His Hunted Huntress

1. Mind Control

Danielle Summer

I stood rooted to my spot as I watched him frantically try and stop the thick red gush of blood flowing out his chest. His eyes were wide as he looked at me with a bewildered look. I had shot him? I didn't even remember why.

I took a step towards him and he scrambled backwards like I was a monster. Something deep inside me turned icy at the look of fear in his eyes. How could I set off a man so stoic and truly intimidating like him? I looked down at my hands and momentarily spaced out as I watched them tremble with shivers and spasms I was not too sure about.

I looked around at the holy place I had now defiled with one single mistake. I didn't know why I didn't believe it was me. I wouldn't shoot a random stranger willingly. I looked up again in time to notice his breathing turn into shallow strangled moans. His skin seemed to change colour. Not in the most obvious way where it would turn pale but in a more weird colour I couldn't quite describe.

He clawed at his chest as if trying to remove the bullet by his attempts were feeble and his limbs were becoming slack. Almost as if his life force was draining. A raspy cough escaped his throat just as his eyelids momentarily closed, this managed to jolt my motor instincts to work.

I let the gun drop carelessly on the cold tiled floor as it emitted yet another bullet and a loud bang. This time thankfully all it did was lodge into a wooden bench. I immediately ignored the gun as I rushed to the guy's side.

His eyes remained closed so I did the only thing I thought of. I dug out the bullet with the tips of index finger and thumb. Not the best way to take put a bullet but effective. He wriggled in pain as he let out an animalistic roar that sounded a lot like a cross between a tiger and a lion. My heartbeat immediately escalated.

"Okay, look. I don't know if you can hear me but you gotta know I am sorry. I don't even know why I shot you." I said letting words tumble out of my mouth on their own volition. "I promise to make it right if you don't die. Please don't die. I can't go to hell. I can't kill someone in a church. Please."

He groaned as he moved slightly barely changing position.

"Okay hold on. I almost have it." I completed digging the bullet out and let it drop to the floor with a sharp clang.

His eyes finally closed as he drifted off. He looked peaceful and almost dead. The only sign he was still alive was the inaudible whimpers he let out here and there. I propped his back against my chest as I cradled him. I needed a plan. I couldn't carry him out of the church alone and I couldn't call an ambulance. Not after shooting him.

I cradled him even closer as I thought about how I ended up here. Scavenger hunt. Yes, I was one of those people.

Of course, someone thought a scavenger hunt in the Vatican would be an awesome idea. I mean its the Vatican city. Doesn't mystery just spontaneously form here? Everyone comes here for mystery and such, don't they? Here I was the linchpin of a mystery sitting in a pool of blood while holding a possibly dying man. That I shot, for some reason.

The Vatican city is a civilization of history religion and architectural beauty. Honestly, the place looked like a fairy tale backdrop for love and happy ever afters.  Until I was in the old creaky cathedral that was supposed to hold my next clue.

The moment I entered the building something had felt off. Shivers were running up and down my back like a million ants. It all felt surreal and a tad bit frightening. The item was supposed to be in the front of the hall,  close to the pew. But just as my luck would have it I had stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed the blood droplets that littered the aisle towards the same pew I was going to. And like the idiot I was I followed the droplets but what I saw stopped me in my tracks.

I had stood still breathing in and out. Everything was swirling really fast in my head. I had heard about them before but they didn't exist. They were a myth. It honestly couldn't be. Could it? Shaking my head momentarily, I tried to clear the image before me. It was my imagination. It had to be, right? There was no way I was seeing clearly. They were fairy
tales. Mythical creatures were not real. I knew better than to believe it and yet. There he was.

He looked...so human. Except for the wide span of impressive large glistening ink-black wings sprouting out of his shoulder blades. Eyes that seemed to glow a golden yellow and sweat glistening almost every inch of his body. He blinked twice before leaping towards me and throwing me against the wall.

I gulped as I felt the intense pressure of his right forearm on my throat. The look in his eyes was unforgiving unyielding and deadly. It looked like he was ready to tear out my organs with his bare hands. The whole room was silent except for the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the glass outside. His Adam's apple bobbed with every breath he took. His lips parted as if he was about to say something but he immediately shut up before uttering a single word.

I didn't notice it. I didn't notice it at all. I didn't notice until his eyes were looking at me with utter betrayal like I shouldn't have been defending myself. I hadn't even thought when I reached for the gun. It all just happened. And suddenly he was clutching his chest as blood gushed out while his breathing faltered. 

I didn't mean it. I didn't even remember making a conscious decision to shoot him. And yet here I was clutching a nearly catatonic body in mya hands. Everything supernatural about him had disappeared as I imagined it. Everything except the gunshot wound.