our huntress • alice and jasper

| chapter fourteen |

' i love that I love you '

TIME PASSED SLOWLY.

Young Eleanore stayed hidden within the darkness, feeling every beat of her heart pounding on the cold stone she lay upon. The room was as quiet as it was dark, with only one sound to be heard; the sound of her own pulse was throbbing in her ears.

Suddenly, the serenity of silence surrendered to the deathly scream of hinges, as the door opposite her was slowly prised open. A narrow stream of light gracefully meandered through the room, and a shadow quickly followed.

She was scared.

Eleanore held her breath, daring not to make a sound. Each second seemed to last an eternity as she lay perfectly still listening to the footsteps of the intruder, which had muted the pounding of her pulse.

Her mind was starting to fail, like an engine that turns over and over, never kicking into action. She couldn't formulate a thought. Every action could lead to more pain, and there was no way out of this room. No way out. She glanced at the floor, no trap door. Her eyes went to the walls, the windows and doors were back, the iron grille gone.

She breathed.
There was a chance.
A chance to find freedom.

Slowly standing up, Eleanore walked towards the tinted window, adrenaline coursing through her veins as the thought of finally getting out of this place filled her mind.

Opening the latch, she pushed the window up, allowing a howl of wind to enter the dark, silent room. Eleanore grinned, happiness clouding her mind. She was finally going to escape this hell hole.

"Eleanore!" A sing-song voice was heard from behind the closed door, footsteps becoming louder and louder as the person advanced closer. "Eleanore!" The voice was louder, echoing throughout the room. Eleanore gulped, knowing immediately who the owner of the familiar voice was.

Quickly throwing her legs over the ledge, Eleanore jumped, just in time to hear the door creak open. However, a hand latched onto hers, ceasing her fall. "Eleanore!" Yanking her up, the man growled as anger flashed in his eyes.

"How dare you try to escape! And just when I was about to give you a present!" Eyebrows furrowed, Eleanore glanced at her cruel, vile brother.

"W-What?"

The brunette was confused, shocked and curious along with the fact that she was suspicious. Never had her brother got her a gift.

"Here." Daniel, her brother, placed an old wooden box in her bony, pale white hand. The girl looked at it, confusion sparkling clear in her eyes.

Eleanore examined the object, the details, shape, height. She glanced upwards, her mouth pursed but slightly open and loose. Her doe-brown eyes locked gazes with her brother's umber brown eyes that held nothing but coldness.

"Go on, open it." Daniel encouraged, a grin on his face as Eleanore looked at him with suspicion. Hesitantly opening the box, Eleanore gasped in horror as her gaze fell open the object inside. A small scream bubbled out of her throat, a scream of pain and sadness.

Once again fear found her. It spoke to her in its crackling voice. It told her leg to go weak, her stomach to lurch and her heart to ache.

Eleanore's mother once told her that there was nothing to fear but fear itself, but still, she could not silence its voice.

"Do you like it? It's fresh. Just got it five minutes ago." Eleanore stared at her brother in horror while he, however, laughed psychotically.

Daniel turned on his heel, leaving the room and even as the door closed, Eleanore could still hear his sickening laugh.

The young brunette slumped to the floor, tears running down her cheeks, sighing once she heard the door slam shut, darkness filling the room once again just as it clouded her vision. Her eyesight blurred, but not because of the tears that were welling up.

Everything became fuzzy; then she saw nothing at all. Her consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with a thick static.

Throughout the dark space, her heart pounded loudly, echoing through her ears alongside her fading pleas for help. The feeling in her body drained away until finally, it was all black.

Gasping awake, Eleanore bolted upright, frightening her mate, Alice, that lay with her as well as her other mate, Jasper.

The brunette's mind flickered back to the dream she had before, her heart beating at a fast pace and her breathing tempo increased, worrying both Alice and Jasper.

"Eleanore, are you all right?" Alice asked as she sat up, her hand touching the human's arm. The said girl nodded, a hand running through her hair as she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She didn't like anything about her dream, and it frightened her.

So many emotions were mushed together.

Fear, anger, sadness and disgust. They travelled together through her veins and shook her to the core.

Jasper felt the emotions the huntress was feeling and immediately took her into his arms, wrapping them around her protectively.

He didn't know what happened in the nightmare to cause her to be like this, but he knew that it was something really big and the need to protect and comfort Eleanore took over both Alice and Jasper as they whispered soothing words into her ears, their bodies touching.

"It's okay. It was just a dream." They whispered reassuringly, and it would work, but it didn't.

Because it wasn't a dream.

No, it was a memory Eleanore would never forget. A memory that was forever stuck in her mind there to provoke and weaken.

But that memory was also what filed her rage and what made her yearn for blood. She wanted to justice, and she was going to get it.

She was going to make her brother feel the same pain she herself felt when he brought her best friend's heart to her in a box.

She, Eleanore, was going to kill her brother's mate and her brother.

And nobody was going to stop her.

Not even her mates.