A VERY DARK tale (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 27

Stepping further down by the grass that was covered with a light snowy blanket let a familiar thrill of adventure and danger tickling my nerves. I couldn't help liking how all my emotions started surfacing, even though the majority of my feelings were buried deep in my consciousness. They were barely emotions. Instincts. Primal, animalistic instants. That's what they were. And I liked how complete they made me feel.

Inhaling deep the air that was stained with a rusty scent of blood, I walked towards the end of the backyard, following a trail of red that looked like tar in the darkness. My feet smeared some of Mike's blood by the icy grass leaving my footmarks next to the trail. I stopped shifting my legs and froze listening. It was all too quiet, but sensing presence pressuring on the emptiness around, I continued walking.

The path took me deeper into the woods. I've passed through the thickets and stopped behind the trees that were a beginning of a country road that stretched right behind. The wind brought me a metallic scent that overshadowed the smell of blood. I drew the air into my lungs and smiled. The collectors. And by the evident rejection of my body in their acceptance, I guessed that they were the collectors of Tyr.

My skin started burning, spreading the fire down to my toes. Let's play a game. I joined my hands behind my back and stepped from behind the trees onto the road.

By one side of the road in about twenty feet away stood an abandoned vehicle. The driver's door was left wide open, but the engine was cut off. On the other side was parked a van of gray color spacious enough to fit at least ten people. And it was too quiet. I could hear only my breathing slowly coming in and out of my mouth and a whoosh of the wind.

Suppressing the urge to move faster, I made a few steps reaching the middle of the road. Suddenly, the headlights of the van lit up, and about three men in tight black clothes stepped around me, appearing from different sides. I took a mental notice of them and continued inching towards the van.

"Freeze or we are going to shoot," one of them barked out. By the vibes that I sensed from that person, I figured that he was a fera-free human.

Without turning my head, I uttered, "go ahead," and carried on walking.

"Not you. Her," a voice boomed from behind the van. I finally crossed onto the other side and peered into the darkness. The men followed me keeping their distance, blending well in their black clothes with the night. It looked as if they weren't even here.

The figure emerged from the shadow and stepped closer to the lights of the van. I observed the collector, not seeing his face properly, but noticed him holding something in his arms. When my eyes were adjusted, I recognized an outline of a figure limply standing in front of a bulky mass of the collector. The collector's hand was covering half of the face of the person, but even without actually seeing who it was, I guessed that it was Charlotte.

"Get into the van," the collector told me.

"How about you let her go first, and then I will get into the van," I offered not really meaning to go with them anywhere.

"Get into the van, Stacy," he said slowly in a threatening manner.

"First, you let her go and then I will get into the van," I retorted with the same level of calmness.

"Don't make me kill her, Stacy."

"As I stated before. Let her go, and I will come with you," not...I added to myself.

"You're playing with fire. I'll kill her and still get you," the collector hissed.

I pursed my lips pretending to think it over, and then started to move closer to the collector. As I neared, a click of gun warned me to stand still. I stopped, but I knew that I reached the spot where I needed to be. A hiss from the collector indicated that I, indeed, reached the sweet spot. I peered into his face, and a flash of recognition ran through my memory. The gun...the chase...the running...the knife...my heartbeat...