“Here, if this is of any use to you,” Kora dumped the body on the carpeted floor. “Don’t worry, he’s dead.”
Jacque crouched down, grabbed the dead man’s face, turning it so that he was facing upwards. “He looks about my age, or older,” he said, his eyes moving over to the gunshot wounds. “God, you did all this damage?”
“Yeah, I shot him ten times, remember?” Kora put her hands on her hips. “Is this man of any use to you?”
“Hell yeah he is,” Jacque said, standing up. “You said you saw him feeding on someone, right? Humans don’t do that, Kora. Which means this man is either insane, or he’s a beast like them.”
“I just hope the police won’t be looking for him,” Kora sighed. “There’s some evidence back there-his blood.”
“God,” Jacque bit his bottom lip, then sighed. “Doesn’t matter. Nobody would suspect us.”
“Except that the girl and her mother saw me. The girl watched me shoot a man dead in front of her eyes, Jacque.”
“Don’t worry too much about it, Kora,” he ran a hand down her arm. “I’ll stash him in the back, in case Seth needs to take a good look at him. For now, he’s of no use to us.”
“So you’re just going to dump a dead body at the back of the house. Won’t it…It will rot sooner or later, right?” she crinkled up her nose.
“I’ll take care of that, Kora. Don’t you worry,” he smiled, and bent down. With one hand, he hauled the body over his shoulder, and vanished down the flight of stairs leading to the back of the house.
Kora sighed as she studied herself in the mirror. People always told her that she looked a lot older than her actual age, especially when she had dyed her hair a dark brown colour. She somehow didn’t like her natural sandy-brown hair, because it only reminded her of him, of how he had said he loved the colour of her hair.
No, she couldn’t think about him now. This was not the right time. How could she still have feelings for someone who had forgotten about her, someone who had left her? No, she was stupid to ever think that falling for him was the right decision.
“Kora,” Jacque came in through the door. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Kora said, turning away from her reflection. “What are you doing here?”
Jacque stepped towards her, and took both her hands in his. “It’s just that…I’ve been focusing so much on dealing with those people that I haven’t had time for you. I’m sorry I haven’t been spending time with you, Kora. It’s just…”
“It’s okay,” Kora pulled away from his grasp. “You have more important things to do, I understand.”
“No,” Jacque took her arm, ran his hand lightly over her skin. She tensed up when he pulled her to him, so close that their faces were merely inches away from each other. “You’re more important to me than anything else,” he whispered, the warmth of his breath making her shudder.
Kora didn’t know how to react. She did like Jacque, she really did. But why did she feel so uncomfortable with him? He was so good-looking, and he cared so much for her. There was really nothing imperfect about him.
“Kora, I love you,” he said honestly, his beautiful blue eyes gleaming under his impossibly long lashes. Kora studied him silently, her heart beginning to skip a beat. “I…I don’t expect you to say that you love me back, because I don’t deserve it. I mean, I don’t even deserve you.”
He was still holding her in his arms, his eyes fixed on hers, as if expecting her to say something. But she didn’t say a word. Why couldn’t she feel the same way? What was holding her back?
“Kora,” he ran a finger slowly across her cheek. “You’re so beautiful,” he drawled, pulling her closer.
Jacque began to bend down towards her. His eyes were closed, and Kora could smell his cologne wavering around her. God, this man was perfect. His lips grazed hers, and she flinched. Just go with the flow, she told herself.
She closed her eyes. Forget about him, focus on Jacque. Jacque is the one who loves you now, not him. Forget, forget, just let him out of your head, and let Jacque in.
“No,” Kora pulled back quickly. “I’m sorry,” she didn’t want to look Jacque in the eye. How could she do this to him? Why couldn’t she just let him kiss her? Wasn’t that what she always wanted?
As she ran into the bathroom, she knew. She knew she could never let go. She knew she could never forget her first love. She couldn’t fall for Jacque because she was still in love with someone else.
Someone who had totally forgot about her, someone who had erased her completely from his mind.
###
A hundred and five is the number that comes to my head
When I think of all the years I wanna be with you…
I ran a finger down the side of her face-she was just so beautiful. I turned up the volume, and leant down towards her. She giggled, her eyes shining brightly up at me.
“Will you marry me?” I sang along, and she prodded me lightly in the stomach. “I swear that I will mean it…”
“You’re so funny, Jared,” she laughed, running her hands through my hair.
“I’m serious,” I said, kissing her softly. “You’re the love of my life.”
She looked at me for a moment, reading my eyes, as if they would give her a clue to if I was telling the truth. “Really?” she bit her lip, her eyes turning watery.
“Don’t cry, baby,” I wiped away a tear with my thumb. “I love you, okay? And of course you’re the love of my life. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I will never love anyone else as much as I love you.”
“I love you too,” she gave me an angelic smile that totally blew me away. I could feel my cheeks flushing.
“I promise, nothing will get in between us, okay? Nothing will break us apart,” I said, and wrapped her in a warm embrace. “I will never, ever leave you.”
She hugged me tighter, and I could feel her tears wetting my shirt. When she cried like this, I knew she was either thankful for what she had, or she was heartbroken. I buried my face in her hair-I didn’t ever want to let go of her. Ever.
Was it possible to love someone so much that you would actually do anything just to make her happy? Was it possible to love someone so much, you couldn’t stop thinking about her?
With her, I was happy. With her, I had everything I had ever wanted.
“Jared?” she whispered into my left ear, her hand playing with my messy hair.
“Hmm?”
“I truly love you,” she said, and I could feel her lips move into a smile.
I smiled too, watching her beautiful sandy-brown hair slide in between my fingers as I ran my hand through it. “I truly love you too, Kora.”
YOU ARE READING
HUNT, OR BE HUNTED
Mystery / ThrillerHe was always blacking out, always confused, losing control of his actions. And when he did, he would have no memory of it. What he didn't know was that there was a monster inside him, a monster that he couldn't control. Once it took over, not a sin...
