Changed (The Hunters #1) (27 page)

It had only one floor. The staircase,
which was in the kitchen led into the basement, where the prisoners
were kept.

He closed the door behind him. He
could already hear voices coming from the kitchen—apparently, the
others were already there.

The house smelled musty and the air
was full of dust. It had only three rooms: Living room, bedroom,
and kitchen. Nobody had ever lived there, except the prisoners.
Jason went into the kitchen, the old wooden floor creaking under
his feet.

Marco, Philip, and Madeleine were in
the kitchen. Madeleine was sitting on one of the wooden chairs. The
two boys were standing.

“
Hey, guys,” Jason said.
He could feel the thick air between Madeleine and Philip. Jason was
upset with Madeleine, too, because she did not tell him how she
knew his secret.

“
Where were you last
night?” Philip asked.

“
Away,” Jason answered
shortly. He wanted to get this over with quickly. “Can we start
now?”

Madeleine stood up from her chair as
the group approached the basement door. They descended the narrow
stairs into a small room that contained ten stone cells with
sliding iron doors. All the cells were empty, except for one where
the rebels were confined.

Jason went to the last cell where they
had kept the men detained as Madeleine, Marco, and Philip followed
him in silence. Jason stopped in front of the cell. It was dark in
the cellar, with only two shapeless light bulbs hanging from the
ceiling. Their feeble light was enough to see the silhouettes of
the three rebels as they sat huddled in the corners.

“
Well, how are the bad
guys today?” Jason asked.

“
You can guess,” said the
blond boy. He was the only one of the three, who was
speaking.

Jason smiled. “Oh, now we’re playing a
game?”

He couldn’t see his face, but he was
sure the blond boy had rolled his eyes.

“
If you see it as a game,
then that’s your opinion,” the blond boy answered.

“
What’s your name?” Jason
asked.

“
What’s your name?” he
asked and raised his eyebrows.

Jason smirked. “I asked
first.”

“
Nick,” he
replied.

“
Nick, my name’s
Jason.”

“
Are we here for a tea
party, or what?” Philip asked annoyed.

“
Calm down. I’m only
chatting a little bit.” Then Jason sighed. “But Philip is right. We
need to bring that to an end.”

“
Finally,” Philip
muttered.

“
Can it be that you like
to kill humans?” Madeleine asked Philip. He shot her a dark
look.

“
I’d love to kill you,” he
replied dangerously.

Madeleine laughed. “The feeling is
mutual, buddy.”

“
Can you stop fighting
now?” Jason interrupted them. They both kept their mouths shut. He
took the key to the cell from his pocket and opened the cell
door.

“
Come out,” Jason
ordered.

The three rebels obeyed. They went out
from the cell and remained in front of the four Nephilim. They
looked so fragile Jason was afraid if he touched them, they would
simply collapse.

Philip stepped forward. He had three
handcuffs in his hand.

“
Stretch out your hands,”
he demanded. The rebels did what they were told. Philip handcuffed
the two other boys. Then he stepped in front of Nick. Nick looked
at him with a great hostility. Philip didn’t pay attention to him
as he put the handcuffs on his wrists.

Jason turned around and started to
leave, when suddenly Philip cried out. Jason turned around,
startled. He saw flames.

Philip’s hands were on
fire.

He screamed, trying to douse the fire
on his hands. Madeleine took off her jacket and tried to extinguish
the flames.

Jason paused for a few seconds in
terror. He tried to understand what had just happened.

Then he understood.

Nick was a Fire user.

Nick had melted his handcuffs and set
Philip’s hands on fire. Marco jumped on Nick, but he
dodged.

“
Grab the others! I’ll
take care of Nick!” Jason called to Marco.

Then chaos broke out.

Nick began to throw fire wildly around
him. Jason lunged at Nick, but he threw a fireball at Jason. Jason
dodged, and the fireball landed behind him. Another fireball was
coming toward him.

If Nick kept it up, he would burn the
entire hut down.

Jason’s whole body was tense and full
of adrenaline. His heart beat wildly in his chest. Nick’s hands
were on fire. Jason didn’t know how he could stop a fire user
without getting burn.

“
Nick, listen to me! You
will burn us all alive, if you throw more fireballs!” Jason yelled.
He hadn’t expected Nick would be a fire user.

Nick laughed mockingly and formed
another fireball.

“
I’ll die either way! So
you can die with me!”

Suddenly a shrill scream tore through
their conversation. It was a cry from a rebel who had suffered
severe pain. Jason and Nick turned around.

Nick´s friends were also fire users
and had thrown fireballs. The cells were ablaze. The other Nephilim
were barely visible through the smoke.

Philip shoved the black-haired boy
into the flames. His clothes caught fire immediately, and he was
ablaze.

Jason, who used Nick’s distraction
against him, threw himself on Nick. They both landed on the hot
floor, which felt like a frying pan. The increased heat in the
basement was horrific, but the heat wasn’t as bad as the smoke that
threatened to suffocate. Jason could still hear the desperate cries
of the rebels.

Jason couldn’t breathe. His
throat and nose were hot. They had to get out of there, but first
he had to make Nick unable to produce more fireballs.

Jason punched Nick in the face. He
managed to get a hold of Nick’s hands, but Nick immediately kicked
Jason in the stomach, releasing his hands. He shoved Jason hard and
threw another fireball.

Jason heard the hiss of the fireball,
but reacted too late. The fireball grazed his right calf, landing
next to him on the floor.

An overwhelming pain shot through his
calf. Panicked, he looked at his burning leg. Without hesitation,
he rolled his leg over on the floor back and forth and smothered
the flames. Then he ripped off the rest of the smoldering material
with his bare hands.

Jason thought he heard his name, but
wasn’t sure. He was trembling and his lungs felt like they were
cooking. He was sure he was going to pass out. He felt a roaring
pain in his leg and his hands were covered with red blisters. The
entire cell was filled with smoke.

Jason began to cough,
vomiting on the floor. He threw up everything in his stomach, until
nothing was left.

A shadowy figure ran next to him out
of the cell, towards the stairs.

Nick!
Jason thought. The little
bastard who had set everything on fire was
fleeing.

In the beginning, Jason did not want
to kill him, but now he wanted it badly.

He stood up, even his leg was still
burning like hell, but he ignored the pain. He knew that his leg
would heal quickly.

Breathing heavily, Jason ran after
Nick. A sharp pain shot through his chest when he inhaled. He hoped
that his friends would get out of the flaming cell
alive.

Jason rushed through the kitchen then
ran outside. He could see Nick disappearing into the
woods.

Jason inhaled the fresh air, which was
like a healing salve for his lungs. Then he took up the chase. His
leg screamed in pain, but Jason told his legs to run
faster.

Although his leg was injured, he was
fast and came closer to Nick in just a few seconds. Nick had
apparently heard Jason following him because he began to throw
fireballs at him again. They landed in front of Jason, but he
dodged them easily.

He was still confronted
with the problem that he couldn´t overwhelm Nick with his bare
hands because he would just set him on fire. He had to think of
something else.

Jason dodged a burning branch. He took
his pocketknife out, as he was close enough to hit Nick with the
knife

Jason threw it toward Nick, hitting
him directly at the shoulder, where Jason had aimed.

Crying out in pain, Nick stopped
abruptly, falling to the ground. Jason stopped next him, a
contented smile on his face.

“
It’s not easy to get me
out of the way, Nick. You have to do more than burn me,” Jason
growled, and took the knife from Nick’s shoulder.

Nick could not speak. His eyes were
wide and his face pale. He tried to summon fire but
failed.

Suddenly anger rose in Jason. How dare
Nick to hurt him or his friends?

He was a Nephilim and Nick was only a
little pet.

Jason kicked him in the stomach. Nick
groaned and slumped to the floor.

“
You little asshole,”
Jason hissed and kicked him again. “Be glad that I can’t kill you
now, otherwise I would have done it.” A wicked smile appeared on
his face. “But I can do this.”

Jason reached out and stuck the knife
in Nick’s hand. Nick cried out in pain and tried to punch Jason,
but the Nephilim only laughed and said, “It’s very amusing to watch
a sheep trying to combat the lion.” Again, Jason stabbed the knife
into Nick’s other hand.

Nick’s mouth formed an “O” and his
face was pale. Jason sat down on Nick and grabbed him by the
throat.

“
You’re really rude
against your ruler. This is the second time that you broke the
rules. Which rule did you break this time?” Jason asked Nick. Nick
did not answer, but looked at him with horrified and frightened
eyes.

“
Answer me!” Jason growled
and cut Nick’s cheek with his knife.

He screamed again and began to
whimper.

“
Let me tell you the
answer, pet. Never hurt an archangel, or a Nephilim,” Jason said.
“But you’ve done it. I should kill you right now, but be glad that
I can’t.”

“
Jason, don’t do it. He
isn’t worth it,” said a voice behind him. He turned around.
Madeleine was standing behind him. Her face and clothes were
covered in blood and soot. Part of her clothing was burned off and
Jason could see that her skin was burned, though it was beginning
to heal.

Suddenly Jason noticed the pain in his
calf as it increased by the second. Jason faced Nick. He looked as
good as dead, but he wasn’t. He was still breathing.

Jason straightened up. He still held
the knife in his hand. You never know if the pet will
attack.

“
How’s Philip?” Jason
asked, shoving the knife in his belt.

“
His hands are burned, but
they’ll heal again,” said Madeleine. Her eyes went to Jason’s calf.
“That has to hurt very much.”

“
Um, yes.”

“
Come, let’s cool it,
otherwise it will get worse.”

Jason shook his head. “No, you don’t
have to. I can take care of it myself.” He did not want Madeleine’s
help. Even if he was talking to her, that did not mean he was not
mad at her.

Madeleine understood the real reason
why he refused. “Jason, if you don’t cool your leg now, your leg
won’t heal as fast.”

“
What should we do with
Nick?” Jason asked, looking at him.

“
I’ve informed Marco.
He’ll come soon.” And as if Marco heard Madeleine, he paced the
forest and stopped beside Madeleine. He was also smeared with blood
and soot, but he was alive.

“
Go cool your leg, Jase. I
will take care of him,” said Marco, pointing at Nick.

“
Where should I cool my
leg? There’s no water here,” Jason replied and grimaced.

A sizzling pain shot through his
leg.

Madeline smiled. Her smile made her
beautiful, even though she was covered in blood.

“
There’s a little stream a
little further into the forest,” she said.

Jason’s leg screamed for water and he
had no other choice but to agree.