Enough

Chapter 1

Screaming. Pain. Fire. Blood.

There was so much blood. Everywhere she looked, when her eyes weren't plucked from her skull, there was deep crimson liquid that kept people alive. She wasn't though, she was dead. No heartbeat, no pulse, nothing. Every part of her body was ripped straight from the bone, muscles rippling with every tear. Once she was nothing more than bones dangling from a rack, like a slab of ribs on a grill, everything would reappear magically and the torment would start all over again. She lost count how many times daily she'd been ripped to shreds and tortured, thinking her tear ducts had dried up only to be sadly mistaken when more would flow. Her screams fell on deaf ears and struggles ceased to matter because there was no escaping where she was and where she'd always stay.

Or so she thought.

Her name was Cheyenne Chambers, though people close to her called her CC or Chey for short. Growing up, she learned early in life that it wasn't full of rainbows and happy endings. She'd barely turned 10 when her parents were killed by a Demon, after being possessed. The Chambers were known as hunters, killing any supernatural creatures that posed a threat to the human race. Vampires, ghosts, witches, werewolves, Demons…it didn't matter what creature it was; it was the hunter's responsibility to vanquish them from the earth. The Chambers weren't the only family in the hunting business; there were far too many creatures to deal with for the Chambers by themselves. So from the age of 4, Cheyenne was put through hunting school instead of regular school, her family constantly on the road preventing her from receiving a regular education. Her sister, Addison, was 8 years older than her and far more skilled than Cheyenne ever thought about. She too was trained from the age of 4 and honed her skills while Cheyenne didn't take it seriously. Part of her didn't believe in the supernatural, too much of a realist and that was ultimately her downfall.

To escape the physical, mental and emotional pain, Cheyenne delved into the deepest recesses of her mind, thinking about people who meant the most to her. Addison. Parents. Fellow hunters. Flashbacks from moments in her life that meant the most to her, which were few and far between. They didn't have regular Christmases or Thanksgivings, spending all of their childhood moving from motel to motel. Fake identifications and credit card fraud amongst other illegal things made hunters some of the worst criminals in the United States. Even though they were saving people's lives one day at a time, they had to break and enter a lot, destroy burial grounds, lie and often ran into people connected to a supernatural creature trying to kill hunters in order to protect the monster. Cheyenne thought it was all pretty pointless, but Addison's determination to extinguish as many creatures as possible kept that small flame of believability burning deep inside of her.

One minute she was being tortured again and the next, a flash of white light through the thick blood caking her face illuminated all around her. Teal eyes snapped open it seemed a minute later, lying flat on her back in pure darkness. Every part of Cheyenne's broke out in chills and she coughed out harshly, trying to suck in as much oxygen as she could. Where the hell was she? Cheyenne's mind screamed at her she had to get out, a rush of adrenaline coursing through her body. With a trembling hand, Cheyenne reached down into the pocket of the blue jeans she had on and felt a hard object, her body breaking out into a cold sweat. Beads formed on her forehead and Cheyenne knew the oxygen would soon run short, a fight burning deep within her soul she thought was long dowsed. Pulling the object up, Cheyenne could tell just from the touch alone it was a lighter and immediately flicked it on, trying a few times. It was a small light, but showed her where exactly she was and why she had to escape.

A wooden coffin.

Closing her eyes, Cheyenne knew the worst thing she could do was panic and could see a very small opening between the coffin and lid. Digging her fingers into the dirt and siding, Cheyenne tried opening it and groaned when it wouldn't budge, feeling as though she was dying of thirst. Her throat felt like it was on fire and her whole body ached from head to toe. There was no way she'd die in this coffin though, refusing to go out without a fight and tried again, feeling the lid start to give. Gritting her teeth and using all the strength she could muster up, Cheyenne managed to break off a portion of the lid only for mountains of dirt to pile on top of her. She pushed through it all though, holding her breath and plowed both hands to the surface, feeling cool air brush against her fingertips. That gave her plenty willpower to fight through the dirt, using the grass that surrounded her to pull her body from the ground. Cheyenne was covered from head to toe in dirt, her arms aching painfully and kept crawling until her entire body was out of the unmarked grave. The moon was full and shined down on her as Cheyenne rolled over on her back, staring up at the midnight sky full of stars. It was possibly the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen and Cheyenne breathed in as much air as possible, not moving an inch for several long minutes.

Possibly hours.

While lying there in the soft grass, Cheyenne's tired mind raced with multiple questions, trying to make sense of what just happened. The last thing she remembered was being on that rack by her bones, blood, guts, torn muscle and flesh surrounding her, along with ear-piercing screams. She was dead, her soul condemned in Hell and now she was…here. Where was here? How did she go from being in Hell to pulling herself out of an unmarked grave? Cheyenne remembered how she died and suddenly lifted the t-shirt she wore, not seeing one mark on her. It was dark and her eyesight wasn't very clear, so Cheyenne covered her stomach, resting her arms at her sides. Swallowing, she winced at the burning in her throat and Cheyenne knew she had to move, had to force herself to find some sustenance quickly. Preferably a few gallons of water. Closing her eyes, she rolled over on her stomach and slowly pushed up on her knees, looking around the secluded wooded area.

Where the hell had Addison buried her body? She remembered being with her sister, her jade eyes being the very last thing Cheyenne saw before she died. How was she supposed to explain to her sister she was back from the dead? Cheyenne couldn't worry about that right now, noticing she was in the same clothes she'd died in and wondered how much time passed. Maybe Addison was dead and resting in peace, maybe this was the future 100 years down the road. Judging by the surroundings, Cheyenne honestly didn't know and had to find out, shakily getting to her feet. Her jeans, t-shirt, hair and body parts that weren't covered by clothing were caked in dirt, not to mention the inside of the bra she had on. Grunting, Cheyenne stumbled shakily to her feet and dusted the dirt from her jeans off, squinting her eyes trying to see past 3 feet in front of her. Which way was she supposed to go? Shrugging, Cheyenne had nothing to lose and headed right through the trees, going slow so she didn't run into a tree or trip over anything. It was amazing she still had her black tennis shoes on and they didn't look too worse for wear.

Eventually, Cheyenne escaped the wooded area and came to a deserted country road that had no street lights. The moon gave off enough light for her to decipher the sign a few 100 feet away down the road at a nearby stop sign. Cheyenne trekked in that direction, forcing one foot in front of the other and finally stopped in front of the sign. Colorado Springs, Colorado. What the HELL was she doing all the way in Colorado? None of this made any sense considering Cheyenne had been killed in Kansas City, Missouri. Why would Addison drag her all the way to Colorado Springs and bury her body in the middle of woods? The street was also cut off, so Cheyenne could only go left or right unless she wanted to journey through more grass. She decided to go right, staying on the side of the road and hoped she found shelter soon so she could at least shower.

Sure enough, a half a mile down the road stood an old small rickety house that looked completely abandoned. There was no way she could walk any further, not without rest and crossed the street toward the abandoned house. This wasn't the first old shack Cheyenne would stay in and it definitely wouldn't be the last. Being a hunter required her to stay in a lot of dumps and cheap motels, nothing Ritzy or glamorous. Walking up the few creaking steps that lead to the front door, Cheyenne went to the window first to peer inside and didn't see anyone. There was an old 1989 Cutlass Sierra sitting in the driveway, so she wasn't sure if someone lived here or not. The car looked abandoned as well, a thick layer of dust and dirt covering it a surefire sign. If someone did live here, they were in for a rude awakening because Cheyenne couldn't keep going in her current condition, not without rest and sustenance. Grabbing the web covered doorknob, Cheyenne turned it and pushed open the door, coughing as a huge cloud of dust blew in her face.

Waving the dust away, Cheyenne stepped inside the house and looked around, eyebrows furrowing in thought. There was a living room attached to a kitchen and a small hallway that linked to a bathroom and bedroom. That was it. It really was a small shack and the best thing Cheyenne had seen in a long time besides the stars earlier in the woods. Shutting the door behind her, Cheyenne checked the one bedroom and bathroom to make sure she was completely alone, keeping her guard up. It was her hunter's instinct and hadn't died even after her death. The next room Cheyenne went for was the kitchen, looking in the small old-fashioned white fridge and saw it was completely stocked. Same with the cabinets and everything was updated, none of it expired. Judging by the year on the boxes of food, Cheyenne surmised it was still the year 2008 since some of it expired toward the month of December and a lot in 2009. Snatching the milk out of the fridge, Cheyenne checked the expiration date, which was September 28th and took the cap off to smell it. It wasn't sour and smelled fresh, so she took a chance and sipped it, coming to the conclusion it was sometime in September, which meant she'd been gone 4 months.

After chugging nearly half of the gallon and then moving to the bottled water in the fridge, Cheyenne put the milk back in the fridge and moved down the hallway toward the bathroom. Without a second thought, she stripped and kicked her clothes to the side so they wouldn't get drenched, hissing at what she found under the dim lighting of the bathroom on her left side. It was a huge red handprint seared into her skin that covered her entire hip and part of her left lower abdomen. How the hell did she get this and who gave it to her? Or what? Would it sting if she stepped into the shower to wash away the dirt and grime? Cheyenne didn't care and kicked the shower sprays on, making the water as hot as she could stand it before stepping inside, almost convulsing at how wonderful it felt. The hot liquid flowed down her body, washing away the night's events as the dirt went down the drain. Surprisingly, there was a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and body wash with a rag, even a woman shaver.

Cheyenne stepped out almost an hour later, grabbing a towel that hung on the rack and wrapped her body around it, feeling completely exhausted from head to toe. She snatched her clothes from the bathroom floor and dried off, heading toward the bedroom to see if there were any clothes she could snag. Sure enough, jeans, t-shirts, socks, undergarments and shoes all her size waited for her in the small closet. She barely managed to pull on a pair of blue jeans, black t-shirt with some kind of white design on it, socks, black bra and panties and black steel toed boots, eyeballing the bed. All she wanted was a few hours of sleep to recharge her body and then Cheyenne would try to get the car started outside so she could find Addison. She had to still be alive if it'd only been 4 months since she'd been dead. Cheyenne slipped the boots on because she was used to sleeping with something on her feet, always on the run and ready to jump out of a bed in a second. Sinking down on the bed, Cheyenne closed her eyes and let her body fall back, surprised by how soft it was considering how old this house had to be.

Just as she shut her eyes, something that sounded like static from a television began filtering through the house. It was soft at first, but the louder it got, the more piercing it became and Cheyenne clamped her hands over her ears. When windows began shattering, she rolled off the bed instinctively and landed on the floor with a thud, the sound growing louder by the second. She had to get out of the house, even with how tired she was. There was no way Cheyenne could sleep with this incessant ear-piercing ringing in her ears and all around her. Stumbling out of the room and down the hallway, Cheyenne didn't bother grabbing anything besides a pair of steel toed black boots, knowing she could hotwire the Cutlass if need-be. While sifting in the bedroom, she came across a wad of cash that would get her to Nebraska, her home state, and be able to fill the car up with gas. The sound vanished as soon as she arrived outside, thankfully, and Cheyenne walked toward the Cutlass, raising a brow at the front door being unlocked.

Looking back at the house and around her, Cheyenne cautiously slipped behind the wheel and found the keys in the ignition, teal eyes narrowing. Who was helping her? Whoever resurrected her had made sure she was covered and had everything she needed, including money. The Cutlass had a tank full of gas as well and started up without an issue. Cheyenne knew it wasn't in her best interest to take all of this with a grain of salt, but what else was she supposed to do? She had to get to Nebraska, find her sister and try to make sense of everything that happened. Pulling out of the driveway, Cheyenne made a right heading east and turned the radio on, her suspicions of how much time had passed since her death confirmed when the date was announced over the speakers.

September 18, 2008.