A/N: Please review! ^^
Last Snow
Chapter 1: The Hunt
The air was heavy with smoke, covering everything in a film of gray. Wisps of black curled up the trees and bit at the air. I heard a scream through the haze and ran faster; I had to get away.
"Shit!" I cursed as I stumbled over another tree root.
My hair fell into my eyes and a dark strand filled my mouth. I pulled my leg out from underneath the root, crawling under a nearby bush.
A sharp twig poked through my thin shirt and scraped my stomach. I gritted my teeth, eyes watering in protest.
My hand slipped under my shirt and pressed against the wound. I brought it to my face and could see blood gleaming in the dark.
I had to get rid of it. I needed to get rid of of the blood.
I grabbed the hem of my shirt and tore off a decent strip to dress my cut, knotting it right above my bellybutton. I grimaced at my red hands, I had to get rid of the red. I pressed my palms against the Earth and rubbed off the blood.
And then, I waited.
The eerie silence that surrounded me was frightening. As much as I strained myself to hear the commotion around me, all I could hear was a loud heavy silence.
Does that mean those monsters had finished?
Somewhere in the back of my head I thought of my father, one of the Head Hunters, and wondered, did he made it through the massacre?
Even if he was a Head Hunter, he had his limits-everyone did.
Crunch.
I swallowed hard, my body freezing up at the sound whisper of crushed dead leaves. Looks like they were here, and from the smell of things, they had definitely not fed.
Crunch. Crunch.
Slowly I let my hand glide to my hip, pulling out a knife from the side of my pants.
Crunch.
They were getting closer.
Crunch Cru-
They were here.
I tightened my grip around the handle of the weapon, ready to send it soaring through the vicious creature behind.
I jumped to my feet, arm pulled back and ready to strike.
I was met with darkness. There was no one there.
My heart started pounding harder.
A million thoughts went rushing through my head, meshing together into a jumbled mess. There was no way this could have happened! I could have sw-
Crunch.
I stilled, my mouth going dry.
Crunch. Crunch.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Crunch…
They were right behind me.
In most cases a normal person would have made a run for it by now, but being raised by a Head Hunter certainly did not make me a normal person. I couldn't outrun these things, their speed was impeccable, the only think I could do was fight.
"Don't make a sound." A soft velvety voice murmured.
My eyes widened. Looks like I didn't think fast enough.
My captive had a strong grip around the handle of my blade, his fingers gently overlapping my own.
He tugged at my raised hand.
"Drop it." He whispered.
I swallowed.
"No." I retorted in a shaky voice.
Really, what the hell was going through my head saying no to a vampire?
"Drop. It." He hissed.
Time stopped. There were no longer trees and bushes; there was only me and him. My heart trembled. Me and some random killer who hadn't even graced me with his wonderful presence. I would have liked to see the face of the man who was going to kill me. Maybe even get to know his name. Was that too much to ask?
I shivered as a cold wind blew through me, bringing me back to my current predicament.
"Didn't you hear me?" He demanded, his voice harsher than it had been prior to. "I said, drop it!"
His voice scared me, and I immediately let go. There was no point of cutting my life any shorter than it already was.
The knife plummeted to the forest floor with a soft thud.
"You're not much of a listener." He said.
"Why would I listen to a monster like you?" I hissed.
He squeezed my wrist, hard enough to bruise.
"Most people would be begging for their lives by now."
"I don't beg." I bit out.
He pressed harder, causing me to cry out.
"Everyone begs." He whispered darkly.
I whimpered, and the next thing I knew, he had me pressed flush against a tree, brooding eyes staring right down at me.
He shoved a bright silver gun against my sternum, and already I could hear the bells of death calling to me.
I don't want to die. I'm not ready. I thought.
"Still not ready to beg?" He asked fiercely.
I shook my head slowly, eyes squeezing shut when the gun dug harder.
"Really?" He chuckled. "Are you sure?"
I said nothing.
He smirked.
"Goodbye." He said, and pressed the trigger.
The gunshot echoed throughout the forest, and my legs quivered. He had killed me.
I was dead.
I'd never get to see my dad again, I'd never get a chance to fall in love, I'd never get a chance to get what I wanted out of life, I'd never get a chance at anything...because I no longer existed.
"Must be your lucky day." He commented, pulling the gun away.
My eyes flew open in shock, and I realized that no, I wasn't dead, very much alive actually.
"Wh-wh-what?" I stuttered, looking up at him.
He rolled his eyes.
"It was a blank." A wry voice explained lazily.
My eyes widened in surprise. There were more of them?
I whipped my head around in search of the voice, but the dark haired vampire in front of me grabbed my arm and twisted it painfully behind my back.
I screamed. My arm felt like it was on fire.
He leaned down to my ear.
"Doesn't matter that it was a blank. Where you're going, you'll be begging that I killed you instead." He hissed.
I trembled and did the only thing I could, I screamed for help.
The man holding my arm winced, and pulled away, but his grip was still as tight on my arm.
I screamed louder.
"That's not going to help you much." Another voice called out.
Out of the corner of my eyes two more males slipped into view from the trees, wearing identical black trench coats and holding silver hunting guns.
I opened my mouth to retort, scream even, but the man behind me gagged me with a thick piece of cloth.
"Mmmph!" I screeched.
He said nothing as he pulled both of my arms tight behind my back, tying them securely with a rope.
"She doesn't listen much. Who knows, maybe she's deaf?" He muttered as he finished tying the knot.
I gave an indignant screech behind my gag.
"Then again."
"She doesn't look like much." One of the vampires that emerged from the trees murmured. He circled me thoughtfully. "I've seen better."
"Are you sure it's her, Jonghyun. Surely the daughter of a Head Hunter would put up a better fight than this."
"It's her, Minho. I could smell that bastard's blood anywhere." The blonde one stated, flicking his fringe away from his eyes.
My blood boiled. Were they talking about my father? My father was not a bastard!
"You sure Jonghyun?" The other brunette asked tentatively.
"Smell her yourself, Onew." The guy, Jonghyun, commented.
My nose scrunched up in disgust. At least I smelled better than him.
"Besides," He added. "She looks just like the picture."
Picture? What picture?
Damn it! Someone answer my questions here!
The sound of a gunshot bellowed throughout the forest, startling me and the other three vampires surrounding me.
My heart tightened, allowing the smallest glimmer of hope to rise in my chest.
That was my dad's hunting gun, I could tell it apart from anyone's, which meant, he was still alive.
"We need to get going." Minho murmured, his eyes tracing the direction from where the sound came.
"Pretty soon, they'll be hunting for us."
They all nodded.
"Alright, let's do it this way. Jonghyun, you and Minho go on ahead of us. Don't let each other out of your sights. I'll carry her," Onew jabbed a finger in my direction. "and meet up with you guys at home."
"You sure about that hyung?" Minho asked worriedly.
"She doesn't look like too much of a hassle Minho." Jonghyun shot back, giving me a sideways smirk.
"I'll be fine." Onew said, waving away Minho's are-you-kidding-me look.
"Fine, meet you in a few." Minho replied, grabbing Jonghyun's arm. "Let's go." Jonghyun pouted.
"How come you call him hyung but not me?" He rattled.
"Because you don't act like one." Minho said calmly.
I snorted.
At least he was on my side…for the most part.
Jonghyun turned to me before smirking and pulling out a silk white handkerchief. He threw it at Onew.
"Blind her." He said. "We can't have her going off and telling our secrets now can we?"
Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Onew nod his agreement.
With deft fingers he easily secured the cloth over my eyes, officially making me both mute and blind. I let out a stream of muffled protests behind my gag.
"She does realize that no one can hear her right?" Minho inquired.
"I'm beginning to re-question that deaf theory." Jonghyun grumbled.
Another gun shot was fired, strong enough to shake the forest.
"Looks like it's time for us to go." Jonghyun said.
With that I heard the two disappear into the clump of trees behind us.
At least the annoying one was gone. Seriously, what's up with the blonde hair?
"He likes color." Onew commented. "And so does Kibum."
My head turned to face him in surprise despite my blindfold. What the heck?
With great care Onew picked me up and hoisted me over his back.
"I can read minds you know." He added before taking off into another set of trees.
I don't know much about vampires, just a few facts here and there, some of which no one has been able to prove in centuries, one of those being the ability to read minds…and inhuman speed.
Inhuman speed that Onew seems to be more than happy to take advantage of at this moment. He ran quickly through the maze of trees around us, taking care not to drop me.
I could feel the sharp wind whipping at my face. It was starting to sting.
"Sorry, but I can't slow down." He mumbled amidst his running.
"If those guys catch up to us…well…there won't be a happy ending for the two of us."
Maybe not for you. I thought.
He chuckled softly after reading my last thought.
"Go to sleep." He encouraged. "The run will take a few more minutes. And I promise I won't try anything while you're out." He teased.
I glared at him through my blindfold.
"Come on!" He whined lightly. "Sleep."
I wanted to scream at him for being so stupid, maybe even wring his neck. There was no way I was just going to let myself go under in the hands of a vampire!
I heard a deep sigh, followed by a strong force pushing against my mind. I struggled against the force. Was this his doing? The force became more violent, and my mind grew heavy.
"Don't fight it." Onew ushered.
Pretty soon, I was out.
