-Sophia xoxo

...°...

I tumble back and hit the rock hard wall of the cell as the hunter's mocking words echo in my ears, sliding down the cold surface with unawareness. My mind is set somewhere else, another place, imagining the scenery of another world where none of this could possibly have been real. Where I was a completely normal boy with what I would have hoped to be a normal life. Before Hunter became my Maker.

Before my transformation.

...°...

"Jamond!" I run towards the small cottage by the edge of the field, the harmonious voice leading me all the way there. But something isn't right; the voice seems scared, lost and endangered. Determined to reach her, I skid past the gloomy village and begin my descent into the shadowed field. The night is slowly replacing the bright sun and my eyes begin to water as the wind wips my face. I roll my hands into fists with determination and run faster, with the voice turning louder and louder. I'm only a couple of feet away from the cottage now but suddenly, there's a scream. I halt with shock and my eyes begin to water. But this time, it's not from the cold wind. I feel the first tear roll down my cheek.

"Mother!" I yell at the top of my voice, because that scream was blood-curling. I shake my head and close the distance, slamming the door open with forceful anger. I push past the tightly placed furniture, and even walk into a couple of chairs on the way, for there are no lights, and the moon is filtered through the thick curtains by the only window. Everything is old-fashioned, but in my childhood, it was perfectly normal.

"Stay away."

I stand still. The voice is deep and threatening, but I have known not to fear it, for it is the man who calls me his son. And I have learned to respect my father. But where is Mother? Why did she scream? Why aren't the comforting rays of the candle lights burning on the dining table like they do every night after I come back from playing out in the fields with my friends?

"Where is she?" I ask, taking a step closer. Suddenly, a candle lights up a wrinkled face. But it is not the old age and the dirt smothered all over his face that catches my attention at first: it is the ugly scar that runs across his face, splattered with dark splotches. Those dark splotches that I recognise to be fresh blood.

I hear a yelp in a corner and send my father a look of confusion.

When I don't get a reply from my confused look, my feet mechanically move away from him over to the other side of the room. Something grabs my ankle and pulls me down and I relax at her soft, warm touch. I squint my eyes in the darkness and discover the faint outlines of her face.

"Mother? Is that you?" My hand brushes her cheek and I can see her lean into it with opened eyes gazing up into my own.

-Jamond... my dear son." She whispers softly, eyes full of despair directed at me. My eyebrows knit together as I frown. I can hear that my father isn't making a single sound behind me. My fingers touch something wet and I feel a trail of tears sliding down her cheeks. Those tears match my own.

"Shh... please do not cry Mother, do not cry. I am here. What happened?"

-Jamond I... please run. You must... run... he... he -" She begins, but she's cut off by a violent coughing fit sending her body into spasms.

-Mother?" I grab both sides of her face and lift her up. "Mother what is the matter?" Suddenly, her eyes shift over to another point and it is only then that I see the large cut running down her neck. "Mother how did you -"

-Jamond look out!" She screams and I'm suddenly flung away from her, sliding across the floor. Something hard knocks into my sides and I bite back the pain, crouching into myself. Another scream vibrates in the room.

"Mother!? What is going on!?" I yell, struggling to get back up on my feet and trace the thing that bumped into me.

-Shut up you bastard!" Another voice breaks into the screams and I flinch back in recognition of my father's voice. What has he done?

"You are both useless!" He screams, and something is flung across the room. What is wrong with him!?

"Dada?" My father turns and lifts the candle up so that everyone can see. Lily jumps into the room with her baggy nightgown, holding a teddy bear in her little hand.

"Lily! Get away from him!" I yell, and Father turns, pure insanity flaming in his eyes. His hand flies free and Lily falls to the ground, rubbing her cheek with surprise. He hit her. Father hit my baby sister.

I can hear Mother sobbing and look over. Blood is flooding from her body. I crawl over to her with fuelled rage and desperation to get her safe and out of his reach, but Father's boot connects with my face and I bring my hands to my nose as I feel hot blood streaming from the broken part.

"You will all die tonight!" His crazy laughter echoes through the night. "You will all die tonight! You are useless pieces of -"

Thump.

Silence.

I don't think twice about the noise or the fact that my dad isn't moving anymore from wherever he was standing. I rise up slowly to my feet as agony flows through my trembling body and stumble over to Lily, pulling her up into my arms before making my way over to Mother's unmoving body.

"Mother?" I whisper tentatively, feeling my heart clench in fear of losing her.

No reply. The tears well in my eyes but I have to stay strong... for Lily. I reach down for my mother's neck with my sister cradled safely in my arms and her face buried in my shoulder. I check for a pulse.

Nothing.

I bring up Mother's face and plant a soft kiss on her forehead. Where is Father? What just happened? Why did he try to kill us and where is he now? Mother is gone.

That realisation allows the sobs to finally escape my lips. Lily recognise that sad sound and her own eyes well up with tears as she looks down at Mother's lifeless body. "Mama?" She whispers, and tears stream down her face without stopping when I shake my head slowly.

Suddenly, Lily's light weight is taken from my arms and I swing around, my fist connecting with something hard.

"That won't harm me." A snarl resonates and Lily's sweet voice suddenly screams into my ears with fear.

"Lily?" I yell, overcome with the urge to protect my baby sister, the only person I have left.

"She will be alright and so will you. I cannot say the same about your mother though." The manly voice is threatening, but I can decipher a slight compassionate edge to it. What's going on? Who is this man?

"You will follow me now." He continues deeply as I wander towards the source of voice where Lily is also at. "I have saved your life. From this day on, you owe me." Then, I feel a bang to my head and fall to the ground, with the surface of Lily's and Mother's frightened faces in my memory fading away.

...°...

I drowse in and out of consciousness, the pieces and images from that memory of my childhood filling my mind. One name pops into my head and I will the little hope to ignite into a flame inside of me. If I can't help Emma from inside of this cell, than hopefully he can. He has to.

Hunter.

He is the only one who can save Emma and get me out of here. The link between us is the only thing that can save me, Emma, us.

...°...

"What's going on?" My voice rises in a miserable attempt of controlling it. Liam turns to me with a wicked grin on his face.

"You owe us, Emma. We saved you after all." He says simply, which bugs with my mind. My brows crease in confusion.

-What the hell are you talking about? You're killing me!" Another spasm of torturous torment shakes my body furiously and another scream pierces the silent walls as trembles overcome me. The liquid from the container has been flowing freely into my veins without limit, and I still haven't gotten used to the pain. It isn't something that I could ever imagine anyone getting used to.

He puts his hand on his heart in mock hurt: "Killing you?" His cruel laugh resonates in my ear like a haunting melody, one that I have heard too many times. "This is just the beginning. But trust me, after this, you would probably wish you were dead." He ads, taking a step closer to the bed with a tilted head as he studies me trying to fight the pain.

His words send shivers down my spine.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I mumble, as grogginess begins to numb my body. It feels like a fire is licking a trail up every part of my skin underneath the sheet that's laid over my body.

"Oh Emma..." He begins, narrowing his eyes with a cruel smile on his lips, "You see, you were always meant to be one of us. Actually, the whole line of your family tree has consisted of hunters. But your parents ended up dishonoring our race. They signed a contract with- with vampires..."

My mind begins to blur while the information that I've been wanting, but at the same time dreading sinks into my head. But that was what Alice's vision was all about. They wanted to...

"...to give me away." I look up at Liam who nods with surprise at my knowledge. To be honest, I haven't really thought about anything other than the hurtful betrayal of my parents that filled me since digging into Alice's mind.

"You have always been something special." He says, not bothering to stop at my look of exasperation as I battle again against the metal cuffs linking my limbs to the metal and heightened bed. "I have studied your line over and over but your ancesters were all hunters it seems, so I haven't quite been able to figure out what exactly makes you stand out as much and has given you that... ability." He shakes his head. "Anyway, the bloodsuckers found out about your talent years ago, when you were first born in fact, and threatened your parents with death if they didn't give you up to them. They dishonoured us and our code, and for that they paid the price..." He let the sentence linger as he studied my face. "But Alice seemed to have taken care of them herself with that vampire detective, thereby associating herself as well with that disgusting species, and therefor digging her own grave in the process. We'll take care of her after we're done with you."

And he got a reaction.

...°...

One moment I'm watching the hunter getting ripped open by well... Hunter, and the next I'm projected to the ground with a block of cement broken at my feet. Hunter immediately felt the bond between us because of his Maker blood running in my veins, and took great delight in ripping open every hunter he could find on his way here. But the ceiling falling wasn't his stunt. I look up to see a wide patch of sky. The ceiling just crashed. I meet Hunter's eyes. Something is wrong.