HUNT, OR BE HUNTED

CHAPTER 10: THE COFFIN

It had been almost five hours since I had last spoken to Raphael. He had just taken off after I had told him that Jacque was one of the hunters. From his expression, I could see that he had been very upset about not knowing it before.

I sat there at the edge of my bed, unsure of what to do. Should I look for him? Should I wait for him to come back? Or worse, did something unfortunate befall him? I ruffled my hair, began to pace up and down. My mind began to wander, and then the image of Kora's face appeared in my head.

There was a feeling deep in my gut that told me she was okay, that she didn't need my help, that she was safe. But I didn't trust my instincts. How could she be okay if she was in the house of a killer? She wasn't safe here. In fact, she wasn't going to be safe anywhere around me.

I studied my eyes in the mirror- I could have sworn they had turned yellow the night before. I still looked terrible-there were dark circles under my eyes, making me look like a zombie awoken from the dead.

A sudden sharp, burning pain at my backside made me yelp. It felt as if my skin was on fire, like I was being roasted alive. My hands flew to my back, slapping the invisible flames away. I gritted my teeth at the searing pain. What was happening?

I crouched there, hugging my knees to my chest, waiting for the seemingly endless pain to go away. And when it finally did, I stood up on wobbly legs, went to the mirror to see what damage had been done there. What I saw completely paralyzed me. I blinked my eyes rapidly-really, what was going on here?

There, imprinted luridly all over my back, was the panther.

I stumbled out the door, my breaths coming out in gasps. I was stunned to the core. I had to know what was going on. What was I? Was I inhuman? Were they hunting me down because I was something unearthly? Curiosity was eating into me. I just had to find out why.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized quickly when I bumped into her. Her?

"Jared?" she fixed her large eyes on me.

"Kora?" Her hair was down, giving her a less serious look. She was dressed decently, and did not look as if she had been locked up in a cell. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, Jared. This is my home."

What was she talking about? How could this possibly be her home? This was my killer's house, for God's sake. "What?"

"Jacque, he brought me here," she told me.

"You mean the man at the door? He was someone you knew before, someone who isn't your enemy?"

"Yes, he is a friend of mine. I'm sorry, Jared," she tried to move past me, but I blocked her way.

"You weren't actually missing for a bad reason," I said slowly.

"I was just returning home. I belong here," she avoided my eyes. "Let me through, Jared."

"Not until you tell me what is going on around here," I said firmly. "You told me there was a cure, that you would help me get away from them. And now you're here, telling me that my killer's house is your home. What the hell, Kora."

"There is no hope for you. You are a killer, and you deserve to die," she said coldly, and looked right at me. A sudden chill ran down my spine.

This wasn't the Kora I knew. The only thing that had kept me going all this while was her telling me that there was hope for me, that I could get away with her help. But now it seemed as if it didn't matter to her if I was alive or dead.

"What? You're kidding, right? You can't be saying that to me. We're supposed to be a team."

"I never was on your side, Jared," she laughed scornfully. "I thought there was hope for you, but forget it. You can't be saved."

"What do you mean you were never on my side?"

"What I mean is," she paused, let out a sigh. "I was stupid to help you, because I was helping my own enemy."

"I'm your enemy? What did I ever do to offend you?"

"It's not what you did. It's who you are."

"Huh?"

"Don't you see? I'm your enemy. Which means I want you dead too."

And that was when I understood. Kora wanted me dead. Which meant...

"Yes, Jared. I'm one of them. I'm a hunter."

###

Raphael moaned, blinked his tired eyes, struggling to focus. At first he thought he was blind. He couldn't see a thing, just total darkness. He blinked again, rapidly. Where was he?

He couldn't move at all-his arms and legs were strapped down. The musty smell of rotting wood wavered in the air around him. He was in some sort of wooden box. It fit him perfectly, leaving no space to even lift his head.

And all of a sudden he realized where he was. He caught sight of the rusty metal hinges-the box that confined him had a lid at the top. Oh God, he was in a coffin.

"Let me out!" he hollered, but no sound came out from his mouth. What was happening? "Somebody!"

He couldn't move, and he couldn't speak. The stab wound didn't hurt any longer. Was he even awake? Was he hallucinating? Did his brother really try to kill him?

And then he remembered. The scene of Seth stabbing him in the chest kept replaying in his mind. He remembered the look on his face, that menacing glint in his eyes. Jared was right. Seth did have the motive to kill him, because the hunted had to be wiped out.

Only that his plan had failed. Raphael hadn't died. But if he didn't get out of the coffin, he would suffocate and die for good this time. Which meant Seth had succeeded. Raphael couldn't let that happen. No one could attempt to murder him and get away with it.

Raphael closed his eyes, took in a deep breath. He hoped there was sufficient oxygen for him to survive. If only someone knew, if only someone could save him.

"Raphael!" his eyes snapped open at the sound of Jared's voice. "Raphael?" Jared tried again, his shoes scraping against the stone floor.

"Jared," Raphael groaned inaudibly. It was as if his vocal chords were damaged. He was wide awake, but his body didn't seem to be. If Jared left, all hope would be gone.

And just at that moment, the lid burst open, and light flooded into the opening, blinding Raphael temporarily. He shut his eyes, opened them again. A brown-haired, exhausted-looking teen peered down at him with a frown on his young face.

"The hell happened to you?"