Other Fan Fiction / Horror Fan Fiction ❯ Hunted ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

“What do you mean, she fainted?!“

 

Well. So much for peace and quiet. Now, instead of that awesome sense of unconsciousness I was so very much enjoying, I get to experience the feeling of pins and needles piercing the insides of my skull via my ears, all courtesy of my pounding eardrums.

 

Oh joy.

 

As a good friend of mine says, siriusly. A girl can't even enjoy the peacefulness of being unconscious anymore? That just doesn't make any logical sense. They should make it illegal to screech around someone who's fainted. I mean, who's the one suffering here? A person wouldn't faint unless something was really wrong. So, it's only common sense that the person fainted deserves to be treated as the victim, instead of being screeched at. The person obviously passed out to get the others to shut up. But no. It doesn't happen that way. When the victim finally get a moment of peace, someone goes and ruins it for them.

 

Someone give me a gun. I'm gonna kill him.

 

And then a hand gently nudged my right shoulder. Could someone please chop that off while I'm aiming the gun?

“Danni?” a voice whispered into my ear. “Danni, come on. I know you don't want to admit that you're awake, but the sooner we get this over with, the sooner you get to sleep all you want in a big, comfy bed.”

 

Okay, so you don't have to chop off the hand. That promise is payment enough to keep the limb. Then, I remembered that before repealing a threat, I should probably make sure their offer is better than what I currently have, so I took stock of what I felt. And all I felt was cold metal. Which my face was lying on. Definitely not the big, comfy bed that popped into my mind. Not even close. Damn. I hate taking back threats.

 

“Now why did you have to say that?” I murmured, opening my eyes to look at a blurry Ryan. I blinked a few times, and his image cleared, which was a good thing. He's way too cute to walk around blurry for the rest of his life. It just wouldn't be right.

 

He smiled at me, a boyish smile that didn't quite fit the situations I kept finding myself in. “I knew you'd get up with that image in your head.”

 

I gave him a rather feminine snort that I didn't know I was capable of before pushing myself up. Or, rather, I attempted to. Instead, what happened was only one arm, my right, seemed to be in working condition, so I pushed myself to the left and off the metal counter I was lying on.

 

I heard rather than felt myself hit the floor, which was a little odd. I mean, I fell three feet from a metal counter onto what I recognized as tile. And I landed on my left side with my arm crushed beneath the rest of my body and my hipbone being the first thing to hit the floor. That usually causes a little but of discomfort, let alone some pain here and there.

 

Usually.

 

“Danni, are you okay?” I watched Ryan walk around the cabinet and squat down to look at me. He looked in my eyes and reached around to feel my skull to make sure nothing happened.

 

I just stared at him, realizing something. I should have been in a lot of pain, but I was actually feeling pretty damn good other than the pounding in my skull from that original shriek.

 

“Come on, Danni, say something,” he murmured, probably seeing the lack of reason in my eyes.

 

“I can't feel anything,” I whispered, feeling my mouth twist into probably the goofiest grin I'd ever had in my life.

 

I could see him fight the urge to laugh, jaw clenched and mouth twitching as he fought back a smile, and I couldn't blame him. Here I was, lying on one side on tile, completely out of my mind, not being able to feel the entire left side of my body, and I'm smiling like the Joker who just found Batman gift wrapped and gagged sitting on his doorstep.

 

There is definitely something wrong with my head.

 

Ryan gently pushed me onto my back while positioning his arms underneath me so he could pick me up and place me sitting on the metal counter. I swayed and he held me still until I could sit up on my own without repeating the dive off the counter I had just executed.

 

“Alright, Doc, you can let psycho over there release her mind,” Ryan said, looking a little creeped out by my Joker impression.

 

Doc? There's another person here? I tore my gaze away from Ryan and his nicely disheveled hair and turned to my left to see a rather handsome man watching me. He was wearing a white lab coat over a navy blue polo and whitewashed well-fitted jeans. He had sandy-brown hair and clear blue eyes, which were set off by tan skin. He had an experienced look to him. He smiled slightly before turning and nodding at another person. “Alright, Jason, let her go.”

 

And then I couldn't even turn to look at the other person in the room. My head suddenly began to pound exponentially worse than it already was, the bruises and pain that I expected from the fall suddenly appeared. And then a wave of nausea swept through my system and I doubled over, putting my head between my legs out of pure instinct and taking a couple long, slow, deep breaths.

 

With each breath, I felt something similar to a cloud in my head dissolving. My thinking sharpened and I gained control over my body and reactions, which made me want to bury my head in the sand. Did I really use the word “siriusly” in context? Thank God I didn't say it out loud.

 

Oh, Katherine would have a field day if she ever found out.

 

Another wave of nausea hit just as a hand was placed on my shoulder and I went back to the idea of chopping the offending limb off… if only I had a knife... until the other hand offered me a glass of cool water. Now why does he have to do that and force me to change my mind so quickly? It hurts my head.

 

I carefully took the glass and slowly sipped down some of the water. I didn't realize how parched I was until I took that first sip. My thirst hit like a steel fist and it took everything in me not to gulp down the water. Something just told me that doing so would not help get rid of the nausea that was plaguing me.

 

After I was sure I wasn't going to empty my insides all over the nice clean floor, I gave Ryan back the glass and slowly sat back up to allow the blood flow to adjust without bringing back the headache that was finally easing off. I just sat there for a few seconds, focusing on a stain on the wall before I felt all remains of the headache leave. My left side was still throbbing, but it had settled down considerably less than it was at first.

 

“What the hell was that?” I asked, praying that the headache wouldn't return.

 

“We had to take a little bit of control over your mind to make sure that you weren't seriously hurt before coming here,” the doctor answered softly, obviously understanding that any loud noise was going to turn me suicidal.

 

“You can do that?”

 

He just smiled. “Not all of us. Jason's the best out of the three of us.”

 

Jason? Turning around my left side, I saw another man - Jason - standing just slightly out of eyesight. He looked significantly similar to the doctor, with the same sandy-blond hair and crystal clear blue eyes. However, he was without a lab coat and wore a white t-shirt over dark blue jeans, and he looked just as good. Sheesh. Does the supernatural job description require you to be a hunk of yummy male?

 

“Danni - may I call you Danni?” the doctor asked, bringing my attention back onto him. I nodded, and he continued. “Are you feeling alright?”

 

I looked at him a moment, assessing what was left of what I was feeling. “Well, my left side is still stinging, and I'm pretty sure I'll have a purple bruise on my hip tomorrow morning, but other than that, I'm okay.”

 

He gave me a smile. “It's good to hear that. I'm the resident doctor of this area for our kind and I'll be looking after you for the next few weeks until you get settled.”

 

And here come the questions. However, instead of rattling them off as I would've done, say, yesterday, I turned to Ryan and simply asked, “If I ask questions now, can I expect to receive answers?”

 

Ryan smiled, ruffling a hand through my hair. I tensed, expecting that to bring back a headache, but his touch actually soothed the tension from me, helping me relax and loosen from the pain I just felt. “You can ask. There's going to be some stuff we can't tell you yet, but we'll try to answer as much as we can.”

 

Returning his smile, I turned back to the doctor. “What?”

 

Ryan laughed beside me while the doctor's mouth curved into an amused smile. “Each area has doctors assigned to treat any injuries that won't naturally heal or might need a little prodding, as well as help the new pups grow into their wolf. I'm one of the doctor's assigned here, and I'll be the one helping you through the Change.”

 

Okay, so apparently not all of the cloud has left my brain because I just can't quite follow what he's saying.

 

“Area? Pups? Wolf? Change?”

 

The doctor looked at Ryan, his expression looking a little… neutral. As if he didn't want to show his real reaction. “Did you not explain any of this to her?”

 

I swiveled to see Ryan's reaction and was stunned to see him look sheepish. He's never looked any less than confident every time I've seen him.

 

“Well, see, Nikolas-”

 

“One of these days I'm going to murder that boy.”

Hey now. Doc has a malicious streak to him. That's nice to know.

 

“Alright, Danni, we're going to need a few questions answered before anything else so we can get your record started,” Jason said.

 

That lost me. “Why do you need my record?”

He ignored me (quite rudely, I may add) and picked up a clipboard that was sitting on the counter next to him. “Your full name?”

 

Figures. “Danielle Xyliene Capona.”

 

The atmosphere shifted, becoming a tad more tense that it was previously. Jason waited a beat before looking at me. “That's an interesting middle name.”

 

“My grandmother's,” I replied simply.

 

His face went immediately blank, the slight curiosity disappearing as though wiped clean. “How do you spell it?”

 

I spelled it out for him and watched as his eyebrows knit together in confusion and frustration. I glanced at the other two men and saw similar expressions. Something was off.

 

“What?” I asked to no one in particular.

 

“It's nothing,” he replied. I was about to argue, but he continued. “Your date of birth?”

 

I snorted, then answered. “December 14, 1986.”

 

“So that makes you twenty-two years old.”

 

I nodded, confirming his math.

 

“Height?”

 

I rolled my eyes. “Five foot five inches.”

 

He wrote that down and then asked, “Weight?”

 

I narrowed my eyes at him this time and gritted my teeth as I spat out the answer. “A hundred and thirty-one.”

 

He paused for a second. “I'll go ahead and add on the five pounds you purposely left off, and that makes it a hundred and thirty-six.”

 

I glared. “I did not leave off five pounds. I told you the truth.”

 

He let out a short laugh. “Yeah, right. Your kind always lies on questions about weight.”

 

I stopped dead. “My kind?”

 

“Yeah, your kind,” he sneered. “The ones that can stand to lose a few extra pounds.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Is that an offer?”

 

“No, it's an impossibility.”

 

He raised an eyebrow. “If I ever gave you a chance at such a thing, which I won't `cause I only take women under a hundred and thirty-five,” I could feel the steam building up around my ears, “you would be begging for more.”

 

I clamped my teeth onto the inside of my cheeks as I gave him a smile. “Me? Beg? Do you honestly think you have the vaguest resemblance to Christian Bale?” I paused for dramatic effect and let pity color my expression. “Oh, sorry. You really did. How sad. One day you'll see. Just please don't slit your wrists around me. I don't want your blood ruining my shoes.”

 

The other two men in the room apparently hit the end of the rope for their control. The doctor let out a little chuckle and Ryan burst out laughing. His laughter shattered the tension in the atmosphere, allowing me to release some of the muscles I didn't realize I was clenching. Over Ryan's laughter, I heard the door creak open and turned to see Nikolas pop his head in.

 

“What did I miss?” he asked, still half outside the door.

 

The doctor looked from Nikolas to Ryan, determined Ryan wasn't capable of answering any question at that point, and answered for him. “Nothing, really. Just Jason and Danni swapping insults.”

 

“Who won?”

 

“Danni, actually.”

 

“Damn,” Nikolas whined, his eyes twinkling with humor. “Next time, you have to make sure I'm around for that.”

 

“What are you doing here, Nikolas?” the doctor asked, pulling off his lab coat and hanging it on a hook just behind the door.

 

Nikolas's expression turned into a grimace before he answered. “I came to get you. `The Council',” you could hear the quotations marks in his tone, “has called for a meeting.”

 

The three other men let out simultaneous groans of frustration. Jason dropped the clipboard back onto the counter he had picked it up from. “What do they want?”

 

“I have absolutely no idea, but we better cooperate,” he answered, his gaze turning to mine. “Even though we've secured Miyavi's safety, the Council is growing restless at the fact that there's a human here. We have to go explain why she stays.”

 

“Have they agreed completely that they don't want her here?” the doctor asked, a strand of hope coloring his tone. Nikolas shrugged and the doctor's face hardened.

 

“It's alright, Doc, we'll figure it all out,” Ryan chimed in. “Besides, you'll get your questions answered.”

 

The doctor gave him a smile before ushering us out into a hallway.

 

I turned to Nikolas, hoping against all hope that I would get an answer. “What are we doing?”

 

“We're on our way to play politics with a bunch of mutts,” he answered, heading down the hall. “You think it's bad with actual politicians. Add in a couple centuries to their ages and the stubbornness of a grandfather mule…”

 

“So they're worse?” That was hard to believe.

 

“Oh yeah,” Ryan answered. “We're really going to have to play our cards right with the mood they've been in.”

 

That confused me. “What do you mean? Why is their mood any different than normal?” The two men locked gazes and I felt my expression fall. “Let me guess. I'll find out later?”

 

“It'll be okay, Danni,” the doctor said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “We'll tell you when we can tell you everything. It's much less confusing.”

 

Taking his answer as best I could, I nodded and followed the men down the hall.

 

***

 

After a couple turns, three flights of stairs, and a few more hallways that all look completely identical, we came to a large room set up almost like a…a… Well, I wasn't sure what it looked like. I probably would have gotten a better feel for the room if there weren't a group of people standing in the middle and apparently in a loud argument.

 

Too many voices were yelling at once for me to even begin to understand what one voice was saying, so I settled for looking at Nikolas and Ryan in complete and utter confusion, waiting for them to sort it all out.

 

The two men just shook their head before walking around the arguing group to a few people sitting in chairs on the other side from the door. I hadn't seen them before, but as I got closer, I wanted to turn and run away from the power they exuded. Somehow sensing my hesitation, the doctor nudged me along, muttering a reassurance into my ear that I was safe as I continued walking.

 

There were two men and a woman sitting down, the men on my left and the woman on my right, separated by two chairs and an empty space. The empty space led back to a few steps and then a lavishly decorated chair. Actually, I take that back. It wasn't a chair; it was a throne. It was large enough to be able to relax in, with a curved back to offer as much comfort as possible. The wood was a beautiful cherry decorated by deep, rich green cushions. Draped over the chair was what looked to be a throw matching the chair perfectly.

 

It looked amazing.

 

“How long have they been at it?” Nikolas asked the people sitting in front of us, glancing over his shoulder at the argument that was growing louder.

 

“Long enough,” one of the men answered, shocking me with his nonchalant tone. Even though he looked normal enough with his red hair and brown eyes, the power he exuded spoke volumes against anything normal about him. It was quite shocking.

 

“Alright,” Nikolas replied, “shut `em up.”

 

Within a moment after he finished speaking, the room fell quiet as the people turned and looked at Nikolas before turning and sitting down in chairs that formed a large circle in the massive room. It didn't take long for them all to be seated and looking at us. There were a few empty seats here and there, but for the most part, the room was full.

 

Silence rang through the room for a few minutes as Nikolas scanned over the seats. Ryan had already taken a seat by the woman while the doctor and Jason had taken seats next to the men. I just stood there, feeling like an absolute idiot being the only one standing. Okay, so I wasn't the only one, `cause Nikolas was standing too, but… I mean, come on. There is no freaking way that I don't look awkward here next to him. He was completely at his element, calm and poised and radiating confidence. Me? Shaking and close to sweating and radiating nerves. Completely different ends of the spectrum here.

 

Finally, Nikolas turned to look at me and walked to sit in the chair next to the man. Following his lead, I began to sit down in the chair next to the woman, only to be stopped by her, Ryan, and Nikolas, who stood up.

 

“Sorry, Danni,” he murmured, “I should've been more clear.” He turned to the throne. “That's your seat.”

 

I didn't even get a chance to process that statement before a dozen shouts echoed throughout the room. I turned to see angry faces glaring at the three of us, particularly me, and a couple people had risen from their seats. Nikolas turned and met each of their glares with his own hard stare. Slowly, the people standing sat back down in their seats, but the glares remained.

 

“Is there a problem?” he asked icily.

 

“Do you think you can just randomly show up one day with two humans,” he spat out the word, “and whatever you say goes?”

 

Nikolas smiled back at the man. Before he could say anything, a woman across the room from him spoke up.

 

“He has that right whether you like it or not, Frank,” she snapped.

 

Frank? Well, that's an oddly normal name.

 

A man sitting across from where we were standing spoke up. “Lizzy, he can't just come in and let some human sit in place of Xyliene.”

 

There. That name again. My grandmother's name. My name. I don't see why they keep bringing it up.

 

“Xyliene is dead,” Nikolas spat. “I don't like that just as much as the rest of you, but it's the way it is. Xyliene is dead,” he reemphasized, “and you all knew that we would have to find someone to replace her position. Our time is running out and this is the only chance we have.”

 

“She's not even a wolf, Nikolas,” another man spoke up. It was getting hard to concentrate on so many voices. “How can we expect her to take Xyliene's place if she doesn't have the wolf in her?”

 

“See, now that's the problem,” Ryan spoke up. We turned to him, and I saw in his face a maturity that he had previously hidden. It was apparent now that he was much older than I ever would have guessed. “You stopped looking once you realized she's not born with the wolf. Take a closer look. You'll find something else to take into consideration.”

 

The room went silent again and I felt this buzz of energy fill the room. I never felt anything like it - Wait. I have. Once. In the elevator a couple days ago. Just before I went to Barnes & Noble and got that book. It was just…off. Like I was being sized up from the inside out, and by a much higher degree.

 

Then, the feeling vanished, only to be replaced by murmurs around the room. Nikolas waiting a few seconds for whatever that occurred to sink in before speaking.

 

“I found her a couple nights ago. Actually, Damien did.”

 

“The vampire?” a voice spoke out.

 

“Yes, the vampire.” Another murmur swept through the room. “The next day, after the right situations were arranged, we went out for dinner. Afterward, I bit her and Ryan and I brought her back to her apartment and awaited the Change. Only, we couldn't get into her apartment without Miyavi, the human,” he looked pointedly in the direction of the person who last spoke, “watching our every move while we were with her.”

 

“You should've just gotten rid of her,” Frank said. I recognized him by the sheer tone of his voice. It was…degrading. As if everything that differed from him was beneath him.

 

And it seriously pissed me off. Especially since he was acting as if Miyavi was a piece of property.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

He turned to me, and I almost backed down. His eyes were icy, filled with a coldness I had never seen before. “Don't address me like you're an equal.”

 

Something inside of me jerked. It caught me so off guard that it was somehow able to take control of me, forcing me few a couple of steps before pain exploded throughout my body so quickly that I fell to the ground, only to find myself on my hands and kne - paws.

 

Paws.

 

Holy shit!

 

I still had no control. I was growling at this man, who had actually jumped back and looked at me in a mixture of shock and horror. As soon as I realized all of this, my head was filled with voices. So many voices. I couldn't concentrate on one. They were talking loudly, filled with mostly shock, a little bit of horror, and a touch of fear.

 

Slowly concentrating, I tried to recall everything I ever read about stuff like this. The only thing that stuck was to pick out familiar voices. Pick out what I know and latch onto that. And so I tried. I got the thoughts of Frank, the feelings of Frank. I was scaring the living shit out of him.

 

Then, I got the aftereffects of his opinion of Miyavi. And that sent me over the edge. Anger consumed me. My growls increased substantially and I crouched down to leap at him. Just prepare, aim, and-

 

My body froze. My mind was suddenly filled with what could only be described as a cloud. I couldn't feel anything physically, only this sense of calm that I hadn't had in at least a week. I could feel myself turn, trying to find the source that this was coming from. It felt exactly like what I was going through when I woke up on that metal counter, and I somehow knew that someone had taken over, interrupting the malicious thoughts that were running through my head.

 

“Do you believe me now?” I heard Nikolas ask.