Changed (The Hunters #1) (22 page)

They were in the shadow and nobody
could see them. Rosa leaned against the wall because she had no
more strength to rely on her crutches. The wall felt pleasantly
cold and rough. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the
silence.

“
Rosa,” she heard Matt
saying. She opened her eyes and looked at him. His face was hidden
in the shadow, but she could see his facial expression.

“
I’ve been thinking about
what you said,” he began. Rosa’s heart began to beat faster. She
prepared herself for his answer. He began to knead his fingers,
which he always did when he was nervous.

“
I’d love for us to be
together, even if that means I would risk being killed. I’d take
that risk. But you don’t love and,” he stopped and bit his
lip

She folded her arms across her chest,
because she didn’t know what else to do with them.

“
And I think we shouldn’t
see one another for a while,” he finished his sentence, looking at
her.

Rosa frowned. “What do you
mean?”

Matt took a deep breath. “I mean that
we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

Her heart jumped. She had lost her
best friend. “No, Matt, please.”

Anger flashed in his eyes. “Then can
you tell me how I can be near you, when I’m in love with you, but
you’re not in love with me? I cannot bear that!” he
said.

Rosa said nothing. What could she
say?

He pressed his thumb and forefinger on
the bridge of his noise.

“
I can’t suppress my
feelings. I have to get along with the whole situation first,” he
told her.

She nodded. “Of course.”

Then they faced each other in silence.
Rosa had so many emotions running through her. She had no idea she
could feel so much.

Why did I ask him if he
loves me at all?

If she hadn’t asked him, they wouldn’t
be stuck in this situation right now. Everything would be all right
between them.

“
Did you hear what
happened with Madison?” Matt asked her, breaking the
silence.

Rosa froze. She had completely
forgotten about Madison. She decided not to tell Matt that she had
killed her.

“
What about her?” Rosa
asked, and was glad her voice sounded normal.

“
She was a mermaid, and
she was killed.”

“
Oh.”

Matt frowned. “Do you know anything
about that?”

She shook her head, and she felt the
blush spreading from her neck to her face. Fortunately, they were
standing in the shade.

Not that
bad of a place after all,
she
thought.

“
No, I don’t know anything
about it.”

“
Poor Madison. She was too
young to die.”

Rosa nodded. She felt the guilt rising
in her. Actually, she didn’t feel any guilt when she was killing
these creatures.

But it was different with
Madison.

“
You’re right,” she agreed
with him.

“
You know–” Suddenly, Matt
was seized by a violent trembling. His voice broke, and his body
trembled for a few seconds.

Rosa approached to him. “Matt, are you
okay?” she asked anxiously.

And just as quickly, the shaking was
gone, and he remained a few seconds with his head bowed.

Rosa shook him. “Matt? Say something!”
she said. “What’s going on?”

Rosa became scared. Matt was standing
there with his head bowed and said nothing. It was as if he were
dead.

Then he raised his head and
looked at her. Rosa drew back a little. His eyes were narrowed to
slits. His expression had changed. It was no longer angry or hurt,
but ... empty.

Rosa took a step forward. “Matt?” Her
voice was filled with concern.

“
I have to go,” he
replied, and rushed past her disappearing around the corner. Rosa
hobbled after him and called his name, but he did not turn around.
He disappeared into the house.

She was so confused.

What just
happened?

His voice had changed. It was no
longer gentle, but so rough and monotonous. Rosa laid her face in
her hands.

What is going on with
him?

Questions, questions, and no answers.
This was too much for Rosa.

No,
Rosa. Get a rip! You cannot collapse now. You have a job to
do,
said her inner voice
again.

“
You know what; you’re
getting on my nerves,” Rosa said to her inner voice. “Why are you
always telling me things that I don’t want to hear?” She waited for
a response, but didn’t get one.

Then she realized who she was talking
to... herself! She just shook her head.

“
Now I’m completely crazy.
I’m talking to myself. Yes, Rosa, it’s going uphill with you,” she
muttered to herself. She took her crutches and walked to her
car.

Jason kicked the door with a hard
kick.

The wooden door shattered into small
pieces. The four Nephilim entered the wood hut. Jason looked
around. Everything was made of wood, the walls, floor, tables,
chairs—everything.

The residents were sitting at small
wooden tables, and certainly looked scared and startled. Jason put
on his poker face. They shouldn’t realize he did not want to do
this.

There were three people. All male.
They looked the same: thin and dirty. Jason estimated them to be
around his age. They looked more dead than alive.

Jason took a step forward and smiled.
“I apologize that we have just burst into your house, but they say:
Nephilim have no manners.”

The black-haired boy stood up and
looked at them.

“
What are you doing here?”
he asked harshly.

Jason was still smiling. He went into
the corner and picked up a wooden chair. He threw it against the
wall where it shattered into pieces. The three young boys
winced.

“
I have to say you humans
have no manners, either. Is this the way you welcome a guest?”
Jason asked.

The boy swallowed. “What do you want?”
he repeated his question, his voice shaking.

Jason didn’t want to, but the boy left
him no choice. With a growl, he flashed in front of him, punching
him in the face, and slamming him against the wall, grabbing him by
the throat. The boy struggled; however, he was too thin and too
weak.

Jason squeezed, drawing his face
closer to the boy. He was gasping for air. He looked anxiously at
Jason.

“
Your mother didn’t teach
you manners, did she?” Jason said, shaking his head. “Bad
Mother.”

“
Do not say anything
against my mother!” the boy shouted.

Jason raised an eyebrow. “And if I do?
What will you do then?”

The boy didn’t answer. Jason knew the
boy could not harm him.

“
You demonstrated against
the government, right?” said Jason. The boy did not
answer.

Jason hit his head back against the
wall. Blood began to run from his nose.

“
Answer me when I ask you
a question!” Jason shouted.

“
I don’t have to answer
anything,” he replied with hostility toward Jason.

Jason sighed. “You know, sometimes
it’s not good to be snappy.” The boy looked at him
quizzically.

“
Because then this might
just happen.”

Jason hit him full force in the face.
The boy fell to the ground and remained motionless.

Jason turned toward the other
two.

Smiling gently, he say, “Well, if you
don’t want that happen to you, you should admit you have
demonstrated against the government.”

He could see they were scared and were
not sure whether they should admit it or not. Ultimately, they
nodded slowly.

Jason clapped his hands. “That’s all I
wanted to know.”

He walked over to them and leaned
forward. He clucked his tongue.

“
And I think you also know
what that means, right?” he asked quietly. They didn’t answer, but
he could read in their eyes that they knew what was
coming.

“
Rebellion against the
government is punishable by death,” said Jason and straightened
up.

“
We have fought for a
better life. Do you Nephilim know how we humans live?” asked the
blond-haired boy. Jason turned toward him.

He had once been a very
attractive young man. Hopelessness was all you could see in his
green eyes.

“
How do you live?” Jason
wanted to know.

The blond boy made an expansive
gesture. “Look at where we live. We do not have a proper roof over
our heads. We have no hot water. No shower. No bed. How do you
think we live?” he asked.

“
Well, I think it isn’t so
bad here,” said Marco, looking around.

The blond boy laughed. “Yes, I
expected you would say that, as you know nothing about this life,
because you have everything. You all are spoiled little
assholes.”

“
Watch what you say!”
Philip growled, taking a step closer to the boy. Jason held his arm
out.

“
Calm down, Phil,” Jason
said quietly. Philip gave a growl and turned away.

“
We’re at war with the
hunters. It’s normal that you have to live like this,” said Jason
to them.

The blond boy snorted. “War! And why
do you not live like us? Why must always the ones suffer that have
nothing to do with this war? Those who started the war do not
suffer like the others. War is brutal and senseless.”

Jason frowned and looked at the blond
boy for a moment in silence. He had to admit the boy was right.
Before Jasmine was abducted, Jason never thought about the war. He
didn’t really care and only obeyed the orders of the archangels.
Now, with the abduction of his sister, Jason understood what war
really meant, and that he should have thought about the war and his
role in it.

This
war
was
brutal
and senseless.

Millions of people were killed just
because rulers couldn’t decide who was more powerful. Instead of
arranging a compromise with one another, they reach for weapons,
shooting wildly around them, to show how powerful they
are.

“
Do you know how many of
our friends died just because of your senseless war?” the blond boy
asked.

“
The war isn’t futile,”
Philip replied angrily. “It shows how much power we
have.”

“
And what do you want to
achieve with that?”

“
Power has a huge role in
the world. All over the world everyone thrives to have
power.”

The blond boy shook his head. “But
that doesn’t mean you had to start a war with the
hunters.”

Madeleine, who had said nothing yet,
took a step forward, and nodded.

“
He’s right,” she
said.

Everyone in the room looked surprise
at Madeleine.

“
What do you mean?” Jason
asked her.

She looked at him. Her eyes sparkled
with excitement.

“
We, Nephilim, carry out
the war of archangels between the hunters. We have no problem with
the hunters.”

“
Of course we do,” Philip
objected. She turned to him.

“
And what?”

“
They steal our power.
They want the talismans. They’re killing our kind,” he explained
and folded his arms across his chest.

“
Yes, they do it because
we do it. One of us has to stop this war. Maybe if we didn’t attack
them anymore, maybe they wouldn’t attack us.”

Philip snorted. “And if the
archangel listened to you and ceased to fight against the hunters,
how would you get the hunters to stop fighting?“

Madeleine nodded. “You’re right. The archangel wouldn’t do
what I tell them. But,” she emphasized the ‘but’, “the other
Nephilim will listen to us. The archangels are only using us. We
are their servants, but we have to stop it. We have to show them
they can’t do anything they want to us. We need to rebel just like
the humans — along
with
the humans!”