;)

<3

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                  "Get away from her or I'll blow your face off," Gary hissed. "Smiley."

                  My killer, the person who had forced Hunter and Sin to turn me into a hybrid, was standing right before me. It definitely wasn't the meeting that I wanted with the Emo jerk, since he was visibly loaded with two katanas, an machete strapped to a thick black lower waist belt, and a gun currently pointed at Sin's face. My initial reaction to Gary's abrupt entrance was to run up to him and mangle his neck with my bare hands. Something stopped me.

                  It was Sin's tight grip on my arm.

                  "He's armed, don't charge at him," Sin hissed.

                   Gary shot a bullet at Sin's head, missing and hitting the wall by an inch. "I told you to get away from her. Next bullet is between the eyes."

                  "This is obviously a huge misunderstanding," Sin said slowly, his deep voice soothing. He appeared to be standing up straight and strong, yet he was unnoticeable  leaning heavily into me. Didn't want to lose his masculine pride, I suppose.  Lucky me, I wasn't human any longer and could definitely lift up a two-hundred and something pound Creative Writing teacher with ease.

                  I turned my head slightly to Sin, keeping my eyes trained on Gary. "He's an assassin. And he's a horrible assassin if he thinks that you're Smiley, of all people."

                  "Pepper--" Gary started.

                  "I've heard you before--- I think I've seen you before," Sin interrupted, analyzing Gary's olive colored skin, thick muscles, longish black hair, and piercings. "Who are you?"

                  "You recognize me because I had you in class, Mr. Trinidad."

                  Sin inclined his head slightly to the side. "Gary. Pepper's friend."

                  Gary smiled tightly. "That's me. Gary the loner Goth boy. That's all you'll know me as, at least, because within the next five minutes I'm going to blow your brains out. I'm in this town for one reason and one reason only, and that's to execute you," was all my ex-friend said in a very calm voice. He smiled crookedly. "I'm sure you know exactly how that feels to hide your true identify from people, don't you, Trinidad? You'd think that after having me in your class for a month in a half and speaking to me after class about inappropriate drawings you'd recognize me almost immediately."

                  "I have a poor memory," Sin replied without hesitation. "I wouldn't know, because I have nothing that immense to hide."

                  "I bet you don't."

                  "'Listen, you can chat with me all you want, just let Pepper go if there's nobody else in the building. Clearly there isn't, if you're in here. This play looks wired down to the core with surveillance and guards."

                  "It's just you and her." Gary snarled a little. "That henchman Nacho is gone. He told me everything I wanted to know, nearly pissed his pants. But I'll get to that later. Why do you want Pepper gone so quickly now, Sin? I thought you liked her."

                  Gary had been listening in on our previous conversation.

                  The corner of Sin's mouth tilted upwards yet he didn't respond.

                  Gary narrowed his eyes. "You have a few things you're hiding, Sin. Let's start with the obvious. I saw you pick up Pepper after I slit her throat." I flinched as the black clad assassin brushed over my death with ease. "You came to her rescue within a minute, which means you were already by the building. I'm guessing you saw myself or Vladimir's van on surveillance footage and hid in some secret room. Kudos, I didn't smell even a speck of your scent."

                  Sin shook his head once. "I was there right after Pepper was almost killed by you because I was informed  by friend that Pepper would be injured."

                  "You mean her parents told you to go find her?" Gary gestured with his gun as he spoke. "Yeah, I know. I'm the guy that finds out everything eventually."

                  Oh, mom and dad. They truly loved me. By my parents wanted to make sure that I was dead and so they contacted Sin Trinidad, who's family owes them a great deal for protecting them, to kill me before I became a vampire.

                  "It seems to me that the only person who comes even close to being a serial killer is you, Gary. You are the one who's armed, you are the one who is hostile." Sin's demeanor didn't crack as he spoke. However, I watched his chlorine blue eyes quickly fall to their corners towards me, then quickly rebound back to Gary, who caught the look between us but was clearly unable to read it. Was Sin trying to silently communicate with me? If so, he had to be a little bit more obvious because I was seriously getting light headed.

                  "I'm sorry, but you're very mistaken, and I won't let you separate her from me," Sin finally said, gripping my arm a little tighter. "You've already killed her once, I'm not letting you kill her again."

                  "Pepper, are you really buying this?" Gary stepped towards us, laughing under his breath. Sin shoved me behind him so quickly it made my head spin. The gun pressed between Sin's eyes, threatening his life.

                  Sin pushed me back as I tried to knock the gun away. "Don't interfere," he said simply.

                  "Gary, don't do this," I rushed out, eyeing the gun in horror. Sin was too calm. had he been in front of a gun before? "Let's talk about this," I pleaded. "Are you one-hundred percent sure that he's Smiley? I've heard Smiley's voice, he doesn't sound like Sin. I might call Sin a psycho, but he would never murder a bunch innocent people."

                  "This man is a sociopath." Gary's eyes flickered to light with grey and his fangs lengthened in his mouth. "I know this is hard to believe. I know that you no longer trust me because of what I did to you. I'm sorry that I slit your throat, I couldn't risk you telling your parents or someone about me. It was really hard for me to bring myself to kill you, and when I did, I forgot entirely that you were a hunter. I thought of you as an innocent girl who could have lived a much longer life if you had never met me. That's why you didn't die immediately, because I momentarily forgot that you were a hunter. It's my fault that you're a hybrid now. I can't even put into words how sorry I am."

                  "P*ssy whipped," Sin muttered. I could have sworn I saw him roll his eyes.

                  Something odd settled in the pit of my stomach.

                  I shook it off. "If you expect me to forgive you for injecting me with a needle, slitting my throat, then leaving me to die in a crusty old warehouse that smelled like dog shit and old lady urine, then no, I don't forgive you," I said.

                  Gary's expression softened. "You considered me a friend once. You trusted me once. All I ask is that you trust me this last time. You have to believe me, Pepper. I'm convinced that this person standing next to you, this thing, is clinically insane. Sin has wormed his way into your life without physically hurting you because he's possessive over you. He's a goddamn manipulating, lying bastard."

                  "Gary...listen to me." I started towards Gary, putting my hands up in surrender as he moved the gun to me. "You're not thinking straight. Look at him. He's wounded badly. Sin and I were kidnapped by Smiley's henchmen and brought here. Sin almost died. He could barely speak an hour or so ago because he was in so much pain. Smiley was in the room with me a while ago, he spoke like he was in perfect health. Every minute you stand here, accusing Sin of being Smiley, the real Smiley is out there murdering innocent--"

                  "Do you remember when I left you at Crave?" Gary interjected, gun still aimed at Sin's face. "When I got mad at you and left?"

                  How could I ever forget that? Gary had made me choose between Vlad and him, and I had to meet Vlad so that I could map out the club. He had left me no other option but to choose Vlad, and then left me alone at a vampire club. "Yes," I replied softly. "I remember when you left me. What does that have to do with anything?"

                  "I didn't really leave you," Gary continued, his jaw clenching. "I couldn't leave you. I knew who the owner of the club was, but I was furious that you had chosen that bastard over me. It was his smirk that pissed me off  the most and the look in his eyes that read he was going to take you into his club and have sex with you fifty different ways. Him and I are enemies, but his drug, VOID, is connected with these murders. Despite the fact that I was enraged, I was more afraid of your safety and parked in the back lot where you couldn't see me. Almost every victim at the hands of Smiley has been a addicted or sold VOID.  I couldn't find a connection between the murders besides the drug, and the Orange Gate County newspaper article, the one where the person interviewed someone who mentioned revenging a "him". Imagine my surprise when I saw none other than Hunter Trinidad in my rear view mirror, shooting up some sort of neon blue liquid up his arm behind my truck. I found out later that it was VOID.  Imagine my surprise, when he then slipped on a Smiley mask and started after you in the parking lot. It took all of my will power not to get out of the car and kill him right then and there. Explain to me why he put the mask on, Pepper. Explain to me why Hunter fits the profile of Smiley perfectly."

                  "This is ridiculous!" Sin growled. "Yes, my brother works for Smiley but he isn't Smiley. What about the instances that he wasn't at the scene when someone was killed? There would have to be two of him. You're grabbing these things out of thin air. You don't understand a thing about Hunter, only I do."

                  "Oh, that's where you're wrong, my friend. I'm starting to learn a lot about Hunter Trinidad. Like how as of twenty minutes ago, his vision is regained." Gary looked fiercely towards Sin, driving the gun hard into his forehead. "VOID is impossible to get hooked off of once you're on it. It's considered a drug, but it acts like a poison. It needs a cure, doesn't it, Trinidad?"

                  Silence.

                  "Doesn't it?" Gary nailed Sin in the face with his fist, making him collapse back against the wall. Sin's nostrils flared like he wanted to fight back, but he didn't.  "I bet you're looking for a cure for you brother, aren't you? But he doesn't want to be cured because he likes to kill. I bet that's why you were staked."

                  Anger boiled under my skin. I charged at Gary and he quickly shot at the ground at my feet. I jumped twenty feet in the air, my heart colliding painfully against my ribs as it beat rapidly. "Come near me again and I won't miss." Gary's eyes were liquid grey fire as they turned back to Sin. "Now, want to tell me what one of the  main effects VOID, Trinidad? Enlighten me!"

                  Sin shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with the product."

                        "Oh, yeah. Your brother is the one who uses. I almost forgot." Gary brought the gun back for a moment and pretended to think, hitting his chin with it lightly. "How about you tell me why you healed so quickly from that stake wound if you only drink animal blood!" In one fluid motion, Gary ripped Sin's shirt off and ripped off his bandage, revealing completely healed skin.

                  I stared at perfectly healed skin in horror.

                  Sin continued to stare at Gary.

                  "Tell me this, Sin Trinidad. Tell me why Nacho blurted out helplessly to me, as I pressed a stake against his throat, how Hunter Trinidad nearly killed and then kidnapped his own brother, tied down Pepper Ballard, made himself look innocent to her, crawled up into the ceiling, dropped down into the hallway outside, put on a wig, and then had Nacho stake him near his heart,in hopes to trick Pepper Ballard into giving him more information on Vladimir." Gary leaned in closely to Sin until their faces were inches apart. "How about," he started slowly. "You tell me what the main effect of VOID is...Hunter."

                  I waited for Sin to deny what Gary was implying.

                  And waited.

                  And waited.

                  Gary slowly took out a kantana sword, slipping his gun back into its holster.

                  Those blue eyes shifted towards me. For a moment, I only recognized Gary in the room, as if a stranger had been locked in the cell with me. The realization that Gary could have been telling the truth settled painfully in my gut, and my emotions kicked in.

                  "No," I gasped, backing away from the bloodied man next to me with the gun pointed at his head.  Everything he said was possible. Everything he said had happened. Suddenly, something pulled me back towards Sin. Gary tried to move me away but I shoved at him. "Let me talk to him. I'll know. I'll know if he's pretending."

                  "Pepper, get out of the way."

                   "Let me talk with him. Let me make sure. Take a step back, put the gun down. Let me talk to him." Now I was panicking and water prickled my eyes. Were those....tears? "I'll know," I repeated.

                  Gary continued to hold the gun to my face and the coldness in his eyes flickered to heat. He didn't shoot me.

                  "Thank you," I said calmly. "Now, excuse me while I...talk to him."

                  I whirled around with a howl of anger. "LISTEN UP," I screamed at the top of my lungs. "If you scr*wed with me, if you're Hunter and not Sin, you better tell me now, or I'll be the one shooting you." The blue eyed villain let me gripped him by his torn t-shirt. "Answer me," I grit out. When he didn't, I lost it, shoving his massive body hard into the wall. I felt down his chest as if I was checking for weapons, feeling thin scars that I hadn't even noticed before. His piercings in his nipples were gone, but he easily could have taken them out. I looked up at his hair. It appeared to have strands of brown and maybe some blonde, but it was too matted with blood and dirt for me to tell if it was a wig. I started to reach up towards his hair, ready to pull, when I locked eyes with the blue eyed man before me.

                  The way he gazed down at me would have been considered curious by anyone else. Not me, I knew that look. I had felt it once before. Void of any emotion. Empty. It reminded me of a cobra about to strike. The calm before the storm. A predator eyeing its prey. Those eyes grew blacker than a wild storm, and consuming. Endless. The darkness tightened a rope around my neck and squeezed.

                   Or so I thought. It was really the blue-eyed man's hands wrapped like a vise around my throat.

                  "Hunter," I gasped out, barely able to breathe. "It is Hunter."

                  He acknowledged me with a civil nod. "Kitten, it's so nice to see you," he drawled out, as if we were meeting for the first time. Truly, we were, because it was a full moon. Which meant I had been in that cell with him a lot longer than I thought I had.

                  "You son of a--"

                  He nailed my lips with his fingers. "Shut up." Those evil eyes swiftly lifted over my head and Hunter's mouth exploded into a grin, as he finally replied to Gary, "The drug...it makes you smile like a little bitch the moment it hits your blood. And if you're a newborn... it'll kill you instantly." 

                  Nausea rolled in my gut. All  I could think about was how I had drank Hunter's blood, and the way those blue eyes bore into mine, I knew he was thinking the same thing. Surely, he had left that out on purpose. Was I addicted to VOID now that Hunter had fed me his blood? Or...worse?

                  "So, what'll it be, Gary?" Hunter turned me around and painfully secured me against his chest with one arm under my breasts, shoving a hand deep into his pocket until he found a disposable needle with neon blue liquid inside of it. The needle encased in plastic and glowed dangerously. I wriggled against him, earning a hard pinch on the inside of my thigh.  

                  Bad little kitty. Hunter's voice was like baritone velvet in my skull. Next pinch you're going to feel is this needle stabbing your neck. Start screaming, and I won't rip off your friends head and place it over my fireplace. I want this fucker gone, I don't like guns pointed at me.

                  Drop dead. I could care less about Gary now.

                  You'll have my word that I'll never touch your family.

                  Your word means nothing to me.

                  My word means everything to me. I promise you, I will not lay a hand on anyone in your family.

                  "GARY, HELP!" I suddenly wailed, thrashing dramatically against Hunter. "HE JUST SAID HE'S GOING TO STRAP ME TO A REALLY COMFORTABLE BED, PUSH MY FACE INTO THE MATTRESS, AND HAVE HIS WAY WITH ME!"

                  Was that...doggy style I just picked up on? Hunter snickered lowly out loud, making me cringe. Definitely wasn't good to egg on a serial killer. Nice. Very nice, and very specific.

                  "NOW HE WHISPERED THAT HE WANTS TO STICK A BENDY STRAW IN MY NECK AND 'INDULGE'!"

                   Now you're just giving me ideas..

                  "Don't touch her!" Gary roared.

                  "I can see the way you look at Pepper. My guess is that all I have to do is aim this at her neck for you to fall to your knees."

                  How does he look at me?  I asked Hunter internally.

                  Like he wants you between two pieces of bread.

                  Gary eyed the bottle briefly. "You uncap that, and you're dead."

                  "Then shoot. Hope you don't hit Sex Kitten. That wouldn't be fun," Hunter said, his voice unnervingly gentle at my ear. The needle was now uncapped, aimed at my carotid artery. "Put the gun down, then leave the vicinity."

                  "What about Pepper?"

                  "What about Pepper?" I felt my teeth get pointier and longer as Hunter subconsciously wrung out my neck. I let out a low hiss as I turned my head slightly upwards towards my captor.

                  "Pepper...would appreciate.... your meaty paws... letting up... on my... neck!" I said.

                  He only tightened them.

                  "She's coming with me," Gary demanded, starting to unarm himself and toss them to the side. "I'll put everything down on the ground, but she has to come with me. I have to know that she's safe."

                  "I'm a sociopath and I get what I want. Either I have her now and she tells me what I want to know, or I'll find her later and kill anyone in my way," Hunter stated simply. His silky lips then nuzzled my neck. It would have been considered affectionate, had he not still had an uncapped needle filled with VOID aimed at my artery. "However, I do like a chase..."

                  "Leave me with him," I blurted, surprising even myself.

                  Gary eyes went wide. "What?"

                  Hunter lifted his mouth from my neck. "What?"

                  YES!!! Conscience screamed.

                  "Leave me with him," I repeated. "He's telling the truth. For once, he's telling the truth. If there's anything I know for sure about Hunter, it's that he does get what he wants. It's either now or later, Gary. Later could mean more killing of innocent people that are in the way. I choose now."

                  Gary shook his head. "Pepper, I'm not leaving you--"

                  "Wait, you do know I'm a psychopath with no conscience, right?" Hunter interrupted behind me. "God, this sucks! What the F is the fun in all of this if you willingly staying with me? You've ruined the thrill. Do I have to stop shaving and not wear deodorant to repel you, or will that just make you take your panties off? I mean, I wasted a hell of a lot of time, acting, and money, buying crap ights to go with this crap decor in this cell. Not to mention, I had to be stabbed in the damn chest and almost killed myself. FUCK, I'll be a laughing stock if this gets out. It'll ruin my Alpha Rep. Not to mention my pride is ripped to shreds... Actually, no it's not. I'm still an arrogant, evil, sex muffin with a nice ass. And I have some bitchin', precise slaughtering methods. At least I still have that going for me."

                  I felt myself tremble a little at the reminder of his whole "love for killing", but quickly regained my strength. "I'm well aware. Gary, get as far away from here as possible. Tell my parents...tell them I ran away. Just don't...don't tell them the truth."

                  "Pepper..."

                  "I'm not leaving with you, Gary," I said slowly. "Go."

                  I could see how hard this was decision was for him. This was his current goal in life, to be in a room with Smiley. And now here he was. Leaving his weapons on the ground, Gary vanished, and I was left alone with a drug addicted, bipolar, conscienceless, attractive Alpha serial killer who I was pretty sure wanted to "tap that" a lot more than he was letting on.

                  Hunter turned me around. It was as if he was entire face was a smile, and he was the mask. His fingers caressed my cheek, tracing the line of my jaw. "You have the slightest idea what you're in for." His mouth was inches from mine, reminded me that I had kissed him and not Sin. "We're going to have a lot of fun, you and I."

                  My hand fell into a balled up fist, yet I pretended to be terrified. He was right, I didn't know what Smiley was capable of. But I was starting to know what I was capable of.

                  This was going to be fun indeed.

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[Music on the side]

"I KNOW THE TRUTHHHH NOWWWW I KNOWWWW WHO YOUUUU ARREEE!"

1. What do you think shall happen next?

2. Favorite quote so far?

3. Do you ship #Sepper or #Hepper now? (I ask this because it may change.)

4. Is this book turning out how you wanted it to?

5. How many clichés have you spotted so far in the book? 

6. What clichés do you expect to see in this story in the future?

THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

P.S- If you got confused, you need to reread a little. I don't do those stupid "previously in HTBC" things that some people do before the chapter. It's too annoying haha!