The Hunted Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: The Hunters

  Chapter Two: Across the sea

  Chapter Three: The Orphanage

  Chapter Four: Freaks

  Chapter Five: Bubbles

  Chapter Six: The Map Within

  Chapter Seven: Control

  Chapter Eight: All Hallows Eve

  Chapter Nine: Identity

  Chapter Ten: The Hunters

  Chapter Eleven:…

  The Hunted

  Book One of the Coven Series

  By

  Destiny Hawkins

  Chapter One: The Hunters

  This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening…not again.

  Running. Were we really back to this again? The wind was blowing through my cyan blue hair, my heart was pounding against my chest, and I felt my legs moving, but it still didn’t seem real. Not even the cut on my forehead, bleeding into my left eye, could convince me. It’s been over a year since we had to escape from the Hunters…since they broke our family apart, and now we’re running again.

  The sun was setting, but we could still somewhat see through the trees. Me and my little sister spent plenty of nights in the woods camping out and playing games, so even if we couldn’t see, we’d still know our way around. That was about the only advantage that we had against the Hunters. Our magic was still weak, so there was no point in trying to use it against them. If our entire coven was shredded to pieces by those assassins, then what good would an inexperienced sixteen and eleven-year-old do?

  I tightened my grip around Triana’s small hand, feeling it slip from mine. When I looked at her over my shoulder, I found her looking over hers. The fearful expression in her grey eyes warned me not to look back any further. She didn’t get to see the Hunters as clearly as I did the night that they attacked our coven. They were intimidating, and they were merciless.

  The Hunters were dressed in black cloaks, creating dark shadows over their unseen faces, and wore black leather pants with black combat boots to match. It wasn’t so much their attire that frightened me, but their determination to kill us. They used weapons like chains, whips, swords, and bow and arrows. It was rare to come across one with a gun, but some used those as well.

  “Triana,” my voice shook. “Keep running.”

  Triana whipped her head back around with strands of emerald green hair lashing over her chin. “But, Uncle Sam!”

  I clenched my teeth, recalling what he said to me before sending us off into the woods. We were in Triana’s bedroom on the first floor, hiding from the Hunters that’d just broken into our temporary home.

  Uncle Sam tightly clamped down onto my shoulders with worry reflecting from his wide blue eyes. “Find our coven.”

  I frowned in confusion, feeling as if I couldn’t breathe. My eyes kept going to the closed door behind him, anticipating the Hunters to kick it down. “But, our coven is―”

  “Raven, listen to me.” His eyes dropped down to Triana who was standing at my side, then he brought them back to mine. “Our coven isn’t broken. We always find our way back together. You just have to learn how to find them.”

  “Wh―what? How do I do that?”

  “I don’t have time to explain. You two need to go now. Out of the window.”

  The three of us stood in silence. Triana was whimpering at my side, and I stood there with my lips parted. Both of our eyes went to the golden door handle, watching as it slowly began to turn.

  “Uncle Sam?” Triana whimpered.

  Uncle Sam stood tall, turning his back to us. “You guys get out of here. I’ll come find you when I’m done with the Hunters.”

  My lower lip trembled. “We can’t just leave you.” I reached out to touch him, but right before I did the door was kicked open, followed by a black chain shooting at our uncle. Out of fear, Triana grabbed my hand, and with little control, I teleported us to the back woods.

  Teleportation wasn’t something that came easily to me, but it came in handy from time to time when I did. The night that our coven was attacked, I accidentally teleported Triana and me to the countryside of Georgia where we found our uncle. He wanted to live a human life away from witches and wizards, so he chose to live in solitude. Guess we ruined that for him on our arrival, but he showed us nothing but kindness on our stay here. It was almost like starting a new family.

  “They’re coming!” Triana cried, looking over her shoulder again.

  I couldn’t help but look this time. I counted four cloaked Hunters gaining ground on us with their weapons ready to strike.

  Why do they keep coming for us? What do they want?

  Something yanked on my arm and pulled me to a stop. My eyes widened when I thought that it was a Hunter, but I was relieved to find that it was only Triana. Something had caught her leg, causing her to fall onto the ground, and when I looked to see what, my heart sank. It was a whip wrapped around her ankle.

  Triana looked up at me with wide fearful eyes. I was frozen, not knowing what to do in our last moments of life. The Hunters were up on us faster than I would’ve expected, and from what I remembered, they were swift with their kills. They didn’t hesitate.

  Triana stared into my eyes, tears welling into hers. In my peripheral, I could see the Hunters readying their weapons, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I was too afraid. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  Right as the Hunters were about to come in for the kill, Triana’s grey eyes blackened. She whipped her head around to face the Hunters and raised her hand, pushing them back through the air with a force so strong that I felt the aftershock vibrate throughout my body.

  Triana held her hand out for a moment longer before dropping it to her side. I could feel a pull in the pit of my stomach and knew that I was going to teleport again, so I quickly grabbed onto her shoulders, and then we were gone.

  Chapter Two: Across the sea

  “What the bloody hell?”

  My eyes were shut tight, so I couldn’t see anything until I popped one eye open. In front of me was a teen girl about my age standing in the middle of the woods a few feet away from us. It was dark out, but I could see her clearly. She was thin with short black hair that stopped at her chin, had wide dark brown eyes and skin that was paler than mine in the presence of a Hunter.

  I stood frozen where I teleported with my hands still on Triana’s shoulders, too exhausted to run and too stunned to speak. The fact that a Normal had seen me teleport meant that there was a possibility that the Hunters could find us again. Teen Normals tended to post everything on social media and couldn’t keep their mouths shut. This girl would definitely get us caught for sure.

  “Who’s out there?” the girl asked, looking from left to right.

  Triana tilted her head back to look up at me in question. How could the girl not see us? We were standing only a few feet away from her, and yet, it was as if she were looking right through us.

  Oh, no…

  If my assumption was right, we were using our cloaking powers that enabled us to blend in with our surroundings. We were invisible to those that we didn’t want to see us, and although our accidental usage of this ability came in handy, our powers could attract the Hunters. The more power that we used, the better chance that they had of finding us.

  The girl shook her head and tossed a cigarette that she’d been holding, then walked out of the woods towards an open field. My eyes couldn’t see out too far, but I did notice the silhouette of a large building not too far from where we were.

  Triana slowly stood to her feet, careful not to make a sound. She turned to me and whispered, “What was she doing out here?”

  I blinked a few times, feeling my powers resign b
ack inside of me, and shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  Triana glanced back at the girl that was now too far to hear us. “Why does she sound like that?”

  I licked my lower lip, dreading what I was about to say next. “I think that we’re in Britain. Maybe, I’m not sure.”

  Triana sighed, looking down at her feet. “That’s pretty far from Uncle Sam. Do you think that he’s okay?”

  My stomach turned at the thought of our uncle. My last image of Sam was of him facing a Hunter. The chain that shot at him was fast, and he most likely couldn’t avoid it. I was sure that he was dead, especially since he stopped practicing magic in his early twenties, but I couldn’t tell that to Triana. She had already gone through enough trauma. “Uncle Sam knew a few tricks. I’m sure that he got away.”

  Triana gave a slight smile, warming me inside. Unexpectedly, she threw her arms around me, resting her head on my chest. There were no words that needed to be exchanged between the two of us, because we both understood one another. We both thought that the Hunters were going to succeed in killing us, but they didn’t. We had escaped them for a second time, living to see another day.

  ~ The Hunted ~

  My eyelids fluttered open to the sounds of leaves and sticks crunching under the weight of someone’s feet. At first, I feared that the Hunters had found us, but I didn’t think that black and blue tennis shoes were included in their uniforms, so I was slightly relieved.

  I slowly raised my head, feeling my neck crack from sleeping against a tree in a sitting position while Triana slept comfortably with her head in my lap, and I looked up at the handsome man standing before me. He had beautiful milk-chocolate colored skin with dark brown eyes and a curly top fade. I admired the blue dye at the tips of his hair as it fit him perfectly. He had to be at least eighteen years old, standing at a good six feet, and wore a pair of light blue jeans with a royal blue collared t-shirt to match his hair.

  “Hi…” I said breathlessly.

  Triana shifted, trying to get as comfortable as she could. “I’d like eggs with those pancakes…” she mumbled.

  The man drew his eyebrows together with a slight smile on his face. “Hi…”

  “Don’t forget…the syrup…” Triana mumbled again.

  The man and I both looked down at her and chuckled.

  “I would ask what you two are doing out here, but the answer would be too obvious.” His voice was deep, but handsome. “You do know that you’re on private property, right?”

  I shot my eyes back up at him with instant worry. Did he call the authorities?

  “Don’t worry, it’s okay,” he chuckled. “There’s no need to panic. You’re not in trouble.”

  Triana shifted again, flickering her eyes open to me, but then turned so that she could face the stranger standing a few feet away from us.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  The man pulled his eyebrows together. “You’re American?” When I didn’t answer, he cleared his throat. “Well, I’m sure that you know you’re in England, but you’re sitting on the private property of Alaina Jones. She owns an orphanage here. Look.” He pointed out of the woods towards the large building that I noticed last night. Now that I was really looking at it, it wasn’t a building, but a home. The kind of oversized mansion that’s shown on television, only this one was brown and resembled a well-kept haunted house. In the middle of the green field, it was actually beautiful. “That’s it over there.”

  I took a deep breath, slightly nudging Triana. She nodded and pushed herself to her feet, then I got to mine. “Well, thank you for not calling the authorities. We’ll leave now.”

  The man’s lips slightly parted as we turned to walk away. “Wait, hold on. Where are you two going to go?”

  I stopped and slid my hand into Triana’s, then pushed a few loose strands of hair behind my ear. “Not sure.”

  “Well, how about you both come back to the house with me? I can get you guys something to eat, and maybe even a spare change of clothes.”

  Looking down at myself, I noticed that my grey sweat pants were covered in mud from sleeping on the damp ground. My shirt also had blood stains from the cut on my forehead that would probably get infected if I didn’t have it cleaned soon.

  Triana squeezed my hand, silently telling me that she wanted to stay for a while. I sighed, knowing that I couldn’t possibly tell her no. She was hungry, and so was I.

  “Sure, but we can’t stay long.”

  The man furrowed his brows. “Great umm…”

  “Raven, and this is Triana. What’s your name?”

  “Felix.”

  Chapter Three: The Orphanage

  Walking through the front door, a warm sensation rolled up my arms, and then over my entire body. It felt as if a weight was just lifted from my chest, enabling me to breathe again. I had the feeling that Triana was experiencing this same sensation after she sighed and rolled her shoulders. She looked up at me with wonder in her eyes but refrained from making a comment.

  “This way,” Felix said, walking towards a hallway with brown walls.

  “Where are all the kids?” Triana whispered.

  I frowned and stopped a few feet away from the entrance of the mansion. To my left was a large entrance to what looked like a library, and to my right was the entrance to a large living room. In a few feet away from us were a set of wooden steps that led to the second floor, and on the right of that was the hallway that Felix wanted us to follow him through.

  The mansion seemed to be very homelike and big enough to fit a large group of kids inside of it, so where were they? Back at the coven, the kids there made plenty of noise by laughing, stomping, playing, and arguing, but here, there were no sounds being made at all. Maybe this wasn’t an orphanage? Maybe Felix just said that to lure us here.

  Felix stopped halfway through the hall that looked as if it led to the kitchen and turned around. “Is everything okay?”

  I stared at him for a moment, trying to read him, but there was nothing that could be read. “Where are all the children? You said that this was an orphanage.”

  Felix’s eyebrows furrowed. “Oh, now I see the problem. Don’t worry, they’re just out right now. It’s the weekend, so Ms. Jones allowed them to go out to the city with the staff as chaperones. It’s kind of like one big field trip for them, only in separate groups.”

  I gave a slow head nod, but still wasn’t convinced. We’ve been through enough already and didn’t need to add kidnapping to our list of horrible things that’s happened to us. “I think my sister and I will just be leaving. Sorry for wasting your time.”

  Felix’s smile slowly faded, but his kind demeanor still remained. “Wait, don’t leave. Let me just go and get Ms. Jones. I’d feel bad if I let you guys leave without food and clean clothes.” Felix walked back towards us but headed for the steps. “Just wait right here. If she doesn’t make you two feel safe, then I’ll understand if you still want to leave.” He quickly ran up the steps, skipping a few in the process, then disappeared down one of the halls.

  Triana sighed, letting her shoulders drop. “Are you really going to make us leave? That guy seems really willing to help us.”

  “That’s what worries me. We’re complete strangers. Why would he want to help us?”

  Triana shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he thinks we’re orphans too?”

  I shook my head. “Come on, before he comes back.”

  “But Raven, where else do you think we’ll find help like this? We’re in England. We don’t know anything about here, and besides…It’s comfortable here. Let’s just see what the lady has to say.”

  Yeah, if he comes back with a lady and not a weapon.

  “If he’s dangerous, then…” Triana leaned in close and whispered. “I’ll blow him away.”

  I sighed. “You don’t even know how you did it the last time, do you?”

  Triana sucked in her lips with furrowed brows.

>   “Exactly.” I started to turn back towards the door when I heard the sound of heels walking towards us.

  “Where’d you find them?” a young woman’s voice echoed.

  “Out in the woods when I was starting my walk,” Felix answered. “They were sleeping in the mud.”

  A woman in about her early thirties emerged from the hall wearing a black pencil skirt with a yellow blouse and black heels to match. Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun, like she didn’t have time to put any effort into it this morning. Looking over the railing, she offered a warm smile before pushing her black-rimmed glasses up her nose with her index finger.

  “She looks pretty,” Triana mumbled.

  Seeing Ms. Jones did help remove some of my skepticism about Felix, but I still couldn’t just let myself be easily convinced. I was a witch with my baby sister to look after, and since we were on the run, I couldn’t let my guard down.

  Felix stepped around Ms. Jones and started walking down the steps.

  “Hello,” Ms. Jones said, following behind him.

  “Hi,” I said, watching the two of them with caution.

  When they both got to the bottom of the steps, they walked towards us.

  “Felix told me that he found you guys sleeping outside?” Ms. Jones asked. Stopping in front of us, I could see that her kind eyes were a light shade of brown.

  “Um…” I clenched my teeth, not knowing how to respond. “Yeah…”

  Ms. Jones sighed, still continuing to smile. “Well, how long have you two been out there? This property is a long way from the city.”

  “One day,” Triana blurted.

  Ms. Jones shot up an arched brow and chuckled. “Then I guess you two are fast travelers.”

  I sighed. “Something like that. So, is this really an orphanage? There are no kids here.”

  Ms. Jones nodded. “Ah, I would be cautious if I were you too. Never know who’s out there to get you, but I can assure you that there’s nothing to worry about. Whatever you two may have been running away from, you won’t find here. The two of you are safe on my property.”