The Hunter hasn't moved since I've turned around. I'm not really sure what it's doing and I have no idea how to start fighting. I try to logically think about the best way to go about this but my pulse is racing so fast, I can barely think. I'm not a trained fighter; I don't know how these things work. Maybe I could do this peacefully, just ask it to leave. No one needs to die here today, especially not me.
I decide to try to talk to it first, "okay, what do you want with me. I won't hurt you unless you try something."
It does nothing, just stands there. Maybe Hunters can't talk; or move apparently.
I try again, "if you just leave now and never come back, I won't try to kill you."
This time it tilts its head to the side. A super creepy gesture; I might be making this worse. It starts to reach out one of its long thin charcoal black arms. It looks as if it was burned before and nothing is left other than blackened bone. I back away as far as I can but the window is right behind me. It proceeds to move forward. It doesn't walk but rather slithers, which makes it much more horrifying.
I just need to reach my arm up and stab this thing but my muscles and my brain don't seem to be communicating very well. I start to tremble as the Hunter gets closer. It's taking its time because it knows I am scared. This is like a game to it.
"I'm warning you, any closer and I'll stab you," I try to firmly say but it doesn't come out as I was hoping.
It didn't seem to work, any moment now and it will be able to grab me. I wish I could just do what I had planned and stab it. For some reason I can't and I don't know why.
"Chase? Something's wrong, I can't seem to control my body. I can't stab it!" I yell so that Chase can hear me through the phone.
He doesn't say anything back. Now I have no idea what to do.
"Chase? Are you there?" I yell again, but still no response.
The Hunter closes in on me and starts to reach for my abdomen. I'm not really sure what the intentions are but I don't want to find out.
"Chase!" I try again but still nothing.
I start to panic and then all of a sudden the panic is gone and is instead replaced with an immeasurable amount of pain. I can't scream or yell; something is keeping me from reacting. All I can do is stand there and watch as this thing kills me. The black smoke starts to surround me and I'm choking for air. I can feel my body being deprived of oxygen.
My knees start to buckle from the pain and darkness starts to take over. I have no idea what this thing is doing but it hurts like I have never experienced before.
"Charlotte! Try to fight it. It's suppressing your ability to fight but you can do it, just try!" Chase says from what sounds like the doorway.
I try to follow his words but it's so hard...
"Charlotte, you don't want to die like this, please!" I hear him pleading for me to fight but I can't.
I can feel the Hunter pierce me even further; I think it is taking its time on purpose.
"Charlotte, think of your family, they wouldn't want you to give up, they would want you to fight."
Chase is right, they would want me to fight but then again if I let the Hunter kill me, I'll be with them again. I would get to see my mom and dad and Wyatt and be a family again...
"Charlotte, don't give up...I think the Hunter killed your family and is trying to finish the job."
What? Could that be true? This thing is responsible for the death of my family. All the pain and suffering that I've been through the past few months is because of this thing? It killed my family and now it's going to try and kill me? I can't let that happen.
I try to fight off the darkness that's trying to surround me, I can't lose consciousness now; it would be all over then. I just think about my family, their faces and how full of life they were before it was ripped away from them. My parents died quick but my brother? He must have suffered; he died after the doctors couldn't save him. He was only eleven years old and this thing basically tortured him.
I start to regain control; the pain is still there but I was focusing elsewhere. I was focusing on my family and how they are no longer here because of this thing.
I had dropped the fireplace poker when I fell to my knees but I reach for it and tightly wrap my fingers around it.
I try to swallow my fear and focus on the anger that is boiling inside of me. It seems to work as I raised my hand up. I hope I have enough strength to stab it.
"You killed my family, now I'm going to kill you," I say to it. I'm not really sure if it can understand me but it makes me feel better saying that.
I start to stand up but decide I'll need to use all my remaining strength to kill it. I reach the fireplace poker forward and plunge it into where I assume the heart would be, if it even has one.
The Hunter seems surprised by that. It breaks its hold on me and falls backwards. I reach for the blood and water. As I grab it, the Hunter starts to rise again and it looks angry. The black fog is swirling faster and getting thicker. As it approaches me again, I stab it one more time and then immediately throw the blood and water on it. It lets out this horrible screech. I instantly react and cover my ears but then I remember what I need to do, I light a match and toss it on the Hunter. I watch as it erupts in flames.
I have to cover my nose and mouth because of the smell of the Hunter as it burns. The flames start to fizzle out and I can see that all that's left is a pile of ash. I can't believe it. My nightmare is finally over. I slowly get to my feet, whatever the Hunter was doing to me, really did a number on my body; it hurts everywhere.
"You did it," Chase says from by the front door.
He is sitting on his knees and smiling at me. I smile back and slowly walk over to him. My speed right now is not very efficient.
When I reach Chase, I sit down in front of him. Pain shoots through my body but I ignore it. "I couldn't have done it without you," I say to him and I truly mean it. If it weren't for him yelling at me, that thing would have succeeded in whatever it was doing.
"You would have succeeded without me, I had faith in you," Chase says.
My heart flutters at his words but something looks off about him.
"Are you okay?" I ask, hoping it's nothing.
He smiles, "Yeah, I'm fine. The Hunter knocked me out right before it got to you. It probably knew I was there waiting to aid you, but I'm fine, just a little sore and tired."
I'm not completely satisfied with his answer but I'll accept it for now.
"What was it doing to me?" I ask, a little afraid of what the answer might be.
"Well if I had to guess, I think it was trying to rip your soul from you. If it were to just kill you outright, there wouldn't be a guarantee that your soul would go to Hell so the only way is to take it from you, which would kill you but it would be a slow and painful death," he explains.
"That's a really creepy thing to think about," I say and wince thinking about my soul getting ripped from my body.
Chase nods in agreement and starts to stand up. He looks so weak when he's fully upright, I can't imagine just knocking him out would do that. I stand up as well and Chase grabs my arms to help me up. When I'm standing in front of him, he doesn't let his arms drop from me. We both just stand there, staring at each other.
"We should get going." He breaks the silence.
I nod. He starts turning away but I stop him. I don't know if I'm still hyped up on adrenaline or something but I grab his shirt and pull him into a kiss. I was afraid it would be one-sided but surprisingly it's not.
It wasn't a very passionate kiss, it was more of a 'we survived death together and I like you' sort of kiss. We break away and a smile creeps up on my face and I can see that it does the same to him.
I clear my throat, "you're right we should get going."
Chase doesn't move, instead he pulls me in close. He places one hand on the side of my face and the other around my back. He rubs my cheek for a moment and then pulls me into a kiss. This time there is passion, the kind of passion that arises when you've almost died. The kiss deepens and I find myself getting lost in it. I start to forget what happened here, the pain of what brought me to this day. In this moment, the loss of my family wasn't as large of a burden as it has been. Being this close with someone seems to help me heal. It scares me a little bit but then I just think about Chase and that fear is gone.
In this moment, I feel that I can actually survive, that I can deal with the death of my loved ones. I think it's what I feel for Chase that is saving me. Chase frightens me but in a way he also strengthens me.
A/N: Please let me know what you think with your comments. If you really enjoyed it, a vote would be very appreciated as well!