Diary of a Runaway (BOOK #3)

The Countdown

Ava

            The storm began to brew. The sun disappeared behind a fit of clouds, as if the Hunters and Originals had control over the weather itself. Maybe they did. My bet was on the Originals. They seemed to have more power in their pinky fingers than a human had in its greatest army.

            I found myself alone in a closed hardware shop with Derek where we awaited for the chaos to begin. We sat in silent--distracted by our wandering thoughts--on the stools behind the counter. Everyone else was off taking care of their own business. Somehow we had both found ourselves in here to be left with our minds.

            "You said you've run into Original vampires before," I remembered. "What happened?"

            Derek's expression remained unmoving, his eyebrows pulled together in their usual way. I realized now how much the expression aged him."They won."

            "Do you remember who they are?" I continued asking. I wanted to know as much as I could. So far the Originals seemed to be nothing short of fairytale characters. "What they look like? What they're capable of?"

            He glanced over at me, eyes wary. "Yes, they're powerful, Ava Sumner. Old and powerful and ruthless. And they always win. That's all you really need to know about them."

            After only a few weeks of knowing him, I could sense Derek's emotions. And right now, he seemed reminiscent and broken. The Originals had torn him in ways I could never imagine. He spoke out of experience, not out of a mere audience viewpoint.

            "Who'd they kill?"

            He sighed heavily, at first hesitant of launching into his story. But as usual, Derek was well with his words.

            'There were six of us--Madsen, Fiore, Michelson, Yang, and Kadnikov. and me. We were the Original Hunters. We all joined together--from across the world--to build a team that could defeat the creatures we now call vampires. The Original Vampires hated us and our mission to kill their offspring, so to speak. You see, just how we as Hunters have a code, so do they. They never intended to kill so many people and become these terrible, horror-movie monsters. They just wanted absolute power and the ability to live forever. They changed others in order to build a kingdom. Their others soon rebelled and gave into bloodlust. We as Hunter were created to stop them."

            "Why would the Originals be mad if you just wanted to help them keep their code?" I asked him. The whole thing seemed far past irrational to me. But from what I knew of the Originals they seemed to live up to Derek's words.

            Derek shrugged simply. "Your answer is as good as mine. They tracked us down and captured us. They didn't know much of our capabilities considering those we fought before were dead. They didn't know we could use magic. Imagine how surprised they were when they found out.

            "They ended up killing one of us--Elias Michelson. He had two children--not Hunters in the least. He was the oldest and the truest. He never laid a finger on anyone who didn't deserve it. And they slaughtered him right in front of us."

            "That's awful," I whispered, picturing the man's children crying and all of a sudden without a father. I knew little of mine. I could never really imagine him being a bigger part of my life. But I was sure losing a parent like that didn't ever leave you.

            "Yes, it was," he cleared his throat."The Originals said they knew we wouldn't stop killing vampires, and they didn't care. But if we ever got in the way of what they wanted again, there would be similar repercussions."