CHAPTER 28 - The Hunter and The Hunted
God, she was going to be sick again. The constant rocking of the truck over rough ground was making her body sway back and forth sickeningly. The only thing taking her mind off that was the searing pain in her wrists above her.
Creed was growling on the other end of the crate, probably licking his chops at the idea of getting at her. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep a new wave of bile from coming up.
He chuckled. “You smell good enough to eat.” His words were not helping her stomach.
“Shut up, Creed.” She didn’t want to listen to his suggestive comments, but he wasn’t going to stop unless she got his attention elsewhere. “What the hell are you doin’ here anyways?
He growled again. “Been here a long time, tasty girl. Growing more hungry every day.” His tone made it sound like he was licking his lips in desire. Disgusting.
“You’re supposed to be dead. Why aren’t you dead?” She said it with so much annoyance that he actually laughed snidely.
“That runt of yours gave it a good shot...But no go.”
She froze. “He’s not mine,” she tried.
“Liar,” was his soft and dangerous response. “Couple days in that rat hole and you still have his smell all over you.” He purred suggestively. “All over you and inside of you...” he grunted in satisfaction when her breath stopped.
“You’re a lewd animal, Creed,” she mumbled. “It doesn’t matter anyways. I’m here now. Stuck in this hell hole.”
“No sulking, tasty.” He inhaled deeply. “Someone who smells as mouthwateringly delicious as you do right now shouldn’t be sulking.” She refused to answer him. “Runt must have been going at you night and day,” he said jealously. “Give me half the chance and I’ll be doing the same thing.”
“You need a damn muzzle, you know that?” She struggled with the hook overhead, trying the pressure points.
He laughed darkly. “They had me in one for almost three years. It didn’t work. I still get out of it.”
She turned to him in shock. “How long have you been here?”
“Since the runt threw me down the statue and they trapped me while I was out,” he said dangerously. He growled yet again. “When I get out of here, he’s my first target.”
Marie caught her breath. “He didn’t do anything to you, Creed. Leave him out of it.”
He snorted in derision. “I’m here because of him.” His voice grew raspy. “I’m going to destroy him. With you here...it’s like sweet vindication. I can smell his disgusting scent over every inch of your skin and all I want to do is rub it away and imprint mine on you.”
She flinched. “You’ve got a death wish.”
He laughed in the dark. “Bet he’s gotten a few good shots of you. I think I’d like a little pain while I fuck you raw. Maybe even a lot of pain.”
She jerked at the hook above her. “You’re messed up,” she sneered.
“Maybe,” he said with a laugh. “But what can you expect with you in here smelling the way you do.”
Marie glared in his direction. “What the hell are you talking about, Creed?”
He laughed softly. “It’s faint. But I can smell it. You’re just starting to change. That runt of yours could probably pick it up too if he were here. It gets stronger by the minute, by the day...so delicious.”
She wasn’t following. “What?”
He purred. “Wonder how many times he had to go at you before he pulled it off.” He growled. “Makes me want to fill you up myself....just to see how much better you’d smell with my seed inside of you, instead of his.”
She froze. For a wild moment, his words made her heart stutter. Then she remembered who he was and felt anger creep up her spine. “You’re so full of shit, Creed.”
“Not about this, tasty,” he said. “But you seem to think it can’t happen.” He chuckled. “All those fancy smart people you all are around all the time, and no one figured it out?”
“Figured what out?” God, she couldn’t help but ask.
“You’ve taken a good pull off of him lately?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “Some downsides of the healing...can’t get drunk, can’t get high off drugs...wears off too soon.” He chuckled. “They spend three times more money keeping me sedated than a regular mutant.”
He was all over the place. What was he getting at?
He smiled. “Those little pills you take on a daily basis?” She felt lightheaded as her brain started to wrap around the idea. “How effective you think they are after a good dose of that healing?”
Her world spun. “This can’t be happening.” Not now. Not like this. Not while she was in this hell.
“It’s happening and it’s exactly what I need to get at the runt,” he growled.
“No,” she said forcefully. She had to get out. She had to get out now. Right now. This moment. She jerked at the hook viciously.
He laughed, amused.
She became frantic, yanking at the hook as if it would break off. She looked around and noticed the crates that had shifted during their bumpy journey. A couple of them had gotten a bit closer. She swung herself and reached with her foot. She missed. She tried again and missed again.
Creed was chuckling.
She tried again, and finally hooked it with her toe. She jerked it over as best she could, feeling skin rip away from her wrists. She cried out in pain.
“Can’t wait to feel that under me,” he said softly, expectantly.
She swung again, trying to ignore the blood trickling down her arms. She hooked it again and this time, the crate came sliding over enough for her to stand on it.
The relief of pressure off her wrists was so intense, she could hardly see straight. She lifted her hands off the hook and let her shackled hands down. She sagged to the floor, shaking from the rush of blood into her numb fingers.
Creed growled.
She laid herself down for a few breaths, letting her stiff shoulder joints ease. But she couldn’t take any more time. She crawled toward the small seam of light escaping the crate’s opening, peering out. There were two guards sitting casually on a bench. She looked around trying to find a different way out.
“You trying to escape, tasty girl? It won’t work, you know.”
“Cram it, Creed. You’re just jealous I have a chance.” Now that she could move around, she looked closer. He was chained to the crate’s wall, his hands tightly locked at his sides and his head held in place by another brace. He strained against his bonds, growling menacingly.
“I’ll find mine, too, tasty. You wait and see. Maybe not today. Maybe not soon. But I will,” he growled. “One day, I will get out. And then I’ll be coming after you and that cub of yours. I’ll make the runt watch as I torture you and it will be so good to see him break. And you might be able to take his healing...but odds are, that thing growing inside you won’t. And watching it die will break you both. So good. So sweet.”
She stared at him, unable to speak. Looking into his black eyes, she knew he meant it. He was so set on getting back at Logan that she knew this would never end. She put a trembling hand on her belly. No matter how many times Logan skewered him...he’d heal and keep coming back. He’d keep coming for Logan, and for her...and for the baby.
“You’re never going to stop coming after us, are you?”
He smiled and licked his lips.
She felt the fury rise in her. “I could end this right now.”
He chuckled. “You might be the only one that could. But you won’t.”
She glared. “You don’t know that.”
“I know that touching someone means they’re in your head forever.” He paused. “That might be even better. Why don’t we give it a shot. See how long it takes me to drive you mad.” He looked so amused.
She stilled. “Then you don’t know much...” He didn’t. He had been in this place since Liberty Island so long ago. He didn’t know much at all.
“I know what that means.” he looked at her arm. She looked down and then back at him. “Class Four, huh? Pretty hot. Never took a Class Four before. Must be a pretty powerful feeling being able to kill with just a touch. Maybe I’ll be able to get to you before you push that cub out. I’d love to rip it out myself,” he licked his lips.
She gave him a level stare, deciding.
“I’m not a Class Four because I can kill with a touch.” She walked up to him and kneeled to his level, with only a foot between them. He was smiling at her proximity.
She brought up her bare hands and held them mere inches from his face. She saw the first signs of fear flash across his face.
She closed the distance and gripped the sides of his face. He let out a roar of fear, bracing for the pain. When nothing happened, he stilled and stared at her, completely taken aback.
She looked him straight in the eye. “I’m a Class Four because I decide when I take...” She felt her fingers itch as she looked for his mutation with hers.
When she’d taken from Logan that last time, for her arm, she’d started the pull before separating his mutation and finding what she needed. The result had been taking some of his other manifestations as well. This time, she sorted through them first. She found what she needed.
“...what I take...” she said softly. Healing. Only healing. And she let some of it seep through. His face contorted momentarily before she switched it off again. She noticed the rips in her wrists closing some. He noticed too. He looked at her in shock.
“...and how much I take.” She took a deep breath and focused with everything inside of her, gritting the words out so he would hear as well. “Healing. All of it.”
His eyes widened in panic just as she yanked with all her might. He let out a roar of pain. She kept going, feeling the painful knitting of her battered body. His roar died away and he could only stare in horror as she kept going.
Behind her, she heard the guards. They were peering through the small opening to see what the commotion was, yelling for her to stop. She ignored them and kept pulling and pulling. So much, she thought. Where does it end? She was going to find out.
She held her mutation steady as it fought her to take more than just the healing. She gritted her teeth as she forced it to stay on track. Healing. Only healing.
He was growing white now, the blood draining from his face.
She kept at it, blocking any entry of other mutations or personality. Just as she thought she’d never find the end of the mutation, she felt it grow weak. Like a rope, there seemed to be no more give. She took a deep breath and yanked viciously once more. She felt it break loose and then there was no more.
She pulled back. “That’s what makes me a Four, Creed,” she breathed out as the guards finished unlocking the doors to get inside.
Creed was still conscious, still aware, even though he looked horror-struck. She reached out and swiped her nails against his face, leaving a trail of trickling blood down his neck.
It didn’t heal.
She got to her feet, completely stable and completely healed. “Come after us now,” she dared him. “See how long you last.”
The door swung open and she turned to face her captors.
They held guns up to her. “Hands up!” one of them yelled.
She obeyed. One came closer, ready to hook her back up.
She brought her hands down around his neck and swung around, using the shackles to snap his neck with one fierce twist.
A shot rang out and she felt it rip through her chest. She fell to the ground in pain and her blood soaked through her shirt.
Then, she was healing.
The second guard walked up to her prone form then and she swiped at his legs, dropping him. He struggled to stand and she grabbed the handgun, placed it to his temple and released a single bullet. Hot fury eased out of her bones as he landed on the ground, blood splattering everywhere.
She stared for a moment at the bodies, at Creed where he sat weakly whimpering. She looked at the gun in her hand and wondered when she had lost her hesitancy to kill. She hadn’t felt bad about killing the man at the college. And now, she still felt no remorse. None. They weren’t giving her an option. She’d fight for her life. If that’s what it took to protect herself, to protect her unborn child...the very thought was so incredibly overwhelming she could hardly think about it...
Her hand cradled her stomach again, her fingers spreading protectively.
When she heard the radio coming to life from the truck’s front, she snapped out of it. She ducked through the open crate door and noticed the window leading to the front cab was ajar. Through it, she could see the driver. He was on the radio.
“Morris. Morris, can you hear me? Pick up the receiver Morris, dammit. I’m headed North on Route 113 with the Worthington cargo...”
She walked up and pointed the gun to his head. “Put the radio down,” she ordered.
He glanced at her and turned back. She gave him one more chance. “I said put it down!”
He sneered and brought the radio transceiver to his mouth again. If she could have reached, she might have just touched him, to put him down. But she couldn’t reach him, and his body was blocking a clear shot at the radio. She couldn’t have him radioing back that she’d gotten loose.
She pulled the trigger.
He fell forward, the truck losing control. The entire truck pitched and slammed on its side. She was thrown against a wall and saw the metal rip open towards the back. Sparks flew into the air as metal scraped along the road. She gripped the bench and didn’t let go until the large vehicle finally slowed to a stop.
She felt the knocks and bruises heal quickly as she stumbled through the mess of the truck to the back where a hole had been torn out of the side. She climbed out, her skin healing instantly from where it caught on the jagged metal.
It was morning, but she couldn’t tell how early. The trees made it hard to see the position of the sun.
She looked around and all she saw was the dense cover of trees. One road, in two directions. The facility...and God only knew where. She jumped down on to the snow covered road, shackles clinking noisily. It was freezing outside. Her bare feet going numb. She took off into the woods as fast as she could, bare feet crunching through the snow.
She had to get as far away as she could.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER!!!!!!! I totally screwed up and missed a chapter. Go back and read it...It's called "COVER"...cause it has some information you need. SORRY
Chapter End Notes:
IF YOU DIDN'T SEE MY MESSAGE UP TOP...GO LOOK...SERIOUSLY IMPORTANT!