Immortal Souls (The Immortal Souls: Magic & Chaos)

Book 2 - Chapter 6

Jamie's head shot up as he heard a rustling in the trees in front of him. Warily, he watched the space where he was sure the noise had come from for a few moments. But there were no more sounds or signs of movement. He took a cautious step forward, squinting his eyes to try see what lay beyond the trees.

"Sam?" he called out softly, taking another step. He wasn't sure what kind of mental state she would be in after what happened and he didn't want to risk scaring her off by being too loud. He held his hands up, palms facing outwards to show that he meant no harm. "It's me . . . " he said, as he took a third step. "Jamie . . . are you okay?"

Jamie's entire body froze as Lucy stepped out of the trees, a revolver pointed directly at his heart. "Stay right there," she ordered. She pulled a flare gun from her belt, stretching her arm above her head she aimed it high and shot it into the air, signalling her position the other Hunters.

Jamie slowly took one step forward. Trying very hard not to get shot. "Stop. Right. There," Lucy hissed, looking him directly in the eyes.

He looked at her for a moment, assessing her. She seemed nervous, on edge. Her hands shaking slightly. She wasn't a Hunter, he remembered, she was simply the bait. From the looks of her, she had probably never killed before. Jamie smiled to himself, then looked her in the eyes. "You don't want to kill me," he said.

Lucy simply glared at him. "Try me," she snarled through gritted teeth, putting on an attitude fiercer than she actually had.

Jamie stared her down. She didn't lower her weapon. He didn't want to have to do this, but he didn't feel as though there was any other option. With a sigh he took a step towards her. She quickly moved back. "Listen to me," he ordered, not breaking eye contact. "You are going to drop your weapon, contact your Hunter friends and send them somewhere else. And then you're going to leave, and forget that you ever met me."

Jamie assessed Lucy, who kept her weapon pointed at him; he looked at her in confusion. She smirked, and with the hand that wasn't holding the gun, she reached under her top and revealed a necklace with a black stone dangling from a silver chain. "Black obsidian," she stated. "Keeps you safe from psychic attacks, your Vampire mind tricks won't work on me."

Jamie sighed irritably. What now? he wondered. Sam was out there somewhere, wandering around in who knew what kind of mental state, and if these Hunters got their hands on her . . .

I can't let them hurt her.

Jamie gazed at Lucy and chewed his lip while he thought. But before he had a chance to come up with a plan, three men appeared, all sporting fierce looking blades and crossbows and larger guns than Lucy wielded. Without giving him time to come up with a way to escape, they ran at him. Jamie closed his eyes and turned around, moving forward with the intention of jumping off the cliff. A fall into the ocean, he could survive. An attack from Vampire Hunters with weapons made specifically to kill him . . . not so much survival.

Before Jamie made it to the edge, the Vampire Hunters screamed. He opened his eyes and peered over his shoulder just in time to see them flying backwards into the forest. He turned around fully when he saw Sam standing a few feet away with her back facing him, her body swaying slightly, as though she were in a dreamlike state. Jamie reached his hand out to touch her, but didn't. Worried she might lash out at him the way she had the Hunters.

Without turning to look at him, she moved towards the trees, where Jamie could hear the Hunters getting back to their feet. She moved through the low hanging branches, her movements light. She seemed to float as if she were an apparition, her feet barely touching the ground as she glided along. She stopped when she reached the Hunters, who gazed at her in confusion. "You're not a Vampire," Lucy said breathlessly, propping herself on her elbows.

Sam's hair floated in the breeze, the normally golden strands appearing white in the darkness, reflecting silver glints of moonlight as she shook her head.

The four Hunters looked at her, their eyes wide and their mouths open, almost as if they were in awe of her. "What are you?" one of the men asked.

"He's not allowed to die," she replied, pointing back at Jamie. Her voice sounded strange, lighter and almost melodic.

"We don't have time for this," Lucy said, as she scrambled to her feet. She scooped the gun up off the ground, pointed it at Jamie and fired. The bullet stopped before it hit him, floating in the air as if it were stuck in something unseen. It hovered for a countless number of seconds before it fell to the ground.

"I won't allow him to die," Sam said, moving closer to Lucy, who stumbled back as she approached. "Not again." Sam stopped in front of the woman, her face barely an inch away. She stood up straight, making herself taller than Lucy; the Hunter had to look up to keep eye contact. "You tell her that if she wants him dead she has to come through me."

"What are you talking about?" she asked in confusion. "Who?"

Sam watched Lucy, swaying slightly in her movements as if drunk. She raised her left arm up high, magically pulling the male Vampire Hunters to the air with her Powers. "You'll meet her when you return home alone."

With that, Sam flicked her wrist, snapping the male Hunters like dolls and letting their bodies fall to the ground. Lucy stifled a scream as she looked on in horror. "Who are you?"

"That's not any of your concern," Sam said. "You have one minute to run. If I can still sense you after, I will follow."

Lucy didn't argue or speak. She just looked at Jamie in shock, then at Sam, before she finally turned and ran as fast as she could. Jamie stepped forward, moving closer to Sam.

"Sam?" Jamie stepped forward carefully, not wanting to startle her. The way she was behaving made her seem almost psychologically fragile and he didn't want to cause her any upset. "Sam, it's me . . . I've come to take you home."

Sam turned around sharply and looked at him, her eyes wide and confused, as if she hadn't fully realised that he was there. Though she'd spoken about him as if he could hear and pointed to him as though she knew. Yet now, she gazed at him as if just seeing him for the first time.

She opened her mouth as though she were about to speak, but no sounds came out. Jamie watched her lips move as she mouthed something. Then her body swayed and she fell to the ground.