Predator l 24

Instead of thinking too much about his tragic past, she pushed these thoughts temporary to the back of her mind. The last thing she wanted was him to notice her sudden sadness. It irked her that it was out of her reach to unchain him from his misery.

Leaning back against the seat, April sipped at her cold drink and eyed him intensely. It came to her notice that Nikolaj obviously had a weakness for fries. She watched him eating his second plate of fries, while she, on the other hand, was still chewing on her first burger and was already too full to eat the rest. It was amusing to watch.

After finishing their food and paying, they left the diner in a comfortable silence. Until know, April didn't even realize how late it actually was. She had lost all track of time. The sun already vanished from the sky above them and instead, it was the darkness that was stretched over them.

Even Nikolaj glanced up to the sky, his posture oddly stiff. Every muscle of his body seemed to tense in an instant. Eyes turned into dangerous slits, he glared at nothing and nowhere in particular.

She studied his face. Something was bothering him. "Are you alright?"

"No," he responded gruffly. He briefly glanced at her, a dangerous storm raging in his eyes as he went on, "We need to leave. Now." He grabbed her hand and fastened her pace, causing her to almost stumble over her own feet.

She was startled by the sudden change of his behavior. "Why? What's wrong?" April spluttered, not quite understanding why he wanted to leave out of a sudden.

Nikolaj was walking too fast. If not for the grip on her hand, she wouldn't have been able to keep up with him. April was already panting heavily, sweat forming on her forehead as they run towards her car.

It didn't even surprise her anymore when Nikolaj choose to remain silent and not answer her. After all, this was what he always did. Something was definitely wrong. The grip around her hand tightened as he lead her to the parking space.

Curious glances of humans followed their steps as Nikolaj practically dragged her through the parking space. April was too overwhelmed with worry and panic to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed to be watched by unfamiliar pairs of eyes. Right now, she couldn't care less.

Once sitting inside the car, April started the engine with tremor in her hands. The silence was killing her and she was already scared enough. She saw it in his eyes, something was certainly wrong.

The fact that Nikolaj still hadn't uttered a word to explain what was going on made the whole situation even worse.

"Can you please enlighten me what's going on?" She then asked, casting him a sidelong glance.

He sat stock-stiff next to her, eyes fixed on the road. "It's full moon."

She frowned. "I don't understand. You're talking in riddles." Her knowledge on the werewolf mythology was very small, since she never researched it, but there was one thing about them she knew. It was almost considered as common knowledge and when realization dawned on her, she visibly paled.

"Oh god," she whispered in a small voice. "Don't tell me you turn during full moon?"

"No, not I," he answered grimly. "The turned ones do."

The turned ones? Nothing he said made sense to her. It only confused her even more. "You mean they turn on every full moon?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "They crave blood when the moon rises."

Her stomach was in knots. What was happening to Eric, her brother? "But.. my brother is a turned one."

He didn't respond. He didn't have to. She didn't understand everything, but she understood enough to know that her brothers situation shouldn't be taken lightly. None of this shouldn't be taken lightly.

"What does it mean for Eric? What will happen to him?" She asked, even though she was too afraid to hear his answer. These was one of the things she didn't want to know, but she had to.

"He will turn. He will go mad and lose his mind, crave for blood and death."

A violent shudder run down her spine. She almost didn't dare to ask, "Is that what he will do? Running around Rosewood and massacre everyone who crosses his paths?" She couldn't even imagine him doing all these horrid things.

"He will be chained. The same place where the fights are."

The bar? She thought. She couldn't remember seeing chains or anything down there. That means there must be another room, a hidden part of the basement.

Even now his voice sounded drained from emotion, just as he held held his face blank. If April was nothing but a stranger, she would have thought that he didn't care at all, that it didn't even bother him a bit.

"I.. I didn't know all of that," she whispered, mostly to herself. But then again, why was she even surprised? No one was truly ready to tell her anything. April didn't know if she should feel angry that no one bothered to tell her about this small but fine detail, or if she should feel scared that the turned ones need to be chained.

"That is why we differ between born Lycans and the turned ones. They carry a curse with them," he explained in a deep voice, his accent thick.

Whenever April expected to see a range of emotions crossing his face, she was proofed the opposite. There wasn't even a hint of anger or fear. Nothing.

Even now his voice sounded drained from emotion, just as he held held his face blank. If April was nothing but a stranger, she would have thought that he didn't care at all, that it didn't even bother him a bit.

She shuddered. As if being anything else than human wasn't already a curse. She'd already experienced first hand how dangerous these creatures can be, but know she realized that maybe, it was even worse than she thought.

Even though Nikolaj explained the situation to her, there was one thing that still confused her. "If everyone is going to be chained.. Why are we running away?"

"I need to bring you home," he spoke, his narrowed eyes never leaving the road. She assumed he was deep in thoughts. "Someone is turning humans in Rosewood. They hide and rise during the full moon."

If her hands weren't occupied with the steering wheel, she would have used them to rub her face in frustration. Everything got worse and worse and she caught herself slightly regretting to ever have set her foot set into this crazy town.

She wanted to escape her old life, for what? To end up in a crazy town where half of the people weren't even human. If she compared her old life with the new one she got in this town, she realized that her problems back home were nothing compared to this mess.

But who would turn humans into monster? What could that person possibly gain from doing something so stupid? Nothing made sense to her. Something was missing, but she didn't know what.

The rest of the drive was filled with strained silence where none of them seemed in the mood of talking. There was nothing left to say, anyway. April tried to clear her mind from the many thoughts that were swirling through her head. Her mind was a mess.

The mere image of her brother being chained to keep him from ripping someones throat out with his fangs or claws was disturbing. There were no other words to describe this madness.

April slowly began to recognize the streets again, there were back in Rosewood. She was lost too deep in the chaos of her thoughts that the time went by like a blur.

"Stop the car," Nikolaj suddenly demanded, startling her. His voice almost made her jump out of her skin.

"What?" She asked unsure.

"Drop me off and drive home."

"No way. Are you crazy?" She answered almost angrily. She looked perplexed, surprised he would even say something like that. Was he trying to get himself killed this night? "You're coming with me. Now's not the time for a walk."

Nikolaj growled, the simple sound scared her to no end as it was echoing through the small car. "Stop now," he repeated again, but this time in another tone, in a more frightening one.

Reluctantly, she pulled over to the side, halting the car in the mud and studying him with wary eyes. When she watched him, she wasn't sure what frightened her the most- his furious growl or the anger that crossed his face. His jaw was locked so tightly, his hands turned into heavy fists. Nikolaj was furious.

April followed his gaze very slowly. She already knew that whatever she was about to see wouldn't be a pleasant sight. She drew in a harsh breath, hoping her eyes were only playing a very bad joke on her.

April watched them slowly stepping on the road, leaving the shadows behind. The dim headlight of the car pierced through the darkness, lightening whatever stepped on the road, not too far from them. And it wasn't a deer.

There was one thing Nikolaj failed to mention during their conversation: These creatures didn't look like the Lycans she'd seen so far.. they looked like something entirely different. Like monsters.

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I was really hesitant to post this. I want to know what you think of this chapter. And please vote if you enjoyed this chapter. :) Thank you all for reading.