✙ Chapter 16 ✙

Hey!

Finally an update! Wut wut! I hope you enjoy this chapter! No cliff hanger this time ;) Oh, and R.I.P. Paul Walker - Fast & Furious will never be the same without you. :( So, tell me what you think of this chapter! I hope it's not too bad! :)

~ Lissa

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited: 12/29/14

Shortly after discovering my family had declared war, I took another shower, ate a quick sandwich, and flopped down on Drew's bed with the book about the Volkov brothers. Drew was occupied in the basement, along with other werewolves, cleaning up after the full moon. Since I wasn't capable of being anywhere without a babysitter, Hulk was standing near the door, his arms folded across his chest. His eyes were skimming the room, pausing on me every once in a while, and his breathing was heavy, which was extremely annoying. He was wearing a loose t-shirt with baggy jeans while an ugly scowl rested on his face. To be honest, I was relieved it had been Hulk who was assigned to watch me; he was quiet. He didn't ask any questions, like why I was flipping through this book rather than escaping.

Laying on my stomach, I flipped the page, silently reading the smallest paragraph.

'After suffering through the first full moon, the brothers realized the pain and torment they were bound to live from that night. They sought out the witch who had cursed them, Adelia, and pleaded for her to remove the curse. She refused and pointed towards her son's grave outside her home - she claimed she only revealed the monstrous side of them, that she didn't make them into monsters. Angry, Ryker ended up killing the witch and afraid that her coven was going to avenge her death, he murdered them too, despite his brothers' warnings. As soon as the village discovered the multiple deaths, they planned on hunting the brothers down by first breaking into their home. Inside, they captured their mother and ended up slicing her throat for bringing demons into the world. When the brothers saw their mother's lifeless body hanging in the center of the village, they hid among the trees until the next full moon.

'Outraged, when the full moon had returned, they slaughtered the entire village. The small area went up into flames and their home, their mother, everything - burned away. The next morning, the brothers decided to split-up, resulting in them disappearing altogether'.

I flipped through some more pages until stopping on one with Caine's name in bold letters at the top.

'Caine Volkov was the oldest of the brothers. He carried leadership, skill, and bravery, although he was known to be sneaky and untrustworthy. He often lied and betrayed others, mainly to receive his desires. After burning down his village, several people claimed to have spotted him in the upper north, carrying around a sword drenched in blood. Some believe the witnesses were lying and he was only part of their imagination while others think differently. Caine was considered a warrior; he always wanted to be the first one jumping into battle. People claimed the bloody sword was a sign since he was always sword sparing against his father. But, years and years passed - and there were less sightings of him.

"Warrior," I whispered, flashing back to Caine's words in the forest. According to him, I had looked like a warrior with my injuries. Hearing my whisper, Hulk narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to one side.

"What did you say?"

I cleared my throat. "Um, nothing."

Skeptically, he turned his attention towards the closed window on the opposite side of the room. On the next page, Ryker's name was in bold letters at the top.

'Ryker Volkov was the second child out of the three. Like his father, he was temperamental, impulsive, and dangerous. He was feared among people and word traveled around that if you had spotted him, it was bad luck - surely you were supposed to die soon. While Caine had killed the witch's son, accusing fingers pointed more towards Ryker since he had created the majority of the mess. He had murdered the witch and slaughtered her coven, resulting in the village retaliating. It's believed that he decided to break away from his brothers in guilt and grief, blaming himself for his mother's death.'

I nibbled on my bottom lip and flipped the page, finding myself skimming Ethen's summary.

'Ethen Volkov was the youngest brother. He was known to be intelligent, fair, and creative as he was an aspiring writer. Supposedly, he was the hesitant one when it came to hurting people. He was always trying to talk his brothers out of trouble, especially Ryker. But, no matter what situation, he was loyal to his brothers and put them before himself. After he split from them, he wasn't seen by anyone; there weren't any sightings. Apparently, he managed to camouflage himself and was the first one to be claimed nonexistent.'

"So, if Caine exists," I whispered, squinting at the pages. "His brothers have to, right?"

"Are you talking to me?" Hulk blurted, confused.

I shook my head. "No, ignore me."

I thought about the brothers for a moment, realizing how difficult things were going to be. Caine was hovering around, claiming to protect me, though according to the book, he was sneaky and untrustworthy. He could've had a different motive for all I knew. After receiving my answers, I desired to kill him, especially after everything I had read in the pages. Obviously, I needed to be careful since he was skilled and there was also the possibility he possessed dark magic. In my mind, he was going to be the easiest to kill - after all, Ryker seemed to be the murderous one and Ethen was an expert at hiding. For a moment, I really thought that I was out of my mind for planning to kill the three oldest werewolves around. I rubbed my forehead and released a quiet moan, receiving a strange look from Hulk.

"Is something wrong?" Hulk questioned, curiously.

I pinched my lips together. "I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to kill someone." Or, three people, I thought, thinking about Caine's brothers.

"You know, you can't kill Drew because - "

"Not him," I interrupted, rolling my eyes. "I-I need to see him again."

"Drew is busy cleaning the basement."

"Not him," I groaned, shaking my head. I needed to speak with Caine and get the answers I was looking for, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to kill him. The unanswered questions would've drove me insane; I ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath. "How am I going to get him here?" Hulk watched me in confusion, his lips twisted. I thought about it for a long moment until it occurred to me that Caine was apparently protecting me. He had came to my rescue when I was being chased by the red-eyed werewolves, which I still didn't know anything about, so if I was in danger, he had to come to my rescue again, right? "He has to come. . ."

"Drew's probably almost done."

I closed my eyes, telling myself to ignore him. I started flipping through the pages, heading towards the back of the book. The majority of the paragraphs spoke about their village, survivors, and other things that weren't useful to me. I was hoping there were answers to my questions in the book rather than me speaking to Caine himself. I stopped on a page with various swords and weapons doodled in the corners, reading the paragraph silently to myself.

'During the slaughtering of their village, multiple people fought, but no one was able to seriously harm one of the brothers. Silver didn't harm them - the village was surprised when all their injuries miraculously healed. The Volkov brothers were known to be invincible, untouchable.'

I gulped loudly, wondering how in the hell I was supposed to kill them. If the book was truthful, silver didn't harm them - my arrows weren't any use. I continued reading, ignoring Hulk's suspcious gaze. 'It's believed when the Volkov brothers unite, danger is among the world. People claiming to be witches have seen visions, ones of the brothers standing together, swords in their hands and blood splattering their clothes. While the brothers supposedly disappeared for their safety, some fear they'll come together one day and seek revenge on those who dare to fight against their kind.'

"Hunters," I muttered, understanding. Hulk watched me, though kept his mouth shut, thankfully. What if Caine hadn't been protecting me? What if he was waiting for the opportunity to kill me? But, he could've killed me last night, I thought, a mild headache appearing. And, if he was around, did that mean his brothers were too? Had they already united? What if the book was complete bullshit? Frustrated, I slammed the book closed and carefully, crawled off the bed to my feet. I smoothed the wrinkles in my borrowed shirt and looked at Hulk, tiredly. "Do you have a phone?"

"I'm not allowed to give you one."

"I have to call my family," I said, approaching him. "You don't understand - this is important." Not only were there red-eyed werewolves running around, but there was a possibility that everyone was in danger from the Volkov brothers.

He shook his head. "I can't."

I glared at him and exhaled loudly, mocking him by folding my arms across my chest. "Fine, then take me to Brody."

* * *

Brody was seated in the kitchen, plopping grapes into his mouth. I was relieved that he wasn't hanging with anyone; his eyes were strained on the small television on the counter where a cartoon was playing. Hearing my approaching footsteps, he scratched his head and looked my direction. A smile stretched onto his face at the sight of me, but it quickly disappeared when he spotted the book in my hands. He dropped another grape into his mouth, eyes wide, and shook his head. "Oh no."

I looked over my shoulder at Hulk. "Can you stand outside the kitchen?" He gave me a look and I rolled my eyes, squeezing the book tighter to my body. "I won't escape; I have Brody here." He huffed, obviously not thinking Brody was capable of controlling me - which he wasn't - but he turned around and left the kitchen in silence. Ignoring Brody's terrified look, I took a seat on one of the stools next to him, flipping open the book towards the last few pages. "Did you read this entire book?"

"Yeah, years ago," he said, his voice shaky. "I'm not helping you kill the Volkov brothers, if they're alive."

"I'm not asking that," I lied, shaking my head. "Well, do you remember reading the part about how the brothers will unite and kill anyone who fights against their kind? I don't know, maybe hunters?" My words came out harsher than I had expected and he flinched.

"We don't know if that book is true," he said, picking off another grape. "And, you said that you only saw Caine, not his brothers."

"But, they can still be around," I argued, pointing towards the page. "What if he's not protecting me? What if he's waiting to kill me?"

"Why would he wait?"

"I don't know!" I responded, exasperated. "More unanswered questions." I released a groan and he shrugged, shoving some more grapes into his mouth. "Do you want me to prove that Caine exists?"

Chewing, Brody answered, "Maybe - what if he kills us?"

"Think positive," I said, lightly. "Now, supposedly, he's protecting me, right? To keep that whole act, he has to appear when I'm in danger."

"I don't think I like where this is going. . . "

"Okay, I need your help," I told him, almost pleadingly. "I need you to attack me and I'll pretend that I'm dying - Caine should show up." With grape juice sliding down his chin, he shook his head with wide eyes. "And, when he does, we'll trap him."

"Trap the oldest guy around?" Brody blurted, disbelief on his face. "Trap the guy who has dark magic? Trap the guy who has gained enough restraint to not shift on the full moon?" He laughed, though it wasn't because he was amused. "You're crazy."

I scowled at him. "I'm not crazy."

"Delusional."

"Brody!" I snapped, despising his lack of faith in me. "I'm pretty there is a knife in here that I can stab you with." He swallowed loudly and looked away from me, his attention shifting towards the small television on the counter. "I need answers, so that I can kill him, before he and his brothers unite to kill me."

"That book could be lying."

"And, what if it isn't?"

He hesitated. "I'm not hurting you."

"You're seriously not going to take the opportunity to kick a hunter's ass?" I questioned, confused. "You've realized I've killed several members of this pack, right?"

"I don't like violence."

I groaned. "Great."

After attempting to convince Brody into kicking my ass, which was a complete fail, I returned to the bedroom where I found Drew. He was relaxing on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. Seeing him, Hulk turned away and disappeared down the hallway, leaving me in the hands of Drew. Stepping into the room, I placed the book on the nearest dresser and slowly, approached the bed. I watched his chest slowly rise, then fall as he breathed deeply. Seeing my shadow, his blue eyes flickered my direction, a small grin coming onto his face. "Look who it is - what have you been doing?"

"Talking to Brody," I answered, honestly. I bit my bottom lip and hesitantly, walked to the other side of the bed. He seemed surprised when I decided to relax next to him, feeling my body sink into the mattress beneath me. While the mate-pull had wanted me to lye next to him, I only did because I wanted to be off my feet and give my injuries more rest, especially my stitched thigh. He cleared his throat and shifted on the bed, thankfully not daring to touch me. "Have you heard anything else about my family?"

"About the war?" he asked, receiving a silent nod from me. "No, I haven't."

"Maybe if you let me call - "

"No," he interrupted, bluntly. "That's not happening."

I gritted my teeth together. "There can't be a war."

"I know."

"This is all a big mess," I muttered, thinking about my revengeful family and the Volkov brothers. I couldn't believe all of it was happening in such a short period of time. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

That made two of us.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top