Aila jumped at the sudden loud noise and turned around wide-eyed at the man standing in the doorway; her breathing stopped as her heart leapt out of her chest. The hunter’s look of confusion contorted into one of malice. He stepped into the small room, observing her. In one quick fluid movement, she grabbed the lamp and swung it at him; he dodged it and smirked.

His six-foot frame she found was quite hard to smash an object over their head. Especially if they were trained like this man who easily dodged her. On her second attempt, he grabbed the lamp and yanked it out of her hands, throwing it to the side as he continued with his slow steps towards her. She automatically stepped backwards but then abruptly stopped. She needed to knock this guy out so she could meet the others and get the hell out of there.

Aila stepped forwards, meeting his next step. He smirked at her, but not for long; she kneed him in his crotch, causing him to gasp for air and clutch the area, crouching forward. With his height now reduced by his slouch, she punched him in the face, but instead of him falling to the floor like she had seen plenty of times in movies, it only twisted his head to the side and made him livid.

She punched him again, inwardly cursing at the contact to her knuckles. But his face was hard as steel, and he hardly budged.

Stupid roid-head!

He straightened up and backhanded her, sending her flying backwards into the wall. Pushing off the wall, she turned and put herself into a fighting stance, earning a boisterous laugh from the man in front of her. She did not care that she was being mocked; her adrenaline was pumping wild in her veins now. Aila kept herself on the balls of her feet as she bounced slightly; he went to strike her again, but she blocked it with her raised arms this time.

Boxercise really did teach her something, after all!

The moment of satisfaction left immediately as another strike she blocked made her twist to the side, free for him to punch with his other fist. She gasped as tears sprung to her eyes. That was the side of her bruised ribs; the vibration from the punch sent needles of pain across her side. Ignoring it, she sent a right hook in his direction, catching him off guard as it made contact with his jaw.

Just as she went for another hit, Chase burst through the door. Her eyes flickered between the pair; she knew she couldn’t take them both on. Her attention kept jumping between them; which one would strike first? She tried to figure out her next course of action.

However, when Chase moved forwards, she did not foresee what he did next. He grabbed the lamp and smashed it over the hunter’s head, then immediately put his arms around him in a chokehold. The man’s eyes bulged in shock as he tried to free himself, scrambling his hands on Chase’s to pull his arms away from him.

After ten seconds, the hunter went limp, and Chase dropped him to the floor, looking back at the wide-eyed girl before him.

“W- why? What? Is he passed out?” Aila stuttered; although Chase just helped her, she did not relax her stance as confusion replaced the shock on her features.

“He’s fine. I should have known you would get in trouble from how you kicked me out of the room. Look, I’m leaving the Hunters Association anyway. This just pushed my plans forwards. I will help you escape.”

Aila was gobsmacked, her mouth fell open.

“Aila, snap out of it! We don’t have time to waste!” His attention was now on the controls.

“Right”

She looked back at the screens and noticed the time.

8 pm.

“Do you know how to turn the CCTV off?”

He grinned as he pressed a few buttons, and all the screens went blank.

“Piece of cake,” he winked.

“Thank you, Chase. I have to go!”

She began to run out of the room past the toilets, but a hand grabbed her arm. Turning around, she became confused when she saw Chase.

“Go that way, fewer guards, and it’s quicker.”

The two-way radio suddenly went off from the belt it was clipped to on Chase’s trousers.

“Chase! Get to my office now!” Silas’s voice roached through the speaker.

Aila never really noticed the walkie-talkie before, but she guessed it made more sense than using a phone all the time.

“I’ll keep my dad entertained.”

Aila nodded her head, took a step, then stopped,

“Chase.”

He turned back around, his expression alert as his eyes surveyed their surroundings.

“I won’t forget this.”

“GO!”

With his command, she turned around and didn’t look back as she jogged down the hall away from him. She tried to keep her footsteps light over the creaky floorboards. Her heart pounded in her chest, her breathing became ragged as excitement and anticipation pulsed through her.

Turning the corner in the hall, she skidded to an abrupt stop. She sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes locked with Connor’s, who stopped walking.

A cruel smile grew on his face, but then his attention went to the radio he had on his waist. Different voices came through all at once, talking over each other; a gunshot went off and screams blared through the speaker. Aila’s lips twitched into a small smile, Gabriel, they must have freed themselves. She knew she was running late.

“Gabriel!” Aila shouted; she hoped he would hear her wherever he was.

Her voice made Connor snap his head back up at her. By this point, she was running towards him, jumped, and mid-air landed a blow across his face. The pleasure she felt from that punch was immense as she watched him stumble back.

“You little bitch!”

He grabbed her and threw her the small distance into the wall, but he didn’t stop there, he seized her by her hair and went to punch her face, but she blocked it and kneed him. She aimed for his private parts but missed and kneed him in the stomach. He grunted at the impact but reacted by headbutting her in the nose.

“Ugh,”

Her hands went to her nose, her eyes teared up at the uncomfortable pain, she was surprised that her nose wasn’t bleeding. That moment of weakness, however, gave Connor the upper hand, and he continuously punched her in the face. Her vision started to go dark, as her head thrummed, her mind tried to stay awake, Connor stopped his onslaught once the radio blared out,

“Connor, get that bitch in the car NOW!”

Her mind went blank as her eyelids drooped shut, her body flopped down. But she did not feel herself hit the floor; she felt like she was spinning and then being lifted up.

“Get the chains and..”

Voices kept disturbing her from the calm, peaceful land of the dark that was her mind. But that one voice, she knew too well, made her want to hide from the noise. The feel of a slight burning sensation spread across her wrists and ankles, and all at once, Aila’s consciousness began to seep in, alerting her to the situation she was in. Her eyes snapped open.

She was being carried, her hands were bound in front of her, her arms limp as she watched the ground move below them, her head was resting on someone’s back. Her body was draped over someone’s shoulder.

“Give her wolfsbane. She needs to stay weak.”

A sharp injection to her neck made her scream out in pain. She felt as though boiling water was rushing through her veins, spreading across her body; every movement on the man’s back also caused jolts of pain bubbling through her. Instead of groaning in pain, however, the burning set fire to a rage inside of her, bursting to get free.

Instead of passing out like they wanted, she became more alert; the pain simmered as adrenaline pushed past the fog of the drug rushing through her. She swiftly flipped her body to the side, making her fall off of the man who tried and failed to tighten his grip on her. Aila hit the floor harshly but managed not to hit her head as her bound hands spread out before her.

Growling, she swiped her legs below the man, causing him to fall down on his back. She immediately jumped on him and pounded her fists into his face non-stop. A feral animal inside her took over; flashes of images from her abduction passed through her mind, urging her on. Once she knew he was out cold, she jumped off of him. Looking ahead, she saw she was in the car park.

Two blacked-out SUVs were across the lot from her; Chase and Silas got into the first one and drove off, while Connor and another hunter were going towards the second car. The hunter got into the driver’s seat while Connor threw some bags in the boot. Aila began to back away as panic settled in. She couldn’t get in that car; she needed to find the others and escape, not just from this place but from them—the hunters.