In Between Seasons (The Fall) (6 page)

“Hunter, you’re not a beast
,
and
I will never be able to see you that
way no matter what you tell me,” I clarified,
my breath catching in my throat
and
the words coming out breathless.

“Why?”

I bit my lip
and
looked away, “You’ll never understand what you saved me from.”

“I could Ka
te, if you would only let me in,” he pushed
,
and
our eyes met again as
his
other hand went to my face. I jumped away before the heat of his palm could set in
,
as I heard the basement door open.

“Did I
interrupt something?” Collin asked,
his
glasses rising as he looked between Hunter and I.

“Err…no
,
not at all,” Hunter answered,
his voice deepening.

“Right, well Kate here
is
some spare clothes for you. It’s nothing special, my wife is a graphic tee
and
jeans only type of gal,” he explained,
handing me the stack of clothes.

“As long as
it’s clean I really don’t care,” I responded with a smile, but my heart still seemed
to be in my throat.

“Collin
,
you forgot th
e under garments I have for her,
”
Victoria announced,
com
ing down the stairs,
“No doubt you did it on purpose
because you’re afraid to touch them even though you have no problem taking them off me.”

“Well, this just went from embar
rassing to mortifying,” Collin commented,
his arms crossed in discomfort.

“What
do you mean?” s
he questioned before seeing
how close Hunter
and
I still were,
“Oh, well, we, we’re going to make some dinner
and
be back down in a little bit. Feel free to clean those clothes you have from the trip Hunter. You know where the spare clothes we have for you are. We don’t usually have women come so that’s why I had to get you some of my clothes Kate.
Good thing we’re the same size,” s
he said
,
and
Collin nudged her, “Right—
y
es, dinner. I bet you
’
r
e
starving.
I’ll get on that. Help me Collin?”

He nodded his head
and
followed her up the stairs. Hunter was already lifting a floor board
and
taking out boxers
and
a pair of clean jeans. He looked up at me as if our conversation had never happened
,
and
it felt as though my heart was a bas
eball he had just slammed a
home
run
with
straight
out of my chest.

“There’s a shower in there.
Do y
ou want to go first or should I?”
he asked.

“You
’
r
e
half undressed anyways
,
so
you can go first,
” I
snapped,
walking over to the bed
and
laying on it.
I was angry that he would act as if nothing had just happened.

“Kate,” Hunter said as he opened the door to the bathroom. I looked over my shoulder, “Why won’t you talk about yourself?”

“There’s nothing much to say.”

His lips pursed in a solid line,
“There was nothing much for me to say
,
and
I still said it because I knew you wanted to hear it.”

“You haven’t asked any qu
estions that I haven’t answered.”

“If you say so,” he replied,
turning into the bathroom
and
shutting the door.

I was beginning to understand how Sara had felt when I gave her the silent treatment on the days that we were each other’s only companions. I was irritated, but I knew I had pressed too many buttons in one conversation. He was right, he was telling me everything he knew, exposing himself, when I wasn’t doing the same.
The truth was as simple as I had said it was. There wasn’t much to say.
I had thought my family was normal, that despite my disagreements with my father about world history and science and just about everything else, that he was just protecting us.
I had thought my family
loved me. I had thought a lot of things that I was starting to see weren’t true. I didn’t want to talk about it. Hunter already knew the things that weren’t true, so why did he want me to reiterate it to him? To tell him how betrayed I felt when I knew it was written all over my face when he asked me about them.

“So how
long will we
stay here?” I finally asked,
looking at Hunter
sitting on the other side of the couch as far away from me
as possible.

“Another day at the most,” he answered, still
staring into the fire place.

“So why
did you pack everything already
?” I observed
,
looking at the backpacks, one beaten up
,
and
one new.

“Just in case,”
a squealing buzzer fill
ed the room
cutting him off, “Shit.
”

“Can’t everyone in the county hear that?
” I shouted
as Hunter lunged across the room
and
grabbed the bags.

“
Sound proof walls,” he answered,
slipping his bag over his shoulders
and
grabbing my hand.

“What’
s going on?”

“
Just in case just happened.
We
need
to leave now
—
hunters are here,” he pulled
at something in the floor
that I couldn’t
see.
T
he opened floor had revealed
a
dark tunnel
,
and he pulled me into it with him.
I struggled to stay up
right as I ran behind him
with all my senses prickling in the dark.
We sprinted for what seemed like at least a mile before Hunter stopped
and
pushed at the ceiling above us.  The setting sun streamed in
through the opening
and
he dropped my hand before somehow managing to jump up ou
t of the hole. H
is hand grabbed me
and
p
ulled me up before I could comprehend what was going on
.

“Someone found us?” I
mumbled
,
finding my voice
as I
watched him
rushing
to
cover
the hatch we had escaped from.

“Yes, n
ow don’t act so naive. Let’s go,” he ordered,
grabbing my
hand again
and
dragging me behind him
.
He stopped
and
looked over his shoulder after only a minute,
“Shit, we need to hide.”

“Up in a tree again?”
I suggested
as I strained
to hear something that he coul
d
,
but
I couldn’
t.

“Fine,” he snapped,
beginning to scale the one in front of us. I followed suit
and
we sat huddled in the crook of a tree waiting for our hunters to pass.

“What the hell,” Hunter muttered
in a voice I almost didn’t hear
,
but
the shock it held was scary to me. When my head turned to look at the three people standing in the clearing the fear that filled me was strange. The three people
standing there
were all people I knew.

“Look up in the
trees,” Trevor commanded the group
.

My own family was hunting me down. I had suddenly become their prey.
My whole body went numb with the thought. I knew it was true because Trevor didn’t look like he was trying to save anyone. He looked like he was on a witch hunt.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Hunter observed, and
hi
s voice level
and
clear again,
“
I thought you said they wouldn’t come after you?”

“I didn’t think they would.”

“I’m starting to think I know
your family better than you do,” Hunter commented, and
all I could do was sha
k
e
my head
in disbelief
,
“
New plan, I drop down
and
surprise them
and
yo
u run as far away as you can that
way,” He pointed in the opposite direction,
“
Now go—
I’ll find you.”

“Promise?”

He smiled
and
dropped down on Paul’s head. The co
mmotion that ensued was loud enough that
I was able to get down
and
run without being
seen.
I kept running in the direction that Hunter pointed
as my ears strained
against the sounds of my own feet. It
wasn’t long before I could hear some
one sprinting behind me
and
when I glanced over my shoulder my eyes met Trevor’s. The look in his
dull brown
eyes was not
one
of finding
the person
he lo
ved
alive. The look disoriented me enough that I was sent
tumbling to the ground.

“That was easier tha
n I thought it would be,” Trevor remarked,
coming to stand above me
with
a gun pointed at my head.

“What are
you doing?” I questioned
,
trying to catch my breath with the gun between my eyes.

“Finding you, of course.
”

“You found me now why do you have a
gun pointed at my head?” I insisted,
balling my fists up to punch him.
I knew the answer.

He cocked his head
,
a
nd a cruel smile came
over his face,
“You didn’t know I was a hunter?
You act so innocent
,
but
we know you’re not Kate. So what did you tell the general about us?
Mhmm
?” h
e demanded
,
and
when I didn’t respond he turned the gun
and
slam
med my head with the
but
t,
“Tell me
,
damn it.”

“Nothing, I told him nothing because I know nothing.”

“You’re telling me you didn’t know what your dad was doing?
” h
e leaned down to my level
, “
He’s the one that sent us after you because he knows you know. How could you not? The way you act
ed made it
obvious
that
you didn’t believe the stories,
”
h
e said
, grinding the cool metal of the guns tip into my temple.

“I don’t understand,” I hyperventilated
as blood began to run down my forehead
, “m
y d
ad sent you?”

“To see if you were still alive.”

“And?”

“To kill you if you were,
”
Trevor’s voice was cold
.

“My father?” I repeated,
the tears of realization brimming at my eyes, “How could he order his
own
daughter to be killed?”

“You’re useless to us alive
and
useless to us dead
,
but
at least
when you’re dead you can’t talk,” Trevor explained,
his finger moving on the trigger.

His words had immobilized me. I couldn’t fight him if I tried. I closed my eyes
only hoping
Hu
nter would be in H
eaven with me
and
if not that I’d go to H
ell with him.
He had been my only ally, my only source of the truth.
  A shot echoed through the air
,
and
I heard the thump of a body hit
ting
the ground
,
but
it wasn’t mine. When I opened my eyes Hunter was pulling me into his arms
,
and
Trevor was
lying
with his eyes open
and
unseeing
.

Neither of us said anything as Hunter ran into the darkening forest
and
silent tears streamed down my face onto his chest.
When he stopped he let my feet down gently onto the ground
,
and
I stood staring at my feet.

“Kate?”

“My father…my own father,” I shook
my head
as the tears thickened
in the silence of the night.

Hunter wrapped his arms around me
and
smoothed my hair,
“You really didn’t kn
ow what they were doing
,
did you?
”

“Nothing, I saw nothing. I understood nothing,
” I choked
.

“They t
hought you knew though?” h
e asked
into my hair.

“I guess so,
” I said
,
pulling away
and
looking up into his face,
“I knew there was something strange going on. I knew the stories weren’t true. I knew my father wasn’t an honest man
,
but
…”

“He could have been lying Kate. I’m sure your fathe
r didn’t order you to be killed,” he tried to comfort me,
his forehead furrowed with lines of worry
and
stress.

“He did. I know he did. Trevor would neve
r have done that without orders,
”
I replied,
swallowing
back
tears.

“He was a hunter
—
they have minds of their own.”

“You saw him, he was weak. Do you really thin
k he wanted to find you?” I shook my head
, “He knew
he was going to die either way.
I could see it in his eyes. He just needed to kill me first.”

Hunter
looked at me unable to answer because he knew I was right.