Hunted

Caught

*Aura's POV*

     Lacey had finally come out of her room for more than a few minutes for the first time in over a week. All of us girls were piled on the couch watching some stupid movie about zombie cheerleaders. I didn't really care for it, but I was just happy that things were finally returning to normal. "Want some?" I asked, leaning the popcorn bowl over to her. "Thanks." she replied as she took a handful. "This movie is lame." Rose commented, but made no move to turn it off. The front door opened, and in walked Oliver and Chester. I didn't even know they left but I guess they must have. I turned my attention back  to the movie, not interested enough to ask where they went. "Hey Aura, can you come in here please?" I heard Chester ask from the kitchen. I glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that he had been in there for over an hour. What could he have possibly been doing all that time? Rolling my eyes, I stood up and headed towards the kitchen. Before I could walk in though, I caught a whiff of something burnt. The smell turned my stomach and I ran to the bathroom, barely making it before I threw up everywhere. That's strange, I thought to myself as I tried to rinse the awful taste out of my mouth. I hardly ever get sick, and that just came out of nowhere. I really hope I'm not getting a bug or something cause that would suck. I left the bathroom, hesitant to walk towards the kitchen for fear of getting sick again but I heard Chester call my name in an annoyed tone and  knew I couldn't get around it. Sighing, I turned the corner and walked in. The burnt smell was stronger here, and I had to fight the urge to throw up yet again. "I know it's not much, but I wanted us to have a nice dinner, just you and me. The steak's a little burnt, but it's not too bad considering this is my first time ever cooking. I hope you like it.." he said and pulled a chair out for me to sit in. I really wasn't feeling well, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings. He really put some thought and time into this and it made me realize just how much he liked me. My chest tightened, as guilt flooded my system. Here I've been, pining over Oliver, and I almost let go of someone who means the world to me. What were you thinking, I scolded myself.  "Are you okay?" he asked, interrupting my self interrogation. Smiling, I replied "I'm great, actually. No one has ever done anything like this for me before, so this is really nice. Thank you." He blushed and sat down across from me. He opened a bottle of champagne and poured us both a glass. "I just want you to know how much  you mean to me Aura. I've changed for the better since I met you, and I wouldn't trade that for the world." He leaned his glass towards mine and added, "To us." I took a sip and was surprised at how light and sweet it was. I sat the glass down and began cutting my steak. It was a little tough, on account of being burned, but it actually tasted really good. He also made baked potatoes, which I thought paired nicely with the steak. I finished everything on my plate in record time. "That was really good Chester. You're a great chef. Maybe you can teach me." I joked. I got up and put my dishes in the sink. I'll do them tomorrow, I thought. I was unbelievably tired, drained even, so I kissed Chester goodnight and headed off to bed, hoping that tomorrow I would be back to normal.

*Oliver's POV*

     "How'd it go?" I asked Chester as he walked by my room. "I don't know..I guess it was good." he replied. "What do you mean you guess? What happened?" He sighed and sat on the foot of my bed. "Aura seemed off tonight. I thought she would really like it, and even though she said she was okay, she just didn't seem like herself." "Oh that sucks. I'm sorry man." I replied. "Nah, it's okay. I'm sure it's nothing." he said while standing up. "I'm just gonna head to bed I guess." he added, then left. Samantha had already went to bed, so I didn't really know what to do. I wasn't tired enough to sleep just yet, so I headed downstairs to see if there was any food left. Rose and Dimitri were laying on the couch, paying no attention to the movie that was playing as they made out. Those two have been all over each other since we got here. He's one lucky man, I thought as I turned the kitchen light on. My body immediately tensed, as the sensor light outside the back door had just lit up. A shadow of someone slowly moving towards the door could be seen in the reflected light. I raced to the laptop we had connected to the cameras and saw someone trying to unlock the kitchen door. It was hard to tell if it was a man or woman, as they had on a long jacket and what looked like an over-sized cowboy hat. From the height and build though, I'd say it was probably a man. "Dimitri!" I yelled, hoping he could hear me. "What's wrong?" he asked, out of breath from running. "Look.." I replied and pointed to the camera. "Shit..what do we do?" he asked, his voice panicky. "I'll be back." I called as I ran down the hall and into my room. Hidden under the bed was a pistol I had bought the last time we went into town. I figured with everything that had been going on, a little protection couldn't hurt. Making sure it was loaded and that the safety was off, I sprinted towards the kitchen. I had just walked in, when the alarm sounded, it's piercing wail loud enough to wake the dead. The intruder froze with just one foot in the door. I took aim and squeezed the trigger, but they saw it coming and moved just in time to avoid being hit. Before I could fire another shot, they turned around and took off into the night. I tried to follow, but it was impossible to tell where they went through the darkness. By the time I got back inside, everyone else had woken up and was in the living room. So much for the help, I thought. "Did you get them?" Lacey asked, her eyes glazed. She must really be tired or something cause she looks terrible. "No, I didn't. They ran away before I could catch them. At least now they know they won't be able to break in without us hearing. Hopefully that will scare them enough to not try anything else. And if they do, I'll make sure they don't get away next time." I said, much louder than necessary. I was furious, and determined to protect Sam and the rest of them at any cost. We stayed up a few more hours, but sleep was calling us all, so one by one we headed to bed.