"Jay?"

I blink, hoping so hard that all of this is actually just a horrible, scary nightmare. But no, they are all encircling me, each one of them ten times scarier than the previous one that I lay eyes on in their own way. I clearly notice one of them, taller than the others, with a stronger build, a ferocious scar going from his left eye to his cheek. It looks as if someone has taken a knife and just sliced right through it.

I shudder at the thought. He grins at my reaction and glances between Jay and me who's still staring at the guy that I thought was my simple maths neighbour.

"Well, well Jakobs... it looks like you've been busy." He declares, sending the others into hysterics. They really don't look old at all. They all seem to range in the early twenties, and each on of them is impossibly handsome, as if they've taken right out of a man-model sport's magazine. My trembling eyes stay on one in particular. Jay doesn't seem bothered by my wide eyes that grow bigger with disbelief, and instead focuses those ink discs on me without any sort of reaction. At the man's words though, a small smile tugs at the corner of his full lips. I'm too scared to move.

"Wh - where am I?" I shiver. It's extremely cold down here. The walls are made out of simple cobble stone and look old and worn down, and the floor is bumpy and uncomfortable dirt. It feels uncomfortable and terrifying, lying there. The men don't even quiver as they stand there, tall builds looking down at me like dominating towers. My teeth, however, are shattering away to battle against the icy-cold that comes with being underground in a heatless room during winter. There are no windows, no light to tell me where I am. Everything is just so... dark.

Jay keeps his mouth sealed shut and quickly glances over at Scar-man. It's clear that he respects him much more than the others, as do the others concerned, so I'm sure that that's the leader. Not that anyone wouldn't be at least slightly scared at the sight of him. It's undeniable that he's extremely athletic and handsome, but that scar is a growing sign that warns anyone to keep away. Or your neck will be snapped.

"Why am I here?" I repeat once again, forcing the tremble out of my voice. I can't seem too weak, or my fate will be sealed worse than if I appear at least the tiniest bit strong. I stand up on shaken legs and take a step back.

"You'll find out when you... cooperate." Scar-man says, the last word uttered with a slight, mischievous smile forming on his lips. I try to back away again but bump right into Chace, who grips me firmly by the waist and pushes me forward into the circle again.

"Jay?" I try to approach him but the so called 'leader' steps in front of me, separating the both of us and practically slapping me into a wall. My body barely hits the cold stone before I'm fallen to the ground again. It's that easy. He just sent his hand flying and the next thing I know I'm lying on the floor, two meters away from them.

How is that possible?

In a blink of my eyes Jay is by my side, looking down at me with actual worry. He's obviously got something to do with this so why is he worried? I don't want to even look at him, so I cast my eyes to the ground with disgust. I feel his cold hand brush my cheek and I freeze under the touch.

"Jakobs." The deep and menacing voice behind him makes him stiffen recognisably and he's gone again. How do they move so fast?

I've been drugged. Yup, that's exactly it.

I'm suddenly filled with fear once again, more powerful than before, when Scar-man is right next to me, faster than anyone could possibly run. "Wh-what are you?" I stutter, directing my gaze from his haunting black eyes. He holds me tightly by the chin and forces my head to look up at him. A smirk frames his face and he bends down on one knee in front of me.

"No..." He whispers, slowly descending his face towards mine. "What are you?"

I feel my barriers slowly weakening behind my eyes, threatening to let the water flow, but I keep my head high and look him straight in his scared eye.

"I'm am sick of hearing that question over and over. Next time you want to know anything about me, you should maybe just ask politely, instead of knocking my sister out. I hope for your sake-" I actually poke him in the chest "-that she's still very much alive!"

It's my turn to be demanding. I'm shocked by the ice-cold confidence radiating from my voice. I continue, satisfied with his shocked expression. Amusement glitters in his eyes though.

"I owe you nothing." I finish. There's a deadly silence and I'm proud of myself. But somehow, the silence doesn't make me feel that proud. In fact, the deadly frightening way that his face contorts into an expression of terror makes me wish that I'd just kept my mouth shut.

"Get out." He hisses suddenly, and for a moment I think that he's talking to me. But when I see Jay, from the corner of my eye, standing his ground, gaining a snarl from Scar-man, I realise that he's talking to them. In a second the men are gone, and only Jay remains.

"I'll help you with her." He declares stubbornly, not moving even when Scar-man whips his head to face him with a deadly snarl that sends waves of horror washing over me.

"Go." His voice is thundering, commanding, and his eyes are clouded with anger. Almost unwillingly, Jay is forced outside of the room and the heavy iron door slams shut, debating the invisible cord practically pulling him out.

Scar-man turns to face me again, a terrorising grin stretching across his face.

"Let's begin shall we?"

...°...

"Let me go!" I scream, watching him inspect the wall intently. I'm hanging on the stone wall besides it, arms and legs stretched as far away from my body as they can go and secured with metal manacles at each extremity, so that it feels like I'm slowly being ripped apart. On the identical wall that he's eyeing hangs a display of knives, swords, needles, blades and guns with the most eccentric forms of bullets in caskets, all gleaming like deadly promises in the hauntingly yellow light projected by the single light-bulb hanging low from the ceiling.

"I already told you..." Scar-man says with frightening calmness, "If you tell me what you are, I will let you go." He reaches for something that looks like a razor blade, but I can't focus on much else than the sharp pain that comes with my limbs being stretched much past their limit.

He approaches me slowly, tauntingly, sliding the blade across his fingers absent-mindedly. Blood immediately spills in shocking quantities, and he hasn't even applied pressure. That's when I become aware of the abnormal sharpness of the metal in his hands, glinting mischievously in the light bulb's glare. I gasp when the wound on his hand closes up seconds after, as if it had never been there. Crimson blood is the only thing that serves as evidence of him cutting himself across his pale skin.

"Stop!" I plead when he stops directly in front of me, twirling the blade around in his hands before brushing a strand of blond hair around from my face. A chill courses through me at the feeling of the iciness protruding from his skin on mine. "Please - please... no please!" I scream again when I feel the blade slicing my arm down in a quick swirl of his hand.

The blood immediately starts to pour. I whimper and bite my lip in pain, but won't show any weakness again. I can't, it's the only weapon I have against him. At the lack of any noise coming from me, his eyes turn red. Like glowing red. It looks like a fire has burned up and started in his eyes, blazing with every movement he makes.

My blood turns cold when he tilts his face down to my neck, breathing me in. The feeling of his slight but rough stubble along his jaw on my skin fills my mind and I can't focus on anything but the horror that drenches my vision.

"You smell incredibly good." He hums, tracing the crook of my neck with a cold finger. "We shouldn't let that exquisite blood go to waste, now should we?" He directs his gaze upwards with burning eyes and I immediately take notice of my arm and the quantities of bright red blood seeping down my limb and staining my shirt. I can feel some of the sticky substance flowing down the line of my neck and staining my collarbone. He breathes in and brings his lips there, licking my skin clean. What comes next is a terrifying hum of enjoyment.

"You're sick!" I yell, but that only makes his shoulders shake with laughter. He grips my chin and tilts my head up so that I'm staring right into his burning red eyes: the colour of blood.

"There are a lot of things that you don't know about my kind..." He says in a deep and promising voice.

"Please - don't..." I let out, but I'm too late. He reaches up and unclasps the arm stained with blood and a deep cut, and grips it in his hands. I can't do anything but stay still, as wiggling away from his hand is deemed impossible in his iron-grasp. He breathes the scent in and licks my arm, humming with ecstasy. When he looks back to me again his eyes are still fuming red, but they're sparkling maliciously. He looks dangerously crazy.

"What arrrrre you?" He purrs. "No human has ever tasted as good as you. And trust me, I've tried a few..."

I have no idea what that means, and I have no intention of finding out. "What - what are you?" I ask hopelessly, "A weird, crazy cult or something?" He chuckles and licks me up again, humming to himself. "Just please..." I force out, already weakening. "Leave me alone..."

I hear him laugh and an ice cold breath fans my face. It's ice cold, and it leaves stinging tingles all the way down my neck.

"Hunter." I recognise that voice. I try to open my eyes but something tells me not to. So I keep them shut. All I can see is a darkness that's threatening to take me under into the beautiful thing that is sleep. I wish more than anything that I could just escape into sleep right now. I'm made fully aware of the huge amount of blood loss still pouring out of my arm that's now hanging limply by my side. I can't even move it.

"What?" I feel Hunter's weight leave my aching body against the wall. His voice is hard as steel and sounds absolutely livid against the cold silence in the room. "I'm in the middle of something."

"Hunters have been spotted outside of the town, and they're making their way down here. Fast." The familiar voice keeps on speaking as if Hunter's voice hadn't scared them in the slightest.

Ha - Hunter is being hunted. Ohmygod... How lame of me to joke right now.

Hunter growls in annoyance but I hear the iron door bang shut against the wall. I must be alone now. I don't even hear the echoing footsteps against the stone floor because of the black abyss that's coming closer and closer to me. I just want to fall into it, to drown myself in a dreamless sleep to escape this horror.

"It's my turn now."

Jay?

My eyes fly open suddenly and I'm staring into his angelic face. "All of those times you've avoided my single, easy question." He pauses, as if unsure to say his next sentence. "I saw Hunter's face after he tasted your blood. So tell me Emma..."

I feel the sparks as he brushes his finger gently over my cheek, dangerously, saying my name.

"What are you?" He asks, his deep melodious voice vibrating in my ears. I refuse to show him any weakness, any fear at all. I stare into those endless eyes.

-I don't know..." I breathe out in despair, feeling the wind leave my lungs as more blood leaves me. My body is covered in shivers when he lights up in rage and punches the brick wall behind me, creating a perfectly dented hole, as if the wall was merely made of plaster.

"Don't test me princess..." He hisses, bending further in towards me. "You have no idea of what I could do to you." He licks his lips, and I have just enough time to catch a glimpse of pointy white teeth before a raging pain slices through my neck.

...°...

yeah! I managed to find time! I came home from drama at 6PM and it's already 7:30PM here in France, so I guess that you could say that I've been working on this chapter for quite some time now... :/

But that's not the point because I love writing it! And I know that some authors stay up until midnight to publish but I don't think that that will ever happen to me.

Anyways, thank you soooooooooooo much for reading!

PLEASE COMMENT AND VOTE! I love to hear what you've got to say! :'D

-Sophia xoxo