Hunter's Prey

Chapter 6

She stomped her way to the door that disappeared when she crossed it. She huffed as she looked around the hall that was before her. It was dimly lit, but she could still make out what was before her. The walls were a cream color. The room she was in was at the end of the hall. She sighed and walked down the hall. It was quite long and there were a few doors along it. The hallway was very grand and had art pieces on the walls and against the walls. She saw paintings, vases of different sizes, sculptures, and all kinds of trinkets. After a while the hall came to a grand staircase. She walked down the stairs thinking it was odd that she wasn't on the first floor. The scenes outside the windows were not from a higher view.

"So maybe none of them are the real view from this place," she thought as she reached the first platform of the stairs. The thought only made her curious to continue on her way.

The grand staircase ended in an equally grand room. This room was darker than the hallway and stairs she had just descended from and she contemplated about whether or not to continue. Then she heard an unmistakable sound.

"Music," she said out loud. It sounded beautiful. She did not recognize the instrument. She felt as though the music was calling out to her, calming her. She felt her anger vanish.

Her curiosity only seemed to increase. She headed in the direction of the music. She carefully walked into the dark room until she reached another hallway. This hallway, much like the other one, had art both on and off the walls. She walked down its length being drawn to a doorway where the music seemed to be coming from.

She stepped through the door that disappeared as soon as she did. The music filled the room that was furnished with a few couches, a desk, chairs, and a few art pieces. What caught her attention, though, was him. The hunter looked forlorn as he stood looking out a window. A small amount of light came through the window and cast itself on him. He was wearing the black pants from earlier with no shirt. Her eyes surveyed him, his beautifully chiseled jaw, his sad serious eyes that seemed to shine in the small amount of moonlight, his lips that had brought her so much pleasure only a moment ago, his upper body in all of its muscled glory. She felt herself desiring him all over again. The heat and tingling sensations going through her body. She pushed her desire to the back of her mind focusing on why she came. She needed to leave this place. The view from the window was of a forest, but it was dark and reminded her of her nightmare. She shivered at the thought and felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She stepped forward anyway.

"What do you need?" he asked in his deep authoritative voice. She froze. She immediately questioned her decision and contemplated turning around and running away.

"Courage," she whispered to herself. She needed a way to get back home. She needed more information from him. She needed to speak to him. She needed answers.

"Stop music," he said with an annoyed tone. "Are you going to answer?" he asked in a gruff tone turning around to look at her.

"I want to know where I am," she spoke more unsteady than she had planned.

"My home, very far away from yours," he replied rather quickly.

"How far?" she asked taking a step closer to him.

"Farther than you could ever imagine," he said, dismissively.

"I know I'm the farthest I've ever been from home,"she said confidently. "But, I've only been with you for days," she said confused. She searched his eyes, pleading with him to answer her questions.

"In the ruins near your settlement," he said, pausing a little contemplating his next words. "There are means of travel that are more automatic and not so dependent on the individual in order to travel."

"Are you talking about the spacecrafts?" she quickly stumbled out the words, her eyes wide. She did not understand why her mind immediately went to those contraptions.

"Yes," he replied. "Do you know what those are?" he asked.

"Yes, they were used by the people of our old civilization. They travel through air and space to transport people," she said remembering what she had been told. Her people never tried to get them to work. They had no need for them. Some were still found in the ruins, broken, old, being ravaged by time.

"We traveled here in one like those," he said, looking at her and speaking slowly.

Her mouth fell open in shock. She stared at him, unsure if she had understood or heard him correctly. She did not move. He repeated himself still looking at her. She stood frozen for a while until he moved closer to her.

"No," she said. "That's impossible," she whispered. Her mind could not and would not comprehend what she had just heard. They were remnants of the past, old and useless.

"How much do you know about planets?" he asked slowly and earnestly.

"Planets," she whispered. Her eyes still wide with shock as she repeated the word. The word seemed to echo in her mind for a while before she finally spoke again. Her brain trying hard to remember what the word meant. It was not a word that her people used on a regular basis. It was an ancient word, still taught but not used.

"I live on a planet," she whispered, not liking where her thoughts were taking her. She knew all to well that spacecraft also traveled to different planets. It would mean that escape from here would be nearly impossible.

"Yes and," he said, pausing a moment before he continued, "I live on another planet." The words echoed in her brain and bounced around. She felt her knees giving way and bile rising up from her stomach. Her heart was racing pounding hard against her chest. Her vision getting blurry as she stared out blankly. She stumbled and soon the ground seemed a lot closer as everything went dark.

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Thank you for reading. I hope everyone is enjoying the story.