Predator l 10

I made a few mistakes in the last couple of chapters. Blake=EVAN. I somehow used the wrong name, god only knows why. There's no Blake in this book.

As always, unedited.

The feeling of disbelief chocked her in the most violent way. The desperate need of air made her forget about the wound on her arm.

She was barely aware of the throbbing pain, or the drops of blood that were streaming from it, staining the ground beneath her.

Voices, people- everything around her blurred as she found herself being unable to avert her gaze from the naked man.

For the longest of moments, Apri'ls body was frozen. Feelings between fear and disbelief rushed through her body. It was a frightening feeling, unlike everything she'd ever felt.

The man was lying limp on the ground, with his eyes being closed. Blood was streaming through his mouth and neck freely.

He had a very thin body. It looked unhealthy and it was obvious that the man had been starving to get a body resembling a withered flower- weak and lifeless.

There was absolutely no way to deny it. April saw what'd happened.

She saw the beast slowly and painfully morphing into a human being. Turning into an actual person, who was now lying unconscious and naked on the road.

And despite watching the horrid scene with her own eyes, she just couldn't describe what'd happened. She didn't understand it in the slightest bit, as if her brain short-circuited.

April couldn't avert her gaze from the man on the ground and was barely aware of two strong arms gliding under her, softly pushing her up to her feet.

From the distance, she could hear the soft sounds of a car pulling over. The hand from before tugged her arm, dragging her to the car.

Forced to walk, she tagged along behind Shawn, his hand still wrapped around her forearm as he was dragging her to the car that just pulled over.

It was Evan who was sitting behind the steering wheel on the driver's seat. His knuckles were tightly grabbing on the wheel's black leather material.

Evan's attention was focused on the blonde man from before. Without much effort, he pushed April's car off the road before hurrying towards their direction and jumping into the car.

From all the days that she thought of being worse- this was by far the worst.

April found herself being shoved into the car, next to the blonde man who seemed to ignore her presence as he kept staring at the black head restraint in front of him.

Seconds after, Nikolaj joined them and sank into the passenger seat, next to Evan. April was too busy to sort her messed up thoughts to even ask herself where the hell Nikolaj came from.

Her eyes perked up from her lap when she felt a hand squeezing hers gently.

Shawn.

"Everything alright?" He asked her, concern thick in the tone of his voice.

April roughly registered his words. Her concentration on her surroundings was thinning rapidly and non-stop.

It almost startled her how slim the grip over her own body was.

She just nodded, barely visible. April didn't trust her voice in that moment and was damn sure that apart from a pathetic croak, she wouldn't be able to utter even one single syllable.

It was a lie, though. She was anything but alright.

Dread was settled deep in the pit of her stomach. A startling shudder slid through her. Every time she closed her eyes, she would hear the cracking of bones. The beast turning into a human...

The images were frightening and far beyond words. The whole drive she nervously fiddled with her hands, trying to think straightly.

Only, that thinking seemed to be the most impossible task to do. Her mind was still in the daze of a shock and every attempt to keep her mind sane was as near as impossible.

Even her heart was pounding like mad against her chest. It wouldn't surprise her, if the others in the car were able to hear the violent thump in her chest.

April didn't even know where Evan was driving them. Her mind was a disjointed mess and it was near to impossible to focus on just one single thing.

The wound on her arm started to ache slowly and until this very moment, she didn't understand how real this was. The pain confirmed just how real it was.

April darted her gaze through the car. Silence was wrapped around them very tightly and everyone seemed to share the same grim expression

The heavy tension around them was almost tangible, causing a nervous twist deep in April's stomach.

"Shawn?" She whispered very lowly. Just as expected, her voice was croaky and barely audible. It surprised her that he even heard her loud engine howling during the whole drive.

"Hm?" He just hummed, his chin resting on his hand as he gazed out of the window.

April was irritated by his relaxed mood. It was his face that held a very grim and dark expression, but it seemed as if she was the only one who was just mere seconds away from freaking out.

"What did just happen?" She asked under a heavy breath.

Though she knew exactly what'd happened, she needed a confirmation. April wanted nothing more than Shawn telling her that it wasn't real.

Shawn watched her for brief moments, before he chose to turn his head and ignore her.

April was stunned. The silence she received from him irritated her. It was just like something her parents would do every time they refused to answer a question- ignoring her.

Not even a simple roll of a shoulder. Just the annoying silence she hated.

April tried to hold back her anger. Letting the very loose grip on her emotions slip was the last thing she wanted in that moment.

She glanced forward to Nikolaj. His clothes were dirty with what seemed to be mud. Just like the day she met him for the first time at the police station.

From the mirror she could see him returning her gaze with his striking green eyes before dropping his eyes back to the road they were driving on.

"Where are we driving?" She croaked after long moments of silence.

"To my apartment," Shawn muttered. He was still looking out the window and didn't seem to have the intention of facing her just yet.

At least she wasn't receiving the deadly silence anymore.

"I thought we are driving to your home?" April asked and furrowed her eyebrows when the building of Eric's apartment slowly appeared in her line of vision.

"We are," he confirmed in a low tone of voice.

April kept silence for a few moments, before realization dawned on her.

"You live here, too?" She asked stunned.

He didn't need to confirm it to her as the car pulled over the building and they all got out the car.

April's arms were immediately wrapped around herself when she got out off the car. The cold wind froze her skin and she became aware of the aching sensation on her arm.

She felt her stomach twisting in the most violent way. She couldn't understand how something what had looked so damn real could feel so ... surreal.

The only thing April was sure at that moment, was that everyone seemed to know. They didn't seem to be fazed by the event from before, not even in the slightest way.

She followed Shawn and the others into the building, to exact the same floor Eric was living.

"I can't believe you live here," April muttered tiredly under her breath.

Shawn and her brother Eric were neighbors. He just lived across from Eric.

Shawn quickly unlocked his door, opening it widely for everyone to enter his home.

Evan and the blonde guy obviously were at Shawn's before. Both of them were tiredly waltzing into the living room, as if they knew the rooms like the palm of their hands.

April didn't need to follow them. The flat had the same structure as Eric's apartment.

Shawn's hand softly pushed her to the living room, where Evan and the blonde where sharing a dark colored couch, silently talking to each other.

She cringed visibly when the blonde lifted his gaze, sending her a quite hostile look. Her eyebrows drew tightly together, barely aware of the fact that she was giving him a look of dislike in return.

What's his problem?

Her attention fell back to Shawn when he gently pulled her wrist, making her sit next to him on the couch. He quickly shoved the sleeve of her shirt up, revealing the wound.

The scratch on her arm began to look even worse than it had been minutes ago and the pain got worse by the time that flew by.

She gritted her teeth when Shawn pressed on her wound. Hard.

"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed in pain.

"Cleaning your wound," he answered and flashed her a grin.

"And you can't do that with a more gentle method? Or warn me at least?"

"Stop being a baby. You're almost twenty."

"I'm twenty-two," she spat, insulted. "Fúcking hell," she hissed and gritted her teeth once again in pain.

The wound on her arm was clean from the blood and the long scratch became more visible once it was all clean.

It was a long scratch, a bit curvy. It looked disgusting, but what frightened her was that her skin around the wound was slightly becoming green.

For a simple scratch, the wound looked quite startling. April could only imagine how big the teeth must've been.

"A werewolf," she suddenly blurted. "It was a werewolf, wasn't it?" She asked almost carefully, a small part of her expecting, hoping he would laugh at her.

Before Shawn could answer, the blonde guy jumped in. "Werewolf?" He spat, the tone of his voice was filled with venom. "Did that girl watch too many fúcking fantasy movies or what?" He hissed behind gritted teeth, glaring deadly at her.

The hostility towards her startled her a bit. She was taken aback by his sudden outburst, but most of all his rude behaviour angered her.

"No one here spoke to you," April spat angrily.

Without another word, he jumped off the couch, attempting to leave put froze on his spot when Nikolaj entered the room.

The blonde's shoulders tensed visibly. "What the hell is Viktor's slave doing here?" He spat out. "Out of my way." He walked past Nikolaj and shut the door loudly behind him.

April looked shocked at the man's outburst. She couldn't understand what got him so riled up. NIkolaj, though, seemed unfazed. Most probably he was already used to that brat's mood, she figured.

"Don't pay him any attention. He can be a real bastard sometimes. You're not the only one who have to endure his presence" Shawn muttered. "But to answer your previous question: Yes. Only, we don't call ourselves werewolves. We prefer the term .. Lycan."

April nodded, trying to absorb the piece of information. It was impossible to think straight. She rubbed her temples and tried to calm her nerves down.

To freak out was the last thing she wanted to do, even though she was very close to. Holding a grip of her emotions was never so difficult like in this one moment.

It seemed as she lost control over herself.

But then, the sudden realization fell on her like a ton of bricks.

"Wait," she croaked hesitantly. Her voice was strained and slightly filled with fear. "What do you mean by "We"?" She asked reluctantly. "Don't tell me... don't tell me, that y-you're one of them."

April wasn't even sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

He grinned at her. "You're stuttering is sweet."

"Oh my god," she breathed when she finally understood the seriousness of the whole situation. "Am I turning into a werewolf?" The words fell from her lips hysterical. "I'm turning into a fúcking wolf, aren't I?"

That was it. The emotions she tried to hold back slipped from the already loose grip.

"Calm down!" He raised his voice. "And no, your not turning into a Lycan. Only a full-blooded Lycan has the gift to turn a human into one of our kind." He explained to her.

A sudden breath of relief fell from her lips. Though her hands were still trembling slightly, she felt herself calming down as much as the fúcked up situation allowed her.

"Okay," she croaked. "Okay. That's good."

"However," he continued and April felt her relief crumble into dust. "You shouldn't take this wound lightly. That Lycan may not been a full-breed, but it's venom was still poisonous," Shawn explained.

"What do you mean by poisonous?" She began to freak out again.

"If it's not treated immediately, the wound will slowly start to infect your arm. You'll feel your body becoming lifeless. And when the control of your own body slips from your grip, you will feel pain. It's like to be thrown into a fire and dying a thousand of death." He chuckled. "Lycan's love to watch their prey suffering to death. Sometimes being cursed has it's .. perks."

A horrid shudder run down her spine. She still couldn't believe it.

Lycan. Full-breed. Infection. It all sounded so fúcking ridiculous.

"I'm a bit impressed, I must say." He snapped her from her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" She asked with her eyes narrowed into slits.

"I thought you would've freak out by now. You have this freak-out expression all over your face, but you seem rather calm." He silently rubbed his chin as he watched her with a thoughtful expression.

"I'm still trying to process this shit." She blinked at her wound, trying to ignore the twist in the pit of her stomach. "What now? I'm not dying anymore, right?"

"Hm?" Shawn hummed. "Your chance to actually die is quite slim, but still possible. We can't do anything else than disinfecting the wound. Though, there is another option- amputation, but I doubt you will be up for that, right?"

"Stop joking!" April hissed. "This is serious."

"It's not like I lied about the amputation, but I just wanted to loosen you up. I think you're still in shock."

"I'm not in shock," April denied with a quick shake of her head.

Shawn pulled his face into a look of disbelief. He looked like he was about to say something, but the sound of someone knocking loudly against the front door made his attempt cut off.

Evan got off the couch, heading towards the front door. For long moments she even forgot that he was there, along with Nikolaj.

She quickly darted her eyes towards him. He was leaning against the wall, both of his arms crossed as he watched her with a hard but unreadable expression.

April turned her head once she heard heavy footsteps heading towards the living room. Eric was running into the room with a frightening expression.

"Fúck," he cursed once his attention fell on April's arm. "Fúck. Fúck. Fúck. How did this happen? How could this happen?" He asked furiously.

"Wrong place at the wrong time," Shawn answered almost too casually for Eric's liking.

April didn't need two brains to understand that he meant her with being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"During selection?" Eric asked.

In response, Shawn simply rolled his shoulders into a nonchalant shrug. Eric's eyes hardened momentarily, before he turned his head towards Nikolaj.

"Were where you when it happened?" He spat. The muscles of his body tensed and he began shaking slightly, every control of his anger slipping slowly from his hands.

Nikolaj, though, returned his gaze with a bored look. He didn't seem to be interested in what Eric was going to spat at him furiously.

"Calm down," Shawn warned. "He is not to the one be blamed," he continued in a calming tone of voice.

"Then who is?" He shouted.

April flinched back at the sudden and harsh edge in her brothers voice. She sank deeper into the couch, startled when she saw the murderous expression on Eric's face.

"Stop shouting!" April jumped in. "It's no ones fault. It was just a stupid accident. You can't blame everything that happens on someone."

Eric just locked his jaw tightly in response. For the moment, she was just happy that he didn't retort. Having a discussion was one of the things she wanted to avoid.

"You cleaned the wound?" Eric asked.

He seemed slightly calmer now. His jaw wasn't locked anymore, but it was his eyes that held a sharp edge of anger that told her he was still furious.

"Yeah," Shawn murmured. "Cleaning the wound should be enough for now. The scratch wasn't exactly deep, though I don't know how much venom got into her blood." He frowned at her wound.

"What about the antidote?" Eric asked with a look of despair.

Shawn shook his head in response. "I'll check on her daily. All we can do now is to hope that her wound doesn't get worse."

An uneasy feeling crawled inside her. She hated that Shawn and Eric were completely ignoring her presence and talking about her freely.

What scared her the most, though, was that Shawn explained the possibility about her wound getting worse.

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It took me ages to complete this chapter. It's pretty short and I'm not really satisfied with it, but I'm glad i managed to finish this. Thanks for reading!