• “ Yes, you did. You really should have gone to see a doctor. But I’m glad your ok. I mean I can’t believe you just ran off like that.” Ash rattled on. “Ok, look. Yes, I was the one who jumped off the cliff yesterday. Thank you for saving me. But, I have to get going now.” I said turning to face him. I looked at him and thought that maybe I could trust this guy. I quickly pushed the thought from my head. ‘I can’t trust anyone. Any one of these people could try to kill me.’ I thought. We stood there for a few minutes longer, just looking at one another. There was a connection between us, that made me just want to tell him everything. But I didn’t. I don’t know why I had this connection with him, but for some reason it made me feel safe. I shook my head and whispered, “I have to go.” I turned away from him for the second time that day. I ran from him and didn’t look back. Tears began to well up in my eyes. “Wait. Come back. I can help you.” Ash shouted and began to run after me.
    I dashed in and out of trees trying to get away from him. His eyes reminded me too much of home. Of everything I’ve lost. My parents, my brother, everything I knew. His eyes looked exactly like my brothers, which looked like my dads. I couldn’t face it right then. I needed to concentrate on the mission at hand. I had to find Poppy. I was so busy trying to run from Ash, I forgot all about the hunters.
    I walked right into their trap. They had laid a net on the ground and covered it with the leaves. I should have noticed the rope, but I didn’t. It’s the oldest trap in the book and I fell for it. Next thing I know I’m hanging from a tree. I tried to reach up through the net to untie the rope, but I couldn’t reach it. I sat there for a few minutes thinking of how I was going to get out of this one. I realized I could cut out of the net with the knife in my boot. I reached for it, but found only its sheath. I looked down at the ground, and saw the knife directly below. ‘Great! I’m stuck. Think Thea. Think. There has to be a way to get out of this mess.’ I thought putting my head against my knees.
    “Thea! Thea! Where are you? Thea!” a voice shouted from a close distance. My head jerked up at the sound of his voice.
    “Ash! Ash, over here.” I shouted grabbing hold of the net. I tried to move myself into a kneeling position, but it was kind of hard. Ash came running through some trees underneath me. “Thea! Are you there?” he shouted cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice carry. He stood there silently, listening for my voice. “Hey. No need to shout. I’m right here.” I said looking down at him. He whirled around and looked up. “Thea?! What are you doing up there?”
    “Um… Well, it’s a long story. Can you get me down, please?”
    “Only if you won’t run away again. I don’t know why you’re running, Thea. But I can help you.”
    “I promise not to run. Now please get me down. My knife is right there.” I said pointing at the knife. “Use it to cut the ropes.” I pleaded.
    “Ok. But only because you promised.” Ash replied picking up my knife and heading for the ropes. “Thank you! You have no idea how much I appreciate this. You’re saving my life. Again.” I said. “Saving your life? I’m just getting you out of a net. The poachers would have set you free when they came to get their hunt.” He said cutting one of the ropes. I moved my legs under me, so I wouldn’t hurt myself when I landed.
    “Hurry! She ran this way!” someone shouted in the distance. “Hurry! They’ll be here any minute.” I said turning back to Ash. “Who’s coming? Thea, no body’s here but us.” he said turning away from the ropes to face me. “I can hear them. Hurry! I’ll explain everything later. I promise, but please get me down.” I begged. He returned to cutting the ropes, but faster this time. “Thea, what’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry?” Ash asked worriedly. “ I promise I’ll explain everything.” I said as Ash cut the last rope. The net gave way and I fell. I landed on my feet and caught my breath. “But first, we’ve got to get out of here.” I said grabbing his arm and running the opposite direction of the hunters.
    We didn’t run fast enough. The hunters caught up to us. One black haired man and his dog cut us off. I turned to go another direction but some other guy was there too. They had surrounded us. It was as if they were falling from the sky. Everywhere I turned they were there. “Thea, what’s going on? Who are these people? I don’t understand what’s going on. ” Ash said looking around at the hunters. His eyes were hugged and he smelled of fear. “Hey. Hey. Look at me. I won’t let anything happen to you. Ok. These people are the reason I’ve been running. They’ve been hunting me.” I said grabbing his shoulders, forcing him to look at me. “But I don’t understand! I have so many questions now.” He whispered clearly terrified. “I know and I’ll explain everything to you. I’ll answer all your questions. But right now, you have to trust me. Do you trust me?” I asked him. I couldn’t let him die too. He was just an innocent bystander. Ash didn’t get the chance to answer me because the man with the black hair grabbed Ash and held him in a head lock. “Hey, guys. I think we should make her suffer. Make her watch as we kill her friend.” He snarled looking at me with black penetrating eyes. His voice was deep and rough as sandpaper. ‘Not Ash. Not him too.’ I thought getting angry. “NO! He didn’t do anything! Please don’t hurt him.” I shouted and lunged for him. “Oh no you don’t.” someone said from behind me. He had grabbed my waist just I as lunged. “Let him GO.” I said and wriggled my way free of his grasp. Once I was free from his grasp, I turned around and landed a high kick on his nose. He stumbled backwards a few feet. His hands flew up to his face, and blood spurted from his nose. “You want me. You’ve got me. Now who’s first?” I asked as the rage began to build up inside me. Something flew at my head from the side and I ducked out of the way just in time. I turned to face the person who’d thrown the object. It turned out to be a girl with long brown hair. This was a surprise. Most of the hunters were men, angry because female vampires wanted very little to do with them. “So they finally let girls join the club. That’s a shocker.” I grinned as I walked toward her. “I- I- I’m not afraid of- of – of you.” The girl stuttered. “You’re not? Then, why are you stuttering? “ I asked. I made my eyes go ice cold and knew they betrayed no emotion at all. They girls eyes grew enormous in fear as she backed away. Finally she turned and ran into the woods. “So anyone else up for a little fun?” I asked turning back to the others. I looked at everyone in the circle, and noticed that their were several other girls there. All of them looking terrified out of their minds, while the men stood there looking brave, but still just as scared.
    “No? Then let him go and you can leave with your lives.” I said staring directly at the black haired man holding Ash. He released Ash looking at me with pure hatred. “Don’t think this is over. I’ll be back and I’ll kill you.” He snarled and pushed Ash toward me. I caught Ash in my arms and watched them retreat. “Ash. Are you ok? Are you hurt?” I asked helping him to his feet. “Who are you? Why are those people after you?” Ash asked near hysteria. He lurched himself away from me. “Ash, you know who I am. I’m Thea. Those people are after me because I’m different. Ash, I told you. I’m not like everyone else.” I sighed looking at the fear in his eyes.
    ‘Leave him. You’re a threat to him. He almost got killed because of you. You’re a danger to him and if you stay here you’ll get him killed. Leave him, before he dies because of what you are.” A voice whispered in my head. “Ash. I know you’re scared and I’m sorry for putting you through this. I’m going to leave. No one will get hurt this way. You’ll never see me again. I promise.” I whispered tears brimming in my eyes. I turned away from him so he wouldn’t see me cry. “No. Don’t be stupid. I promised I’d help you and I don’t break my promises.” Ash said suddenly calm. He grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me to face. He had a look of determination on his face. “ But…but you almost got killed because of me. I won’t let that happen again.” I shook my head refusing to think about what could have happened.
    “Hey. I’m here because I want to be. No one is forcing me to stay. Now I’m going to help you no matter what.” He said pulling me into a hug. . I let the tears spill over and hugged him back. “I barely know you and I already car about you so much. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I said sobbing. “I know the feeling.” He said holding me closer.
    We stood there holding each other for several minutes. I never wanted to let go. My sobs slowed to gasping breaths and eventually stopped all together. I silently vowed to never let him see me cry again. He shouldn’t have to see me like this. It wasn’t fair to him. I pulled away from him and wiped the few remaining tears from my eyes. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.
    “Ok. We might want to get out of here before they come back.” I said grabbing his hand. “You’re right. Never seeing those guys again would be seeing them too soon.” He said and laughed a little.
    We walked silently for a while, just happy that we both made it out of there alive. When, the sun set we found a small field to set up camp. It was about as safe as we were going to find in the middle of no where. He suggested we build a fire, but I said no because the smoke would alert the hunters to where we were.
    “How long have you been running?” Ash asked.
    “Only about a week.” I answered making myself comfortable on the ground. Well as comfortable as I could get.
    “What made you leave? Or what made you realize you had to run?” he whispered sprawling on the ground.
    “About a week before I began running, my brother and I started to receive death threats. They were sp vile and cruel, you couldn’t help but believe that someone was after you.” I took a deep breath, not sure of how to continue. “My brother, Clement, knew they had found us. He knew we couldn’t stay in out village any longer. He told me to pack my things that we were leaving. I didn’t understand, but I did as I was told. We were prepared to leave the next day. We were going to go to the family house on an island along the coast.” I stopped talking. The next part of the story was so painful for me.
    “But you’re not on an island along the coast. You’re here. I don’t understand what happened. Why are you here instead of at your house?” Ash asked lifting his head off his jacket, which he had balled up to use as a pillow. “Some things happened that kept me from making it to my house.” I answered, not really wanting to elaborate, knowing I would have to. “What kind of things happened? Did they like kill your whole family or something?” he asked, though the last half was meant as a joke. It was written on his face that he was joking. I flinched at his joke and turned away.
    I knew he was joking, but he didn’t realize how close to the truth he really was. I turned back to him and said, “Actually, yes. They did kill my family.” His eyes got really big in surprise and he sat up, not sure of what to say to me. “You don’t have to say anything. I mean it’s not like you caused it or any thing.” I whispered, blinking back the tears. I looked at a tree behind his head and remembered what I have tried so hard to forget.
    The day my parents died, we were at a lake on family vacation. It was a sunny, cloudless day. There was a light breeze that would ruffle you hair every now and then. The air smelled of animals, trees and murky lake water. We were all down by the lake playing volleyball. Me and my dad, versus Clement and my mom. My dad and I were ahead by one point. My stomach was beginning to growl, so I suggested we go inside and get something to eat. Everyone agreed.
    We thought we were alone in our house, but we were wrong. The hunters had hidden upstairs, waiting for the right moment to attack. My mom was first. She had gone upstairs to change into something cooler. When she didn’t come back down for lunch, I went upstairs to make sure she was ok. She was far from ok. Blood was everywhere. Her blood. Her throat had been slit, so she couldn’t scream. A stake had been thrust into her heart. I will never forget the look of horror and fear on her face. I screamed and turned to run downstairs to get my dad. Instead I ran into a man. He had black hair and eyes the color of blood. His eyes were filled with pure hatred. His face was contorted with anger. He had blood spattered clothes on, and a knife in his hand. I screamed again, knowing he would kill me next. He picked me up and threw me against a wall and yelled, “Shut up!”
    My vision went all red, then blue, then purple, and finally black.
    I woke up to the crunching of bones and a cry of pain. My dad had heard me scream and came to see what had scared me. He kicked the black haired man in the ribs so hard he flew backward and hit the dresser. He looked over at me and saw me looking at him. “Run Thea! Run! Get your brother and run as far from here as you can. Don’t wait for me. Just keep running until you feel safe. Never trust anyone. Never!” my dad shouted and ran toward the black haired man. I knew to listen to daddy/ I didn’t want to get into trouble for being disobedient. I ran downstairs and found Clement hiding in a closet. We ran until we couldn’t run anymore. We never saw our dad again.
    “Oh my god! That must have been so hard on you.” Ash said crawling toward me. I hadn’t realized I’d been speaking aloud. I was too lost in my memory. The tears were running freely down my cheeks now. Ash put his arms around me and whispered, “It’s ok. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I didn’t answer him, I didn’t know what to say. The last person that told me that, is dead now. He swore he wouldn’t let anyone hurt, and look where that ended up.
    I finally stopped crying and was able to push myself away from Ash. “Ash. When I tell you to duck. Duck.” I said hearing a sound in the tree behind his head. “What? What are you talking about?” he asked cocking his head to the side like a confused dog. I wondered if he was part dog or maybe even part wolf. But he didn’t show any signed of being either of them .While thinking all of this I was listening to the sounds coming from the tree. There was definitely someone up there. “Duck.” I said jumping from my place on the ground and into the tree. I looked around the tree only to find nothing. There was no one around. I don’t know who it was but they had gotten away. I couldn’t smell their scent. Whoever it was knew how to cover their tracks. I jumped out of the tree and landed about 2 feet from Ash. “False alarm.” I said sitting back down.