The Huntress

Chapter Nine

My heart was beating uncharacteristically fast and I grimaced. It felt like a humming bird inside, fluttering it's wings against my rib cage and breast bone.

Speaking of breasts, now that my past adrenaline was wearing off, they hurt like hell. I gently touched the left one and hissed in pain, quickly withdrawing my hand. Bad idea. Bad, bad, bad idea.

In an attempt to banish the pain in my breast, I quickly shook my head and reread the email. It was from my mom. It was a strange thought. I had always known she was alive, but I never dreamed of hearing from her. Or reading an email from her.

It felt strange and unreal and like I was dreaming. I longed to see her in person and to hug her and to then just cry and to let her take care of everything like she had done when I was younger. But then I remembered that she wouldn't remember me and that her mind was wiped.

I heard footsteps and voices from outside and I quickly scrambled to log out of the computer when He entered.

His eyes darted from me to the computer screen and he smirked.

"Having fun there, Miss Caster? I don't much think you are. You're crying..."

I quickly raised my hand to touch my cheek only to find that it was wet. When had that happened?

He grinned and ran a hand through his sleek, black hair. I watched his hand as he did so, the tight fabric of his shirt stretching to accommodate this movement.

"Enjoying the view?" He mocked, stretching in a seductive way.

I blushed slightly and then snorted, rolling my eyes.

"Is that what we've come to? You attempting to be seductive? That's rather cliche, don't you think?"

He snorted at this and shrugged, walking over to me and peering over my shoulder at the screen in front of me.

"What exactly were you planning on doing?" He asked after a brief pause.

I shrugged, tugging nervously at my hair. It was very knotted from sleeping on the ground.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Welcome to your new residence, Miss Caster. We appreciate the fact that you're staying with us," he said, moving away from me with slow deliberation achieved through extreme self confidence.

"Who said I was staying here?" I questioned, slowly standing up. My face was sticky with tears and my voice shook a bit.

"I did. It's a pleasure to have you. Don't worry. Your stay here won't be uncomfortable," he paused. "And before I forget, I'm adding a passcode lock to all of the computers." With that, he exited the room and Grumpy the Guard entered.

"Follow me, Miss Caster," he said before leaving. I sighed and then followed, looking back at the computer longingly. I had blown one of my chances...

To myself I muttered, "two more strikes and I'm out..."