Chapter 31.

Hunt had been unaware someone had managed to call for an ambulance, the sirens startled him a few minutes after as he tried to leave with Suna in his arms, he didn't hesitate to leave her where they would see her and slink back in his shadows so they could help her.

She was still breathing, she could heal, even though it would be at a remarkably slow rate.  There was still hope.

The streets and people around were already in a panic about the unnamed and dangerous creature that had been seen running around but Hunt was sure the council would find a way to bury it all up.
The panic had fortunately cleared the streets and made most of them run away.



He had to find some clothes, and quick. It was one of the reason he hated shifting in the city, his lack of clothes after shifting back unsettled him.

He easily broke into a nearby apartment and stole some clothes, the owner was absent. Unfortunately, the clothes were much smaller in size but he would just have to manage them. He washed Suna's blood off his hands and face and rushed to the hospital.

When he got to the hospital he planned to find a way to call his brother. And Candy, with her being ill, he felt guilty leaving her alone.

But there was still so much he didn't know, about the victim, if they were safe or not and why there was so much blood, Suna's and someone else's as well. Someone human.



The hallways had as much personality as the rest of the hospital. The floor was slate grey and the walls dove. Above the ceiling was made from those polystyrene squares laid on a grid-like frame. The light was too bright for Hunt's tired eyes after the darkening gloom outside, he found it abrasive, enough perhaps to bring on one of his migraines after shifting.

There were commercial prints on the wall, tasteful in the dull kind of way. And the hospital atmosphere was annoyingly gloomy.

He was able to find a nurse who told him about his beta. He was able to learn that she had been taken to the ER and undergoing surgery at that very moment. He was also very lucky that the nurse recognised him as a candidate for Mayor and so recovering Suna's phone and the rest of her personal effects was easy, as long as he didn't leave the hospital with it.

The first person he called was his brother Ruhn. Ruhn picked up on the third ring.

"Damn it Ruhn! What the hell happened out there?"

Hunt barked into the phone and Ruhn started murmuring incorrigibly.

"I gave her an order! I told her to stand down until I was there, why didn't she listen! What is wrong with all of you!"

"Calm down! Just calm down! Where the hell are you? And how is Suna?"

"St Joseph's Memorial, Suna's in surgery and she's badly injured. What the hell happened?"

"Oh fuck!"

"It's that stupid Thompson, the minute Suna's men confirmed that he was out of the protection program they told Suna and she was rushing down there before she even called you. I followed her too. We were about to leave when the demon arrived."

"What? How did that happen?"

"I don't know... But whoever summoned it was very angry that we ruined it's plans. It attacked Thompson's mistress and Suna had to step in. Then, she told my to run with Thompson and I did."

"Besides, his mistress was badly hurt. I had to take her to the hospital first. Before ensuring Thompson was safe."

"How is she? Is she going to make it?"

There was a short pause on the line and Hunt took that as a no.

"Her chances are slim."

Hunt sighed.

What a fucking mess!

He thought as he massaged his temple.

"Is Thompson back in the protection program?"

Ruhn nodded.

"Yes, but I'm not sure how safe it'll be for much longer."

"We'll discuss this later. Has the council been notified?"

"Yes, they're having a emergency meeting. I think a few people are starting to report that they saw strange creatures at the crime scene."

Hunt rolled his eyes, he was not bothered.

The council had it way of silencing people, by morning the news would have vanished into thin air.

"I'll update you later. About Suna."

"Good. I hope she makes it."

"I hope so too."

He was about to drop the call when a thought popped into his head. He still had to call Candy.

Asking his brother to check up on her might be a little too much.

He told himself as he murmured.

"See you later."



After a back and forth argument with a doctor for a couple of minutes about how he was related to Suna, he was finally allowed to see her.

And it wasn't the prettiest of sights.

She looked battered. And bruised. but she was wide awake. The beeping machines next to her and all the bandages around her chest and head was a frightening sight.

"Are you healing?"

Hunt asked softly and Suna mustered a smile.

"I should think I am. Or else I'll be dead."

She croaked out slowly.
Hunt smirked, he was glad she at least still had her sense of humour.

"Is Thompson safe?"

She asked and Hunt nodded, he took the seat next to her bed, closely monitoring her every feeble move.

"The mistress?"

She asked and he shrugged.

Ruhn had mentioned that she was badly injured, so he didn't know if she would make it or not.

"She's in bad shape."

Suna nodded her head slowly, groaning in agony as she attempted to sit up.

"I think you should stop moving so much. It'll hurt less."

He advised and she stopped. She looked frustrated and in pain. He understood how she felt.

It was the feeling of loss, failure.

"Do you remember what you happened?"

He asked and she sighed, staring at the ceiling sadly.

"Yes..."

"Why did you go after it? I gave you clear and specific orders not to."

"I had to... It was the only way I was sure I'd catch the demon."

"Well.... So far you've only ended up getting yourself hurt! So how's that working for you?"

He retorted and Suna rolled her eyes.

"Oh stop. I managed to find out one thing though."

"What?"

"Whoever is summoning the demon, it was there. This night."

"Did you see who it was?"

"No, I didn't. It was waiting outside. I caught a glimpse of it on the roof when the demon was chasing me. When I was in the alley and I was hurt, the demon went back, it went back. I guess that was when you saw it and chased it tight back to me."

"Why did it go back?"

"Did it have something to do with whoever summoned it?"

"I believe it did."






Everything was blurry. For a second, Lacey couldn't tell where the hell she was. She rubbed at her eyes as she slowly sat up, the room was different. Everything was.

"Where the hell am I?"

She thought out loud as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Her head was pounding. The pain, it didn't leave. She thought as she sighed heavily.

She must have been kidnapped. The room she was in was almost empty, devoid of colour and life. It had only a small bed with pristine white covers and a small bedside drawer. Nothing else except for the closed window panes and a closed closet door.

She was also in a dress. She could have sworn that she was in her nightwear trying to manage her fever and headache, till everything had happened.

Aidas?

Where was Aidas?

Hunt?

Nowhere to be found.

She started walking towards the door, but the floor boards were so damn creaky she had to stop at a point.

Not to mention that her feet also felt very wobbly.

What the hell is going on with me?

She mumbled as her hands started to shake, almost as if she was losing feeling in them.

Her knees gave out and she fell clumsily on the floor. The numbness in her hands happened to be spreading to had arms and forearms

"Help!"

She feebly called out as the numbing feeling continued to spread faster. Her head, it felt like it was going to explode.

What was the pain she was feeling?
And why was she feeling it?

She asked herself as she shuddered.


The door opened slightly, just when Lacey was blinking back hot tears.
The pain in her head was worse than anything she had ever remembered.

A figure in a heavy dark cloak walked towards her. Lacey didn't look up from the floor but she felt something about the cloak was familiar.

Like the nightmare she had.

She looked up slowly, but the figure was so heavily veiled underneath the red cloak looked like she could barely see a thing, just like the nightmare she had.

She opened her mouth but words failed to come out, at that precise moment someone else came in. A woman in a dark red leather body suit and black high boots.

Oh, Lacey would never forget her face.

Not when it was the last thing she saw before she blacked out

The face of the woman who bit her.

Azure.

The cloaked figure moved even closer to her and Lacey crawled away from her, the numbing sensation had spread to her legs. She didn't want to appear weak by standing up and wobbling.

"Who are you?"

She questioned and Azure smirked.

The cloaked figure slowly removed the hood of her cloak and Lacey gasped when she saw how strikingly beautiful and wearily familiar the woman was.

"Well... That's no way to say hello to your mother is it?"