Changed (The Hunters #1) (33 page)

After all, they had doctored her
before they put her in this hole. Her shoulder was wrapped with a
thick bandage.

Rosa sat up slowly. In these dungeons,
the darkness was complete, so she could not even see her hand
before her eyes.

The darkness wrapped heavy
upon her, like a wet coat. She didn’t fear the dark—she even
sometimes preferred the darkness, but this darkness was different
in the dungeon.

It seemed as if the darkness was alive
and watching her.

Stop,
Rosa
, she told herself.
The darkness is not alive.

Suddenly torture scenes appeared in
her mind’s eye. Hunters were hanging, bloodied, upside down on
ropes, and tortured.

Rosa
shook her head to banish the imagines.
Do
not think! Do not think about it!

She moved to the grid and clutched the
bars with her shaking hands. Nothing was heard or seen.

At once, a noise tore the silence of
the darkness—a high, wailing cry—an expression of sheer, blind
pain.

Rosa froze.

The howling sounded not too far away
and increased, until it finally broke off abruptly.

Rosa’s heart was beating wildly in her
chest and she tasted panic in her mouth. She pushed herself away
from the grid, and pressed her back against the stone wall as she
forced herself to calm down.

Surly someone is being
tortured.

The torture scenes appeared again in
her mind’s eye.

Do not think about it! Do
not think about it!

Then Rosa heard the cry again, this
time louder and closer. Something crashed rumbling on the
ground.

Rosa pressed her back to the wall.
Heart pounding in her chest, the familiar panic welled up inside
her.

What was going on here? The crash
wasn’t part of the torture.

Rosa clenched her hands. With effort,
she forced herself to rest. She was not going to have a panic
attack.

No! She would get it under
control to suppress it. She couldn’t allow the fear to take control
over her body. Rosa took several deep breaths. Her heart calmed
down...

The grid exploded in her cell. Rosa
instinctively ducked her head and held her hands protectively over
her head. Small pieces of rock fell down on her. In seconds, the
air was filled with dust and she had to cough.

What was happening?

Slowly, Rosa straightened up. She
could still see nothing, until suddenly two red spots appeared in
the darkness, who regarded her directly.

She uttered a little cry, her heart
pounding in her chest so strong that it could explode at any time.
Her panic grew. Her breath came in gasps. Rosa could not keep calm
anymore.

When the red dots were coming towards
her, she heard their steps, crunching on the ground.

Rosa pushed herself more and more
against the wall. Her panic attack was unstoppable.

Her chest felt heavy and her throat
dry. She just got very short of breath. Sweat broke out. Her whole
body was shaking uncontrollably and dizziness seized
her.

I’m
going to die! I
’
m
going to die!

The red dots stopped in front of her.
Rosa hardly noticed them.

Oh God! No, please don’t!
I don’t want to die!

Her panic attack reached its climax.
Rosa collapsed on the floor. Gasping for air, she tried somehow to
get air into her lungs. Her muscles were shaking with spasms and
her whole body ached.

Rosa was hyperventilating.

“
Easy,” said a deep voice.
It was amazingly gentle and reassuring. “I will not hurt you. I
promise.”

Strong hands touched her arms and
pulled her to her feet. Rosa’s body was still trembling
heavily.

“
Calm down.” The voice was
like silk on her skin. “Breathe deeply in and out.” She did and her
heart calmed down.

“
Very well.”

Rosa lifted her head and looked at the
red dots. Suddenly, the panic came back. A whimper escaped her and
she cringed. These red dots scared her to death! The monster from
her childhood always had red eyes.

The grip on her arms
squeezed.

“
Don’t
panic,” said the voice, now firmly. “I
will not
hurt
you.”

Rosa whimpered softly.

“
I am a human and not a
monster.”

She stopped abruptly to whimper and
looked into the red dots. Now everything fit together. The red dots
were eyes and the eyes belonged to this man. But what man had red
eyes?

“
Who are you?” she asked
quietly.

“
That is not important
right now. I would like to ask you a question.”

Rosa nodded, avoiding his creepy eyes.
She did not really understand what was happening. The panic attack
had muddled her mind.

“
Do you know the hunter
with the gift to fight?” he asked.

Her heart stopped, but she did not
show him that his question scared her.

“
No, I don’t know,” Rosa
answered, now under control again.

“
Do not lie!” he hissed,
his eyes took on a dangerous murderous expression.

“
I-I do not lie. I really
don’t know who this hunter is.”

Suddenly
a shrill tone resounded in the dungeons.
The alarm!

The man swore loudly and faced
Rosa.

“
We’re not done yet!” Then
he ran away and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

Rattling, Rosa took a breath, and fell
to the ground. She could no longer stand upright. The panic attack
had taken all of her energy, and the fear was still in her
bones.

Several questions were circling
through her head, but she was too tired to think about
them.

Rosa let the darkness envelop her
completely.

“
She’s running away!” a
hunter shouted. The alarm was ringing. The hunter turned to the
other. “Go in and see what’s going on in there! We’ll get the
girl!”

Apparently, something had happened in
the building. When the girl was running alongside, he grabbed her
arm.

She screamed and struggled immediately
against his grip.

“
Stop that,” Jason hissed.
“I don’t want to harm you! I’ll take you out of here!” The girl
looked at him skeptically. He threw a glance over his shoulder and
found that the hunters were coming closer.

“
Come on!” He took her by
the arm and they started running.

Jason had not planned that his search
would proceed like that, but he could not just leave the girl
alone. Perhaps she had useful information for him.

They reached the gate. “We’re now
flying over the fence, so don’t be afraid,” he told her. The girl
looked at him with wide eyes.

Without hesitation, Jason wrapped his
arms around her and then flew over the fence. Jason flew several
feet away from the academy before he landed on the ground. The girl
was trembling in his arms.

“
Everything is alright,”
he reassured her. “Come on!” He took her hand and ran farther into
the forest. Jason glanced over his shoulder. No one was behind
them, but that did not mean they were safe.

They had to hide somewhere, but the
only question was where?

“
I cannot anymore!” the
girl gasped and stopped. Supporting her hands on her knees, she
took deep breaths. Jason looked around and saw a large
bush.

“
Let’s go behind the
bush.” He took her arm and led her there. She sat down in the dirt
and grass. Jason stood in front of her and eyed her.

She was tall and had short brown hair,
which looked now disheveled. Her face was covered with bruises and
injuries. Her brown eyes watched Jason suspiciously.

“
You’re a Nephilim,” she
said.

Jason nodded. “And you’re probably a
hunter who has done something forbidden.”

She smiled grimly.
“Exactly.”

“
What was going on in the
building?” Jason asked. “Why did the alarm go off?”

The girl shrugged. “Beats me. The
alarm only goes off, when someone escapes from the dungeons or the
hunter clan is under attack,” she replied and pulled her knees to
chest.

“
So it wasn’t because of
you?”

She shook her head.

“
What’s your
name?”

She looked at him. “Milena. Milena
Gordon. Yours?”

“
Jason.”

She smiled wanly. “Nice to meet you.
But I’ve a question.”

Jason could guess which
question.

“
What’s a Nephilim doing
here?” she asked and raised her eyebrows

Jason looked around. He did not feel
safe. “Let’s get outta here before someone finds us. Then we can
talk.”

Milena nodded and stood up.
“Actually, I should kill a Nephilim if I see one, but since you’ve
saved my life, I think that wouldn’t be a very nice way of saying
thanks.”

A small smile played across his lips.
“No, that wouldn’t be a nice thanks.”

She smiled at him then she turned her
gaze away. “Where shall we go? They will look for me,” she said to
him and looked into the forest.

“
To my home. It’s
currently the safest for you.”

She nodded slowly and wrapped her arms
around her body.

“
I cannot wait to get away
from here.”

They walked quickly and in silence to
Jason’s car, which he had parked on the way to his home. Both were
absorbed in their own thoughts. Jason hoped that Milena had
information about Jasmine.

Philip wasn’t at home when Jason and
Milena entered the apartment. He was glad. Philip would ask too
many questions and would confront him on why Jason had gone to the
hunter clan without him.

Jason was not in the mood to explain
anything to him. He turned on the light and shut the door. Milena
looked around the house and whistled through her teeth.

“
Wow, really nice here,”
she said as she sat on the couch. In the light, Jason could see her
injuries better. Her right eye was swollen and her lips were
busted. Numerous bruises were visible on her face and
throat.

“
Who did this to you?”
Jason asked, pointing with his chin to her face.

Milena touched her face with her
bloody fingertips. “Do I really look that bad?”

Jason nodded hesitantly.

She sighed. “Can I wash my face first?
Then we can talk.”

He nodded again and showed her where
the bathroom was. Then he sat down on the couch and waited for
her.

After a few minutes, she came back
into the living room. Her face was now a little better without all
the blood and filth.

She let herself fall on the couch
across from him and closed her eyes. She looked
exhausted.

“
Do you want to begin?”
Jason asked, resting his elbows on his knees.

She nodded without opening the eyes.
“I’ve broken the rules of the hunter clan, and they have sent me to
death. I had managed to escape. For a month, I have lived on the
street, hiding from the hunters. Unfortunately they caught me.” She
opened her eyes and smiled at him. “And I escaped them again.
Thanks again, as you helped me.”

“
No problem,” Jason asked
and leaned forward. “Have you heard of a Nephilim that had been
captured?”

Milena raised her eyebrows. “Why do
you want to know?”

He breathed in and out, before
answering her. “She’s my sister and I want to find her.”

She nodded, pulling her knees up to
her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her eyes wandered
to the picture from Jasmine.

“
Is that her?” she
asked