Rachel's eyes fluttered open and a white wall came into view. A tall, narrow window let in the feeble light of morning. She'd expected to be in some sort of eerie, underground dungeon. She tried to lift her head and observe her surroundings, but her body felt as though someone had replaced her insides with lead.
She groaned. Feet shuffled toward her and the world dissolved into nothingness again. And so it continued for what seemed like forever. She would open her eyes, catch a glimpse of light, and be put under again. Every time she woke up, the sunlight was different, turning from shades of light yellow to ruby red as the day progressed into night.
At one point, she didn't open her eyes, didn't move, just waited. She didn't fall unconscious and silence surrounded her. Her body felt normal, but her senses were still numb. She mentally checked her wounds, but nothing throbbed or ached anymore.
Something creaked and footsteps tapped into the room .
"Is she up?" an unfamiliar male voice asked.
"No. And it was about damn time she stayed under." A second male voice, also unfamiliar. "Honestly, every hour? That thing was supposed to keep her under for a whole day. I've heard the other one's even worse. They have to sedate him every twenty minutes."
"They shouldn't be sedated in the first place." The first man sighed. "We don't know what big doses of those tranquilizers can do."
The second man huffed. "Who the hell cares? If it didn't take the Council so long to clean up the mess they made, they'd be dead by now."
"As her doctor, I say don't give her any more drugs."
"Angus is her doctor, and he doesn't give a shit about her health."
"Angus has no clue what he is doing. She could change everything. And we need them sane for the trial, either way."
"Yeah, Doc. Suuure."
Rachel's stomach clenched. Not another trial. The last one wasn't to their advantage, and they'd been nowhere near as guilty as they were now. She wondered where Vlad was. Bringing him down must count for something in their defense.
As the door slammed, Rachel did her best not to flinch. She and Daniel were obviously being kept under until the High Council returned. But where were they? And how big was the mess they'd made?
She shut her eyes tighter and concentrated on Daniel. She couldn't pick up on his aura. Damn this numbness! Daniel? Daniel? Danny, can you hear me?
Ack! Rach, don't scream. I have a monster headache.
She almost cried aloud with joy. Heavy footsteps approached the bed and someone poked her in the ribs. She tried her best to keep her body limp. Thank God she wasn't ticklish.
What's going on? she asked as soon as the man walked away.
Screw that! Did they hurt you? How's your stomach?
Rachel took a second to register the tone of his voice. He didn't usually freak out over anything. Not that he was freaking out now, but he did sound worried. I'm fine. Where are you?
I have no idea . In some room filled with Hunters. I think there's about four or five of them. Still too numb to tell.
All the concern in his voice was gone. Why did he sound amused? This was no laughing matter.
Actually, it is. I've been pretending to be knocked out for the past twenty minutes. I'm charging up nicely. As soon as I get my energy back, I'm making these assholes bounce around the room.
Rachel almost shook her head, but halted at the last moment. What did the doctor say about you?
The doctor is cool. He might help us in the trial. He's the guy I talked to on the phone. The one who voted for our pardon the first time.
Yeah, he might have changed his mind after we forced the Hunters into a full out war with the vampires. Even with her eyes closed, she frowned. And not because of what Daniel said. She could sense something approaching. Something that wasn't a vampire, but made her stomach turn over the same way. Can you feel that?
That would be our beloved leader, Angus. See you soon. The shit's really gonna hit the fan now.
Daniel! Don't leave me alone! It was no use. He didn't answer.
Muffled voices came through the wall as the people next door argued. It seemed Daniel wasn't far away.
"I don't care! I want them there in five minutes!" Angus roared, then a door slammed.
Her guard stomped to her, grasped her shoulder and shook her. "Get up, bitch. Time for your trial."
Rachel fluttered her eyelids, to fake coming out of a deep sleep. She half-expected her vision to be impaired, but the sedative in the darts affected her less now. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. White walls, a hospital bed and medical equipment surrounded her. Bitterness settled on her tongue. At least her senses were back properly.
The guard grabbed her elbow and pulled her off the bed. "Get up. Angus gave the order to—"
The redheaded man who had stood on Gabriel's right during their first trial hurtled into the room. "Angus ordered you to escort Daniel. I'll take care of her."
The guard squinted at the man, but whipped around and stalked out .
The redhead pushed the door closed with his heel. "Sit down."
Rachel clenched her fists and bent her knees, ready to strike.
The man's features softened. "I want to help you."
She lowered her fists, but didn't relax. She recognized his voice as belonging to the doctor who came by to check on her earlier. "Why?"
The man heaved a sigh. "Please sit down. I can only stall for so long."
After surveying him for another few seconds, she sat back on the bed. He immediately rushed to her, took out a stethoscope and stuck it to her stomach.
"Lie down, please." He nudged her shoulder gently, and she complied.
"What are you doing? Where's Vlad?"
"Vlad is in custody. But that doesn't matter now." The doctor put away the stethoscope and pulled the ultrasound machine closer. "There's something much more important I want to discuss with you."
More than probably getting a whole bunch of Hunters killed? "Shoot."
"I want you to be careful at the trial." The man moved the probe on her stomach, his eyes fixed on the monitor. "Whatever happens, keep your head down."
"Am I pregnant?" Rachel sat up, trying to look on the screen of the ultrasound.
"You suspect you are?" The doctor squinted at the screen. "I don't think so."
"It would be too early to tell, anyway." She shrugged and laid back down. A heavy weight plunged in her stomach, but she did her best to ignore it.
"Would Daniel be the father, or some human?"
"Daniel." Something tugged at her heart. She half-hoped the doctor would confirm her suspicions. "I've been having mood swings, cravings nausea." Her tone was almost hopeful.
The doctor smiled and pushed the ultrasound away. "You would like a child, wouldn't you?"
She pondered on this for a moment. Daniel had seemed more excited than her about this, but now that she stopped to think about it, she wanted a child too. His child. "Yes, I would."
"Then you should be very careful. It's been centuries since a Hunter was born. You and Daniel are our hope for a new beginning. We must go now."
Rachel hopped off the bed and he led her out of the room, his hand on the small of her back. Their footsteps echoed in the deserted hallway.
"Why has it been such a long time since a Hunter was born?" Rachel asked.
"You're the first Hunter female able to reproduce in the last three centuries. And a Hunter-human relationship only has a small chance to produce a Hunter. Not even you and Daniel are certain to have a Hunter." They reached a set of intricate wooden doors, much like the ones that had led into their first trial room. The doctor grasped her shoulders. "But you're the best hope we have. If you two pull this off, everything will change. Our numbers could go up again. So, please, don't do anything reckless." He opened the doors and shoved her inside.
The room beyond the doors was high and large. A dome skylight allowed entrance to the last rays of the setting sun. The floors were hardwood, as well as the paneling covering the walls. The painting behind the judge's bench was forest scenery. Daniel was already in the room as well as the other judges. One seat, the one which originally belonged to Angus, was empty. He sat in the centre, in Gabriel's former position.
The wooden benches before the bar were filled with bandaged Hunters, most of them hissing and bearing their teeth. Rachel passed them, her head down, trying not to feel too guilty about their condition. She and Daniel had incapacitated Vlad. The other Hunters should be kissing their toes.
"Finally," Angus boomed, slamming the gavel on the wooden desk.
Rachel flinched, snapping out of her thoughts.
Daniel turned to her and grinned. Hey, Rach.
She felt like slapping him. How could he be so calm? Those Hunters looked ready to grab their torches and pitch forks and tear them apart.
The doctor made his way around her and sat on Angus's right, his face lined with concentration. Rachel stared at the rest of the Council members more carefully. They didn't all look like marble statues anymore. Their feelings of distrust and loathing reflected off their lined faces. Maybe her increased sensibility allowed her to see their true nature.
"The High Council gathers to pass sentence on these traitors." Angus waved the gavel around as though about to toss it at them. "Their crimes are numerous. The gravest: wiping out the remainder of the Hunter community—"
"Take it easy, Angus. We didn't wipe out the Hunters." Daniel raised his hands. "Let us explain."
"I will not have this insubordination!" Angus yelled, spit flying from his mouth and onto the surface of the desk. His eyes bulged, an odd light creeping into them, lending him an unhinged edge which made Rachel want to strap him into a straight-jacket and ship him off to the nearest psychiatric hospital.
Daniel stepped back as though trying to avoid the flying saliva. Say it, don't spray it, dude.
"You two have gravely endangered our way of life!"
"We brought Vlad down." Daniel stepped forward again. "For the first time in centuries, the Hunters actually got off their butts and kicked some vampire ass. Even if there were losses, you won."
"Won?" The man on Angus's far right got to his feet. His white hair glinted in the torchlight. "There's a handful of us left! How are we supposed to keep the vampires at bay now?"
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "You mean you were keeping them at bay before?"
Cries of rage echoed across the room as most of the Hunters screamed for their deaths. The doctor shook his head, his eyes heavy with pain.
Daniel, knock it off, Rachel thought. You're making things worse.
"No. Let's get this out into the open for once. They haven't been doing anything after they lost that last goddamn war." Daniel turned his back on the Council and faced the rest of the room. "What kind of life did you lead? Where was your sense of purpose? Killing a few vampires a year when they actually multiply a hundred times faster?"
"That's enough!" Angus bellowed, slamming the gavel on the wood. "You're sentenced to death, the sentence to be carried out immediately. Her too. She's been your accomplice all along." He looked down at Rachel with disgust. "She doesn't even feel like a Hunter."
Rachel's barrier of self control crumbled. How dare he? She'd had it with being treated like an inferior life form. "That's because I'm a Shade, you idiot," she yelled.
The cries in the room came to an abrupt silence . Angus stared at her with wide eyes, while the Council members muttered to each other. The Hunters behind her whispered as well.
"You lie," Angus finally said. "There are no such things—"
"Angus, you've got to be joking." The doctor got to his feet. "You can't pretend to have forgotten the Mighty Three."
Rachel cocked her head. The mighty what? She glanced at Daniel, but he looked as confused as her. This obviously didn't fall into his 'know, don't use' category.
"Rubbish. There haven't been any Hunters who possess such powers in centuries." Angus pulled at his collar. "The Mighty Three are gone."
"Are we?" A new voice, a woman's, filled the room.
Rachel's eyes swept across the crowd, searching for the speaker, but the place was filled with males. All the Council members gazed over their shoulders.
A sound like a knock on old floorboards broke the sudden hush. A white haired head appeared behind Angus. Short and slightly hunched, wrinkles cobwebbed across her face, the woman limped toward the empty seat. She sat on Angus's left and stared down at Rachel over joined, knotty hands, her light blue eyes full of life. The color reminded Rachel of Cheryl's eyes.
"The Elder," someone whispered.
All the Hunters in the room stood, bowed their heads and retook their seats. Rachel searched her memory, trying to remember when she'd heard about an elder.
"Well, well. What have we here?" Her voice seemed to be that of a much younger person.
"Now, see here, Roz," Angus started in a pompous manner.
The woman raised her hand and silenced Angus. "Do not dare address me. You're lucky I'm letting you keep that chair. What's this nonsense? Since when is a trial held without a member?"
Angus turned beet red. "We-we didn't want to disturb you."
"Disturb me? Oh, you should have disturbed me. Especially since you obviously long to take Gabriel's place as Head Hunter." The woman looked up and down the bench. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves. You only follow protocol when it suits you."
Who was this woman and where did she come from? There was no feeling to indicate that she was vampire or Hunter or anything else Rachel had ever run into before. But she didn't feel human either. And she seemed to have a control over all the Hunters in the room. They stared at her as if she was the queen. Maybe she was. Only Daniel gaped at her as if she were a hula-dancing crocodile, juggling cocktails. Well, so much for asking him if he had any idea who she was.
The members of the High Council all seemed to develop a sudden fascination with their laps, reminding Rachel of kindergartners caught misbehaving. The woman seemed unaware.
"Since when is a Head Hunter appointed without me investing him? And since when do we change our leaders so fast? We haven't even cleared the cause of Gabriel's death. You didn't even tell me he died."
Angus pointed at Rachel and Daniel. "I assure you they had something to do with it."
The woman turned her bright blue gaze on them, and her eyes stopped on Daniel. The corners of her mouth twitched to form a smile. "Well, hello, Max. I should've known you'd be up to your neck in this."
Rachel's eyes widened. What was this woman rambling on about?
The old lady is gaga, Daniel thought, shaking his head. "I'm not Max. I'm Daniel Paxton."
Roz raised her eyebrows as though there wasn't much difference. "So, you're Max's boy."
Daniel frowned. "I guess so."
The woman narrowed her eyes and gazed around the room. Everyone stood quiet, waiting for her to say something. Rachel had the feeling she enjoyed this chess game.
"You don't know. None of you know!" she yelled triumphantly, making Rachel jump. "Max did such a good job. He was the smartest of us all. How did you do it? How did you kill the vampire leader?"
"Um, we didn't kill him." Daniel looked at Rachel nervously and took a step closer to her.
She mirrored his move, the need to touch him overpowering. Even if this woman had practically emasculated the rest of the Council, that didn't mean she wouldn't sentence them to death as well.
"Then what happened to him?"
"They have him in custody." Rachel nodded toward Angus.
Roz turned to Angus and smacked him with a walking stick she pulled out from under the desk. "Well, don't just stand there, you incompetent wuss. Get him in here. If you want a trial, make it a good one."
Angus groaned in disagreement, but gave out the order. Two Hunters rushed out the door through which Roz had entered.
Rachel shuffled closer to Daniel and took his hand. Her whole body warmed up, and she felt much better. She had no idea what the crazy woman was up to, but as long as he was by her side, Rachel would take anything with her head held high.
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And it just got even more complicated. But at least you are getting your answers.
Thanks for reading another chapter of Hunters. Hope you had fun! Leave a comment or vote in case you enjoyed it. And thank you for your support!