HUNTED

Chapter 7

“Thatcher, are you listening to me?”

            “Hm?”

            Liza shook her head. Since returning home, Thatcher had been quiet and distant, folded into himself. Several times since they’d arrived at the hospital she had caught him lost in space, a solemn expression pasted on his face. They had yet to really confront the topic. Liza bit her lip. The silence was killing her. She hated to pry, wanted to respect Thatcher’s privacy…but her curiosity was overpowering.

            “Do you remember what happened after you broke out of HQ?” She asked, a hesitant quake to her voice.

            Thatcher dragged a palm down his face and sank further into the plastic chair the waiting room provided. “No. It’s all a little foggy after the pain got real bad. I remember leaving—just bits and fragments, really—but after that”—he threw his hands in the air—“nothing until I woke up buck naked in the woods.”

            After finding Thatcher, Addison had called Liza, and she and Nate had ended their search and headed back to HQ where Thatcher was being monitored by medics. He was deemed safe, which annoyed Liza. Not because he was safe, but because he had to be deemed it to leave. Other than forced smiles and halfhearted quick responses, Thatcher hadn’t said much since.

Liza could see other changes in him too. Before they’d even gotten out of Thatcher’s silver Wrangler when arriving home, he'd commented on how it must have been Ben’s night to cook because it smelt like the house was burning. Sure enough, upon walking in the front door Liza’s nostrils were assaulted by charred food. Then there were obviously his eyes. The forest green eyes Liza had grown up with were gone, replaced by shining orbs that were almost neon in color.

            “Does it scare you?” she asked. She flattened her palms between her knee caps until the backs of her hands turned red.

            “A little bit, yeah. But at the same time, I feel like it’s been a part of me my entire life. It’s weird, I know but…” Thatcher’s voice tapered off. He studied the backs of his hands, tapping the tip of each finger against the tip of each nail.

            Silence settled. Lately, it had been happening more often. Addison, appearing from around the corner broke the silence as per usual. Her heels clicked along the tile floor. She wore a burgundy maxi-skirt that hung over ankle cut black booties and a black cropped top, revealing a strip of pale skin; although summer was long gone, it was the South and the temperature sometimes dared venture up to seventy, as it had that day. At the door she was glanced over by a Slayer guard stationed by the entrance; there were two more around the room, sent from downstairs to watch Liza. Apparently, vampires had found ways to get into HQ in the past and the Council wasn’t willing to take any chances, especially on days like today where the sun was hidden beneath multitudes of gray clouds and vampires were free to walk around at their own risk. Briefly Liza wondered if they treated all potential threats this way.

            Addison glared at the guard at the door. Nate trailed in behind her. They’d been downstairs at the Council meeting for the past few hours. Each carried two Styrofoam cups.