Nate

I don’t let my eyes fall on one person but instead, try to take in the whole scene. I want nothing more than to take Vanessa, rush out of this place and save her from witnessing the carnage about to take place. Unfortunately, we cannot leave these people to fend for themselves, not because it’s the selfless thing to do, fuck that.

Vanessa had made that deal, promise, whatever the hell it’s called, and if she were to die, I don’t know how that will affect her. I grab Vanessa’s hand and take off, running in the opposite direction. I’m not totally sure where we’re going, but anything is better than here. Without stopping or letting go of Vanessa, I reach for the duffle and pull out one of our smaller guns. I look behind me, clicking the safety off to stay ready.

A rather gruesome looking Bobby starts to catch up, and I shoot a bullet straight in the forehead, causing it to fall back with a jerk. We get to the main building and its pure chaos. People are climbing on top of each other, trying to get through the small opening first. One woman even uses her magic to force others down as she passes by. Thank Goddess, I never picked up one of those witches. Kore appears at the entrance, calming the tension that’s been building since that first scream was let out ten minutes ago.

“Please, we need you all calm. None of us will survive the night if you’re constantly fighting each other. Now hurry inside, in an orderly fashion,” Kore yells over the screams, attempting to calm everybody back down. I almost chuckle at the way she sounds like that one grade school teacher that always wanted you to follow the rules. Someone bumps my shoulder, but I don’t budge, and that seems to have pissed them off further.

“Kore, I don’t understand why you let this one in; he should go join his brethren,” the ransom witch hisses. I snake my arm up and cover Vanessa’s mouth, though, by the man’s washed-out look as he stares at her, it didn’t help much.

“Witchy, be nice to the man; they’re all having a rough day,” I encourage.

“Why did you drag us back here, Nate, we could have made it to the car,” Vanessa complains.

“Didn’t want to take the chance of your duty-bound promise killin’ you.”

“Nate,” she softly whispers.

“Don’t Nate me, okay, we have no idea how this magic bullshit works. You were just a child when your mama died, and I won’t lose you to some mobo jumbo nonsense you got it,” I clarify, cupping her face with my free hand before letting my hand trail off her cheek. She bites her lip before giving me a subtle nod. A loud bang fills the air, and I tilt my head, focusing on the noise and can make out shuffling all around the house; in the distance, the screams of unlucky stragglers ring out.

Several people flinch as the screams become closer, and I start backing Vanessa into a corner that I know is unreachable from outside, just in case those walls aren’t thick. I see Kore striding towards the doors before glancing at us. Unfortunately, she doesn’t see the hand that rips the wall behind her, and it reaches around before hooking onto her. People crowd around her, trying to loosen the hold of the Bobby has on her arm. I move through the crowd being careful not to push anybody; with the adrenaline rushing through my body, I might just shove one of them too hard, and that’s the last thing I need. I just reach Kore as more Bobbies break the wall and jerk her through.

Once she disappears, pure chaos rains in the building as some Bobbies try to rush inside. I step in front of the crowd and let loose a growl so loud it echoes off the walls silencing everybody. The Bobbies stop in their tracks and take off running the second I take a step forward. I search the room until I find Hugo, who has fallen against a wall with a hand over his mouth. I grumble under my breath and walk towards him.

“Look, I’m gonna get her back, but ’til then I need you to hold down the fort and keep people safe. Can you do that,” I challenge. He stares into my eyes, and I get the beautiful view of his widening as I let him view my thoughts. I feel the brush of whispers in my mind and fight to keep back a shiver. Despite what Kore thinks, I don’t block Hugo because I’m hiding something. The feeling of someone else in my head sends the sensation of small bugs crawling over my skin and deep into my brain. Ugh, no thanks.

He starts directing people upstairs, and I know he plans on sending them all upstairs and then barricading them—a smart move when dealing with Bobbies. I crack my neck and then dash through the hole, ignoring Vanessa violently shrieking my name. Goddess, I hope she doesn’t kill me when I get back. I probably should have run after them right away, but at least now I’ll have the jump on them if any of the Bobbies have their wits about them.

A high-pitched wail catches my attention as I turn the corner. A child. She’s up high on a thick tree, clearly out of reach of the Bobby jumping for her feet, but it doesn’t stop her frightened tears and screams. I snarl as I see the glee on the bastard’s face. I rush him from behind and shove him to the ground. When he turns on his back, I stomp my foot square on his chest, keeping him in place. He screams and curses, clearly proving he’s not overtaken by Rot, or at least still in the early stages.

I look up and meet the little girl’s gaze. She shrinks back, but I give her what hopefully is a reassuring smile, according to Vanessa all my grins are bloodthirsty so here’s to her being wrong for once. I turn my attention back to the Bobby, thrashing against my foot. I don’t bother trying to reason with him though I have no doubt I could have, seeing as he either has early Rot or none at all. I have no rule that I never break, and that’s you don’t fuck with children, I don’t care how far someone falls, hurting children...killing them is unforgivable.

“Hey, Little One,” I holler up, “I’m ’bout to do somethin’ you don’t need to see, so cover your eyes for me, please.” I stare up, waiting several minutes until her eyes are tightly shut, and her hands cover her face. I rip the hunting knife out of my boot before I thrust the blade deep into his neck. His arms reach out, attempting to halt my attack, but it’s futile.

With a flick of the wrist, I yank the knife to the side and watch the thickened reddish-blackish blood travels oh so slow to the ground. I repeat these motions until I have completely beheaded the Bobby and, with a quick toss, move the body and head away from the immediate area.

I gaze at the tree, and the child is still sitting there with her eyes covered. My shoulders sag a little before I check for bloodstains and find my shirt pretty much clean besides a few splatters. I make a quick leap that no Bobby should be capable of making and scamper up the tree. The branch shakes as I reach the girl, and her eyes jolt open. She opens her mouth, but luckily no sounds come out.

“Hey, I ain’t gonna hurt you,” I insist, though she looks disbelieving, and I can’t say I blame her, I huff a breath before handing her my knife. “Here, take this. I can’t stay here. But if someone unfriendly don’t hesitate to attack them, okay?” She looks at me for a while before nodding her head. I pull my T-shirt off and pull it over her head. “Sorry, probably don’t smell the best, but it should keep the Bobbies away. I will be back for you, a’ight?”

I don’t give her a chance to answer before I drop back down to the ground. I lift my head and take off in the direction I smell Kore to have been dragged. With a well-practiced hand, I reload my gun without once stopping and stop as I hear the struggles of Kore just up ahead. I crouch down to the ground and sneak a peek at the scene.

Two Bobbies are holding onto Kore, but from what I can see, she has no bite marks and thank the Goddess for that small blessing. The trees have come to life and are attacking the four other Bobbies littered in the small field, but from the sweat falling from her forehead, I’ll say she can’t keep it up forever. Her powers always interested me, but I would rather choke than admit that. Though from the whispers in Dolon, I heard this isn’t all she can do, and that makes me a bit wary of the woman.

I charge into the field, grab the closet Bobby by their throat, and throw them through the air. I bare my teeth as the sound of bones cracking fills the air. Everything stills for a moment before they all focus their attacks on me. Idiots. The other three not holding Kore rush at me sweeping me with crazy and unpredictable movements of their limbs. Unfortunately, they are also untrained and easy to knock down, and with three pulls of the trigger, I have them incapacitated.

I tilt my head toward the ones holding Kore before I start to walk that way. They share a look before both of them dash off in the opposite direction. I chase and tackle them when I’m close enough. They attempt to run again, but I just bash their heads together in a fit of fury. Once they’re dazed, I drag them back to Kore, who is still standing there with her mouth wide open.

“Might wanna shut that hole before something’ flies inside,” I snark. Her mouth closed, and she turns to glare at the Bobbies I threw at her feet. “So, what do you want done with them?”

“What do you mean,” Kore asks, her eyes don’t leave them, but I can see the way her eyebrows scrunch up that she’s confused once more, she often wears that face around me for some reason.

“Well, Dolon is your land. They invaded your land and, at the very least, injured some of your people. How do you want them to pay,” I wonder. For a moment I’m afraid she’ll give me some kind of peacekeeping decision, but I am pleasantly surprised.

“I want them all to pay, and a deep search in the forest once we have the manpower. Bobbies could not have touched our borders without help,” she chimes.

“And if it was a traitor?” I tilt my head and wait as she ponders on what I’ve plied.

“Then they will be gutted for all to see,” she concludes, and I raise an eyebrow at her. “Oh, do not look so shocked. In these times, we cannot afford second chances or mercies.”

“I ain’t arguin’ with you just upset we have something in common,” I clarify. Kore has her back turned when the first Bobby I attacked comes back for seconds. I thrust my fingertips through the Bobby’s throat, and their eyes widen at my action. I snarl as I remove my hand and let them flop to the ground.

“You just stuck your hand through someone,” Kore gasps, she sounds shocked, and a hand comes to rest over her mouth.

“Sorry, I’ll try not to be so violent next time,” I sass back. I reach up and snap one of the lower tree branches off, it’s a little smaller than my forearm but perfect for removing some heads.

“Bobbies do not have strength like yours,” she accuses.

“I’m aware, don’t know why,” I concur. I place the branch over the Bobby’s throat and am about to press down on it when Kore calls for me to stop. She has a glint in her eyes that I can’t recognize and is holding a flame in her hand.

“I wish to burn them. Trust me when I say the fewer people that know of your strength, the better,” she demands.

“Why is that?”

“I cannot explain now, please, I know you have no reason to, but trust me?” I weigh her words before heaving a dramatic sigh and rising to my feet.

“Alright, but then how do you want to do this?” I quirk an eyebrow at her before gazing at the bodies littered throughout the field. She folds her hands in front of her before walking closer.

“Fire. Vee is much better at it than I, but it will suffice for our purpose, but I will ask for your help extracting some information from those two. They appeared to be the leaders, and I wish to know what they hoped to attain from kidnapping me.”

“I can do that.” I flash my teeth at the ones who were holding her earlier and give a throaty chuckle when the color drains from their face.

I wipe my hands off on the tank top I wear as the fire bellows behind us, and the scent of charred and rotten flesh litters the air. Nothing those two had revealed had made much sense, and I thought it was a complete waste of time, but from Kore’s face, I’d say that’s not the case.

“Are you always such a mess when you handle such...activities?” Kore tears off a piece of her dress and starts rubbing the still moist blood splatters from my face. Once we finally get to the tree, I had left the little girl, I run up and reach her branch with two massive leaps.

“Nate,” Kore shouts out. I ignore her and look at the wide eyes of the child in front of me. I reach my hands out but stop once she flinches.

“I ain’t gonna hurt you, I’m from before, remember that’s my shirt you’re wearin’?” She tentatively nods her head before crawling into my arms. Once I have her tightly cradled to my chest, I jump down, causing her to let a small screech that makes my ears ring. Kore eyes widen once she sees us before narrowing at me.

“You left Amena up in a tree by herself?” Kore puts her hands on her hips, and I’m so glad the small child is hooked onto my chest and not back. I doubt she’ll hit me if she’s in the way.

“Well, she got up there herself, and I couldn’t just carry her with me.”

“I see your point. Little One would like me to hold your now?” To my great surprise, her grip tightens around my neck, were I anybody else I’d be choking right now. “Hmm strange, she usually does not trust easily.”

“Well, I had saved her, not that he could have reached her either way.” She nods, but I can see she’s not that convinced. “C’mon, let’s get back to the others before they think I ate you or somethin’.” I march on ahead to the others and give a small smirk as I hear her footsteps following behind. I glance down once I feel a slight tug on my head, but the Little One, Amena, is simply admiring my locs.

I jerk my head up as the sound of shouting gets louder the closer we come to the house. I swear if she was in another fight while I was gone. I shake my head and bring out my gun as we see the house and the few Bobbies still scattered about.

“Well, I say we finish this up.” I look to Kore and give her my best shit-eating smirk before shooting at anything still moving.