Exhausted and worn out from the day’s exertions and drama, sleep had come easily to Hailey. As soon as Ryan had set up the tent properly and the now recuperating Trey was comfortably settled, she had snuggled into one of the sleeping bags. Briefly, her mind wandered over the things she had learnt in the past few days. The existence of a super natural world, her father’s role and also her expected role in it. It was truly overwhelming and even if she hadn’t been completely wiped, contemplating things as complicated as that was sure to lull her to sleep. So, she slept. Hours later, she woke up from a nightmare. For a moment, she was disoriented and wondered where she was. She took one look at the figure still sleeping beside her and things started coming back. Trey was still unconscious from the look of things but he seemed better now. The bleak light in the tent revealed that his pallor was now normal. She stared at him as he slept wondering what it would be like feel that
Dawn came with a majestic brilliance. The sun dispersing golden and blinding rays to a still waking world. It was a beautiful sight. Hailey sat there observing the sun as it made it’s slow progression across the sky. She felt herself warm up with a contented feeling, a feeling she hadn’t known since the event of that tragic night. The fire had eventually died and still there was no sign of Ryan. As she suspected, he had simply wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Or away from her prying eyes and questions a mocking voice said to her. Hailey felt like going back into the tent to check up on Trey but she was afraid of what she might do. As things stood, she couldn’t trust herself around him. So, she sat there staring at the smoke wisps from the embers of their camp fire. Occasionally, she flung a dead leaf or twig into it and watched it flare up before turning to ashes. That was exactly how Ryan found her when he returned. He was carrying an armful of dead tree branches and parts
“Wait! You knew Trey as a boy?”, She asked with an incredulous look. It seemed like couldn’t really believe that he had said that barely seconds ago.“Yeah. We basically grew up together”, Ryan confirmed.“Wow. That must have been....well, fun.”“ It was, at least for a while.”“Was he a …you know.. a wolf then?”“No. The arche werewolves turn at the age of sixteen.”Hailey looked puzzled. “Arche? What does that mean?”“it’s original in greek. Refers to those who descended from the werewolf bloodline”.“Nice. What about those not from that bloodline?”“They are called the gifted.”“Why the gifted?”Ryan smiled at the question. He remembered asking Father the same question years ago. He gave her the exact same answer he had gotten.“The wolves believe that the bite is a blessing and that whoever is bitten has been gifted. Hence, the name”Her mouth formed a huge ‘o’ at the end of his explanation. He wondered if he had that same look after Father Hugh explanation. He doubted that beca
HAILEY’S POV“Are you serious?”. This was what she found herself saying after hearing what Ryan had said. He merely nodded his affirmation. The atrocities that the father she never really knew committed felt like arrows through her heart. How could he have done things like this? It almost seemed like fiction but the look on Ryan’s face showed that he meant every word. He was trying so hard to mask the pain he felt, occasionally he would flash a smile to make it seem like he was okay. It played over and over in her head, her father had turned a little girl into a monster. Then sent the poor girl after her birth parents. How fucked up could things get? She couldn’t really tell.“Anyways, Katerina was so pissed that she went after Trey and i. We never really got to figure out what made her so angry, the Kristovs had to fight their own daughter to protect us. We fled to my house across the street leaving them to deal with Katerina. We could barely form coherent words to explain what
The name came as a surprise to Hailey. She wondered briefly what role he had played in Ryan’s life. It seemed like a huge part seeing that he had included him in the story. Her curiosity got the better of her and she voiced it out. “Who’s Father Hugh?”He smiled at the question. A shadow of a smile. It conveyed that the person in question meant something to him.“He was the hunter who tracked me down. He basically trained me and made me this”, Ryan finished with a sweep of hand indicating himself.“Ohh”, that was all Hailey could utter.“Yeah, he continued, the hunters had started noticing bizarre attacks starting from my parent’s death. Father Hugh was among those sent to investigate it. The police had initially thought that I also died during the attack but had no evidence to support it. Father Hugh’s investigation in the case led to him tracking me down and eventually recruiting me into the Hunter guild.” It dawned on Hailey then that maybe this was the first time Ryan was openi
The voice for some surprising reason startled her. Maybe what was more surprising was the fact that her heart suddenly seemed to start beating faster. She dismissed it as jumpiness but she knew for a fact that it had to do with the man walking towards them. With disheveled hair, old jeans and a worn out blanket draped around him, Trey Kristov still looked quite charming. No one should look this good in this Hailey thought but here he was proving how wrong she was. He walked with a slight limp and Ryan rushed to his side. He however shrugged off the attempt at help and continued his determined walk. Eventually, he made his way to the tree they had retreated to when the sun became too hot for them. He lowered himself onto one of the logs with a grimace of pain. Hailey suspected that he hurt more than he was trying to let on.“What were you guys discussing? I’m pretty sure I heard my name.” His voice had a hint of accusation and suspicion. He looked challengingly at her and then Ryan.“
HAILEY’S POVDusk was fast approaching and yet he continued to sleep. He had been in that state since the incident yesterday. His eyes had only opened a few times and in those times he wasn’t able to communicate or indicate anything. She had stuck by his side hoping that maybe the next one might be different but nothing had happened so far. Her mind kept on replaying the incident over and over again. Trey standing up and trying to storm off, the way he had staggered and then fell. Even Ryan’s quick reflex reaction was too slow and he was already on the ground before he could get to him. She had screamed involuntarily. It embarrassed her now as she thought about it. Hailey kept on telling herself that it was just a case of nerves but somehow it didn’t quite feel that way. It wasn’t something that she liked thinking about. Ryan had been in and out of the tent since then. She could sense he wasn’t all that okay with the development. He had been slightly agitated and didn’t even say
RYAN’S POV It was years of training and sheer willpower that kept him still. He had nearly swung the Scimitar on Hailey Brookes. It was only someone with keen observation that would have noticed his body’s reaction and how the hand holding the blade trembled slightly. He calmed himself and then turned to her.“You shouldn’t just sneak up on someone holding a weapon”, he said. Ryan hoped that he looked as demure as possible.“That was no answer”, She replied in a flat tone.He sighed knowing it wouldn’t be that easy to shake her off.“What was your question again?”. It was her turn to sigh now.“I just wanted to know if you think the Leviathans have tracked us here”.He didn’t think, he was certain of that. All his senses were screaming flee but he couldn’t do anything.“No, I don’t think so.” To convey his lie properly, he looked her squarely in the eye. He held her gaze for a moment before looking away.“What’s with the guns and blades?”, She queried. It seemed like a Brooke trait t
Eventually, they agreed that Boston was the best place to lay low. This was after Ryan had rejected several other options and gotten on everybody’s nerves one way or the other. It was agreed that they would head for the next day. They would try to lose whatever tail they might have within the day. Around 3 pm, Ryan declared that he was utterly famished. He suggested the purchase of food from any restaurant or diner that they happened to come across next. Hailey was elated at the idea, the past few days had been absolute horror in terms of feeding. When she spied a McDonald’s down the road, she was salivating and nearly drooling. Especially as she thought of the Big Mac which she felt like she hadn’t eaten in ages. So, she was more than disappointed when Trey sped past it without as much as a backward glance. Her stomach grumbled angrily at having been teased but denied. She was about to howl at him but Ryan beat her to it.“Dude! Did you not see that McDonald’s or what?!”“I did”,
HAILEY’S POV After her little argument with Trey over who should drive the truck, she had decided not to say a single word to Trey. She knew that he was still healing from that run in with the Leviathans and that considering his current state, she was best suited to drive. He had however refused claiming that he was okay. She knew he was doing it out of a misguided sense of keeping her safe. Then again, he didn’t think she could handle the car should they need to escape a pack of angry Leviathans or something like that. It annoyed her when Men thought like that. It seemed like the two she travelled thought she needed their constant and ever watching protection. The funny thing was that they had barely known her for a week. Hailey could take care of herself and she intended to prove that to them. Hadn’t she survived the death of her distant father? Hadn’t she proved herself when her Nana passed on and she had to stay on her own? They didn’t know her and yet they presumed things abou
TREY’S POV Ryan told him exactly what he feared. They both agreed that the best thing was to leave the campsite and running. They had no particular place in mind but to Ryan at the moment even the North pole was better than just waiting there. Ryan said he felt like they were sitting ducks waiting for the picking and Trey couldn’t agree more. The two woke up Hailey and explained what they were up to. However, she was still under the clutches of sleep and didn’t really comprehend. She just went to the car and continued her sleep. The two then packed up quickly and prepared to leave. Ryan decided to spring a trap as an afterthought. Once he was done, they drove off. Ryan drove initially, a grim face and taut hands on the steering wheel. Obviously, he was still afraid of running into the Leviathans. It was only when they had gotten enough space between them and the Woods that he began to relax. Trey had said nothing throughout but he found the whole thing funny. Ryan never really took a
“ For fuck’s sake man! What should we do about it?”, the shorter man exploded. His eyes flashed and his voice was steadily rising. Dmitri fixed him a hard stare as he stood up. He brushed the dirt from his trousers and walked away. He could feel the man’s eyes bore into his back as he strode away. He didn’t really care, nobody was stupid enough to attack him. Especially not a fellow Leviathan. A quick search found him what he was looking for. A contraption so simple yet deadly. It involved a crossbow set up with some levers and a thin wire. The bow released whenever the wire snapped. He had seen something like this before. It was in a run in he had with the Brotherhood. This meant that they had anticipated their arrival. More importantly, it meant that hunters or a hunter had been here. He couldn’t tell if that meant they had gotten to the Wolf boy and the girl first or whether they were now working together. Things were really getting out of hand. He pulled out one of the arrows stu
The truck slowed down and parked by the side of the road. Dmitri stepped out, the wind flapping at his long coat. It seemed to be getting more windy lately and he didn’t like it. The truth was that he resented everything about the country. He had no particular reason, it was just something he felt deep down. If he could have it his way, he would be back home but unfortunately he couldn’t. He still had business that was far from finished. One that was going rather poorly. His employer was already breathing down his neck. The man in suit was not pleased with the way things were currently going. He had lost Hailey Brookes again. He had also been bested by the wolf boy once more. A bitter taste crept into his mouth as he thought about the last part. No one got the better of him, at least nobody alive. The Wolf boy had done so twice, he was definitely going to make sure it never happened again. Dmitri felt a pang of excitement as he visualized breaking Trey Kristov’s neck with his bare han
RYAN’S POV It was years of training and sheer willpower that kept him still. He had nearly swung the Scimitar on Hailey Brookes. It was only someone with keen observation that would have noticed his body’s reaction and how the hand holding the blade trembled slightly. He calmed himself and then turned to her.“You shouldn’t just sneak up on someone holding a weapon”, he said. Ryan hoped that he looked as demure as possible.“That was no answer”, She replied in a flat tone.He sighed knowing it wouldn’t be that easy to shake her off.“What was your question again?”. It was her turn to sigh now.“I just wanted to know if you think the Leviathans have tracked us here”.He didn’t think, he was certain of that. All his senses were screaming flee but he couldn’t do anything.“No, I don’t think so.” To convey his lie properly, he looked her squarely in the eye. He held her gaze for a moment before looking away.“What’s with the guns and blades?”, She queried. It seemed like a Brooke trait t
HAILEY’S POVDusk was fast approaching and yet he continued to sleep. He had been in that state since the incident yesterday. His eyes had only opened a few times and in those times he wasn’t able to communicate or indicate anything. She had stuck by his side hoping that maybe the next one might be different but nothing had happened so far. Her mind kept on replaying the incident over and over again. Trey standing up and trying to storm off, the way he had staggered and then fell. Even Ryan’s quick reflex reaction was too slow and he was already on the ground before he could get to him. She had screamed involuntarily. It embarrassed her now as she thought about it. Hailey kept on telling herself that it was just a case of nerves but somehow it didn’t quite feel that way. It wasn’t something that she liked thinking about. Ryan had been in and out of the tent since then. She could sense he wasn’t all that okay with the development. He had been slightly agitated and didn’t even say
The voice for some surprising reason startled her. Maybe what was more surprising was the fact that her heart suddenly seemed to start beating faster. She dismissed it as jumpiness but she knew for a fact that it had to do with the man walking towards them. With disheveled hair, old jeans and a worn out blanket draped around him, Trey Kristov still looked quite charming. No one should look this good in this Hailey thought but here he was proving how wrong she was. He walked with a slight limp and Ryan rushed to his side. He however shrugged off the attempt at help and continued his determined walk. Eventually, he made his way to the tree they had retreated to when the sun became too hot for them. He lowered himself onto one of the logs with a grimace of pain. Hailey suspected that he hurt more than he was trying to let on.“What were you guys discussing? I’m pretty sure I heard my name.” His voice had a hint of accusation and suspicion. He looked challengingly at her and then Ryan.“
The name came as a surprise to Hailey. She wondered briefly what role he had played in Ryan’s life. It seemed like a huge part seeing that he had included him in the story. Her curiosity got the better of her and she voiced it out. “Who’s Father Hugh?”He smiled at the question. A shadow of a smile. It conveyed that the person in question meant something to him.“He was the hunter who tracked me down. He basically trained me and made me this”, Ryan finished with a sweep of hand indicating himself.“Ohh”, that was all Hailey could utter.“Yeah, he continued, the hunters had started noticing bizarre attacks starting from my parent’s death. Father Hugh was among those sent to investigate it. The police had initially thought that I also died during the attack but had no evidence to support it. Father Hugh’s investigation in the case led to him tracking me down and eventually recruiting me into the Hunter guild.” It dawned on Hailey then that maybe this was the first time Ryan was openi