Picture to the right is Peter and Amelia!! The scene is from Heroes the tv show with Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia. I do not own that picture.
Runner
It had been a year and 3 months since my exile.
Approximately, 2 months after I had left the pack territory, I had found another home. It was late fall, transitioning into winter. I was cold and I was homeless. I had no one. I belonged nowhere. No one wanted me; I was a runt to society. I had no files, no records, no IDs for job applications. The pack never kept such paraphernalia. Pitiful little me, was plodding across New York when I found a home in The Resistance.
Peter and Amelia Shay, Sammi, Angela Castillo and Elle Travis made up The Resistance. They found me in their path as I was crossing into New Jersey.
The group had decided to accept me into their group when I exhibited my measly fighting skills when Angela attacked me. They had told me I was good, but needed proper training. I was hesitant at first, but despite my wariness of strangers, I accepted.
The Resistance is made out of 5 members (now 6), all different types of Beings.
The leader, Peter Shay is a werewolf, like me. So are Amelia and Elle Travis. Angela Castillo and Sammi are the vampires of the group. And no, there are no werewolf/vampire rivals within our little clan. Those were myths made up by imbecile humans.
The Resistance is a group that travels the world, pursuing major Hunter cults; the organizations that track down werewolf packs and vampire clans and assassinate us, due to their benevolent claim. We save the lives of innocent Beings. Each member of The Resistance had their own story to tell. Their own reason to hate the Hunters with a passion.
Peter's entire pack was killed by Hunters, all except Amelia who was a mere infant at the time. Francesca, Peter's older sister hid tiny little Amelia within a bread basket as the Hunters came and slaughtered their pack. Nine year old Peter hid inside a cupboard as his family was assassinated. It was after the massacre, he heard his niece Amelia's hungry wail. They have been inseparable ever since.
Angela Castillo had lived in Texas, four years ago. Yes, that may seem a little odd. A vampire living in Texas. But she was old, and had been trained to resist the burn of the sun. One day, Hunters invaded her clan and managed to kill her mother and father in the middle of a feed. Angela had been with them, nearly killed as well, except the wooden shuriken barely missed her heart. She survived. Her vampire genes allowed her to heal from the wound, but her parents were too badly hurt, the shuriken too accurate. They were dead.
Sammi had a complicated story. She had become infatuated with a man she met a few years prior. They kept seeing each other after that eventually fell in love. Deep love. To the point of marriage. Before the wedding, Sammi had felt the need to tell her fiancé the truth about her. She told him she was a vampire. The man was astounded, but he believed her. The wedding was deferred, so that the groom could get used to the idea that he was living a twisted, backwards Twilight life. Or so Sammi thought. A few nights after, the man walked into the apartment they both shared, with a smile on his face. She greeted him with open arms. They hugged a sweet, loving hug. A reconcile embrace. Then he stabbed her in the back. Quite literally. A wooden stake, cut right through her spinal cord and passed her chest, sticking out the front. This wound was violent enough for Sammi to black out from the splinters of wood in her system.
The man was actually a Hunter, although neither knew of each other's true identities. Both were heartbroken, as their love could never be. The Hunter dragged Sammi's unconscious body to a nearby forest. Assuming she was dead, he dug a ditch and threw her six feet under. She wasn't dead.
Sammi woke a while later, she never found out the exact time she had been unconscious. But when she awoke under all that dirt, you can just imagine the horridness of it all. Sammi refused to go into detail, but to be short. She was buried alive.
When she had told me her story, I felt a heavy twinge of sadness for the vampire. She did not deserve such torture. I could not find out how she got out alive and successively she denied my questioning, which only left me to assume the worst.
Sammi never did find her ex-lover, as much as she tried. Every Hunter cult we invaded, we all were anxious to discover the Hunter that hurt our friend so sadistically. But our prayers have not been answered yet, much to our contempt. However, none of us really knew what we would do if we ever encountered him. Make him suffer for our sister's pain? Convince him to overcome his Hunter nature to be with Sammi again? We did not know. All we knew was that Sammi was never the same after meeting him.
Elle Travis had quite the tragic story as well. She's a werewolf whose mate was killed by Hunters. Her pack was attacked, and her mate, Devon was on the front lines. He was a Beta. He and the other top fighters of the pack took on the first wave of Hunters, killed them all, even the alpha. The pack scattered as the Hunters slaughtered them and took over their territory. The ones that were not murdered fled, and the ones that died rotted. Elle was one of the lucky ones. But she still missed her mate every moment of every day. Every hour and every minute. They were a fully bonded couple, basically meaning that Elle nearly died without Devon. I do not know what sweet, caring and loving Elle could have done to deserve such pain. My heart ached for Elle. The pain of my mate rejecting me was definitely nothing compared to having him die. I can tell that behind the smile and the joyous attitude the blonde werewolf displayed was a sham. Her heart was broken, and even now, she's still gluing it back together.
As for me, well I can proudly say that I was not that scared, defenseless she-wolf that was kicked out of her pack. I wasn't the girl that ran away from her mate when he rejected her. I was not the girl who ran away from her best friend's dead body.
I was Lori Langley, the female alpha of the group. I fought alongside The Resistance, using my newfound skills to tear the throats out of Hunters. The feeling of seeing their dead bodies pile up at our hands was a rather piquant and invigorating sensation that left tingles down my spine. I was avenging my past, the pain they caused me and Aliana. The pain it caused Anthony.
I had also changed my features to suit my new personality. I had straightened my wispy caramel hair and dyed it a darker shade of brown. The strands of hair framed my face like a veil, shielded me from unwanted gazes. My eyes were lined with heavy black smoky makeup that made my piercing icy blue eyes stand out. I had a lot more muscle, but I was fairly still gaunt and skeletal. I used my petite frame to my advantage however; my enemies underestimated me.
The Resistance was a small clan, but we were powerful. We have taken down numerous Hunters, and saved many Beings. Killing is a passion of ours. Well, killing of Hunters. We are nothing if not defending Beings from the tyranny anti-werewolf or anti-vampire clans were trying to bring down on us. However, it is The Resistance's policy is to never kill an innocent. We defend them by destroying strictly Hunters. I've a lot of blood on my sleeve; it's stained my skin red. There is no use blotting at it, it only makes turns worse. Over the months, I've learned to deal with the horror and the guilt of taking lives. Now I barely feel a thing when I rip out a heart. Except pleasure.
That brings me to the present, December 23, 2012.
Snow dotted the ground, and trees hung like black bones in the white sky. The sun blurred through dense clouds, us barely feeling heat. Cold.
I followed the blood trail quietly, my werewolf senses on high alert. I was in human form, but I was still able to see, smell and hear accurately.
I treaded quietly in the snow, my feet barely making indents in the ice. My knife hung loosely by my side, its blade already stained. I had missed that time, but I promised that this next strike would hit its mark.
I silently evaded the crunching brush, weaving my way through the forest. I could scent his blood. I could scent his fear. He emanated it like skunk.
Suddenly, the blood trail ended, and I crouched behind a tree. He was near, I could feel it.
Crunch
My ears perked as I spun quickly on my heels, seizing the knife out of its sheath. The wounded Hunter sloppily swung a blade at my neck, missing by a careless 7 inches. I dodged the blow and swiped at his knees with my thin legs. He groaned and crumpled to the ground in a heap. He clutched his side where I had previously struck him with my knife, his life oozing out in quarts.
I took a good look at him; I always tried to remember my victims' faces. The Hunter had pale blonde hair, with slight stubble on his chin. His black hood had fallen off and his black jumpsuit was stained red with blood. His eyes were squeezed shut as he anticipated further torture.
I sighed and crouched next to him, dismissing the fact that I was now in a vulnerable position. The Hunter opened his eyes, to reveal a defiant dark brown. A smile creeping at the corner of my lips, I politely asked his name.
He hesitated, as if he did not know what to make of me then answered. "Collin." I nodded and brushed my dark hair out of my face.
"I have to do this, Collin. But your people tried to hurt my own. I am not sorry." I pouted my lips in mock sadness. He snarled and spat profanities in my direction. I ignored it and pulled out my blade. "I will give you a merciful death. A quick end. I cannot deliver your body to your people, they will just have to find you," I murmured.
"Fuck you," he hissed through the pain. His eyes squeezed shut as ice and dirt seeped into his wound.
"Last words?" I offered. His dark eyes clouded for a moment before shaking his head no with defeat. With a nod, I quickly stabbed him in the heart. Blood spurted from the wound, splashing the snow around him, as well as my new skinny jeans. Fantastic.
"Damn it," I cursed as I felt the warmness of the blood seep into my shins. "Thanks for that Collin," I huffed as I withdrew my blade. His eyes clouded over, and the Hunter was dead. Wiping my blade on the snow, I stood up and headed south, to the campsite. I left Collin's body there, lying on the ground. This was Hunter territory, they were bound to find him before a regular human did.
Entering camp, I whistled to signal that it was I, and not an enemy. Amelia, who was on guard nodded as she spotted me, emerging from the woods. We all had our own signature whistle, unique to our voice and impossible to mimic. We were all used to each other's whistles. It was a good defense mechanism.
"Where is everyone else?" I called to Amelia who had settled on a large tree branch, overlooking the camp. She shrugged and gestured to the RV we traveled with.
"Angela's inside freshening up. She just came back. Elle's still out getting food. Don't know about Peter or Sammi," I nodded quickly and headed inside to change my pants. I didn't worry about Peter or Sammi. They were both very capable. Our goal each week was to make at least one kill for the entire group, then reconvene. It was a good tactic, and it helped things work efficiently. We were strong and badass enough to manage it. I had made my kill today, the first in about a week for me. Peter had made one 4 days ago.
As I slid into leather pants, I heard two whistles sound outside the RV. Sammi and Peter's signals. I stepped out of the RV to find Amelia greeting the two incomers. I observed the pair, and came to conclusion that they were unsuccessful in making a kill. Their blades were still their immaculate silver, and their clothes clean.
"No luck?" I smirked. Peter shot me a disapproving look as he frowned, "No." I twirled my knife around, flashing my grin.
"One for me then," Sammi looked at me appreciatively while Peter continued to frown.
"They're getting scarcer. They obviously know we're here." I stopped playing with my knife and stuffed it back into its sheath.
"It's quite obvious Peter. Of course they know we're here. They're not complete idiots. After that one you killed last week-, " I was cut off by the wolfish growl that emanated from the alpha.
"Enough, Langley, and I mean it!" Peter hissed as he gripped his sword tightly. I raised an eyebrow. He continued, "The fact that they took a page out of the human's book should not restrict us. We must work on killing them, before they release the grenade!" Yup, Hunters had evolved from pitching shurikens to grenades. It definitely made it harder for The Resistance to do our thing.
"Yeah, like you did a great job at that last week, Peter." Amelia huffed sarcastically. She flipped her blonde hair and put down her binoculars. Her face was emotionless as she faced us.
"I think we should wait for Elle to come back with the food, and then ditch this place. We should consider this a mission failed," I looked at Amelia astounded. We never left a mission incomplete. Ever..
"Amelia..." my voice trailed off. Her eyes were dark as she sat down on the snow. I scented her tears before I saw them.
"Mimi, what's wrong?" Peter whispered, using his nickname for his niece. He crouched next to Amelia, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sammi and I stared at her with forlorn expressions. Amelia was like our little sister, it killed us to see her hurt. It made us uneasy to see her so sad.
"I'm 17, Peter," she sniffled, wiping her nose on her baby blue mittens. "Every she-wolf I know has found their mate, except me. Lori found her mate, even if he was a douche bag. Elle found hers, except yeah, he died. You don't even try to find your soul mate, Peter! What if she's out there looking for you?" It was true. By the age of 17 or 18, it was typical for a she wolf to find her mate. Wolves go fast in life, unlike humans. We mate in our teens, and start a family in our early 20s. I didn't realize how much this affected poor Amelia until now. The Resistance was always moving, always in a new place. We hardly interacted with other wolves, only Hunters. We never gave Amelia the chance to even search for her mate. I stared guiltily at the saddened blonde.
Peter stared at his niece, astounded. We stood there in silence as Amelia continued to shed silent tears. Finally, Peter spoke.
"I'm so sorry Amelia. I didn't realize..." his dark eyebrows furrowed as he attempted to contemplate a solution. I sat down next to Amelia and hugged her. She buried her face into my dark hair. I felt the wetness of her cheeks on my neck.
"Mimi, I don't know what to do. Now really isn't the best time for mates. We're warriors, not lovers." Peter struggled. I rolled my eyes as Amelia trembled.
"You know what Peter? Shut up." I said scathingly. His eyes narrowed, but stepped back. One of the only situations Peter would ever surrender in an argument. Only for Amelia.
Turning to the blonde, I patted her back soothingly. "Hey, I am so sorry we never realized this. I guess we were all too caught up in kicking Hunter ass," I joked. Amelia looked up at me, her eyes a soft pink. Sammi nodded in agreement, toying with her Hunter slaying knife.
"Yeah..." Amelia attempted to smile, but utterly failed at it. My heart panged at her bravery. I bit my lip, contemplating a solution to this problem. Amelia needed the chance to find her mate. She needed a glimpse of what a normal she-wolf would have. We all owed her that much. She deserved it, without question. Suddenly, my mouth turned slightly as an idea arose.
"Look, if we stopped by for at least a day more in each town, branched out a little more, would that suffice?" I sensed Amelia's heart flutter, and a genuine smile danced across her lips. I heard Sammi sigh in relief at our little sister's improved mood.
"That's a good idea, Lori. It would give Amelia a chance to scout for her man!" Sammi smirked. I rolled my eyes. Silently I thanked the red headed vampire for the support.
"Oh my gosh, thank you Lori! Peter, can we please?" she turned to her uncle pleadingly. Peter remained uneasy, his dark eyes shifting back and forth between me and Amelia.
"I don't know Mimi, what if you do find your mate. That's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong. But what would you do? Are you going to leave us for him? And we can't just drag him into our life. Plus, us loitering might give the Hunters an advantage." Amelia's pink lips trembled once more, and I shot a murderous glance at the alpha. Seriously, if looks could kill, Peter would be six feet under right now. Did he really have to say that? Suddenly it dawned on me, and I shot him a knowing look. Hugging Amelia, I whispered soothingly, "We'll worry about that when it happens. But we will stop by an extra day for each town, I promise." The blonde nodded vigorously as she dried her face.
"Thank you!" she beamed, climbing back up the tree. "I'll continue lookout." We all nodded and separated. I noticed Peter heading for the RV, so I quickly caught up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Hey, wait up!" I snapped. He glared at me, but nonetheless stopped.
"I hope you realized what you did Lori." He growled. His eyes were darker than usual. Coal black. His wolf was coming out.
My eyes were steely as I stared him down. "Look asshole. I couldn't help it. Just because we all had shitty love stories, doesn't mean poor Amelia has to as well. Besides, she can't be your little niece anymore. She's freaking 17 Peter! She deserves to live a little!" Peter flexed his muscles, fighting to control his anger. I knew I was pushing him, but he needed to chill and let Amelia have free reign. Her life couldn't be all about killing! No 17 year old should have to see such things. Even me, but it wasn't like I had a choice. I had nowhere else to go and I made the best out of what I had. And I ended up loving it. I choose the life of The Resistance. But did Amelia chose this life as well? This is why I fought so hard for her. She deserved that decision. Peter had no right to hold her back, uncle or not.
I could tell by the dangerous glint in Peter's eyes that his wolf was not going to take any of my bull crap. "That's not what I'm pissed about! Number one, you gave my niece false hope! What if she doesn't find her mate? Huh? She'll be more heartbroken than she already is!" My eyes narrowed as he continued.
"Number two; you put the whole group in danger! Staying an extra day, my ass! The Hunters are getting smarter; they will track us and expose us! Do you think we need that right now?" He didn't give me a chance to respond. Peter rounded up on me as he prepared to spit out the third way I fucked up.
"And three, well this doesn't really apply to Amelia so it's not personal to her or me. But I'll bet it's pretty personal to you," I felt his aura get darker as he chuckled sadistically. "We're heading to Virginia. Fairwood, Virginia next. Thanks to you, that will be the first town we stay an extra day at." And with that, he stormed into the RV, slamming the door behind him causing the RV to tremble.
My body had frozen and threatened to collapse beneath me. I stood unmoving in the cold, faint snowflakes falling and dappling my clothes. The atmosphere was chilly, but the coldness in the air was nothing compared to the ice that consumed my body just that moment.
We were going to Fairwood, Virginia, where my old pack resided. Where my life had gone to shit before it went up again. Where I had been cut open, only to bear scars now. I was going home.