Soul Snatching

Soul Snatching: Chapter 25

Recap:

“I never knew my mother or my father. I don’t really know if I have any siblings. I used to live in the orphanage and when I was around six they asked me what I wanted my name to be, they never even bothered giving me a last name. No one wanted me, all the foster homes I went to dumped me after a few months. Eventually, when I turned thirteen I decided I was fed up with all the rejection and ran away. They never really looked for me and I learned to live in the streets on my own. Not a lot of places would hire me, I would find odd jobs here and there, but I usually just stole the food I needed. I didn’t exactly have a roof over my head most of the time, but I managed. This is my opportunity. If I win this more places will be willing to hire me knowing that I will stick around for a long time. Maybe I can finally get some kind of education and get a nice job one day,” he finished with a distant look in his eye.

I knew that he was an orphan, but I never really figured how bad he had it. I thought my life was bad, but his was ten times worse.

That just makes it even harder for me to kill him.

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One day later

“Hey get up sleepyhead,” I groaned as I opened my eyes to little slits, only to find Hunter bouncing up and down on a branch.

“Go away,” I mumbled wishing I had a pillow to throw on him.

“Tara, I hope you realize you’ll never be able to get rid of me,” he said his eyes studying me seriously.

My heart fluttered in my chest. Wait, what if his words had a double meaning? What if he is trying to tell me that I won’t be able to kill him? Before I could analyze his words any further I felt cold water thrown on my face.

“Hunter!” I harshly whispered not risking getting caught yelling.

“Good your up,” apparently my anger didn’t bother him the slightest, “Now we need to talk about Paul.”

I wiped the water off of my face as I glared at him. The last thing I want to do right now is talk about how to kill Paul. This past few hours with Hunter have been so amazing, talking to him is so easy and conferrable for me.

I should be very disappointed in myself and upset that I fell for Hunter’s charms, because really in the end I am just hurting myself more in the end. The thing is, I can’t find myself to feel any guilt over the time I have spent getting to know him. Sure every second I spend with him makes it harder and harder for me to kill him, but every second with him is one of the best moments of my life.

“Okay, do you have any idea what the plan is?”

“Well, I know killing Paul is going to be very difficult on you, so I think that I should be the one to kill him,” I breathed out a sigh of relief. I am so glad he doesn’t expect me to be able to kill Paul.

“How are we going to find out where he is?” I asked him as I wondered how long it would take to find him.

“Don’t you know where your own shelter is?” I could’ve slapped myself right then and there, obviously Hunter expects me to tell him where Paul is. I wish I could say that I completely forgot where my shelter was and that I am completely lost, but that would’ve been a lie. I took a deep breath, giving away Paul’s location doesn’t really mean I am killing him does it?

A little voice in my head told me it was practically the same thing. I will be betraying Paul’s trust, but didn’t he already betray me? Maybe I should just consider all of this as payback?

I made a split second decision. I considered lying to Hunter, but then I came to the conclusion that Paul deserved what was coming to him.

“Of course I do, I’ll lead you there once we figure out what the plan is.”

“I am thinking I’ll just shoot him with my arrow, there is no need to make it too complicated.”

“Okay,” my voice sounding small and innocent to my own ears.

“How far away is your shelter from here?” He asked as he climbed down the tree swiftly. I followed him down and he offered his hand to help me down. I took it gratefully and jumped down, savoring the warmth of his hand against mine.

“Shouldn’t be more then an hour,” I said trying to keep myself from blushing. His hand still remained clasp against mine.

I took a step forward, than I felt his hand on my wrist pulling me back. I looked at him and he seemed to be struggling with his words. His mouth came against mine. I immediately shut my eyes, but the moment was gone in an instant.

“You’re doing the right thing,” he whispered softly into my ear as we embraced. I nodded my head and we headed off to find Paul.

As we walked across the forest in search for Paul an unmistakable tension clung in the air. I sneaked glances at Hunter every few minutes, taking in every feature. After Paul was gone, Hunter and I wouldn’t be able to be this civil with each other. Hell, my next encounter with him will end with one of our deaths.

I’ll admit that a few times I made the journey to Paul much longer than needed. Honestly though, who wouldn’t when you have someone as amazing as Hunter for company?  I felt my pace slowing down every second, just savoring the time we have together. I’m surprised Hunter hasn’t commented on my slow walking yet.

“How much farther is it?”

His voice pulled me out of my own thoughts. I realized I have no idea how much farther it is so I decided to look around my surroundings. A small gasp escaped my throat as I realized we were much closer to the shelter then we were supposed to be.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake. We are too close to the shelter we should back up before he sees us!”

“What do you mean? How close are we?”

There was no time to answer his question. I quickly walked back trying to be silent, but quick. I heard Hunter draw his bow from behind me.

“Wait, I hear something,” I heard Hunter’s whisper from behind me. I looked back to see him standing still waiting for something.

I rolled my eyes at the sight, we needed to leave now! Paul could be anywhere near us at this point.

“We need to mo-,” my words got caught off as I heard someone’s steady breathing against my ear. His sword was held up right against my throat as he pushed my back up against a tree.

“Make a sound and you’ll never speak again,” he said as he pushed the sword impossibly close to my throat. I looked down to see my crimson blood dripping on the floor. My erratic heartbeat flooded my ears with sound.

I took one calm deep breath. I fumbled around trying to grab my dagger from my belt, but Paul wasn’t stupid. He noticed my feeble attempt and grabbed the dagger himself with his other hand.

I heard a soft thud as it landed on the ground. My helplessness in the situation caused panic to stir within me.

“Tara!” I heard Hunter scream as his arrow pointed at Paul.

“You kill me and the girl dies,” Paul’s voice echoed in my ears. I looked at Hunter to see him seeming to fight an internal battle with himself.

Me dying wasn’t apart of the plan…

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I’m sorry it took so long and was so short. You can’t imagine how difficult this chapter was to write. Anyways, I hate this chapter, but honestly this is all I could come up with. Blah…uh vote and comment because those things have been my motivation to write more! Maybe the next chapter will be better?