BLOODHOUNDS #5: THE MONSTER

Chapter 25 - A NEW CHAPTER

Asher Serano

"Asher! No!" Ana pulled me away from the shark pool and clawed my arm, completely hating the idea of swimming with sharks.

"You'll be fine, Ana," I said as I dragged her closer, but she pulled me away again. I can't help but laugh seeing her like this. Her face turned pale, her eyes looked like they were going to pop out, and her body was shaking.

"I'll do anything besides this..." She said, half screaming, and I raised my eyebrows.

"We can have sex all day long..." Ana smiled awkwardly as she kept pulling me away from the pool.

"Why do you hate sharks?"

"They eat people." I gestured for Dalli to go into the shark pool.

"They won't."

"They will."

"This type of shark won't." I tried to convince her and dragged her slowly towards the pool. Before I could grab her waist, she broke down and cried. That caught me off guard because Ana has always been a tough cookie. She doesn't show people that she's scared, worried, or even her weakness.

"Why are you scared of sharks?"

"I just hate it."

"Why?"

"Because I was locked in a shark cage once." She cried more and pulled me into a hug. She buried her face in my neck, and I could feel her body shaking.

"Who? The witch?" I asked, and she nodded.

"When?"

"Three years ago."

The Witch, or should I say Morganna, changed a lot of people's lives. She ruined every single person that she came across. She's a living devil, and she planned to live for a long time.

I met Morganna when I was 12 years old, and she was captivated by my looks. So I knew immediately that Morganna was interested in Ana because of her looks. Morganna always liked beautiful and handsome people, and she was attracted to them. She saw them as her dolls that she could toy around.

She raped me when I was twelve, and she enslaved me for a couple of years before I ran away from her fucked up lair.

Morganna was the queen of the Black Market, where all the underground transactions happened. She's clever and very cunning. That's why she's so rich and good at erasing her tracks. She got a lot of people wanting to work with her because she always knew what her opponent wanted.

I learned a lot from her. I can build The Bloodhounds because I learned her patterns and how she handled things. I was one of her favorite slaves, and I bet Ana was one of her favorites, too, or else we wouldn't be alive and free today.

"Get up," I told Ana as I pulled away. I got up and grabbed her hands. She got up, and I led her to the beach, where Brooke prepared a cute picnic.

Ana wiped her tears and tried to act like she didn't cry.

"Why did you build the Bloodhounds?" Ana asked as we sat down, looking over to the sea.

"Revenge."

"For your uncle?"

"There's a lot of layers to it, but yeah... One of the reasons was my uncle." We both turned silent, letting the sound of the waves drown our thoughts.

"I was planning to run away that night, and one of the guards caught me. She dragged me out and put me into a shark cage where it almost ate me." I turned to Ana, who was starting to open up.

"I wanted to kill her. I would do anything to kill and torture her. That way..." She let out a long sigh. "Maybe... maybe I can be happy and live in peace."

We both wanted it. We tried to kill Morganna so badly that once we do, maybe we can move on and live our lives happily.

"Do you think we can be happy once she's dead?" Ana asked in a worried tone.

"I don't know. We both want to be happy, but I don't think we can be." I told her honestly, and she let out a small chuckle.

"Are you going to be depressed forever?"

"I don't know." She turned to me and smiled.

"How about we promise each other that we will be happy in ten years?" She put her hand in front of me.

"Happy as in?" I asked, and she pouted.

"I don't know. Maybe we both move somewhere, or maybe we both settle down or end up doing things that we want, or maybe we can go back to studying..."

"I don't know." She rolled her eyes, and I asked, "You said you wanted to end your life. Are you planning to do it?" I regretted the moment I finished asking her. Her face fell, and she turned to the sea before us.

"I don't know if I'll make it out alive." She said in a small tone.

"If we're able to find Morganna and we have the chance to kill her, there's only one person who'll make it out alive. It's either her or me, but I think it will be her." She looked down, and then she turned to me.

"Besides... if I do make it out alive, I think I'll kill myself for being so depressed."

"Then why are you trying to imagine that you're—"

"It's nice to hang on to a little bit of hope. Even though I don't have someone to come home to, at least... I get to imagine my life once my revenge is done."

"In ten years?"

"Yeah. Hopefully..." I looked up to the sky. My chest was filled with lots of emotions that I can't even describe. I was confused, but also felt lost after hearing what Ana said.

Fuck her.

She's nothing but a bait and someone that I plan to use. I should not be attached to her or trying to relate to her. I will get rid of her after I'm done with Morganna and her minions.

"In ten years, we will rule the world together, Ana. You and I will take over America, take Morganna down, and start a new chapter." I promised her, and she turned to me.

"Then I'll owe you big time."

"You bet." I crashed my lips to hers.