ALPHA: Heir Of The Four

Chapter Thirty-Three

I look up at her, and, just like mine, her body is engulfed by flames. Hand in hand, together, we burn.

And I do nothing but marvel at the sight of our burning bodies.

'Wake. . .'

Ashes pour around us like rain falling from the sky. I close my eyes, breathe in the smoke, and every inhale seems to satiate a deep and monstrous hunger inside of me.

'Wake. . .'

Not one blade of grass, not a single leaf nor petal of a flower is spared from the burning wrath of the flames, and amongst all of the destruction, I can't help but find the beauty within the fiery chaos.

I can't help but wonder what it might feel like to watch the world burn.

I imagine it would be a wonderful sight to behold.

'Wake. . .'

That time, I say it with her.

* * *

     I don't know how I had gotten here. I mean, there were many things I had done in life, many choices made, many life lessons ignored, many paths I had taken that could have led me to this moment. But was there one specific thing that had been responsible? If there was one specific thing I had done differently—a different choice made, an alternate path taken—would my fate have changed, or would I still have been led to this exact moment?

     The rain was coming down hard. My clothes were soaked and a shiver ran throughout my entire body. But nothing was as cold as the icy stare coming from Emily as she held my bow in her hand, drawn and pointed in my direction. Pointed at me.

     We were no longer in the shooting range, but somewhere else in the forest where the tall trees were more huddled together and the moonlight could not easily penetrate through. The throbbing at the back of my head I assumed knocked me out long enough for Emily to move me.

     I had seen enough horror movies, read enough dark, thrilling mysteries to know what was going to happen, yet my mind just could not process why I was in this predicament with a girl—a hunter—who was meant to protect me.

     A girl who my best friend and her family trusted.

     A girl who always had a smile on her face.

     A girl whose job was to protect humans.

     "What is this, Emily? What are you doing?"

     "Only what I was born to do. I hope you can understand, Ava-Rain."

     "Understand? How the hell am I suppose to understand why you're pointing a bow and arrow at me? What's going on?"

     "There isn't much time before Kasey comes looking for you," she ignored my question. "But, it'll be enough."

     "Enough time for what?"

     "To kill you."

     Were it not for the serious expression on her face, I might have laughed because there was no way that this was anything other than a joke—a sick and twisted joke to get back at me for not being the nicest or most friendly. Had her words not been laced with so much certainty and her tone with an intense conviction, I would have told her that whatever game she was playing at was over and made my way back to the cottage. But as she kept her cold blue eyes trained on me, I knew that this wasn't a joke nor was it a game. And just like that—even though it didn't make any damned sense—I knew that she was somehow connected to all of the threats.