The Need (6 page)

I stepped into the kitchen and a sweet coppery tang filled my nose and mouth. I gagged on the taste of it as it poured down my throat. The way they depict blood in the movies makes you think it will be bright and vibrant but it looks very different in reality. In large quantities its dark and thick and not at all vibrant. The smears that covered the linoleum were bright. The puddle of it that surrounded her body was dark. My feet carried me forward and I stared down at what was left of the body. Little bubbles had formed in the spreading puddle. It reminded me of the pond we used to have in the garden. The little creatures that would hide inside it letting tiny bubbles float to the surface. I wondered were there any small creatures hiding in the deep crimson liquid that drifted ever closer to the tips of my trainers.

It was as though my mind simply didn’t want to let my brain register what I was seeing. I knew it was a body and I knew there was blood everywhere. Looking up my eyes caught sight of the red spray that decorated the wall behind the body. Had she known they were coming for her? Did she try to escape them? I looked down again and the sight of the mobile phone on the floor beside her brought tears to the back of my eyes. All the pieces of the bloody jigsaw clicked into place and my mind gave up trying to protect me from what I was looking at. The blood had soaked into her blonde hair turning it an orangey red. She wouldn’t have liked that.

The gash across her throat was deep and the blood seeped down onto the floor. Several lacerations covered her chest and it looked as though someone had attempted to gut her. Whoever had done this enjoyed their work. I could see it in every careful mutilation that decorated her skin. She was almost entirely unrecognisable and I wondered had they done it before or after they had killed her. I hoped after but who knew.

My mind ticked over calmly. At least it felt calm. Was I going mad? Had I finally tipped over the edge onto the brink of complete insanity and my mind dealt with it calmly? The blood crept closer to my shoe before soaking around the edge of it. That was the point my mind decided it wasn’t going to be calm anymore.

With a muffled shriek I attempted to step back away from the blood but my foot slipped. I tumbled to the floor my hands skidding in the dark puddle as I scrambled to escape it. I felt it soaking through my jeans and it coated my hands, it felt sticky and was still slightly warm. The smell assailed my senses and I retched. My mother’s blood. I was covered in my mother’s blood. The very thing that kept her alive was soaking through my clothes. I had to get to Jon, he would know what to do.

I scrambled across the bloody floor in a half crawl half run. Skidding twice more in the smears of blood I reached the kitchen door and launched myself into the hall. I landed in a heap on the floor and sucked in several deep breaths. My mind had slowed to a crawl and refused to co-operate in anything I wanted it to do. Scrubbing my hands against my jeans I attempted to get the worst of the blood off my hands. Had they been murdering my mother when I was trying to ring her? Were they creeping up on her when she was frantically trying to contact me and I was calmly sitting in my class? Tears burned my eyes and I brushed my hand across my face. I stopped mid wipe and stared in horror at my blood stained hand. A sob of despair crept past my lips. I needed Jon.

Pulling myself upright I ran for the front door and sprinted across the grass to Jon’s house.

“
Aisling!” The sound of someone calling my name didn’t register in my head. I just knew I had to get to Jon and no one was going to stop me.

Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me to a complete halt. I struggled in his grip but still he held me tight.

“
Aisling, what are you thinking? You can’t go in there!” I turned my head towards the sound of her voice. The world seemed to drift by in slow motion. Natasha’s frightened face came into my line of sight.

“
They killed her Natasha! They killed my mother! I have to get to Jon.” My voice seemed to come from very far away. I knew I was probably going into shock but I needed to make her understand.

“
Aisling, you can’t we have to go. They already have Jon.” She pointed toward the back of Jon’s house. Turning in that direction, I could see several men dressed in black bundling a body out the back. His head lolled to the side and I suddenly realised it was Jon. The arms of the man that held me weren’t prepared for the new onslaught of struggling and I slipped from his grip.

“
Jon!” My voice rang out and the man I knew as Max turned. A sneer slide across his face as I pounded across the ground to him. I would kill him for what he had done. I would kill him and I would enjoy it.

Searing pain ripped through my side and my pace faltered. Glancing down I could see the bolt sticking out of my body. They shot me with an arrow. It seemed utterly ridiculous, why not use a gun? Each step I took was filled with blinding pain. Strong arms wrapped around me again and whisked me off the ground. Another arrow whistled past and I sluggishly realised if the man who was carrying me hadn’t grabbed me that bolt would have struck me point blank in the chest. Natasha stood at a car door and gestured for us to get inside. The man who held me pushed me hurriedly into the car before climbing in after me. Natasha bundled herself into the car before the it roared to life. The tyres squealed on the road as it fought to catch a grip before it lunged forward.

“
How badly is she hurt?” Natasha’s voice filtered through to my brain.

“
Jon?” My voice came out weak and breathy but she heard it.

“
I’m afraid we couldn’t get him Aisling. I’m so sorry.”

Fear filled me. They had Jon and they were going to kill him, I just knew it. I struggled to get up but strong hands held me down.

“
Sedate her.” They were the last words I heard Natasha say before I felt a pinch in my neck and the world went dark.

Chapter Six

His eyes opened slowly. The back of his head felt as though someone had tried to beat him to death with a brick. The room was gloomy and he struggled to adjust his eyes to the poor lighting. All his memories were a jumbled mess. The last clear memory he had was of Aisling sitting on the ground near his fence. Everything else after that seemed to be a hazy blur.

Slowly he tried to lift his hand to touch the back of his head but the jangling sound of a chain halted him. Looking down he could see the heavy silver shackles that were clamped securely around both wrists. The shackles were connected to heavy chains that dropped down between his legs. After searching for a moment or two he noticed the chain itself was secured to the floor with a large iron ring. With shackles and chains like that he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Unless...

Jon reached out with his power, it curled around the chains and he attempted to use the power to force the shackles off his wrists. Pain seared across his skin in bursts. Glancing down he noticed hundreds of rune marks inked onto his skin. Each time he attempted to use his power the runes lit up like tiny fireworks and he was left breathless as the agony slowly subsided.

What the hell is going on
, he thought to himself.

Jon watched as the door at the opposite end of the room swung noisily open. The man stood framed by the light from the hall. Fear fizzled through Jon’s veins. Something seemed very familiar about this man, familiar and wrong.

“
You’re awake I see. Looks like they did no lasting damage to you after all. It’s almost a pity.” His cold voice crept into the room, drifting over everything in its path. The moment it reached Jon goose bumps sprouted across his skin and his blood grew sluggish in his veins. It was as though the very sound of this man’s voice replaced his blood with ice water that pumped slowly around his body.

“
Why am I here? Who are you?” Jon’s voice was shaky as he spoke and he hated himself for it. Whatever was going on the last thing he wanted to do was appear weak in front of this lunatic.

The second the man stepped into the light Jon knew he didn’t need to hear his answer. Everything slipped back into place in his head and a shudder of pure terror drifted through him. If he was here then where the hell was Aisling?

Max’s yellow eyes bored holes into Jon. “You don’t remember me? I find that hard to believe Jonathon.”

“
Where is she you bastard?” Panic filled Jon. What if they had hurt her or worse? He shook the thought from his head. If she was dead he would feel it. They had always had a connection. One that ran deep inside them. If Aisling had perished at their hands then he would feel it.

“
I’m afraid we didn’t have the pleasure of Aisling joining us.” A look of pure hatred crossed Max’s face before he once more replaced it with a sneering smile. “We do however, have you.”

“
What are these marks on my skin?” Jon struggled against his restraints as he spoke.

“
Oh those. Well we couldn’t have you escaping and using your power to hurt or maybe even kill us. So we used binding runes on your skin. It stops you from using any of your pesky powers.”

Jon flopped back against the wall. It was useless. No amount of struggling against the chains would free him and his power was well and truly bound. Whatever Max had planned for him there was nothing Jon could do right now to stop it.

“
What do you want then?” Jon sighed as he spoke.

“
You haven’t given up have you Jonathon? Oh how disappointing that would be. I was expecting more from you.” Max shook his head and pretended to tut with disappointment.

“
Don’t treat me like a fool you prick! You know very well there is nothing I can do right now! But give me half a chance and I swear so help me God that I will kill you all.” Jon strained against the shackles that kept him bound and spat the words into Max’s face.

Max drew out faster than Jon’s eyes could follow and grabbed Jon’s throat in a tight punishing grip. He shoved him back into the wall hard and clamped down until Jon’s vision swam with stars.

“
You know very well what I want boy. You have known it all along so don’t you dare threaten me.” Max released Jon as quickly as he had grabbed him.

Jon slumped back down into a sitting position and tried to catch his breath. The chains rattled as he raised his hands and rubbed at the place where Max had held him.

“
Now, I want you to tell me why I knew that you were one half of the prophisised couple but I did not know Aisling was?”

“
I don’t know.” Jon’s voice was hoarse and he longed for a drink of water, anything to quench the burning that had started in the back of his throat.

“
Don’t lie to me! I can smell the power on you but from her I got zip. Nada. Whatever you want to call it. I thought she was human!”

“
Then I guess you aren’t very good at your job.” Jon couldn’t resist the smart answer. After all, what did he have to lose? He was trapped here as one of their prisoners and there was nothing he could do to change it.

Max’s fist crashed into the side of Jon’s face, driving his head back into the wall. The force of the impact caused bursts of light to explode behind Jon’s eyelids. Opening his eyes slowly he tried to shake the feeling of nausea that was gradually creeping up on him. The sweet taste of blood filled his mouth and he spat it out onto the dirty floor.

“
Really Jonathon, do you think it is clever to make me angry? Is it that wise to try to wind me up? I will kill you. I would have done it already if that interfering bastard up top would let me. But no. You are special, he needs you alive. I think he is crazy and the best thing for all of us would be to put you out of your misery like the dog that you are.”

“
But you can’t. You’re not the one in charge. You call me dog Max but the reality is you’re someone’s bitch.”

Jon knew what would happen when he uttered those words. He knew it anger Max and that he might possibly go too far and kill him. But he couldn’t help but think death might be a way to save Aisling. If he were dead they would never get their hands on her. She would be safe.”

Max grabbed Jon by the hair and slammed his head into the cold stone wall. Spots danced in his vision but he saw Max pull the long blade from his belt. Jon screamed as the blade bit into his flesh. The warm blood trickled down over his skin and it reminded him of what they had down to his parents.

His mother had screamed as the hunters had held her down and carved his father up in front of her. She had known what was coming and had begged for them to end her. Tears ran down Jon’s face as he recalled the look of terror in his mother’s eyes when they had laughed. She had wanted to die and they laughed at her. Jon knew they had no intention of simply killing her quickly. She screamed throughout the ordeal and it was etched into his brain. Towards the end she had tried to speak to Jon, babbling really but she had mentioned the Croí and the Hunters but they had slit her throat and she spoke no more.

Max laughed as Jon cried out when the blade sliced down across his chest. “You’ll never get her you know. She’ll kill you first, wait and see.” Jon whispered the words through gritted teeth and turned his eyes up to Max’s face. The anger was plain on the other man’s face and Jon laughed. Max drew back and punched Jon. Jon welcomed the calm of unconsciousness. Perhaps he would dream of Aisling.

Chapter Seven

Screaming filled my ears. Who the hell was screaming at this time of the morning? My mind felt completely disconnected from my body, as though someone had snuck in while I slept and severed my head from the rest of me. I thought about opening my eyes to see who was making such a fuss but my body just wouldn’t co-operate. I thought about pulling the pillow back over my head and drowning the sound out nothing happened. My body didn’t react to any of the commands I tried to give it. What the hell was happening.