rushed in and she saw the wolf mugging the bounty hunter. He struggled initially but was soon overpowered. Well, he got what he deserved.

‘Please help me. I want to leave this place.’

The wolf that killed the man shifted back to his human form and growled at the other men wolves.

‘Take her to the base.’

A very muscular bare-chested man moved closer to Ava and picked her up, as if she was a piece of cloth. He put her on his shoulder and went away into the night. Fresh tears fell unhindered from Ava’s eyes. The moon hid behind the clouds as if in empathy with Ava.

Swiftly they moved through the woods, Ava’s legs swinging as the burly man sped to their destination. Twenty, thirty, forty, sixty, hundred … Ava was counting the number of steps the man took as walked, maybe she would still need to escape from these ones. Too tired from crying, she lost count of steps and time as she eventually drifted to sleep.

The sharp pain in her broken leg woke her up suddenly. She opened her eyes and realized she was now sitting on the floor, propped against the wall of a house. She wondered where she was. The room was dimly lit, with pots and utensils neatly arranged on a rustic table. It looked like a big kitchen. She saw herbs hanging around as they dried. Little sacks of powdery substances were stacked in heaps in a corner of the room. Knives in various sizes were laid in order on an iron tray, on a smaller table. Could this be a butcher’s kitchen?

She heard footsteps approaching and closed her eyes as if still sleeping. She needed to know the situation around her. No one can help you now, prepare for the worst. The words of that treacherous note slid across her mind again and she cursed the writer in her heart. Her fists clenched beside her as she slowly breathed in and out, to calm her nerves.

‘My Lord. Here she is.’

Ava opened her eyes slightly and saw a dark man as he strode into the room. He was over six feet tall and must weigh over two hundred pounds. He should be about thirty years old, though he looked older. His head was bare of hair, his facial hair was full and frightening. His voice was deep and loud as he spoke. Ava’s legs knocked against each other.

‘How did you find her?’

‘She’s from Blood Moon pack. She was banished because she was wolfless and useless to them.’

‘Is she a virgin?’ The man barked at them.

All eyes turned to the he wolf that mauled the bounty hunter. Ava watched as he stepped forward and nodded.

‘She must be. A human was at the verge of assaulting her and she begged him not to take her precious thing by force. That was why I stopped the man.’

‘You have done well Tim. You really deserve the position of my Beta.’

The man drew closer to Ava, who by now had her eyes fully opened. He lifted her chin with his fore finger and smelled her.

‘She is totally wolfless. No smell at all.’ He stared into her eyes and smiled wickedly.

‘She’s a pretty little thing and would have served as a good mate to a wolf, popping out some little pups. But…’ He dropped her face and patted her on the head.

‘You will serve a greater cause. Your blood will go round the world. You will be remembered till the end of time. You are the last ingredient.’ He turned and walked away from the room, ordering his men as they closed the door after him.

‘Let her do the virginity test. If she passes, prepare her for the lab. If she fails, cut her into pieces and feed her to the snakes.’

Ava felt her blood drain and her vision blurred as her head became light. Snakes? She shivered involuntarily. She shook her head and tried to focus as her situation indeed went from worse to worst. Two men grabbed her and lifted her up, another man gave her a long bottle with a small mouth.

‘Go to that corner and fill this with your urine. Pour it straight into the bottle. Understood?’ the man the leader called Tim ordered Ava.

She nodded her head vigorously in obedience. What would they do with her urine? Was her urine the ingredient they needed? She slowly wobbled to the said corner, turned her back to the men and squeezed her bladder until urine came out in trickles. The bottle was half full when she stopped, her bladder was empty. She covered the bottle and wobbled back to present it to the men.

‘Stay there and hold the bottle.’ Tim ordered. Ava’s hand froze midway as she was extending the bottle to the nearest man. Tim then told two of those around him to go to the corner.

‘Check the floor. Are there many drops?’

They carried a lamp from the table and checked the floor of the corner thoroughly. They came back with smiles on their faces.

‘Not a single drop sir. She passed the test. She is a virgin.’ The men clapped in excitement, as if a major mission had been fulfilled, confusing Ava the more.

Ava slowly withdrew her hand holding the urine bottle and sighed in relief. At least she would not be fed to the snakes. But how did they know that I am a virgin? She thought to herself. Which type of test was that?

‘Now take her to the laboratory and draw out all her blood. Her virgin blood is the last ingredient for the portion my lord wants to make. Draw out every single blood in her, the more the blood, the better for us.’ They all laughed as two men carried Ava, the bottle of urine still in her hand. A hand snatched the bottle from her and her hope of defending herself shattered.

She was taken to another room and placed on a long table. The moon came out of its hiding at last and shone brightly on the laboratory. It was a full moon. The room seemed like a hospital ward with medical trays and bottles neatly arranged. It stank of antiseptics. Some white tubes were hung around a white pole. One of the men brought the tray of knives along. Ava froze as a man wearing a white lab coat approached her with long needles and syringe. Her eyes followed as the man fixed the needled on the syringe and grabbed her hand. She screamed with all her strength and fainted.

Ava felt as if she was swapped with another as she landed in a bright place, filled with beautiful flowers. She saw the Moon Goddess approach her.

‘My daughter, your troubles are almost over.’ She said as she caught Ava in a hug.