Rue

We've been running for what feels like ever. At this point, I'm not even sure if my father has received the signal Samuel sent out, nor am I sure that we are running in the right direction.

We all stayed silent as we ran, in fear that talking may distract, and slow us down. We ran through dozens of trees and stray branches were cutting through our clothing and to our skin.

My back was slowly beginning to feel better. But for some reason, I felt safe in Jason's arms. The warmth of his body on mine—although I was frightened— was soothing in a way. The familiarity of it, and remembering the times before we got into this argument was therapeutic to me.

Unfortunately, that dream was short lived when Jason put me down, and our running came to a halt.

"The smoke." Jason breathed heavily. "It cleared."

I didn't even notice that the smoke that came off of Hunter's skin cleared up the further we ran. That must mean we are safe and we got away, right?

Jason put me down and started scoping out the area from where we were standing.

"We definitely ran in the wrong direction." Jason mumbled.

I knew it.

"Samuel, are you okay?" Jason asked.

Samuel was hunched over, breathing heavily as well. "Yes Prince. I'm fine."

"No, you don't look fine." Jason placed a hand on his back, and with his other hand, pulled out a blood bag. "Here."

"This isn't your vegan blood, is it?"

"No." He rolled his eyes.

Samuel took the blood bag and Immediately consumed the blood that was in it.

My stomach growled at the sight of Samuel eating, and I began craving blood as well. However, I didn't want Jason to see me drink blood, I actually don't want anyone to see me drink blood. It's weird.

The first time I consumed blood, I was in the back of a van in isolation, and the second time I consumed blood, that was the result of me slaughtering a whole family. Yeah, I think I'd stay away from blood for now— or at least until I'm alone. I can survive off human food for the least.

I noticed Samuels weight slowly increasing as he consumed the blood.

This shows that he isn't fully healed yet, and he's done all that running, and he's also been using his eye.

"Samuel, are you sure you're okay?" I just wanted to make sure he wasn't lying.

"Yes." He gave me a half-smile that didn't make me feel any better.

"You said you wanted to heal naturally. Why is that? Would that allow your strength to return stronger? Or.." My voice trailed off.

"It wouldn't really make a difference." He answered. "Honestly, when I get injured, I'd rather just heal naturally. It makes me feel human in a way. Consuming human blood just speeds up the process, that's all."

"Oh. Okay." I looked away.

"Are you okay though? Is your back feeling better?"

I stretched back and cracked my back. No pain. The scratches on my face and neck were healed as well. If only these holes in my clothes could "heal" up too.

"I'm fine." I said.

"We have to come up with a plan." Jason said firmly. "Hunter is a demon-vamp and Francis said that he will kill anything and anyone, so fighting is clearly not an option."

"Then what's the plan for?" I asked.

"A plan to reach Francis before Hunter reaches us."

"What if he's still at my house?" I asked.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know if I didn't bring my phone. I left it at the hut."

"It's 6:00." Samuel responded.

"I highly doubt he's there." Jason said.

"I may be able to track Francis' by sending my consciousness over to his location, but because I am not at 100% right now, it will be draining." Samuel said.

"We need to find a safe haven, somewhere that's not close to the exit of the woods where Samuel can go into town, but somewhere where he won't find us." Jason said.

Activating my vampire form, I searched around to see if I could find any shelter, or any place we could hide.

"There's nothing around here." We were in the middle of a Forrest miles away from any shelter, and road.

"We have to keep mov-." A strong- very strong wind began blowing on us as the smoke in the air gradually became dense.

This time, instead of a force punching me, a force began pulling at me, harder than I could bear.

I felt my body lift off the ground and I shouted, "Jason, help!"

With quick thinking, Jason grabbed my arm and began tugging at me;pulling me closer

"What the fuck is this?" Jason yelled. "Why is he only harming you?"

He was struggling to pull me closer due to Hunter's force grip on me being too strong.

"You will be mine, Velda." Hunter's deep voice boomed across the forest.

"Velda?" Samuel, Jason, and I said harmoniously.

The next thing I know is we all are transported into a war zone-type scenery. The trees that once surrounded us were gone and replaced by dead bodies, old bones, blood, and guts, as well as random body parts spread across the ground. The grass was grey, the ground was cracked. There were broken homes, and the screams of people consumed the area, but no live people were to be seen. The sky was gray and black; filled with dust. The smell in the air was hideous.

It caused me to cough, and I was coughing up blood.

"This isn't real. This isn't real." I repeated to myself.

It began getting hot, so I took off my jacket, and sweater and left it on the ground, and I tied my flannel around my mouth and nose, using it as a mask to filter out the dust.

Not too far from me, I noticed Samuel sitting in zen position.

How could he be meditating at a time such as this?

I ran over to him and began tapping him hastily.

"Samuel." He didn't answer. He was too deep in with what he was doing.

"Where's Jason, oh my god." I tried to keep calm, I didn't really want to panic.

I looked around to see if Hunter was anywhere in sight since it's clear that us being in this location was his doing. I didn't know that someone such as him could have the ability to transport us to another dimension. Especially in a place that is very unsettling, and unfamiliar.

"We are trapped in an illusion." Samuel spoke up, causing me to flinch.

When I turned around his eyes were glowing red, and he was in his vampire state. A state that I've never seen before. He was taller than before—more muscular. His fangs were protruding from his mouth, larger than I have ever seen before. His skin was pale, making the veins across his body apparent.

"Rue, I need you to take this." He dug in his jacket pocket and handed me a large blood bag. "It looks like we are going to need to fight our way out of this."

Confused, I grabbed the blood bag.

Fight our way out of this? Jeff hasn't trained me yet. I didn't get to work on my agility. This is too risky.

"Where's Jason?"

"I don't know." He said as he pulled up his sleeves. "It's just us right now, and I need to keep you safe. I don't want your father killing me if anything bad happens to you, but we both need to fight in order to reign over Hunter. We can worry about Jason later."

A dark shadow was slowly striding closer to us. A large, muscular figure, but not more muscular than Samuels current form. The glowing eyes of this figure were bright, even behind the clouds of dust that encompassed the area.

"Rue, you need to drink that blood right now. I know you haven't consumed blood since that horrid day, but your current vampire form isn't strong enough to fight on its own. I need you back to the strength and speed you were at that day when your father came to rescue you." He said with urgency.

"I really- I don't.." I really wanted the blood. I felt my mouth watering as my top fangs began poking at my bottom lips.

"I can't eat this if you are around." I admitted. "It's weird."

"Then go!" He shouted "I can hold him off for a bit."

Samuel began standing in a defensive position.

"Do I really have to?" At this point, I was just stalling.

"Yes!"

I jumped at his sudden tone, and ran behind a tree with the blood bag.

I debated on whether or not I should really drink it. But considering the situation that we are in, I really need to. I can't let Samuel fend for us on his own. I have to help him, but I can only do that if I am in a vampire state that's strong enough to combat Hunter.

I transitioned into my vampire state with ease, and sucked the blood bag dry.

I felt an immediate gush of power flow within my body. Faster than what I felt when I was in the back of King's truck.

So it's true, because I haven't been consuming blood consistently, I was getting weak.

I need more. I need more.

I craved more.

"Samuel, more." I growled heavily, similar to a beast.

"More you say?" Hunter's evil laugh came into play.

His voice was extremely deep, making him seem more intimidating and scary. I felt a shiver come across my body as my skin began to fill with goosebumps.

He was nowhere near Samuel and I. He was far from me, but closer to Samuel yet at the same time far from him. His body stood still amongst the smoke. But although he was far, his voice— it was so loud.

"You want MORE!" He then sent out a loud screech causing Samuel and I to drop to the floor due to the pain felt in our ears.

"Fuck!!!!" I shouted, putting my hands over my ears.

When the sound stopped, and I removed my hand from my ear, my hands were covered in the blood that leaked from my ears.

"You know what." Hunter said. "Let me do this real quick."

The next thing I know is I am teleported in a house. With a harsh crash on the floor, it broke, and I fell on top of what felt like a body. A dead body.

I screamed and backed off the body and moved away until my back hit a wall.

"What the fuck." I groaned as I took splinters out of my hands and arms. "Where am I?"

The area was very similar to a house. A very old house seemingly built in the 19th century. A house that hasn't been touched in years. The floors were all wooden, and so were the walls. In the corners of the room, you could see mold growing. There were also inconsistent holes in the walls with bugs coming in and out of it.

"Ouch." A voice groaned, distracting me away from my thoughts.

When I turned around, I noticed the body that I fell on moving. The person was breathing.

"Oh my god." I covered my hand with my mouth feeling nauseous.

"Rue?" The voice groaned.

It took me a few seconds to realize who that was. His skin was covered in dust, and his clothes were practically ruined. His voice was deep and croaky which is why I couldn't figure him out at first. Also, due to the heavy dust covering his body, I couldn't sense him.

"Jason." I stood up and jogged towards him. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

He leaned forward, sitting on his butt and stared at me.

"I was fine until you fell on top of me. Maybe you should apologize or something because that really hurt."

"I-." I scoffed. "I'm sorry."

He stood up and began wiping the dust off his body, then looked out the window behind him towards the destruction that was around us.

"Do you know where we are at?" I questioned.

"It looks like Hunter manipulated our heads and trapped us in an illusion." Jason said. "Although faint, I can still smell the wooden area that we were at before we got here."

"Well, I was just with Samuel before Hunter managed to bring me over here."

"Why'd he separate you two?" Jason asked urgently, wanting a response. "Did he say anything?"

I shook my head. "I assume he separated me from Samuel after drinking a blood bag."

It makes sense now that I think about it. Samuel on his own is powerful. Powerful enough to beat Hunter—probably not. But being that I drank one blood bag a small gush of power filled within me, and that power may be more than any average untrained vampire. Samuel was also about to give me another blood bag. Now, if you combine the strength of both Samuel and I, that would increase our chances at defeating Hunter. But that would come at a huge risk.

He's really smart if he thinks that far ahead. But was it really his intention to bring me and Jason together, or was that a faulty part of his plan on his part?

Whatever, as long as I am not alone, I don't feel afraid.

I can tell that Jason knew what I was thinking, and because of that he didn't respond.

"We have to make a plan before rushing in there." I told him.

The sounds of things breaking, and horrid screeching caused Jason and I to flinch. The next thing I know is a branch, at full speed, is flying in the direction of the house that we are currently in.

I can tell Jason wasn't strong enough to be able to react, because normally, I know for sure his instincts and reflexes would've saved both of us right now.

It looks like I have to do the protecting now.

Without saying anything, and at great speed I ran to Jason, pushing him out of the way. Unfortunately, because of the direction I pushed him in, my body ended up on top of his body.

"Oh fuck." He muttered.

I opened my eyes in embarrassment and jumped off him and looked at the branch that now created a hole in the house.

"That was really close." I said to myself. "They must be really going out there."

I couldn't see Samuel or Hunter due to the smoke, but I can kinda sense them. They weren't too far, but they weren't close enough for Jason and I to run there in a matter of seconds. I believe it would take about 10 minutes max to reach the other side.

"We need to go help Samuel." Jason coughed out. "I don't know what I'd do if something bad were to happen to him."

"I know Jason, that's why I said we need a plan."

"What plan?"

"I can fight Hunter and exhaust him to the point of defeat, but I'd lose my life in the process-."

His eyes dilated when I said that. "No." He said cutting me off.

"Samuel and I could both fend him off, but if you think about it logically, there is a huge risk to either Samuel or me. As I said we could easily fend him off but Jason, in this case you are the liability and Hunter knows that. He will take advantage of that and try to attack you in order to weaken me and Samuel being that he knows how important you are to the both of us. We'd have to protect you, and I fear that protecting you would lead to our deaths."

I think it's a risk that is worth taking— dying for the sake of my town, and for the Hunter that I once knew.

"Jason, this is the only way." I told him. "Hunter is extremely powerful."

"Samuel is strong too." He said avoiding eye contact.

"My father couldn't beat Hunter. Remember what he said? He had to work alongside your father and a witch to seal his demon side and without that witch Hunter is merely impossible to defeat."

I can tell that he knew what I was saying was realistic, however he was in doubt. He didn't want to believe the only way out of this situation would be to risk one of our lives, he didn't want to believe that Hunter had the upper hand because his mindset is stuck in a fairytale mindset.

He sighed and looked out the window. "What's the plan?" He said softly.

"Well first we need to assess the situation, Samuel and Hunter are clearly in battle at the moment and disturbing him would probably be fatal," I explained. "They literally managed to toss a branch this far from where they are at, and also those loud booms are pretty intense. I did consume a blood bag which could allow me to fend for myself, but you didn't."

"So you're telling me I need to drink blood?" Jason questioned, cutting me off.

"I'm not saying that, but it could help our situation. If you don't want to, I suggest I be the one to create a diversion. I can distract Hunter away from Samuel while you and Samuel can come up with a better plan, use his eye, and contact my dad and Jeff so they can help us out."

I was trying to be considerate of Jason. Earlier I did say Samuel and I could fend him off, posing a huge risk to either all of us, or one of us. In that case that risk would be an unknown risk, and we all would be worried about each other rather than our own selves. In between me trying to convince him that us tiring Hunter out would be the only way I realized something. I can be the sacrifice and with that, they can devise something that would get them out of this situation.

Yes, that's what I'm going to do.

"A diversion?" Jason was clearly confused.

"Yes, a diversion. As long as I can get another blood bag from Samuel beforehand, I think I'd be fine. I'm a dhampir and the daughter of the first vampire. I can hold myself." I sent him a reassuring smile, hiding the nerves that I felt.

I crossed my arms across my chest and looked out the window. Looking at Jason for a longer period of time would trigger memories that I don't want to remember, and also thinking about what's to come just makes me nervous.

"Rue." Jason said. "I'm trusting you."