A/N:
Released on August 1, 2018

This chapter ended up much longer than expected. I thought about splitting it but nah...

I wanted it to end at a specific point so I couldn't split it at an acceptable word count.

So here it is!

I'm not going to apologize this time. I thought about it. I even wrote out an apology. But nope. I'm done doing that.

Have fun reading the longest chapter in this book! (I checked) :) :) :)

Word Count: 3686

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Chapter 25: How to Change the Future the Hard Way

"Everyone get up! We have to leave right now." Zane shouted, causing me to sit up on the couch abruptly.

I heard the door slam from the room he just exited.

Ash had beat me to it, already up and in front of Zane. "What are you going on about?" He asked, raising a disbelieving eyebrow at Zane's wild eyes and bed head.

I jumped up and sped over to get in between them, standing directly in front of my boyfriend and grabbing his forearms to steady him. "Zane, you have to calm down. What's wrong?"

The only logical thing to assume, as the answer, popped into my head instantly. "Did you have another dream?"

Please don't let that be it. Please let it be anything but a prophetic dream.

If he had the same one that I did, that meant I hadn't averted the crisis.

I couldn't watch Ash die again. And I couldn't let Zane and I get kidnapped by hunters.

Why would they want us alive anyway?

"Yeah. It was another dream. The hunters are coming. Right now. They're going to bust down the front door soon." He told me, eyes still wide and darkened like before.

"They somehow found out about this house and they're coming." Zane added when no one said or did anything.

"But how do you know it's today? You told me yourself that the dreams don't come true for at least a few days." I reminded him, hoping that he was wrong about what time the hunters would find us.

If not, my dream could still come true. We should've left the moment we got up. But Zane was in no condition to leave, and Ash was supposed to be recovering still.

"I know." Zane insisted. "In the dream, I saw myself sleeping alone in that bedroom." He gestured to the room that we had been staying in together.

"I was in the same position as when I just woke up, on top of the covers. And it was light outside. I saw the hunters bust down the front door. I couldn't see the sun, so I don't know the exact time. But it has to be very, very soon. So we need to leave." He stood firm on his belief, causing Ash to accept his claims as facts.

"Alicia, grab your things. I'll pack the rest." Ash glanced between both of us uneasily.

From the way Zane was fidgeting and Ash was standing with tense shoulders, I could tell that they felt the danger in the air too.

We were all suddenly on edge, and I had a horrible feeling that something bad was going to happen.

But it wasn't light outside yet, so Zane's dream wouldn't come true. And mine shouldn't either because it wasn't sunset yet.

~*~

We rushed through the woods, making hasty decisions to get away.

On one hand, the hunters might've had something in the woods that could pick out fast moving objects. Maybe it would be better to move slowly as a human would.

On the other hand, the hunters might've been extremely close already, which would mean that moving as fast as possible would be our best bet.

We obviously went with the second choice, all on edge because we had no way of knowing if it was the right one until we either escaped or were attacked.

I had the strongest urge to ask how long it would be until we got away, but I knew I would sound like a whiny kid on a car ride.

It wasn't long before we slowed down, the sun peeking over the tops of the trees.

"What are we doing?" I whispered to Ash, who was the leader since he knew the Kansas woods better than any of us.

We were jogging by that point at a human pace.

"I need to get my bearings." Ash answered as we continued moving, shoving brush out of the way.

I followed the guys slowly, holding up a hand to block the rising sun's glare.

The action caused me to quickly realize that what I thought was a setting sun could've been a rising sun.

We stepped out into a clearing dotted with some trees. Zane and Ash were only a few feet away, but I fell behind a bit as I studied our surroundings.

Ash stopped when he was almost to the middle of the clearing to guide us. "That way." He pointed ahead and slightly to the right.

I adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder, readying myself for a long run.

An alarm went off in my head as I finally got a good look around, major dread sweeping over me.

It was hard to distinguish surroundings in the woods since everything usually looked the same, but I would recognize that place anywhere.

I had to warn them.

I picked up my pace to catch up. Then I recalled an extremely important detail of the prophetic dream. The thing that started it all.

"Ash, stop!" I yelled, reaching for his arm. He was already taking another step, right to the bear trap that I knew was there.

I yanked him back just in time, hearing the trap snap at thin air instead of a limb as Ash and I stumbled away.

"How did you know...?" He began to ask me with wide eyes.

I shook my head, not knowing how long we had until things went downhill fast.

I couldn't pinpoint what was supposed to happen next because my dream had skipped around.

After Ash got stuck in the bear trap, it skipped ahead to us fighting the hunters.

"Guys, we need to leave. Now!" It only took one glance at my face for them to tell how serious I was.

Our feet pounding against the ground filled my suddenly sensitive ears, only taking a moment for me to pick up on the fact that the noise was too loud to only belong to three pairs of feet.

"Stop!" I hissed out, yanking on Zane and Ash's arms to halt our movement.

We were surrounded in seconds, mystified as to how it all happened.

How did we not notice them? And what would happen because of our obliviousness?

There were at least a dozen hunters at the treeline, spread out to keep us from running. And I could hear a few more of them stomping their way toward us.

One of the hunters stepped forward with a gun held firmly in his hands.

"Come with us and we won't have to permanently kill you." He announced with a stern face, as if he didn't like the idea but had to go along with it.

I glanced at my friends in bewilderment.

Why weren't the vampire hunters trying to kill us? Why were they trying to kidnap us instead?

Zane shook his head in answer, deciding against a stereotypical witty line that would anger them further.

"Then the hard way it is." The hunter smirked, apparently pleased with our decision to go against them.

"Get to cover." Zane whispered, shoving me toward the nearest tree as he picked another one.

They already had us splitting up, having to hide as they raised their guns to shoot.

The whistle of bullets slicing the air echoed in my ears, but there was no boom of gunfire.

They're either using silencers or different types of guns that don't use real bullets. They did try to get us to surrender first... So they shouldn't be trying to kill us.

I found the correct answer to be the second choice when I was hit before making it to the tree.

A sharp pain in my leg caused me to check for a wound as soon as I was able to.

I found a small dart stuck in my leg. I felt a bit drowsy for a moment as I pulled it out, but after that, I just felt annoyed.

One drop of blood was the only evidence that I'd ever been hurt, and that was gone when I wiped it away.

The people in front of us were still shooting, but the ones behind us were waiting to get closer while we were distracted.

They knew we wouldn't go after them while being shot at.

I glanced around the tree, immediately pulling back as I was shot at again.

They were getting closer. We only had a minute before the real fighting would start.

I pressed my back against the tree, my breathing growing harsher as I panicked.

I knew this would happen, and yet I wasn't able to stop it. And because of that, Ash might die.

I couldn't let him die. I had to do something... anything to save my friends. I had to-

"Alicia!" Zane's internal voice crashed through my frantic thoughts. "Calm down and do something!"

I could see his facial expression from where I stood unbalanced. He was looking at me to help us.

He knew I could fight back because he'd seen me do it before.

I gained enough confidence at that time to glance around the tree again, pick out a hunter, and order him to go to sleep.

His gun fell to the ground, his body following soon after.

I heard a few shouts as I went back to hiding. I had a second of relief from my achievement before the hunters rushed forward.

I still didn't technically have to come out from behind the tree, but Zane and Ash didn't feel the same way.

It was better to attack quickly and get it over with. Unless you had already seen one of the outcomes.

I stood paralyzed as Zane punched someone across the face, eyes burning red with indignant rage.

Ash was fifty feet away, eyes and attitude the same as my boyfriend's while he smacked a gun from a hunter's hands.

They barely flinched at being hit by darts, too busy rushing around in an attempt to fight off as many people at once as possible.

And I was just standing there stupidly.

I was in a complete and total panic. In the dream, I was in fight mode, unfeeling until something shocking happened.

But at the moment, I was fully aware of my surroundings and how I could die with one wrong move.

Or even worse, one of my friends could die. One of my friends who were fighting bravely while I hid like a coward.

My ears picked up footsteps on the other side of the tree, acting as my cue to get into the action.

I spun around, instantly getting shot with multiple darts from behind as I sped forward.

I shoved the hunter that was in front of me, watching him fly through the air and land painfully on his back, his hand releasing the gun along the way.

I moved to the next guy, knocking him out with a single punch. It was really nice having super strength.

The next person to take a hit to the gut for trying to shoot me was a girl, but I hit her the same as I did to the guys.

I felt kind of bad for hurting them because they were just doing their job, but I didn't let it drag me down.

What did begin slowing me down was whatever was in the darts that were being shot off.

I reached around to pull a few darts from my back. The twisting movement was painful, but the reprieve I felt once the poisonous darts were removed was worth it.

I quickly sent a thought out to Zane and Ash to help them out. "Remove the darts ASAP. They'll stop slowing you down when they're out."

I wasn't sure exactly how that worked, and I didn't have time to care, but I figured it had to do with our rapid healing abilities.

Carrying on with my wayward attacks, it seemed that we might win. We were taking out people one by one in different areas of the clearing.

I did my best to use my telepathy to assist my friends when they needed it, but I couldn't use it as my only defense because it took too much energy and there were too many hunters shooting at me.

I was ripped out of "fight mode" when I heard a real gunshot and the smell of fresh vampire blood filled the air.

I thought they were only using darts?

But I guessed if it was going in the same direction as the dream, there had to be at least one hunter with a gun and bullets because they were planning on killing Ash.

And it would be stupid to assume that not every hunter had a backup gun with bullets. They probably had silver bullets as well.

I stumbled a few feet back when the scent fully hit me, my head automatically snapping over to find the source of the smell.

Ash was lying on the ground, his face scrunched up in pain, too far away to be helped just yet.

A hunter, presumably the one who hurt Ash, was stalking toward him.

I threw out a mental punch to the one standing over my friend so that Ash could get away.

The hunter that I mentally hit was slumped against a tree, but I paid him no mind as my gaze went back to my injured friend.

"I'm good!" Ash yelled as he began to stand, a slight limp causing me to believe he was shot in the leg with a bullet.

My head spun as a major sense of déjà vu swept over me.

I had seen all of that already. It happened slightly different than before, but it was still happening.

I lost my train of thought when a few hunters set their sights on me, rushing forward with their guns from their hiding spot at the edge of the clearing.

Every time we took out a few of them, a few more would emerge from the woods.

They couldn't have too many more backup members, but we couldn't be sure. We just kept fighting.

I hid behind a tree, frantically trying to think up another way to fight them.

I needed to slow down with my telepathy use so I didn't run out of energy.

I couldn't take them on one at a time because the group of three were working as a team, running headlong into the danger. I was strong enough to take them all on, but I'd get more injured than necessary.

I searched my backpack for a weapon, finding the same thing that I did in the dream.

I jumped away from the tree, grabbed what was supposed to be a meal, and watched it fly through the air after I hurled it at the upcoming attack team.

The blood bag exploded all over one of the guys, his gun launched from his hand, and his friends getting splashed with excess blood.

A sharp pain in my shoulder spun me around and made me drop my backpack on the ground.

Another in my back sent me falling face first to the ground.

I pulled myself to my knees and pulled the darts from my back, having to do a bit of arm stretching to reach.

My strength came back the moment the darts were removed, allowing me to look up in time to see Zane in an unfortunate position.

Two people had him pinned to the ground while a third one was pulling a gun from his holster.

My eyes blurred over for a moment as dizziness hit me again. I put my hand out, hoping to better aim my focus as I shoved my telepathy at them, swiping my hand through the air so they went flying.

"Thanks, Alicia!" Zane spouted out.

My eyes adjusted once again, showing my boyfriend's tattered state, his shirt bloodied and torn. It appeared that someone was using knives.

At least they weren't silver yet. Zane would've been incapacitated already if that's what cut him.

I noticed his backpack was gone too, right before I remembered what was to happen after I threw the blood.

I took off running toward Ash, hoping to get there in time. I could change the outcome. I could.

I shoved aside anyone who got in my way using the physical telepathic force that I'd been yielding. The one that was hitting them like it was an iron fist.

I was getting closer to Ash, only about thirty feet away, when Zane cried out in pain.

I skidded to a stop, glancing back at him in the other direction.

Three hunters had tag teamed him, slashing at him with knives. One must've cut him, but I couldn't stop to help.

Our eyes met for an instant, as if Zane felt my gaze and knew I wanted to help. I glanced away guiltily and continued making my way to Ash through the hunters that came at me.

The reason that Ash died in the prophetic dream was because I was paying too much attention to Zane.

I had to believe that he would be okay. They weren't there to kill him. They were saving that for Ash.

My other friend was holding his own, but I knew it wouldn't be for long. He had an injured leg from earlier and he wasn't as strong as Zane.

My boyfriend had more speed and strength than Ash, due to the effects of the werewolf bites.

I sped forward for a few seconds, getting closer to my friend. I was so close, but I heard a thud and voices that made me stop again. "We've got the hybrid." A hunter said.

I spun around to see Zane, unmoving on the ground. A few hunters surrounded him, one with what might've been a walkie talkie in his hand. Whatever it was, he was communicating with a higher up on it.

An angry glare sent their way helped channel my typical telepathic sleeping ability, knocking them all out at once.

I quickly shouted a few times in Zane's head to wake him up.

Once he shot upright and sprung away from the unconscious hunters with wide red eyes, I focused back on my mission to save Ash from a permanent death.

Twenty feet to go and a hunter got to him first. A glint of silver caught my eye.

Ash leapt backward to avoid the blade, but I wasn't going to chance it as I came to a hard stop so I could concentrate on calming myself.

I knew that Ash could die at any moment, and it was freaking me out more than I'd ever admit. I was shaky with panic.

I did the only thing I could think of to stop the hunter while my thoughts ran circles in my mind.

I forced my way into the guy's mind and screamed at him, shocking him enough that he stumbled back a step, his free hand going up to cover his ear.

As if that would block out the noise inside his head.

Ash took the opportunity that was placed before him, launching forward to knock the blade from the man's hand.

The guy managed to pull a gun from his holster, but my friend was able to get that away from him as well.

I smiled to myself at the averted crisis. But my lips fell into a frown as the panic fell over me again.

I watched carefully to see what else I could do to save Ash, paying no attention to myself with the stressful weight on my shoulders.

Pain exploded in my side. A cry escaped my mouth and my hand covered the burning wound.

Black dots filled my vision and my feet desperately tried to carry me to safety.

My knees hit the ground, jarring my side and shocking my eyesight back to normal as I gasped, attempting to breathe through the pain.

That was definitely a bullet. Definitely. Not silver, but almost as painful. Extremely painful.

Ash's eyes met mine as they turned red once again, probably at the sudden rush of blood scented air and whatever emotion played through his head from seeing me in trouble.

He took a step in my direction, forgetting that he was in the middle of a battle.

That was all the hesitation that the hunter needed as an opening.

I was in too much shock from the pain, unable to voice a single word, but Zane had no such problem. "Ash!" He screamed in warning.

The attacker pulled a stake from his belt with his left hand, using the other hand to grab Ash's arm to stop him from speeding away.

Pulling my friend closer, the hunter plunged the wooden weapon into Ash's stomach.

The man with the stake shoved Ash, watching him stumble backwards a few steps with a cough, blood running from his mouth, unfolding just like in the dream.

And I knew what would come next.

The guy smirked as he leaned down to pick up his gun while Ash continued to cough up blood, legs wobbling, unable to hold his weight much longer.

I struggled to stand, my side aching as I pushed myself through the pain, stumbling for a second.

I was ten feet away from Ash by then and my brain felt too much like mush to use telepathy.

The hunter pulled the trigger before I could try my mind tricks. Even with my telepathy, there was no way I could stop a bullet that had already left the chamber.

Without another thought, I ran as fast as I could, hurling myself in front of Ash.

The white hot agony that spread through my head in that instant was too much to knock me out instantly.

The inside of my eyelids covered my vision as my body smashed into the ground.

I landed on my wounded side, but that pain wasn't enough to overshadow the burning sensation of the silver on the bullet leaking out, preventing any chance of my body healing a gunshot to the head.

Only then did the lights finally go out.