River of Blood

Chapter Seventeen

Fatigue creeps into her skin as a crick in her neck becomes apparent. Her eyes flutter open to find she fell asleep in a chair. That's when she becomes aware of something burning the flesh around her wrists. Her eyes fly wide open and she lets out a small cry as she tugs on the ropes.

Her heart is climbing quickly into the top of her throat as tears climb to her vision. The memory suddenly comes back to the forefront of her mind, and she finds herself gasping for breath.

A familiar outline sits across from her, black hair blocking her face. Her head is bent down in front of her, and Judi can see the outline of something sticking out from her middle. It's keeping her from healing. The realization is startling as she tugs again. It's no use, with the ropes doused in wolfs bane, she won't be able to break them. Her voice is weak to her ears as she calls out, "Evangeline?"

The girl doesn't stir, and Judi can't seem to tell if she's breathing or not.

Where in the hell am I? Judi wonders, her eyes wandering around the rest of the room.

Cement walls line the space, a single light bulb swinging around in front of her face. Her and Evangeline aren't the only ones in the room, she takes note of a girl with tendrils of black hair drenched in sweat in one corner, binds on her wrists as she leans heavily on the wall next to her. Her eyelids flutter as she dreams, and Judi wonders what she is and how she even got into this building.

There is another body in another corner, her bright brown eyes focused on Judi. Fear is highlighted in her gaze as she shakes her head. "They'll hear you." She whispers, tugging on her brown hair.

"Who will?" Judi matches the voice level.

Her head tips to the side. "The monsters."

A gasp from in front of her causes Judi to turn quickly. Evangeline's violet eyes widen when they focus on Judi. "What is going on?" Evangeline asks, tugging on her own binds. She lets out a curse as Judi hears a sizzle.

"I have a bad feeling." Judi murmurs right as the plan door explodes open. She hears a whimper from the corner, and Evangeline narrows her eyes at the stake in her stomach.

"Look who's finally awake." The voice drips with sarcasm as brown eyes gaze openly at Judi. "Thought you might just die in your sleep. It would be easier than having to waste bullets on you lot."

"Why aren't we dead?"

"Aw, darling." The woman kneels down in front of Judi, a smirk on her lips. "Because you have importance to us. You don't want to lose that importance, do you?"

Judi wants to slap that smirk off the woman's face. "I thought hunters killed."

"Oh we do." She stands back up, turning to gaze at Evangeline. Evangeline merely stares calmly back, her violet eyes dancing in the shadows. "But, we hunters are getting tired of doing all of the work ourselves."

"What does that mean?" Judi asks, eyes narrowing.

"That means we're going to have someone else doing the work for us." Judi leans back on her chair, and glances at Evangeline. Her violet eyes are contemplating as she also sits back. Judi could feel it as her heart rate increased drastically.

"What are you talking about?"

The woman laughs lightly as she tugs a table out of the darkness. She sets her briefcase down on top of it, opening it quickly to expose a couple of needles and other instruments that Judi wished she hadn't of seen. "Don't worry, you won't really remember anything you did to your friends."