The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
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It took nearly a week to get the next part of their journey done, they spent most days training so, did only about four hours a day walking, Charlie had begun to relax a bit around Jack and was having quiet a laugh with him about silly little things, after what Jack had said in Daxon their friendship seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, it was going from strength to strength as the sun began to set they could see the city come into view

“this looks different than the last time I saw it” Charlie said

“sometimes I forget what you are and that you would have seen all these places in better times” Jack said

“never forget Jack” said Charlie

“never forget what?” Jack asked

“what I am Jack, one day it may save your life” Charlie replied

“are we going in tonight?” Jack asked

“I am, you will not, I need to see how many are here, I will come back for you at dawn” Charlie replied

“but” Jack went to protest but could see the look on her face, they searched around the area for somewhere safe that he could spend the night and stay safe, after about ten minutes of looking they found a safe place for him and Charlie left him there and headed into the city, she had expected to walk into the city and replace it swarming with vampires as this used to be the main coven but nothing, she did come across two of them talking and decided that she would hide in the shadows and listen to what they had to say

“because he wants us to guard the city and you forget there are another 48 I the coven” the first said

“but guard it from what? He has called everyone else to Xanax” the second said

“someone is coming” the first said

“why do we follow him?” asked the second

“because of him we have no more hunters and can live without fear, he alone brought our race together” the first replied

“what is his plan?” the second asked

“he has a prison set up in Xanax were all the humans will live, they will breed and he will harvest them daily, we will never go hungry” the first replied

“why are we here then? Surely the humans fear us” the second said

“to wait for whoever is coming and to capture any humans that attempt to run” the first replied

“sssssshhhhhhhhhh” said the second

“what?” asked the first

“someone is here” he replied

“I can’t hear anything” the first said

“smell” the second said

That was the signal for Charlie to leave they had caught her scent on the wind but luckily it was nearly sunrise and they would not follow, she headed straight back to Jack, he needed to know what was planned, just as the sun began to rise, she walked from the city

“any news?” Jack asked

“a little” she replied

“are you going to tell me?” Jack asked

“yes, on the way to the safe house” Charlie replied

“safe house” said Jack confused

“it is a bunker under what used to be a hunters house” Charlie said

“and you think that we will be safe” Jack said

“yes, it looks the same as it did the last time that I saw it, if we walk and talk at the same time, we will make it there before nightfall” Charlie replied

Jack picked up his bags and started to walk into the city, after a minute or two he realised that he had no idea where he was going so, he slowed down and waited for Charlie to catch up, during their walk to the safe house Charlie told Jack what she had overheard the vampires talking about, the sun was just beginning to set whilst they were still talking and walking

“are we nearly there?” Jack said looking up at the sky

“we are here” Charlie replied

Charlie walked through the ruins of the house that once stood there, Charlie found the entrance and opened the door, as they walked in Jack could not believe that this place was so untouched

“how is this place still standing?” Jack asked

“not many people knew about this place and I am the only one living that knows about it” Charlie said

“how can you be sure?” Jack asked

“because I can, this place would not be standing if they knew about it” Charlie replied

They decided that they would stay here for a day and get some proper rest, Charlie also wanted to train Jack a little more, from what she had overheard the king knew that someone was coming but it seemed like he did not know who, which was good, they both laid down on the beds that were in the bunker to rest, they had been resting for about an hour when they heard a noise above them

“what was that?” Jack said jumping up

“nothing” said Charlie not moving

“what if this place was left as a trap for you?” Jack asked

“they do not know that it is here Jack” she said trying to reassure him that it was nothing to worry about and that they were safe and that it was not possible for anyone to know about the bunker, just when they thought it was safe and the noise above them had stopped the steel doors to the bunker opened and in stepped a female vampire in a red dress followed by four men in suits, Charlie jumped up out of the bed with her sword already in her hand

“you won’t be needing that” the woman said

“you think that I would trust you” Charlie replied “no vampire can be trusted” she added

“I am not here to fight you” the woman said

“that does not mean that I will put this down” Charlie said holding the sword higher

“I am guessing that you are Charlie as you call yourself now and you are” she said looking at Jack “I am Amy” she added

“you do not need to know who he is you are here to talk to me, I am guessing that you have a message for me” Charlie said she did not want anyone to know who Jack was

“I do, the message is to stay out of his business and he will leave you alone” Amy said

“why would I leave him alone? He is hunting the humans” Charlie replied

“they are not your kin, we are” Amy replied

“I am not one of you” Charlie replied

“but you are not human, you can never again be one of them, they will never accept you” Amy said

“it does not matter if they accept me or not, I will fight for them and I will die for them” Charlie said

“you will die for them one day do you intend to leave him alone?” Amy asked

“I do not” Charlie replied

“i remember you when you were so much more than you are now, when the mention of your name would bring fear to us, now when we hear it, we just laugh” Amy said

“you know me?” Charlie asked

“I do, I was there the night he made you what you are, I remember how you fought to save him” Amy replied

“you have no right to talk about him, none of you foul creatures do” Charlie snapped

“I have the only right” Amy said but Charlie wasn’t listening, this thing was making her angry

“after what you did to him” Charlie shouted at her

“what we did? it was your fault, he only wanted you and he knew that the best way was to turn him” Amy replied

“my fault” Charlie shouted

“yes, the Dean wanted to break you, he had planned to capture him but he did not need to worry as he came right to us” Amy said

“it did not break me” Charlie replied

“he did break you it would seem that you are half the hunter that you used to be” Amy said

“it does not matter anymore the past is the past and you know as well as I do that the king is not who he says he is but the king as you call him will die the same as the Dean did, I will take his head too” Charlie said “wait one damn moment, I missed it did you say that you have the only right to talk about him” she added realising what Amy had said

“I was there that night, who do you think he asked to do it?” Amy asked

“do what?” Charlie asked

“I was the Deans number one he gave me the pleasure of turning him” Amy said

“no way, I knew the Dean well enough to know that he would not let a tramp like you have that honour, he would have done that himself” Charlie said “he did that himself so that I knew it was him who had taken him from me” she added

“no. It was me, I remember it like it was yesterday, it was such a pleasure to do, he was chained to the wall pleading for your life not his own, he loved you so much that he did not care what we did to him as long as you were left alone” Amy said smiling “you should have seen the look on his face as he was changing and the Dean told him what was going to happen, you could see his heart break, once he had fully turned if the Dean had not used blood to control him, he would not have faced you, I have never seen someone that much in love that they would fight the urge for blood not to have to face you, he vowed that he would take his own life rather than have to face you as one of us” Amy said laughing

Jack could see by the look on Charlies eyes that what Amy had said had filled her with more anger than he had ever seen and so much sadness that it could swallow the world whole, Amy had hit a nerve with Charlie and Jack could see it, he could also see that she was going to do something, Jack made a move to her before she did some stupid, after all this vampire was only here to talk but he wasn’t fast enough, he almost made it to her, just as he got close he saw a flash of silver and her head hit the floor.

“what did you do that for?” Jack asked

“what is done Is done” Charlie replied “you four take that back to your king and tell him that I am coming for his head” Charlie said picking up Amys head and throwing at them

“he will kill you for this” one said “that was our queen’s sister” he added

“you have a queen as well” laughed Charlie

“yes, Leigh is our queen and she will kill you for killing her sister” he replied

“which one is going to kill me, him or her?” Charlie asked

“they will both kill you” he replied

“that will be pretty hard, only. One person can kill me” Charlie replied

“you will die” he said

“they can try now, take that back to your king and tell him I am coming before I change my mind and take your heads too” Charlie said

The four of them turned around and walked from the bunker and closed the door behind them, Jack was going to give Charlie a piece of his mind for what she had just done, after all they had not come here to fight but when he turned to face her, he could see the sadness that filled her eyes and he had never seen anyone with that much sadness, Charlie sat on the bed with tears rolling down her face, Jack just sat down and watched her.

“I may have made things worse” she eventually said

“at some point it was going to get harder anyway better now when we know it is coming” Jack said

“he will send hunters now” Charlie said

“and” said Jack

“it will make our journey harder” Charlie said

“it was going to get harder anyway” Jack replied

“with them hunting us, we can no longer move so openly and we will have to fight” Charlie said “it will take us a lot longer to get to him” Charlie added

“and we will face them together” Jack said “it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get to him, we will get to him” he added

“why are you so kind to me, when you know what I am and how I act” Charlie asked

Jack could see that Charlie was hurting, he had always known that she felt more than she let on, he did not like to see her like this, she had always been so stronger, he got up from where he was and knelt down in front of her, he wiped the tears from her face and lifted her head so that she was looking at him.

“will you listen to me” he said “I started this fight with you and I will see it through to the end, I also do not care what that thing said about you, you are strong and brave, it was, only scare tactics to make you leave him alone” Jack said

“but she was right Jack I am half the person I used to be, when I changed, I became a different person, that night took everything from me even who I was” Charlie replied

“listen to me, I do not care, you are more than enough to face anything that will come at us” Jack said

Jack moved closer and started to kiss her, Charlie could not believe the way she felt as Jack was kissing her, her whole body tingled and she started to kiss him back

“no” she said and pushed him away

“what?” Jack asked confused it was obvious to him that she felt something for him

“this cannot happen” Charlie replied and walked from the room without even looking back at Jack, she had realised in that moment when Jack had kissed her that she was beginning to have feelings for Jack and it could not continue, she had to distance herself from him, she could not let herself fall for a man again not after what had happened last time, Charlie would not go through that again, she just couldn’t do it, she could not fall for him and then have to watch him die when they faced the king

Jack spent the rest of the night pacing up and down the bunker wondering where she had gone to and whether or not she would return, even if she didn’t he would try and continue this fight on his own but he knew he might not make it all the way.