Hello my amazing readers! This chapter is finally out! And it is, indeed, the most lethal one.

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39. The most lethal one

۝Elise۝

My good angle pats my cheek, my bad angle facepalms herself.

“What are you telling him?!” she says, waving around her poker “That stuff’s personal.”

“Shut up,” my good angle rebukes her “sometimes its best to let the feels out.”

But I’m not paying attention to them, my attention is focused on Luke. He’s staring at me like I’m the Hunt’s map. Priceless, something he never wants to lose.

He brushes my hair away from my face and leans forward. For some reason, I stay still, some kind of anticipation holding me in place.

“You’ll be surprised by how stubborn I can be, Hazel.” He says

“That’s an idiotic thing to be stubborn about.”

“You make me act like an idiot.”

A breath of laughter leaves my mouth “I must be a witch.”

He’s so close, if I move an inch, my lips would brush against his. How would it feel? To let the walls crumble down?

“That you are, Hazel.” Luke says “The most lethal one.”

I feel my eyes flutter shut, his warm breath on my face.

Nothing happens.

The next moment, Luke tugs me up and starts walking towards the hallways that leads to… where does it lead to again? Oh well, seems like we’ll just have to find out.

I look up at Luke, confused. Why does he look so tense? Why wont he look at me?

Loud sounds reach me and I realize we’re back in the club.

“Oh my moon,” I say, gripping Luke’s arm “That’s my favorite song!”

I take a step towards the dance floor, the lights blinding, but the next moment, Luke steers me away.

“We don’t have time for dancing,” He says “We need to go.”

“Go where?” I give him a look. Why did I ever think he’s nice?

“Oh thank moon,” Two Ethans and Tylers walk over to us “I was afraid you’d never find her.”

“Finally,” I roll my eyes “Now that everyone’s here, can anyone tell me what the hell is happening?”

The five of them ignore me. The twin Tylers turn to Luke and start talking about some unconscious guards the twins have locked in a room or something.

“Good,” Luke says “We’ll check up on that lock just after we drop her to her room.”

“Her?” I blink fifty times “We have another girl in our team? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Why don’t you meet her?” Luke says, starting to walk, taking me along “She’s waiting in your room.”

I nod, eager to meet this new arrival. Why didn’t I notice before? Have these idiots been treating her like a damsel in distress too? Oh heavens, is she actually a damsel in distress? We wont get along if she is.

By the time we reach my room, Luke is practically dragging me. I don’t mind it though, his arms feel nice around me. So warm and strong.

“This girl will get herself crushed,” my bad angle mutters

“I think its cute,” my good angle says

“Go away you two,” I mutter

“Us?” Twin Ethans ask in sync, looking at twin Tylers

“Not you four,” I wave my hand dismissively “I’m talking to my angles, they’re annoying.”

“Hey,” My bad angle scowls just like Luke

Luke sit me on the bed, I feel a wave of sleepiness crash over me.

“So, where’s the new girl?” I look around the empty room. Is she in the bathroom?

“She’ll be here shortly,” Luke says to me “Why don’t you sleep while she’s not here?”

“Hmm,” I put my finger on my chin “I am sleepy…”

“See?” Luke says “If you’re sleepy while meeting her, it’ll be really rude.”

I nod. Luke is smart, he’s probably right this one time.

I see the twin Ethans and Tylers go to the door and out, Luke follows them.

“You idiot!” my bad angle says “They’re fooling you! leaving you behind!”

I bolt upright, the muddled words from Tyler and Luke’s conversation come back to me

“Hey!” I march up to Luke “You bastards! You think you can just leave me here?”

Luke exchanges a look with Ethan and Tyler. Hmm, I guess I scared away their twins.

“Hazel, calm down.” Luke says “You need to stay here.”

“I wont!” I stomp my foot “I am not some little girl! I can handle myself.”

“Like you did at the party?” he crosses his arms

I glare at him “You really don’t want me to repeat that its your fault I got the happy juice.”

“Elise, love,” Ethan puts his hands on my shoulders “It’s dangerous for you to go, please understand.”

“Oh shut up!” I step away from him “You three need to swallow your egos and include me in this plan.”

The door bursts open, a man comes in swaying on his feet. Everyone except for me tenses, Goddess these people need to relax.

The man at the door opens his mouth, blood comes out and drips from his chin. Then he falls down, face first on the floor, the hilt of a knife protruding from between his shoulder blades.

Luke crouches down in front of him and pulls the knife out, blood dripping from the sharp blade.

I stare wide eyed at the corpse, faintly remembering who it is. Alpha Hugo.

“Elise, love, don’t look—

My eyes drift away from the corpse and towards Luke, towards the silhouette in the door way

“Behind you!” words wretch their way out of my mouth

The next instant, Luke is tackling down the black clad figure, his hand comes down and a sickening thud! reaches my ears.

A riot of sounds reaches me, the next moment, I’m being dragged out of the room, Luke’s hand like a vice on my arm.

“Who was that?” Ethan is saying

Luke gives him a controlled glare “Someone trying to kill us.”

“Where are we going now?” I ask

“The castle’s top floor,” Tyler turns to a staircase “That’s where our maps and weapons are.”

The lights go out.

I bump into Luke as he halts to a stop. The moon light from the windows illuminates little patches of the granite floor.

I see a black figure move through one of them.

A scream rips its way out of my mouth. There’s a woosh! through the air, followed by a groan and a dull thud.

Luke grabs both my arms, I briefly wonder where his knife went, and opens a random door in the hallway. All of us shuffle in and I realize it’s a broom’s closet, barely big enough for us.

“I can hear them,” Luke whispers “fifteen, maybe more.”

“Then pray they don’t open this door.” Ethan whispers

I cant see anything in the dark, I’m almost squashed against the wall. The walls are so tight, unbidden memories assault my head.

“Really?” I’d asked Darcie “We’re friends now?”

“Of course,” she said, the other girls with her giggled “We’re taking you to our secret head quarters right now.”

I nodded, my thirteen year old head swimming with new pride. The beta’s daughter was befriending me. I could imagine the sneers and glares going away. I could imagine my mom being proud that I’m finally getting along.

She always told me this pack is our home, and I have to treat it as such.

“Now close your eyes, Elise.” Darcie said “Promise you wont open them, so we know you’re trustworthy.”

I nodded, determined to prove that I am trustworthy. They led me through the pack mansion and then stopped.

The next moment I was shoved away, my eyes flew open and I heard a door slamming shut. It was dark, so dark I couldn’t make out my own hands.

“D-Darice?” I called, hands held out “What is going on?”

Roars of laughter reached me “This is where you really belong, little bitch.”

“This-This isn’t funny,” I found a handle “Open the door!”

“Why?” Darcie asked from outside “We’re putting you in a coffin, soon they’re going to bury you six feet under.”

I told myself she’s lying, I told myself it couldn’t be a coffin, but she was the beta’s daughter. She could do that. They would bury me alive

“Open the door!” I was screaming then, pounding hard at what I was desperately telling myself was a door

The walls were closing in on me, I couldn’t breathe. The dark was overwhelming. Tears streamed down my face, but no one saw, no one heard my screams. The pack adults were off to a meeting. They couldn’t hear me.

‘Would it matter if they could?’

Those words settled like ice in my bones.

I screamed anyways, I cried anyways, I pounded the door anyways. I could feel my head getting heavy, my eyes dropping, my heart pumping madly.
I numbly registered falling down and the last thought in my head was;

‘This is not my home.’

Hours later, I would wake up in the pack medical room, my mom by my side, no one to believe that Darcie had locked me up. They thought I had somehow managed to lock myself.

Laying in a hospital wing, my mother’ head laying on the mattress, her hand clutching mine. She believed me when I told her, but she couldn’t do anything about it. I pretended to be asleep when she fell asleep crying.

That night I knew this isn’t the life I want, these aren’t the people I will live with.

I will find the happiness and freedom I deserve, we deserve. And if I’m not handed that, I will take it by force.

I can hear my own ragged breaths, I press a hand down my chest, trying to push out the air trapped in my lungs. I blink and blink and blink but I cant see anything. The dark will swallow me whole.

“Hazel,” a voice is saying, so faint, so far away

“Open the door,” I scream, a whisper escapes my mouth

“Elise, what—

I push through the barriers, trying to reach the handle. I need to get out. They’re going to bury me alive.

My hands graze the cool metal but before I could open it, something wraps around me and pull me back.

“Hazel, what are you doing?”

“Let me out,” I struggle against its hold, my voice raspy “I said, let me out!”

Someone hisses “Attwood, this really isn’t the time for this.”

“What is wrong with her?” a worried voice says, I cant see, I cant see, I cant see who it is

Then I’m turned around, something warm on my arms, like hands. I’m not alone.

“Hazel,” Hands on my face. Warm breath on my skin. “Elise, what’s wrong?”

I know that voice, I rake my head to attach it to a face, an image.

“Luke,” I breathe out, my hands reach out blindly and I hold onto him desperately “Luke, get me out of here.”

“Hazel, I can’t.”

I hate the sharp sting behind my eyes, but its too dark. No one will see. People never see.

“I can hear them coming,” a voice hisses “Don’t make any sound!”

“Luke, I can’t s-stay here,” Who is this scared stranger speaking from my mouth? “Please.”

“There’re here,” someone frantically whisper yells

I open my mouth to say something but Luke’s voice reaches me first.

“Don’t slap me for this,” I can feel the words being breathed on my lips “At least not in front of them.”

Then something warm presses against my lips. Not a finger this time.

The thoughts in my head evaporate like water on red hot metal, the steam clouds my mind.

For some reason, my eyes fall shut and I can’t see anything but the dark is not threatening this time, it’s secretive, private. My mind shuts down and I can’t think anything. I can only feel, feel, feel something warm and soft moving against my lips in a strange way, in a way that makes my heart beat with the speed of a bullet train, makes my lungs forget how they work and my stomach fill with butterflies.

And the oddest of it all, it makes my own lips move in a rhythm.

I feel two arms wrap around me and lift me up, my hands skillfully find their way around something before they travel into something soft like hair.

A growl rumbles through me. Strange, I’m not growling.

Then I hear something, so quiet I don’t know if it was meant for me to hear;

“Mine.”

For some reason, that word tugs at my madly beating heart, as if in agreement.

Someone coughs— Loudly.

The pressure against my lips is gone. My eyes flutter open, someone has opened the door to let the light in. My eyes meet dark blue ones looking up at me. I blink.

“How did you become so short?” I ask Luke

I feel my feet touch the ground again and Luke’s height magically go back to normal. I sway on my feet and hold onto him for support.

“Why do my legs feel like jelly?” I ask, eyebrows furrowed in confusion “Did I black out and drop on my face? Cuz I feel my lips tingling.”

Ethan doesn’t answer me and keeps glaring at Luke, Tyler shifts on his feet, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Luke simply clears his throat before asking;

“Are they gone?”

Ethan works his jaw hard, his poor teeth “Yes, quite a few minutes ago.”

I step away from Luke and stumble out of the small place. The lights are back on. I take a few deep breaths, but I already feel calmer. Maybe the strange blackout helped.

“Maybe they went away—

A gruff voice cuts me off;
“Get them!”

Then we’re running again, Luke suddenly halts to a stop. I register myself being given into Ethan’s arms.

“Go,” Luke says “I’ll hold them back, keep her safe.”

“Luke, what are you—

“Hazel, trust me,” Luke says “I need you to stay safe. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Loud footsteps echo in the empty hallway, Luke’s face gives away nothing since his words have slapped all the panic on mine.

“No,” I’m shaking my head “No, I’m not leaving you here!”

Luke turns to Ethan “Go, don’t turn back.”

With a nod, he swings me over his shoulder “Sorry, Elise. This isn’t a time to argue.”

“Wha— let me down!” I punch his back hard, he huffs a bit but keeps running “Let me go, you bastard!”

My head spins as he takes the stairs, my ribs aching as I struggle to slip from his hold. Then I’m suddenly put on my feet in front of a double door.

“How do we open this darn thing?” Tyler rattles the handles

I shake my numbing head, whatever this door leads to is safer than here. Luke said to stay safe. That bastard, when he comes back I’m going to strangle him with my bare hands. But I have to be alive for that.

I assess the lock, putting my eye on the key hole. It cant be so hard.

“I need something like long needles,” I say

“What?” Ethan says, his eyebrows raised “You can open it?”

“I used to pick locks all the time,” I say “But I don’t have my lockpicks.”

“You what?”

“Have you gone deaf, Parks?”

I whirl around, Luke’s coming up the stairs, his once white shirt now red with blood. His lip is bleeding, so is his brow, but if he can walk over to me so fast, he must be fine.

In a single swift movement, he pulls a pin out of my hair, then the next.

“Will this do?” He says, holding them for me

“It’ll have to,” I unfold their bends, making them into clumsy long metal picks

I get to work, my movements not as precise as the should be. I can hear someone coming up the stairs.

“Hurry,” Tyler says, I kick out in his direction without looking, the sudden ‘Omph’ tells me I hit him right

“Brace yourselves,” Luke says as the footsteps get louder

Click!

“To be amazed by me,” I shove the door open, everyone hurries in

Luke bolts the door, only moments later I hear people pounding on it.

“Scatter,” Luke says, already moving towards a desk by the far wall “Look for the maps, weapons, anything useful.”

All of us spread across the heavily packed room, shuffling through boxes and cartons, shelves and showpieces.
The pounding on the door becomes strategized. They’re coming at it all at once.

“Nothing,” I say, shoving aside the last box against the wall I was searching, a hangover partially upon me

“I found something,” Tyler says, he’s holding up two belts, two revolvers in each of their’s holdings “They’re loaded.”

“There’s no map here,” Ethan says, running a hand through his hair

The door moves violently, almost breaking off its hinges. I look down a window, in the pale moonlight, the earth is impossibly far. We just trapped ourselves.

“Luke?” I look at him, fear knocking at my mind’s door, or maybe that’s the hangover

Ethan and Tyler turn to look at him as well, but he’s saying nothing, doing nothing as he stands over the desk, palms flat on the polished wooden top.

The door rattles again. It won’t last long.

“We’re done.” Tyler says, his shoulders slumping

“Not yet we’re not.” Luke says, he meets my eyes across the room, there’s uncertainty in them, but also a promise.

“Turn off the lights.”

And we’re enveloped by darkness again.

…

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